University of the Sciences in Philadelphia Justification for Scientific Honor of Homeopathic Leader, John A. Borneman, III
To update readers, I posted last week that my alma mater was to offer a Doctor(ate) of Science degree at our Founders’ Day celebration to Mr. John A. Borneman, III, pharmacist graduate (1952), founder of the Board Member, Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia Convention of the United States, Southeastern, PA, and Chairman, Standard Homeopathic Company, Bryn Mawr, PA The university, known prior to 1998 as...
Amish Home Burn Treatment: B&W Salve and Burdock Leaves
People in the Amish community have been using “The New Concept in Treating Burns” and their experience is recounted in a little booklet by that title. It is a compilation of articles, testimonials, and letters to the editor of a monthly newspaper Plain Interests, published in Millersburg PA. The treatment, involving B&W ointment and dressings of scalded burdock leaves, was developed by...
Keeping ’em alive
One of the frequent complaints I hear about science-based medicine is that it is dangerous. Of course, it’s true—so is riding in a train, but it sure beats walking. And that’s the danger of this particular fallacy—yes, medicine is a sharp tool, but it’s also an effective tool, so we must use it properly. And this is where the tools of evidence-...
Since when did an apologist for the antivaccination movement, Dr. Jay Gordon, become an “expert” in vaccine law?
I am an alumnus of the University of Michigan twice over. I completed a B.S. in Chemistry with Honors there in 1984 and then I stayed on to do obtain my M.D. in 1988. I look back very fondly on those eight years spent in Ann Arbor, as several of my longtime friendships were forged or solidified during those years. Consequently, I...
Just in case anyone’s interested…
…I’m actually on Facebook. So are Val Jones , David Kroll, Peter Lipson, and Steve Novella. In any case, feel free to check it out and, if you’re interested, leave a note on my wall, that of my co-bloggers, or send us a friend request. Being somewhat new at this whole Facebook thing, I note with some amusement that, in a moment...
Yes We Can! We Can Abolish the NCCAM! Part II
Pseudoscience and Dishonesty, continued: “Reliable Information”? In the previous post, we examined misrepresentations by the late National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) Director Stephen Straus and Margaret Chesney, written in 2006 as a rebuttal to a critical article by Donald Marcus and Arthur Grollman in Science magazine. Here, we continue. According to Straus and Chesney: Before the establishment of NCCAM,...
Reality Deniers
“You have an irrational belief in rational thought.” ~Dr David Scholes, directed towards me. “Humankind cannot bear very much reality.” ~T.S. Eliot I just finished the book Mathematical Cranks by Underwood Dudley, part of a trifecta of skeptical mathematics books. Doctor Dudley is a professor of mathematics at Depau University and a connoisseur of cranks with a mathematical bent. What is a...
The Many Faces Of Snake Oil
It is my unhappy duty to reveal yet another depressing example of dishonest gain in medicine. This time, however, patients were not the only victims. Many healthcare professionals, including physicians, were prey to what has been called “an intellectual property ponzi scheme.” In a press release dated January 28, 2009, the HealthCentral Network announced the acquisition of a company called Wellsphere from...
More Data on Vaccine Safety Amid New Outbreaks
The more recent issue of the Journal Pediatrics contains two article providing further evidence for the safety of vaccines and is published amid news reports of recent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases in those who chose not to vaccinate over unwarranted fears. This highlights the need to continue our PR battle against the antivaccinationist movement that seeks to spread pseudoscientific fears about vaccine...
Psychiatry-Bashing
Psychiatry is arguably the least science-based of the medical specialties. Because of that, it comes in for a lot of criticism. Some of the criticism is justified, but too many critics make the mistake of dismissing even the possibility that psychiatry could be scientific, throwing the baby out with the bathwater.