Open-Access Peer Review: Increasing the Noise To Signal Ratio
Readers of Science Based Medicine are quite familiar with the distressingly common logical leap made by disgruntled healthcare consumers into alternative medicine. It goes something like this: I had a terrible experience with a doctor who [ignored/patronized/misdiagnosed] me and I also heard something horrible in the media about a pharmaceutical company’s misbehavior [hiding negative results/overstating efficacy/overcharging for medications], therefore alternative treatments [homeopathy/acupuncture/energy...
Fecal Transplants: Getting To The Bottom Of The Matter
Many Americans will be introducing more food than usual to their GI tracts on this Thanksgiving Day, and so I thought I’d provide you with a special gastroenterology-related post to complement the mood. If you have already eaten, I might suggest that you come back to this post on an empty stomach. I will be discussing the alternative medicine practice known as...
Canadian Justice: Breast-Fondling Chiropractor Faces “Interpersonal Skills Training”
There is something unexpectedly sinister about this news report from my former home town in Canada. Apparently, a local chiropractor has been using his “medical training” to excuse his sexual misconduct. Here’s the story from the Halifax Chronicle Herald: During a hearing in July, the woman said the chiropractor would frequently grip her around the ribs and hold tight, sometimes cupping her...
Bad Science: Four Things I Learned From Dr. Ben Goldacre
“You cannot reason people out of positions they didn’t reason themselves into.” — Ben Goldacre, MD Dr. Ben Goldacre is the author of the popular Guardian column, Bad Science. He has recently published a book by the same name. Bad Science received a very favorable review from the British Medical Journal and although I was tempted to write my own review for...
Wyeth vs. Levine: Should Drug Label Standards Be Determined By Juries?
It is with some degree of trepidation that I enter the fray on the Wyeth vs. Levine case. I’ve been watching the media frenzy about the lawsuit with interest – mostly because (for the first time in a while) I think that the pharmaceutical company is in the right on this one – and that most journalists (and even medical journal editors)...
Science Fiction Writing Contest – At Medgadget.com
Attention science fiction buffs: it’s time to put pen to paper (er… keys to keyboard) and create a fictional account of some aspect of the future of medicine. This is Medgadget’s third annual science fiction writing contest. You could win a Palm Tungsten E2 handheld with Epocrates loaded on it – and the glory that only this honor can bestow. Please go...
Knowledge Versus Expertise: The View From Consumer Land
“The internet, in democratizing knowledge, has led a lot of people to believe that it is also possible to democratize expertise.” – SBM Commenter, yeahsurewhatever I’ve spent the last few years of my life in Internet “Consumer Land,” doing what I can to bring accurate health information directly to patients. Of course, I have been surprised by the push-back, and the demand...
When Further Research Is NOT Warranted: The “Wisdom of Crowds” Fallacy
Most scientific research studies have at least one thing in common: the conclusion section ends with, “further research is warranted.” I’d say it’s about as common as the “talk to your doctor” disclaimer in TV ads for pharmaceutical products. And in a way, they both serve the same purpose. They’re a “CYA” move. What does “further research is warranted” mean in plain...
Disintegrating Integrative Medicine: Lessons From Baking
Suppose I were to bake you a cake and my ingredient list included the following: Eggs Milk Butter Sand Flour Baking Powder Vanilla Melamine Sugar Chocolate icing What is the problem with the ingredient list? It has integrated inedible and poisonous items into the very fine basic ingredients that make a good cake. This is the exact same problem that the medical...
A New Blog Is Born
Although I haven’t been with you long, dear readers of SBM, I have an important announcement to make. I have a brand spankin’ new blog: Getting Better With Dr. Val. I used to blog at “Dr. Val and the Voice of Reason” at Revolution Health – so essentially this is a URL change. You can read the press release here. If you’ve...