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Mark Hoofnagle has a MD and PhD in physiology from the University of Virginia, and is now a general surgery resident. His interest in denialism concerns the use of denialist tactics to confuse public understanding of scientific knowledge.
Chris Hoofnagle is a recovering Washington, DC lawyer and information privacy law expert at UC-Berkeley Law School. Denialism became apparent to him while working on consumer protection laws in Washington. The Denialists' Deck of Cards is essentially a how-to guide for being an industry lobbyist.
PalMD is a practicing internist in the Midwestern United States. Aside from the great joy he finds in his family and his work, he likes communicating some of that joy to others. He has a special interest in the ways patients---and we are all patients at one time or another---are deceived by charlatans. He aims to change the world, one reader at a time. Previous writings can still be found here.
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Category: Politics
Posted on: January 6, 2009 4:28 PM, by PalMD
As my regular readers know, I recently lost my father-in-law. He was a terrific teacher and loved to brag about students who had done well. One of his favorite "brags" was Sanjay Gupta of CNN, and now, the Washington Post is reporting that Obama wants Sanjay to be the next Surgeon General.
Dick, I wish you were around to see it.
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Comments
Don't know a lot about Gupta, but my preferred neurosurgeon would have been Steven Novella!
Posted by: mike | January 6, 2009 4:48 PM
Anyone but Egnor!
Posted by: Coturnix | January 6, 2009 4:49 PM
One of your colleagues is not so impressed http://getbetterhealth.com/sanjay-gupta-as-surgeon-general-not-so-fast/2009.01.06
Posted by: Joe | January 6, 2009 6:35 PM
I tend to agree with val that he lacks a bit of gravitas, and i am a bit worried about his journalism creds pushing him to "both sides-ism" but i see potential.
Posted by: PalMD | January 6, 2009 7:18 PM
As soon as I heard about the Gupta pick, I came here assuming you doofuses would be all for it. I'm disappointed to learn I'm right. Gupta is a pharmaceutical industry hooker, & I find it ironic that someone who has "a special interest in the ways patients are deceived by charlatans" is actually in favor of this bonehead move.
Posted by: BDM | January 6, 2009 10:59 PM
I'm not saying the guy's a perfect choice, but before being an asshole slinging ad homs all over the tubes, you wanna give some data?
Posted by: PalMD | January 7, 2009 7:45 AM
I have a vague memory that Gupta has been fairly tolerant of woo. Given your willingness to support him, I'm guessing that my memory about that is erroneous. Do you have any further information about Gupta's attitudes about the imaginary medicine disciplines?
Posted by: freelunch | January 7, 2009 9:03 AM
Gupta conceals the true affiliations of his guest "healthcare experts:"
http://mediamatters.org/items/200707120001?f=s_search
Gupta cherry-picks facts to promote Big Pharm:
http://www.rawfoodinfo.com/articles/art_doctoringthenews.htm
Gupta is a paid shill for Big Pharm:
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/schwitz/healthnews/155662.html
Posted by: BDM | January 7, 2009 9:47 AM
Re Mike
Dr. Novella is a neurologist, not a neurosurgeon.
Re BDM
The tipoff that Mr. BDM is a crank comes from his use of the term "big pharma", in addition to his link to a quack website rawfoodinfo.
Posted by: SLC | January 7, 2009 9:54 AM
Re PalMD
Dr. Orac and Prof. Myers seem rather less enthusiastic about Dr. Gupta then Dr. PalMD.
Posted by: SLC | January 7, 2009 9:57 AM
um...citing "rawfoodinfo.com" isn't all that credible.
I was very mildly in favor of the choice, but if cranks like you are against it, i might have to start cheerleading for the guy.
Posted by: PalMD | January 7, 2009 10:05 AM
Rawfoodinfo simply reprinted the piece, which originally ran on Counterpunch:
http://www.counterpunch.org/martens07202007.html
Is that as far as you got?
I didn't use the term "big pharm" to signal my allegiance with anyone; it is simply an abbreviation. I guess I should've used "pharmaceutical industry."
You obviously didn't follow the links, but rather looked for the easiest escape route by dismissing the rawfoodinfo url & calling me a "crank." Well, one ad hom deserves another, right?
If you want to play tit-for-tat, I concede. You win. If, on the other hand, you want to find out whether or not Gupta is a good pick for Surgeon General, follow the links.
Posted by: BDM | January 7, 2009 10:20 AM
PZ Meyers doesn't like Gupta either:
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/07/moore_v_gupta_truth_v_false_do.php
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/01/im_not_so_sure_about_this_pick.php
Even Orac, with whom I usually disagree, doesn't like the pick:
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/01/dr_sanjay_gupta_for_surgeon_general_yawn.php#more
Posted by: BDM | January 7, 2009 10:29 AM
If you're disturbed because Gupta endorsed Garasil, you are officially on my crank list.
Posted by: PalMD | January 7, 2009 11:00 AM
I'm disturbed that Gupta began endorsing Garasil eight months before testing on the drug had even been completed. Even the AMA says Garasil's efficacy is modest at best. Gupta is promoting a product, not a treatment; his endorsement is an advertisement disguised as an objective scientific opinion, which I oppose. If that puts me on your crank list, then I'm proud to be a crank.
Posted by: BDM | January 7, 2009 11:22 AM
Re BDM
Counterpunch. The antisemitic far left wing counterpart to stormfront and rense.
Posted by: SLC | January 7, 2009 4:16 PM
Nice try, SLC. The issue at hand is whether Gupta is a sound choice for Surgeon General, which, in my opinion, he is not, especially considering all the "change" rhetoric from the Obama campaign. Alexander Cockburn's alleged anti-semitism is neither here nor there, since he didn't write the article I linked to above.
Honestly, the arguments you people employ simply to avoid conceding a point astonish me. I thought this was the Science Blogs.
Posted by: BDM | January 7, 2009 9:24 PM