Pseudoscience and the Law – Why Doesn’t the Government Stop the Charlatans?

Featuring: Nicholas Little

Pseudoscience is rife throughout society, from ghost hunters on TV to horoscopes in magazines to “alternative medicine” on the shelves of retail stores. While it is represented as anything from harmless fun to a valid alternative to dependence on “Big Pharma,” pseudoscience hurts people. It takes their money, makes false promises, and discourages them from seeking real, science based solutions. So why does it seem like the government stands back and gives pseudoscience free rein? Nick will discuss where the government does act, and what the limits of such action are. With particular focus on his lawsuits on behalf of the population of DC against Walmart and CVS for their retailing of homeopathy, and Boiron on multiple grounds in its manufacture and sale of homeopathic products, he will show how there may be an opportunity for skeptical organizations to use consumer protection laws to fight back against pseudoscience.

Nick is Legal Director and Vice President of the Center for Inquiry. In that role, he handles CFI’s internal legal work and its outside litigation. This includes a move to using consumer protection law to protect the public from the harm caused by pseudoscience. In this role, Nick is responsible for CFI’s groundbreaking suits against CVS and Walmart for their retailing of homeopathic products in the District of Columbia, as well as attempts under the Freedom of Information Act to compel the Food and Drug Administration to grant access to the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States. Prior to CFI, Nick practiced international and domestic antitrust law in DC. He is originally from the United Kingdom, and received his undergraduate degree from Oxford University in Politics and Economics, a Masters in Labor Relations from the University of Warwick, and a JD from Vanderbilt University.


This talk took place on June 9, 2022, at 7:00 pm EDT.