Tag: complementary and alternative medicine

CAM and cancer: Who uses CAM, and why?

Many patients with cancer use complementary and alternative medicine, and it is important to understand why.

/ May 16, 2019

Maine considers protecting quacks from accountability to regulators and patients

The Maine Legislature is considering a bill that would put quacks beyond the reach of state healthcare regulatory authorities and leave patients without effective redress for harms.

/ April 25, 2019

JAMA on Medical Misinformation

A JAMA article addresses the issue of confronting medical misinformation. They make good recommendations - but do not go nearly far enough.

/ April 24, 2019

A whole issue of JACM devoted to “integrative oncology” propaganda? Oh, goody.

Last week, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine published a Special Focus Issue on "integrative oncology." In reality, it's propaganda that promotes pseudoscience and the "integration" of quackery into oncology.

/ October 1, 2018

A Culture of Standards Matters

Perhaps the most dangerous effect of the alternative medicine movement has been an erosion of the culture of dedication to science and standards within medicine. This has to change.

/ September 12, 2018

Double standards in hematology for integrative and complementary medicine: a case study

In this post I discuss several yoga studies that were presented to a gathering of some of the world’s best MPN researchers and clinicians. They illustrate an apparent double standard in hematological cancer research, which allows integrative and complementary treatments to skip over the normally high rigor and standards typical of the sub-specialty.

/ August 3, 2018

Alternative medicine kills cancer patients, “complementary” edition

By definition, alternative medicine has not been shown to be effective or has been shown to be ineffective. Thus, alternative medicine is ineffective against cancer and can best be represented as either no treatment at all or potentially harmful treatment. It is thus not surprising that cancer patients who choose alternative medicine have a higher risk of dying from their cancer. A...

/ July 23, 2018
Acupuncture needles

So-Called Alternative Medicine

Edzard Ernst calls it "So-Called Alternative Medicine". This insider's view of SCAM is a new book from an prolific researcher and author.

/ June 14, 2018

The Ethics of CAM: More Harm than Good?

A new book examines the ethics of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). Ernst and Smith demonstrate that CAM is inherently unethical and does more harm than good.

/ March 20, 2018

A Cornucopia of Crislip

Mark Crislip has written three books. They are full of wisdom, science-based thinking, and hilarious humor. Highly recommended.

/ February 20, 2018