Office for Science and Society

The organization was founded in 1999 as the Office for Chemistry and Society by chemistry professors Joseph Schwarcz, David Harpp, and Ariel Fenster, with Schwarcz heading the office. The name was changed to indicate its wider focus. == Current status ==

The OSS conducts public education activities: With the proliferation of misleading or fraudulent health information online, the organization added the production of internet videos to its public communication activities. One video gained international attention in July 2018, when it got promoted by skeptics with a large online presence such as David Gorski, Susan Gerbic and Kavin Senapathy, as well as comedian Scott Rogowsky, and quickly reached 10 million hits. Imitating the format of others that promote false cures for cancer, the OSS video tells of a medical discovery by one Johan R. Tarjany (an anagram of Jonathan Jarry) before inviting the watcher to be skeptical and to ask questions. Public interventions by the OSS have attracted criticism from practitioners of alternative medicine, especially homeopaths, accusing the OSS of ignoring supposed evidence that these treatments would produce results exceeding the placebo effect. == References ==