Month: August 2016
No Compromise on Vaccine Refusal
A few years ago some colleagues and I at the Institute for Science in Medicine were debating what our official position should be regarding non-medical vaccine exemptions. We all agreed that the ideal situation would be no non-medical exemptions. There is no legitimate reason for such exemptions and the evidence clearly shows that states who allow non-medical vaccine exemptions have lower vaccination...
Efforts to Encourage Breastfeeding Like the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) May Have Unintended Consequences
“Breast is best,” but current efforts to increase the rate of breastfeeding may be misguided. A recent article in JAMA Pediatrics by pediatricians Joel Bass, Tina Gartley, and Ronald Kleinman is titled “Unintended Consequences of Current Breastfeeding Initiatives.” They criticize the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI), saying “there is now emerging evidence that full compliance…may inadvertently be promoting potentially hazardous practices and/or having...
The cruel sham that will not die: Right-to-try marches on in California and beyond
We here at SBM, particularly Jann Bellamy and myself, frequently write about naturopathic licensing laws, noting that naturopaths are relentless. They keep trying and trying to get states to pass laws granting their specialty licensure, and, like the Terminator trying to kill Sarah Connor or her son, they absolutely will not stop, ever, until science-based medicine is dead there are naturopathic licensing...
Good Thinking Society’s successful challenge to NHS homeopathy
[Editor’s note: For no reason whatsoever other than to share great news, we bring you this contribution from Michael Marshall, project director of the Good Thinking Society and vice president of the Merseyside Skeptics Society.] As regular readers of this blog may know, skeptics here in the UK have been campaigning for some time to end the funding of homeopathic remedies by...
An Unexpected Miscellany of Medical Malarkey
I had originally intended a focused discussion of a single topic, but life circumstances have conspired to prevent me from doing so. In the place of my intended post, please enjoy the following collection of hastily assembled pseudomedical odds and ends brought to my attention over the past few weeks.
Do pill organizers help or hurt?
In order for medication to work, getting a prescription filled isn’t enough. You have to actually take the medication. And that’s where you (the patient) come in. Estimates vary based on the population and the medication, but a reasonable assumption is that 50% of people given a prescription don’t take their medication as prescribed. In pharmacy terminology we usually call this medication...
Patient Groups and Pseudoscience
The biggest challenge we face promoting high standards of science in medicine is not making our case to the community. Our case is rock solid, in my opinion, and backed by evidence and logic. There is no question, for example, that homeopathy is 100% bogus and should not be part of modern medicine. Our challenge is that there are literally billions of...
Genetic Testing: Does Knowing Risk of Disease Make a Difference?
The complete sequencing of the human genome by the Human Genome Project was a remarkable accomplishment and a cause for celebration. Several companies including 23andMe, Navigenics, and deCODE have capitalized on that scientific achievement by offering genomic testing directly to the public. They promise more than they can deliver, and consumers don’t understand the limitations of the test results. The subject has...
The stem cell hard sell
Stem cells are magical. Stem cells are all-powerful. Stem cells cure everything. Stroke? No problem! Paralysis? Stem cells’ll fix it. Autism? Yes, even autism. That’s the narrative one frequently hears about stem cells in the press and courtesy of offshore stem cell clinics and direct-to-consumer marketing of stem cells in the US. Of course, stem cells aren’t mystical and magical, although they...
Building a Case for CAM
[Editor’s note: Mark Crislip is taking a well deserved vacation from blogging, and James Thomas has kindly agreed to provide another guest post to fill the gaping need left in all of your lives. Enjoy!] According to the Orwellian-named National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, roughly 33% of adults aged 18-44 and about 37% aged 45-64 use some form of CAM....