Results for: publication bias

The p-hackers toolkit

P-hacking is a common and persistent problem in research, with impacts on the scientific literature, reporting, and practice in medicine. But what is it, really?

/ April 30, 2020

“Personalized” dietary recommendations based on DNA testing: Modern astrology

GenoPalate is a company that claims to give "personalized" dietary recommendations based on DNA testing. Unfortunately, what is provided by such companies is more akin to astrology than science.

/ March 2, 2020
James Lyons-Weiler and Del Bigtree discussing coronavirus

No, James Lyons-Weiler did not “break the coronavirus code”

Last week, a new conspiracy theory about the coronavirus outbreak by James Lyons-Weiler went viral (if you'll excuse the term) after antivax conspiracy theorist Del Bigtree interviewed him. Lyons-Weiler strongly implies that the strain of coronavirus behind the outbreak (2019-nCoV) has a SARS-like sequence that came from a laboratory working on a SARS vaccine. Fortunately, Dr. Gorski has the mad molecular biology...

/ February 10, 2020

You’ve done a detox. Now what?

What is the best thing to do after you've completed a detox or cleanse?

/ January 23, 2020
Acupuncture

More evidence that acupuncture doesn’t work for chronic pain

Acupuncture is a theatrical placebo whose real history has been retconned beyond recognition. A new systematic review of systematic reviews of acupuncture for chronic pain highlights that conclusion and catalogues the many weaknesses in the design of acupuncture clinical trials.

/ January 6, 2020

Maternal Fluoride and IQ – The Scientific Community Pushes Back

A follow-up on a questionable study of the impact on water fluoridation and IQ. Science marches on, and we're helping it out!

/ November 1, 2019

Shiva Ayyadurai: Antivaxxer for Senate

Did Shiva Ayyadurai invent e-mail? Should he represent the Republican Party? Read below to find out!

/ October 25, 2019

Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Injections: Lots of hype, no convincing evidence

Platelet-rich plasma injections are advertised as an expensive cure-all for sport injuries. The evidence, however, is consistently negative.

/ October 17, 2019
Ezekiel Stephan's parents

Deconstructing Justice Terry Clackson’s outrageous acquittal of David and Collet Stephans for the death of their son Ezekiel

On September 19, in a retrial ordered by the Supreme Court of Canada, Alberta Justice Terry Clackson issued a ruling acquitting David and Collet Stephan of failing to provide the necessities of life to their son Ezekiel, whose bacterial meningitis they had chosen to treat with quackery instead of medicine, leading to his death in 2012. The news reports showed that this...

/ September 30, 2019

A world-renowned placebo researcher asks, “Does placebo research boost pseudoscience?”

Professor Fabrizio Benedetti is the most famous and almost certainly also the most influential researcher investigating the physiology of placebo effects. In a recent commentary, he asks whether placebo research is fueling quackery, as quacks co-opt its results. The answer to that question is certainly yes. A better question is: How do supporters of science counter the placebo narrative promoted by quacks,...

/ September 23, 2019