MAY 2024 NEWS
Featured topic: COVID-19
On Science-Based Medicine,
David Gorski:
Posted “A poorly framed article on COVID-19 vaccine injury in the New York Times.” “While it is the duty of news organizations to hold authority to account for its failures and point out where systems like our vaccine safety monitoring system need reform and improvement, which this article does, it’s also important not to make it too easy for enemies of public health and vaccination to use your reporting for their own purposes, which is what the NYT did here. Its poor framing based on an all-too-familiar (and tired) trope of people with mysterious diseases who believe they know what caused them being supposedly ignored and vilified by conventional medicine undermined what could have been an excellent story about the massive shortcomings of the CICP and problems with our current vaccine safety monitoring program.”
Wrote “The ultimate COVID-19 antivax conspiracy theory, courtesy of the Brownstone Institute and Jeffery Tucker.”
Jonathan Howard:
Wrote “Pro-infection doctors didn’t just want kids in school. They wanted them there unvaccinated, untested, and unmasked. They wanted them infected.”
On Respectful Insolence, “Orac”:
Posted “Midazolam as ‘euthanasia’ for COVID, or the most brain-dead paper I’ve ever read?” “A recent paper, amplified by antivax bloggers and John Campbell, claims that midazolam killed many COVID-19 patients in the UK as a result of ‘euthanasia’.”
Wrote “The FLCCC [Frontline COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance] bestows the fake title of ‘senior fellow’ to twelve antivax quacks.” “The COVID-19 quacks and grifters at the FLCCC have named twelve quacks as ‘senior fellow,’ the better to further antivax conspiracy theories and, of course, grift.”
Edzard Ernst:
Discussed the “Lightning Process” for long COVID. “LP is claimed to work by teaching people to use their brains to ‘stimulate health-promoting neural pathways’…Let me try to summarise: The LP is promoted as a cure for long-Covid. There is no evidence that LP is effective for it. The claim is that it has been shown to work for ME [myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome]. There is no evidence that LP is effective for it. A 3-day course costs £1 000. Their website claims it is good for practically everyone. Does anyone think that LP or its promoters are remotely serious?”
Featured topic: vaccines (general)
On Respectful Insolence, “Orac”:
Posted “Steve Kirsch: Vaccines cause The Trans and The Gay!” “Just when I thought Steve Kirsch couldn’t get any more ridiculous, he does another online survey linking vaccines to The Gay and The Trans, this one even more risibly incompetent than his usual.”
Wrote “Antivax tech bro Steve Kirsch ‘reinvents’ challenging a scientific consensus.” “He is ‘challenging’ those defending that consensus, in effect, to reinvent the wheel by doing more experiments that are, in light of the huge body of existing evidence, unnecessary and quite possibly even unethical if they involve, for instance, anything resembling a randomized placebo-controlled trial that would randomize children to a group unprotected against infectious diseases by vaccines.”
Posted “A blast from the past: Jake Crosby retracts his antivax criticism of an MMR study.”
Edzard Ernst:
Discussed “Attitudes of vaccination-hesitant parents towards so-called alternative medicine (SCAM).”
May 15 – Charles Sykes discussed Republican efforts to weaken vaccine requirements that protect students from infectious diseases.
May 22 – Amy Maxmen and Céline Gounder wrote “4 ways vaccine skeptics mislead you on measles and more.” Four antivaccine tropes were discussed: no big deal, you never know, too much too soon, they don’t want you to know.
Other topics
On Science-Based Medicine,
David Gorski:
Wrote “The Washington Post publishes and advertorial on IV drips.” “You can argue that of course you shouldn’t send a travel reporter to do a story about a medical intervention, and you’d be right. However, it’s articles like this (and, for example, a more ‘serious’ but equally credulous WaPo article on acupuncture) that show the problem with how all too many news outlets and reporters view evidence. Worse, this one shows that newspapers and media outlets appear to have learned nothing over the last four years.”
Posted “FitScriptTM: Functional health quackery and a misleading alternative cancer cure testimonial.” “So what we have with FitScript are two quack/entrepreneurs named Michael Morelli and Paul Burgess who epitomize my characterization of ‘functional medicine’ as ‘reams of useless test results in one hand, a huge invoice in the other.’ This would be bad enough if all they were doing was ‘treating’ the worried well, but they’re not. They’re victimizing cancer patients like Paula Hood.”
Clay Jones:
Wrote “Tattoos still won’t boost your immune system.” “Does the repeated stress on your immune system from getting tattoo after tattoo make you better able to fight off infections? No, no it does not.”
Steven Novella:
Posted “Kava and liver damage.” “In the end there is still reason to be cautious about using kava products (outside traditional use). Herbal products are poorly researched and regulated drugs. They have real drug risks and side effects. Kava is a great example of why herbal products should not be considered generally safe.”
Edzard Ernst:
Posted “A ‘dignified end’ with 'whole person' cancer care?” “If I had the choice between ‘whole person’ care followed by a ‘dignified end’ or conventional oncology followed by survival, I would chose the latter.”
Continued his series on “The fake diagnoses of alternative medicine.” Part 4 included vaccine overload, vertebral subluxation, and yin/yang imbalance.
Wrote “Increasing concerns about SCAM [so-called alternative medicine] research originating from China.”
Posted “Health complaints before and after removal of dental amalgam restorations.”
Posted “Whooping cough is back: please beware of homeopaths, their remedies and their advice!”
Discussed “The effect of distance reiki on anxiety and test performance: a randomized controlled trial.” “To make the irony complete, let me tell you that this trial was published in Journal of Nursing Education…I suggest that the journal urgently embarks on a program of educating its editors, reviewers, contributors and readers about science, pseudoscience, minimal standards, scientific rigor, and medical ethics.”
Wrote “A comprehensive review on the hepatotoxicity of herbs used in the Indian (Ayush) systems of alternative medicine.” “The authors concluded that Turmeric, Ashwagandha, and Giloy are herbs with a high risk of hepatobiliary toxicity that are consistently reported in the medical literature. Furthermore, beyond the scope of this review, various other herbal and dietary supplements that are part of both traditional and nontraditional over-the-counter use have been reported to have severe hepatotoxic potential.”
Reported “Yet another case of vertebral artery dissection following cervical spine manipulation.”
Discussed “A systematic review of the physical and mental health benefits of touch.” “It seems obvious to me that these findings are relevant to several SCAMs [so-called alternative medicines], e.g.:…[list of 22 alternative methods]… This also means that the effects of these SCAMs will be at least to some extend non-specific, i.e. not related to the treatment per se but to touch. Finally, it means that clinical trials testing these SCAMs need to be designed such that the touch element is adequately accounted for.”
Wrote “Supernatural healing practices: the Vatican issues new rules.”
Discussed a study of “Fish oil supplements and cardiovascular disease.” “I must admit that I am slightly puzzled by this study and its findings. The authors clearly speak of the ‘role’ regular use of fish oil supplements has. This language implies a casual impact. Yet, what we have here are associations, and every 1st year medical student knows that correlation is not causation. Other things to note are that: the associations are only very weak; they go in opposite directions depending on the subpopulation that is examined, there is no plausible mechanism of action to explain all this.
Collectively, these facts suggest to me that we are indeed more likely dealing here with a non-causal association and not a causal link.”
Discussed a new economic evaluation of homeopathy. The study recommended promoting homeopathy. Ernst noted that in contrast, an earlier rigorous study found homeopathy to be more expensive than conventional medicine. “Homeopathy is not cost-effective. How could it possibly be? To be cost-effective, a therapy has to be first of all effective – and that homeopathy is certainly not. So, why does the above-cited new paper arrive at a more positive conclusion? Here are some potential explanations…Most importantly, the authors acknowledge that many of the primary studies had serious methodological problems. However, this did not stop them from taking their data seriously. As a result, we have here another example of the old and well-known rule of systematic reviews: RUBBISH IN, RUBBISH OUT!”
Wrote “Distant reiki for phantom pain: yet another phoney study that misleads patients.” “I disagree…that it is an appropriate therapy for an independent nursing practice. And I disagree even more that this study shows or even suggests that Reiki is effective. Why? You probably know the reason: this study had no control group. The observed outcomes can have several explanations that are unrelated to Reiki…My conclusion: it is high time that researchers, peer-reviewers, editors, etc. stop trying to mislead the public with offensively poor-quality research and false conclusions. Reiki is an utterly implausible therapy for which no sound evidence exist.”
On McGill Office for Science and Society:
Elliott Durkee:
Discussed the carnivore diet. “The Carnivore Diet is not just risky because it’s lacking important vitamins, nutrients, and fiber–it’s also possible to have too much of a good thing. Eating lots of meat can cause serious digestive issues, and eating lots of saturated fats, which are plentiful in the Carnivore diet, can elevate LDL cholesterol (the bad kind!) and increase risk of heart disease. The additional sodium that comes from a diet high in salty meats can cause high blood pressure and put extra pressure on your kidneys.” A related story by Steven Kurutz was entitled “Meet the men who eat meat (and only meat).”
Jonathan Jarry:
Wrote “Reports of the death of dental cavities are greatly exaggerated.” “Take-home message: Lumina is a genetically engineered version of the Streptococcus mutans bacterium that lives in the mouth, and it is supposed to prevent you from developing dental caries because it does not produce acid. It has been poorly studied for safety and effectiveness. Streptococcus mutans is actually neither necessary nor sufficient for the development of dental caries; the disease actually comes about because of a shift in the equilibrium of bacteria in the mouth which encourages the demineralization of our teeth.”
Posted “Sleeping on the floor is not like getting an eight-hour massage.” “Take-home message: Some YouTubers, mainly young men, have stopped sleeping on a bed and are embracing sleeping on the ground, claiming a number of health benefits. The underlying philosophy is that the modern world is full of bad ‘chemicals’ and we need to go back to a more natural way of sleeping, which is a faulty argument that misrepresents what chemicals are. The idea that sleeping on a hard surface allows your body to fully relax is nonsensical, and research into mattresses shows that the average person prefers a mattress that is neither soft nor firm but rather medium-firm.”
Joe Schwarcz:
Wrote “Twisting facts about cancer.” “I follow cancer research closely and know that there are no hidden causes or magical cures. Certainly not any that have been discovered by a ‘certified holistic cancer coach’.”
Discussed Neuroglow: “A new ‘neurocosmetic’ purports to mimic the positive effects of the sun. Its science is rather shadowy.” Supposedly the product increases production of melanin in the skin.
Posted “So, you want to grow hair?” “Putting aside the questionable science behind assembling the cacophony of ingredients found in these natural products, the question we are interested in is whether the products can actually grow hair. Well, they can. Just not very much of it in most cases.”
Asked “Can energy drinks or taurine supplements give you wings?” See also video.
May – In Skeptical Inquirer, Jen Gunter discussed “Alternative therapies for menstrual pain.”
May 1 – Crawford and others published “Label accuracy of weight loss dietary supplements marketed online with military discounts” (JAMA Netw Open. 2024 May 1;7(5):e249131 Paper). “In this case series study, the majority of products had inaccurate labels. Some were misbranded, others would be considered adulterated with ingredients not allowed in dietary supplements, and some contained ingredients prohibited for use in the military.”
May 1 – Sean Morrison and Gerald Spangrude wrote “Opinion: as stem cell biologists, we’re concerned a Utah law will lead to a boom in snake oil sales.” “The people of Utah are at risk of being harmed by a law that undermines federal regulation and promotes the sale of unproven therapies…This law opens a door for bad actors seeking to sell fake stem cell products. No placental stem cell product has ever been proven to be effective for the treatment of any medical condition in controlled clinical trials. Moreover, illegally-marketed unproven stem cell therapies have harmed consumers.”
May 9 – Nault and others reviewed “Zinc for prevention and treatment of the common cold” (Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2024 May 9;5(5):CD014914 Abstract). “The findings suggest that zinc supplementation may have little or no effect on the prevention of colds but may reduce the duration of ongoing colds, with an increase in non‐serious adverse events.”
May 20 – Andrea Love wrote “Lyme disease: fraudulent tests are rampant.” “Lyme disease is frequently over-diagnosed or misdiagnosed as a result of inaccurate and unproven consumer tests.”
May 29 – Another article by Andrea Love was “Toxic mold: is it really the cause of all maladies?” Alternative practitioners greatly exaggerate the effects of household mold, and promote products to treat the illnesses allegedly arising from it.
May 29 – Nick Tiller wrote “health club Equinox puts a price on longevity: just $42,000 a year.”
May 31 – Guy Harrison wrote “Why do athletes keep falling for quacks?” “Pseudoscience is everywhere in sports/fitness. Here’s how to play smart defense.” Nick Tiller was interviewed.