[ FROM THE EDITOR 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. Al cock, Harriet Hall, Ray Hyman, 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- CONSULT ING EDI 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.” CONTRIB UT ING EDI 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 EDI TOR Ben ja min Rad ford Julia Lavarnway sicians, especially those who publicly defend science-based medicine, have MANA GING EDI TOR ART DIRECT OR Christo pher Fix found themselves on the receiving end of such insults to themselves and their PRODUC 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- PUBLISH ER’S REPRE SENT A TIVE Bar ry Karr ments . . . and Their Rebuttals,” Hall compiles the most often-heard ratio- CORPO RATE COUNSEL Brenton N. VerPloeg, Nicholas J. Little nalizations for alternative medicine and answers them in her own pithy way. I BUSINESS MANA GER Pa tri cia Beau champ think this may be the most comprehensive list ever done on the topic—and her FISCAL OFFI 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. INQUIRY MEDIA PRODUC TIONS Thom as Flynn Harriet Hall is very familiar to SI readers. Since retiring as an Air Force DIRECT OR OF LIBRAR 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 offi cial jour nal of the She does it with calm confidence and flair. By our count this is her sixteenth Com mittee 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 bimonth ly by the Commit tee for Skeptical Inquiry, 3965 Retired CERN senior physicist John Eades returns to our pages with Rensch Road, Amherst, NY 14228. Printed in U.S.A. Peri 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 offi ces. Subscrip tion prices: one year (six issues), $35; arguments opponents of climate science make with great authority that have two years, $60; three years, $84; sin gle is sue, $4.95. Cana di an and foreign orders: Payment in U.S. funds drawn no empirical backing. Eades could easily have added ten more, but you get on a U.S. bank must accom pa ny orders; please add US$10 the point. per year for shipping. Cana di an and foreign custom ers are encour aged to use Visa or Master Card. Canada Publications 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, Amherst, 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, Manu scripts, letters, books for review, and edi to ri al in- the World Meteorological Organization—announcing that greenhouse gas quiries should be sent to Kendrick Frazi er, Edi 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. 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