Results for: dshea

The American Academy of Pediatrics has an Integrative Medicine Problem

The American Academy of Pediatrics is usually a trustworthy source of high quality information for patients, caregivers, and pediatric medical providers. But when it comes to so-called integrative medicine, they have a massive biased blind spot. In this post, I discuss a recently updated clinical report from their Section on Integrative Medicine.

/ October 20, 2017

Repealing Legislative Alchemy

We need to repeal federal and state laws that allow quackery and pseudoscience in healthcare.

/ October 12, 2017

Another Child Harmed by Pseudomedicine: Lead Poisoning from a “Homeopathic Healing” Bracelet

The CDC has published a report on yet another child harmed by exposure to a caregiver's belief in quackery...and the toxic level of lead found in a "homeopathic" teething bracelet.

/ September 8, 2017

Viotren and Other Dietary Supplements for Erectile Dysfunction: Buyer Beware

Viotren and other dietary supplements are being illegally marketed to treat erectile dysfunction. Some of them work, but only because they are adulterated with prescription drugs like Viagra (at up to 31 times the prescription dose). Using them can be risky.

/ August 22, 2017

The Congressional Dietary Supplement Caucus

The Congressional Dietary Supplement Caucus, an officially-recognized Congressional Membership Organization, operates as an in-house mouthpiece for the dietary supplement industry. Both the caucus and the rules allowing it should be reformed to prohibit this.

/ August 17, 2017

The Supplement Con

A new article in Business Insider challenges the major narrative promoted by the supplement industry - that supplements are safe, effective, natural, and actually in the bottle. If we are lucky, this may mark a the start of a sea change in how Americans see supplements.

/ August 16, 2017

Increase In Supplement Poisonings

Current supplement regulations in the US (and many countries) are overtly anti-consumer and pro-industry, and are the direct result of aggressive industry lobbying and having powerful senators in their pocket. The rise in calls to poison control for supplements are just one manifestation of this situation.

/ July 26, 2017

Confessions of a Quack: Holistic Harry Tells the Inside Story of Alternative Medicine

Confessions of a Quack is fiction, but it provides real insights into the thinking processes and motivations of quacks, alternative medicine providers, and their patients.

/ May 23, 2017

Medical science policy in the U.S. under Donald Trump eighty days in

A week after Donald Trump was elected, I speculated about how he would affect medical science policy. Now, 80 days into the Trump administration, we have some observations.

/ April 10, 2017

Melatonin: What’s on the label isn’t in the bottle

Melatonin is taken by millions each year. But does it work? Is it safe? And can you trust the label?

/ March 9, 2017