November 1st, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Announcements, Medblogger Shout Outs
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Regular readers of my blog will know that health fraud, misleading product and treatment claims, and deception of vulnerable populations (snake oil for cancer patients, for example) really get under my skin. For this reason, I’ve teamed up with a group of scientists and physicians to create a blog devoted to medical accuracy, transparency, and integrity in health reporting. It’s called Science Based Medicine, and we offer daily exposés of misleading health claims and practices. It’s a great way to learn about how to think critically – and to apply a scientific approach (rather than subjective and anecdotal) to discerning truth from error.
My contribution to the blogging team is to highlight online health fraud, scams, deception and misguided attempts to help consumers “live healthier lives.” I post once a week, every Thursday morning. Please head on over and check it out. It’s a great team of bloggers – and they’re looking out for you!
Here is a list of my recent posts:
A Shruggie Awakening: One Physician’s Journey Toward Scientific Enlightenment
Disintegrating Integrative Medicine: Lessons From Baking
When Further Research Is Not Warranted: The Wisdom of Crowds Fallacy
Knowledge Vs. Expertise: The View From Consumer Land
October 31st, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Humor, True Stories
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Doug and Heather
True story: three years ago in New York City I decided to attend a Halloween costume party dressed as Jackie O. My husband dutifully accompanied me as a secret service agent. I wore a mauve, tweed suit with a three-strand pearl necklace, large sunglasses, a pill box hat, white gloves, and a brown wig. We entered the party with much fanfare. I was quite pleased until someone approached and said,
“Great costume. You look JUST like Monica Lewinsky!”
I started a new diet the next day.
This year I decided to be something that no one would mistake – a vampire from the Underworld movie series. My husband was supposed to join me as a co-vampire, but this year he dug in his heels and decided to do his own thing. What could be better than a vampire escort?
Steve chose to be “Lad Armstrong,” Lance’s older brother. He wore bicycle shorts and a helmet and wrist guards, with an ankle bracelet. He claimed to have taught Lance everything he knows about cycling, but is still sore about him stealing his anklet idea and developing it into a livestrong bracelet cult.
Anyway, I thought you’d enjoy some photos from the party. Someone’s dad dressed up as a flasher. I thought it was pretty clever. Unfortunately my camera was not fast enough to capture the goods during a flash. So I’ll leave that up to your imagination.
I did have a friend help me with my vampire look. Hope you all had a safe and entertaining Halloween! What did you dress up as?
Vampire Val & Lad Armstrong
October 30th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Announcements
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Attention science fiction buffs… it’s time to put pen to paper (er… keys to keyboard) and create a fictional account of some aspect of the future of medicine. This is Medgadget’s third annual science fiction writing contest. You could win a Palm Tungsten E2 handheld with Epocrates loaded on it – and the glory that only this honor can bring. Please go to the Medgadget blog for contest rules. You have only 2 weeks to submit your entries. Good luck… I’m one of the judges this year!
October 30th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Humor, Medical Art
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Thanks to Book of Joe for highlighting this whimsical diagram (and yes, it reminded me of my Rock Star experience in LA that I just blogged about).
