Categories
Cancer Clinical trials Medicine Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Does mammography save lives? A new study shows that this is a harder question than you might think

Mammography is a topic that, as a breast surgeon, I can’t get away from. It’s a useful tool that those of us who treat breast cancer patients have used for over 30 years to detect breast cancer in asymptomatic women and thus (or so we hope) decrease their risk of dying of breast cancer through […]

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

GcMAF, autism “biomed,” and the apparent suicide of an autism quack

Three weeks ago, I did a post about how prone the antivaccine movement is to conspiracy theories. At that time, one example that I used was the then-very recent death of an autism quack and antivaccinationist (but I repeat myself) who’s been big in the “autism biomed” movement for a long time and a regular […]

Categories
Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Medicine

A homeopathic “debate” in BMJ?

Homeopathy is quackery. There, I’ve said it for the hundredth or even thousandth time, but I don’t care if it’s repetitive because it can’t be emphasized enough times that homeopathy is The One Quackery To Rule Them All, with the possible exception of reiki and other “energy therapies.” I also find it useful to make […]

Categories
Bioethics Medicine Science Surgery

An appalling tale of surgical “teaching” in the operating room

As much as I write about the foibles, pseudoscience, and misadventures of cranks and quacks that endanger patients. However, never let it be said that I don’t also pay attention to the foibles and misadventures of real doctors that endanger patients. Sometimes that occurs due to incompetence. Sometimes it’s due to the persistent use of […]

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery Science

Humpty Dumpty and cranks, quacks, and antivaccinationists

One of my favorite quotes from classic literature comes from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, when Alice encounters a rather strange character named Humpty Dumpty. Humpty Dumpty, as you will likely recall, was a giant egg with whom Alice got into an argument about the meaning of words: And only ONE for birthday presents, […]