oracknows

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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

June 16, 2009
Here we go again. You may have noticed that I've been laying off that repository of quackery, autism pseudoscience, and anti-vaccine nonsense, The Huffington Post. I assure you, it's not because things have gotten much better there. Oh, sure, occasionally someone will try to post something…
June 15, 2009
On Friday, I expressed my irritation at the misunderstanding of science by NEWSWEEK's science columnist Sharon Begley, in which she opines that it is those nasty basic scientists who insist on learning new science and new physiological mechanisms of disease that are devaluing translational and…
June 14, 2009
Last month, a frequent topic of this blog was the case of Daniel Hauser, the 13-year-old boy from Minnesota with Hodgkin's lymphoma who made the national news for his refusal (and his mother's support of that refusal) to undergo a second round of chemotherapy. Instead, he wanted to pursue "natural…
June 14, 2009
Don't forget, everyone: The Skeptics' Circle is fast approaching. It's due to appear at The Unincredible Hallq on Thursday, June 18. Don't forget to get your submissions to Chris here before it's too late. Guidelines are here.
June 14, 2009
I bet you didn't know this (maybe because of homeopathic publicity), but today is the first day of Homeopathy Awareness Week, which runs from June 14 to 21. It turns out that I'm torn over whether to mention or do much about this. On the one hand, publicizing the magical, mystical thinking that is…
June 13, 2009
What should a doctor recommend for a 90 year old man with pancreatic cancer and liver metastases? Palliative care? Hospice? Those would seem to be the most reasonable options. If I were that 90 year old man, that's what I'd recommend. Unfortunately, I know from experience that that is all too often…
June 12, 2009
I was very happy with NEWSWEEK recently, specifically because of its lengthy expose of Oprah Winfrey and her promotion of pseudoscience, mysticism, and quackery on her talk show. However, I haven't always been that thrilled with NEWSWEEK's coverage of medicine and science. For example, NEWSWEEK's…
June 11, 2009
I know I've been very hard on Oprah Winfrey the last couple of weeks, taking her to task for her promotion on her show of medicine that is at best dubious and at worst quackery, as promoted by frequent guests like Suzanne Somers, Dr. Christiane Northrup, and the queen of the anti-vaccine movement,…
June 10, 2009
I never thought I'd see it, but I have. After an a decent article on the infiltration of quackademic medicine into American medical centers and a very good article on cancer quackery, Marilyn Marchione of the AP has done it again: AP IMPACT: $2.5B spent, no alternative med cures It almost seems as…
June 10, 2009
One of the common topics I discuss on this blog is Holocaust denial. Indeed, I've been opposing Holocaust denial on various online forums for ten years now. I've castigated David Irving, mocked Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his worldwide Holocaust denial conference, and made frequent comments about how…
June 10, 2009
"Empowerment." What a grand word! After all, who doesn't want to be "empowered"? Certainly not me. Perhaps that's the reason why it's become the new buzzword in a movement known as "patient-centered" care. Old fart that I am, I'm a bit puzzled by exactly what that term means. After all, I've always…
June 9, 2009
Yesterday, I marveled at an article that appeared on the Associated Press new feed that basically said a lot of things about the infiltration of quackademic medicine into academic medical centers, how so-called "complementary and alternative medicine" 9CAM) is finding its way into the mainstream…
June 8, 2009
Vaccines have saved more lives and prevented more suffering than any medical invention ever conceived by humans. However, to be most effective, a large enough fraction of the population to produce herd immunity needs to be immunized. When the herd immunity threshold is reached, then the chances of…
June 8, 2009
Here we go again. As regular readers know, I've lamented long and loud the infiltration of unscientific "complementary and alternative medicine" (CAM, or what Dr. RW dubbed "quackademic medicine, a term I very much like) into medical school curricula, academic medical centers, and postgraduate…
June 7, 2009
I'm busy working on a talk today, but there is a tidbit that lends itself to a brief (and hopefully amusing and educational) Sunday exercise. It comes, not surprisingly, from the anti-vaccine blog Age of Autism. It doesn't actually have anything to do with vaccines per se, but it is a perfect…
June 6, 2009
Dr. Jay is back. You remember Dr. Jay (namely Dr. Jay "I'm not anti-vaccine but I give vaccines only 'reluctantly' and am convinced that they cause autism" Gordon), pediatrician to Evan, Jenny McCarthy's son and frequent apologist for the antivaccine movement in the media. Specifically, he was most…
June 5, 2009
SETTING: A NONDESCRIPT CLINIC IN AUSTIN, TEXAS TIME: AFTER DARK It had been a long, hard day at the clinic. The man trudged to the back of the building and plopped himself down on a large, cushy leather office chair, causing it to spin around. He was fiftyish, but still boyish in appearance,…
June 4, 2009
Skeptics, unfortunately, have an image problem. The woo-loving crowd thinks we're all stodgy and buzz-killing, but we like to party just as much as anyone else. Indeed, the latest Meeting of the Skeptics' Circle is proof positive, as our host Cheshire hosts a Skeptic Party. Next up is the…
June 4, 2009
Back in May many of us in the skeptical blogosphere were alarmed to learn of what British law blogger Jack of Kent termed "an astonishingly illiberal ruling" by Sir David Eady against science writer Simon Singh. Eady was the judge presiding over another bit of legal thuggery by practitioners…
June 4, 2009
I've warned time and time again what the price will be if the Jenny McCarthy and her fellow arrogantly ignorant band of vaccine "skeptics" continue to get more and more traction. So have many others. It is true that, for the moment, vaccination rates overall remain high in the U.S., but there are…
June 3, 2009
What should a drug company do if it spends millions of dollars on a compound and it doesn't do anything? Easy: (Click on the panel to see the whole cartoon.) In fact, I'm surprised more pharmaceutical companies don't do this...
June 3, 2009
Yesterday, I wrote a post about what fellow ScienceBlogger Isis would term "hot, hot science." As much as I love science like that, writing such posts is a lot of work and takes considerably longer than my run-of-the-mill bit of insolent brilliance. Often, after writing an analysis of a peer-…
June 2, 2009
Three years ago, I wrote about what I considered to be a fascinating and promising approach to understanding tumor biology. This method involved understanding that tumors are in general made up of a heterogeneous collection of cells. Using this knowledge, it is possible to apply evolutionary…
June 1, 2009
These days, I don't often participate in mass bloggings about various topics, at least not as much as I used to. I can't say if it's laziness or being jaded after having blogged on nearly a daily basis for over four years now, or an ornery tendency to want to go my own way these days. Whatever the…
June 1, 2009
Last week I wrote a bit about what I've been tempted to call Oprah's War on Science but settled for the title of a documentary called The Oprah Effect. The reason, as I have mentioned before, is that arguably there is no single person who does more to promote pseudoscientific and dubious health…
May 31, 2009
Want to know how Jenny McCarthy, J.B. Handley, other anti-vaccine advocates, creationists, quacks, 9/11 Truthers, and cranks and pseudoscientists of all stripes manage to be heard when they have no science, evidence, reason, logic, or facts on their side? Sadly, The Onion knows: Oh, No! It's Making…
May 31, 2009
I've noticed that a hilariously literal-minded parody of that 1980s chestnut "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler has been making the rounds in the blogsophere. I was suitably amused, but I also found this new tidbit amusing. I haven't seen the latest Terminator movie yet, but I've been a…
May 30, 2009
One reason I (and most people involved in cancer research) don't like the frequently used term "cure for cancer." The reason is simple. Embedded within this term is the assumption that cancer is just one disease, when it is most definitely not. Rather, it is many diseases affecting many organs,…
May 29, 2009
I've been a bit remiss in not mentioning that everybody's favorite blog carnival (well, at least my favorite blog carnival), the Skeptics' Circle, is fast approaching. This time around, it'll be hosted by Cheshire, who has helpfully provided a reminder with contact information. It'll be here on…
May 29, 2009
I don't much like Oprah Winfrey. I know, I know, it's a huge surprise to anyone who reads this blog, but there you go. Over the last four years, I've had numerous reasons to be unhappy with her, mainly because, as savvy a media celebrity and businesswoman as she is, she has about as close to no…