Altie Meds
sb admin | September 28, 2008Morgellons "disease" is not a disease in any classic sense. There are no agreed-upon definitions of a case, so all else is meaningless. That being said, people are suffering. Since they feel ignored by doctors, they seek help elsewhere.
It's a problem in thinking, in some ways. When you don't feel well, you should seek help from a professional and see what they think, rather than have a fixed idea of what's wrong, and find a professional to confirm it. Otherwise, we wouldn't need professionals. I could simply call my chest pain "Pal's chest pain syndrome", and, no matter what the…
sb admin | September 27, 2008I'm off to the west coast (of Michigan) for a few days, and if I don't blog, I shall die...or something. So I have a few posts from my old blog to share with you.
Sure, we all have our biases about food and health. I think chicken soup is great when you're sick---but not because of any proven biologic benefit. It just tastes and feels good, which is about the best you can expect in treating a cold.
But food claims are becoming more and more fanciful. There is a lot we do and don't know about nutrition. Many of these fanciful claims seem to be centered on "immunity". This is a word…
sb admin | September 26, 2008But apparently he'd rather have me fill it with coffee. Really...I mean it. I love coffee, but c'mon now! I can't stand that this idiot is given time on public television during pledge drives to peddle his woo...
I stumbled across a website that goes on and on about the supposed vast conspiracy of the medical community to...well, I'm not sure. Anyway, given that you have to buy Gary Null's quack tomes to get his advice, it's hard to know exactly what he is selling. The conspiracy theorist from the above-linked site was kind enough to share some of Null's secrets (at least they are cited that…
sb admin | September 25, 2008I'm off to the west coast (of Michigan) for a few days, and if I don't blog, I shall die...or something. So I have a few posts from my old blog to share with you.
This is rich. This is really rich. Mercola is speaking out against the one thing that keeps him in business: the scientific illiteracy and credulity of Americans. He bemoans ignorance that leads to beliefs such as "the Sun revolves around the Earth", or the bird flu panic. Then, presumably with a straight face, he invites you to join his "inner circle", further perpetuating ignorance, and relieving you of the inconvenience carrying…
choofnagle | September 19, 2008Friends, many of you know the miraculous benefits of Hoofnagle Brand All-Natural Pb®. Well, I am writing to tell you that today I am filing a suit against a wide range of ayurvedic herbal supplements providers for using the active ingredient of Pb® and its sister product, As33® without licensing it from me.
The New York Times reported yesterday on this widespread deception of consumers. You see, in order to make ayurvedic medicine appear efficacious, a large number of supplement providers are secretly including Pb® and As33® in their scammy supplement products:
A report in the Aug. 27 issue…
sb admin | September 18, 2008These quacks are in a bit of trouble. The FTC and FDA have decided that they are sick of bogus cancer cures, and have sued a handful of companies.
WHAT THE HELL TOOK THEM SO LONG?
And more important, are they going to go after more snake oil salesmen? There is nothing special about the companies the FTC is going after. They make the usual bogus claims---"our particular magic herbs detoxify, boost immunity, and cure cancer."
Hopefully, ChrisH will weigh in on some of the legal issues, but one of the interesting facets of these cases bears directly on the Quack Miranda Warning. According…
sb admin | September 5, 2008John Stossel of ABC's 20/20 has never been one of my favorites. He's one of those folks who often poses as a skeptic by using doubt and mockery indiscriminately. Tonight, though, he got it right. He discusses food obsessions and fads, pointing out the contradictions inherent in food cultists.
One of the worst of the food cult leaders is Viktoras Kulvinskas, a leader of the raw food movement. Stossel's interview with this wacko is great...he actually calls him out on his bullshit.
Raw foodists believe cooking vegetables even a little destroys their nutritional value. And eating meat is…
choofnagle | September 2, 2008Regular readers of Denialism Blog are familiar with my love for the skymall catalog. I just love all the pictures of the kittens and the babes in their homes with gadgets that make their lives better.
And the quality of marketing, wow! You'd think that the makers of the SkyRest® Travel Pillow could hire a real model and do a professional shoot to advertise their highly efficacious and most excellent product! This picture looks like it was shot in-flight and they didn't even have time to find a model without a mustache!
Today I write to share with you the Innovative Health Bracelet.…
denialism | September 1, 2008Yes, there is. This time for maker of an "all natural" penis enhancer Steve Warshak (and some family members as well) who was sentenced for 25 years!
Steve Warshak, 42, founder of Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals, also was ordered to pay $93,000 in fines. He was convicted in February on 93 counts of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering.
Federal prosecutors accused the company of bilking customers out of $100 million through a series of deceptive ads, manipulated credit card transactions and refusal to accept returns or cancel orders.
U.S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel ordered the company…
choofnagle | August 29, 2008As PalMD has pointed out, millions of Americans use detoxification to improve their optimal health and well being. But the wisdom of detoxification has an underbelly, one not discussed in the MSM: what happens to those toxins after detoxification?
Unfortunately, those toxins do not just disappear. They are exuded from your body and circulate in your immediate environment, placing your family members and animal companions at risk. The toxins then magnify in their bodies, and if they detoxify, you can be retoxinated. This is what is called the deretoxification trap.
An additional problem…
choofnagle | August 29, 2008Sciblings, I know you all are going to run out and buy my new nutritional supplement, Pb®. Pb® is all natural. Pb® is pure. Pb® is elemental. Pb® is balanced. Pb® affects one's optimal health. Pb® is readily absorbed by the blood stream and accumulates in the body, competing with unnatural toxins that cause illness. Pb® is highly bio-available. And Hoofnagle-brand Pb® is positively charged at our all-natural bioplant facilities, meaning that it repels negative ions.
Pb® can be used by children as well as adults. There are no side effects of supplement products as they are made with all…
sb admin | August 28, 2008It's no secret that I have no respect for Joe Mercola. Every time I read one of his promotional emails or make a visit to his website, I see more fantastic claims. Usually, I don't see blatant lies...until now...
This guy likes to claim that he's in the woo-peddling business to help people...it's not about profit. This is clearly untrue. But other than his dissembling about his motives, I've never really checked his site for lies in particular...just silly, illogical falsehoods.
Today I got an email from Joe:
Why I Believe You Should Take Action NOW to Help Remove Potential Toxins from…
denialism | August 22, 2008A fellow medical student once asked me why I thought people become hostile to science-based medicine. Certainly our own failures contribute. When we have no treatments for a disease, or if the treatments themselves may also incur significant morbidity, it is understandable that patients will become disillusioned with what doctors have to offer.
However there is another cause for this hostility towards medicine, and it isn't the occasional crank scibling with an axe to grind against MDs. It's the constant anti-science propaganda being spouted out by the hawkers of alternative medicine.…
denialism | August 21, 2008I agree with our buddy Ben Goldacre when he says Bill Nelson wins the internet. I can not begin to describe the hilarity of this video but first a bit of background.
Bill Nelson is a quack who's been running a Rife-machine scam. That is, for many thousands of dollars you can purchase and use his quantum-mechanical machine (read box with blinking lights) to destroy whatever ails you. Fortunately, the FDA has banned its sale in the US, and made this guy:
Bill Nelson (yes that's him) a fugitive who has since fled our country. Unfortunately, other countries, including poor Ben's, have been…
choofnagle | August 19, 2008Today's Journal is worth a read for this important development: something reasonable actually appeared in the Opinions section! Scott Gottlieb, one of the AEI's ogres, penned a review of Trick or Treatment, a book on America's obsession with alternative medicines, by Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst. This apparently is not your typical rant against alternative medicines. Gottlieb notes:
...Based at the University of Exeter in England, [Dr. Ernst] leads a research group that has spent 15 years studying alternative remedies, trying to separate snake oil from science. Mr. Singh, his co-author, is…
sb admin | August 16, 2008Look, whether you like it or not, you can't live forever. I bring this up because there is always a new book or new add purporting to have "the answer" to long life and good health, which never includes modern, evidence-based medicine. Still, perhaps some of these books contains good advice. Or not. Let me explain.
First let me disabuse some of you of the thought that doctors don't "do" nutrition and life-style advice. In fact, we do. And as attractive as the idea seems, life-style modification will never be the answer to all of (or even most of) our medical problems. Leaving aside the…
choofnagle | August 14, 2008The FTC has piled on Airborne, one of the most annoying consumer scams in the market. The vitamin pill was advertised to prevent colds. And it was created by a teacher! But the FTC concluded:
...there is no competent and reliable scientific evidence to support the claims made by the defendants that Airborne tablets can prevent or reduce the risk of colds, sickness, or infection; protect against or help fight germs; reduce the severity or duration of a cold; and protect against colds, sickness, or infection in crowded places such as airplanes, offices, or schools.
If you've ever bought…
sb admin | August 10, 2008To wear the mantle of Galileo, it is not enough to be persecuted: you must also be right.
--Robert Park
I used to spend a lot of time on the websites of Joe Mercola and Gary Null, the most influential medical cranks of the internets (to call them "quacks" would imply that they are real doctors, but bad ones---I will no longer dignify them with the title of "quack"). I've kept away from them for a while in the interest of preserving my sanity. Unfortunately, Orac reminded me this week of the level searingly stupid and dangerous idiocy presented by these woo-meisters.
In light of this, it…
choofnagle | July 22, 2008I just returned from a wonderful trip to Turkey and London, and the flight gave me the opportunity to spend hours with one of my favorite diversions, the Skymall Catalog. Admit it! You look at this thing full of wonders, and wonder who in the world buys them!
Check out this whopper: the "Aculife Therapist Deluxe." For a mere $179.95 you can "Help strengthen your health with the latest ancient technology." Yes, the latest ancient technology!
It continues: "Otzi, a 5,000 year old mummy found in the Alps during 1991, has spurred a whole new vigor into modern research of the Ancient Chinese…
sb admin | May 4, 2008I've mentioned before that I think that PBS stations are making a deal with the devil when they feature Gary Null's infomercials. This alternative medince guru is a classic crank---an HIV denialist, seller of phonie cures, and host to other cranks.
But at least he's a nice guy, right?
Ask Lee Phillips, some guy who decided to call out his local public radio station. He wrote a very good letter to WPFW to complain about their hosting of an alleged snake-oil salesmean. In a rather creepy turn of events, the station, rather than pen a response, sent his letter on to Null's representative(s),…