Categories
Bioethics Evolution History Holocaust Intelligent design/creationism Medicine Pseudoscience Skepticism/critical thinking

Eugenicist quotes

Here are a few typical eugenicist quotes from early last century: “It is an excellent plan to keep defective people in institutions for here they are not permitted to marry and bear children.” “[Scientists who are working at the task of improving the human race] would like to increase the birth rate of families having […]

Categories
Bioethics Cancer Clinical trials Medicine Politics

Dichloroacetate and The DCA Site: A low bar for “success” (part 2)

Be careful what you ask for; you just might get it. I say this in light of a commenter, who decided to show up in one of my old posts to claim “positive results” from dichloroacetate (DCA), the small molecule experimental cancer drug that has shown promising activity in rat models of cancer but has […]

Categories
Bioethics Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

If randomized clinical trials don’t show that your woo works, try anthropology!

A common refrain among practitioners and advocates of alternative medicine is that the reason randomized clinical trials frequently fail to find any objective evidence of clinical efficacy for their favorite woo is because, in essence, science is not the right tool to evaluate whether it works. In essence, they either appeal to other ways of […]

Categories
Bioethics Cancer Medicine Quackery Science

Dichloroacetate (DCA): A scientist’s worst nightmare?

Given all the verbiage (see the link list below) about dichloroacetate (DCA) that I’ve spewed into the blogosphere decrying the hijacking of a promising cancer therapy by conspiracy-mongers (it’s the cancer cure “big pharma” is keeping from you because they can’t make money on it) and opportunistic entrepreneurs like Jim Tassanno preying on the desperation […]

Categories
Autism Bioethics Medicine Quackery

Arthur Allen on conflicts of interest in the mercury militia movement

Those arguing the “conventional” view that sound science and epidemiological studies have failed to find a link between vaccines and autism are often tarred with the “pharma shill” brush. Meanwhile, researchers who have ever taken drug company money (particularly if it’s from a drug company that makes vaccines) are castigated for having a serious conflict […]