Big Pharma is not a misnomer. Pharmaceutical drugs are big business. The US is the world leader in producing new drugs and is responsible for nearly half of the new molecular entities (NME’s) that come on the market. Americans spend well over $300 billion yearly on prescription drugs. Both Big Pharma and the FDA have come in for harsh criticism, much
The (Un)Well documentary series on Netflix asks “Wellness: does it bring health and healing, or are we falling victim to false promises?” But instead of answers, it offers false balance and confusion. Netflix: a good source of entertainment, not a good source of medical information Netflix recently produced a reprehensible documentary series on “The Goop Lab”. It
Many people look to religion for dietary guidance. Sometimes organized religion offers official guidance in the form of dietary prohibitions (no pork) or prescriptions (halal, kosher, etc.). Sometimes individuals attempt their own interpretations, with inconsistent and sometimes amusing results. One website lists the “Top 10 Christian Weight Loss Programs.” These are: The Daniel Plan The
Do you worry that you are or might become dehydrated? Do you feel guilty if you don’t drink 8-10 glasses of water a day? Are you tethered to a water bottle? Have you been frightened by warnings on the Internet? “Eau” dear! “Water” you thinking? You may have been “flooded” with a tsunami of misinformation.
The Opticalm Clinic claims to diagnose and treat visual stress with colored lenses and other aids. Visual stress is a poorly defined, questionable condition and Opticalm’s claims are not backed by scientific evidence. What does “visual stress” mean? It appears to be a new term for what has also been called Irlen syndrome (described by Steve Novella
A promotional video for a prostate remedy could serve as a template for deceptive videos about dietary supplements. All marketing, no science, and plenty of red flags. I see a lot of ads for natural remedies. The ones that really annoy me are the ones that promise to reveal a secret and force you to
Alice Dreger’s book recounts many instances of shooting the messenger, when scientists were persecuted for research findings that activists found objectionable. Social justice matters, but it should rely on science and reality, not ideology. Don’t shoot him. He’s just bringing a message. Alice Dreger is an academic historian who has been active in supporting those
TENS units are used to relieve pain and for other indications. The evidence is not impressive. I was first introduced to TENS by physical therapists during my training. They made it sound like a wonderful way to relieve pain, and I was expecting to hear more about it. As the years passed, I heard it
Juvent is a small vibrating platform that is advertised to provide all kinds of health benefits for everyone by just standing on it for 10 minutes a day. They have no convincing evidence and the price is exorbitant. Ads for Juvent keep popping up in my Facebook feed. It is a small micro-impact vibrating platform
What is dry drowning, and should we worry? Parenting websites have been alarming parents about the possibility that their children might experience dry drowning or delayed drowning, with warnings like these: a child can seem fine after getting out of the water, but start to have trouble breathing an hour—or even 24 hours—later. Your child
