Tag: history

The Swan Song of a Chiropractic Heretic

After 41 years of private practice as a chiropractor and 60 years of writing books and articles, the age of 94 finds me rethinking my career, wondering if my contributions to the literature justify the path I took.

/ November 14, 2023
Do Not Comply

Dr. Vinay Prasad fully embraces the antivax message of “do not comply”

COVID-19 "contrarians" like Dr. Vinay Prasad have long complained about being labelled "antivaccine," which they view as unfair. Why, then, do they embrace antivax messages like "do not comply," even if they don't use the exact words?

/ September 11, 2023

The First Multiple Sclerosis Patient

Twenty years before Charcot described the nerve-destroying disease multiple sclerosis, an illegitimate British noble spent much of his adult life describing the disease and its effects.

/ August 28, 2020
Daylight Saving Time

The adverse health effects of the lunacy that is Daylight Saving Time

Daylight Saving Time has been around for over 100 years. Why does it still persist when there's little or no evidence that it does what it was intended to do (save energy) and growing evidence of adverse health effects related to the twice a year time change? That's a good question. It's time to get rid of this antiquated practice.

/ March 12, 2018

SBM Progress Report

Science-Based Medicine has been operating for a decade. While we have been successful by many measures, the challenges we face remain great. Here is a look at the mission of SBM, and a call for support to our readers.

/ November 29, 2017

Natural Medicine, Starvation, and Murder: The Story of Linda Hazzard

History is replete with doctors who practiced quackery. Here is the story of one such quack whose fasting therapy resulted in many deaths, a story that is so bizarre and horrific that it's hard to believe it really happened, but it did.

/ December 13, 2016

Why Science-Based Medicine Matters

The regular contributors at Science-Based Medicine (SBM) work diligently every week to explore the world of science-based medicine and the gauzy, nebulous netherworld of fantasy-based medicine. They shine light on the leading edge of medical science, dissect the nuances of mainstream care, expose the misconceptions and sometimes the frank deceptions of so-called alternative medicine. Launching SBM on January 1, 2008, sbmadmin (Steven...

/ June 25, 2016

Chemotherapy doesn’t work? Not so fast… (A lesson from history)

If there’s one medical treatment that proponents of “alternative medicine” love to hate, it’s chemotherapy. Rants against “poisoning” are a regular staple on “alternative health” websites, usually coupled with insinuations or outright accusations that the only reason oncologists administer chemotherapy is because of the “cancer industrial complex” in which big pharma profits massively from selling chemotherapeutic agents and oncologists and hospitals profit...

/ October 28, 2013

Quackery Then and Now

“The forces of graft and unrighteousness are peculiar to no country or clime, and they have their champions in the high places and the low. Until the people themselves are better educated concerning the danger and iniquity of quackery, they must be protected from the forces that prey. The popular understanding of these matters is becoming better every day, and, aided by...

/ June 6, 2012

Herbal Remedies, Street Drugs, and Pharmacology

David Kroll’s recent article on thunder god vine is a great example of what can be learned by using science to study plants identified by herbalists as therapeutic. The herbalists’ arsenal can be a rich source of potential knowledge. But Kroll’s article is also a reminder that blindly trusting herbalists’ recommendations for treatment can be risky. Herbal medicine has always fascinated me....

/ March 22, 2011