Science-based Medicine Feed

I'm on vacation this week and decided to repost a 2018 article that I had written for my other blog (but never published on SBM) that's oddly relevant to the SBM post last week about that awful NYT acupuncture article. Meet the introduction of the "interstitium" in acupuncture, complete with a major Deepak Chopra connection!

That, and 4 other thoughts on the resignation of Dr. Marty Makary.

People need to know the past credibility of our medical leaders to accurately gauge their current credibility.

This makes the third time in just two weeks that a major mainstream or scientific outlet published credible nonsense about acupuncture, but I had to cover it after dozens of people e-mailed me about this recent article in the New York Times Magazine. It is ostensibly about the interstitium, but pivots to using this recent discovery to retcon an alleged explanation for how […]

In recent years, nutrition has become the focus of renewed attention in medical education. Advocates argue that physicians receive too little formal training about diet and that more comprehensive nutrition education is needed to address chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers. A greater focus on the “root causes of chronic diseases” is a mantra of the Make […]

PNAS recently published credulous nonsense about acupuncture so bad that I thought it couldn't be topped. "Hold my beer!" cried National Geographic, as it proceeded to top PNAS.

Anyone who truly values open and rational discussions about controversial subjects need to be cleared-eyed about where the threat to such dialogue is coming from.

There may be undisclosed ingredients in your hyaluronic acid supplement.

As easily predicted, declining measles vaccine rates in the US is leading directly to surging measles cases. In 2025 we saw the highest measles cases, 2288, since 1991, and in 2026 we are on track to exceed this number with 1814 confirmed cases so far (these are confirmed cases). The US is also not getting the worst of it, that would be […]

A Closer Look at a Viral Claim

Recently, I've noticed articles from outlets aligned with MAHA calling for the elimination of the FDA. It's all recycled "health freedom" revisionist history and ahistorical nonsense.

I don't understand why public health figures like Jay Bhattacharya who controlled 58 billion dollars of funding uh didn't use that money to study it definitively and with running high quality trials.

I am not afraid to defend my book by discussing the real-world job performance of the MAHA/MAGA doctors featured in it. What about the authors of In COVID's Wake?

At SBM we have two basic missions, which are really just different ends of the same spectrum. We are trying to raise the ceiling of rigorous science in the practice of medicine. This is a complex topic involving factors such as statistical methods, preregistering trials, p-hacking, and various forms of publication bias. At the same time we are trying to raise the […]

“Chiropractors are my kind of people.” RFK Jr. to Chiropractors Not certain who was more insulted, although it appears both sides considered it a compliment. He went on to say, The people who are drawn to this field are people who do critical thinking, who are willing to question orthodoxies and have the courage to stand up against these orthodoxies. Well, critical […]

It's been a long time since I've written about the deceptive narratives around placebos promoted by supporters of alternative medicine. Unfortunately, a new article claiming placebos can work as well as "real medicine" is making the rounds on social media. Here we go again.

The same disinformation agents who are trying to erase the history of the pandemic, are also trying to erase the history of MAHA.

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is fully of contempt and vitriol for doctors who worked in hospitals, but he literally “loves” lockdowners.

I have been following the story here of the newest Alzheimers drugs, the first to show that they can actually slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The benefits are modest, and come with the potential for serious side effects and a high price tag, but after decades of disappointment it was good to at least have a proof of concept that […]

“We are on a slippery slope now: For the first time, the Supreme Court has interpreted the First Amendment to bless a risk of therapeutic harm to children by limiting the State’s ability to regulate medical providers who treat patients with speech.” Justice Jackson, dissenting