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Consumer Health Digest #22-02
January 9, 2022
Consumer Health Digest is a free weekly e-mail newsletter edited by William M. London, Ed.D., M.P.H
http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/william-m-london., with help from Stephen Barrett, M.D
http://www.quackwatch.org/10Bio/bio.html. It summarizes scientific reports; legislative developments; enforcement actions; news reports; Web site evaluations; recommended and nonrecommended books; and other information relevant to consumer protection and consumer decision-making. Its primary focus is on health, but occasionally it includes non-health scams and practical tips. To subscribe, click here
http://lists.quackwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/chd_lists.quackwatch.org###
Major report spotlights progress and challenges for U.S. oral healthThe NIH National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research has released a 790-page report called Oral Health in America: Advances and Challenges
https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/sites/default/files/2021-12/Oral-Health-in-America-Advances-and-Challenges.pdfplus a 28-page executive summary
https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/sites/default/files/2021-12/Oral-Health-in-America-Executive-Summary.pdfof the report. The key messages relevant to consumers are:
Good oral health is important for the overall health and well-being of individuals of all ages, their families, communities, and the nation.
While there have been substantial advances in the understanding and treatment of oral diseases and conditions, many people of all ages and demographic backgrounds still have chronic oral health problems and lack access to care.
Personal behaviors that can maintain and improve oral health are shaped by social and economic conditions.
Oral and medical conditions often share common risk factors, and just as medical conditions and their treatments can influence oral health, so can oral conditions and their treatments affect other health issues.
Efforts such as promoting first dental visits at age 1, use of fluoride varnish, integration of oral health services into medical primary care, and improvements to Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, have resulted in the reduction of untreated tooth decay by nearly 50% in preschool children.
Expanded use of dental sealants has led to meaningful reductions of some oral health disparities by race, ethnicity and income for many children.
Fluoridated water, toothpastes, and varnish along with dental sealants, can work together to dramatically reduce the incidence of dental caries.
As of 2018, 73% of the U.S. population on community water systems received optimally fluoridated water, up from 65% in 2000.
Water fluoridation is protective against dental caries beyond protection offered by other sources of fluoride.
Tooth loss continues to decline across all subgroups of adults.
Advances in implant technology and practice have improved the quality of life for many, but implant procedures remain costly and out of reach for most adults.
The annual cost of U.S. dental care in 2018 was $136 billion, representing 3.7% of U.S. health-care spending; $55 billion in U.S. dental care was paid by patients, making up more than a quarter of all out-of-pocket health-care spending.
The previous comprehensive federal report on oral health
Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General
https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/research/data-statistics/surgeon-generalwas published in 2000.
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Anti-vaccine podcast episode removed from YouTubeYouTube has removed a video of the December 31 episode of the Joe Rogan Experience featuring Dr. Robert Malone, an immunology physician and promoter of anti-vaccine falsehoods
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jun/16/youtube-videos/no-sign-covid-19-vaccines-spike-protein-toxic-or-c/. While YouTube has removed the video for violating its misinformation policy, the streaming service Spotify still lists the episode. Previously, Malone was banned from Twitter, where he had attracted hundreds of thousands of followers, for violating its COVID-19 misinformation policies. While he did make early contributions to researching the mRNA technology for vaccine development, he has misleadingly billed himself as the “inventor” of mRNA vaccines.
[McCarthy B. Who is Robert Malone? Joe Rogan’s guest was a vaccine scientist, became an anti-vaccine darling
https://www.politifact.com/article/2022/jan/06/who-robert-malone-joe-rogans-guest-was-vaccine-sci/. Politifact, Jan 6, 2022]
In Rogan’s podcast, Malone promoted the unfounded notion that “mass formation psychosis” explains why millions of people believe in a mainstream COVID-19 “narrative” and trust the vaccines.
[Fichera A, Kelety J. Fact Focus: Unfounded theory used to dismiss COVID measures
https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-science-health-joe-rogan-ap-fact-check-a87b1044c6256968dcc33886a36c949f. Associated Press, Jan 8, 2022]
A profile of Malone published last year provides details about his background and influence on right-wing media.
[Bartlett T. The vaccine scientist spreading vaccine misinformation
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/08/robert-malone-vaccine-inventor-vaccine-skeptic/619734/. The Atlantic, Aug 12, 2021]
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Another disinformation-spreader spotlightedHuffPost has reported that Alex Jones’ Infowars store made $165 million in sales of dietary supplements and survival gear from September 2015 to the end of 2018. The records were obtained from court filings related to a lawsuit Jones recently lost over his lies about the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre [Murdock S. Alex Jones’ Infowars store made $165 million over 3 years, records show
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/infowars-store-alex-jones_n_61d71d8fe4b0bcd2195c6562. HuffPost, Jan 7, 2022]
Another investigative report says that in 2013, Jones shifted his business model to rely primarily on dietary supplement sales after having built a media empire consisting of web, radio, subscription video, and DVD and T-shirt sales. It noted: “In effect, Alex Jones is running a nationwide, daily, four-hour infomercial for his dietary supplements.”
[Brown S. Alex Jones’s media empire is a machine built to sell snake-oil diet supplements
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/05/how-does-alex-jones-make-money.html. New York Magazine, May 4, 2017]
In 2020, Jones and Infowars were:
*** ordered by New York State’s attorney general
https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/jones_cease_and_desist_3.12.2020.pdfto cease and desist selling and marketing products as a treatment or cure for the coronavirus
[Attorney General James orders Alex Jones to stop selling fake coronavirus treatments
https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2020/attorney-general-james-orders-alex-jones-stop-selling-fake-coronavirus-treatments. New York State Office of the Attorney General press release, March 12, 2020]
*** warned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Federal Trade Commission
https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations/warning-letters/free-speech-systems-llc-dba-infowarscom-605802-04092020to cease the sale of unapproved and unauthorized products for the mitigation, prevention, treatment, diagnosis, or cure of COVID-19
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Theranos founder convictedElizabeth Holmes has been convicted on three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit fraud. Evidence indicated that investors were duped into believing her startup, Theranos, had developed a revolutionary medical device that could detect a multitude of diseases and conditions from a few drops of blood. Holmes was acquitted on four other counts of fraud and conspiracy that alleged she deceived patients who paid for Theranos blood tests. The jury deadlocked on three remaining charges, which a federal judge will probably dismiss as part of a mistrial ruling.
[Liedtke M. Former Theranos CEO Holmes convicted of fraud and conspiracy
https://apnews.com/article/elizabeth-holmes-trial-theranos-ceo-fb79a29d3c426a5cadee7ec5734b6f24. Associated Press, Jan 4, 2022]
A 31-minute 2018 ReasonTV interview
https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2018/06/25/the-downfall-of-theranos-and-elizabeth-holmes/with John Carreyrou is available online. Carreyrou also wrote about Holmes in The Wall Street Journal
https://www.wsj.com/articles/theranos-has-struggled-with-blood-tests-1444881901and in his book Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Blood-Secrets-Silicon-Startup/dp/152473165X. Holmes is likely to be sentenced to several years in prison
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Stephen Barrett, M.D.
Consumer Advocate
7 Birchtree Circle
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
Telephone: (919) 533-6009
http://www.quackwatch.org (health fraud and quackery)
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Topic: Alex Jones’ Infowars store made hundreds of millions of Dollars by selling dreck (Read 237 times)