Categories
Cancer Medicine Politics

Well, duh: Insured cancer patients do better

Maybe it’s unfair to proclaim this a “well, duh!” study, but its conclusions do seem rather obvious. On the other hand, it’s information that we need in a cold, hard scientific form, and I’m glad that the investigators did it: (AP) — Uninsured cancer patients are nearly twice as likely to die within five years […]

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Bioethics Cancer Clinical trials Medicine Politics

Making lab rats out one’s children: Do-it-yourself cancer cures hit the media again

Several months ago, i wrote quite a few posts about a new anticancer drug that had not yet passed through clinical trials but had demonstrated efficacy against tumors in rat models of cancer. The drug, called dichloroacetate (DCA), is a small molecule that targeted a phenomenon common in cancer cells known as the Warburg effect. […]

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History Humor Politics

What if John Adams had had access to YouTube in 1800?

Would it have looked something like this? And how would Thomas Jefferson have countered? (Hat tip to Spinning Clio.)

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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Politics Pseudoscience Quackery

Representative Dan Burton: Abusing his power to influence the outcome of the Autism Omnibus hearings?

It’s been a while since I mentioned the Autism Omnibus hearings. The Omnibus proceeding is the culmination of all the legal cases brought to the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program by nearly 5,000 families who “feel” that their children’s autism was caused by vaccines. Many, but not all, of the plaintiffs blame the mercury in the […]

Categories
Biology Evolution Politics Pseudoscience Religion Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Are we fighting a losing battle over evolution in the U.S.?

Sometimes I have a hard time not concluding that we are.