Results for: gonzalez

Evidence-Based Medicine, Human Studies Ethics, and the ‘Gonzalez Regimen’: a Disappointing Editorial in the Journal of Clinical Oncology Part 2

NB: If you haven’t yet read Part 1 of this blog, please do so now; Part 2 will not summarize it. … At the end of Part 1, I wrote: We do not need formal statistics or a new, randomized trial with a larger sample size to justify dismissing the Gonzalez regimen. In his editorial for the JCO, Mark Levine made a...

/ September 20, 2010

Evidence-Based Medicine, Human Studies Ethics, and the ‘Gonzalez Regimen’: a Disappointing Editorial in the Journal of Clinical Oncology Part 1

Background: the distinction between EBM and SBM An important theme on the Science-Based Medicine blog, and the very reason for its name, has been its emphasis on examining all the evidence—not merely the results of clinical trials—for various claims, particularly for those that are implausible. We’ve discussed the distinction between Science-Based Medicine (SBM) and the more limited Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) several times,...

/ September 17, 2010

“Gonzalez Regimen” for Cancer of the Pancreas: Even Worse than We Thought (Part II: Loose Ends)

Last week I discussed the dismal results of the “Gonzalez Trial” for cancer of the pancreas,* as reported in an article recently posted on the website of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. I promised that this week I’d discuss “troubling information, both stated and unstated [in the report],” and also some ethical issues. More has come to light in the past few...

/ September 20, 2009

“Gonzalez Regimen” for Cancer of the Pancreas: Even Worse than We Thought (Part I: Results)

Review One of the more bizarre and unpleasant “CAM” claims, but one taken very seriously at the NIH, at Columbia University, and on Capitol Hill, is the cancer “detoxification” regimen advocated by Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez: Patients receive pancreatic enzymes orally every 4 hours and at meals daily on days 1-16, followed by 5 days of rest. Patients receive magnesium citrate and Papaya...

/ September 11, 2009

The “Gonzalez Trial” for Pancreatic Cancer: Outcome Revealed

A Review Dr. Lipson’s “detoxification” post on Thanksgiving Day and Dr. Gorski’s recent post about “Gerson Therapy” were timely, because last weekend I noticed something that I should have noticed months ago. Before delivering the punch line, let me remind you, Dear Reader, of the nature of the topic. The regimen advocated by Nicholas Gonzalez is a variation of a “detoxification” treatment for cancer that has...

/ November 28, 2008

Coffee enemas: This TikTok trend can be deadly

There's no evidence flushing coffee into your rectum is safe or effective, despite what you may see on TikTok.

/ November 9, 2023
Dr. Rashid Buttar

When an antivax physician “dies suddenly”: The case of Dr. Rashid Buttar

Last month, Dr. Rashid Buttar, a prominent antivax "integrative medicine" practitioner, died suddenly. Because he hadn't been vaccinated, antivaxxers struggled mightily to reconcile his death with their conspiracy theory about COVID-19 vaccines killing thousands "suddenly." It turns out, however, that that Dr. Buttar had not been a well man since 2016 and was as much a victim of quackery as his patients...

/ June 19, 2023
Acupuncture

ASCO endorses “integrative oncology” quackery for cancer pain

Last week, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Society for Integrative Oncology published guidelines for treating cancer pain. These guidelines endorsed quackery like reflexology and acupuncture. The infiltration of quackademic medicine continues apace in oncology.

/ November 21, 2022
Prescription Drugs

Department of Justice prioritizes prosecution of clinical trial fraud, but systemic reform is needed

The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced it is aggressively pursuing clinical trial fraud, where unethical players create fictional trial participants, steal the drugs under study, and fabricate results. But systemic reform of the clinical drug trial system is needed to halt those who endanger public safety with bogus trials.

/ January 13, 2022
Lab mice

Even in a pandemic, bait-and-switch acupuncture studies still get published in Nature

Last week, a study claiming to have identified a neurologic mechanism by which acupuncture reduces inflammation was published in Nature. It does no such thing. it's another bait-and-switch mouse study that likely would never have been published in such a high profile journal if it hadn't rebranded electrical stimulation as "electroacupuncture".

/ October 18, 2021