Alternative Medicine scams

Respectful Insolence has an article about a particulary bad example of science reporting. The article about the study claims that it shows alternative medicine works. The study actually only indicates that long-term survival is possible even in severe cases of cancer where it's not expected. Those are two different things.

Snake oil medicine scams are alive and well in this century. Patent medicines may have changed their form, but the sales pitch still goes on.

There are some signs to watch out for.

1. If it sounds to good to be true, then it is.
2. If the book saying that this remedy works for that disease is next
to the product, but the product isn't labeled as being that sort of remedy, then
it doesn't work.

One or the other of those symptoms is found in scams as to the curative powers of this or that product. If someone isn't willing to spend the money to go through FDA approval it is because the product won't be able to meet standards of scientific proof. Or, in other words, it just doesn't work. One can, and I have, complain about different aspects of federal approval, but it is a safety net that works most of the time. That the FDA is slow and cumbersome is a problem, but it is more of a problem when claims are made that cannot be verified and people are tricked into using products that don't work and may even harm.

You don't have to be a scientist in order to figure out whether a product is worht your time. Just a little sense will help. Miracle cures aren't and going through some sort of review works. It's as simple as those two steps.