Joseph Mercola
| Against allopathy |
| Alternative articles |
Joseph Mercola, "doctor" of osteopathy, is a popular guru of alternative medicine and a member of the right-wing quack outfit Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. He advocates and provides a forum for many classic crank medical ideas, such as vaccine hysteria and the belief that modern (sorry, "allopathic") medicine kills more people than it helps. His website is a veritable spring of pseudoscience, quackery, and logical fallacies. He is a promoter of the idea of an AMA/Big Pharma/FDA conspiracy.[1]
Despite his claim that unlike real other doctors, he is not interested in profit,[2] he advertises all manner of unproven products, and has a health center that dispenses alternative medicine for a steep price.[3]
Contents |
[edit] Issues
In addition to the issues mentioned above, Mercola promotes various disproved crank health ideas such as:
- Toxic metals in vaccines and dental fillings. The idea of heavy metal poisoning as being responsible for many common health problems is a popular one, and completely wrong. The studies of mercury in dental amalgams and vaccines are conclusive – there is no danger (which is more than can be said for the unnecessary chelation therapy quacks prescribe to fix the "problem").[4]
- Statin drugs are dangerous. This one is particularly horrible, as few medications or interventions has been found to be as safe and effective as statins. Failing to prescribe a statin to someone with coronary artery disease is very much against the standard of care (meaning that it could be construed as malpractice).
- Microwaves "kill nutrients in food." Just plain wrong.[5]
- Modern medicine kills you dead, but homeopathy works! (Fractal wrongness).
- Seriously, just pick a quack bête noire out of a hat, anything from aspartame to water fluoridation.
[edit] FDA warnings
Mercola has received two warnings from the FDA for hyping coconut oil, chlorella, and the Living Fuel RxTM diet.[6][7] He received a third warning for selling infrared cameras that he claimed could be used to diagnose a number of illnesses.[8]
[edit] Birds of a feather...
In what can only be termed a quack alternative medicine practitioner group hug, Mercola has recently come to the defense of the Burzynski Clinic despite the obvious pitfalls of doing so.[9]
[edit] External links
- mercola.com
- FDA Orders Mercola to Stop Illegal Claims, Quackwatch
- 9 Reasons to Completely Ignore Joseph Mercola, Science-Based Medicine
- Joseph Mercola and the Town of Allopath, Merseyside Skeptics
- Mercola – Still Lying After All These Years, Denialism blog
- Respectful Insolence has an entire catalog of Mercola's adventures in Woo generation:
- Mercola Sells the Delusion of Homeopathy
- Joe Mercola and Raw Milk Faddism Invade HuffPo
- Joe Mercola's Shampoo Woo
- Joe Mercola Plays the Religion Card Against Vaccines
- Joe Mercola: Proof positive that quackery sells
- Joe Mercola attacks vaccinations again. Film at 11.
- Joe Mercola: 15 years of promoting quackery.
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ When Should You Use Conventional Medicine?
- ↑ http://www.mercola.com/forms/background.htm
- ↑ http://www.mercola.com/forms/nptour/index.htm
- ↑ Somewhat ironic that he got on the anti-mercury bandwagon, considering that his last name kind of sounds like mercury.
- ↑ The Claim: Microwave Ovens Kill Nutrients in Food, New York Times
- ↑ FDA warning, Feb. 16, 2005
- ↑ FDA warning, Sep. 21, 2006
- ↑ FDA warning, Mar. 22, 2011
- ↑ Quoth Joe Mercola: I love me some Burzynski antineoplastons, Respectful Insolence