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Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

A Friday rant about nonscience- and nonevidence-based medicine…

…courtesy of fellow ScienceBlogger Jake Young.

Two money quotes:

  • “First, what is CAM bringing to the table that science and medicine didn’t have? Good feelings. Acquaintance with the ways ignorance. Newer, better superstitions. Frankly, you can keep them.”
  • “Science complemented by non-science ceases to be science, and there are no alternatives to the truth.”

I may have to steal that last one, perhaps with the addition of a flourish or two of my own. For example, I’d add that science “integrated” with nonscience runs a very high risk of ceasing to be science.

We need more medical students like Jake to prevent the overthrow of science-based medicine by quackademic medicine.

By Orac

Orac is the nom de blog of a humble surgeon/scientist who has an ego just big enough to delude himself that someone, somewhere might actually give a rodent's posterior about his copious verbal meanderings, but just barely small enough to admit to himself that few probably will. That surgeon is otherwise known as David Gorski.

That this particular surgeon has chosen his nom de blog based on a rather cranky and arrogant computer shaped like a clear box of blinking lights that he originally encountered when he became a fan of a 35 year old British SF television show whose special effects were renowned for their BBC/Doctor Who-style low budget look, but whose stories nonetheless resulted in some of the best, most innovative science fiction ever televised, should tell you nearly all that you need to know about Orac. (That, and the length of the preceding sentence.)

DISCLAIMER:: The various written meanderings here are the opinions of Orac and Orac alone, written on his own time. They should never be construed as representing the opinions of any other person or entity, especially Orac's cancer center, department of surgery, medical school, or university. Also note that Orac is nonpartisan; he is more than willing to criticize the statements of anyone, regardless of of political leanings, if that anyone advocates pseudoscience or quackery. Finally, medical commentary is not to be construed in any way as medical advice.

To contact Orac: [email protected]

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