All posts by Harriet Hall

Harriet Hall, MD also known as The SkepDoc, is a retired family physician who writes about pseudoscience and questionable medical practices. She received her BA and MD from the University of Washington, did her internship in the Air Force (the second female ever to do so),  and was the first female graduate of the Air Force family practice residency at Eglin Air Force Base. During a long career as an Air Force physician, she held various positions from flight surgeon to DBMS (Director of Base Medical Services) and did everything from delivering babies to taking the controls of a B-52. She retired with the rank of Colonel.  In 2008 she published her memoirs, Women Aren't Supposed to Fly.

Skin pH: Salesmanship, Not Science

People are being encouraged to worry about the pH of their skin and to try to change it. These concerns and interventions are not supported by scientific evidence.

/ July 2, 2019

New Drug Is Effective for Post-Partum Depression, But There Are Drawbacks

A new drug promises to cure postpartum depression, but it is restricted and patients must be hospitalized for a 60-hour IV infusion.

/ June 25, 2019

Can A One-Minute Cure Really Heal Virtually All Diseases?

The author of this book claims to have found a one-minute cure that will heal virtually all diseases. The claim is ludicrous, and is not supported by any evidence.

/ June 18, 2019

Juice Plus+: Good Marketing, Not Good Science

Juice Plus+ is a multilevel marketing company selling fruits and vegetables that they have reduced to a powder and put into capsules. It's clever marketing using deceptive advertising. There is no scientific evidence that it benefits health.

/ June 11, 2019

Everlywell: At-Home Lab Tests That Don’t Make Sense

EverlyWell offers 34 at-home tests for everything from IgG tests for food sensitivities to a Sleep and Stress test. Most of them make no sense and are likely to mislead customers.

/ June 4, 2019

Treating Mental Illness with Nutrition: The Walsh Protocol

The Walsh Institute offers the Walsh protocol for the nutritional treatment of mental illness. This "orthomolecular psychiatry" is not supported by any clinical studies.

/ May 28, 2019

The Best Science from The New England Journal of Medicine

The editor-in-chief of The New England Journal of Medicine has selected a dozen articles published during his tenure that epitomize the best of science-based medicine.

/ May 21, 2019

SmartJane Test of Vaginal Health: Clever Marketing, Questionable Science

uBiome claims that its SmartJane test's proprietary technology empowers customers to assess their own vaginal health. The company is being investigated for fraudulent billing practices, and the rationale for the test makes no sense.

/ May 14, 2019

The Scientific Attitude, Not the Scientific Method, Is the Key

A philosopher of science argues that science is not characterized by a specific scientific method but by the scientific attitude. Scientists value empirical evidence and follow the evidence wherever it leads. They are open to changing their mind rather than stubbornly clinging to an ideological belief system.

/ May 7, 2019

Pseudoscience in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy

This new book addresses the neglected field of research on child and adolescent psychotherapy and does an excellent job of distinguishing treatments that have been proven to work from treatments that are based on pseudoscience.

/ April 30, 2019