The Fool At The Cleveland Clinic

If I were working at the Cleveland Clinic, you could probably find me hiding under the bed right now. Out of shame.

For reasons only they know, the clinic employs a crackpot named Daniel Neides. Worse still, he is a physician. Even worse is that he is given a forum to share his supernaturally inaccurate thoughts with the public. He did just this in a new opinion piece called "Make 2017 the year to avoid toxins (good luck) and master your domain: Words on Wellness."

It is so full of inaccuracies and garbage science that if I'm in the process of choosing hospitals in the area, I go elsewhere.This guy belongs on Joe Mercola's site, not in a supposedly first-rate medical facility. Below are some of Neides' statements, followed by my comments.

Neides- With regard flu vaccines: "How can you call it preservative-free, yet still put a preservative in it? And worse yet, formaldehyde is a known carcinogen. Yet, here we are, being lined up like cattle and injected with an unsafe product."

Comment: Preservatives are there for a reason. Ask the Barry Cadden, the former owner of the New England Compounding Pharmacy about preservatives. But you better get to it soon, since he has been charged with murder for the deaths of 64 people who died from a fungal infection that was caused by preservative-free steroid suspension intended to be used for spinal injections. The NECC was a mess in many other ways and used techniques that all but guaranteed that something would go wrong. Would a preservative have prevented the growth of the fungus that killed all those people Hard to say, but easy to speculate—probably.

Neides- regarding his own flu shot: "Within 12 hours of receiving the [flu] vaccine, I was in bed feeling miserable and missed two days of work with a terrible cough and body aches."

Comment: Please forgive my lack of empathy here.

Neides: "Toxins accumulate in our fat cells if they are not eliminated and interrupt normal bodily functions."

Comment: This is true, except for the fact that of the overwhelming number of chemicals that we are exposed to, very few bioaccumulate. Chemicals are routinely metabolized and eliminated, not stored.

Neides: "Our air, water, and food supplies are completely compromised and so it is time for us to take matters into our own hands."

Comment: Our air and water are immeasurably better than they were only 2-3 decades ago. This is because of substantial changes in environmental regulations: Catalytic converters in cars, lead-free gasoline, and the cessation of the disposal of chemical manufacturing waste products in rivers, which was a common practice not that long ago, to name a few.

Neides: "We live in a toxic soup. There are over 80,000 chemicals used in various industries country-wide."

Comment: Cancer incidence has been steady or slowly drifting downward since 1975. With the exception of a tiny blip this year, life spans have increased every year. The toxic soup must not be all that toxic.

Neides- Regarding the autism-vaccine scam: "As a doctor, I should be thinking - great, this is perfect for business."

Comment: He sure should be thinking. Sanely would be nice.

Neides: "Why do I mention autism now twice in this article. Because we have to wake up out of our trance and stop following bad advice. Does the vaccine burden - as has been debated for years - cause autism? I don't know and will not debate that here."

Comment: This is all you really need to know. The vaccine-autism debate has been settled too many times to count. A ten-year investigation of Andrew Wakefield, who was responsible for the MMR vaccine scare, which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, showed that not only did Wakefield use faulty science, but he also made up data, worked with attorneys to sue vaccine makers, while at the same time working on his own vaccine for measles. Conflict of interest, perhaps? In my opinion, Wakefield is pure evil.

Neides: "Together we will learn what to stay away from and what to consume."

Comment: Not if you listen to this idiot.

Saving the best (or worst, depending on how you define it):

Neides quotes Jessica Hutchins, M.D, in a 2015 article in U.S. News and World Report. It is clear that he supports her views: "Information on eating toxin-free food and pushing food manufacturers to stop using harmful ingredients can be found at foodbabe.com."

Comment: You can stop here. The Cleveland Clinic employs a man who supports the "science" of Vani Hari (The Food Babe), who is possibly the most ignorant, antiscientific multi-celled organism in the galaxy. 

There is really nothing more to say.