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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Medicine Quackery Science Skepticism/critical thinking

I guess it’s not just Andrew Wakefield who doesn’t do controls when running PCR

Remember a couple of months ago, when I discussed testimony at the Autism Omnibus trial that showed how Andrew Wakefield had failed to do the controls when running PCR that would have revealed that the results that he interpreted as the presence of the measles virus from a vaccine strain in the guts of autistic […]

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Medicine Science fiction/fantasy

Take that, basic scientists! Who’s the smartest of them all?

I’m guessing there will be a lot of–shall we say?–disagreement with this one. I’m always appropriately skeptical of IQ studies, including this one. However, if you actually believe this survey (and what physician wouldn’t want to believe it?), apparently as a profession physicians have the highest IQ. Heh. I wonder where M.D./Ph.D.’s like yours truly […]

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Medicine News of the Weird Personal

Too much coffee!

Yikes! In my grant writing frenzy the last few days, this could easily have been me: Jasmine Willis, 17, developed a fever and began hyperventilating after drinking seven double espressos while working at her family’s sandwich shop. The student, of Stanley, County Durham, was taken to the University Hospital of North Durham, where doctors confirmed […]

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Medicine Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Yes, scientists can be jerks, but that doesn’t invalidate science

Via Pure Pedantry, I’ve become aware of a post that resonates over here, given the recent series of posts I did about a certain comic who, unable to dispute the science behind global warming or the health hazards of secondhand smoke in any serious way, has a penchant for labeling scientists who support such positions […]

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Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Politics Quackery

Government-funded woo

It’s that time of year again! Time for the one Center of the NIH dedicated to studying “remedies,” regardless of how scientifically implausible or lacking in evidence to support them, the National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) to put forth its budget request for FY 2008. What’s the bill for government-funded studies of […]