Featured topic: coronavirus
On Science-Based Medicine, David Gorski:
Asked “Is COVID-19 transmitted by airborne aerosols?
Posted “COVID-19 ‘super-spreaders’ and ‘super-spreading events’: The controversy.”
Wrote “Hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19: Evidence can’t seem to kill it.”
On Respectful Insolence, “Orac” posted:
“Dr. Cammy Benton: An antivaxxer plays the ‘both sides’ card on masks for COVID-19.”
“Henry Ford Hospital hydroxychloroquine trial: Not good evidence that the drug works for COVID-19.” Four major types of flaws were presented. “…this study has a lot of issues, the sorts of issues that can plague retrospective studies of this sort…”
“Dr. Kelly Victory: Another despicable physician spreading disinformation about COVID-19.”
“AAPS: A crank medical ‘association’ promotes COVID-19 disinformation.”
“Hydroxychloroquine: The Black Knight of treatments for COVID-19.”
Edzard Ernst posted:
“’Homeopathy combat against coronavirus disease (Covid-19)’… No, sadly it’s not a hoax.”
May 20 – Putnam Groove posted “Homeopathic mass fraud concerning claimed efficacy of homeopathy in epidemics.” Proponents of homeopathy claim much better survival statistics for homeopathy vs. conventional medicine in the 1918 influenza pandemic as a reason for advocating homeopathy in the current pandemic. The author checked the historic records and challenges the statistics cited by homeopaths.
June 4 – Leigh Turner wrote “Preying on Public Fears and Anxieties in a Pandemic: Businesses Selling Unproven and Unlicensed ‘Stem Cell Treatments’ for COVID-19” (Cell Stem Cell. 2020;26(6):806-10 Paper). The treatments “have not been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or other national regulatory bodies.” The companies “make misleading claims, expose patients to potentially risky products, promote false hope, might lead some individuals to place less emphasis on physical distancing and sheltering in place measures, and administer unproven stem cell interventions that likely will result in the subsequent exclusion of recipients from well-designed and competently conducted clinical studies.”
July 12 – Paul Knoepfler wrote “Rick Perry plugs Celltex MSCs [mesenchymal stem cells] on Fox for COVID-19 prevention.”
July 13 – “U.S. Attorney’s Office Shuts Down Multiple Websites Claiming To Offer Preorders For COVID-19 Vaccine” Press Release. A Louisville man had a “webpage, six related web addresses and a related Facebook page that the suit says are attempting to lure consumers to ‘pre-register’ for a non-existent COVID-19 vaccine in exchange for $100 worth of Bitcoin (‘BTC’), a type of cryptocurrency.”
July 18 – Stephen Barrett posted “’Mask exemption’ cards are not government-supported” on Quackwatch.
July 18 – Jan Hoffman wrote “Mistrust of a coronavirus vaccine could imperil widespread immunity.”
July 21 – The Center for Science in the Public Interest reports “FDA and FTC Urged to Bring Enforcement Proceedings Against Joseph Mercola for False COVID-19 Health Claims.” “Online salesman Joseph Mercola falsely claims that at least 22 vitamins, supplements, and other products available for sale on his web site can prevent, treat, or cure COVID-19 infection…All of the supplements and devices covered by the letters make illegal disease treatment or prevention claims, and are also unsubstantiated and deceptive or false.”
July 23 – José María León Cabrera published “With officials’ backing, dubious virus remedies surge in Latin America.”
July 28-29 – Several articles dealt with a video produced by a group called “America’s Frontline Doctors.” The video, which was retweeted by President Trump, was removed by Facebook due to “sharing false information about cures and treatments for COVID-19.” Brandy Zadrozny and Ben Collins wrote “Dark money and PAC's coordinated 'reopen' push are behind doctors' viral hydroxychloroquine video” for NBC News. Ryan Basen and others wrote “No Evidence That Doctor Group in Viral Video Got Near COVID 'Front Lines'” for MedPage Today. Will Sommer wrote “Trump’s New Favorite COVID Doctor Believes in Alien DNA, Demon Sperm, and Hydroxychloroquine” for Daily Beast.
Other topics
Best of the blogs, July – on Science-Based Medicine, Harriet Hall:
Discussed Juvent, a vibrating platform that allegedly adjusts to the body’s “frequency” and helps “improve blood flow, ease joint, knee and back pain, and increase stability.” “The marketing is slick, but the claims are not credible.”
Wrote “TENS for pain relief: does it work?” TENS is transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. Paul Ingraham “considers it a form of sensation-enhanced placebo…I have to agree with Paul Ingraham that there is some evidence for using TENS for some pain conditions, but that it doesn’t appear to be very effective for anything else.”
Steven Novella:
Posted “More evidence raw milk is bad.” He discussed a study showing the presence of bacteria carrying antibiotic resistance genes in raw milk (Liu et al. Microbiome. 2020;8(1):99 Paper). “The bottom line is that there is no health benefit to drinking raw milk vs pasteurized milk, but there is a clear increased risk from pathogenic bacteria and now possibly from increased spread of antibiotic resistant genes.”
Discussed a study supposedly showing benefits of meditation for cardiovascular risk. “When you control for the obvious confounding factors…all of the significant effects on stroke, heart attack, and other meaningful clinical outcomes go away. There was no independent association between meditation and good clinical outcomes. None. Normally this would be considered a negative study.”
On Respectful Insolence, “Orac”:
Posted “False Hope: A BBC documentary throws a light on cancer quackery.” The story focuses on a clinic (run by a homeopath) employing thermography. Edzard Ernst also commented.
Edzard Ernst:
Discussed observational studies of homeopathy.
Wrote “Pranic healing revisited…no, it’s not a hoax.” “No, Pranic Healing is most certainly not hoax, and I was wrong to imply it…It is pure and simple exploitation of vulnerable people who have not had the opportunity to learn how to think critically.”
Discussed Harald Walach's studies of distant healing. “…distant healing is neither plausible nor effective beyond placebo. Yet Walach seems to refuse drawing such a conclusion.”
Gave two reports showing increasing worldwide opposition to homeopathy. One was entitled “Homeopathics can no longer be marketed as medicinal products in Hungary.” The second was “Russia's ‘Commission against Pseudoscience’ has called for the Health Ministry to ban homeopathy.”
Provided a critique of Vibroacoustic Sound Therapy, which supposedly introduces healthy customized frequencies into the body – claims that make no sense and are unsupported by evidence.
Discussed a paper in support of aromatherapy for pain and anxiety in burn patients. “I have no reason to doubt the validity of the study. Yet, I nevertheless think it is prudent to insist on an independent replication before issuing a general recommendation.”
Reported on a paper indicating that “Glucosamine supplementation is associated with lower mortality due to all causes, cancer, CVD, respiratory and digestive diseases” (Li et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 2020;79(6):829-36 Paper). “It means, I think, that glucosamine could well have clinical effects that go far beyond easing the pain of arthritis. However, we cannot be sure. Once again, it boils down to the need of robust clinical trial data. The subject certainly seems important enough to consider this option.”
Discussed similarities between homeopathy and German New Medicine (the latter being the creation of Ryke Geerd Hamer, who died in 2017).
Noted a review on the use of routine spinal radiographs by chiropractors. The review (Corso et al. Chiropr Man Therap. 2020;28(1):33 Paper) concluded, “We found no evidence that the use of routine or repeat radiographs to assess the function or structure of the spine, in the absence of red flags, improves clinical outcomes and benefits patients. Given the inherent risks of ionizing radiation, we recommend that chiropractors do not use radiographs for the routine and repeat evaluation of the structure and function of the spine.”
Wrote “No efficacy of acupressure on quality of recovery after surgery.” “Perhaps it is best to ask before planning such a trial: IS THE ASSUMPTION THAT THE TREATMENT WORKS FOR THIS CONDITION PLAUSIBLE? If the answer is no, why do the study in the first place?”
Asked for better evidence of the value of WATSU (water shiatsu, a form of hydrotherapy).
Discussed a new review of spinal manipulation for the management of cervicogenic headache. “Its positive result is not clinically relevant, almost certainly due to residual bias and confounding in the primary studies, and thus most likely false-positive. The conclusions seem to disclose more the bias of the review authors than the truth. Considering the risks of SMT of the upper spine (a subject not even mentioned by the authors), I cannot see that the risk/benefit balance of this treatment is positive. It follows, I think, that other, less risky and more effective treatments are to be preferred for CGHA.”
Was critical of a paper finding “Lower rates of mortality, readmission and reoperation in patients receiving acupuncture after hip fracture.” “…retrospective matched cohort studies are hopeless when it comes to establishing cause and effect!”
Discussed a paper indicating beneficial effects of alternative medicine for quality of life of breast cancer patients. An improvement seems reasonable, but certain questions need to be addressed. “Sadly, none of them can be answered by conducting poor quality systematic reviews of the evidence. Even more sadly, few of the proponents of integrated medicine want to face the music and answer these questions. They seem to prefer to stand in the way of progress, to ignore medical ethics, to blindly and naively integrate any old nonsense from the realm of SCAM [so-called alternative medicine] (anything from homeopathy to Reiki) into routine care without probing further and without wanting to know the facts.”
July – Proponents of complementary and alternative medicine sometimes cite preventable death figures for conventional medicine, as if they lend support to their own methods. However, the numbers cited are suspiciously high. A new study of hospitalized patients by Rodwin and others (J Gen Intern Med. 2020;35(7):2099-2106 Abstract) found that “The number of deaths due to medical error is lower than previously reported and the majority occur in patients with less than 3-month life expectancy. The vast majority of hospital deaths are due to underlying disease.”
July – Harriet Hall wrote “How you can really boost your immune system” for Skeptical Inquirer. “The term boosting the immune system is meaningless to anyone who really understands the immune system. It is only useful to help marketers deceive customers. The principle of ‘buyer beware’ applies…There is one way that you can actually boost your immune system: vaccines.”
July 10 – Anne Borden King wrote “I have cancer. Now my Facebook feed is full of ‘alternative care’ ads.”
July 13 – An FDA Consumer Update was entitled “Avoid Dangerous HCG Diet Products.” HCG is human chorionic gonadotropin, “a hormone produced by the placenta during pregnancy. Products marketed for weight loss that claim to contain HCG are typically marketed in connection with a very low-calorie diet, usually one that limits calories to 500 per day…’These products are marketed with incredible claims, and people think that if they're losing weight, HCG must be working,’said Carolyn Becker, director of the Office of Unapproved Drugs and Labeling Compliance in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. ‘But the data simply do not support this; any loss is from severe calorie restriction. Not from the HCG’…HCG Is Not Approved Without a Prescription and Is Not Approved for Weight Loss…” Very low-calorie diets are potentially dangerous, since they may not provide sufficient nutrition, and should only be used under medical supervision.
Addition to previous months
June – Simpson and Young published “Vitalism in contemporary chiropractic: a help or a hinderance?” (Chiropr Man Therap. 2020;28(1):35 Paper). “Though only vaguely defined by chiropractors, vitalism, as a representation of supernatural force and therefore an untestable hypothesis, sits at the heart of the divisions within chiropractic and acts as an impediment to chiropractic legitimacy, cultural authority and integration into mainstream health care.”