There are many great skeptically-themed resources on the web for you to peruse for daily content. Check these out!

Science-Based Medicine - A daily stop! The medically trained Science-Based Medicine team is dedicated to advocating for high scientific standards in health care, evaluating medical treatments and products of interest to the public in a scientific light. SBM provides a much needed “alternative” perspective to medical information online — the scientific perspective.

Doubtful News – Your place to get a measured perspective on weird news. Visit everyday to see a rational take on news about alt med, pseudoscience, anomalies and the paranormal. Check with DN when you are a bit skeptical about that latest viral post on social media or want the latest on that extraordinary claim in the news. Get insight on these topics that the mainstream media just doesn’t have.

Respectful Insolence – Controversial and entertaining, Orac’s Respectful Insolence is a no apologies repository of ramblings on medicine and quackery, science and pseudoscience, history and pseudohistory, politics, and whatever else has pushed his buttons today. Is there a epic medical fail in the news today? You won’t want to miss RI’s expert colorful take on what went down.

Exposing Pseudoastronomy - You can keep following Dr. Stu as he focuses on astronomy education, especially correcting misconceptions and helping people better understand what your tax dollars and researchers can do in space.

Consumer Health Digest - With William London, the digest is a free weekly e-mail newsletter edited by Stephen Barrett, M.D. It summarizes scientific reports, legislative developments, enforcement actions, other news items, web site evaluations, recommended and non-recommended books, research tips, and information relevant to consumer protection and decision-making.

The Gerson “therapy” has received a spike in media attention this month because of its failure to save the life of its famous devotee, Jessica Ainscough (“The Wellness Warrior”), who died of a very rare type of cancer on February 26th at age 30.

For several decades, the main promoter of this bizarre nutritional approach to healing has been Charlotte Gerson, daughter of its developer, Max Gerson (1881-1959), a German physician who emigrated to the United States in 1936. I have met Charlotte on at least three occasions at conferences promoting so-called alternative treatments. In 2009, I took detailed notes about her 30-minute lecture at the 37th Annual Convention of the Cancer Control Society, an organization that misinforms the public in its advocacy of what it calls “Nutrition and Non-Toxic Therapies” for preventing and controlling cancer and other diseases.

It seems timely now to share some of my notes and discuss what they reveal about how some people can be seduced into choosing a treatment protocol as preposterous and demanding as Gerson’s.


But first some background….