Paul Offit’s new book covers the evidence for many surgeries, medications, and screening tests that have been proven ineffective and harmful yet are still being used by doctors who refuse to follow the science. Science-based medicine is all about testing medical ideas against reality. If there is abundant evidence from… read more "When Doctors Refuse to Believe Evidence"
Bogus Treatments for Bogus Diagnosis Are Killing Patients
Lyme disease is real Lyme disease is an infection caused by Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. It is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks. According to the CDC, “typical symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans. If left untreated, infection can spread to joints, the heart, and the nervous system.”… read more "Bogus Treatments for Bogus Diagnosis Are Killing Patients"
New Contraceptive Drug Makes No Sense
I subscribe to The Medical Letter to learn about new drugs. I am frequently appalled by their cost. For example, a year’s treatment with Ozanimod, a drug recently approved for multiple sclerosis, costs $84,800. And some new drugs cost much, much more than that. A gene therapy drug from Novartis currently holds the record: 2.1 million… read more "New Contraceptive Drug Makes No Sense"
How a Drug Is Born
Big Pharma is not a misnomer. Pharmaceutical drugs are big business. The US is the world leader in producing new drugs and is responsible for nearly half of the new molecular entities (NME’s) that come on the market. Americans spend well over $300 billion yearly on prescription drugs. Both Big Pharma and the FDA have come… read more "How a Drug Is Born"
Shooting the Messenger: Activists Persecute Scientists Whose Findings They Don’t Like
Alice Dreger’s book recounts many instances of shooting the messenger, when scientists were persecuted for research findings that activists found objectionable. Social justice matters, but it should rely on science and reality, not ideology. Don’t shoot him. He’s just bringing a message. Alice Dreger is an academic historian who has… read more "Shooting the Messenger: Activists Persecute Scientists Whose Findings They Don’t Like"
New Drugs for Sickle Cell Disease: Small Benefit, Large Price
The FDA has approved two new drugs to treat sickle cell disease. They don’t do much, and they are prohibitively expensive. Sickle cell disease is a serious condition, an abnormality of hemoglobin that is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern, where both parents have to pass on the defective gene.… read more "New Drugs for Sickle Cell Disease: Small Benefit, Large Price"
No, Everything You Thought You Knew About Disease Is Not Wrong
The authors of this book are not doctors or scientists, but they try to convince readers that science-based medicine gets it all wrong, that germs don’t cause disease, and that drugs and vaccines can’t possibly work. No, the book gets it all wrong. The book What Really Makes You Ill?: Why… read more "No, Everything You Thought You Knew About Disease Is Not Wrong"
Fixed Dose Combination Drugs: Consensi Is a Bad Example
Consensi combines two drugs for high blood pressure and osteoarthritis. That doesn’t make sense, and it costs $12,000 a year more than taking the individual components. Combination drugs, or fixed dose combinations (FDCs), combine two or more active ingredients in a single dosage form. One company added LSD to their… read more "Fixed Dose Combination Drugs: Consensi Is a Bad Example"
TCM for Covid-19
Despite the many claims, there is no real evidence that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is effective for prevention or treatment of COVID-19. There have been many claims for the efficacy (and even the superiority) of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) compared to so-called “Western” medicine. The COVID-19 outbreak that started in… read more "TCM for Covid-19"
Covid-19: A Field Day for Scams and Misinformation
Our world has been disrupted due to legitimate fears about COVID-19. People are afraid, and unscrupulous and/or misinformed people have been quick to exploit those fears. The FTC has offered advice for consumers to help them avoid coronavirus scammers. On March 19 they published Part 2, and the FTC and FDA have… read more "Covid-19: A Field Day for Scams and Misinformation"