Category: Clinical Trials

Dr. Vinay Prasad Said He Would Deliver New COVID Vaccine RCTs. He Failed and Should STFU.

It turns out that Tweeting about RCTs 100+ times is a lot easier than delivering even a single RCT.

/ April 5, 2026
Several red apples spill from a burlap sack next to jars of apple cider on an outdoor table, with a blurred green background.

Implausible Apple Cider Vinegar Weight Loss Study Retracted

When a trial has results that defy basic biology, it's reasonable to be skeptical.

/ February 26, 2026
Tuskegee syphiliis experiment

Every accusation is a confession (or a statement of intent): MAHA’s new Tuskegee experiment

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s CDC just funneled a $1.6 million dollar grant to researchers to carry out an unethical and scientifically unjustified randomized clinical trial of the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine in Guinea-Bissau. With MAHA, it's Tuskegee all over again.

/ December 22, 2025
McCullough Foundation nonsense

Antivaxxer Steve Kirsch unknowingly identifies the fatal flaw of an antivax “report” from the McCullough Foundation

Hilariously and without realizing it, antivaxxer Steve Kirsch nailed the essence of why a recent antivax "report" by the McCullough Foundation is nonsense. It's basically a very old tactic for misrepresenting science repackaged for "new school" antivaxxers.

/ November 10, 2025
Two panels show how PD-L1 on tumor cells binds to PD-1 on T cells to block immune response, and how anti-PD-L1 or anti-PD-1 drugs block this interaction, allowing T cells to kill tumor cells.

The opposite of “turbo cancer”: COVID-19 vaccines sensitize cancer to immunotherapy

A new preliminary study published in Nature suggests that COVID-19 vaccines might actually boost the immune system to make immunotherapy more effective. If confirmed in followup studies, this result suggests that the vaccines do the opposite of causing "turbo cancer."

/ October 27, 2025
Illustration of a shark behind a laptop displaying a bar chart, a clipboard with a medical symbol, a pill bottle, and scattered pills, symbolizing threats or dangers in healthcare or medicine.

The Problem with Predatory Journals

The World Wide Web has proven to be a transformative communication technology (we are using it right now). At the same time there have been some rather negative unforeseen consequences. Significantly lowering the threshold for establishing a communications outlet has democratized content creation and allows users unprecedented access to information from around the world. But it has also lowered the threshold for...

/ September 3, 2025
A close-up of a mosquito with a swollen red abdomen feeding on human skin, set against a vibrant green background.
Vinay Prasad, MD, MPH

COVID-19 contrarian Dr. Vinay Prasad meets real world responsibility

Dr. Vinay Prasad parlayed his COVID-19 contrarianism into a high-ranking position in the FDA. Now he's facing real world responsibility, and knives are out for him. Can he survive?

/ July 28, 2025
A hand draws a rising graph with a question mark in a notebook labeled "RESEARCH" on a cluttered desk with charts, a calculator, crumpled papers, coffee, a magnifying glass, and a "REFERENCE" card.

Standards in Behavioral Science

How can we decrease the amount of shoddy science and improve the rigor of research in the behavioral sciences?

/ July 2, 2025
Mehmet Oz, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Marty Makary, Jay Bhattacharya, Vinay Prasad

Marty Makary and Vinay Prasad embrace a “more fluid concept of evidence” at the FDA

Last Thursday during a roundtable on stem cell therapies, new FDA Commissioner Marty Makary referred to EBM levels of evidence as an artificial and dogmatic construct. Apparently Dr. David Katz's "more fluid concept of evidence" now reigns at the FDA—selectively.

/ June 9, 2025