November 7, 2011
Believe it or not, sometimes I rather miss Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey. Although McCarthy is still nominally the head of the anti-vaccine group Generation Rescue, she's really faded to a rather low profile over the last year or so. Indeed, the last time I even remember her spouting off about…
November 7, 2011
Ever since starting my blog nearly seven (!) years ago, I've concentrated mainly on skepticism in medicine, in particular examining various implausible medical claims that proliferate on the Internet and in our media like so much kudzu choking out science and reason. The reasons are two-fold. First…
November 5, 2011
Fridays are usually a bad time for blogging for me, but it's a choice, not due to any circumstances. Usually, on Friday nights, I consciously make an effort to stay away from the computer and the blog. Frequently, I'm tired, and not infrequently I'll crash on the couch, only to wake up after…
November 4, 2011
About a month ago, I discussed a rather disturbing development, namely the initiative by Dr. Andrew Weil to set up something he was going to call the American Board of Integrative Medicine, all for the purpose of creating a system of board certification for physicians practicing "integrative…
November 3, 2011
I must admit, I'm rather happy that October is over, as that means that the local news stations doing all sorts of brain dead fluff stories about the paranormal. On the other hand, if I were still living in Cleveland, I'd miss out on awesome pareidolia like this:
Here's what they're talking…
November 2, 2011
The nearest major airport to me happens to be a Delta Airlines hub. Consequently, nine times out of ten, whenever I have to fly anywhere I'm usually stuck using Delta Airlines. It's actually not too bad, as major airlines go, better than some but about the same as most. Unfortunately, during the…
November 1, 2011
The whole concept of "complementary and alternative medicine" (CAM) and "integrative medicine" (IM), the former of which "complements" science-based medicine with quackery and the latter of which "integrates" pseudoscience-based with science-based medicine. The reason I start out by saying this is…
October 31, 2011
I've been blogging about alternative medicine for nearly seven years and writing about it, either on Usenet or in other forums for several years before. As a result, there are times when I start to think that maybe I've seen it all. And almost every time I start thinking that, I come across…
October 31, 2011
I've written quite a bit about Steve Jobs' battle with pancreatic cancer over the years and, more recently, in the wake of his death nearly four weeks ago. The reason, of course, is that the course of his cancer was of intense interest after it became public knowledge that he had cancer. In…
October 28, 2011
Despite having found my niche long ago in the medical blogosphere as a skeptic and supporter of science-based medicine, not to mention a scourge of quacks and anti-vaccine activists (no little ego mine!), I rarely, if ever, write about obstetrics. It's always been one area of medicine that I've…
October 28, 2011
It's a wonder no one ever thought of this before (at least, not to my knowledge), but Todd over at Harpocrates Speaks has. Over there today, what do we find?
A Quacktion Figureâ¢:
Ever wanted to enjoy the adoration of tens of others? Had an idea for a new product to patent, but had pesky…
October 27, 2011
Oh, geez. Mike Adams is at it again.
I know, I know, saying that Mike Adams has just laid down yet another hunk of napalm-grade--nay, hydrogen-bomb grade--burning stupid is akin to saying that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, that water is wet, that we need oxygen to survive, or that…
October 26, 2011
As hard as it is to believe, I've been a physician for 23 years now and a fully trained surgeon for over 15 years. If there's one thing I've learned in that time, it's most doctors really, really don't like to be told what to do. I don't know if part of it comes from all the long years of medical…
October 25, 2011
I usually don't do requests, at least not very often. As selfish as it might sound, I do this blog mainly to amuse myself, which means that I choose whatever topics interest me and write about them. Believe it or not, I'd probably still be doing this even if my readership were 1/100 of what it is.…
October 24, 2011
There's a disturbance in the Force. Well, in the Dark Side of the Force, as in the Quack Side of Medicine. Basically, there's a rumble in the quackosphere that reached me through three different quack mailing lists that I'm on for the purpose of gathering material for blogging, including--you…
October 24, 2011
As I've said before recently, I have mixed emotions regarding Breast Cancer Awareness Month. On the one hand, I look forward to it because it provides us with a pretext to get out science-based messages about breast cancer and to highlight a lot of the cool science that we do at our cancer center.…
October 21, 2011
A couple of weeks ago, in the immediate aftermath of Steve Jobs' death, I took issue with the claims of a skeptic that "alternative medicine killed Steve Jobs." At the time, I pointed out that, although it was very clear that Steve Jobs did himself no favors by delaying his initial surgery for nine…
October 20, 2011
Yesterday, I congratulated that bane of anti-vaccine movement and great vaccine scientist, Dr. Paul Offit, for having been accepted into the Institute of Medicine. It's a huge honor, and one well-deserved. At the time, I contrasted Dr. Offit, who has ascended to the highest heights of his…
October 18, 2011
Congratulations are in order.
Earlier this week, someone whom I admire has received a well-deserved honor:
The IOM announced the names of 65 new members and five foreign associates today in conjunction with its 41st annual meeting. Election to the IOM is considered one of the highest honors in the…
October 18, 2011
Normally, these days I greet the month of October with a mixture of anticipation and dread. The anticipation stems from October's position as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Now that somehow I've managed to have a variety of responsibilities with respect to how breast cancer is managed at our cancer…
October 16, 2011
We humans like control. Actually, we need to feel as though we are in control. Perhaps that's why, when we aren't in control--can't be in control, for whatever reason--we instinctively seek ways of being more in control, or at least of feeling as though we are in control. I've often wondered if…
October 14, 2011
You might have noticed that I'm a bit late today. There's a reason, and I bet you know what it is. Yep, yet another grant deadline. As usual, that means I didn't have time to produce my usual dose of not-so-Respectful Insolence. That doesn't mean I can't do some good, though, as yesterday the Bat…
October 13, 2011
I had a really busy grant writing day today, and my brain is fried. What that means is that, even though there are some things that I could write about that would be really cool (as in studies), I'm just too tired to do it as I write this. So, as I settle down to my nightly ritual, I wondered what…
October 11, 2011
Remember SaneVax?
Before I encountered SaneVax, I hadn't realized that anti-vaccine groups specialized, at least not to this degree. Oh, sure, I remember that Generation Rescue used to specialize in fear mongering about mercury in vaccines, at least before it changed its tune to "too many, too soon…
October 10, 2011
After having been saddened (and distracted, at least from a blog standpoint) by the death of Steve Jobs for the last few days, I think it's time to get back to the normal sorts of stuff I blog about. Not that discussing medical issues related to celebrities in the news isn't one of the normal sorts…
October 9, 2011
I debated a while about whether I should take this particular post on. It's not because there isn't a lot of fodder there deserving of that special form of not-so-Respectful Insolence that only Orac, in his usual inimitable fashion, can provide. There most definitely is. The problem, as is…
October 6, 2011
It's been a mere two days since Steve Jobs died. Although it hasn't yet been revealed what his specific cause of death was, it's a good bet that Jobs' death was due to a recurrence of his pancreatic cancer, first diagnosed in 2003, for which he underwent surgery in 2004 and ultimately a liver…
October 6, 2011
Another day, another grant. Well, not exactly. We have a visiting professor in town, and I have to give a talk at our department research retreat today. Between going out to dinner, working on the talk, and working on the grant, another day has passed without new Insolence. Bummer. But that…
October 5, 2011
After a near all-nighter working on a grant and another day and night to try to get a talk together that I have to give tomorrow, somehow Insolence, Respectful or not-so-Respectful, fell by the wayside, at least for today. Nothing like two hours' sleep followed by a full day of work. It's a good…
October 4, 2011
He's ba-ack.
Has it really only been two weeks? A mere two weeks since everybody's favorite advocate of The One Quackery to Rule Them All promised the woo-friendly readers of the "health" section of that wretched hive of scum and quackery, The Huffington Post that he would "provide further specific…
