Category: Clinical Trials

Slashers

The “12% efficacy” myth from the “Pfizer data dump”: The latest slasher stat about COVID-19 vaccines

Last week, a claim that Pfizer's own documents demonstrate that the efficacy of its COVID-19 vaccine was only 12% (not the 95% reported) went viral. This is a slasher stat, so-named because it is not new and, like the killers in slasher movie series, even when it appears to be dead it always appears in another installment of the misinformation franchise to...

/ May 9, 2022

Pain Reprocessing Therapy

In a trial of Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), 2/3 of patients with chronic low back pain reported significant pain relief with psychotherapy that helped them reconceptualize the pain as nondangerous. Impressive if true, but flaws in research design make the study untrustworthy.

/ May 3, 2022
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

How to design high quality acupuncture trials: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Acupuncture advocates have published guidelines for "rigorous" acupuncture randomized controlled trials. While that sounds good on the surface, the devil is in the details, which reveal that the dedication to scientific rigor is perhaps not so strong.

/ April 11, 2022
Ivermectin repurposing

Science-based medicine isn’t just for CAM. The case of ivermectin shows that it never was.

Another large randomized controlled trial for ivermectin showed no efficacy for the early treatment of COVID-19. This is not a surprise to science-based medicine advocates. Here's why the story of ivermectin shows that SBM isn't just for "complementary and alternative medicine" (CAM) —and never was.

/ April 4, 2022

State Attorneys General pursue consumer protection law claims against stem cell clinics

State Attorneys General are pursuing stem cell clinics offering unproven therapies and engaging in fake clinical trials using state consumer protection and false advertising laws, seeking monetary penalties and injunctive relief. Until there is rational, comprehensive stem cell regulation, these actions can help fill the regulatory gap.

/ March 24, 2022

Allergy Release Technique

A dubious intervention for food allergies follows a typical pattern for such treatments.

/ March 23, 2022
Ivermectin repurposing

Ivermectin: The acupuncture of COVID-19 treatments

As high-quality evidence increasingly and resoundingly shows that ivermectin does not work against COVID-19, advocates are doing what acupuncture advocates do: Turning to lower quality "positive" studies to claim incorrectly that their favorite ineffective treatment actually does "work".

/ March 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

The Stem Cell Ophthalmology Treatment Study

In this study we have 300 patients with 47 different diseases subject to 7 experimental treatments among 3 treatment groups and no control group. What could possibly go right?

/ December 27, 2021

Poor Science Reporting and Premature Enthusiasm

Press releases often outpace the data. Here are some examples of over-enthusiastic reporting on extremely preliminary research.

/ December 21, 2021