Recombinant Human Antithrombin – Milking Nanny Goats for Big Bucks

Antithrombin deficiency is a hereditary disease causing low levels or defects of antithrombin, a blood protein required for controlling clot formation. Patients are at risk of blood clots, organ damage, and death. They usually have to take oral anticoagulant drugs like warfarin for life. During high-risk procedures like surgery or childbirth, oral anticoagulants must be discontinued to minimize the chance of bleeding...

/ November 24, 2009

Medical Marijuana: are we ready?

Cannabis has been used recreationally and medically for centuries. Despite long experience, relatively little is known about the risks and benefits of its use as a medication. A considerable portion of our ignorance can be attributed to government discouragement of cannabis research. Searching the NIH website brings up many studies of both cannabis abuse and cannabis as a therapeutic agent, but most...

/ November 23, 2009

The autism “biomed” movement: Uncontrolled and unethical experimentation on autistic children

Ever since I first discovered the anti-vaccine movement, first on Usenet, specifically on a Usenet newsgroup devoted to discussing alternative medicine (misc.health.alternative, or m.h.a. for short) and then later on web and on blogs, there have been two things that have horrified me. First, there are the claims that children suffer all sorts of harm from vaccines, be it being made autistic...

/ November 23, 2009

“Move along. Nothing to see Here”- F. Drebin

I am, I think, the slowest writer in the  SBM stable.  I start each entry about 10 days before it is due, and work diligently on it through the week.  As such, I run the risk that events may make my work pointless. Case in point.  I have been slogging away at this entry for the last week and had the final...

/ November 20, 2009

What’s in the water at waterbirth?

Water birth is dangerous, unnatural, has no benefits, and unlikely, but serious risks. So of course someone is selling it.

/ November 19, 2009

The USPSTF recommendations for breast cancer screening: Not the final word

Preface: On issues such as this, I think it’s always good for me to emphasize my disclaimer, in particular: Dr. Gorski must emphasize that the opinions expressed in his posts on Science-Based Medicine are his and his alone and that all writing for this blog is done on his own time and not in any capacity representing his place of employment. His...

/ November 18, 2009

Evidence in Medicine: Correlation and Causation

There are two general approaches to subverting science-based medicine (SBM): anti-science and pseudoscience. Anti-scientific approaches are any that seek to undermine science as the determinant of the standard of care, often overtly advocating for spiritual or subjectively-based standards. Some attack the validity of science itself, usually with post-modernist philosophy. Pseudoscientific proponents, on the other hand, praise science, they just do it wrong....

/ November 18, 2009

Environmental Medicine – Not Your Average Specialty

I recently received an announcement for a conference on “Inflammation and Autoimmunity.” The topic sounded interesting, but as I read further I saw some red flags: A gathering of healthcare leaders with a shared vision. This event focuses on the the [sic] true causes and effects of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, including new treatments available for this rapidly emerging crisis. Both of...

/ November 17, 2009

H1N1 Pandemic Update

In a special episode of the Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe podcast, I host a discussion with David Gorski, Mark Crislip, and Joe Albietz about the flu, the H1N1 “swine” flu pandemic, and the controversies surrounding the flu vaccine. You can download or stream the episode here. You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other popular aggregators.

/ November 16, 2009

Cancer prevention: The forgotten stepchild of cancer research?

The New York Times has been periodically running a series about the “40 years’ war” on cancer, with most articles by Gina Kolata. I’ve touched on this series before, liking some parts of it, while others not so much. In particular, I criticized an article one article that I thought to be so misguided about how the NIH grant system leads researchers...

/ November 16, 2009