In various contexts, for practical, philosophical, and logical reasons, there is a default assumption. In the criminal justice system, for example, someone is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Therefore we must act “as if” someone is innocent until the burden of proof is met that they are indeed guilty of the specific crime of which they are accused. In medicine, if someone […] The post Rejecting The Null Hypothesis first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
A new preliminary study published in Nature suggests that COVID-19 vaccines might actually boost the immune system to make immunotherapy more effective. If confirmed in followup studies, this result suggests that the vaccines do the opposite of causing "turbo cancer." The post The opposite of “turbo cancer”: COVID-19 vaccines sensitize cancer to immunotherapy first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
Because he can masterfully feign concern over evidence and data, Dr. Prasad is the Shohei Ohtani of spreading doubt and mistrust about vaccines. It's no surprise that under his "leadership", diseases are spreading and Andrew Wakefield is taking a victory lap. The post Dr. Vinay Prasad Doesn’t Realize He’s The Establishment. It’s His Job to Produce Results for the American Public, Not Fluff Donald Trump. first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
The fault is not yours alone. You were just a bit player in a larger misinformation media ecosystem that was devoted to rewriting the history of the pandemic, numbing people to the grave risk We Want Them Infected doctors. The post Professor Stephen Macedo: How Does it Feel to Have Elevated MAGA/MAHA Propagandists? first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
This was an extremely difficult post to write. I live in war-ravaged Portland, Oregon, and it is like World War II here. Think Berlin at the end. Nothing but chaos, death and destruction. A burning h| Science-Based Medicine
There is no credible evidence to support use of spinal manipulation to correct vertebral subluxations as a treatment for non-musculoskeletal disorders The post Opposing Chiropractic Vertebral Subluxation Theory first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
One of the common themes of SBM is that medical evidence can be very complex. In order to come to any robust conclusion about what the science says on any question you need to do a careful and thorough evaluation of all the relevant evidence, including plausibility as well as observational and experimental clinical evidence. Essentially we want to look at the […] The post The Effectiveness of COVID Vaccines first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
Surgeon general nominee Dr. Casey Means is an advocate of "functional medicine." She, MAHA, and a new "board certification" will falsely legitimize quackery. The post Surgeon General nominee Dr. Casey Means and functional medicine: Legitimizing quackery first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
The purges, censorship, and politicization in the worlds of medicine and science are not distinct from the corruption and vandalism of the country writ large. We Want Them Infected doctors are part of it all. The post Doctors Who Glorified Trump Have Permanently Tied Themselves to Everything He Does first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
The US Supreme Court recently heard a case that could have devastating effects on the standard of care in medicine, and the indicators of where the justices fall are not good. The case is Chiles v Salazar, in which a licensed therapist is arguing that a Colorado law banning conversion therapy for gay and trans clients violates her free speech. So the […] The post Is (Conversion) Therapy Speech? first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
Last week, news stories reported that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had convened an "aluminum working group." Among the "scientists" there are antivax scientists about whom I've been writing for over a decade. Everything old antivax is new again. The post RFK Jr. is definitely coming for your vaccines, part 4: Aluminum edition (or: Everything old is new again…again) first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
According to Dr. Marty Makary, vaccines and medications are indicated or not, based on “stories” and how he “feels.” The post MAHA and the Triumph of Feelings Based Medicine first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
Many people take supplements alongside prescription drugs without realizing the risks. The post The Growing Problem of Supplement–Drug Interactions in Seniors first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
Each year I like to write a post about the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. While advocating for higher standards of science in medicine we tend to spend much of our time criticizing pseudoscience, so I like to balance that by occasionally just celebrating great medical science, and the Nobel Prize is a great opportunity. The 2025 award for physiology or […] The post Nobel Prize in Medicine: Peripheral Immune Tolerance first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
The dangers of Kennedy and crew were blindingly obvious. Yet some doctors sought to bolster MAHA by undermining and discrediting those who warned about it. The post Mockies: Doctors Who Mocked My Warnings About MAHA in 2024 are Copying Me Today. Good. first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
People who keep whistling past the graveyard (of vaccines) to assure themselves that RFK Jr,. won't take away their vaccines are deluding themselves. One seven-minute video he posted last week shows that, weaponizing an old one deceptive antivax trope claiming that vaccines didn't do that much to improve global health. The post Robert F. Kennedy Jr. weaponizes an old antivax trope in his quest to eliminate vaccines first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
The pandemic’s biggest disinformation superspreaders are now in charge. How did this happen? The post Everyone Else is Lying to You: My Book is Done! first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
Treatment introduces an expansion of the scope of gene therapies that might lead to similar treatments for neurodegenerative diseases in other parts of the body The post FDA approves novel gene therapy delivery platform for a rare retinal disorder first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
As a first approximation it seems that the purpose of social media is to misrepresent medical information and to promote wellness gurus who basically have no idea what they are talking about. Part of the problem is that medical science is often complex, and the short attention-span format of social media often favors simple clean narratives. So “wellness influencers” dominate while genuine […] The post The Cholesterol Wars Continue first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
Last week, it was reported that Mark Blaxill had been hired at CDC. It looks like RFK Jr.'s resurrecting every washed up antivax crony he can find to staff HHS. The post Mark Blaxill: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. resurrects another washed-up antivax activist first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
An eminent oncologist, cancer researcher, and cancer center director is promoting a study that seems to show—but, when critically examined, doesn't—that COVID vaccines are associated with increased cancer risk. The post Here we go again: Another study is being misrepresented as evidence that COVID vaccines cause cancer first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
It turns out that making podcasts "arguing for" things is a lot easier than actually doing them. The post Dr. Martin Kulldorff, Who Claims He Would Have Tamed COVID In 3-6 Months, Can’t Even Run a Single Meeting first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
Red light therapy is marketed as a quick fix for fat loss and wellness. The science says otherwise. The post Red Flags For Red Light Therapy first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
Yes, we have to talk about that press conference with Trump, RFK Jr and Dr. Oz., which some are characterizing as the absolutely worst firehose of medical misinformation coming from the White House in American history. I think that is fair. This was the presser we knew was coming, and many of us were dreading. It was worse than I anticipated. I wrote a […] The post That Trump, RFK, Oz Presser first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
The CDC's newly reconstituted antivax Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met last week. The results weren't as horrific as I'd expected, but not for lack of trying. In this post, I'll focus on one presentation as a lens through which to look at the meeting as a whole. The post Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is definitely coming for your vaccines, part 3: Antivax rhetoric and incompetence at ACIP first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
Everyone Else is Lying to You: The Documentary The post The Videos THEY Don’t Want You to See. A Silenced, Censored Doctor Speaks Out. first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
We have written quite a bit about fraudulent stem cell clinics. They have followed a typical pattern of overhyping new potential therapies, with some clinics going as far as selling fake stem cell treatments. Stem cells were a likely target – they sound extremely advanced, their potential is easy to understand, and you can use them to justify extreme claims of healing. […] The post Stem Cell Stroke Therapy first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
It usually takes me several weeks to write these essays, in part because I am slow, and in part I have more to do in retirement than I ever did when working. But as this goes live, I am recovering from a new knee replacement. As I age I am having everything that fails and either be replaced or removed. Orchiectomy next? […] The post Natural History first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
The Food and Drug Administration appears to be about to weaponize a classic antivax trope against COVID-19 vaccines, the abuse of reports to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System to falsely portray them as deadly, even as news reports suggest that RFK Jr. will further restrict access to COVID-19 and three childhood vaccines. Here we go again. The post Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is definitely coming for your vaccines, part 2: VAERS, the FDA, and ACIP first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
Who could be to blame for the lack of trust in mRNA vaccines? The post Dr. Jay Bhattacharya: From Massively Overhyping to Limiting and Defunding Vaccines in 4 Years first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.| Science-Based Medicine
Welcome to Science-Based Medicine - Exploring issues and controversies in the relationship between science and medicine| Science-Based Medicine
People who keep whistling past the graveyard (of vaccines) to assure themselves that RFK Jr,. won't take away their vaccines are deluding themselves. One seven-minute video he posted last week shows t| Science-Based Medicine
There has long been a huge appeal in medicine that derives from being an "apostate". Since COVID-19 hit, apostasy has become like a drug among too many doctors, and social media has amplified the popu| Science-Based Medicine
