Pseudoscience

2014

2014-01-01 Dr. Oz has enriged himself by pushing several miracle cures, some of which the FTC had to release press releases about.

DR OZ Green coffee bean extract for weight loss, FTC issued a press release on this twice https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2016/06/ftc-sending-refund-checks-totaling-more-9-million-consumers-who-bought-pure-health-or-genesis-today or here https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2015/01/spilling-beans-anatomy-diet-craze
DR OZ Raspberry ketones for burning fat https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/much-were-paid-dr-oz-121301877.html
DR OZ Forskolin miracle flower for fighting fat https://people.com/health/dr-oz-approved-weight-loss-supplements-do-they-really-work
DR OZ Garcinia cambogia “holy grail” for weight loss and deemed possibly toxic with regular use https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0367326X15000544
DR OZ HCG for weight loss, even though the FDA warned its unsupported
DR OZ Selenium for cancer prevention https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/10/03/mehmet-oz-senate-television-show

2025 May

2025-05-30 James Comer sent RFK a letter saying MAHA cited several nonexistent and misinterpreted studies to support their claims. In the letter Comer demanded information about the process MAHA was using to draft their reports.

https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-oversight.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2025-06-02-lynch-to-hhs-jfk-jt-re-maha-report.pdf

https://www.science.org/content/article/trump-officials-downplay-fake-citations-high-profile-report-children-s-health

https://www.notus.org/health-science/make-america-healthy-again-report-citation-errors

2025 September

2025-09-09 RFK unveiled his “Make Our Children Healthy Again” initiative, with a sweeping overhaul to policies based on his version of “gold-standard” pseudoscience.

https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/maha-commission-report-childhood-disease-strategy.html

2025-09-22 Trump claimed without evidence Tylenol was bad for pregnant women, “Don’t take Tylenol. There’s no downside. Don’t take it. You’ll be uncomfortable. It won’t be as easy, maybe, but don’t take it. If you’re pregnant, don’t take Tylenol”.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/22/health/video/trump-rfk-announce-autism-acetaminophen-connection-lead-digvid

https://www.fda.gov/media/188843/download

https://jheor.org/post/3465-trump-claims-no-downside-to-avoiding-tylenol-during-pregnancy-he-s-wrong

https://www.politifact.com/article/2025/sep/15/Tylenol-acetaminophen-pregnancy-autism-RFK/

2025 November

2025-11-01 Injecting peptides became the newest health trend.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/15/health/peptides-unregulated-influencers

https://www.theguardian.com/wellness/2026/feb/05/injectable-peptides-trend

https://www.npr.org/2026/02/23/nx-s1-5716162/peptides-science-muscle-growth-longevity-wellness

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdr268m5pxro

2025-11-20 The CDC website was altered to promote claims linking vaccines and autism.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/cdc-website-changes-to-include-false-claim-about-autism-and-vaccines/

https://autismsciencefoundation.org/press_releases/cdc-webpage/

https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/ama-press-releases/ama-statement-cdc-changes-website-autism-and-vaccines

https://www.bmj.com/content/391/bmj.r2470

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/cdc-vaccine-safety-webpage-changed-to-contradict-scientific-conclusion-that-vaccines-dont-cause-autism

https://www.cdc.gov/autism/faq/index.html

2026 January

2026-01-04 The Canadian Medical Association issued a warning that U.S. health and science institutions can no longer be relied upon for accurate guidance.

https://guides.hsict.library.utoronto.ca/beyondborders

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/04/canada-us-health-institutions-information

https://www.cma.ca/latest-stories/there-no-border-lies-five-takeaways-false-health-information-canada

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/article/health-minister-says-canada-cant-rely-on-us-health-institutions-anymore/