Science-based Medicine Feed

Antivaxxers who "repurposed" deworming drugs like ivermectin and fenbendazole are peddling cancer "miracle cure" testimonials that remind me of laetrile and Stanislaw Burzynski. Truly, everything old is new again.

Actually running an RCT is a lot harder than merely calling for one. Those who recognized this obvious fact are not against RCTs.

The morning started too early. For some reason, I snapped awake just before sunrise and could not fall back to sleep. Probably that ball of guilt in the pit of my stomach. I suspected it is a minor example of what a condemned man feels on the morning of his execution. I lay in bed and stared thoughtlessly at the ceiling waiting […]

A new stud of thousands of cases confirms that sharing a sleep surface with a caregiver significantly increases the risk of unexpected death in infancy.

When it comes to drugs or dietary supplements, accuracy should be a given. What’s on the label should accurately describe what’s in the bottle. No exceptions. When it comes to ensuring the products we buy are of high quality, we’re all effectively reliant on regulation to protect us. As a pharmacist, I can’t personally verify that each tablet in your prescription contains […]

Is modern medicine descending into pseudoscience, or is scientific medicine still going strong? Unfortunately, I think both of these things can happen at the same time. On the one hand, scientific research in medicine is progressing nicely. We are seeing the results of scientific breakthroughs made decades ago, with monoclonal antibody therapies, new therapeutic targets, the beginning of real genetic therapy, brain-machine […]

Antivaxxers have weaponized a huge multinational vaccine safety study of 99 million patient records that found rare adverse events and concluded that the benefits of COVID-19 vaccines outweigh the risks. How? A combination of the Nirvana fallacy and spin.

A young woman was waiting at the pump. She introduced herself as Amy Blogg, an Illustrator for the River Weekly. She quickly let us know that she had been briefed by Mrs. Howitt. I demonstrated the workings of the microscope on a blade of grass and an ant. It was met with the usual expressions of amazement by first-timer users. If I […]

The authors of the GBD advised and influenced many politicians at the highest level. They claim to have delineated many practical policies to protect the vulnerable, and they said it would’ve been possible, certainly. So an obvious question emerges. Why didn’t they protect the vulnerable?

You know the rule about headlines - if there is a question in a headline the answer is almost always "no". This article is no exception.

This is going to be a mostly reference free blog entry. Mostly a rambling opinion about my biases and opinions about science. And you know what they say about opinions. I seem to fret an inordinate amount about adjectives. So often they do not belong in front the nouns found here at the blog. I remain a touch annoyed at the need […]

Over the weekend, NBC News aired a story on whole body MRI scans. Although it did include the usual cautions about false positives and the harm they cause, the caution was diluted by the story's focus a rare case of a woman who had a brain tumor detected. Overall, it was false balance that reminded me of vaccine/autism stories 20 years ago.

We shouldn't "give a shit" about COVID. Instead, we should care deeply about strangers who still "give a shit" about COVID. They need to be publicly mocked and shamed over and over again.

When I woke up the next morning, I went for my usual tea and scone. Then I caught the trolley to work. When it reached the far side of the Steel Bridge, I hopped off. I took the steps down to the lower level and took the narrow walking path back across the river. I saw no one get off the trolley […]

Newborns are exposed to painful procedures for good reason every day. Treating pain is important in this population, and music might play a role. At least it definitely won't hurt.

The controversial and never-proven-effective drug to treat Alzheimer's disease, aducanumab (Aduhelm) has been discontinued.

The Mayo Clinic is a prestigious medical institution with a deserved international reputation. It also promotes rank pseudoscience. It does this, apparently, for all the reasons we have explored here at SBM over the years. I have seen first hand how one or a few true believers can promote so-called alternative medicine at their institutions, meeting little resistance from colleagues and administrators […]

A recent study found that physicians and scientists who are perceived as "experts" are prevalent within the antivax community and more influential because of their status as physicians and scientists. Why do physicians continue to tolerate antivax quacks within our ranks?

“You are here early,” he said. “Yeah. I’m trying to decide what to do about this pump and the seawater cure. So far, my attempts are falling flat.” I told him about the couple pumping water and my lack of success in stopping them from taking the water home. “No surprise,” said Bonham. “Water is supposed to be as safe as mothers” […]

What did I mean when I said Dr. Kelly Brogan "won the pandemic"?