Tag: Legislation

Gender-affirming care is not “experimental”

Gender-affirming care remains the evidence-based standard of care for gender dysphoria in transgender adolescents, despite claims by some laws and lawmakers that it is “experimental”.

, / June 25, 2022

Federal employment rights agency inundated with thousands of COVID-related discrimination claims

Thousands of workers have filed complaints with the EEOC alleging COVID-related employment discrimination. It may take years of litigation to sort out the application of federal anti-bias laws to these claims.

/ April 7, 2022

Sen. Rubio’s proposed tax shelters for quackery

Sen. Marco Rubio has again introduced a bill that would subsidize quackery by providing a tax-sheltered way to pay for homeopathy, herbs, and other pseudoscience.

/ July 1, 2021
COVID-19 vs. FDA and CDC

Legislatures and litigation: anti-vaxxers continue attacks on COVID mitigation

Anti-vaxxers are attacking COVID-19 mandates in state legislatures and in court even as COVID-19 cases numbers and hospitalizations remain high among the unvaccinated.

/ June 3, 2021

Legislative Alchemy: State licensing of “the profession of reflexology”

Following the playbook of other practitioners of pseudoscience, reflexologists aim to become state-licensed health care professionals, a status they've already achieved in four states. With bills pending in New York and Nebraska, they move closer to their goal of legitimizing their quackery in all 50 states.

/ March 25, 2021
COVID-19 vs. FDA and CDC

State legislatures consider bills prohibiting COVID-19 vaccination mandates and other public health measures

Bills seek to prevent the states and private employers from mandating COVID-19 vaccines and other pandemic mitigation measures. Some proposed legislation would severely handicap public health officials in combating future health emergencies.

/ March 11, 2021

Bills eliminating school immunizations and other anti-vaccination measures confront state legislatures

Bills eliminating school immunizations and expanding exemptions are pending in state legislatures. Other state bills strengthen immunization requirements by eliminating exemptions, among other measures. An anti-vaccination misinformation campaign is underway to influence legislators' votes.

/ February 25, 2021
Conversion therapy is pseudoscience

Federal appeals court strikes down conversion therapy bans

A recent federal Court of Appeals decision struck down local governments' conversion therapy bans on First Amendment grounds, characterizing licensed mental health therapists' advice as a "viewpoint" and regulation thereof subject to strict scrutiny by the courts, a standard that, historically, is rarely met. This decision carries disturbing implications for the regulation of the practice of medicine as well as the government's...

/ December 31, 2020

New Florida law forces physicians to endorse pseudoscience

A new Florida law forces physicians to endorse chiropractic, acupuncture, and massage as non-opioid alternatives for pain, even if the physician disagrees with that advice.

/ September 12, 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