''Science-Based Medicine'' is a website and blog with articles covering issues in
science
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
and
medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...
, especially
medical scams and practices.
Founded in 2008, it is owned and operated by the
New England Skeptical Society
The New England Skeptical Society (NESS) is an American organization dedicated to promoting science and reason. It was founded in January 1996 as the Connecticut Skeptical Society, by Steven Novella, Perry DeAngelis and Bob Novella. The group late ...
and run by
Steven Novella
Steven Paul Novella (born July 29, 1964) is an American clinical neurologist and associate professor at Yale University School of Medicine. Novella is best known for his involvement in the skeptical movement as a host of '' The Skeptics' Guide ...
,
David Gorski
David Henry Gorski is an American surgical oncologist, professor of surgery at Wayne State University School of Medicine, and a surgical oncologist at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, specializing in breast cancer surgery. He is an out ...
, and
Harriet Hall
Harriet A. Hall (born July 2, 1945) is a U.S. retired family physician, former U.S. Air Force flight surgeon and skeptic who writes about alternative medicine and quackery for ''Skeptic'' and ''Skeptical Inquirer''. She writes under the name T ...
.
History
Started as a skeptically-based medical blog with five writers, ''Science-Based Medicine'' (SBM) launched on January 1, 2008.
Steven Novella
Steven Paul Novella (born July 29, 1964) is an American clinical neurologist and associate professor at Yale University School of Medicine. Novella is best known for his involvement in the skeptical movement as a host of '' The Skeptics' Guide ...
, a clinical neurologist at
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
,
Harriet Hall
Harriet A. Hall (born July 2, 1945) is a U.S. retired family physician, former U.S. Air Force flight surgeon and skeptic who writes about alternative medicine and quackery for ''Skeptic'' and ''Skeptical Inquirer''. She writes under the name T ...
,
and
David Gorski
David Henry Gorski is an American surgical oncologist, professor of surgery at Wayne State University School of Medicine, and a surgical oncologist at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, specializing in breast cancer surgery. He is an out ...
were founding editors, along with
Mark Crislip
Mark Alden Crislip (born April 25, 1957) is an infectious disease doctor in Portland, Oregon and chief of infectious diseases at Legacy Health hospital system. Crislip has generated three podcasts, ''QuackCast, PusCast, and Gobbet o' Pus.'' A writ ...
and
Kimball Attwood.
''Science-Based Medicine'' is owned an operated by the
New England Skeptical Society
The New England Skeptical Society (NESS) is an American organization dedicated to promoting science and reason. It was founded in January 1996 as the Connecticut Skeptical Society, by Steven Novella, Perry DeAngelis and Bob Novella. The group late ...
(NESS),
where Novella, the long-standing executive editor of SBM, has also served as the president since inception. Gorski, a surgical oncologist at
Wayne State University
Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...
, serves as the managing editor for SBM.
The ''Science-Based Medicine'' blog is affiliated with the Society for Science-Based Medicine (SfSBM),
an opinionated education and advocacy group,
that registered in 2014 as a Florida
nonprofit corporation
A nonprofit corporation is any legal entity which has been incorporated under the law of its jurisdiction for purposes other than making profits for its owners or shareholders. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, a nonprofit corporation may ...
led by Mark Crislip.
The SfSBM was later absorbed into the
Center for Inquiry
The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is a US nonprofit organization that works to mitigate belief in pseudoscience and the paranormal, as well as to fight the influence of religion in government.
History
The Center for Inquiry was established in 199 ...
in 2020,
following a period of time where the society had merged with SBM.
Other key contributors have included writer Paul Ingraham (2010 - 2016) and
Wallace Sampson
Wallace Sampson (March 29, 1930 – May 25, 2015), also known as Wally, was an American medical doctor and consumer advocate against alternative medicine and other fraud schemes.Antiscience Trends in the Rise of the 'Alternative Medicine' Movem ...
, an editor and regular contributor to SBM until his death in 2017.
Content and format
''Science-Based Medicine'' is a website in blog format that examines controversies in science and medicine,
especially
medical scams and practices.
SBM is known for persistently challenging
alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...
and for opposing university funding from advocates of
integrative medicine
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alte ...
. David Freedman, writing for ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' in 2011, described SBM as "an influential blog that has tirelessly gone after alternative medicine."
Editorial staff say that the best medicine is based on
scientific principles
The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century (with notable practitioners in previous centuries; see the article history of scientific m ...
, includes prior plausibility, and is not based on
evidence
Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field.
In epistemology, evidenc ...
alone.
Gorski, Novella, and Atwood have argued that science-based medicine differs in focus from
evidence-based medicine
Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients". The aim of EBM is to integrate the experience of the clinician, the values of t ...
and stress that
randomized clinical trials
A randomized controlled trial (or randomized control trial; RCT) is a form of scientific experiment used to control factors not under direct experimental control. Examples of RCTs are clinical trials that compare the effects of drugs, surgical t ...
should only be conducted when warranted by ample preclinical evidence to justify the effort, time, and expenses involved.
For a science-based approach, Novella supports minimizing or eliminating research on implausible treatments, and points out that decades are often required for clinical research to become supported by rigorous, conclusive trials, during which time decisions must be made, preferably guided by and screened by plausibility criteria.
In a systematic survey of web sites providing material on
complementary and alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...
from 2018, medical education researcher Annie Chen and colleagues listed ''Science-Based Medicine'' alongside ''
WebMD
WebMD is an American corporation known primarily as an online publisher of news and information pertaining to human health and well-being. The site includes information pertaining to drugs. It is one of the top healthcare websites.
It was foun ...
'' as an example of an "information service" providing articles on health and illness.
During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, ''Science-Based Medicine'' collected and debunked misinformation that had spread through social media, such as the false claim that COVID-19 vaccines could cause infertility.
Retractions
On June 15, 2021,
''Science-Based Medicine'' published a book review of Abgail Shrier's ''
Irreversible Damage
''Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters'' is a 2020 book by Abigail Shrier, published by Regnery Publishing, which endorses the controversial concept of rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD). ROGD is not recognized as ...
'' written by founding editor Harriet Hall.
Hall's review claimed that Shrier's book had raised legitimate concerns about the science surrounding drug treatments for
Gender dysphoria in children
Gender dysphoria in children (GD), also known as gender incongruence of childhood, is a formal diagnosis for children who experience significant discontent ( gender dysphoria) due to a mismatch between their assigned sex and gender identity. Th ...
and made a claim that there was a lack of quality scientific studies on the subject.
Several days after the review was published, Novella and Gorski replaced the review with a retraction notice and responded with a review of their own, the first of six SBM posts rejecting Shrier's claims and addressing the retraction.
''
Skeptic
Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...
'' magazine republished Hall's review
and she remains as one of the three editors at SBM along with Novella and Gorski after the retraction.
Legal
In 2014, Novella was sued by Edward Tobinick,
a doctor claiming to treat neurological diseases, over two blog posts on ''Science-Based Medicine'' critical of off-label use of the drug
Etanercept
Etanercept, sold under the brand name Enbrel among others, is a biologic medical product that is used to treat autoimmune diseases by interfering with tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a soluble inflammatory cytokine, by acting as a TNF inhibitor. It ...
by Tobinick's medical clinic. The lawsuit, filed by Tobinick against Steven Novella, the Society for Science-Based Medicine, Inc., and SGU Productions, LLC was resolved after the court ruled in favor of the defendants.
See also
*
Evidence-based practice
Evidence-based practice (EBP) is the idea that occupational practices ought to be based on scientific evidence. While seemingly obviously desirable, the proposal has been controversial, with some arguing that results may not specialize to indiv ...
*
Quackwatch
Quackwatch is a United States-based website, self-described as a "network of people" founded by Stephen Barrett, which aims to "combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct" and to focus on "quackery-related information tha ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Critics of alternative medicine
Evidence-based medicine
Medical controversies
American medical websites
Scientific skepticism mass media
American blogs
Science blogs