Sysiphus Speaks

And which of the top 17 US hospitals offer some sort of fantasy based pseudo-medcine? All of them. Click the links to see. At least UMPC is honest enough to offer it at the Shadyside location. Inadvertent truth in advertising?

At their heart all pseudo-medical therapies are unethical.

Since the primary problem in autistic children is neurological, it is prudent to research the efficacy of chiropractic care in these children.

By my count, naturopaths attempted to gain licensure in 10 states in 2014. (In states with two-year legislative sessions, the 2014 bill was in some cases a holdover from 2013). They attempted to increase their scope of practice in 4 states. On the other hand, in Hawaii there was a rare legislative attempt to put more backbone in naturopathic regulation. In Utah, a single bill both increased scope of practice and stiffened regulatory requirements.  There was a bill in Colorado which would have allowed "traditional naturopaths" a safe harbor from prosecution without registration. (It failed.) We won't count that in our tally because it wouldn't have affected the practice of "naturopathic doctors."

I came across Could a 'renegade' doctor save your life?

Short answer: nope.

It is a curious article out of the UK, with a sympathetic look at maverick doctors who

... help patients other doctors have given up on, often by prescribing drugs and treatments the medical establishment won’t touch.

Now the California Legislature is again tackling this Sisyphean task, in the form of Senate Bill 1246, which passed in the Senate and is now before the Assembly (the other branch of California's legislature). If passed, it will shorten the time for sunset review of the acupuncture practice act from 4 years to 2 years, giving the Legislature a better opportunity to see if the Board has cleaned up its act.

Wonli acupuncture, which is a form of

Acupotomy.. an acupuncture procedure developed for synechia, nodules, and cicatrix caused by soft tissue damage, in short, a combination of acupuncture and ectomy. ​

What we often lack is compelling stories.

I became interested in the topic of pseudo-medicine early in my practice when I saw a 20 something young woman with a leg sarcoma who decided against cure (below the knee amputation) and sought the care of a naturopathic provider who treated her cancer with Dr. Youngs alkaline therapy. It did not work. The cancer destroyed her leg and I saw for a gangrenous, foul smelling leg. She refused surgery and died that night in her sleep when the tumor eroded into a major artery and she bled out.

Yet another paper in the pseudo-medical world that I read and think what the?

In this case it is PLOS One in their CAM feed with  Whole Body Vibration Improves Cognition in Healthy Young Adults. It does? Really?

So often I do double take when I see the titles cross my screen from my PubMed feed. For example Predicting visceral obesity based on facial characteristics.

My first thought was this is stupid.

Then I remember there is the curious literature on the ear lobe crease as a marker for coronary artery disease.