case report
I am quite fond of garlic, but not as a cancer therapy. Dr. Mohsen Ali, a former doctor whose UK medical license was revoked by the General Medical Council (GMC) in January 2015, has been permanently struck off the medical register following a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) investigation into his running of an illegal clinic. The tribunal, which began proceedings on December 1, 2025, reconvened on January 14 and concluded from April 22 to 24, 2026, found Ali guilty of serious professional misconduct for preying on vulnerable cancer patients with unproven and dangerous treatments.
In 2018, Ali treated two patients from a semi-detached Leicester property described as a “squalid council house.” Patient A had stage three prostate cancer, while Patient B suffered from terminal ovarian cancer. Referred to Ali by word-of-mouth, both were told he could cure their cancers with a claimed 90% success rate. He charged Patient A up to £15,000 and Patient B between £10,000 and £12,000 for sessions involving intravenous vitamin C, garlic oil, ozone therapy, oxygenated water, and sodium bicarbonate injections.
Ali disparaged conventional medicine, asserting that the NHS was “killing them” through ineffective chemotherapy and radiotherapy, while “big pharma companies were making money.” During a phone call, he laughed off Patient A’s diagnosis, calling prostate cancer “easy to cure.” For Patient B, he overrode the NHS’s prognosis that nothing more could be done, promising her husband a full recovery. Patient B died shortly after stopping treatment, before police and Public Health England (PHE) probes began.
The case surfaced when Patient A emailed Leicestershire Police, prompting a GMC referral. A police raid uncovered a flyer at Ali’s address, advertising him as a “qualified doctor” who left the NHS because standard treatments “did not work.” It invoked “Allah the best healer” and boasted over 90% cure rates for cancers and other severe illnesses.
MPTS evidence revealed grave hygiene failures. PHE inspections described the property as a “dirty and unhygienic” shared residential-clinical space with visibly contaminated surfaces, reused equipment without decontamination, and no basic infection prevention measures. Ali reused intravenous bags, exposing patients to serious infection risks. The tribunal deemed his actions dishonest, as he knew these were not evidence-based cancer cures.
An expert witness confirmed no clinical studies support these so-called alternative medicines (SCAMs) for curing any cancer. Ali also failed to obtain informed consent, particularly from Patient B. Absent from the hearing, he emailed the GMC denying claims of cure, but the flyer and patient testimonies contradicted him.
Ali, who graduated from Cairo University in 1994 and practiced in the UK from 2001 was erased him from the register, underscoring the dangers of unqualified SCAM practitioners – even (or perhaps especially) when they have a doctor title.
Trump’s anti-science stance is well-known. What we did not know is how far he might venture in this direction. On Friday, April 24, 2026, the Trump administration took the unprecedented step of firing all sitting members of the National Science Board (NSB). This body acts as the governing board for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and serves as an independent advisory arm to the President and Congress on matters of national science policy.
While Trump does have the legal authority to appoint these members, they are historically granted staggered, six-year terms to ensure the board remains a non-partisan anchor for US research. The mass termination via email happened without a stated cause or immediate replacement plan. Trump’s action has raised significant concerns regarding the future of independent scientific funding and oversight in the United States.
The terminated members include:
- Dan Reed (Chair): A computer scientist and former Microsoft executive with deep expertise in high-performance computing and “big data” infrastructure.
- Victor R. McCrary (Vice Chair): A physical chemist and research VP at the University of the District of Columbia; highly regarded for his work in technology transfer and innovation.
- Willie E. May: The former Director of NIST and a leading expert in metrology (the science of measurement) and chemical standards.
- Arati Prabhakar: An applied physicist and former Director of DARPA; she is a specialist in transitioning high-risk research into commercial technologies.
- Dario Gil: Senior VP at IBM and Director of IBM Research; a global authority on quantum computing and the ethics of Artificial Intelligence.
- Keivan Stassun: An astrophysicist at Vanderbilt University known for his research on exoplanets and his efforts to increase diversity in the physical sciences.
- Julia Phillips: A materials scientist and retired VP of Sandia National Laboratories; an expert in thin-film research and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
- Roger Beachy: A biologist and pioneer in plant biotechnology; he was instrumental in developing the first genetically modified food crops (virus-resistant tomatoes).
- Marvi Matos Rodriguez: An aerospace engineer and executive specializing in fusion energy and advanced material systems for the energy sector.
- Sudarshan S. Babu: An engineering professor at the University of Tennessee/Oak Ridge National Laboratory; a top expert in advanced 3D printing and manufacturing.
- Aaron Dominguez: An experimental particle physicist and Provost at Catholic University of America who contributed to the Higgs boson discovery at CERN.
- Melvyn Huff: A mathematician and educator focused on the development of rigorous mathematics curricula and analytical modelling.
As the head of the Executive Branch, the President has the right to remove any official who is not explicitly protected by “for cause” language, ensuring the agency follows the administration’s policy goals. Nonetheless, this is a “norm-breaking” action that ignores the statutory design of staggered terms. It effectively turns an independent advisory body into a political one, which most likely will lead to legal challenges regarding the “independence” of the NSF.
Because the White House has failed to issue an official statement justifying the dismissals, the reason for this spectacular action remains speculative. Considering recent tensions between the administration and the board, as well as broader policy shifts, the dismissals are seen not primarily as a targeted attack on science itself, but more as a systematic effort to remove independent oversight and “unelected experts” who might challenge the Executive Branch’s policy directives.
The conclusion, I fear, is this:
in the US, democracy is now in its dying days.
The case of the 14-year-old girl who died of cancer is now occupying the Klagenfurt Regional Court for the second time. The girl’s parent elected to trust miracle healers and esoteric practitioners. Ultimately, the 14-year-old arrived at the hospital far too late—the cancer was already so advanced that the girl died less than two days later.
The parents have already been convicted of torture and neglect. During their criminal trial, the doctor came into the prosecution’s focus. He had administered four infusions of “cat’s claw” to the 14-year-old. The doctor admitted to this last year during his testimony as a witness, where he raved about the “miracle plant” cat’s claw, claiming it could heal almost anything.
He was also accused of using a pendulum to “test” the girl’s tumor and certifying it as benign. His response at the time was that he does not use a pendulum; rather, he had “dowsed” the tumor using a biotensor—a small metal spring. He claimed that when he failed to get a clear result, he urgently recommended the parents seek a biopsy, which they strictly refused. He alleged they eventually broke off treatment with him.
According to the indictment, the doctor is allegedly responsible for a further patient’s death by administering the herbal infusion. The man had collapsed after receiving it, suffered a heart attack and a stroke, and died weeks later from the consequences.
Furthermore, the doctor is accused of “grossly negligently causing a danger to the life and health of at least 6,550 people from May 2007 to May 2025.” Contrary to the standards of medical practice, he is said to have intravenously administered essences that were only approved as food products. The prosecutor referred to an analysis of the infusion solutions: “These were not pure; they contained soil and ash particles.” They were reportedly “brewed together in a backyard” – the contamination, she noted, could lead to the formation of blood clots. During his questioning, the trained intensive care physician rejected all guilt: “I feel in no way responsible.” He stated he had treated numerous cancer patients—for example, with cat’s claw or high-dose vitamin C.
In the case of the 14-year-old, the doctor insisted he was able to “see that something was not right” using the device. He claimed he only learned much later that the parents had canceled a biopsy appointment after their session with him. Furthermore: “Father and daughter always rejected any conventional medical therapy or diagnostics.” He maintained that he always noted his infusions could only boost the immune system and improve well-being, but never promised anything.
Regarding the case of the other deceased man, the doctor argued that the patient had already received 17 infusions from him prior to the incident in question and had always felt better afterward. After the final infusion, the patient felt unwell for a while, but his condition supposedly improved. The doctor claimed it was absolutely not anaphylactic shock: “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have let him go home.”
The defendant questioned each and every expert opinion obtained for the case. Regarding the statement that it is impossible for a tumor to shrink due to his infusions, he said, “I wouldn’t sign off on that.” As for the infusions, he claimed they were filtered multiple times and specially prepared for intravenous use.
A date for this has not yet been set. So, watch this space!
Trump and his allies have produced many claims that experts have flagged as false, misleading, or dangerously unscientific. Below is a (probably incomplete) selection:
- In April 2020, Trump suggested during a press briefing that scientists explore whether injecting or “bringing disinfectant inside the body” could treat COVID‑19. Medical experts immediately warned that this would be dangerous or lethal.
- At the same briefing, he also floated the idea of “hitting the body with a very powerful light,” including using UV light inside the body to kill the virus, a suggestion that clinicians stressed had no scientific basis and could be harmful.
- Throughout 2020, Trump repeatedly claimed the virus would “just disappear” like a “miracle,” even as case counts and deaths surged.
- He heavily promoted hydroxychloroquine as a “game changer” long after clinical trials had shown it to be ineffective against COVID‑19 and associated with serious adverse effects.
- In February 2020, Trump claimed the number of COVID‑19 cases in the US would soon be “down to close to zero.”
- Trump frequently claimed that COVID‑19 was “just like the flu,” despite the fact that its mortality rate and impact on health systems were substantially higher.
- In late 2025 and early 2026, the Trump administration falsely claimed that acetaminophen use during pregnancy was linked to a much higher risk of autism, despite the lack of clear evidence and warnings from experts that this messaging was misleading.
- The administration also promoted leucovorin as a treatment for autism, a claim that has little robust evidence and is not supported by mainstream medical guidelines.
- Following the appointment of RFK Jr. to HHS in late 2024, federal vaccine guidance was rolled back in several areas, including flu recommendations for some groups and changes to how RSV and other vaccines were positioned. This created confusion and encouraged a further “decoupling” of some state health policies from traditional CDC guidance.
- Trump has claimed that the noise from wind turbines causes cancer, a statement that has no credible scientific basis.
- Trump has claimed that sea levels will rise by only “1/8 of an inch over the next 200 to 300 years,” contradicting widely accepted projections that show substantially higher rise even over the next 30 years along US coasts.
- Trump has also claimed that the human body is like a battery with a finite amount of energy, and that exercise is harmful because it “depletes” that energy, a view that runs counter to mainstream physiology and public‑health guidance.
- Trump claimed that drinking fizzy diet soda “kills cancer cells” because the drinks kill grass when spilt, implying they might do the same to cancer inside the body.
- In 2026, Dr. Mehmet Oz, as head of CMS, falsely claimed that 5 million New Yorkers were using Medicaid personal‑care services—nearly 75% of all enrolees—when the actual figure is far lower.
- RFK Jr. has spent decades claiming that thimerosal, a mercury‑based preservative in some vaccines, causes autism. Thimerosal was removed from nearly all childhood vaccines in 2001 as a precaution, yet autism rates continued to rise, and large studies have found no causal link.
- RFK Jr. frequently claims that no vaccines have ever been tested against a true saline placebo. In fact, many vaccines have been tested against saline placebos in clinical trials, and others were tested against earlier versions or standard care, in line with evolving ethical standards.
- RFK Jr. pushed for the removal of fluoride from all US water systems, falsely labelling it an “industrial waste” and a key cause of lower IQ, bone fractures, and cancer, despite the bulk of evidence supporting its safety and dental benefits at standard levels.
- RFK Jr. has also falsely claimed that polyunsaturated fats such as canola or soybean oil are toxic and the primary driver of obesity and inflammation in America, a view that contradicts large‑scale dietary and epidemiological data.
- RFK Jr. has falsely claimed that WiFi causes “leaky brain” and that 5G is a tool for mass surveillance and causes cancer, assertions that have no support from mainstream science.
- RFK Jr. has become an advocate for the federal legalisation of raw milk, downplaying the risks of Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria. Yet pasteurization remains a cornerstone of public‑health measures to prevent foodborne illness.
- RFK Jr. has wrongly suggested a link between the use of SSRIs and the rise in mass shootings, a claim not supported by credible data.
- Janette Nesheiwat (JN), a Fox News contributor and Trump’s nominee for US Surgeon General, withdrew her nomination in May 2025 following allegations that she had significantly misrepresented her credentials. Her official bio and LinkedIn profile claimed she received her medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; in fact she attended the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine in St. Maarten.
- JN repeatedly described herself as “double board‑certified,” but investigators found verified certification only in family medicine.
- Casey Means (CM), Trump’s nominee for Surgeon General, is a Stanford‑educated physician who left surgical residency before completion and whose medical license has been inactive since 2019. She has not practiced clinical medicine in years and has limited experience overseeing large‑scale public‑health systems.
- CM has built a profile as a health‑tech entrepreneur and co‑founder of Levels, promoting “functional medicine” and the MAHA movement.
- CM has made strong claims that continuous glucose monitoring and metabolic optimization can prevent or “cure” a wide range of modern diseases, a view that overstates the evidence and oversimplifies complex chronic conditions.
As indicated in the title of this post: if you waant to say healthy, it is wise to ignore the incompetent president and his equally incompetent cronies.
Science is supposed to be self-correcting. Papers get reviewed, checked, challenged – and only then published. That’s the idea, anyway. But the practice often looks different. Between 2022 and 2024, that system didn’t just creak a little, it fell over rather dramatically.
At the centre of the mess was a Hindawi journal with the reassuringly serious name Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (eCAM – we have discussed it repeatedly on this blog, e.g. here and here). What followed was one of the largest clean-ups in modern publishing: hundreds of papers retracted from eCAM, and more than about 10,000 from the publisher’s full catalogue.
The reason?
Investigations had uncovered widespread manipulation of the publication process.
A big part of the story involves “paper mills.” These are businesses that will, for a fee, produce a scientific paper with your name on it. No inconvenient need for actual experiments or real data or the nuicance of writing. Using a mix of recycled material, fabricated results, and increasingly AI-generated texts, these outfits can churn out papers that look perfectly respectable, at least until someone reads them closely. Think of it as fast food for academic careers: quick, convenient, and not especially good for long-term health.
Another key ingredient was the journal’s abundant use of “special issues.” These are themed collections of papers run by guest editors, usually experts invited to oversee a niche topic. In theory, this can be a great idea. In practice, it turned out to be a bit like handing over the keys to your flat and hoping nobody throws a party.
Investigations found that, in some cases, the system had been even more seriously gamed. Fake or compromised editors, reviewer suggestions pointing to non-existent experts, and tightly coordinated “peer review rings” meant papers could sail through the process with both ease and speed.
The whole thing started to fall apart when research integrity teams and independent sleuths noticed odd and concerning patterns: identical images appearing in different papers, statistical results that didn’t add up, and peer reviews that seemed to happen at impossible speed. At that point, Wiley, which by then had acquired Hindawi, stepped in and took a much closer look. The result: mass retractions, suspended special issues, and a lot of nearly identical retraction notices politely stating that the “peer review process had been compromised.”
The fallout hit so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) hard. As we all know, SCAM is an area that already faces plenty of skepticism; discovering that a sizable chunk of its literature had effectively skipped quality control didn’t help. More broadly, the episode exposed a structural problem: when publishing lots of papers becomes the goal – for journals and researchers alike – quality tends to quietly take a back seat.
After all this, the journal eCAM more or less ground to a halt. It stopped accepting new submissions, and its future as an active journal remains uncertain. Its archive is still online but now dotted with retraction notices that read like a greatest hits album of publishing failures. Meanwhile, the publisher has tightened the processes,verifying reviewer identities more carefully, restricting special issues, and deploying tools to catch suspicious patterns earlier.
If there’s a silver lining, it’s that the system eventually did what it’s supposed to do: spot the problem and correct it. But the episode is a reminder that science doesn’t run on trust alone; it runs on verification. And when that verification slips, things can go wrong at scale, and with surprising speed. Or put another way: peer review works … as long as the “peers” actually exist and know their business.
Perjury is the criminal act of intentionally lying while under oath in a legal proceeding, where the lie concerns a material fact capable of influencing the outcome of the case. It is treated as a serious offense because it directly undermines the legal system’s core requirement: truthful testimony. If people can lie under oath without consequences, courts, juries, and investigators are unable to reliably determine the truth, which can lead to wrongful convictions, failed prosecutions, and a broader erosion of public trust in justice. In the United States, perjury is therefore treated as a serious felony, punishable by up to 5 years in prison under federal law, and typically several years under state law (sometimes up to 7 years or more, depending on the jurisdiction). In addition to incarceration and fines, a perjury conviction can lead to loss of professional licenses, immigration consequences, and a permanent criminal record.
Considering the severity of the crime, it is perhaps surprising to find how many individuals associated with Donald Trump have committed perjury or have been credibly accused of it. The following list is not necessarily exhaustive.
Melania Trump (his current wife)
Melania Trump made a factually incorrect statement about her educational background while under oath in a 2013 civil deposition, when she claimed to hold a bachelor’s degree in architecture that she did not. Whether that statement would have qualified as prosecutable perjury was never tested in court, as authorities did not bring criminal charges against her.
Allen Weisselberg (Former CFO, Trump Organization)
In March 2024, Allen Weisselberg pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury related to testimony he gave during Donald Trump’s civil‑fraud trial in New York. He was sentenced to five months in jail.
Michael Cohen (Former Personal Attorney)
Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to lying to Congress about the timing and extent of negotiations for a “Trump Tower Moscow” project during the 2016 campaign. He was sentenced to 3 years in federal prison for a string of offenses, including this false‑statement charge, and the perjury‑related penalty was folded into that total sentence.
Roger Stone (Long‑time advisor)
Roger Stone was convicted in 2019 on seven felony counts, including making false statements to Congress and witness tampering, during the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. His sentence was 40 months in federal prison plus a $20,000 fine. Donald Trump later commuted his sentence and subsequently issued a full presidential pardon.
Michael Flynn (Former National Security Advisor)
Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak. The maximum penalty for that offense was up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. However, Flynn was never sentenced to prison; his case was delayed, then effectively set aside after the Justice Department moved to dismiss it, and Trump ultimately issued him a full pardon.
George Papadopoulos (Former Campaign Aide)
George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian‑linked individuals during the 2016 campaign. He was sentenced to 14 days in federal prison, plus a period of supervised release and additional sanctions, and served about 12 days behind bars.
Jeff Sessions (Former Attorney General)
During his 2017 confirmation hearing, Jeff Sessions stated under oath that he “did not have communications with the Russians.” It later emerged that he had met on multiple occasions with the Russian ambassador. Sessions maintained that his testimony was truthful from his own perspective, describing it as a matter of memory or focus rather than intentional deception. No criminal charges for perjury or false statements were filed.
Jared Kushner (Son‑in‑law and Advisor)
Jared Kushner faced intense scrutiny for multiple omissions on his security‑clearance forms (SF‑86), failing to disclose dozens of contacts with foreign officials. Many legal observers and commentators called for a perjury or false‑statement investigation, but no criminal charges were brought.
Tulsi Gabbard (Director of National Intelligence)
In early 2025, following the “SignalGate” leaks, some members of Congress called for perjury investigations into Tulsi Gabbard’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee. They alleged that she provided false or misleading statements about the security and nature of unsecured communications protocols used within the Intelligence Community. No criminal charges have been brought.
John Ratcliffe (CIA Director)
Similarly, John Ratcliffe faced calls for a perjury investigation after the SignalGate disclosures, with lawmakers alleging that he gave false testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee about the same unsecured communication protocols. No criminal charges have been filed.
Kash Patel (FBI Director)
In a September 2025 hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, Kash Patel was questioned about the FBI’s handling of more than 100,000 investigative files related to Jeffrey Epstein. Lawmakers raised concerns that large numbers of FBI personnel were diverted to “scrub” or redact references to Donald Trump before files were released publicly. Patel has vehemently denied those claims, calling them gross mischaracterizations. The discovery in early 2026 of missing interview notes containing previously undisclosed allegations against Trump has fueled accusations that he may have committed perjury, but no formal perjury charges have been filed to date.
Donald Trump (President of the US)
In 2022, a federal judge in Georgia noted that Trump likely committed perjury or filed a false declaration when he signed legal documents alleging thousands of instances of voter fraud in that state. Those allegations were based on claims his own legal team had already warned him were inaccurate. The judge’s observation highlighted the possibility of perjury, but no criminal prosecution for perjury has been initiated.
Further reading:
- Goodman, Ryan. “Perjury Chart: Trump Associates’ Lies, False, or Misleading Statements on Russia to Federal Authorities.” Just Security, 9 May 2019. https://www.justsecurity.org/61682/perjury-chart-trump-associates-lies-false-or-misleading-statements-on-russia-to-federal-authorities/
- “5 other former Trump associates who ran afoul of the law.” CBC News, 14 November 2019. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/donald-trump-advisers-charges-prison-1.5361119
- “Factbox: Here are eight Trump associates arrested or convicted of crimes.” Reuters, 20 August 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/world/us/factbox-here-are-eight-trump-associates-arrested-or-convicted-of-crimes-idUSKBN25G1YU/
- “Ex‑Trump Organization CFO pleads guilty to perjury charges.” ABC Eyewitness News (6ABC), 3 March 2024. https://www.6abc.com/post/allen-weisselberg-trump-cfo-organization-new-york/14490347/
- “Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg faces perjury sentencing.” ABC News, 9 April 2024. https://abcnews.com/US/former-trump-organization-cfo-allen-weisselberg-faces-perjury/story?id=109038178
- “Ex‑Trump Org. CFO pleads guilty to perjury charges.” CNN, 4 March 2024. https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/04/politics/allen-weisselberg-trump-org-cfo-plea-perjury
George Washington: “The foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing… is a vice so mean and low, without any temptation, that every man of sense and character detests and despises it.”
Spencer W. Kimball: “Profanity is the effort of a feeble brain to express itself forcibly.”
William W. Purkey: “Profaneness is a brutal vice. He who indulges in it is no gentleman.”
John H. Groberg: “Stay out of the gutter in your conversation. Foul talk defiles the man who speaks it.”
Apart from anything else, the thing that nobody could have possibly missed when observing US politics is Trump’s increasingly primitive vulgarity. Here is a short list of notable quotes that I found [there are surely many more]:
- September 2005: “I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.” (In a private conversation with Billy Bush on an “Access Hollywood” bus).
- August 7, 2015: “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.” (Referring to Megyn Kelly after a primary debate).
- November 12, 2015: “I would bomb the hell out of them. I’d blow up every single inch; there would be nothing left.” (Regarding ISIS during a campaign rally in Fort Dodge, Iowa).
- November 13, 2015: “ISIS is making a tremendous amount of money because of the oil that they took. They have some in Syria, they have some in Iraq. I would knock the hell out of them, but I’d bomb the shit out of them.” (At a rally in Beaumont, Texas).
- September 22, 2017: “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’” (At a rally in Huntsville, Alabama, referring to NFL players kneeling during the national anthem).
- January 11, 2018: “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” (During a bipartisan meeting on immigration, referring to Haiti, El Salvador, and African nations).
- Early 2024 (Reported July 2025): “With Putin I said, ‘If you go into Ukraine, I’m going to bomb the shit out of Moscow. I’m telling you I have no choice.'” (At a private fundraiser, recounting a past warning he claimed to have given to Vladimir Putin).
- June 24, 2025: “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing.” (To reporters at the White House before boarding Marine One, referring to the conflict between Iran and Israel).
- November 14, 2025: “Quiet, piggy.” (To Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey on Air Force One when she asked about the Epstein files).
- May 22, 2025: “You are a terrible reporter. No. 1, you don’t have what it takes to be a reporter. You are not smart enough… And you are a disgrace. No more questions from you.” (To NBC’s Peter Alexander in the Oval Office).
- November 18, 2025: “They’re all guilty. Every one of them. We’re going to get them. These people are scum, they’re absolute scum.” (Referring to the “Deep State” and political investigators during a televised address).
- November 26, 2025: “The writer of the story, Katie Rogers… is a third-rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out.” (Posted to Truth Social regarding a New York Times article about his health).
- February 5, 2026: “I had to win it. I needed it for my own ego… Beating these lunatics was incredible.” (Recalling the 2024 election during a prayer breakfast event).
- April 5, 2026: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell — JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.” (Posted to Truth Social as an ultimatum regarding the Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz).
- April 6, 2026: “I’m telling you, I’m being fucking straight with you—we aren’t playing games anymore. They open it or we level it. It’s very simple.” (In a follow-up clarification to reporters regarding his social media post and the Tuesday deadline).
This sort of language from a US persident is unprescedendted and it impacts significantly on the quality of the political (and other) discourse across the globe. But it also begs a worrying question: Is Trump’s increasingly aggressive and profane rhetoric a sign of his cognitive decline? The shift from his earlier “Trumpisms” to the stark, expletive-laden ultimatums of 2026 – such as the “Open the Fuckin’ Strait” post – suggests to me a breakdown in impulse control that is a hallmark of deteriorating executive function.
As Trump pivots from policy debate to raw vitriol, labelling opponents as “scum” and “crazy bastards,” the language appears less like strategic provocation and resembles the ramblings of a man losing his grip on reality. Political figures across the spectrum have characterized these outbursts as the ravings of a dangerous and mentally unstable person, sparking louder and louder calls for the 25th Amendment.
Pediatric vertebral artery dissection (VAD) following chiropractic cervical manipulation (CCM) is a rare phenomenon. As chiropractic care of pediatric populations increases internationally, it is imperative to increase awareness of this cause of VAD.
This case-report describes a patient encountered in the Department of Neurological Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, USA. He was a 20-month-old male who presented nonspecifically with acute onset of
- lethargy,
- vomiting,
- cyanosis,
- respiratory distress.
Cerebrovascular imaging revealed a luminal irregularity in the V4 segment of the right vertebral artery, consistent with dissection. The patient’s guardian later provided history of taking the child for cervical chiropractic corrections immediately prior to the patient’s presentation to the emergency department.
The patient was managed non-operatively. Intubation was performed due to respiratory distress and managed with fluids, vasopressors, antimicrobials, and high-flow oxygen. The patient was extubated four days after presentation, and pressors were discontinued upon achievement of hemodynamic stability. A few days after extubation, the patient was ambulating and able to interact with objects and caretakers. Aspirin therapy was initiated and continued after discharge. The patient was followed with annual appointments and imaging. At two-year follow-up, CTA demonstrated an asymmetrically small right vertebral artery, accompanied by encephalomalacia of the right posterior occipital lobe. MRA demonstrated diffuse narrowing of the V4 segment of the right vertebral artery, albeit less pronounced than prior MRAs. Aspirin was discontinued by an outside following team due to stability of imaging findings. The parents were advised to avoid contact sports to avoid trauma and recurrent stroke.
The authors found 2 further cases of pediatric VAD in the published literature following CCM. Non-specific presentations were noted in both of them. Appropriate diagnosis of pediatric VAD requires increased surveillance in response to a thorough history and an acknowledgment of the plethora of possible patient presentations and etiologies.
The authors concluded that there is an increasing utilization of chiropractors among the pediatric population. In a pediatric patient with nonspecific symptoms, VAD should be considered as a differential diagnosis when there is a history of CCM.
The authors’ statement that “pediatric vertebral artery dissection (VAD) following chiropractic cervical manipulation (CCM) is a rare phenomenon” should be taken with a pinch of salt. As there is no monitoring, the frequency of adverse effects and complications is essentially unknown. Crucially. the risks of CCM for children is by no means confined to VADs. For a fuller account, I recomment reading my book which has an entire chapter on this very subject.
The key messages about CCM for kids might be summarised in the following simple three facts:
- CCM has no true benefit for children.
- Thus the risk/benefit balance fails to be positive.
- Therefore we should discourage partents from taking their kids to see chiropractors.
The Indian Ministry of Ayush was established in 2014 with a vision of reviving the profound knowledge of India’s ancient systems of medicine and ensuring the optimal development and propagation of the Ayush systems of healthcare. Earlier, the Department of Indian System of Medicine and Homoeopathy (ISM&H) formed in 1995, was responsible for the development of these systems. It was then renamed as the Department of Ayurveda, Yoga, and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (Ayush) in November 2003 with focused attention towards education and research in these therapies.
In the global landscape of public health, India’s Ministry of AYUSH stands as a profound anomaly. While most middle‑ and high‑income countries have converged around evidence‑based, scientifically grounded medicine, India has instead expanded this large, state‑run administrative apparatus where cultural nationalism and traditionalist narratives dominates over clinical efficacy and scientific rigor. The Ministry’s current trajectory reveals a troubling pattern: the systematic promotion of unproven therapies, flawed research, and notorious breaches of ethical principles, particularly with respect to the treatment of India’s most vulnerable populations.
The Homeopathy Anomaly
The most glaring anomaly must be the Ministry’s continued, high‑level support for homoeopathy. India is currently the only country in the world that maintains a dedicated national ministry and a statutory regulatory framework – via the National Commission for Homoeopathy – specifically to promote a system widely regarded as implausible, ineffective and harmful. Global assessments, including those by no less than 28 independent organisations worldwide, have concluded that there is no reliable evidence that homeopathic remedies work beyond placebo. Yet the AYUSH Ministry funds and publicizes a central research council (the Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy, CCRH) as well as a network of homoeopathic hospitals and teaching institutions, with annual budget allocations now exceeding ₹4,400 crore (roughly 470–480 million US dollars at current exchange rates). By directing substantial taxpayer funds to homoeopathic research and infrastructure, the state effectively endorses a “placebo‑as‑medicine” model, elevating it to the status of a national health strategy. This is not merely an academic dispute; it is a policy outlier that places India’s healthcare posture at odds with well‑established chemical and physical principles, as well as with the recommendations of leading international scientific bodies.
The Facade of Rigor
The Ministry tends to defend its approach by claiming a pivot toward “evidence‑based” or “scientific” AYUSH medicine, but an examination of its research output suggests a facade of rigor rather than its substance. Much of the work produced by bodies such as the Central Council for Research in Ayurveda (CCRA) and their counterparts in Unani and Siddha consists of investigations that are methodologically weak and wide open to bias. Key methodological flaws recur:
- Small sample sizes: Many trials involve fewer than 50–100 participants, rendering them statistically underpowered.
- Lack of blinding: A large proportion of studies is open‑label, where both clinicians and patients know the assigned intervention, amplifying placebo effects and observational bias.
- Selective reporting and publication bias: Negative findings – where AYUSH interventions fail to demonstrate benefit – are rarely published.
By branding such useless studies as “scientific proof,” the Ministry engages in a form of “science‑washing.” This practice misleads the public, uncritical clinicians, and policymakers into believing that AYUSH therapies have undergone the same rigorous, independent scrutiny as conventional therapies.
The Ethical Violations
In my view, the most serious concern is ethical. Under the banner of “Self‑Reliant India” (Atmanirbhar Bharat), the Ministry has aggressively promoted AYUSH products, for instance, during the COVID‑19 pandemic. This push could be viewed as an exercise in cultural pride and national self‑reliance but, in fact, it carries serious risks.
Medical ethics rely on two core principles: informed consent and non‑maleficence. When a state body, backed by cabinet‑level authority, “flogs” unproven and potentially dangerous treatments to a largely rural population with limited health literacy, it undermines both. Many patients are not able to distinguish between an ancient tradition and a clinically validated drug, yet they may be led by government‑sponsored messaging to defer or abandon evidence‑based treatments.
This is particularly dangerous in chronic conditions such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension, where effective pharmacological control and regular monitoring are both available and potentially life‑saving. If patients substitute proven allopathic regimens with state‑endorsed AYUSH alternatives of uncertain efficacy, the consequences can be dire. They include uncontrolled blood glucose, stroke‑risk elevation, organ damage, and avoidable mortality. The Ministry’s conduct, in effect, offloads these risks onto the most vulnerable while shielding itself behind appeals to tradition and national identity.
Conclusion
The Ministry of AYUSH has become the institutional vehicle for a “pluralistic” health model that, in practice, functions as a state‑funded rejection of the scientific method. This constitutes a regression in public‑health governance rather than a progressive pluralism. Until the Ministry subjects its therapies to the same scrutiny as any other medicine, and until it accepts transparent, independent evaluations without recourse to political or cultural vindication, it will remain less a health body and more a department of cultural preservation and doctrine.
The ‘Smallwood Report‘, entitled “The Role of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the NHS” was published in October 2005. It recommended greater integration of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) into the UK’s National Health Service and to address “effectiveness gaps” in treating chronic and psychosocial conditions, claiming potential cost savings.
Its core recommendations were:
- NICE assessment: Urged Health Ministers to task the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) with a full review of the cost-effectiveness of therapies like acupuncture, chiropractic, osteopathy, herbal medicine, and homeopathy.
- Targeted applications: Suggested these SCAM options for lower back pain (manipulative therapies over conventional), asthma (homeopathy), common colds (echinacea), and other chronic issues where orthodox medicine falls short, potentially reducing absenteeism and NHS costs by hundreds of millions.
- Implementation steps: Promote GP referrals to SCAM, target deprived communities, prioritize research on cost-effectiveness/safety, address regulatory barriers, and use case studies showing reduced GP visits and secondary care savings.
At the time, I called its evidence “grossly misleading,” citing ignored Cochrane reviews showing no superiority for most of the claims. Many critics agreed with me, and the Lancet editor Richard Horton famoulsy called it “dangerous nonsense”.
As the recommendations were pure BS, it is comforting to note that – 20 years later – they have been largely ignored.
NICE assessments:
NICE has issued selective endorsements—e.g., acupuncture and manipulative therapies for low back pain—but stopped short of broad SCAM evaluations, often citing “insufficient evidence” or requiring further trials, directly countering the report’s call for comprehensive cost-effectiveness reviews. No large-scale NICE program emerged to validate the report’s claimed savings (hundreds of millions annually), and guidelines frequently dismiss or deprioritize unproven modalities like homeopathy.
NHS integration status:
- Limited GP referrals: Sporadic pilots exist (e.g., acupuncture in some pain clinics, osteopathy/chiropractic for musculoskeletal issues), often GP-led and adjunctive, but not systematic; social prescribing now favors mindfulness over traditional SCAM.
- Funding barriers: Most Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) classify SCAM as “low priority” absent robust evidence, funding only exceptional cases in palliative or pain management pathways; many services closed due to austerity post-2010.
- No deprived-community focus: The report’s equity push for high-need areas saw negligible uptake, with barriers like clinician resistance and regulatory hurdles persisting.
The report’s optimistic case studies (e.g., Glastonbury) proved anecdotal and unscaled, undermined by critiques highlighting flawed evidence (e.g., ignored Cochrane reviews). Today, NHS policy emphasizes evidence-based conventional care, with SCAM relegated to private or niche settings – realization sits at ~10-20% for endorsed therapies, 0% for broader vision.
In other words, ignoring the report has saved the NHS many millions. More importantly, it has prevented UK evidence-based healthcare from getting watered down by ineffective therapies.
Could that also have happened without my loud protests (e.g. here and here) at the time?
Nobody can know for sure?
But when I feel a little bit down, I tell myself that I had an important role in saving the UK millions!
