Month: August 2008
-
Freshpeople: Be Smart About Credit
The new students have arrived at UC-Berkeley, closely pursued by hordes of credit card marketers. Right by my office is a bank that literally has 12 employees out front hawking credit cards and new accounts. Freshman friends, don’t get your first credit card from the guy on the street offering you a t-shirt or worthless,…
-
Another Open Letter to Jenny McCarthy
Dear Jenny, Thank you! Thankyouthankyou thank YOU! You see, my medical education had a few gaps. I was unfortunate enough to do my training during the last couple of decades, which means I never saw measles, pertussis, polio, and many other vaccine-preventable diseases. Well, last year, I saw three cases of pertussis! Sweet! And it…
-
Mike Leavitt to patients: “F*** you”
A number of us in the blogosphere have been outraged by Bush’s Department of Health and Human Services’ desire to put the arbitrary wants of doctors before the needs of patients. At first it was just a draft proposal, but now Mike Leavitt is pushing to implement the changes. Soon, it may be legally acceptable…
-
Some days it’s harder
I’m a little down today. I’ve told you before that I take care of my own patients in hospice. I’ve also told you about watching patients and friends lose their battles with disease. This week I had serious talks with several people about end-of-life issues (the details of which I can’t really share at the…
-
Anti-vaccination—old religion writ new
I’m rather angry. Strike that. I’m furious. Indescribably outraged. Disgusted. The rise of the antivaccination cults is finally affecting public health. If you want details, go and read Orac, or Steve Novella, or some of my other writing. I’m too angry to deal with details today. Infectious diseases have stalked us across the millennia. Centuries…
-
The latest scummy tactic of altie med – blaming medicine for celebrity deaths.
A fellow medical student once asked me why I thought people become hostile to science-based medicine. Certainly our own failures contribute. When we have no treatments for a disease, or if the treatments themselves may also incur significant morbidity, it is understandable that patients will become disillusioned with what doctors have to offer. However there…
-
Autism and Mitochondria
Prometheus brings us the best article I’ve seen to date on why the new push for a mitochondrial basis for autism is total nonsense. Once I saw this push from denialists like David Kirby towards a link between mitochondria and autism I knew we were in for a world of trouble. If only because mitochondrial…
-
Bill Nelson Wins the Internet
I agree with our buddy Ben Goldacre when he says Bill Nelson wins the internet. I can not begin to describe the hilarity of this video but first a bit of background. Bill Nelson is a quack who’s been running a Rife-machine scam. That is, for many thousands of dollars you can purchase and use…