oracknows | April 27, 2011
Longtime readers of this blog might be familiar with a certain regular commenter here who goes by the 'nym Sullivan and also blogs over at Left Brain Right Brain. Back in November, our old friend at the anti-vaccine propaganda crank blog, J.B. Handley himself, founder of the anti-vaccine crank activist group now fronted by Jenny McCarthy herself, Generation Rescue, posted a hilariously off base "outing" of Sullivan entitled Is Paul Offit's Wife Internet Troll/Autism Father "Sullivan"? Yes, that's right. Apparently J.B., with the investigative skills of Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau and…
oracknows | April 26, 2011NOTE: Dr. Novella has written up a detailed description of his experiences on The Dr. Oz Show. Please read it. Also note that the online video for Dr. Novella's appearance is now available:
Controversial Medicine: Alternative Health, Part 1
Controversial Medicine: Alternative Health, Part 2
Controversial Medicine: Alternative Health, Part 3
When I first learned that Dr. Steve Novella, Yale neurologist, blogger, and host of the popular skeptical podcast the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe was going to be on The Dr. Oz Show, I was concerned. After all, this is the same physician who had in…
oracknows | April 26, 2011"Health freedom." It's a battle cry frequently used by supporters of "alternative" medicine against what they perceive to be persecution by the medical and scientific establishment that uses the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, and other federal agencies charged with regulating pharmaceuticals, food, cosmetics, and medical devices in order to protect the public against fraud, adulterated food, and quackery. It's a potent argument to those not versed in skepticism and science-based medicine, and even to many who are. After all, Who could argue with "health freedom"?…
oracknows | April 25, 2011A commenter named ottoschnaut at the anti-vaccine blog Age of Autism owes me a new irony meter after writing to a commenter by the 'nym "Parent" who complained about the meanness of J.B. Handley's attack on Seth Mnookin:
To Parent:
You write: "Both sides claim the other is crazy, both in a race to the bottom with scare tactics and threats"
Can you give me one example of a safe vaccine advocate calling those who defend "one size fits all vaccine policy" crazy?
Can you give me an example of "scare tactics" used by safe vaccine advocates?
The truth is what safe vaccine advocates use. If that is…
oracknows | April 25, 2011I should have popped up some popcorn. I had a feeling this was coming, but who knew it would be so entertaining when it finally happened?
On Tuesday, I wrote about how famed vascular surgeon Dr. Lazar Greenfield had written a bizarre, sexist attempt at Valentines Day humor in which he implied that evolutionary biology meant shows that semen is a mood enhancer for women and in essence recommended unprotected sex on Valentine's day, slipped his lame attempt at humor into the official newsletter of the American College of Surgeons, and then as a result was later forced to resign his position as…
oracknows | April 22, 2011UPDATE 4/27/2011: Dr. Novella has written up a detailed description of his experiences on The Dr. Oz Show. Please read it. Also note that the online video for Dr. Novella's appearance is now available:
Controversial Medicine: Alternative Health, Part 1
Controversial Medicine: Alternative Health, Part 2
Controversial Medicine: Alternative Health, Part 3
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I want you all to tune in to The Dr. Oz Show on Tuesday, April 26. Either that, or DVR it. Why am I asking you to do this? Have I lost my mind? Have I suddenly gone woo? Of course not. The reason is that…
oracknows | April 22, 2011Steve Salzberg is a man after my own heart. You'll see why in a minute.
I've frequently written about the pseudoscientific nonsense that goes on at the University of Maryland. Indeed, the University of Maryland School of Medicine is a hotbed of quackademic medicine, including the use of reiki at its world-renowned trauma center along with other forms of quackery. Steve Salzberg is on the faculty at the University of Maryland, and he's not happy:
So what's going on at Maryland's medical school? UMM is home to one of the nation's premier "integrative medicine" programs, which promotes a wide…
oracknows | April 21, 2011Several of you have been sending me this; so I would be remiss not to note that there is a rather lengthy profile of Generation Rescue's favorite "martyred" anti-vaccine hero, disgraced and discredited British gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield, in this weekend's New York Times Magazine entitled The Crash and Burn of an Autism Guru. By and large, it's not bad, but what caught my attention wasn't so much the story of Andrew Wakefield, with which I have, sadly, become intimately familiar, or the usual self-pitying, self-serving excuses and denials of Wakefield himself. Rather, it's what the…
oracknows | April 21, 2011
I demand the sum of.....ten MILLION visits! Muhahahahahaha!
Yes, I know I did that bit before--twice, three times, even!---but I liked it so much that I wanted to do it again, at least until my readers run screaming away, annoyed that Orac, of all people, would recycle the same old joke over and over.
Of course, after 3,000,000 visits, I basically gave up even noticing at each new million visit mark; so it's been nearly three years since I recycled this particular joke. This time's different, anyway, even though it's been six years, four months, and ten days since December 11, 2004 that I've…
oracknows | April 20, 2011Over the years, I've learned that a lot of surgeons are very religious. Actually, a lot of doctors are quite religious. Indeed, long ago in the history of this blog, back when I used to write about evolution a lot more than I do these days, I've pointed out that at least as many physicians as the general public accept "intelligent design" creationism as a valid description of the origin of life. Indeed, 15% of physicians believe that states should be required to teach ID and 50% believe that states should be permitted to teach it. In other words, approximately 65% of physicians are in favor…
oracknows | April 19, 2011
I just learned something that will sadden the heart of any Doctor Who fan. Elizabeth Sladen, who played longtime companion of the Doctor Sarah Jane Smith, has died of cancer:
Doctor Who star Elisabeth Sladen, who was also in spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures, has died aged 63.
Sladen appeared as Doctor Who assistant Sarah Jane Smith in the BBC television sci-fi series between 1973 and 1976, opposite Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker.
The Liverpool-born actress appeared in four series from 2007 of The Sarah Jane Adventures on children's channel CBBC.
Sladen had been battling cancer for some…
oracknows | April 19, 2011Hot on the heels of his excellent effort Immunize, ZDoggMD is back for a followup. Unfortunately, his partner in crime, Dr. Chase McCallister, billionnaire hemorrhoid surgeon, whose woo-fighting alter-ego is Doc Quixote, screwed up. Wandering into the University of Google, he came up with a rap that would do Mike Adams proud:
More reason than ever to get your vax on!
oracknows | April 19, 2011I'd like to thank Buckeye Surgeon for reminding me of something I had seen and wanted to blog about but totally forgot about. Maybe it was so forgettable that I should just skip it, but as a surgeon I actually don't think so. Basically, it's a story of a surgeon making a fool of himself. I know, I know, that's such an impossibility that it's well nigh inconceivable, but it actually did happen. Perhaps what brought my attention to this sordid tale is that there is a connection to the University of Michigan, where I went to both undergraduate and medical school.
The surgeon in question is Dr.…
oracknows | April 18, 2011I've frequently lamented what might happen if the current trend towards quackademic medicine continues unabated, and quackery is fully "integrated" with science-based medicine. First, there was homeopathic e.r. Then, Mitchell and Webb brought us the British version, namely Homeopathic A&E. What I didn't realize is that predating both of these was...Holistic E.R. (Embedding disabled, unfortunately.)
Favorite bits: The bit about vitamin C, visualization, and crystals. Sadly, with the way academic medicine is being infused with quackery such as energy healing, homeopathy, and even…
oracknows | April 17, 2011Oh, no!
It's the toxins!
It's the chemicals!
Evil, evil, evil, evil! Even worse, unnatural, unnatural, unnatural!
Such is the message we receive from many sources. The media bombards us with it constantly. Environmental groups do too. The message is so pervasive that most people take it for granted that various toxins are "poisoning" them and causing cancer. Now don't get me wrong. I am not saying that there is not a potential risk from various chemicals that might cause cancer. Indeed, less than a year ago I wrote a lengthy post about the President's Cancer Panel Report from 2010 in which, I…
oracknows | April 15, 2011Time and time again, anti-vaccine activists will piously and self-righteously tell those of us who criticize their pseudoscientific fear mongering, "I'm not anti-vaccine," followed by something like, "I'm pro-vaccine safety," "I'm a vaccine safety watchdog," or "I'm pro-safe vaccine." Nothing puts the lie to these denials better than looking at the sorts of things anti-vaccine activists say and write in their own lairs.
For instance, here we have a commenter by the 'nym of veritas (no hubris there!) over at the anti-vaccine blog Age of Autism discussing the Poul Thorsen scandal:
I just wonder…
oracknows | April 15, 2011AThe the nonsense from the anti-vaccine movement on the issue of Poul Thorenson, the Danish scientist indicted for defrauding the CDC of approximately $1 million in grant money continues apace...
Just yesterday I pointed out how the anti-vaccine loons at Age of Autism were busily trying to poison the well over the Poul Thorsen case, as though whether or not he committed fraud with his CDC grant has anything to do with the quality of the science of the Danish studies that failed to find a link between either the MMR vaccine or thimerosal in vaccines and autism. Being on the mailing list of…
oracknows | April 14, 2011Here we go again.
If there's one thing about the anti-vaccine movement, it's all about the ad hominem. Failing to win on science, clinical trials, epidemiology, and other objective evidence, inevitably anti-vaccine propagandists fall back on attacking the person instead of the evidence. For example, Paul Offit has been the subject of unrelenting attacks from Generation Rescue and other anti-vaccine groups, having been dubbed "Dr. Proffit" and accused of being so in the pocket of big pharma that he'll do and say anything for it. I personally have been accused by Jake Crosby of a conflict of…
oracknows | April 13, 2011Excellent! It's about time the bigger guns started getting involved. Remember the anti-vaccine ads being run on the big CBS JumboTron in Times Square? Well, the American Academy of Pediatrics has finally weighted in to complaint. Here's the letter:
April 13, 2011
Mr. Wally Kelly
Chairman and CEO
CBS Outdoor
405 Lexington Ave., 14th floor
New York, NY 10174
Dear Mr. Kelly,
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) objects to the paid advertisement/public service message from the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) being shown throughout the month of April on the CBS JumboTron in Times…
oracknows | April 13, 2011Four years ago, I wrote a post that I called Gotta have more woo in my medical school! In it, I discussed how UCSF had put out a woo-ful, non-science-based booklet about "complementary and alternative medicine" (CAM), full of references to qi, acupuncture, and all manner of woo. Since then I've been sounding the alarm bells about the creeping infiltration of pseudoscience into medical school, even so much that it's becoming part of the mandatory medical school curriculum. Now, four years later, I see that the creeping infiltration has ceased to creep. Rather, it's turned into a torrent of woo…