tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7323692122514281455.post8615822777985606354..comments2024-03-29T09:01:51.993-04:00Comments on MD Whistleblower: Medical Complications Torture Doctors TooMichael Kirsch, M.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07555280388086931097noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7323692122514281455.post-78566778004599610072014-10-05T10:14:09.823-04:002014-10-05T10:14:09.823-04:00Anonymous comment appreciated. I completely agree ...Anonymous comment appreciated. I completely agree that the presence of 'medical evidence' does not guarantee healing. Conversely, the absence of evidence does not meant that the treatment will be ineffective. I am happy to hear that you found a treatment that is helping you. I presume that we both agree that the pursuit of evidence should be the desired avenue and that selecting treatments that have not been tested should be done with appropriate skepticism. While an anecdote may have value, it is not sufficient for declaring a therapy as effective. Michael Kirsch, M.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07555280388086931097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7323692122514281455.post-88524995767988900352014-10-04T21:44:38.141-04:002014-10-04T21:44:38.141-04:00I don't think that you can paint all of altern...I don't think that you can paint all of alternative/holistic/integrative medicine with one big broad brush.<br /> I am an MD who suffered for many years from a mild case of chronic fatigue syndrome. I would have what seemed to be a mild cold, with a little scratchy throat and fatigue, on and off for years. The wife would say, Go to the doctor, and I would reply, I am a doctor, and they have nothing to offer me. (I read the chapter in Harrisons, multiple times over the years.) To humor her, I went to several doctors, and indeed, they had nothing to offer.<br /> Then, this year, someone gave me a copy of a book written by some quack up in Michigan, David Brownstein, and I ultimately decided that I was desperate enough to try his anecdote-driven medicine, and guess what, I am already 50% better. Maybe I will pay for it in the long run, but I couldn't keep laying around on the couch each and every evening.<br /> Evidence-based medicine is a nice mantra, but there will never be enough randomized clinical trials filling all of the niches in medicine. Furthermore, evidence comes from money -- big money -- and no blockbuster drug will ever be made from vegetable juice, vitamin B6, or DHEA.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7323692122514281455.post-50472119301022206082014-09-30T20:14:44.550-04:002014-09-30T20:14:44.550-04:00They will eventually have a day of reckoning. It&...They will eventually have a day of reckoning. It's going to be costly in more than one way. A sad era for medicine has arrived when we should be celebrating the real achievements. Thanks for your always honest answers.Barbarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00313716079029892053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7323692122514281455.post-48779705386427826922014-09-30T17:04:49.643-04:002014-09-30T17:04:49.643-04:00Thanks, Barbara. I read through the article. I&#...Thanks, Barbara. I read through the article. I'm in Cleveland so I know all the players. My opinion on the integrative stuff is what you would expect, and has appeared on this blog. While I do not suggest what practitioners of western medicine have all the answers, at least is demands medical evidence produced, when possible, by the scientific medicine. The integrative/holistic enterprise is market driven, in my view, to respond to a growing hunger for alternative healing by the public. Strangely, the public demands no evidence of efficacy and is pleased to rely upon junk science or a few anecdotes. No FDA approval needed, which these companies are grateful for. Why would they want to subject their treatments to objective and rigorous scrutiny?Michael Kirsch, M.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07555280388086931097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7323692122514281455.post-27348384922133631922014-09-30T16:02:14.065-04:002014-09-30T16:02:14.065-04:00Don't miss this one: http://www.sciencebasedm...Don't miss this one: http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/quackademia-update-2014/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=quackademia-update-2014Barbarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00313716079029892053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7323692122514281455.post-51913076501363623442014-09-30T15:48:44.894-04:002014-09-30T15:48:44.894-04:00I fear it is about to become far more complicated ...I fear it is about to become far more complicated with the integration of "alternative therapies" and "holistic medicine therapies". Lumped under the term "Integrative Oncology", it is even showing up at the cancer centers. All I see is the medical establishment providing unnecessary practices for hypochondriacs who are miraculously "cured" or even slightly helped by quackery on occasion, because the establishments are lured by the lucrative addition of "complimentary medicine". I'd love your opinion of the article at a site I'm happily investigating called sciencebasedmedicine.org. The article is here: http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/announcement-integrative-oncology-really-the-best-of-both-worlds/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=announcement-integrative-oncology-really-the-best-of-both-worlds <br /><br />I'd also love to know your opinion of the medical facilities that are offering this add-on. Barbarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00313716079029892053noreply@blogger.com