NOVEMBER 2023 NEWS
Featured topic: coronavirus
On Science-Based Medicine,
David Gorski posted:
“The Great Barrington Declaration and ‘natural herd immunity’ versus public health three years later.” “Unfortunately, as the John Snow Project pointed out last week, the ‘natural herd immunity’ approach has done what could be irreparable damage to public health science and, more importantly, the political and social will to promote public health practices not just for infectious disease but more generally.”
Jonathan Howard posted:
“Part 2: Is an abnormal lab value after vaccination more concerning than death from COVID?”
“Dr. Jerome Adams was right: they wanted them infected. That’s a fact.” “The broader lesson here is that it’s crucial to remember the words doctors [who opposed school closings] said, the policies they pushed, and the real-world consequences that resulted. This is especially the case now that they seek to rewrite history, denying they were ever part of a disastrous movement to infect tens of millions of unvaccinated children to achieve the mythical grail of herd immunity.”
“Dr. Jay Bhattacharya: ‘The unspoken root idea of his is that the general public owed it to doctors to not get COVID because it would place doctors at risk of getting COVID. Of course this is an inversion.” “Too many frontline healthcare workers died this pandemic, none of whom volunteered to be cannon fodder to fulfill Dr. Bhattacharya’s failed dream of herd immunity through the mass infection, even though our health was a sacrifice he seemed willing to make.”
On Respectful Insolence, “Orac” posted:
“'Adulteration': The latest iteration of the antivax ‘toxins gambit’ applied to COVID-19 vaccines.” “The latest antivax line is that trace amounts of residual plasmid DNA fragments constitutes ‘adulteration’.”
“Dr. Pierre Kory: Sex, lies, and (COVID-19 vaccine) shedding.” “Dr. Pierre Kory, who is now undeniably antivaccine, has claimed on Substack that ‘shedding’ from COVID-19 vaccines can transmit the dreaded vaccine evil humors through sex.”
“Yet more evidence that 'died suddenly' is not a real thing.” “A new study has failed to find any increase in sudden cardiac deaths among college athletes, more evidence that “Died suddenly” (due to COVID-19 vaccines) is not a thing.”
“Shot Dead: A particularly disgusting piece of antivax propaganda.” “The bottom line is that Shot Dead is very much of a piece with the long line of antivax propaganda films that I’ve described before. It uses a handful of sad anecdotes that are falsely represented as evidence that the vaccine targeted by the film can cause great harm and intersperses them with fake experts spewing nonsense and conspiracy theories, supporting them with anecdotes, cherry picked data, and misrepresented studies.”
Edzard Ernst posted:
“SCAM [so-called alternative medicine] enthusiasts often claim that COVID vaccinations were useless or even harmful – BUT THEY ARE WRONG!” A study (Lundberg-Morris et al. BMJ. 2023 Nov 22;383:e076990 Paper) concluded “The results of this study suggest a strong association between covid-19 vaccination before infection and reduced risk of receiving a diagnosis of PCC [post-covid-19 condition].”
November 1 – Naomi Oreskes wrote “What went wrong with a highly publicized COVID Mask analysis?” “The Cochrane Library, a trusted source of health information, misled the public by prioritizing rigor over reality.”
Featured topic: chiropractic
On Science-Based Medicine, Samuel Homola:
Posted “The swan song of a chiropractic heretic.” “After 41 years of private practice as a chiropractor and 60 years of writing books and articles, the age of 94 finds me rethinking my career, wondering if my contributions to the literature justify the path I took…Properly defined and limited, chiropractic could fill a niche in mainstream health care by offering appropriate use of generic spinal manipulation in combination with rehab and physical therapy modalities, as I did in my 41 years of practice. Unfortunately, the chiropractic profession continues to define chiropractic as a form of alternative medicine embracing a broad scope of health problems rather than specialize in the care of back pain, despite the fact that back pain and neck pain continue to be the No. 1 and No. 2 cause of disability worldwide.”
Edzard Ernst:
Characterized “Clinical practice guideline for best practice management of pediatric patients by chiropractors” as “a thoroughly disreputable document.”
Recommended a video, “The cult of chiropractic.”
Posted “Medicare fraud by chiropractors costs taxpayers millions.” “Personally, I am not surprised by such reports. Sure, not all chiropractors committ [sic] financial fraud. But arguably ALL chiropractors are dishonest when they tell their patients that their spinal manipulations are effective and safe for a wide range of conditions.”
Wrote “Chiropractic adjustments are causing more and more strokes in younger adults.”
Posted “Chiropractic has been shown to be a dangerous placebo therapy. My conclusion: do not consult chiropractors!” A review concluded that “the current evidence does not support that SMT [spinal manipulation therapy] applied at a supposedly ‘clinically relevant’ candidate site is superior to SMT applied at a supposedly ‘not clinically relevant’ site for individuals with spinal pain.”
Posted “Chiropractor caused a vertebral artery dissection from a completely unnecessary neck adjustment.”
Wrote “The prevalence of vertebral subluxation: how SCAM [so-called alternative medicine] providers fool the public.” A study reported that 79% of patients seeking chiropractic care had subluxations. “This is one of the most hilarious pieces of ‘research’ that I have recently encountered.”
Featured topic: homeopathy
On Respectful Insolence, “Orac”:
Wrote homeopathic quackery vs…a fibroadenoma?” “Homepaths [sic] think they can treat a fibroadenoma? As a breast cancer surgeon, I am offended and amused at their cluelessness.”
Edzard Ernst:
Wrote “Homeopaths and bovine mastitis: tenacity or stupidity?” “Overwhelmingly, the evidence fails to show that homeopathy is effective for bovine mastitis. I do understand that manufacturers smell a lucrative market, but I still think that, for serious veterianarians [sic], scientists, journal editors, etc., the subject should be closed.”
Reported on “Acute fulminant hepatic failure in a 23-year-old female taking homeopathic remedy.” “Regardless whether the product was herbal or homeopathic, this case report is a poignant reminder that, in so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) many dangerous remedies are offered for sale. Therefore, it is advisible to be cautious and insist on sound information about the quality, safety, and efficacy before trying any such therapy.”
Posted “Homeopathic medicine for the 21st Century. What does homeopathy offer our modern ailing world?”
Posted “Homeopathy as a therapeutic option in space?”
Other topics
On Science-Based Medicine,
Mark Crislip:
Posted “Adjectives.” “When a placebo is called ‘powerful’, what is meant? Nothing…Next time you see an article promoting the powerful placebo, just substitute half-assed for powerful. It is a better fit.”
Scott Gavura:
Posted “Coffee enemas: This TikTok trend can be deadly.” “Practices like coffee enemas have no plausible benefit and a real risk of harm. More broadly, and perhaps most importantly, the continued promotion of these practices distracts people from legitimate science-based advice and better health care decision-making.”
Wrote “Despite safety and quality questions, melatonin use growing in children.” “A new survey shows use of melatonin in children is widespread despite modest efficacy and an unknown long-term safety profile.”
David Gorski:
Wrote “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. comes home to his antivax roots…again.” “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gave the keynote speech at the second annual meeting of his antivax organization, Children’s Health Defense. Once again, he demonstrated that not only is he still antivax as hell, but that his proposals are even more bizarre than before.”
Posted “What the heck happened to The BMJ? (2023 version).” “The BMJ, once a bastion of evidence-based medicine, has become disturbingly susceptible to publishing biased ‘investigations’ that feed antivax narratives. Its latest report on VAERS by Jennifer Block, who in the past has defended Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop and whose history is not one of supporting science, is just another example of this deterioration.”
Wrote “Trust in science and vaccines continues to decline. Why?”
Steven Novella:
Posted “Fluoride and IQ.” “The evidence continues to support that low levels of fluoride in drinking water are safe.”
Discussed ozone therapy. “Ozone therapy sits in the border zone between science and pseudoscience…even if there are effects which are potentially beneficial, we need to know if these effects occur at a dose and type of exposure that will not cause intolerable side effects.”
On Respectful Insolence, “Orac”:
Posted “What is 'medical freedom'? Not what ‘health freedom’ advocates claim.” “Dr. Clayton Baker at the Brownstone Institute attempts to define ‘medical freedom’ by deceptively wrapping it in what on first glance would seem to be unobjectionable principles.”
Edzard Ernst:
Posted “The BBC, Michael Mosely, air ionization, depression, and an appalling lack of critical thinking.”
Wrote “Suzanne Somers has died – another victim of so-called alternative medicine?”
Discussed an article about cupping for substance use disorder (Solanki et al. 2023. Cureus 15(10): e47445 Paper). “With all the scientific advancements in the 21st century ranging from artificial intelligence in healthcare, and robotic surgeries, to extensive clinical trials for novel anti-cancer drugs, we cannot allow the propagation of ancient, scientifically unsound techniques that may cause more harm than benefit to patients.”
Wrote “Bioenergy therapies for cancer: implausible, ineffective, and an unethical waste of money.” A Review by Hauptmann et al. (2023. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 149:2607–2619) was discussed.
Discussed how the British National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends acupuncture for five conditions, even though there is little or no evidence in support.
Discussed a paper in support of osteopathic visceral manipulation for chronic mechanical low back pain. “In my view, the most plausible explanation for its findings have little to do with OVM itself: sham OVM was applied ‘by performing light pressure and touches with the palm of the hand on the selected points for OVM without the intention of treating the patient.’ This means that most likely patients were able to tell OVM from sham OVM and thus de-blinded. In other words, their expectation of receiving an effective therapy (and not the OVM per se) determined the outcome.”
Discussed a review that supported yoga for back pain. “The safety of a therapy cannot be ascertained on the basis of such small sample sizes. The effectiveness of yoga has not been demonstrated by these data. All that has been shown with this review is that the quality of the research in this area is too poor for drawing conclusions.”
Asked “Do omega-3 fatty acid supplements increase the risk of atrial fibrillation?” “So, does the regular supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids increase the risk of atrial fibrillation? The evidence is not entirely clear but, on balance, I conclude that the risk is low or even non-existent.”
On McGill Office for Science and Society:
Jonathan Jarry:
Posted “The human lab rats injecting themselves with peptides.” “Take-home message: Peptides and assorted experimental drugs, like TB-500 and MK-677, are being recommended by fitness influencers to grow bigger muscles, lose fat, and recover from injuries faster. These drugs, many of which are claimed to boost levels of growth hormone, were studied in rodents and very small groups of human volunteers before being abandoned for not being beneficial or for causing unacceptable side effects. They are banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency and appear to be illegal in Canada and the United States, but can be purchased online.”
Wrote “No, traditional Chinese medicine has not been vindicated by science.” “Take-home message: Researchers behind a new study claim to have revealed the scientific foundation of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Using large data sets, they looked for connections between symptoms, proteins, and herbs used in TCM and found some associations that were likelier than would be expected by chance . This theoretical exercise needs to be balanced against the implausibility of TCM: its herbs are variable mixtures of chemicals and its practices are incongruous and were repackaged by Mao Zedong in the middle of the 20th century to provide some kind of healthcare in the countryside even though he did not personally believe in their validity.”
Posted “DMSO is not a cure-all. But the FDA’s panic over it birthed a myth.” “Take-home message: DMSO is a foul-smelling solvent that is claimed by some to be a cure-all. The Food and Drug Administration in the 1960s did not authorize its use as a drug because of a report that it might be causing eye toxicity in laboratory animals, and this outcome led to the birth of an advocacy movement. The evidence for DMSO’s effectiveness in treating any medical condition is not convincing due to the lack of a control group in most human studies, and its safety is still unclear, although industrial-grade DMSO contains impurities that could cause health problems.”
Joe Schwarcz:
Posted “Cockroach, scorpion and turpentine extract for heart disease?” “The media was recently captivated by a study from China indicating a possible benefit for heart attack victims from a whacky mixture of plant and animal extracts.” Concerning the development of herbal remedies in traditional Chinese medicine, “In all likelihood they started out as a single component, and if that didn’t work, something else was added. Eventually a substance may have been included that had some efficacy and a medicine was born. The assumption then was that all the components worked together to produce results. That would seem to explain why so many of the 13,000 or so ancient Chinese medicines that have been compiled in traditional pharmacopeias are complex mixtures, with ‘Tongxinluo’ being a prime example.”
Posted “Ginkgo and memory enhancement? No Memorable Studies” (video with transcript). “Given the results of the GEM trial, the worrisome studies in mice, the possibility of interaction with medications, and the lack of regulations governing dietary supplements, we can conclude that ginkgo preparations do not have a favourable risk-benefit profile.”
November 7 – As reported in Consumer Health Digest, “Researchers have identified 17 online direct-to-consumer advertisers of ketamine for treatment of mental health conditions…Intravenous ketamine is FDA-approved as an anesthetic but is not approved to treat any mental health problem.” The paper is Crane et al., JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(11):e2342210 Paper.
November 13 – The FDA issued a warning letter to Amazon concerning seven eye-drop products. The products are considered unapproved new drugs. “These products are especially concerning from a public health perspective. Ophthalmic drug products, which are intended for administration into the eyes, in general pose a greater risk of harm to users because the route of administration for these products bypasses some of the body’s natural defenses.”
November 16 – The FDA issued consent decrees against a Utah-based dietary supplement distributor and manufacturer of Balance of Nature products.