YOU Docs Push A Snake Oil Agenda In The Oregonian (Portland local daily)

[HuckleB]

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=3370

"The YOU Docs, for those of you (YOU?) who are unaware, are Doctors Mehmet Oz and Mike Rolzen, authors of books about YOU and a weekly newspaper column called The YOU Docs. It’s all about YOU.

...

The YOU Docs had a column with the headline: “Research backs acupuncture for a range of ill’s“. More fiction? Research backs acupuncture? News to me, but they are, after all, YOU Docs, and therefore may have information not accessible to mere docs with a small ‘d’. I grant up front to the authors that it is hard to be rigorous, or even coherent, in a 452 word essay. I am over 3,200 words for this entry. There are also no references, so I have to assume I found the correct research mentioned by the hints in the text.

...

Just where is this “impressive body of 21st-century research” supporting acupuncture? Acupuncture research is mostly a collection of poorly done studies that demonstrate marginal effect and a few definitive studies that show no efficacy. The body of 21st century research does not support acupuncture, at least if you bother to acquaint yourself with the details of the studies. As a rule of thumb, when there are multiple studies hovering around efficacious, some showing benefit and others not, it is unlikely that any clinically relevant effect is occurring.

...

“It either works or it doesn’t. Same for people.” For acupuncture, it’s the latter. That statement, from the YOU Docs, is as simple a dismissal of evidence and scientific based medicine I have ever read. Anecdote rules!

..."

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It's a long piece that dissects the BS propaganda pushed in a mainstream newspaper by the YOU Docs, aka snake oil sales people. It's worth the read for anyone who has yet to challenge beliefs based solely on anecdote or a reading of literature only from the perspective of the purveyors of such treatments.

And, well, that is all.

:hi:

[BanzaiBonnie]

1. Yes, and pharmaceuticals either work or they don't

I am not anti-scientific method, just always question the results. I don't believe science is the be all end all.

This goes both ways. Yes, there are snake oil salesmen. Plenty. Some of them wear suits and are phamaceutical salesmen that ply doctors with samples to pass out.

I personally know a woman who used to set up the studies for a major pharmaceutical company. She's out now and says if the results did not fit the parameters of the study, they would just go in and change the parameters to fit THE RESULTS.

[semillama]

2. Funny

We have a poster here who actually works in the field, and she can tell you more than you want to know about the rigorous controls for studies.

[HuckleB]

4. +1

[HuckleB]

3. Thanks for the usual red herring.

:eyes:

[BanzaiBonnie]

5. I think there is no need to be rude

I gave you feedback on my experience or of someone I directly know and you call it a red herring. When you parry with that sort of thing it means you have no where else to go.


Is disagreement not permissible by your standards? That's rigid, inflexible and why I don't usually respond to such posts. If your desire is to only have people post who agree with you, then that's your call. I'll leave it.


I believe modern medicine saves lives. No doubt. I also believe it is not all there is.

[HuckleB]

6. No, you gave the usual red herring, and I simply called it for what it is.

It's old, it's pointless and it says that you don't give a crap about the topic at hand.

You gave more than your supposed experience of someone you supposedly know. (An experience that directly contradicts my experiences with research and researchers.) If you can't actually discuss the OP, then please refrain from offering up red herrings. Start your own thread about those topics.

Thank you.

[HuckleB]

7. Further reading on the sham that acupuncture appears to be...

Acupuncture and the Placebo Effect
http://getbetterhealth.com/acupuncture-and-the-placebo-effect/2007.06.21

Acupuncture Doesn’t Work, Believers Ignore Evidence
http://getbetterhealth.com/acupuncture-doesnt-work-believers-ignore-evidence/2009.03.23