Category Archives: General

Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine

What Is It? Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is marketed as a set of theories and practices developed over centuries in China. In reality, it is a label applied to a varied and inconsistent set of practices drawn from a variety … Continue reading

Posted in Acupuncture, General, Herbs and Supplements | 36 Comments

The Economist says, “There is no alternative medicine.”

It’s rare to see the popular press cover alternative medicine in anything but a friendly way. Because those selling CAM are selling hope and faith as an integral part of most of their remedies, there tends to be a positive … Continue reading

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Evidence-Based Medicine Works Better

There are a lot of theoretical arguments in favor of science-based and evidence-based medicine and against the alternatives of opinion-based, tradition-based, or faith-based medicine, and I have discussed many of these (for example, Medical Cognition, Spiraling Empiricism, the Dunning-Kruger Effect, … Continue reading

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Holistic Dog Breeding

The vast majority of our companion dogs and cats are neutered, for a variety of good reasons. As a consequence, the healthcare of breeding animals is not a major part of most small animal practices, and it hasn’t been a … Continue reading

Posted in General, Herbs and Supplements, Homeopathy | 12 Comments

SkeptVet Survey Results

The results of the SkeptVet Survey are in! In the week the survey has been available, I have collected 28 responses. While this is by no means a scientific poll, I appreciate everyone who took the time to contribute, and … Continue reading

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SkeptVet Survey

In the nearly two years I have been producing this blog, there have been a lto of changes. The visual format, links, and organization structure has changed. I have changed, and hopefully improved, my writing style and content. And the … Continue reading

Posted in General | 3 Comments

Veterinarians and Evidence-Based Medicine

? Early in 2010, the Practitioner Committee of the EBVMA conducted a survey of practicing veterinarians in the United States concerning their familiarity with the terms and concepts of evidence-based medicine and their attitudes towards it. The survey instrument was … Continue reading

Posted in General | 4 Comments

A Primer on Medical Cognition

One subject that I am perennially interested in is the nature of how people in general, and doctors in particular, make decisions and judgments, and how that process can go wrong. I’ve written about the pitfalls of spiraling empiricism, cognitive … Continue reading

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SkeptVet Gets Hate Mail

This blog grew out of my own efforts to educate myself and my clients. I began looking into alternative medicine in veterinary school (about 14 years ago now, gasp!). Having heard about James Reston’s supposed acupuncture anesthesia in the 1970s, … Continue reading

Posted in General | 21 Comments

Spiraling Empiricism: Antibiotic Use as a Model for Pitfalls in Medical Decision Making

About two years ago, Mark Crislip over at Science-Based Medicine wrote about an article that had a profound impact on his practices as an M.D. specializing in infectious disease, Observations on Spiraling Empiricism. He recently mentioned this article again on … Continue reading

Posted in General, Science-Based Veterinary Medicine | 2 Comments