FEBRUARY 2025 NEWS
Featured topic: political developments
On Science-Based Medicine,
David Gorski posted:
“MAHA: echoes of The Secret.” “When you look at Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ movement, there is a notable echo of an idea once promoted by Oprah Winfrey, namely The Secret, combined with antivax and alt-med tropes…MAHA is a con designed to distract from what will undoubtedly be RFK Jr.’s war on vaccines and science-based regulation of food and drugs. What makes it so appealing is what makes The Secret and the central dogma of alternative medicine so appealing, the idea that you, and you alone, control your destiny when it comes to health. Would that were the case, but no one can escape their genetics, and many can’t escape their environment, both of which, science-based medicine tells us, have enormous effects on overall health. I don’t know if RFK Jr. will be confirmed or not…but I do know that if he is, public health and science-based regulation as we currently understand the concepts will be under a threat unlike any faced before.”
“DOGE vs. the NIH: Say goodbye to the greatest engine of biomedical research ever created.” “The bottom line is that cutting indirects [indirect costs on NIH grants] to 15% across-the-board is clearly not a well-thought-out policy. There is a policy discussion to be had on this topic, but that’s not what DOGE and its cheerleaders (like Dr. Prasad) are interested in. What they are more interested in is grievance, to punish universities and the NIH because of grievances, mostly imagined. I fear what the cost will be to biomedical research in the United States and to science-based medicine in general as a result of these slash-and-burn tactics.”
“So it begins: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is confirmed as HHS Secretary and immediately begins dismantling US federal science infrastructure.”
“How Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will undermine and ultimately destroy US vaccination programs.”
Christopher Hickie posted:
“The trashing of science by Robert F Kennedy Jr.” “If confirmed, Kennedy will keep trashing science and will continue exploiting the trashed science he helps create for his own benefit…Kennedy, throughout the two days of hearings, repeatedly refused to acknowledge the vast amount of valid, peer-reviewed research showing vaccines are not associated with autism. We now know he will never do that, given he straight up cited invalid science as valid to Dr. Cassidy. If confirmed, Kennedy will keep trashing science. He will not become the public health advocate Dr. Cassidy encouraged him to be. He will never apologize for being wrong about what he’s said, indeed he will never admit to being wrong. Instead, Kennedy will continue exploiting the trashed science he helps create for his own benefit. He will further drive down US vaccine rates like happened in Samoa. We will see outbreaks of measles, pertussis and meningitis that will hospitalize and kill our infants and children. And it will be horrible.”
David Weinberg posted:
“Indiscriminate, cruel, and wasteful: abandoning USAID clinical trials.” “…More than 30 clinical trials have been interrupted and likely terminated. The interruption or termination of these trials is tragic on many levels. It epitomizes the indiscriminate, cruel and wasteful nature of these abrupt measures…These trials were not launched recklessly or indiscriminately. They were approved by appropriate ethical review committees. They were awarded based on merit and priority. They were implemented because they were expected to answer important questions. In contrast, the suspension/termination of these studies was done indiscriminately, apparently without consideration merit or potential benefit, and also without regard for the consequences of termination. None were spared….The indiscriminate termination of these studies was a cruelty imposed on the study participants and to the investigators, but perhaps the greatest cruelty is to the world at large, because potentially life-saving and health restoring treatments will be delayed or permanently foreclosed.”
Edzard Ernst posted:
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr., measles and an alarming disregard for science, evidence, public health, welfare and common sense.” “Around the year 2000, we thought to have eradicated measles. But, thanks to quacks like Andrew Wakefield and charlatans like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., measles are back…The US faces a dire risk now that the woefully incompetent Kennedy has gained control over the DHHS. His false, dangerous and conspiratorial claims have weakened confidence in public health. This must inevitably have far-reaching, deadly consequences not just in the US but also globally. The most vulnerable citizens, unvaccinated infants, immunocompromised individuals, and entire communities will suffer. Kennedy’s promotion of the often-debunked link between vaccines and autism and Trump’s decision of leaving the WHO, symbolise a frightful disregard for science, evidence, public health, welfare and common sense.”
“Have the morons taken over US healthcare?” “So, Trump charged Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to investigate why ASD is on the increase. As it happens, Kennedy already knows the conclusion of this investigation. He has often stated widely debunked claims that autism is caused by vaccinations.”
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is playing fast and loose with our health.”
On Beyond the Noise, Paul Offit posted:
“Understanding RFK Jr.” “In short, RFK Jr. doesn’t believe in the germ theory. He believes in something called the miasma theory.”
“The RFK Jr. playbook.” “Deny excellent studies, promote poor studies, and call anyone who disagrees with you a shill for Big Pharma.”
“Anti-vaccine activism hurts children with autism.” “Because of the decades-long promotion that vaccines cause autism, children with autism and their healthy siblings have significantly lower rates of vaccination than other children. The choice not to vaccinate children doesn’t decrease their chances of developing autism, it only increases their chances of being harmed by a preventable disease.”
“RFK Jr.’s misdirection gambit.” “At the top of his list were childhood vaccines, electromagnetic radiation, and the pesticide glyphosate…the three causes at the top of his list have been well studied…RFK Jr.’s agenda will do little to Make America Healthy Again. Instead, his ability to ignore the growing threat of vaccine-preventable diseases will only make us sicker. In his presidential campaign, RFK Jr. said that he wanted to ‘give infectious diseases a break for eight years.’ Unfortunately, as cases of measles mount and bird flu lurks on the fringes, infectious diseases aren’t likely to give us a break.”
February 1: Nicholas Kristof (New York Times) wrote: “Our health in the hands of a man who'd make us sick,” concerning Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
February 2: Michelle Smith (AP) reported “Pro-RFK Jr. letter to the Senate includes names of doctors whose licenses were revoked or suspended.” “The AP found that in addition to the physicians who had faced disciplinary action, many of the nearly 800 signers are not doctors.”
February 3 – Charlotte Graham-McLay (AP) wrote “RFK Jr. misled the US Senate on measles deaths, Samoa’s health chief says.” “Samoa’s top health official on Monday denounced as ’a complete lie’ remarks that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made during his bid to become U.S. health secretary, rejecting his claim that some who died in the country’s 2019 measles epidemic didn’t have the disease.”
February 7 – Andrea Love and Katie Suleta (American Council on Science and Health) wrote “Junk science bought and paid for: the latest anti-vaccine ‘study’ is a political stunt.” “Imagine resurrecting a long-debunked myth, slapping a fresh coat of pseudoscience on it, and dropping it just in time to sway public opinion before a major political hearing. That’s exactly what happened with a new ‘study’ claiming a link between vaccines and autism. However, this paper isn’t groundbreaking research; it’s a carefully orchestrated stunt, dressed up in scientific jargon, bankrolled by anti-vaccine activists, and riddled with methodological flaws big enough to drive a truckload of expired hydroxychloroquine through…
The paper can’t conclude anything about vaccinations or neurodevelopmental disorders. Yet it’s been amplified by RFK Jr. and his colleagues, who have profited off of anti-vaccine disinformation for decades in their latest attempt to undermine decades of data that show there is no causal relationship between vaccinations and autism. Coincidentally, this paper was published Friday, January 24, 2025, just in time for the Senate hearings for RFK Jr’s potential confirmation as HHS Secretary, which began January 29.”
February 11 – Lauren Weber and Caitlin Gilbert (Washington Post) wrote “RFK Jr. says vaccines aren’t tested enough. Experts say that’s baseless.” “…experts say placebo-controlled trials — where one group of people gets a medicine or treatment and the other does not — would be irresponsible to apply to most vaccines because it could deprive people of immunizations already proved to prevent infectious disease…Experts say his claim that vaccines do not undergo pre-licensing safety trials is not true — vaccines go through several stages of clinical trials before approval. Thousands of people are studied along the way to determine vaccines’ safety and effectiveness before they are rolled out to the public. And after vaccines are in use, companies, health-care providers and the federal government monitor for additional adverse events.”
February 15 – Pien Huang (NPR) reported “How changes to a CDC vaccine panel under Kennedy could reshape policy.”
February 16 – Caitlin Rivers (New York Times) wrote “Sorry Mr. Kennedy, most Americans want to get their shots.”
February 18 – Sheryl Stolberg (New York Times) wrote “Trump cuts target next generation of scientists and public health leaders.” “A core group of so-called disease detectives, who track outbreaks, was apparently spared. But other young researchers are out of jobs… ‘It seems like a very destructive strategy to fire the new talent at an agency, and the talent that’s being promoted,’ said Dr. David Fleming, the chairman of an advisory committee to the C.D.C. director. He added, ‘A lot of energy and time has been spent in recruiting those folks, and that’s now tossed out the window’.”
February 20 – Will Stone (NPR) reported “Trump administration yanks CDC flu vaccine campaign.” “The ‘Wild to Mild’ flu vaccination campaign sought to encourage people to get the flu vaccine. In particular, the campaign aimed to communicate that flu vaccination can lessen symptoms and the chance of getting severely ill, even if it doesn't prevent someone from catching the flu. The Trump administration's decision to pull the campaign comes in the midst of a brutal flu season that's still raging.”
February 20 – An Editorial in JAMA by Bibbins-Domingo and others was entitled “Reaffirming the JAMA Network commitment to health of patients and the public.” “Multiple infectious threats remain active across the globe, but the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been prohibited from communicating with other public health agencies, such as the World Health Organization, to coordinate a response and from advising the public about the nature of these threats and how to best take protective action….Some authors of scientific works in process have had to remove their names from publications for these publications [related to gender] to proceed…The free exchange of ideas is essential to scientific progress, just as it is integral to the founding ideals of the US. The integrity of the scientific process does not depend on blind trust in science or on an assumption that a scientific finding is always right. Rather, this integrity hinges on the confidence that the free exchange of scientific ideas grounded in rigorously conducted scientific inquiry, including the discussion, debate, and disagreement that results in further inquiry, ultimately leads to insights that are likely to be true. For those of us who are part of the biomedical enterprise, the silencing of this scientific discourse and the prohibition of communication of information for patients and clinicians directly threaten the professional oaths that many have taken to protect the health of patients and the public.”
February 21 – Benjamin Mueller (New York Times) published “Trump administration stalls scientific research despite court ruling.” “Using an arcane law, officials have effectively delayed funding from the National Institutes of Health, leaving medical studies in jeopardy.”
February 24 – Tina Reed (Axios) wrote “The businesses hoping to boom under an RFK Jr.-led HHS.” “Kennedy's interest in treating the root causes of chronic illnesses through lifestyle changes could elevate unregulated alternatives and risky pseudoscience while relegating diagnosis and treatment of disease to the back burner, critics warn…The Natural Products Association has already been pressing Congress to allow people to use flexible savings accounts and health savings accounts on supplements, CEO Daniel Fabricant said. It's also trying to get supplements to be eligible for WIC and SNAP dollars…The FDA regularly warns stem cell clinics and chelation therapy centers they face possible legal action if they continue to make unsubstantiated claims, but they could expect to see more relaxed oversight of that sort, said William Matthew London, editor of the Center for Inquiry's Quackwatch.” A related story by Arthur Allen (KFF Health News) was “With RFK Jr. in charge, supplement makers see a chance to cash in.”
February 24 – Reed Abelson and Susanne Craig (New York Times) reported “Dr. Oz: how his millions collide with Medicare.” “The TV celebrity and Trump nominee has pledged to divest from most of his financial interests. But they touch nearly every corner of health care, from insurance to blood pressure cuffs and vitamins, leading experts and lawmakers to doubt he could make impartial decisions.”
February 28 - Angrej Singh (Axios) wrote “FDA cancels meeting to pick flu vaccine strains for next winter.” “The abrupt cancellation of the FDA's next vaccine advisory committee meeting is a deeply concerning development that could delay and disrupt a critical step in production of the annual flu vaccine.”
Featured topic: antivaccination (see also political developments above)
On Science-Based Medicine, Jonathan Howard:
Posted “Misinformation doctors start a misinformation journal to spread misinformation.” “Several doctors I’ve discussed previously, including Martin Kulldorff, Andrew Noymer, Jay Bhattacharya, Marty Makary, John Ioannidis, Scott Atlas, and Sunetra Gupta, recently started a new journal titled the Journal of the Academy of Public Health….[quoting an Article in Science by Catherine Offord:] ‘Only members of a newly formed body, the Academy of Public Health, can submit articles, and all submitted articles are published. Skeptics worry the publication will be used to sow doubt about scientific consensus on matters such as vaccine efficacy and safety’…[quoting Mallory Harris, from an Article by Walker Bragman in Important Context:] ’As far as I can tell, many of the people involved with this project are close ideological allies operating far outside of the scientific community’.”
Edzard Ernst:
Reported on “Measles outbreak in an US county with low vaccination rate.”
Discussed vaccine skepticism among users of so-called alternative medicine.” “So, individualized ‘holistic’ worldview and a lack of trust in medical professionals seem to have two simultaneous effects: they tend to make people turn towards SCAM [so-called alternative medicine] and they render them skeptical about vaccinations.”
On McGill Office for Science and Society, Jonathan Jarry:
Wrote “The square one fallacy.” “We’re about to see an awful lot of this square one fallacy, as disingenuous actors and their ignorant followers argue that we have never studied things that have a large scientific literature behind them. When used deceptively, it’s often because they don’t like what the scientific evidence has to say on this topic. It’s a way to sound reasonable and unbiased when what they really want are studies that agree with them. We have many studies on vaccine safety. We also have a long history of research into psi phenomena, including telepathy, and we know enough to be skeptical of poorly done ‘studies’ where trickery is allowed to influence the outcome.”
Posted “How we know that vaccines are safe.” “Take-home message: Some people claim that the safety of vaccines has never been adequately studied, which is false. Vaccine safety is studied in a series of larger and larger clinical trials before they can be approved, and surveillance continues after a vaccine is used to monitor for rare side effects. The alleged link between autism and vaccines (especially with the vaccine ingredient thimerosal) has been thoroughly investigated and it does not exist.”
On ImmunoLogic, Andrea Love:
Posted “Measles is not a harmless illness — complications include brain damage, immune amnesia, and death.” “And now, the Trump Administration and RFK Jr’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is only updating national disease surveillance dashboard monthly, absolutely unacceptable when we are dealing with the most contagious viral illness to humans.”
Wrote “The first measles death in the US in a decade is NOT normal.” “This was an entirely preventable tragedy. We have had safe and effective vaccines to protect against measles infection, illness, complications, and death for OVER 60 years…But because of decades of anti-vaccine rhetoric from RFK Jr…and his allies, vaccine rate have dropped in the US continuously over the last 15 years. To be clear: this measles outbreak is not a result of him now being Secretary of HHS. This measles outbreak has to do with the fact that: RFK Jr. has been spreading anti-vaccine lies since 1999.”
February 8 – Lauren Weber (Washington Post) published “In Idaho, a preview of RFK Jr.’s vaccine-skeptical America.” “This Idaho health district banned public clinics from distributing the coronavirus vaccine as widespread fear during the pandemic fades from public memory.”
February 13 – Tim Balk (New York Times) reported “Louisiana Health Department says it will stop promoting ‘mass vaccination’.” “Louisiana’s top health official said in an internal memo to the state’s Health Department on Thursday that it would no longer use media campaigns or health fairs to promote vaccination against preventable illnesses…Louisiana is experiencing a surge in flu this winter.” In a related story from The Guardian, “Bill Cassidy, the Republican US senator, has said his home state of Louisiana’s recent decision to cancel the promotion of mass vaccination against preventable diseases is a disservice to parents who want to keep their children healthy.”
February 17 – Katie Suleta (American Council on Science and Health) wrote “Making rabies great again.”
February 20 – Timothy Caulfield (The Walrus) wrote “Vaccines don’t cause autism but the lie that they do is still going strong.”
February 24 – Beth Mole (Ars Technica) wrote “COVID shots protect kids from long COVID – and don’t cause sudden death.” “COVID-19 vaccines cut the risk of long COVID by between 57–73 percent in kids and teens, according to a study published today in JAMA Network Open. And there's more good news: A second study published today in the journal offered more data that the now-annual shots are not linked to sudden cardiac arrest or sudden cardiac death in young athletes—a claim that gained traction on social media and among anti-vaccine groups during the acute phase of the pandemic.” The papers are: Yousaf et al. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Feb 3;8(2):e2459672 Paper and Astley et al. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Feb 3;8(2):e2461327 Paper.
Other topics
On Science-Based Medicine,
Scott Gavura:
Wrote “Do you need to drink electrolytes?” “Athlete or not, you need to ensure your diet and fluid intake contain enough sodium to compensate for losses through sweat and urine. For most people, that’s done without any intervention or any electrolyte supplements – no additional elements required.”
Steven Novella:
Wrote “The Telepathy Tapes – more FC [facilitated communication] pseudoscience.” “The Telepathy Tapes takes FC one step further. Not only do these non-speakers have vastly more intellectual capability than is apparent, but they are also psychic…The documentarians did not do their due diligence. It does not appear that they consulted with appropriate experts, or wrap their heads around what FC is and why it is pseudoscience…This is not benign entertainment. The Telepathy Tapes project explicitly promotes versions of FC, and explains away the lack of rigorous scientific evidence (in ways familiar to promoters of alternative medicine), further contributing to the watering down of scientific and academic standards in our society…The Telepathy Tapes is simply abusing another generation of non-speakers, and convincing another generation of listeners that FC is something other than the completely discredited pseudoscience that it is.”
Posted “BBC takes on appeal to nature fallacy.” “I was happy to see an article in the BBC directly take on the appeal to nature fallacy and how it is used to market dubious health products…The wellness/alternative medicine industry (and this is a massive multi-billion dollar industry) leverages the appeal to nature fallacy and other strategies to relentlessly erode the processes we have developed to protect the public. They have tried to convince the public that they do not need protection, they just need unfettered access to all the natural cures that are out there.” The Article is by Amanda Ruggeri.
On Respectful Insolence, “Orac”:
Posted “Hyperbaric oxygen treatment can kill.” “On Friday, a hyperbaric oxygen chamber exploded, killing a five-year-old child being treated at an ‘integrative’ clinic…The Oxford Center is among the alternative medical centers or medical spas that, in recent years, have offered hyperbaric oxygen therapy for conditions that are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, such as autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, sports injuries, COVID-19, depression, alopecia, HIV/AIDS, strokes, migraine headaches, and as an anti-aging treatment…This depressing and tragic story is yet another example of what I’ve characterized as the toothlessness of state departments of health when it comes to regulating ‘integrative medicine’ clinics that offer quackery like HBOT for autism alongside accepted modalities like ABA and cracking down on licensed doctors and health care professionals who administer treatments that are not science- or evidence-based and can even sometimes be dangerous.” In a later Story, Evann Gastaldo (Newser) reported that the child “was being treated in the hopes that oxygen therapy would help his sleep apnea and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.”
Edzard Ernst:
Posted “Homeopathy continues its retreat in Germany.” “The evidence that homeopathy generates more good than harm is clearly not positive. Therefore – in the name of evidence, consumer protection, suffering patients and medical ethics – it is unavoidable that homeopathy is in decline.”
Wrote “Today is World Cancer Day - unquestionably an important event for so-called alternative medicine.” “For every sensible Tweet, there seem to be 10 imbecilic and dangerous ones. Imaging a desperate cancer patient reads these lies, misleading claims, nonsensical statements and conspiracy theories! To set the record straight, let me state these two simple facts: There is no SCAM [so-called alternative medicine] that would change the natural history of any form of cancer. What is more, there never will be one! As soon as a treatment might look promising as a cancer cure, it will be investigated by mainstream scientists and – if it turns out to be helpful – integrated into conventional oncology. In other words, it will become evidence-based medicine.”
Discussed “Harald Walach, perhaps the most illustrious member of our ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE HALL OF FAME.” Walach is noted for promoting homeopathy and COVID-19 misinformation.
Wrote “Our review of ‘Urtica Dioica’ for benign prostatic hyperplasia … (and a rant about poor SCAM [so-called alternative medicine] research).” Urtica Dioica is also known as stinging nettle. The review (Posadzki et al., J Herbal Med. 2025, in press Abstract) concluded, “there is some promising evidence to support the effectiveness of Urtica in reducing the symptoms of BPH. Larger and more rigorous studies might reduce the existing uncertainties.” “I find it lamentable that systematic reviews (SRs) of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) are so often either: positive but not truly honest about the limitations of the evidence (we see this regularly on my blog); or they are sufficiently critical and thus arrive, like our above paper, at unequivocal (and sadly not very helpful) conclusions. As this is so, we see very few SRs that conclude ‘there is sound evidence to show that SCAM xy is effective (or ineffective).’ Yet, such verdicts would be what consumers need.”
Posted “’Traditional Chinese Medicine is a wonderful medicine’ – Oh, really? … You could have fooled me!” A critical German article included quotes from Ernst.
Wrote “’Tuina therapy is a safe and effective treatment option’ – but there are many good reasons for disbelieving this statement.” “Tuina massage is similar to acupressure in that it targets specific acupoints… Practitioners use fingers to apply pressure to stimulate these points. Some people suggest that Tuina might benefit diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), but the evidence is inconclusive…There are several reasons why I cannot accept the conclusion that Tuina is effective for DPN, e.g: All the RCTs were of the notorious A+B vs B design that…does not control for placebo effects and thus never generate negative results. None of the RCTs were single or double blind which means that expectation and therapist influence would have impacted on the findings. All of the studies originate from China; we have often discussed why such studies are notoriously unreliable…”
Asked “Are herbal remedies the answer to hair loss?” “The truth is that evidence from rigorous clinical trials is almost totally absent.”
Discussed “The effect of foot reflexology on the sexual function of lactating women.” “A total of 500 minutes of a foot massage must surely prompt a placebo response! Therefore, the notion that the reflexology treatment caused the observed outcomes is unwarranted – almost certainly the effects were mainly due to placebo.”
Posted “Death following chiropractic neck manipulation – a rare event?” “A further question is this: even if – as we all hope – deaths are very rare, does that mean chiropractic manipulations are safe? Here the answer is clearly NO! Death is merely the most dramatic outcome. Spinal manipulations can cause strokes, and most of these events do result in neurological deficits but not death. Finally, we need to consider the risk/benefit balance of chiropractic manipulations. As often discussed here, the benefits of spinal manipulation are, depending on the indication, small or uncertain. This means that even rare but serious adverse events weigh heavily and tilt the balance into the negative. In short, this means that chiropractors should be avoided.”
On McGill Office for Science and Society:
Jonathan Jarry:
Wrote “The Medicinal Garden Kit will probably not save you.” “Take-home message: The Medicinal Garden Kit by Nicole Apelian contains seeds for ten plants, including chamomile and feverfew, which are meant to serve as a pharmacy in your backyard. The evidence for the alleged health benefits comes from folk traditions and preliminary studies in cells and animals, not from human studies. Apelian claims to be successfully managing her multiple sclerosis through the use of unproven mushroom extracts and dietary supplements, but it’s important to know that the course of this disease is extremely variable regardless of treatment.”
Posted “Mitochondrial dysfunction is a bit of a fad.” “Take-home message: Mitochondrial dysfunction is said to be an important cause of chronic illness and age-related diseases, as in the best-selling book Good Energy by Casey and Calley Means. Mitochondria are the energy generators inside our cells, and problems with this or any function they fulfill have indeed been tied to a long list of noninfectious diseases. But there remain many important questions to answer before we have reliable interventions that target mitochondrial dysfunction. To help your mitochondria do their job, the best advice remains to eat healthy, exercise regularly and get enough quality sleep.”
Christopher Labos:
Wrote “The truth about oysters as a Valentine’s Day aphrodisiac.” “Oysters are exceptionally high in zinc, but zinc's reputation as an aphrodisiac is unearned.” In another story, Autumn Sword (Skeptical Inquirer) asked “Do aphrodisiacs really work?” “At the end of the day, while medicinal preparations of horny goat weed, Spanish Fly, and mandrake root might have some effect, there’s a good chance that effect won’t be a good one. At best, your love potion won’t work. At worst, you could end up poisoning someone.”
Joe Schwarcz:
Wrote “Dark chocolate reduces risk of diabetes? Don’t count on it.” “The bottom line here is that the many hours of research and the supporting funding yielded results that may be of some academic interest but have little practical significance. Media suggestions that adding five servings of dark chocolate a week to the diet with hopes of reducing the risk of Type 2 diabetes are misguided. Maybe if the chocolate is substituted for a sweet dessert. Or maybe not.”
Discussed black salve, derived from bloodroot (video with transcript). “Black salve is sold by alternative practitioners or online as a treatment for various skin lesions including skin cancer and melanoma. There is no evidence of efficacy, but plenty of evidence of harm. Black salve destroys the flesh and leaves horrible scars.”
Discussed “Yogurt and colon cancer” (video with transcript). “What was mostly left out of the coverage, however, was that there were no statistically significant associations between long-term yogurt intake and overall colorectal cancer incidence! So, bifidobacteria may reduce the risk of some tumours but not the overall risk of colorectal cancer, which is what we are really interested in. Furthermore, not all yogurts contain bifidobacteria. They are all made with some form of lactobacillus, but only some producers add bifidobacteria. There is also the question of how many of the live bacteria are actually contained in the product and how many make it to the gut. If yogurt really increases longevity as Metchnikoff insinuated, it is not by preventing colon cancer.”
February – Skeptical Inquirer posted a video of a panel discussion, “Longevity lies and the fountain of youth.” “In a society obsessed with commercial quick fixes and biohacking, the quest for healthy aging and longevity has taken center stage. From dietary supplements and anti-aging creams to wellness retreats and lifestyle programs, the market is saturated with promises of eternal youth. The panel consisted of Timothy Caulfield, Rina Raphael, and Nick Tiller.
February 7 – Vivian Ho (Washington Post) reported “The real-life cancer hoax behind Netflix’s ‘Apple Cider Vinegar.” “Wellness influencer Belle Gibson claimed for years that she had cured her brain cancer through nutrition and holistic medicine, only to have her hoax exposed.” Steven Novella also discussed the series on Science-Based Medicine.
February 25 – An article by Teddy Amenabar (Washington Post) discussed creatine supplements. “When paired with resistance training, creatine supplements may improve strength and physical function in older adults, experts say.”
February 26 - Nickel and others published “Social media posts about medical tests with potential for overdiagnosis” (JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Feb 3;8(2):e2461940 Paper). The authors examined posts on Instagram and TikTok “ that discussed full-body magnetic resonance imaging, the multicancer early detection test, and tests for antimullerian hormone, gut microbiome, and testosterone…most posts were misleading or failed to mention important harms, including overdiagnosis or overuse.” Most posts “were from account holders with some form of financial interest in promoting the test.” A story by Dani Blum (New York Times) discussed the findings.
Additions to previous month
January 15 – Sakizadeh and others published “Characteristics of clinics offering non-traditional Lyme disease therapies in Lyme endemic states of the US” (Open Forum Infectious Diseases, in press Paper). “We found that unproven therapies are routinely offered, and some therapies raise safety concerns. The cost of care can be high, which may lead to significant out-of-pocket expenditures for patients.”
January 29 – Engeli and others published “Cannabidiol in foods and food supplements: Evaluation of health risks and health claims” (Nutrients. 2025 Jan 29;17(3):489 Paper). “A critical evaluation of the available data on potential beneficial health effects of CBD in the dose range at or below the LOAEL [lowest observable adverse effect level] of 4.3 mg/kg bw/day revealed no scientific evidence that would substantiate health claims, e.g., in relation to physical performance, the cardiovascular, immune, and nervous system, anxiety, relaxation, stress, sleep, pain, or menstrual health. Conclusions: The SKLM [Permanent Senate Commission on Food Safety of the German Research Foundation] concluded that consumption of CBD-containing foods/food supplements may not provide substantiated health benefits and may even pose a health risk to consumers.”