Finally, two items of good news come out of this dreadful affair in which Aboriginal families stopped chemotherapeutic treatment for their leukemic daughters and sought nonsensical pseudoscientific treatment in Florida. While one of the children passed away this winter, the other, known in the media as “J.J.”, is being reported as feeling well. Could it … Continue reading
Tag Archives: treatment
Listen / Watch: The Cost of Cancer Drugs
The only good drug is the one the patient can afford. WNYC radio show and podcast extraordinaire RadioLab most recently did an episode entitled “Worth” in which the show’s hosts and producer investigated the worth of an extra year of human life. They stumbled upon a very interesting story centred on the cost of cancer drugs in … Continue reading
Listen: Dr. Christopher Labos and I on the Rise of Integrative Medicine
This month, Within Reason tackles a scientific topic, so I can publicize it here! Woohoo! Would you like a side of magic with your chemo? Disproven folk remedies used to be the domain of snake oil salesmen; now, they are being integrated into university health centres. Jonathan speaks to Dr. Christopher Labos, a public science educator and … Continue reading
Cracked Science Video 4: Irreproducible
We often hear the science corrects itself in the long run, but how efficient is this mechanism? Jonathan Jarry reports that reproducibility in the scientific literature is not always a given. (Des sous-titres en français seront bientôt disponibles!) Just so you are not too demoralized, the landscape may be changing: http://www.nature.com/news/journals-u… http://www.nature.com/news/metascienc… Continue reading
Comedy Quiz Show on Pseudoscience in Montreal
If you like this blog and would like to see me host a comedy quiz show on pseudoscience, come to Pub St-Paul on Sunday, November 16 at 5PM for a fun evening of comedy, reason, and alcohol! Andrew Cody, from Within Reason, will be a panelist and will be joined by Montreal-based stand-up comedians Darren Henwood, … Continue reading
Listen: First Nations “Medicine” on White Coat, Black Art
@NightShiftMD, Dr. Brian Goldman, tackled the issue of First Nations’ right to choose traditional treatments for themselves and their children with, I believe, the correct balance between respect and the need to ask tough questions. You can hear his conversations on the subject in the latest episode of CBC’s White Coat, Black Art. We are … Continue reading
A Cure for AIDS that Big Pharma Doesn’t Want! Sounds Familiar?
I was sent a link to the following story by someone who wanted my opinion on it. The article is in French but I will highlight its claims. “Son remède contre le sida, les labos n’en veulent pas” Translation: “Labs don’t want his AIDS remedy.” This is yet another David-versus-Goliath “news” report on a maverick … Continue reading
Listen: Dr. Brian Goldman’s Soft Take on Alternative Medicine
Dr. Brian Goldman (@nightshiftmd), host of a great CBC radio show called White Coat Black Art that dares to pull back the curtain on the hidden world of medical practice, seems to be the latest victim of integrative medicine (IM). This IM movement has been gaining traction with Western physicians and medical institutions: many North American hospitals … Continue reading
Interview with Dr. Joe Schwarcz on Within Reason
Readers of this blog probably know that I also have a monthly podcast entitled Within Reason, which explores contentious issues from a rational perspective. While the topics are not always science-related, our latest episode features Dr. Joe Schwarcz, director of the Office for Science and Society at McGill University, on the subject of chemophobia. We talked … Continue reading
Attend: The Amazing World of Placebos
A potentially really cool event is taking place at the Gelber Centre in Côte-des-Neiges on May 14 at 19:00. Dr. Amir Raz will be presenting the documentary Mind Over Medicine and following it up with a discussion on placebos. How strong is the placebo effect? What about the nocebo effect? Does the placebo effect really exist … Continue reading
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