| Posted 25 September 2025 https://www.tga.gov.au/news/news/efficacy-lysine-hydrochloride-containing-medicines-cold-sores
Published 24 September 2025 We initiated targeted compliance reviews of selected listed medicines containing Lysine Hydrochloride to verify whether sponsors had appropriate evidence to support their cold sore-related claims. We found that the evidence provided by the sponsors was inadequate to support the cold sore-related claims. Consequently, all sponsors removed the unsupported claims from their medicines and their advertisements. If you are a sponsor of a listed medicine containing Lysine Hydrochloride that makes claims regarding cold sores, you are encouraged to:
* review your supporting evidence using the Evidence Guidelines; and
* re-assess how your product is presented and ensure all claims-especially those related to cold sores-are accurate, truthful, and not misleading. … Read the rest Posted 19 December 2024 Dr. Edzard Ernst, an emeritus professor at the University of Exeter, has described several categories of harm caused by so-called alternative medicine (SCAM). Reference: Ernst E. The harm of so-called alternative medicine. Skeptical Inquirer, 48(6):56-57 They include: - direct harm by SCAM therapies such as chiropractic spinal manipulation, acupuncture, and herbal medicine
- harm such as missing a serious diagnosis or giving false positive diagnoses caused by SCAM diagnostic techniques that haven’t been validated
- harm caused by SCAM practitioners recommending subpar treatments, offering poor advice, diagnosing conditions that don’t exist, or exaggerating the importance of everyday health impairments
- harm caused by the industry by leading consumers to misspend their money and by endangering species through the exploitation of natural resources
- harm caused by unreliable research that undermines trust in science
- harm caused by fallacious notions, such as “nature knows best,” that undermine rational thought
Ernst concluded: As … Read the rest Posted 14 November 2024 Dr. Edzard Ernst, an emeritus professor at the University of Exeter, has described several categories of harm caused by so-called alternative medicine (SCAM). They include: - direct harm by SCAM therapies such as chiropractic spinal manipulation, acupuncture, and herbal medicine
- harm such as missing a serious diagnosis or giving false positive diagnoses caused by SCAM diagnostic techniques that haven’t been validated
- harm caused by SCAM practitioners recommending subpar treatments, offering poor advice, diagnosing conditions that don’t exist, or exaggerating the importance of everyday health impairments
- harm caused by the industry by leading consumers to misspend their money and by endangering species through the exploitation of natural resources
- harm caused by unreliable research that undermines trust in science
- harm caused by fallacious notions, such as “nature knows best,” that undermine rational thought
Ernst concluded: As the benefits of SCAM are often only marginal or entirely absent, even relatively … Read the rest Posted 28 August 2024 A recording of the livestream Mind the Science: Saving Your Mental Health from the Wellness Industry with Jonathan Stea (62 minutes), part of the Skeptical Inquirer Presents series, is now available on YouTube. Stea discusses: - a coffee enema device promoted on Goop for relief from depression, confusion, nervous tension, and more
- the cornucopia of misinformation in A Mind of Your Own by Kelly Brogan, M.D.
- unregulated providers of mental health-related services
- the nine red flags of pseudoscience
- clearcut pseudoscientific health care practices
- somewhat plausible health care practices with some features characteristic of pseudoscience
- harmful impact of pseudoscientific health care practices, why they are seductive, and how to defend against them
- science literacy and mental health literacy
- mental health pseudoscience on social media
- the anti-psychiatry movement
- misleading marketing of wellness
- the branding and rebranding of pseudomedicine
- journals publishing pseudoscientific papers
Stea, a clinical psychologist and adjunct assistant … Read the rest Posted 27 May 2024 Professor Edzard Ernst, who was the world’s first department chairperson in complementary medicine, has posted on his blog a four-part series on the fake diagnoses of so-called alternative medicine. - Part 1 addresses adrenal fatigue, candidiasis hypersensitivity, and alleged chronic intoxications eliminated by so-called “detox” treatments.
- Part 2 addresses chronic Lyme disease, electromagnetic hypersensitivity, and homosexuality.
- Part 3 addresses leaky gut syndrome, multiple chemical sensitivity, and neurasthenia.
- Part 4 covers vaccine overload, vertebral subluxation, and yin/yang imbalance.
Source: Consumer Health Digest #24-21. May 26, 2024 … Read the rest Posted 28 Nov 2023 People are more likely to reach for what’s ‘natural’ when treating a psychological condition, a study found – because they don’t want to affect their ‘true self’ The Guardian Shayla Love Mon 13 Nov 2023 17.00 GMT Let’s say that one day, you wake up incredibly itchy. A doctor recommends two drugs – one natural and one synthetic – to help with the scratching. Or, you start having intense mood swings, and you go to your doctor, who presents you with the option of taking a natural or a synthetic drug. Which do you pick in each situation, and does the answer change if you’re treating your body as opposed to your mind? We are bombarded with the word “natural” anytime we buy groceries, supplements, beauty products, household items, wine or cigarettes. People believe that “natural” products, foods and medicines are safer, healthier – and just … Read the rest Posted 08 November 2023 Thomas J. Wheeler, PhD, a retired associate professor from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, has published a 60-page revision of his Overview of Complementary and Alternative Medicine on the website of the Kentucky Council Against Health Fraud. The material was originally developed as the first in a series of handouts for an elective course that offered medical students a scientific look at alternative medicine. The topics addressed include: - general aspects
- the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health and its predecessors
- common themes in alternative medicine
- adverse effects
- integrative medicine
- functional medicine
- regulatory agencies involved in health claims
- organizations and websites promoting critical examination of alternative claims
- legal and ethical issues
- fraud and quackery
- antivaccination efforts
- antifluoridation efforts
- critical thinking in evaluation of medical claims: philosophical issues
- nature of science
- scientific activities and methods
- skepticism and
… Read the rest Posted 25 May 2023 Harriet Hall, M.D., highly recommends Quack Quack: The Threat of Pseudoscience (ECW Press, 2023), “even for those of you who think you already know a lot about science, pseudoscience, quackery, and human error.” The book is the latest by Dr. Joe Schwarcz, the director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society. Hall describes it as “an informative and entertaining look at quackery and pseudoscience past and present. A delightful read.” Reference: Hall H. Quack quack. Science-Based Medicine, Jan 3, 2023 … Read the rest Posted 25 May 2023 Dr. Edzard Ernst has written a commentary about research into so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) conducted since he became the world’s first professor of complementary medicine nearly 30 years ago. Reference: Ernst E. Applying science to SCAM: A brief summary of the past thirty years. Skeptical Inquirer, 47(1):11-12, 2023 He concludes: So, in the past thirty years of SCAM research, we have gone from the rejection of science to accepting that it would be good for promotion, to insisting on an “alternative” version of science, to misleading the public with false-positive findings. It has been a long and tedious journey without actually advancing all that far. Source: Consumer Health Digest #23-02, January 8, 2023 … Read the rest Posted 23 March 2022 An post from the blog of Prof Edzard Ernst, MD, PhD, FMedSci, FRSB, FRCP, FRCPEd, and a previous Professor of Complementary Medicine. “There’s a sucker born every minute”. This phrase was allegedly coined by P. T. Barnum, an American showman of the mid-19th century pictured below. It describes the tendency of the gullible of us to believe all too readily and therefore to be easily deceived. Gullibility can be described as a failure of social intelligence in which a person is easily tricked or manipulated into a course of action for which there is no plausible evidence. To express it positively, gullible people are naively trusting and thus fall for nonsensical propositions. This renders them easy prey for exploiters. On this blog, we see our fair share of this phenomenon, e.g.: - people who are easily persuaded by anecdotes,
… Read the rest | |