Category: Clinical Trials

Fenbendazole is fast becoming the laetrile of the 2020s

Antivaxxers who "repurposed" deworming drugs like ivermectin and fenbendazole are peddling cancer "miracle cure" testimonials that remind me of laetrile and Stanislaw Burzynski. Truly, everything old is new again.

/ March 4, 2024

Adios Aduhelm

The controversial and never-proven-effective drug to treat Alzheimer's disease, aducanumab (Aduhelm) has been discontinued.

/ February 15, 2024
Macular degeneration

Pegcetacoplan (Syfovre™) for macular degeneration: an update

SBM's guest contributor and ophthalmologist, Dr. David Weinberg, provides an update on the phase 3 trials of pegcetacoplan for macular degeneration. The results are still disappointing.

/ January 11, 2024
EBM hierarchy

2023: The year that the evidence-based medicine (EBM) paradigm was weaponized against vaccines and public health

Evidence-based medicine (EBM) has been a very useful paradigm for assessing evidence in medicine. However, like any other framework, it can be misused, particularly when fundamentalist EBM methodolatry leads to its inappropriate application to questions for which it is ill-suited, a misuse that has been weaponized against public health during the pandemic.

/ January 1, 2024

Make Acupuncture Great Again

Calling a losing study a win. Making acupuncture great again.

/ December 19, 2023

Yet Another Alzheimer’s Drug

A third drug either FDA approved or showing clinical benefit for Alzheimer's disease confirms that the world of AD treatment has changed forever.

/ July 19, 2023

The effects of vitamin D supplementation on major cardiac events

A large randomized controlled trial of vitamin D supplementation generates good data to show there is likely no benefit.

/ July 6, 2023
RFK Jr. no saline placebo

RFK Jr. resurrects an old antivax half-truth about “saline placebos” in randomized controlled trials of vaccines

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has resurrected the antivax claim that the childhood vaccine schedule has never been tested in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with a saline placebo controls (and therefore the vaccine schedule is unsafe). This is an old and deceptive antivax half-truth that ignores both what constitutes a scientifically valid placebo and the ethical requirements for RCTs.

/ July 3, 2023

Courage

If I were King of the Vaccines. Some thoughts on influenza vaccine, hospitalization, death and courage.

/ June 20, 2023

Pegcetacoplan, a new treatment for macular degeneration

FDA approves a new treatment for macular degeneration: the good, the bad, and the disappointing.

/ June 6, 2023