Categories
Clinical trials Medicine

How not to predict the outcome of clinical trials

Yesterday, I came across a concept that I had never considered before (or even heard of before). In fact, it’s a concept that took me by surprise. Basically, it’s an application of a concept to a problem that I never considered applying the concept to before–probably with very good reason. Basically, it’s a guy named […]

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine

The perils of engaging the public

People wonder why scientists involved in controversial areas are reluctant to address the public. Courtesy of our favorite band of anti-vaccine bloggers at the anti-vaccine propaganda blog Age of Autism, we see yet another reason why. Yes, AoA’s resident attack poodle Jake Crosby decided to disrupt the Q&A session of a public talk (videocast here) […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Medicine

Mark Blaxill and Dan Olmsted: Merrily confusing correlation with causation for polio (conclusion)

I concluded last week with the dismantling one of the more bizarre stories I’ve seen spun by the merry band of anti-vaccine propagandists over at Age of Autism. As you might recall, Mark “Not a Doctor, Not a Scientist” Blaxill had teamed with Dan “Where are the Autistic Amish?” Olmsted (or, as I call them, […]

Categories
Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine

Acupuncture works for polycystic ovary syndrome except when it doesn’t–which is always

For some reason, when it comes to so-called “complementary and alternative medicine” (CAM) therapies, acupuncture gets a pass. Homeopathy, for example, is based on ideas so inherently ridiculous that they quite properly attract the scorn of skeptics and advocates of science-based medicine everywhere, stating, as it does, that diluting a remedy to nonexistence makes it […]

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Cancer Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

Abraham Cherrix: Still battling Hodgkin’s lymphoma five years later

When you’ve been at this blogging thing as long as I have, it’s possible to be shocked at how long you find yourself commenting on the same story. As I approach the end of the seventh year of Insolence, both Respectful and not-so-Respectful, I find these “senior blogging moments” popping up from time to time. […]