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Consumer Health Digest #23-21
May 21, 2023
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###
Florida Surgeon General reportedly altered data informing COVID vaccine guidanceThe Center for Inquiry (CFI) is calling for an ethics investigation into allegations Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo improperly altered key findings in a study on COVID-19 vaccine safety. CFI has sent a letter
https://centerforinquiry.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Ladapo_Ethics_Letter.pdfto the medical boards in Florida, California, and New York, where Ladapo holds licenses, and the University of Florida, where he is a professor.
[“Public health is too important to become a political football”: CFI calls for ethics investigation into FL Surgeon General
https://centerforinquiry.org/press_releases/cfi-calls-for-ethics-investigation-into-fl-surgeon-general/. Center for Inquiry press release, May 4, 2023]
In October 2022, Ladapo announced, contrary to advice issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that young men should not be vaccinated against COVID-19 based on a state analysis of data
https://floridahealthcovid19.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/20221007-guidance-mrna-covid19-vaccines-analysis.pdfsuggesting an elevated risk of cardiac-related deaths. But draft versions of the state analysis included contradictory data excluded from the final version showing much greater risk of cardiac-related death from COVID-19 than from the vaccine.
[O’Donnell C. Florida health officials removed key data from COVID vaccine report
https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2023/04/07/florida-surgeon-general-covid-19-vaccine-study-heart-problems-men/. Tampa Bay Times, April 14, 2023]
According to Politico, Ladapo personally altered
https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000187-b36b-d739-a797-f3ef41e30000the analysis.
[Sarkissian A. Florida surgeon general altered key findings in study on COVID-19 vaccine safety
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/24/florida-surgeon-general-covid-vaccine-00093510. Politico, April 24, 2023]
Ladapo has falsely described mRNA COVID-19 vaccines as having “a terrible safety profile” and has opposed other COVID-19 containment measures. Yet he was confirmed for another year as the state’s top public health official on May 4. In his book, Transcend Fear: A Blueprint for Mindful Leadership in Public Health, published in August 2022, Ladapo wrote that he “gained the courage to share his opinions on the COVID-19 response after a spiritual awakening from a five-day counseling session in Chinese meridian theory and the qualities of chi.” In an interview with Republican politician Dr. Ben Carson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ykltkdlq-oY, Ladapo said: (a) he believes it was God’s plan to go to the counseling and speak out against COVID-19 policy, and (b) his wife encouraged him to speak out about the vaccine and convinced him to go to the counseling.
[Krischer C and others. Joseph Ladapo says anti-vaccine crusade was God’s plan. It cost him his peers’ trust
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/05/13/joseph-ladapo-says-anti-vaccine-crusade-was-gods-plan-it-cost-him-his-peers-trust-2/. Orlando Sentinel, May 13, 2023] His wife’s Amazon.com author bio states:
Brianna Ladapo is an intuitive spiritual healer, movement therapist, and teacher. She has a master’s degree in English from Harvard University, and has studied traditional naturopathy, plant and herbal medicine, and shamanism.
In line with Ladapo’s misguided messaging, the Florida Legislature is considering two bills that would expand prohibitions against mandatory masking and vaccination. The bills would also forbid regulatory boards from disciplining providers who offer quack advice on social media and would require doctors to discuss the pros and cons of “alternative” treatments before treating patients for COVID-19.
[Legislature emboldens quackery of lying Ladapo
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2023/04/27/legislature-emboldens-quackery-of-lying-ladapo-editorial/. South Florida SunSentinel, May 1, 2023]
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FDA issues safety notification on amniotic fluid eyedropsThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a safety communication stating that “manufacturers are marketing and distributing amniotic fluid eyedrops to treat, mitigate, or cure diseases or conditions such as dry eye disease without the required premarket review and approval, raising potential significant safety concerns.” These eyedrops lack FDA approval and are illegal to offer in a clinical trial unless an investigational new drug application (IND) is in effect. In late 2022, the FDA warned manufacturers of Regener-Eyes
https://www.fda.gov/media/162219/downloadand StimulEyes
https://www.fda.gov/media/163465/downloadabout approval and IND requirements.
[Public safety notification on amniotic fluid eyedrops
https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/safety-availability-biologics/public-safety-notification-amniotic-fluid-eyedrops. FDA Safety Communication, April 10, 2023]
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Nature criticized for promoting facilitated communicationStuart Vyse, Ph.D., has criticized the prestigious journal Nature for publishing on May 10 a news feature that presented the views of “a nonspeaking autism advocate shown in an accompanying photo pointing at a letter board held in the air by someone outside the frame of the picture.” Such use of a letter board is a variant of the discredited technique of facilitated communication
https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/organizations-opposing-fcand has not been shown in controlled testing to support claims that messages generated are authored by nonspeaking individuals with autism
https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/. Vyse noted that the news feature was titled “‘The best way to get it right is to listen to us’—Autistic people argue for a stronger voice in research” and concluded:
We have no evidence that the person being quoted said those words, and yet she is being put forth as the poster child for a highly politicized movement. In my view, this is the real travesty. This person has achieved remarkable visibility, including quotes and a photograph in a widely read science journal, yet the available scientific evidence suggests that rather than speaking out for herself she has been silenced and someone else has substituted their voice for hers. All of this may have happened with the best of intentions, but if I am right, it is a substantial injustice nonetheless. And the journal Nature, which ought to know better, is complicit in making it happen.
[Vyse S. The journal Nature falls for autism pseudoscience
https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/the-journal-nature-falls-for-autism-pseudoscience/. Skeptical Inquirer, May 16, 2023]
The title of the Nature news feature currently appears as: “‘I am not a broken version of normal’—autistic people argue for a stronger voice in research.”
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Evidence for skin cancer screening found insufficientThe U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has concluded that current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of visual skin examination by a clinician to screen for skin cancer in symptom-free adolescents and adults. [Skin cancer: screening
https://uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/skin-cancer-screening. USPSTF final hecommendation statement, April 18, 2023]
A JAMA Patient Page about the USPTF’s conclusion noted:
Pros of screening include earlier detection by finding moles or spots that were not previously noticed, which leads to earlier treatment.
For melanomas, detecting them very early decreases the chance of cancer complications and death. However, it is not clear whether screening finds potentially fatal melanomas enough to have an impact.
Screening “can result in unnecessary biopsies and may cause unnecessary worry and stress.”
Skin cancers can be prevented by: (a) wearing sunscreen and reapplying it often, (b) wearing wide-brimmed hats and long sleeves/pants, especially during peak sunlight hours (midday), and (c) avoiding tanning beds.
[Jin J. Screening and prevention of skin cancer
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2803802. JAMA 329:1324, 2023]
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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: Florida Surgeon General reportedly altered data informing COVID vaccine guidance (Read 58 times)