The Gary Null Show

Weaponizing Wikipedia Richard Gale and Gary Null PhD Progressive Radio Network, February 10, 2020   "It is dangerous to let the public behind the scenes. They are easily disillusioned and then they are angry with you for it was the illusion they loved."  -- W. Somerset Maugham "He who despises his own life is soon master of another's. Beware, for such a man can become master of souls." -- 17th Century Irish Proverb These quotes share something in common. Both take us behind the scenes of what on appearance are presumed to be objective and factual for anyone to believe. Both quotes also define the duplicity hidden in the editorial world of the world's largest so-called encyclopedia, Wikipedia. But very few people have the background or scholarship to spark the suspicion as to whether or not the information Wikipedia' provides on many subjects is accurate or not.  Popularity and hype trumps the reality of what Wikipedia really is. And almost no one really knows anything about the encyclopedia's parent organization, the WikiMedia Foundation.    

Dr. Ken Stoller is a board pediatrician medicine, specializing in functional and natural medicine practicing at the Functional Neurology clinic in San Francisco, and an environmental activist. He is a founder and president of the International Hyperbaric Medical Association having pioneered hyperbaric treatments for various conditions including fetal alcohol syndrome. Having become frustrated with medical agency and association cover-ups and the corporate medical lobbying powers over the rapid rise in children’s developmental disabilities, Dr. Stoller and other physicians testified before Congress on the role vaccinations have played, particularly mercury, in the rise of autism and other related conditions. For a couple decades Ken has been treating stroke, autism, cerebral palsy, MS and Lyme brain disorders. Recently the state of California's Medical Board has filed a case against Dr. Stoller for medically exempting children from receiving vaccinations. He received medical degree and training from the University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine in 1986 and his website is BodiesInRebellion.com

Science Based Medicine: A Swamp of Medical Buffoonery  Richard Gale  Progressive Radio Network, February 6, 2020   Every religion, large institution, political party and scientific and social discipline has its lunatic fringe.  Within the practice of medicine in the 21st century the aberrant margins are the far extremes of alternative medical beliefs and the small clique of Science Based Medicine (SBM) within the conventional medical establishment. While the former is completely unsupported by any credible science, the latter is plagued by rampant shortsightedness, professional bias and hubris, and outright disdain towards all medical therapies that do not fall within the purview of its worldview of uncompromising scientific reductionism.    Unfortunately, despite its small following, the leading SBM voices have succeeded in having an enormous detrimental influence over the narrative of healthcare and the freedom of medical choice in the social media, including Wikipedia.    The Society of Science Based Medicine is the brainchild of Dr. Steven Novella at Yale University with the loyal support of his colleagues Drs. David Gorski (an oncologist at Wayne State University) and Harriet Hall. SBM blogs -- the Science Based Medicine blog, Neurologia and Respectful Insolence -- have functioned as clearing houses of opinions for the modern Skeptic organizations to source opinionated and prejudiced essays in their efforts to criticize and debunk alternative and natural medical therapies, including those that have received mainstream acceptance in the field of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM).  A brief visit to the SBM blog will reveal that approximately 90 percent of its content is savage, cirumlocutory and scientifically shoddy attacks against non-conventional medicine and those who practice these natural therapies. For the most part its articles represent personal opinions rather than rigorous scientific inquiry. And the site largely serves Skeptics on the internet and Wikipedia to fuel them with ammunition in their anti-CAM campaigns.   SBM's David Gorski's articles are unquestionably the most entertaining albeit flagrantly bombastic.  In a recent article sharing his despair over the rise in CAM's popularity within the conventional medical community, he writes,    "As much as I hate to admit it, at times I feel like Sisyphus, pushing the boulder up the hill only to have it roll down the other side, only to have to push it back up the hill and roll down again, over and over and over again for all eternity. Certainly trying to keep track of pseudoscience in medicine and trying to educate why so much of so-called “complementary and alternative medicine” (CAM) is quackery (and the stuff that isn’t quackery is just medicine rebranded as CAM) and why “integrative medicine” involves integrating quackery with medicine can seem like a very Sisyphean task."   This is classic Gorski. Yet perhaps it is an indication that he may suffer from a savior complex. Does he believe he holds a prophetic mission to warn against the very bad bogey women and bogey men in the alternative and natural health communities who are determined to force upon the public vitamins, supplements, medicinal herbs, healthy diets, and alternative and natural medical therapies for personal gain? Rather than allow Gorski to wallow in the self pity of his eternal fate to battle effective natural medical treatments with his quarry, might his burden be lessened by bolting the boulder on his back?    Conspiratorial paranoia, scientific denialism and the lack of critical thought abound in Skeptic and SBM publications. It is witnessed in SBM's unwavering defense of genetically modified foods, fluoride, and vaccines. There's Novella's defense of the endocrine disruptor Biphenol A (BPA), the herbicide glyphosate (Roundup), synthetic chemical sweeteners, and more recently the telecommunication industry's talking points about the safety of electromagnetic radiation from cell phones and the coming 5G "internet of things." Over the years SBM authors have attacked a gluten-free diet (aside from the 1 percent of people who have Celiac disease), state licensing of acupuncturists and naturopaths, plant-based diets, nutritional therapies and the Keto Diet for mental disorders, omega-3 and other dietary supplements, antioxidants, etc. In the SBM universe, with few exceptions, only pharmaceutical drugs and surgery should define the practice of medicine.   Given Novella's positions noted above, it comes as no surprise that we find him serving as an Advisory Board member for the American Council on Science and Health, a pro-industry front organization with financial ties to Chevron and ExxonMobil, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, McDonalds, Bristol Myers, Proctor and Gamble, almost all of the agricultural giants including Bayer, Monsanto, DowAgra, Syngenta and tobacco companies such as Altria, Reynolds American, Phillip Morris and British American Tobacco.  Surely this is the real quackery of junk science that poses the greatest threat to public health and costing the lives of millions of the planet's citizens.   Least worrisome is SBM's reliance upon cherry-picked science (often infected by corporate conflicts of interest), its scientific arguments against CAM (largely irrational and based upon the flawed theory of "plausibility"), and an ideological belief system (i.e., Skepticism) that strictly adheres to a dominant medical institution that we now find cracking at the seams. Once SBM's rhetoric is fully understood it echoes as an exasperated last breath effort to keep alive the failures of Herbert Spencer's, Marx's and the founder of scientism August Comte's nineteenth century scientific materialism. And unless SBM receives imperial decree, there is very little chance this fringe movement will gain much popularity nor have any constructive  impact within the medical community.    The Skeptic proponents of SBM seem determined to prevent medicine from evolving beyond its current reductionist, materialist perspective. For that reason SBM's followers adamantly oppose funding research that may someday explain why and how alternative healing modalities have been successful for countless people worldwide. Consequently Skeptics are the strongest opponents of the growing trend in CAM therapies entering medical school curriculums and being offered in hospitals and clinical settings. In recent years, the American Medical Students Association has sponsored an Integrative Medicine Day.  Novella and Gorski have damned this effort as "quackademic medicine" and have published articles excoriating the study of natural health treatments as a threat to science.  Writing for the New York Times, health journalist David Freedman called these medical Skeptics "prickly anti-alternative medicine warriors."   However what is far more vexing is SBM's religious zealotry to discredit any and all alternative medical practices it does not agree with. This is best displayed by these authors' consistent use of demeaning language and exhibiting a narcissistic sense of intellectual superiority. More often, we might find ourselves questioning their state of mind and lack of reasonable integrity. For example, SBM advocates are readily adverse to the precautionary principle. Once they grasp on to a belief, such as the non-toxicity of fluoride or glyphosate, this belief rapidly morphs into dogma despite the evidence to the contrary.   But modern medicine's increasing acceptance of CAM therapies, according to Gorski, is a trend to mourn. In his article "NCCIH Surveys Physicians on Their Recommendations of 'Complementary Health Approaches,' with Depressing Results," he opines over a press release by the NIH's National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health that reported,   "More than half of office-based physicians recommend at least one complementary health approach to their patients, according to a new analysis of data from a nationally representative survey. In addition, female physicians recommended every complementary health approach at a higher rate than male physicians except for chiropractic and osteopathic manipulation."    The remainder of Gorski's article is a criticism of the report's underlying message and then reshaping facts into SBM's own image. It is intellectual alchemy that only unveils a deep seated callowness and animosity towards natural health and those who practice it. Gorksi states that it bothers him "that so many physicians recommend vitamins and supplements," and it bothers him more "that so many physicians recommend acupuncture (22.4%), homeopathy (12.6%), and naturopathy (10.4%)." David, we are delighted you are bothered! Welcome to the evolutionary changes happening within modern medicine that finally woke to the volumes of research Skeptics categorically ignore and deny.    Seemingly Gorski and Novella want to carry medicine back to the days of the Flexner report at the beginning of the last century when modern medicine first turned tyrannical to appease industrial giants such as Carnegie and Rockefeller.      Gorski writes,   "... if you don’t understand that naturopathy is a hodgepodge of pseudoscience and quackery mixed with some sensible interventions based on diet and lifestyle (although, truth be told, even the science-based interventions used by naturopaths are usually tainted with pseudoscience), you should not be a physician."   Regarding acupuncture, he writes,   "Many years ago, I once thought there might be something to acupuncture. The more I read, the more I studied it, though, the more I realized that it’s just a theatrical placebo and that its only effects are nonspecific placebo effects."   And the more I read SBM articles and these lengthy diatribes attacking the advances in alternative health, the more I realize that Gorski, Novella, et al. may be living in an alternative universe.    Finally David concludes,   "In reality, this study is very much like every other NCCIH study examining CAM usage: Its function is marketing, not “to inform”. Expect it to be used to argue how popular CAM is, how many doctors accept it, and thus to argue to policymakers and insurance companies that CAM should be reimbursable by government and private health insurance plans."   And here we rediscover one of SBM's favorite conspiracies; that is, everyone practicing alternative medicine is a hustler and charlatan selling placebos and snake oil for profit and personal gain. It is beyond belief that these folks fail to consider the possibility that because there are tens of thousands of alternative health practitioners serving millions of clients and patients it might have something to do with the success and effectiveness of these healing modalities. I realize that this may be a difficult stunt for a Skeptic brain to comprehend, but it is a very simple and common sense possibility they may wish to consider.   One among many glaring reasons why there has been a large uptick of interest in CAM, both within the medical profession and among the public, is the loss of trust in conventional medicine. This has nothing to do with CAM advertizing or propaganda as SBM skeptics want us to believe. Instead it is a sign of the increasing failures in our medical system. Drug companies' claims are no longer trustworthy. The federal health agencies consistently betray us by fast-tracking drugs that only shortly thereafter need to be stamped with a black box warning. For decades the industry has become a profitable machine sourcing false promises about the latest medications to hit the market. Its court fines for engaging in unethical or illegal activities grow annually. And conventional medicine's graveyard of victims is many square miles larger than the tiny land plot of casualties that may be attributed to CAM.     If we undertake a thought experiment to carry SBM's principles, criticisms and beliefs to their ultimate conclusion, what might modern medicine look like through the eyes of an SBM Skeptic? SBM imagines itself to be the new paradigm of conventional medicine that will replace the current widely accepted "evidence-based medicine" model. It hails itself as the future paradigm for evaluating medical research and to recommend best practices and treatments. Yet its failure lies in contributing absolutely no original research to improve the practice of medicine. Rather, as I have noted above, SBM is a repository of sarcasm, mean-spiritedness and criticism. It is a harbinger of a medical Inquisition in its witch hunt to defame CAM practitioners and their therapies. Therefore if a curse from the heavens were to fall upon America's healthcare and SBM proponents were to take control over national healthcare policies and medical schools, what might our healthcare system develop into? Based upon what we can surmise and extract from the numerous articles on the SBM websites, what would be our options for freedom of medical choice?  How accessible would natural and alternative health therapies be for patients?   Below is the list I compiled that is based upon conclusions I have drawn from SBM articles criticizing CAM therapies and other health-related topics:   Defund and discontinue the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (CAM); Cease government research grants for alternative health modalities and therapies; Discontinue CAM courses in medical schools and discourage education in CAM therapies at universities; Chiropractic practice would be limited to only a small number of health indications and would not be covered by insurance plans. Access to Chiropractic services, therefore, would be strictly out of pocket; Similarly, acupuncture could only be provided for a small number of medical indications and would likely require a physician's recommendation or prescription; Vitamin supplements would be removed as over-the-counter products and put into the hands of pharmaceutical companies; Many supplements, or all supplements, would require a doctor's prescription; All dietary and nutritional counseling must conform to the terribly outdated standards set forth by the American Dietetic Association, which represents mainstream pharmaceutical interests;  No state could authorize Naturopathic medical board certifications, and current states that recognize Naturopathic practice would have permissions revoked; The large majority of botanical medicines would no longer be available, and likely not purchasable over the counter; The practice of homeopathy would be outlawed and the sale of homeopathic remedies would be banned; The practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Indian Ayurveda, and Energy Medicine (e.g. Reiki, polarity therapy, therapeutic touch, emotional freedom technique) would be prohibited; A nationwide moratorium would be set to prohibit the labeling of genetically modified foods (GMOs); Water from public utilities and dental products, such as toothpaste and mouthwash, would be required to contain fluoride; Vaccination for all children and adults would be mandated at a national level and children could be vaccinated without parental approval. Failure to comply could result in outrageous fines or criminal proceedings. Finally, all sites focused on alternative health, plant-based diets and natural nutrition, vaccination hesitancy, dangers of electromagnetic radiation, GMOs risks, etc would be strictly censored.   Undoubtedly, this list may appear to be unduly extreme and perhaps unfair; nevertheless, I believe it accurately reflects the condemnations and hate-mongering found scattered throughout SBM and Skeptic blogs and articles. Skeptics disproportionately ridicule CAM while at the same time fail to critically evaluate their own medical profession's rickety research that finds its way into peer-reviewed medical journals. Furthermore, this is the same scenario subtly being promoted by the Skeptics on Wikipedia's alternative health pages who are in the habit of referencing Gorski, Novella and other SBM authors in addition to SBM's predecessor Stephen Barrett and Quackwatch.    If my list is accurate, it portrays a regime that may best be defined as medical fascism.  In my opinion SBM should never be perceived as a champion of public health. Rather it is an ideological cancer. Its authors are master wordsmiths who use the language of science to tailor the illusion of Science-Based Medicine as a new gold standard; nevertheless, it is only a ruse to confuse the public and to restore the dying Flexner paradigm of modern medicine that should be buried alongside its millions of victims.  

Dr. James Lyons-Weiler (PhD) is the CEO and Director of The Institute for Pure and Applied Knowledge, which  perform research in the public interest aimed at finding ways to reduce human suffering using funds donated from the public . His research program is currently focused on aluminum toxicity, autoimmunity, and the differences in health outcomes between highly vaccinated and unvaccinated children.  A life-long biomedical researcher, he is best known for contributions to advances in medical bioinformatics, and for his three books, “Ebola: An Evolving Story,” (2016) “Cures vs. Profits: Successes in Translational Research,” (2016) and “The Environmental and Genetic Causes of Autism” (2017). A true-blue academic, Dr. Lyons-Weiler has directed the analysis of data from over 100 medical studies, served as Founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal Cancer Informatics, serves on the Editorial Board of Cancer Research, and has published more than 57 papers in reputable journals. His blog jameslyonsweiler.com contains deep analysis of issue that confront us today on the mismatches that exist between biomedical science and public health policy.  His institute IPAK can be visited at ipaknowledge.org

The Gary Null Show is here to inform you on the best news in health, healing, the environment. Effects of cocoa-derived polyphenols on cognitive function in humans, Researchers identify link between decreased depressive symptoms, yoga and the neurotransmitter GABA, Mushrooms may alleviate features of pre-eclampsia, Folic acid supplementation could counteract effects of sleep deprivation, Time Spent In Nature Will Save $6 Trillion Globally In Mental Health Care Costs, Claim Australian Researchers.  Liberal Professor Warns: Google Manipulating Voters 'on a Massive Scale'      

Quackwatch's Promotion of Psychiatric Propaganda Richard Gale and Gary Null PhD Progressive Radio Network, February 3, 2020   Every respectable journalist, especially investigative reporters, have multiple sources for stories they are working on. Major news outlets and news papers, such as the New York Times, Washington Post, and television news networks will also have independent fact checkers who review and vet content to validate the content's accuracy.  One media source that has risen to become one of the world's most popular resources for information, used by more people than all of the major American newspapers combined, is Wikipedia. However, unlike mainstream journalism, Wikipedia does not pass the smell test of being legitimately credible. Editors and writers are more often than not anonymous. Their background, expertise and scholarship on any given subject are largely unknown. This is especially the case for many of Wikipedia's pages dealing with Alternative and Complementary Medicine (CAM) and the personal biographies of CAM's leading practitioners and advocates. Moreover, although Wikipedia has strict rules for determining what are reliable and unreliable resources for sourcing citations, these guidelines are often not adhered to or intentionally ignored altogether.  Instead, many sources relied upon to discredit CAM and non-conventional medical doctors and practitioners are dubious at best. In some cases they are solely resources publishing ideological propaganda and personal opinions.

The Gary Null Show is here to inform you on the best news in health, healing, the environment.  Leana Wen: What your doctor won’t disclose   Classrooms in Crisis: Outbursts plaguing Oregon classrooms     The Real Reason to be Afraid of Artificial Intelligence | Peter Haas | TEDxDirigo    

Dr Lawrence Palevsky At a forum on vaccines in Connecticut, Dr. Palevsky discusses the repeal of the religious exemption in NY, and the recent measles outbreaks.    

The Gary Null Show is here to inform you on the best news in health, healing, the environment. Thyroid cancer, genetic variations and cell phones linked in study, Walnuts may slow cognitive decline in at-risk elderly, Researchers examine role of micronutrients in atopic dermatitis, On the menu: Study says dining out is a recipe for unhealthy eating for most Americans, Chromium picolinate decreased cognitive deficit in rodent model of sporadic Alzheimer-like dementia, Taking vitamin D supplements for multiple years found to help those with cancer live longer. Psychiatric Medications Can Cause Mental Illness: Holistic Psychiatrist Kelly Brogan, M.D.      

The Gary Null Show is here to inform you on the best news in health, healing, the environment.  A hefty dose of vitamin C can help fight the common cold, The crisis in the world’s fisheries ... “the United Nations says 90 per cent of them have collapsed and the Chinese are the biggest culprits”  . Lara Logan cheers Ted Koppel's comments on media bias: Finally, I'm not alone.          

The Gary Null Show is here to inform you on the best news in health, healing, the environment. A hefty dose of vitamin C can help fight the common cold, 

Vaccination, the Ultimate Junk Science Richard Gale and Gary Null PhD Progressive Radio Network, January 23, 2020   For over a decade the debate over compulsory vaccination, especially for children and more recently for adults, has centered on a single premise. World leading vaccine experts, including those at the CDC, our universities and international organizations such as the World Health Organization, are unanimous that there is no longer any controversy over vaccines' safety and effectiveness. All vaccines, we are told, have been proven safe, either individually or in combination, and this has been thoroughly researched in clinical trials.  This absolutism within the medical and pharmacological communities, including the American Pediatric Association, also argues that they are the sole experts. Because they have found no reason to question the virtues of vaccination, neither should the public and media. Therefore, the debate is closed. If all risks and injuries are denied outright, then there can be no discussion.  

The Gary Null Show is here to inform you on the best news in health, healing, the environment. Anti-hypercholesterolemic and antioxidant properties of rice bran oil, Arginine depletion as a starting point for potential rheumatoid arthritis treatments, Climate-friendly food choices protect the planet, promote health, reduce health costs, Research suggests melatonin plays a crucial role in bone balance, Researchers examine the potential of curcumin and fish oil supplementation for muscle response during unloading state, Encapsulated curcumin enhances intestinal absorption and improves liver damage in alcoholic liver disease, Kids' behavior, socioeconomic risk linked to gut microbiome composition, function. 

The Gary Null Show is here to inform you on the best news in health, healing, the environment. Germans found that Vitamin D increases the immune system by 3-5 times and is BETTER than any vaccine at helping the immune system beat the h5n1. A new study says that the CDC's vaccine schedule, a guide for doctors and parents detailing which vaccines to get and when to get them, may have harmful effects. 

The Gary Null Show is here to inform you on the best news in health, healing, the environment. Vitamin K supplementation can help reduce arterial stiffness and improve blood pressure, researchers find. Spending at least 2 hours in nature per week improves overall health and psychological well-being, shows study, Human exposure to aluminum linked to familial Alzheimer's disease, Consumption of leafy green salads improves cardiovascular health post-menopause, Light therapy for immune cells helps with side effects of cancer therapy, New research confirms lingering mood benefit of psychedelics, Childhood Trauma May Lead to Adult Disease, Meta-analysis supports the use of quercetin for high blood pressure, Premature menopause increases the risk of multiple health problems in your 60s.