Skeptical of PBS
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
PBS is in pledge drive mode and it’s showcasing the infomercial “Change your Brain, Change your Life”, hosted by Dr. Danial Amen.
PBS is of course free to run whatever it wants, but I do have problems when it runs such programming from a man featured on Quackwatch and has had his clinic compared to Phernology.
Salon has a good article on him called “Brain Scam”. Here’s an except:
For example, on his Web site, Amen touts NeuroMemory, a non-FDA-approved combination of folic acid and various plant extracts, including Huperzine A, a moss extract that has some anti-cholinesterase properties. The Alzheimer’s Foundation warns that such drugs are “unregulated and manufactured with no uniform standards.” Even the manufacturer issues (in small print) the following warning: “These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any diseases.”










