Friday 10 March 2017

Success!

This isn't a personal success story (though I have had several recently), nor is it a professional success story (though I have had several of them too recently).  No, this is a Twitter success story.

A what??

As many of you know, I hate Twitter despite my activity there.  Trying to communicate in 140 characters or less is downright madness, and whoever thought of it should be dragged through a muddy street strewn with horse manure by his toenails, then flayed, tattooed, hanged, and then killed.  To those of you who don't know about my exploits on Twitter, why the hell not?  Go to Twitter and follow me, god damn it.  There's even a little button on the side right over there that makes it easy.  Seriously, go do it now.

Anyway, my Twitter account has metamorphosed of late to become a "Calling Out Bullshit" account.  The bullshit can be anything that I'm not particularly fond of at that moment - homeopathy bullshit, antivax bullshit, naturopathic bullshit, chiropractic bullshit, nutrition bullshit, "cancer is a fungus" bullshit, etc.  You get the idea.

But many people have asked me (in 140 characters or less, of course) why I bother.  Why do I spend (read: waste) my precious time calling out these frauds on their bullshit?  What possible benefit could it have?
Well, I'm about to tell you why.

My focus lately has been chiropractors.  I am stunned that chiropractic has managed to survive for as long as it has, considering A) its extremely poor evidence base (it has only been shown to be mildly effective for low back pain), and B) its vitalistic origins.  If you don't know, DD Palmer, the founder of chiropractor, first invented it in the late 19th century purely out of his ass after he supposedly "cured" a janitor of deafness by manipulating his neck.  A stupid light bulb apparently clicked on over his head, because he then hypothesised that "subluxations" (mystical misalignments of the spine) are responsible for blocking the flow of vital energy (whatever the hell that is) and thus are the cause of disease.  To modern chiropractors, it apparently makes no difference that a chiropractic subluxation is not visible on any X-ray, CT scan, or MRI, and indeed has never been shown to exist, nor has vital energy.  It also apparently makes no difference that chiropractic manipulation has never been shown to cure, improve, or otherwise treat anything whatsoever.

That does not stop them, however, from advertising their bogus "adjustments" for everything from pain to asthma to GERD to headaches to paediatrics.

Yes, chiropractors claim they can help children.

I came across Kristen Simpson from Leavenworth, Kansas, USA, who is a chiropractor in the Life Family Chiropractic practice.  She posted this bit of bullshit on Twitter:
Now let's break this down, shall we?  Starting with the array of hashtags: what the hell is a "crunchy kid"?  What is a "well adjusted" baby?  Moving on to the little girl's top - yes, children need to eat.  Children need sleep (a lot of it!).  But "get adjusted"?  For what exactly?  What the hell was this chiropractor claiming her adjustments could do for this child?  Babies need chiropractors in exactly the same way that Olympic athletes need cupping.

Trying to get some answers, I tweeted this at her:
I wasn't expecting a reply, since these charlatans people rarely do.  Would you want to be exposed as a fraud on international social media?  I would be mortified, embarrassed, and ashamed.  So instead of responding to the charges, instead of facing her accuser, she did what any reasonable fraud would do in that situation:

She blocked me.

I can't say I was remotely surprised, and I was actually somewhat pleased.  I saw it as a major win, because it can only mean two things:
  1. She read my tweet.
  2. She had no response.
Since I was blocked, I couldn't continue the conversation with her and ask any follow up questions (SAD).  My followers, on the other hand, were not blocked (at least not initially), and they were not exactly kind, and for good reason:



Why am I telling you this?  What the hell is the significance?  Well if you search for Ms. Simpson on Twitter now, you get this:
That's right, she deleted her account.  Rather than face the music, support her stupid claim, or provide evidence, she bravely turned her tail and fled and is now unable to propagate her ridiculous bullshit on Twitter.

Yes.

And with that, all I have to say is this:



20 comments:

  1. That makes it all worth it, every time they flee from the truth.

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  2. Keep up the good work Doc!

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  3. Good job. That crap is dangerous. Thank you for the babies you've saved.

    Years ago, someone wanted me to go on a blind date with a chiropractor. I declined. I said I was afraid I'd say "quack quack" all night cause I would have!

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  4. I had a friend referred me to a chiropractor once. He said I needed a neck manipulation. So I said ok, had it done. I had horrible pain for 48 hours after. Next time I saw my family doctor I told him about it. He said never ever get a neck manipulation again as it could cause a tearing of an artery and I could be dead.
    Who in the world take their baby to a chiropractor????

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    Replies
    1. This chiropractor has a Facebook page. One baby 4 days old getting adjustment!

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    2. Four days old? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

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  5. If chiropractics can do all those miraculous things, cure all those diseases, ailments and what nots, maybe all Jahi McMath needs is a chiropractic session and she'll but up and walking around before we can blink.

    Maybe mommanails and fans are praying for a miracle to the wrong god. All they need is a couple thousand bux and an expensive chiropractor. :)

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  6. What are you talking about? Taking your baby to a chiropractor sounds about as safe as baby yoga: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7ihdsjIqhI

    ;)

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    Replies
    1. Damn,i have no problems watching all kinds of videos,but this one gave me anxiety attack

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    2. I just watched the baby yoga videos. Omg! It's a wonder the baby's arms and legs aren't dislocated!! How can people think this is a good thing?

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    3. Oh my goodness! How stupid can you be... Don't shake your baby. That means swing it around like a doll. I wonder how often arms and legs are dislocated..

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  7. I still think the term for a post on twitter should be a "twit"

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  8. Doc, can you share your thoughts on osteopathic medicine and physicians who practice with a DO degree? I know it's a touchy subject, so I'll understand if you would prefer not to. But I also know that you're one to speak your mind.

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  9. Here in San Jose, CA, we have a chiropractic "college" that has an ice hockey team, which plays at the collegiate level. That really seems like a conflict of interest.

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  10. If a tweet from DocBastard is all it takes to get someone to delete their Twitter acct, you must start tweeting President Cheeto IMMEDIATELY!

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    Replies
    1. I don't think it would work on the tangerine tw@. he's too full of himself. he'd call doc fake news and overrated and carry on with his graft and corruption.

      Delete
  11. The severely annoying and worrying thing is so many people believe a chiropractor is the legit practitioner you go to for spine/back issues...

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  12. Against my better judgement, I let myself get talked into going to a chiropractor for my chronic back pain. I have scoliosis, stenosis, degenerative disc disease. Ugh. My first clue should have been the natural medicine magazines in the waiting room, with articles telling parents not to vaccinate your kids. Pamphlets on "adjustments" for babies and infants. WTH? After a few sessions, during which I detected no change in my pain levels, I said I took a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement. HE said to bring the bottle in next time, so I did. He held the bottle next to my spine in several areas, then asked me to hold my right arm out straight. He pressed on my arm and I lowered it to my side. I'm thinking Whaaat? Then he shook out two tablets into my left hand and asked me to hold my right arm straight again. Whaaat is this shit? I did. He pressed on it, and I resisted this time and it stayed up. He announced in a pleased voice that the supplement was helping me. What the actual hell? I said, out loud, what are you doing?! He said this was known as Applied Kinesiology. Huh. All righty then. I said I didn't believe in magic, and his only answer was that its a well known method to determine if a medicine or supplement is helpful. I was stunned, and just left the office and never went back. He'd also said I should have extra "adjustments" since it was flu seasons and it would help strengthen my immune system. Yeah, bullshit. I got a flu shot instead.

    Anyway, he called me a few times, concerned that my progress (What?) would be lost if I didn't come back. I didn't answer the phone or call him back and he gave up. The really sad thing is my insurance covers chiropractic, but not Pilates. Pilates actually helps by strengthening the core muscles to support my spine. I've spent thousands over several years for Pilates classes. I'll keep doing it.

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  13. When subjective entities such as adjustments, spinal manipulations become accepted as facts all sorts of crazy, bad things happen. I'm thinking of things like "pain as the 4th vital sign" nonsense or patient satisfaction surveys.

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  14. Question for you knowledgeable individuals. I've never really heard of chiropractic care helping with diseases and crap like that, but I can see how that's bs. However, is there any benefit or adverse effect from just the alignment itself?

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