July 22nd, 2010 by David H. Gorski, M.D., Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
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I can’t speak for anyone else who blogs here at Science-Based Medicine, but there’s one thing I like to emphasize to people who complain that we exist only to “bash ‘alternative’ medicine.” We don’t. We exist to champion medicine based on science against all manner of dubious practices. Part of that mandate involves understanding and accepting that science-based medicine (SBM) is not perfect. It is not some sort of panacea. Rather, it has many shortcomings and all too often does not live up to its promise.
Our argument is merely that, similar to Winston Churchill’s invocation of the famous saying that “democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried,” science-based medicine is the worst form of medicine except for all the others that have been tried before. (Look for someone to quote that sentence soon.) It’s not even close, either. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
February 10th, 2010 by Dr. Val Jones in News
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You may have heard about the whistleblower case in Texas where 2 nurses reported a physician (Dr. Rolando G. Arafiles, Jr.) to the State Medical Board for unethical medical practices. Even though the American Nurses Association’s Code of Ethics requires nurses to report physicians who may be of harm to patients, these two were punished for doing the right thing. (Apparently, the local sheriff was a friend of Dr. Arafiles’ and took it upon himself to charge the nurses with misuse of official information, a third-degree felony in Texas, because patient medical record numbers were included in the letter to the Texas Medical Board). The criminal prosecution charges were dropped against Vicki Galle, but the case against Anne Mitchell is ongoing.
But the real story – what was Dr. Arafiles doing that was so egregious? – has yet to be made public by the nurses. And thanks to bloggers Mike Dunford, and Orac over at ScienceBlogs.com, the truth is being revealed. Video footage of Dr. Arafiles’ bizarre medical beliefs and practices are available here. Apparently, he prescribed colloidal silver to treat H1N1 flu, promoted the false idea that vaccines contain a wild array of toxins (everything from MSG to fetal tissue), and was diagnosing patients with “Morgellons disease” which he describes as a parasitic infection that produces fibers that turn host cells into plastic. Read more »
