| Posted 19 December 2024 A new 12-minute video describes “false or unproven claims of cures using strange ingredients or bizarre materials, often with dire consequences for the end user.” The products included arsenic-laden soaps/cosmetics, radium toothpastes/cosmetics, asthma cigarettes, Dr. Williams’ Pink Pills for Pale People, Pond’s Tampons soaked in opium, cocaine cocktails such as Mariani wine, Clark Stanley’s Snake Oil, and high-heeled orthopedic shoes. Retro Group. History of medical quackery vintage practices selling false hope. YouTube, Oct 22, 2024 … 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 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 31 July 2019 Fifteen scholars at institutions in Canada have reviewed how health misinformation is spread through mass media and have recommended policy and communication correctives. Reference: Caulfield T. and others. Health misinformation and the power of narrative messaging in the public sphere. Canadian Journal of Bioethics 2:52-60, 2019 They describe problems of: (a) misleading narratives spread through social media; (b) implicit hype of emerging therapies by the popular press, pseudoscience embraced by journalists; (c) use of “scienceploitation” language of quantum physics, stem cells, genetics, and microbiome research for hype; and (d) misleading narratives in health-related crowdfunding. They recommend four “legal and policy tools” followed by seven “social tools” in response: - Better enforcement of existing truth in advertising law, and/or improvements thereto
- Regulatory policy change and enforcement for health professionals spreading misinformation
- Policy outlining rules for and encouraging expert media engagement and the use of narrative
- Litigation
- Advocacy
… Read the rest Posted 05 August 2018 Why are there so many suckers? A neuropsychologist explains The Conversation Stacey Wood – Professor of Psychology, Scripps College If you have a mailbox, you probably get junk mail. If you have an email account, you probably get spam. If you have a phone, you probably get robocalls. Unwanted messages and solicitations bombard us on a regular basis. Most of us hit ignore or delete or toss junk mail in the trash knowing that these messages and solicitations are most likely so-called mass-market scams. Others aren’t so lucky. Scams cost individuals, organizations and governments trillions of dollars each year in estimated losses, and many victims endure depression and ill health. There is no other crime, in fact, that affects so many people from almost all ages, backgrounds and geographical locations. But why do people fall prey to these scams? My colleagues and I set out … Read the rest Posted 21 May 2018 A podcast in Afrikaans of a discussion featured on the program, Uit ‘n ander hoek, on 20 May 2018. “Goedgelowige mense word maklik deur kwaksalwers uitgebuit wat nuttelose en selfs gevaarlike middels ten duurste aan hulle verkoop. Jean Oosthuizen gesels met die wetenskapjoernalis, George Claassen, en die redakteur van camcheck.co.za, dr. Harris Steinmann, oor kwaksalwery en pseudo-wetenskap.” “People with good intentions are easily exploited by scam artists who sell the costly and even dangerous products to them. Jean Oosthuizen talks with science journalist George Claassen, and the editor of camcheck.co.za, dr. Harris Steinman, about scams and pseudo science”. To listen to the podcast … Read the rest Posted 30 October 2017 The International Summit on Quackery & Pseudoscience is being held in Stellenbosch 20-21 November 2017. The dangers of pseudoscience and quackery in healthcare will come under scrutiny later this year at a ground-breaking international summit in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Numerous high-profile health and science communication experts will gather at the International Summit on Quackery and Pseudoscience to explore how science communication efforts by the media, scientists, health regulators and governments can counter the impact of pseudoscience and advance the use of evidence-based healthcare practices. The summit will be held from 20-21 November at the University of Stellenbosch (SU). It will be jointly hosted by the Centre for Evidence-based Health Care (CEBHC) of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS), and the Centre for Science and Technology Mass Communication (CENSCOM) of the postgraduate Department of Journalism at SU. To read more, and register, visit the Censcom … Read the rest Posted 24 July 2017 Stellenbosch University hosts first international summit to counter quackery, pseudoscience and fake news in healthcare. The dangers of pseudoscience and quackery in healthcare will come under scrutiny later this year at a ground-breaking international summit in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Numerous high-profile health and science communication experts will gather at the International Summit on Quackery and Pseudoscience to explore how science communication efforts by the media, scientists, health regulators and governments can counter the impact of pseudoscience and advance the use of evidence-based healthcare practices. The summit will be held from 20-21 November at the University of Stellenbosch (SU). It will be jointly hosted by the Centre for Evidence-based Health Care (CEBHC) of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS), and the Centre for Science and Technology Mass Communication (CENSCOM) of the postgraduate Department of Journalism at SU.
… Read the rest The local South African magazine Health Intelligence Edition 12 proclaims on its cover: "Passion promotes health – sex for a longer life".  
(Note: The highlighting box has been added.) On page 20 the article has the title: "Sex, so necessary for positive health: sex is a buzzword that defies trendsetting and social mores, staying top of mind and tip of tongue" and is written by Kirsten Alexander. It is seemingly supported by 12 "scientific references" . The Solal Technologies website Health Intelligence includes the following "product information": "Health Intelligence goes further and deeper [than other health magazines], because our focus falls squarely on the facts. Health Intelligence offers breakthrough science, enabling you to better protect your health. Thoroughly researched and using only the latest, peer-reviewed studies by leading international and local experts, Health Intelligence articles are not only credible, they are revolutionary, all the while offering life-enhancing … Read the rest | |
