Author Archives: skeptvet

The Three Most Dangerous Words in Medicine

This slide presentation, and narrated video version, look briefly at the danger of relying on individual clinical experience rather than formal scientific research in making medical decisions. Slide Presentation Clinical Trials or Clinical Experience?

Posted in General | 2 Comments

Can Complementary and Alternative Medicine be Evidence-Based?

This slide presentation, and the narrated video version, are part of a talk given at the annual convention of the American Veterinary Medical Association. The subject was whether or not one can apply the approach of evidence-based medicine to complementary and … Continue reading

Posted in General | 2 Comments

Dog Cancer Expert Steven Eisen: Bad Advice from an Unreliable Source (restored)

The direct quotations from Dr. Eisen’s web sites were temporarily removed pending the outcome of a DMCA copyright complaint. Since no legal action was taken during the 14-day waiting period mandated under the DMCA, the original quotations have been restored. … Continue reading

Posted in General | 12 Comments

Dr. Eisen Takes Legal Action to Suppress Criticism

In the true spirit of quackery, which cannot bear criticism or the exposure of its absurdities, Dr. Steven Eisen has expeditiously taken action to suppress my criticism of his marketing himself as a dog cancer expert despite no formal training … Continue reading

Posted in Law, Regulation, and Politics | 20 Comments

Medical Miracles: Should We Believe?

Any time there is discussion of alternative medicine, of treatments that haven’t passed the test of rigorous scientific investigation (or even been tested at all), there are miracle stories. Testimonials, anecdotes, whatever you call them, they are tales of amazing … Continue reading

Posted in General | 10 Comments

What do Veterinarians Know About Nutrition?

It is not unusual for people promoting unconventional, approaches to pet nutrition, such as raw diets, grain free foods, homemade diets, a preference for organic ingredients, and so on, to dismiss objections to these approaches made by veterinarians. These people … Continue reading

Posted in Nutrition | 36 Comments

From SBM: Alternative Medicine Claims to “Individualize” Therapy, but Does It?

Posted today on the Science-Based Medicine Blog Testing the “Individualization” of CAM Treatments   One of the common claims of alternative medicine practitioners is that they individualize their treatment while conventional medicine treats all patients the same. This is nonsense … Continue reading

Posted in General, Herbs and Supplements | Leave a comment

New Study on Raw Diets for Dogs Adds Little to Ongoing Debate

I am always on the lookout for research studies concerning raw diets for dogs and cats. A lot of claims are made about the health benefits of raw diets, but there is no substantive body of evidence to justify these … Continue reading

Posted in Nutrition | 6 Comments

FDA Finds Widespread and Serious Violations of Safety and Quality Control Regulations for Dietary Supplements

Despite the possibility that some dietary supplements could have real health benefits, there are many reasons to be skeptical of the safety and value of most supplements on the market. Most have not been tested scientifically to an extent that … Continue reading

Posted in Herbs and Supplements, Law, Regulation, and Politics | 2 Comments

Dowsing and Homeopathy: Using Magic to Test Magic

Like the subject of pet psychics, the subject of dowsing is one I never thought it would be necessary to write about. This form of divination, like casting rune stones or knuckle bones and examining the entrails of sacrificial animals, … Continue reading

Posted in Homeopathy | 9 Comments