Gyrostim and the Infrastructure of Quackery
It’s frustrating to read yet another story of the process of developing a potential new medical treatment derailed by the current infrastructure of quackery that we have in this and other countries. This is one of the unmeasurable harms that results when pseudoscience is given regulatory, academic, and professional legitimacy. The press then celebrates the nonsense that results. The basic story is...
New Developments in Acupuncture: Turtles and Motion-Style Treatments
Note: Lest you think that SBM is becoming “turtles all the way down,” let me apologize for the duplication and explain that I had already written this right before I read Mark Crislip’s Turtle Agony article on Friday. My focus is different, and turtles were only a small part of my article, so I decided to leave the turtles in....
Stanislaw Burzynski: A deceptive propaganda movie versus an upcoming news report
Well, I’ve finally seen it, and it was even worse than I had feared. After having heard of Eric Merola’s plan to make a sequel to his 2010 propaganda “documentary” about Stanislaw Burzynski, Burzynski The Movie: Cancer Is Serious Business, which I labeled a bad movie, bad medicine, and bad PR, I’ve finally actually seen the finished product, such as it is....
People Encouraging Turtle Agony*: Animal Acupuncture
Lest anyone think I am a heartless bastard, I would like it to be known that I do not like to see any creature suffer or die. I am the kind of person who, when finding a spider in the house, is likely to catch it and toss it outside. I always think, “I can’t squish the end result of 6 billion...
Naturopathic organ repositioning coming soon to Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania legislators need to know only one thing about House Bill 612 (licensure of naturopathic “doctors”) to vote against it: As a means of “naturopathic musculoskeletal therapy” the bill would allow naturopaths to “reposition body tissues and organs.” This is impossible. You cannot “reposition” tissues and organs of the human body by external manipulation. Why does this tell us everything we need...
Patient Participation in Decision-Making
“Patient-Centered” decision-making is a new buzz-word in medicine. It is a metaphor for a general approach to care that puts the patient’s experience and needs at the center, as opposed to the needs of the physician or the system. While this is an effective marketing term, and a useful principle as far as it goes, as a guide to medical practice it...
Coconut Oil
Is coconut oil a miracle food, or a health hazard? Likely neither.
“Alternative Medicine: Sense and Nonsense” Upcoming Lecture by Dr. Paul Offit
For those of you in the NYC/LI area: An Invitation from the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory for a Free Public Lecture! Please join us for the 2013 Lorraine Grace lectureship on societal issues of biomedical research: Alternative Medicine: Sense and Nonsense Saturday, June 8, 2013 3:00pm Grace Auditorium One Bungtown Road Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724 Americans love alternative medicine, and they are...
A brief note on killing cancer cells in a dish
I am taking the Memorial Day holiday off. I will return next week (or even earlier if something comes up that I can’t resist blogging about). In the meantime, here’s a general principle that needs to be remembered in cancer research: I would also add to that list: So does bleach. So does acid. So does alkali. So does pouring the media...
A closer look at vitamin injections
Vitamins are magic. Especially when they’re injected. Roll up the sleeve, find a vein, insert a needle and watch that colourful concoction flow directly into the bloodstream. It may sound somewhat illicit, but that person infusing it is wearing a white coat, and you’re sitting in a chic clinic. There must be something to it, right? Intravenous vitamin injections are popular with...