Moving the kind of product that churns the wheels of the wellness-industrial complex requires a constant stream of fear and misinformation. Look closer at most wellness sites and at many of their physician partners, and you’ll find a plethora of medical conspiracy theories: Vaccines and autism. Belief in medical conspiracy theories, such as the idea that the pharmaceutical industry is suppressing “natural” cures, increases the likelihood that a person will take dietary supplements. There can be no modern wellness industry without medical conspiracy theories. When patients ask for an unsupported t est — such as urine chelation or salivary hormone levels, often promoted on wellness sites — I have to explain that I can’t in good faith order a useless test.

Source: New York Times August 01, 2018 16:00 UTC