Deadly Indeed
There are sources of information I inclined to accept with minimal questioning. I do not have time to examine everything in excruciating detail, and like most people, use intellectual short cuts to get through the day. If it comes from Clinical Infectious Diseases or the NEJM, I am inclined to accept the conclusions without a great deal of analysis, especially for non-infectious...
Supreme Court Saves Nation’s Immunization Program
The Supreme Court of the United States made a ruling the other day that has profound implications for the health of millions of children. Since October 12, 2010, The Court has been quietly deliberating the case of Bruesewitz v. Wyeth, inc. The case centers on Russell and Robalee Bruesewitz’s allegation that their 18 year old daughter, Hannah, was irreversibly injured by a...
Dr. Oz, you’re not helping diabetics
Dr. Mehmet Oz is one of America’s most influential doctors. Just ask him. He has a TV show and everything. And in the past, much of his advice had been practical and mundane, the same advice you might hear from your own (perhaps less charismatic) physician. But lately, he’s been giving out frankly bizarre medical opinions. Not all of Oz’s recommendations are...
The Hidden Cancer Cure
Last week David Gorski wrote a excellent post about why we have not yet cured cancer. It turns out, cancer is a category of many individual diseases that are very challenging to treat. We have made steady progress, and many people with cancer can now be cured – but we have not discovered the one cure for all cancer. I personally am...
Don’t miss our fearless leader…
…Steve Novella, who will be featured as the guest on a live chat with Trine Tsouderos discussing alternative treatments for Alzheimer’s, ALS and other neurological conditions at noon CST. Be there, aloha.
Diet Supplements or Nutritional Supplements: A Ruse by Any Other Name is Still a Ruse
Nutritional and diet supplements aren't food, nor are they medicine, and they aren't regulated in a meaningful way. But they might be dangerous.
Naturopathy and science
Naturopathy has been a recurrent topic on this blog. The reasons should be obvious. Although homeopathy is the one woo to rule them all in the U.K. and much of Europe, here in the U.S. homeopathy is not nearly as big a deal. Arguably, some flavor of naturopathy is the second most prevalent “alternative medical system” here, after chiropractic of course, and...
Vaccination as “rape”: Meryl Dorey and the Australian Vaccination Network
The Australian anti-Vaccination Network (AVN) in Australia has not been having a good time of late. First, they were smacked down by the Health Care Complaints Commission. Following a 12 month investigation into the information provided on the AVN’s website, the HCCC issued a public warning stating the AVN “pose(s) a risk to public health and safety”. The AVN was then investigated...
Critique of “Risk of Brain Tumors from Wireless Phone Use”
Following my recent critique here of the book Disconnect by Devra Davis, about the purported dangers of cell phones to health, David Gorski asked me to comment on a recently published “review article” on the same subject. The article is entitled “Risk of Brain Tumors from Wireless Phone Use” by Dubey et al [1] published in the J. Comput Assist Tomography. At...
Are you sure you’re allergic to penicillin?
As a pharmacist, when I dispense medication, it’s my responsibility to ensure that the medication is safe and appropriate for the patient. There are numerous checks we go through including verifying the dose, ensuring there are no interactions with other drugs, and verifying the patient has no history of allergy to the product prescribed. Asking about allergies is a mandatory question for...