Categories
Bioethics Cancer Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine

Odds and ends left over after the Panorama Burzynski Clinic report: Burzynski versus his own SEC filing

I realize that I’ve been focusing on Stanislaw Burzynski the last couple of days, but it’s just been one of those weeks. Between the release of Eric Merola’s latest paean to the Brave Maverick Doctor and BBC Panorama’s report on Burzynski and his activities, it’s been an eventful week. My review of the second Burzynski […]

Categories
Cancer Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Movies Skepticism/critical thinking

In which the latest movie about Stanislaw Burzynski’s “cancer cure” is reviewed…with Insolence

Well, I’ve finally seen it, Burzynski: Cancer Is A Serious Business, Part 2, the sequel to the execrable first Burzynski movie. Yes, it’s every bit as chock full of misinformation and lies as the first one, maybe even more so.

Categories
Cancer Clinical trials Medicine Movies Popular culture

A male BRCA mutation carrier “emulates” Angelina Jolie by having preventative surgery to remove his prostate? Not so fast there, pardner…

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. OK, I know I use that line entirely too much, but I also don’t really care. When something fits, wear it. And if it doesn’t fit, you must acquit. Sorry, I’ll stop. I’m in a weird mood as I write this. But it’s […]

Categories
Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Medicine Naturopathy

A study contributes to the deceptive rebranding of naturopathy as “lifestyle counseling”

That naturopathy is a veritable cornucopia of quackery mixed with the odd sensible, science-based suggestion here and there is not in doubt, at least not to supporters of science-based medicine (SBM). However, what naturopaths are very good at doing is representing their pseudoscience as somehow being scientific and thus on par with actual SBM. So […]

Categories
Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine

NCCAM and “pragmatic trials.” Again.

I’m not alone in pointing this out, but if there’s one thing about research and clinical trials into “complementary and alternative medicine” (CAM) that has become very apparent to me over the years, it’s that the more rigorous the study the less likely it is to show an effect. In normal research, the usual progression […]