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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Popular culture Skepticism/critical thinking Sports

Dunking on a 7′ hoop, or: Refuting Dr. Vinay Prasad’s attack on medical skepticism

This week, eminent young rising star oncologist Dr. Vinay Prasad once again expressed his disdain for skeptics. To borrow Dr. Prasad’s own metaphor, Orac shows how the esteemed oncologist’s renewed attack on medical skeptics is like dunking on a 7′ hoop. Unfortunately, it needs to be done, and Orac does it, refuting a truly ignorant and misguided attack.

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Cancer Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery

False Hope: A BBC documentary throws a light on cancer quackery

Earlier this week, BBC Three broadcast “False Hope,” a documentary exposing cancer quacks. Sadly, some things never change, and alternative cancer cure stories show how easy it is to fall prey to quacks.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Popular culture Pseudoscience Quackery

Dr. Joseph Mercola: A quack tycoon funding antivaccine causes

Dr. Joseph Mercola has built a massive alternative health empire. Unfortunately, he’s now using his wealth to fund antivaccine propaganda.

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Evolution Medicine Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Dichotomous thinking, uncertainty, and science denial

There is a defect in thinking that is arguably at the heart of much of science denial, dichotomous thinking. We all do it to some extent, but science deniers do it in spades.

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Cancer Medicine Popular culture

A tourist finds breast cancer after a thermal scan at Camera Obscura. That doesn’t mean thermography works.

Bal Gill saw a hot spot on her breast on a thermal image she had taken at Camera Obscura in Edinburgh. This led her to see her doctor, who diagnosed breast cancer. Although a happy coincidence, this incident does not mean that thermography is an effective modality to detect occult breast cancer.