Science-based Medicine Feed

I just watched the new Netflix series, Apple Cider Vinegar, which tells the story of Belle Gibson, an Australian woman who launched a wellness business based largely on the false claim that she had survived “terminal brain cancer”. It is worth a watch, and overall I feel the writers (this is a fictionalized version, not a documentary) captured the industry of fake […]

Pondering the future of a few infections. As to the image, consider it a metaphor of before and after where Jesus is a stand in for science or public health or whatever you want him to be. Except a promoter of peace and helping the poor. Not in 2025 anyway. See https://www.bu.edu/sequitur/2016/04/29/handler-ecce/ for more.

The nightmare has come true. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been confirmed as HHS Secretary and didn't wait long to start dismantling federal science and health programs. The White House even formed a "MAHA commission" to draw up a battle plan.

Although many doctors who spread COVID misinformation act as if its in poor taste to bring it up today, we don't need their permission to remember.

$160 million is a lot of money, especially when you consider its not just money. It's lost dreams, careers, and discoveries.

Electrolyte drinks are very popular - but are they necessary?

It’s always good (and frustratingly rare) to see the mainstream media get it right when it comes to pseudoscience in medicine. Too often the narrative is – scientists are baffled at this alternative “one easy trick” to improve your health. Most mainstream articles on pseudoscience in medicine frame their reporting around a positive anecdote, and at best throw in some token skepticism […]

When used responsibly botulinum toxin is very safe, but patients should be especially vigilant about cosmetic treatments done outside a medical setting.

Friday, the Trump administration slashed indirect costs associated with NIH grants. What does this mean, and why could it be so disastrous for biomedical research?

As Lysenkoism 2.0 looms, those of us who have warning about this for years are not to blame for the problems we write about, and we have nothing to apologize for.

When it comes to vaccines: “If it exists we resist.” 

Documentaries can be powerful. They can use the mature art-form of cinema in order to convey a specific narrative. The viewer can get drawn into that narrative, unaware they are being exposed to a very one-sided or limited take on a complex topic. I recently, for example, participated in a fun review of the Earthing Movie which was basically propaganda for the […]

If confirmed, Kennedy will keep trashing science and will continue exploiting the trashed science he helps create for his own benefit.

When you look at Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" movement, there is a notable echo of an idea once promoted by Oprah Winfrey, namely The Secret, combined with antivax and alt-med tropes.

Defenders of Dr. Vinay Prasad fake a concern about tone to intimidate critics and create a safe space for his misinformation.

Please recognize that you are now influencing the national public health policy and understand that being in authority is a very different job than simply questioning authority

I lived and worked through the transition in medicine from completely paper-based documentation to completely digital-based – using an electronic medical record (EMR). There is no question, the EMR system is much better. Access to information, communication, ordering tests, tracking results, and documenting visits are all much easier with an EMR. But modern doctors and other health care providers are not exactly […]

Shrug, move on and never admit you were wrong

Doctors who mourned the loss of a single speech or YouTube video are fine with the the mass censorship of public scientists.

Donald Trump has been sworn in, and his new administration has immediately turned its sites on the NIH. The danger to US biomedical research has never been more acute.