Science-Based Medicine

The past two months have been my first time working in the hospital, as a third-year medical student in my Internal Medicine clerkship. It’s been exciting not only to see how medicine works but to be a part of the action! It really is striking to see the dramatic increases in proficiency and confidence with each stage of the training. From junior student to acting intern to intern to resident to chief resident and eventually to attending, each year brings both more responsibility and more competence. Importantly, physicians-in-training also get very efficient in seeking out and communicating information. Just like SBM editors read widely and blog prolifically whereas I struggle to put together one post a month, experienced clinicians have responsibility for dozens of patients at a time whereas I feebly tag along with one or two each day. Watching my elders on the medical team, I feel excited about how much smarter and more effective I will become as I progress through my training.

Anyway, I want to share an interesting sight in my hospital last month. There were three 3-foot posters on tripods prominently displayed in the hospital lobby, in the cafeteria, and in other public places. The first one read: Continue Reading »

A recent study is being cited as support for homeopathy. For instance, the Homeopathy World Community website says

Luc Montagnier Foundation Proves Homeopathy Works.

Dana Ullman cites it in the comments to this blog

And I assume that you all have seen the new research by Nobel Prize-winning virologist Luc Montagnier that provides significant support to homeopathy. 

Nope. Sorry, guys. It doesn’t. In fact, its findings are inconsistent with homeopathic theory.

The study has nothing whatsoever to say about homeopathy. Its abstract concludes:

This opens the way to the development of highly sensitive detection system for chronic bacterial infections in human and animal diseases.

Homeopaths are grasping at straws when they cite this study. It involved dilution and agitation: that’s the only possible hint of anything homeopathic and it is nothing but a false analogy. Continue Reading »

We’ve often castigated the press and mainstream media for getting it so very, very wrong on the issue of vaccines and autism and its all-too-often credulous treatment of the anti-vaccine movement. That’s very important. However, it’s also equally important to recognize mainstream media outlets when they get it so very, very right. That’s why, with minimal fanfare, I’m simply going to refer you to an article in WIRED Magazine entitled An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All by Amy Wallace. I particularly like Wallace’s calling out some prominent anti-vaccine activists, such as Jenny McCarthy, Jim Carrey, Don Imus, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Bravo, Ms. Wallace. Bravo, WIRED.

Go. Read. While you’re at it, you might want to lend some tactical air support to the cause of science and reason in the comments section. As they always do, the anti-vaccine kooks have already descended.