Featured topic: coronavirus pseudoscience
On Science-Based Medicine, Jann Bellamy wrote “Chiropractors falsely claim they can protect patients from coronavirus” and “Canadian authorities warn chiropractors and naturopaths against making false COVID-19 claims.”
David Gorski wrote “Are hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin an effective treatment for COVID-19?” and “Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin versus COVID-19: Grift, conspiracy theories, and another bad study by Didier Raoult.” Additional details on new clinical trials were discussed in a similar post of his on Respectful Insolence (April 1).
On Respectful Insolence, “Orac” posted “COVID-19 pandemic: A golden opportunity for quackery” and “No, the flu vaccine does not increase your chance of getting coronavirus by 36% due to viral interference.”
Edzard Ernst created the “Corona-Virus Quackery Club,” with posts on homeopaths, colloidal silver crooks, TCM [traditional Chinese medicine] practitioners, orthomolecular quacks, Unani salesmen, chiropractors, essential oil salesmen, urine and dung quacks, and supplement peddlers. Additional posts also dealt with homeopathy (Mar. 17 and Mar. 20) and chiropractic. He also asked: “are antiviral herbs an effective option?”
March – The Center for Inquiry launched a Coronavirus Resource Center. “A crisis on the scale of the coronavirus pandemic brings with it an unprecedented deluge of falsehoods, unfounded rumor and speculation, and snake oil profiteering. There is, as yet, no vaccine for the coronavirus, but we can inoculate ourselves from misinformation.”
March 9 – “The Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have sent warning letters to seven companies allegedly selling unapproved products that may violate federal law by making deceptive or scientifically unsupported claims about their ability to treat coronavirus (COVID-19)…The recipients are companies that advertise products—including teas, essential oils, and colloidal silver—as able to treat or prevent coronavirus” Press release.
March 9 – Lloyd Grove asked “Why Is Alleged Quack Dr. Oz the Face of NBC’s ‘Coronavirus Crisis Team’?”
March 19 – The FTC posted “Coronavirus scams, part 2.”
March 20 – Umair Irfan wrote “What you need to know about hydroxychloroquine, Trump’s new favorite treatment for Covid-19.”
March 22 – “Justice Department Files Its First Enforcement Action Against COVID-19 Fraud” News release. “Information published on the website claimed to offer consumers access to World Health Organization (WHO) vaccine kits in exchange for a shipping charge of $4.95, which consumers would pay by entering their credit card information on the website.”
March 31 – On the Center for Inquiry site, William London posted “Can naturopathic doctors combat COVID-19?”
March 31 – A Story by Kala Kachmar reported that Louisville police were “investigating pop-up coronavirus testing sites for scams.” Later reports linked the alleged scammers to a genetic testing scam in 2019.
Other topics
Best of the blogs, March – on Science-Based Medicine, David Gorski:
Posted ““Personalized” dietary recommendations based on DNA testing: Modern astrology.” “The bottom line is simple. DTC [direct-to-consumer] nutrigenomic profiling is just not ready for prime time, not as a prescription service and certainly not as a DTC service.”
Wrote “No, editors of The Atlantic, reiki does not work.” “The Atlantic published an article by Jordan Kisner touting the benefits of reiki and arguing that you shouldn’t listen to all those nasty skeptics calling it woo-woo. Unsurprisingly, the article is a credulous mess citing only token skepticism and relying on weak evidence…Don’t make any health claims for reiki. Instead, treat reiki masters like chaplains and their visits to patients the same way health care facilities treat visits by priests, ministers, rabbis, and imams.”
Harriet Hall:
Criticized products and advice offered on the Healthy Directions site. “The Healthy Directions website is devoted to slick marketing but not to science. Not recommended.”
Posted “Lipogen for Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS).” “Lipogen PMS-Free is a dietary phospholipid supplement containing PAS, a complex of 400 mg phosphatidylserine and 400 mg phosphatidic acid…Lipogen would like you to believe that doctors have specifically designed an effective ‘natural’ treatment for PMS. In fact, they already had a phospholipid supplement that they were marketing as a nootropic, and they merely repurposed it to fill another niche in the market…Phospholipid supplements may be effective as PMS remedies and/or as nootropics, but so far the evidence is far from compelling.”
Steven Novella:
Noted that “A systematic review of cannabinoids for acute pain shows the evidence is preliminary, and not very encouraging.”
On Respectful Insolence, “Orac”:
Posted “Children's Health Defense: Ten lies about vaccines.”
Edzard Ernst:
Wrote “Dry needling is useless for rehabilitation after shoulder surgery.”
Published “Functional neurology – more chiro-quackery?” He discussed a review showing no evidence of benefit (Meyer AL, Leboeuf-Yde C. Chiropr Man Therap. 2018 Jul 25;26:30 Paper).
Posted “Homeopathic treatment of pregnant sows as replacement for antibiotics in suckling piglets – A study in misapplication of the scientific method.”
March - The March/April issue of Skeptical Inquirer included “A Small Victory for Science in Suburban Philadelphia,” by Stuart Vyse (44(2):5) (subscription required), reporting a court ruling that a school district was not required to provide spelling to communicate, a variation on the discredited method of facilitated communication. Britt Hermes wrote “Beware the Naturopathic Cancer Quack” (44(2):38-44).
March – Skeptic Magazine, vol. 25, number 1 included Harriet Hall’s “The SkepDoc” column, dealing with “The Fountain of Youth and Other Anti-Aging Myths” (pp. 4-5). “There are many anti-aging dietary supplements on the market…They claim many health benefits, but most of the ingredients and mixtures have never actually been tested for clinically significant health benefits, much less for longevity.” Stefanek and Jordan wrote “Integrative Cancer Care: Below the Bar of Science” (pp. 35-39). Among their points: “there is little evidence for many of the interventions noted…there is the issue of transparency and patient decision-making. It is unclear if and how information about the limited effectiveness of many of the integrative therapies is presented to patients…the point is often made that patients are ‘demanding’ such integrative services. However, patients did not demand such services until advocates filled their heads with silly nonsense about practices such as invisible energy fields and ‘healing touch’.”
March - Bjelica and others published “Internet marketing of cardioprotective dietary supplements” (J Altern Complement Med. 2020 Mar;26(3):204-11 Paper). “The most commonly registered cardioprotective dietary supplements on the internet were supplements based on omega-3 fatty acids…most of the analyzed websites that sell omega-3 supplements did not contain all important medical information required by Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act.”
March – A review by Zhong and others concerned “Tai chi for essential hypertension” (Curr Hypertens Rep. 2020 Mar 2;22(3):25 Abstract). “Tai Chi could be recommended as an adjuvant treatment for hypertension, especially for patients less than 50 years old. However, due to poor methodological qualities of included RCTs [randomized controlled trials] and high heterogeneity, this conclusion warrants further investigation.”
March – According to a review by Rahmani et al. (Complement Ther Med. 2020 Mar;49:102298 Abstract), saffron has beneficial effects on waist circumference and fasting plasma glucose.
March – Amini and other tested effects of berberine and barberry (Complement Ther Med. 2020 Mar;49:102337 Abstract). Berberine is a compound found in barberry and other plants. The authors found that neither berberine nor barberry produced significant effects on body mass index or body weight, while berberine produced a significant reduction in waist-hip ratio.
March 4 - A large study of fish oil supplementation followed over 400,000 subjects (Li et al. BMJ. 2020 Mar 4;368:m456 Paper) and found that “Habitual use of fish oil seems to be associated with a lower risk of all cause and CVD [cardiovascular disease] mortality and to provide a marginal benefit against CVD events among the general population.”
March 6 – According to an FTC Press release, “A marketer of teas and skincare products has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it promoted its products using deceptive health claims and endorsements by well-known social media influencers who did not adequately disclose that they were being paid to promote its products. The FTC’s complaint alleges that Teami, LLC, and its owners, Adi Halevy and Yogev Malul, claimed without reliable scientific evidence that their Teami 30 Day Detox Pack would help consumers lose weight, and that its other teas fight cancer, clear clogged arteries, decrease migraines, treat and prevent flus, and treat colds.”
March 10 – Ambrosone and others reported on “Dietary Supplement Use During Chemotherapy and Survival Outcomes of Patients With Breast Cancer…” (J Clin Oncol. 2020 Mar 10;38(8):804-14 Abstract). “There were indications that use of any antioxidant supplement (vitamins A, C, and E; carotenoids; coenzyme Q10) both before and during treatment was associated with an increased hazard of recurrence…Associations between survival outcomes and use of antioxidant and other dietary supplements both before and during chemotherapy are consistent with recommendations for caution among patients when considering the use of supplements, other than a multivitamin, during chemotherapy.” Scott Gavura discussed the paper on Science-Based Medicine.
March 12 - Ackerman and Chopik published “Individual differences in personality predict the use and perceived effectiveness of essential oils” (PLoS ONE 15(3): e0229779 Paper). “We found that receptivity to pseudo-profound fabricated statements and religiosity were the most consistent predictors of greater use of, perceived effectiveness of, and a willingness to spend more money on EOs.”
March 15 – An article and editorial in American Family Physician on acupuncture for pain provoked critical responses from Harriet Hall (Evidence lacking that acupuncture is more effective than placebo. Am Fam Physician. 2020 Mar 15;101(6):325-326 Letter) and Joel Kann (Acupuncture not supported by strong scientific evidence. Am Fam Physician. 2020 Mar 15;101(6):326-328 Letter). Replies from the original authors are included.
March 17 – Marton and others published “Science, advocacy, and quackery in nutritional books: an analysis of conflicting advice and purported claims of nutritional best-sellers” (Palgrave Commun. 2020. 6:43 Paper). The authors analyzed 100 best-selling books. “In addition to weight loss, 31 of the books promised to cure or prevent a host of diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and dementia; however, the nutritional advice given to achieve these outcomes varied widely in terms of which types of foods should be consumed or avoided and this information was often contradictory between books.” Only seven of 83 authors appeared to have current university appointments. Probably the large majority of the books “contain substantial misinformation and claims that have no scientific foundation.” Edzard Ernst discussed the article.
March 25 – A controversial study was supportive of acupuncture for migraine (Xu et al. BMJ 2020;368:m697 Paper). “Twenty sessions of manual acupuncture was superior to sham acupuncture and usual care for the prophylaxis of episodic migraine without aura. These results support the use of manual acupuncture in patients who are reluctant to use prophylactic drugs or when prophylactic drugs are ineffective…” An editorial by Angus-Leppan (BMJ. 2020 Mar 25;368:m1096 Preview) stated “We now have good evidence that acupuncture is an effective treatment for episodic migraine” and “provides a useful additional tool in our therapeutic armoury.” However, Edzard Ernst and Steven Novella were unconvinced. Ernst pointed out that nearly every research paper from China reports positive results, and there is a high level of fraudulent research. Also, it is questionable whether blinding was successful. Finally, “I do not think that a single trial can ever be a sufficient reason for changing existing guidelines.” Novella noted that there was “No difference in MIDAS [Migraine Disability Assessment], which attempts to measure the effect of migraines on quality of life. And, most importantly in my opinion, no reduction in rescue medication. So while subjects reported fewer migraines, they took the same amount of pain medication to treat migraines…In the end we have a study with high risk of bias showing a small reduction in subjective reports but no reduction in more objective measures of migraine. In total, this is extremely unconvincing…”
March 19 – A Press release announced that “Health Center, Inc. Settles FTC Allegations That It Targeted Older Consumers With Deceptive Claims for Health and Wellness Products.” “The complaint alleges the defendants advertised that Rejuvi-Cell, Rejuvi-Sea, and Rejuvi-Stem could treat or cure a wide range of serious diseases and health conditions, including cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, and depression, without having the scientific evidence to back up their claims.”