Difference between revisions of "Gary Null"

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(Created page with 'thumb|Gary Null on the cover of a book '''Gary Null''' (born in 1945) is a US-Americen Author and businessman. His claim to hold a PhD is disputed. He …')
 
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==Claims==
 
==Claims==
Gary Null promotes [[HIV/AIDS denialism]] and that HIV is not the cause of AIDS. He even produces films that promote AIDS denialism and sells them on his website.<ref>[http://gnhealthyliving.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=43 Aids: A Second Opinion DVD, a Gary Null Production]</ref> He also spreads the usual disinformation of [[Vaccine Denialism|vaccine denialism]] and supports [[Andrew Wakefield]], who had faked data to "prove" that vaccination causes autism.<ref>[http://www.garynull.com/home/category/vaccines Gary Null on Vaccines]</ref> Baseless claims about his innocence as well as allegedly "new evidence" is being spread.<ref>[http://www.garynull.com/home/dr-andrew-wakefield-was-right-there-was-no-fraud-no-hoax-her.html DR. ANDREW WAKEFIELD WAS RIGHT. THERE WAS NO FRAUD. NO HOAX. HERE’S PROOF.], Gary Null,January 26, 2011,  retrieved 2011-05-23.</ref> These allegedly "new" evidence was submitted in the trial of Wakefield years ago and is neither new nor a proof for Wakefields innocence.<ref>[http://www.skepdic.com/skeptimedia/skeptimedia122.html Wakefield's Warriors], Skeptic's Dictionary about the "new evidence" for Wakefields innocence], retrieved 2011-05-21</ref>
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Gary Null promotes [[HIV/AIDS denialism]] and that HIV is not the cause of AIDS. He even produces films that promote AIDS denialism and sells them on his website.<ref>[http://gnhealthyliving.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=43 Aids: A Second Opinion DVD, a Gary Null Production]</ref> He also spreads the usual disinformation of [[Vaccine Denialism|vaccine denialism]] and supports [[Andrew Wakefield]], who had faked data to "prove" that vaccination causes autism.<ref>[http://www.garynull.com/home/category/vaccines Gary Null on Vaccines]</ref> Baseless claims about his innocence as well as allegedly "new evidence" is being spread.<ref>[http://www.garynull.com/home/dr-andrew-wakefield-was-right-there-was-no-fraud-no-hoax-her.html DR. ANDREW WAKEFIELD WAS RIGHT. THERE WAS NO FRAUD. NO HOAX. HERE’S PROOF.], Gary Null,January 26, 2011,  retrieved 2011-05-23.</ref> These allegedly "new" evidence was submitted in the trial of Wakefield years ago and is neither new nor a proof for Wakefields innocence.<ref>[http://www.skepdic.com/skeptimedia/skeptimedia122.html Wakefield's Warriors], Skeptic's Dictionary about the "new evidence" for Wakefields innocence], retrieved 2011-05-21</ref> He also claimed that the gulf war syndrome was caused by vaccinations, especially by [[squalene]] which is used as an adjuvant in vaccines.<ref>[http://www.garynull.com/storage/pdfs/HowSafeorEffectiveAreVaccinesNotVery.pdf How Safe or Effective are Vaccines? Not very.], Gary Null</ref> Various studies dismantled that theory.<ref>[http://www.gao.gov/archive/1999/ns99005.pdf Gulf War illnesses: questions about the presence of squalene antibodies in veterans can be resolved], United States General Accounting Office 1999</ref><ref>[http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/DOCKETS/dockets/80n0208/80n-0208-c000037-15-01-vol151.pdf The Facts on Squalene], FDA 2005</ref>
  
 
He promotes coffee enemas for [[detox]]ification, a practice which is proven not to work.<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/denialism/2008/09/gary_null_can_kiss_mein_tuchas.php Gary Null can kiss mein tuchas], Denialism Blog</ref>  He believes in [[homoeopathy]]<ref>http://www.garynull.com/home/category/homeopathic-medicine</ref>, that mammograms are useless<ref>[http://www.garynull.com/home/sherri-tenpenny-the-myth-of-the-normal-mammogram.html Sherri Tenpenny: The myth of the normal mammogram]</ref>, that sugar is poison<ref>http://www.garynull.com/sweet-suicide/</ref> and since he sells [[Dietary Supplements|dietary supplements]] that the populations suffers from malnutrition, especially vitamin deficiency.
 
He promotes coffee enemas for [[detox]]ification, a practice which is proven not to work.<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/denialism/2008/09/gary_null_can_kiss_mein_tuchas.php Gary Null can kiss mein tuchas], Denialism Blog</ref>  He believes in [[homoeopathy]]<ref>http://www.garynull.com/home/category/homeopathic-medicine</ref>, that mammograms are useless<ref>[http://www.garynull.com/home/sherri-tenpenny-the-myth-of-the-normal-mammogram.html Sherri Tenpenny: The myth of the normal mammogram]</ref>, that sugar is poison<ref>http://www.garynull.com/sweet-suicide/</ref> and since he sells [[Dietary Supplements|dietary supplements]] that the populations suffers from malnutrition, especially vitamin deficiency.
  
He also promotes various [[Conspiracy Theory|conspiracy theories]] about 9/11, the gulf war (that gulf war syndrome was caused by vaccinations) and various political topics.
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He also promotes various [[Conspiracy Theory|conspiracy theories]] about 9/11 and various political topics.
  
 
==Vitamin D Poisoning==
 
==Vitamin D Poisoning==
Gary Null also sells vitamin nutritional supplements and got vitamin D poisoning from "Gary Null's Ultimate Power Meal". Null began having severe symptoms in December 2009 after consuming two doses of the meal per day and believes he nearly died from kidney toxicity. He sued the manufacturer, since the product was produced with 1,000 times as much vitamin D as labelled.  
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Gary Null also sells vitamin nutritional supplements and got vitamin D poisoning from "Gary Null's Ultimate Power Meal". Null began having severe symptoms in December 2009 after consuming two doses of the meal per day and believes he nearly died from kidney toxicity. He sued the manufacturer, since the product was produced with 1,000 times as much vitamin D as labelled.<ref>http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2010/04/supplements-guru-sues-over-his-own-product.html</ref><ref>http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/gary-null-hoist-with-his-own-petard/</ref>
  
 
==Criticism==
 
==Criticism==

Revision as of 21:25, 23 May 2011

Gary Null on the cover of a book

Gary Null (born in 1945) is a US-Americen Author and businessman. His claim to hold a PhD is disputed. He is one of the most outspoken critics of pharmacy and supporter of alternative treatments. Most of the treatments he propagates are dubious, e.g. detox treatments, coffee enemas and diets for cancer and AIDS patients. He is an Anti-vaccionationist and denies that AIDS is caused by HIV. Null is the owner of the dietary supplement and media company Gary Null & Associates, Inc. and owns a health food store, Gary Null's Uptown Whole Foods Market in New York City. He has a syndicated radio talk show, Natural Living with Gary Null which has been broadcast for more than 27 years.

Credentials

Null says he holds a bachelor's degree from Thomas A. Edison State College in New Jersey and a PhD in human nutrition and public health sciences(thesis title: "A Study of Psychological and Physiological Effects of Caffeine on Human Health") from The Union Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio. Edison State, while accredited, is a "non-traditional" school with neither campus nor courses and bachelor's degrees are based on career experience, equivalent exams, and courses taken at other schools. Union Institute & University accreditation does not cover awarding of PhDs in the sciences, only in the humanities.[1]

According to the approval documents of the thesis the PhD committee was composed of Peter Fenner, an expert in geological sciences (totally unrelated to Null's topic), Martin Feldman, MD, a "complementary" physician (and "clinical ecologist") who worked with Null on his books and as a backup for the radio show, Philip J. Hodes, "Practitioner Holistic, Health Detoxification & Orthomolecular Nutritionist, Consultant" and Elayne Kanh, a psychologist who co-authored a book with Null that was published in 1976. In contrast to Null's work, a regular thesis for a doctoral degree in a scientific discipline requires a genuine contribution to the scientific literature.

The thesis concludes that "chronic caffeine users tend to have diminished adrenal function", which he blamed on "exhaustion" of the glands. "Fortunately," he added, "there are non-drug nutritional programs which have the ability to repair or rebalance weakening adrenal glands toward normal." The program consisted of "diminishing stressors," implementing strategies to diminish anxiety, and taking doses of five vitamins and three other products.

Null's attorney sent a cease-and-desist letter to Quackwatch, where this criticism was raised, but backed off, after even further questions were raised, continued to threaten but never actually sued.

Claims

Gary Null promotes HIV/AIDS denialism and that HIV is not the cause of AIDS. He even produces films that promote AIDS denialism and sells them on his website.[2] He also spreads the usual disinformation of vaccine denialism and supports Andrew Wakefield, who had faked data to "prove" that vaccination causes autism.[3] Baseless claims about his innocence as well as allegedly "new evidence" is being spread.[4] These allegedly "new" evidence was submitted in the trial of Wakefield years ago and is neither new nor a proof for Wakefields innocence.[5] He also claimed that the gulf war syndrome was caused by vaccinations, especially by squalene which is used as an adjuvant in vaccines.[6] Various studies dismantled that theory.[7][8]

He promotes coffee enemas for detoxification, a practice which is proven not to work.[9] He believes in homoeopathy[10], that mammograms are useless[11], that sugar is poison[12] and since he sells dietary supplements that the populations suffers from malnutrition, especially vitamin deficiency.

He also promotes various conspiracy theories about 9/11 and various political topics.

Vitamin D Poisoning

Gary Null also sells vitamin nutritional supplements and got vitamin D poisoning from "Gary Null's Ultimate Power Meal". Null began having severe symptoms in December 2009 after consuming two doses of the meal per day and believes he nearly died from kidney toxicity. He sued the manufacturer, since the product was produced with 1,000 times as much vitamin D as labelled.[13][14]

Criticism

Null is heavily criticized by various sources in the Internet.

  • Stephen Barrett from Quackwatch uncovered the curious details about his credentials and criticized the various products on his website.
  • The James Randi Educational Foundation, an organization that aims to promote critical thinking, has accused him of "dealing in nonsense," promoting the notion of eternal youth, and prescribing magnets and "other medieval tools" to prevent aging.
  • He was criticized for his remarks as a keynote speaker at a political rally against mandatory H1N1 influenza vaccination at the New York State Capitol in Albany, New York. New York State Health Commissioner Richard Daines said, "Like any number of things he’s wrong about, he’s wrong about that.[15]
  • He is criticized widely for Aids Denialism and his bogus claims on vaccinations.[16][17][18]

References