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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine Science Skepticism/critical thinking

About that magical mystical “natural immunity” against COVID-19

Those opposed to public health interventions to slow the spread of COVID-19, including masks, “lockdowns,” and vaccine mandates, are hyping “natural” immunity again as somehow “superior” to vaccine-acquired immunity. It’s a deceptive simplification of a complex issue.

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Bad science Skepticism/critical thinking

Medical Hypotheses is back, and it’s pushing antimask disinformation

Medical Hypotheses is a fringe journal published by Elsevier that’s long been known for publishing pseudoscience, such as antivax and HIV/AIDS denial. In the age of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s now back with antimask nonsense.

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Bad science Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

GenoPalate and “personalized” DNA-based diet recommendations: More like astrology than science

GenoPalate is a company that claims to give “personalized” dietary recommendations based on DNA testing. Unfortunately, what is provided by such companies is more akin to astrology than science.

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Biology Cancer Clinical trials Medicine Pseudoscience Skepticism/critical thinking

Is there a reproducibility "crisis" in biomedical research?

Most scientists I know get a chuckle out of the Journal of Irreproducible Results (JIR), a humor journal that often parodies scientific papers. Back in the day, we used to chuckle at articles like “Any Eye for an Eye for an Arm and a Leg: Applied Dysfunctional Measurement” and “A Double Blind Efficacy Trial of […]

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Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Popular culture Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Better late than never: Orac comments on the hijacking of evidence-based medicine

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of John Ioannidis. (If you don’t believe me, just type Ioannidis’ name into the blog search box and see how many posts you find.) Over the last couple of decades, Ioannidis has arguably done more to reveal the shortcomings of the medical research enterprise that undergirds our treatments, […]