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Skep Ti Cal in Quir Er™ the MAG a ZINE for SCI ENCE and REA SON 44 Doctor-Bashing Arguments EDI TOR Kend Rick Fra Zi Er EDI to RI AL BOARD James E

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Skep Ti Cal in Quir Er™ the MAG a ZINE for SCI ENCE and REA SON 44 Doctor-Bashing Arguments EDI TOR Kend Rick Fra Zi Er EDI to RI AL BOARD James E [ FROM THE EDITOR Skep ti cal In quir er™ THE MAG A ZINE FOR SCI ENCE AND REA SON 44 Doctor-Bashing Arguments ED I TOR Kend rick Fra zi er ED I TO RI AL BOARD James E. Al cock, Harriet Hall, Ray Hy man, Scott O. Lilienfeld, . and Harriet Hall’s Rebuttals Elizabeth Loftus, Joe Nickell, Steven Novella, Am ar deo Sar ma, Eugenie C. Scott, Karen Stollznow, David E. Thomas, ou’ve heard the arguments: “Doctors only treat symptoms, not the underlying Leonard Tramiel cause of disease.” “You are just supporting the party line of mainstream medi- CON SULT ING ED I TORS Sus an J. Black more, Ken neth L. Fed er, Barry Karr, E.C. Krupp, Ycine.” “Doctors don’t do prevention.” “Alternative medicine is better because it’s Jay M. Pasachoff, Rich ard Wis e man holistic.” “It’s natural, therefore it’s safe.” “We have plenty of testimonials.” CON TRIB UT ING ED I TORS D.J. Grothe, Harriet Hall, Kenneth W. Krause, David Morrison, James E. Enthusiasts for so-called alternative medicine are fond of hurling these Oberg, Massimo Pigliucci, Rob ert Sheaf fer, David and other doctor-bashing arguments back at physicians and others who have E. Thomas the temerity to question their untested alternative remedies and fads. All phy- DEPUTY ED I TOR Ben ja min Rad ford Julia Lavarnway sicians, especially those who publicly defend science-based medicine, have MAN A GING ED I TOR ART DI RECT OR Chri sto pher Fix found themselves on the receiving end of such insults to themselves and their PRO DUC TION Paul E. Loynes science. Many physicians don’t have the will or specific knowledge to respond ASSISTANT EDITOR Mo Madden effectively. WEBMASTER Matthew Licata Not Harriet Hall, MD. In our cover article, “44 Doctor-Bashing Argu- PUB LISH ER’S REP RE SENT A TIVE Bar ry Karr ments . and Their Rebuttals,” Hall compiles the most often-heard ratio- COR PO RATE COUN SEL Brenton N. VerPloeg, Nicholas J. Little nalizations for alternative medicine and answers them in her own pithy way. I BUSI NESS MAN A GER Pa tri cia Beau champ think this may be the most comprehensive list ever done on the topic—and her FIS CAL OF FI CER Paul Pau lin rebuttals the most direct, to the point, and readable. Some of the arguments SUBSCRIPTION DATA MANAGER Jacalyn Mohr are directed not just at medical science but at science in general: “Science keeps STAFF Melissa Braun, Roe Giambrone, changing its mind.” “Science is dogmatic.” “Science doesn’t know everything.” “There An tho ny San ta Lu cia, Diane Tobin, Vance Vi grass COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Paul Fidalgo are other ways of knowing.” She answers those too. IN QUIRY ME DIA PRO DUC TIONS Thom as Flynn Harriet Hall is very familiar to SI readers. Since retiring as an Air Force DI RECT OR OF LI BRAR IES Tim o thy S. Binga flight surgeon and family physician she has taken up arms responding to ACTING DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Jason Gross medical-related pseudoscience and misinformation about scientific medicine. The SKEP TI CAL IN QUIR ER is the of fi cial jour nal of the She does it with calm confidence and flair. By our count this is her sixteenth Com mit tee for Skeptical Inquiry, Skeptical Inquirer feature article. The first was in 2003. She wrote about an in ter na tion al or gan i za tion. homeopathy and faith healing in our two previous issues. The SKEP TI CAL IN QUIR ER (ISSN 0194-6730) is pub lished bi month ly by the Com mit tee for Skeptical Inquiry, 3965 Retired CERN senior physicist John Eades returns to our pages with Rensch Road, Am herst, NY 14228. Print ed in U.S.A. Pe ri od- “Some Popular Global Warming Factoids.” He gives brief responses to ten i cals post age paid at Buf fa lo, NY, and at ad di tion al mail ing of fi ces. Sub scrip tion pri ces: one year (six is sues), $35; arguments opponents of climate science make with great authority that have two years, $60; three years, $84; sin gle is sue, $4.95. Ca na di an and for eign or ders: Pay ment in U.S. funds drawn no empirical backing. Eades could easily have added ten more, but you get on a U.S. bank must ac com pa ny or ders; please add US$10 the point. per year for ship ping. Ca na di an and for eign cus tom ers are en cour aged to use Vi sa or Mas ter Card. Canada Pub lications One point he doesn’t address is the current “hiatus” in global warming. Mail Agreement No. 41153509. Return undeliverable Ca- Contrarians make much of it, but the science tells us that the excess heat is, nadian addresses to: IMEX, P.O. Box 4332, Station Rd., Toronto , ON M5W 3J4. for the time being, going into the deep oceans. New papers in the August 22 In quir ies from the me dia and the pub lic about the work of the Com mit tee should be made to Barry Karr, Executive Science and the August 3 Nature Climate Change report ocean temperature Director, CSI, P.O. Box 703, Am herst, NY 14226-0703. Tel.: data showing that deep layers of the Atlantic and Southern Oceans are rapidly 716-636-1425. Fax: 716-636-1733. Email: bkarr@center forinquiry.net. warming, temporarily storing vast amounts of excess heat. On September 9, Man u scripts, let ters, books for re view, and ed i to ri al in- the World Meteorological Organization—announcing that greenhouse gas quir ies should be sent to Kend rick Fra zi er, Ed i tor, SKEP- TI CAL IN QUIR ER, EMAIL: [email protected]. levels in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2013 (and rose last year Mail: 944 Deer Drive NE, Al bu querque, NM 87122. Be fore sub mit ting any man u script, please con sult our updated at the highest rate in thirty years)—said essentially the same thing. But the and expanded Guide for Au thors for styles, ref er en ce re- Science authors expect the process that is causing the enhanced ocean heat quirements, and submittal re quire ments. It is on our web- site in two formats at www.csi cop.org/pub lications/guide. sink will inevitably “flip sign,” and then “another episode of accelerated global Ar ti cles, re ports, re views, and let ters pub lished in the SKEP- warming should ensue.” TI CAL IN QUIR ER rep re sent the views and work of in di vid u al au thors. Their pub li ca tion does not nec es sa ri ly con sti tute Martin Gardner would have been one hundred years old in October. We an en dorse ment by CSI or its mem bers un less so stat ed. join in a national celebration of the centennial of this great skeptic’s birth by Cop y right ©2014 by the Com mit tee for Skeptical Inquiry. All rights re served. The SKEP TI CAL IN QUIR ER is avail a ble on reprinting some of his seminal SI columns, starting in this issue with his first, 16mm mi cro film, 35mm mi cro film, and 105mm mi cro- fiche from Uni ver si ty Mi cro films In ter na tion al and is in- “Lessons of a Landmark PK Hoax.” dexed in the Read ers’ Guide to Pe ri od i cal Lit er a ture. Enjoy Martin’s clear thinking. Sub scrip tions and chan ges of ad dress should be ad- dressed to: SKEP TI CAL IN QUIR ER, P.O. Box 703, Am herst, NY —Kendrick Frazier 14226-0703. Or call toll-free 1-800-634-1610 (out side the U.S. call 716-636-1425). Old ad dress as well as new are nec es sa ry for change of sub scrib er’s ad dress, with six Committee for Skeptical Inquiry weeks ad vance no tice. SKEP TI CAL IN QUIR ER sub scrib ers may not speak on be half of CSI or the SKEP TI CAL IN QUIR ER. “... promotes scientific inquiry, critical investigation, and the use Post mas ter: Send chan ges of ad dress to SKEP TI CAL of reason in examining controversial and extraordinary claims.” IN QUIR ER, P.O. Box 703, Am herst, NY 14226-0703. .
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