Thursday, December 4, 2008

Debunkings in the News! Mostly.

An international doctors panel appointed by the Roman Catholic Church is getting out of the business of determining whether visitors to Lourdes may have experienced miraculous healing. Good for them.! Though, some of the language the spokesman for the panel uses disturbs me.

Reynold Ducasse, a Haitian physician, has a new book out which debunks the zombie myths specifically the Wilfred Doricent case. The Doricent thing has been blasted several times before (scroll down to the Zombies section) but it's nice to see a Haitian doctor take it on.

Orac takes a recent meta-analysis of acupuncture apart letter by letter. Get some popcorn and watch the fun.

If you have kids and you're on the fence about getting them vaccinated, I urge you to read this article by Dr. Steven Novella. Related topic: Dr. Jay Gordon is not just a complete douche, he's actively dangerous because he's advising people not to get vaccinations. So, when the herd immunity for our species goes away and we have epidemics of measles and influenza sweeping the nation we'll know who to blame.

I know I've said this before but here we go again: My son is autistic but I don't blame vaccines. Why don't I blame them? Is it because Orac and Dr. Novella and others told me that vaccines don't cause autism? Hell no! It's because people like Orac and Dr. Novella and Dr. Andrew Offit pointed me towards credible, scientifc studies and actual resources where I could find the information and THINK FOR MYSELF by making an informed decision about the health of my child. Don't take my word for it. If you're reading this, you're sitting at a computer with internet access. Go find the information for yourself.

Science-Based Medicine and Respectful Insolence are both great places to start.

jessiemarion of Rational Moms provides some perspective on the The Myth of the Sugar High. She even includes references and stuff.

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