White Coat Underground
Archives for June, 2009
I woke up early this morning. Rather than run out the door to the office, I showered, started some coffee, walked upstairs, and sat down on the bed next to my daughter. She turned, grunted, and said, “Too early!” I sat for a while and watched her drift in and out of sleep. “Daddy, it’s…
Who does Oprah go to for women’s health advice?
Posted by PalMD on June 4, 2009 One of Oprah’s favorite resources for women’s health is Dr. Christiane Northrup, a gynecologist with bizarre ideas about health and disease. On the air, she has disputed the connection between HPV and cervical cancer, an uncontroversial scientific fact. Her un-belief in an important scientific fact is disturbing, but if you dig around her published writing…
Flu update—spring edition
Posted by PalMD on June 3, 2009 We’ve been hearing a lot about the new H1N1 (“swine”) flu which is moving quickly around the globe. It’s reasonably likely to be declared “pandemic” in the next few days. Here on the ground, it’s almost like having a second flu season. Normally by this time of year, seasonal flu is sporadic to absent and…
Oprah’s website of woo—can it change?
Posted by PalMD on June 2, 2009 I’ve written a number of times about Oprah’s support for absurd medical claims, and Dr. David Gorski does a great job detailing the history of Oprah’s ability to elevate quacks from obscurity to stardom. Given her latest debacle of taking Jenny McCarthy into her fold, I though I’d explore her website’s health section a bit,…
Silence is the enemy
Posted by PalMD on June 1, 2009 I don’t even know how to write about this. I drives me toward silence, which is the wrong direction. Sheril Kirshenbaum at The Intersection says it better than I ever could. She reaches out with her own personal tale of sexual assault. Imagine her story, but millions of times over—women, girls, infants; some raped, some…
To all of my friends, colleagues, fans, and detractors, I have been buried in email and real life duties, so if I haven’t responded to your veryimportantemail, I’m really sorry. That is all.