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David Gorski

Orac is the nom de blog of a humble surgeon/scientist who has an ego just big enough to delude himself that someone, somewhere might actually give a rodent's posterior about his copious verbal meanderings, but just barely small enough to admit to himself that few probably will. That surgeon is otherwise known as David Gorski. That Orac has chosen his nom de blog based on a rather cranky and arrogant computer shaped like a clear box of blinking lights that he originally encountered when he became a fan of a 30 year old British SF television show whose special effects were renowned for their BBC/Doctor Who-style low budget look, but whose stories nonetheless resulted in some of the best, most innovative science fiction ever televised, should tell you nearly all that you need to know about Orac. (That, and the length of the preceding sentence.)

DISCLAIMER: The various written meanderings here are the opinions of Orac and Orac alone, written on his own time. They should never be construed as representing the opinions of any other person or entity, especially Orac's cancer center, department of surgery, medical school, or university. Also note that Orac is nonpartisan; he is more than willing to criticize the statements of anyone, regardless of of political leanings, if that anyone advocates pseudoscience or quackery. Finally, medical commentary is not to be construed in any way as medical advice.

To contact Orac: oracknows@gmail.com

Posts by this author

July 30, 2007
I've been a bit remiss about reporting an update on the Tripoli Six, six foreign health care workers who were falsely accused of intentionally infecting children at a hospital in Libya with HIV, leading to their being convicted and sentenced to death. The evidence against them was crap, and…
July 30, 2007
Saturday, I thought that I knew what I'd be writing about for Monday, which, I've learned from my two and a half years of blogging, is a great thing when it happens. A certain Libertarian comic had decided that he wanted to argue some more about secondhand smoke and indoor smoking bans, starting a…
July 29, 2007
(LOL Oscar from Lauren.) While I expressed skepticism the other day regarding the media reports that a cat named Oscar could predict which patients at the nursing home in which he resides were within hours of death, some of you believed it, some even going so far as to speculate that not only…
July 29, 2007
Continuing this weekend's silliness, I found a contender for Gene Simmons' throne, at least as far as the tongue action goes: I don't know why I find this video disturbing, but I do. Don't worry. I promise to post something substantive tomorrow.
July 29, 2007
Here's something that's not a good idea: Boston, MA (AHN) - The Board of Registration in Medicine, which is the governing authority issuing licenses to Massachusetts doctors, has reportedly suspended a Boston anesthesiologist from the practice of medicine for dozing off during an operation. However…
July 28, 2007
Ya gotta love The Cramps. Their style of rockabilly is so bizarre that it's been dubbed by some as "psychobilly." And, if you happen to be unlucky enough to have to be hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital, I can't imagine a much better bit of therapy than to see The Cramps perform at your…
July 28, 2007
I guess that's where I've been thus far in my life: create your own visited states map or check out these Google Hacks. How about you? Has anyone been to 100% of the states?
July 27, 2007
copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy…
July 27, 2007
The Brothers Bleiman Since early childhood, Andrew and Ben Bleiman have shared an obsession with zoology, corresponding with the mammalogist George Schaller before puberty and memorizing more than one illustrated animal encyclopedia. Although they currently both work in the software industry,…
July 27, 2007
Zooillogix has been invited to join ScienceBlogs and we have decided to take them up on the offer. ScienceBlogs is a unique community of science related blogs that run the gamut from highly informed and technical to... errr.... us. What this means for you the reader (e.g. the bored desk slave,…
July 27, 2007
Harvard professor Robert Wood unveiled his newest creation recently, a robotic fly that can be used as a spy, according to this posting on engadget.com. They fly weighs only .002 ounces and has a wingspan of 1.18 inches. Due to light weight carbon joints, the fly's wings beat 110 times per minute…
July 27, 2007
After all this annoyance I've had lately about homeopaths doing surgery in Arizona (not to mention the licensing of quackery there), I can't forget that the blog carnival bequeathed to me, The Skeptics' Circle, is fast approaching. This week, the host will be none other than fellow ScienceBlogger…
July 27, 2007
This sort of thing makes one wonder if the personification of Death should in fact be a cat, although, oddly enough, not a black cat: Oscar the rescue cat is not simply a welcome feline companion at the Steere nursing home in Providence, Rhode Island. According to a new report in a medical…
July 27, 2007
Time is important. Our life is measured in it, and there's no way to reverse it. How we use our allotted time on this planet is, of course, the most important question that anyone ever faces. But how to measure time? It all seems so obvious, doesn't it? You have years, which are divided into 365…
July 26, 2007
...or was it? I'm pretty sure it was. The dream needed a little bit more of a zingy ending, though, like waking up and finding Bobby Ewing still alive or finding out that everything that happened at the hospital was the fantasy of an autistic boy. Or something like that
July 26, 2007
Until the other day, it had been a long time since I had indulged my interest in World War II history. Not surprisingly, a certain anti-Semitic troll appeared out of the woodwork, thus amazing me with persistence, given that it's been at least two months since I've even mentioned the topic. That's…
July 25, 2007
...At least, that's what I most definitely say after reading this account of The rise & fall of the prefrontal lobotomy. One question that stands out: How could a stepmother force her stepson to get a lobotomy just because she didn't like his sullenness and defiance, even after being told by…
July 25, 2007
Yesterday, when I wrote about a death in Arizona caused by a homeopath doing liposuction, what amazed me the most was that homeopaths are licensed in Arizona. Although I alluded to it only briefly in yesterday's post, I was truly astounded at what homeopaths are allowed to do in Arizona. It piqued…
July 24, 2007
While I'm back on the subject of Nazi Germany, here's a rather interesting tidbit of news about a book that I'll undoubtedly want to read when it comes out: During the latter half of World War II, the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) undertook a massive clandestine operation of which the…
July 24, 2007
Here's a bummer of a bit of information that some elderly Germans are discovering: Hundreds of elderly Germans are being confronted with the revelation that they were recruited into the Nazi party during the second world war. Historians researching Nazi party archives in Frankfurt have discovered…
July 24, 2007
Normally, when I hear such a term as "homeopathic surgery" or of homeopaths doing surgery, I get the irresistable urge to make jokes about it, such as wondering if homeopathic surgery is surgery diluted down to the point where not a single cell in the body is injured or whether homeopathic surgeons…
July 23, 2007
The other day, Sid Schwab, surgeon blogger extraordinaire, brought up a question that, I'm guessing, most nonsurgeons wonder about from time to time when contemplating how it is that we surgeons do what we do. What about bathroom breaks? Given that most of the surgery that I do is breast surgery,…
July 23, 2007
After the invasion of the smoking cranks last week into the comments of the three posts I somehow ended up doing on the topic of secondhand smoke (SHS), the health dangers it poses, and some of the deceptive quote mining used in the service of trying to discredit studies demonstrating a moderate…
July 22, 2007
Can anyone explain how something like this might have happened? Maybe I lack imagination, but I'm having trouble figuring out a plausible explanation.
July 22, 2007
I'm not sure whether this is reassuring or depressing. $3590.00The Cadaver Calculator - Find out how much your body is worth. From Mingle2 - Free Online Dating Mingle2 - Free Online Dating So...how much is your cadaver worth? (Found via Attuworld.)
July 22, 2007
Yesterday, it was a personality quiz. Today, other ScienceBloggers have been assimilated into the LOL Cat craze. Given that I've had a tangential brush with the craze myself in the past when I posted a bunch of LOL Doctor Whos, and because last week was sufficiently serious, with all the posts…
July 21, 2007
What do you get when you mix a bunch of octogenarians and nonagenarians with The Who? You get this: It's a band called The Zimmers. Members range in age from 69 to 99. I particularly like the mass instrument smashing at the end of the video. I have to admit, however, to the near irresistable urge…
July 21, 2007
This one seems to be making the rounds among blogs that I frequent. Given that it's Saturday, when I usually don't post anything that requires serious writing, it's a perfect day to let the sheep in me have free reign and follow the flock, taking this test: Your Score : Robot You are 100%…
July 20, 2007
It sure took the FDA long enough, nearly five months, but it finally acted. It finally shut Jim Tassano down, as this notice on TheDCASite.com states: Two agents from the FDA visited us on Tuesday,July 17, 2007 and ordered that we stop making and selling DCA. Unfortunately, the site www.buydca.com…
July 20, 2007
Here's a rather interesting wrinkle in the regulation of chiropractors. This time, it's New Jersey: A recent state court decision has hundreds of chiropractors across the state bent out of shape because it sharply limits what they can legally do. And while the decision is being appealed to the…