"A statement of fact cannot be insolent." The miscellaneous ramblings of a surgeon/scientist on medicine,
quackery, science, pseudoscience, history, and pseudohistory (and anything else that interests him)
Orac is the nom de blog of a humble pseudonymous surgeon/scientist with an ego just big enough to delude himself that someone, somewhere might actually give a rodent's posterior about his miscellaneous verbal meanderings, but just barely small enough to admit to himself that few will. (Continued here, along with a DISCLAIMER that you should read before reading any medical discussions here.)
Orac's old Blog is archived at Archived Insolence.
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February 28, 2007
Category: Alternative medicine • Quackery • Skepticism/critical thinking
Another one has fallen. Yes, another prestigious medical school has given in. First I lamented the decline in basic science education in medical schools. Then, I lamented even more the infiltration of woo into the curricula of far too many...
Posted by Orac at 12:01 PM • 58 Comments
Like many biomedical investigators, I've been sweating it over the resubmission of an R01 grant my collaborator and I worked furiously on and submitted on November 1. He's the principal investigator, but I'm a coinvestigator with 25% effort; I also...
Posted by Orac at 3:01 AM • 7 Comments
February 27, 2007
Category: Announcements • Blogging
Kristjan Wager points out to me that Respectiful Insolence was listed as the Blog of the Day by the L.A. Times on Monday. Oddly enough, I hadn't noticed any traffic coming my way from the link......
Posted by Orac at 2:01 PM • 9 Comments
Category: Cancer • Medicine • Surgery
Here's a myth that I've been meaning to take on for a while, a belief that is prevalent among but by no means limited to "alternative medicine" aficionados, namely that operating on a cancer will lead it to "spread," either by "exposing it to oxygen" or other unnamed processes. Unfortunately, for me, Sid Schwab beat me to it,. Fortunately for you, he did his usual great job. I'll add my proverbial two cents after this quote, although you should by all means read Sid's entire article
Posted by Orac at 9:01 AM • 17 Comments
February 26, 2007
It looks to me as though one of my favorite lefty bloggers, Majikthise (real name: Lindsay Beyerstein), dodged a bullet. In a Salon.com article, she describes how she originally was approached to blog for the John Edwards campaign. As you...
Posted by Orac at 3:01 PM • 56 Comments
Category: Evolution • Intelligent design/creationism • Medicine • Science • Skepticism/critical thinking • Surgery
I'm getting really, really tired of this. You've all read my rants at the propensity of surgeons who clearly don't have clue one about evolutionary theory spouting off ignorantly about the alleged shortcomings of evolution as a theory while either...
Posted by Orac at 9:31 AM • 26 Comments
February 25, 2007
Category: Entertainment/culture • Movies
Taking a cue from Abel, I like the look of this: This year marks a first. Usually, my wife and I have managed to see at least a couple of the nominees; in years past, when we were dating and...
Posted by Orac at 2:01 PM • 9 Comments
Category: Alternative medicine • Antivaccination lunacy • Autism • Medicine • Quackery
Somehow, in all the blogging about dichloroacetate earlier this week, I somehow missed a mention of a truly annoying thing that the editors of Lancet Neurology did. In essence, they allowed ethically challenged mercury warrior Mark Geier a forum to...
Posted by Orac at 9:02 AM • 13 Comments
February 24, 2007
Category: Humor • Medicine • News of the Weird
In case you didn't know, here are instructions for opening your bowels (via Clusterfock, Kottke, and Kevin, MD): I wonder if I've been doing it wrong all these years. I mean, I don't think I've ever used a footrest......
Posted by Orac at 3:21 PM • 21 Comments
Category: Alternative medicine • Bioethics • Cancer • Medicine • Quackery
The "health freedom" warriors and "entrepreneurs" responsible for The DCA Site and BuyDCA.com appear to have noticed me and my humble effort...How do I know that they've noticed me? Remember the long exchange between Heather Nordstrom and two people questioning the ethics and legality of selling a drug that has only shown promise in animal models of cancer but has yet to be tested in humans for cancer from which I quoted liberally and on which I commented? To refresh your memory, it was an exchange between someone going under the 'nym Sprite 8 and another going under the 'nym CJohn Zammit, both of whom questioned what Heather and her stepfather were doing in selling DCA from an unclear source to desperate patients. One of them, CJohn Zammit, begged her not to do it and to concentrate efforts on promoting rapid phase II clinical trials of the drug against cancer and (this is where I part ways with CJohn) to encourage oncologists to use it "off-label."
Posted by Orac at 9:01 AM • 45 Comments
February 23, 2007
Category: Announcements • Blog carnivals • Blog housekeeping • Blogging • Skeptics' Circle
Listen up, everyone! It's fast approaching. Yes, The Skeptics' Circle will be appearing next Thursday over at The Second Sight. EoR did a bang-up job the last time the Circle was held at The Second Sight; so I expect as...
Posted by Orac at 2:31 PM •
Category: Friday Woo • Pseudoscience • Skepticism/critical thinking
Fortunately, it's Friday, and you know what that means. Yes, it's time to take a break from such downers as contemplating all the desperate patients who are being taken in by the hucksters I've been blogging about. It's the end of the week. Time to sit back, pop open a bottle of decent wine, and enjoy a glass or two (after I'm done with work this evening, of course). And, at the risk of trampling on fellow ScienceBlogger Abel's own Friday feature (The Friday Fermentable), I have to point out that I'll be breaking open a bottle of wine produced only by the finest biodynamic wineries. Oh, yes, my friends. This week, the woo is down on the farm (and winery), and it's "biodynamic."
Posted by Orac at 9:16 AM • 26 Comments
February 22, 2007
Category: Medicine • News of the Weird • Surgery
At least this time the surgeons aren't disgracing my profession by making ignorant statments about evolution. Well, actually, I almost wish they were, because puffed up idiots pontificating about evolution at least don't put patients in immediate danger like this:...
Posted by Orac at 4:01 PM • 13 Comments
Category: Paranormal • Pseudoscience • Skepticism/critical thinking
I realize that this blog has become "all dichloroacetate (DCA) all the time." I think I've said what needs to be said in my usual long-winded fashion, and now it's time to move on to less heavy topics for a...
Posted by Orac at 1:01 PM • 17 Comments
Category: Bioethics • Cancer • Clinical trials • Medicine • Quackery
I've probably beat this one into the ground over the last couple of days; so this will be uncharacteristically brief, because it's time to move on. Also, it was fun to see DaveScot go into paroxysms to try to justify...
Posted by Orac at 9:01 AM • 15 Comments
February 21, 2007
Category: Medicine • News of the Weird • Politics
Fellow ScienceBloggers Ed, PZ, Afarensis, Tim, and John have all been having loads of fun beating up on a rather amusing and pathetic project known as Conservapedia, which, according to its creators, is designed to "combat the liberal bias" in...
Posted by Orac at 2:01 PM • 47 Comments
