Marjorie

Cracks in the facade of a modern hospital building.

My second alterna-doc disaster

When I was unable to convince my regular alterna-doc that I was hypothyroid, I made the mistake of returning to the only other major alternative medicine practice in town, a Den of Incompetence I had sworn never to visit again. Dr. Dumbass had left the practice and I convinced myself that my earlier experience was ...

Marjorie

Four figures below comment bubbles

Spotting planted product plugs on discussion forums

(Updated July 2024.) In my years of doing online research on alternative health products, I’ve learned that even in the best-run, most closely moderated discussion group, you can find promo copy disguised as user experience. In one example, I strongly suspected that a manufacturer who’d been in business for 40 years, had very little competition, ...