Confessions of a Quackbuster

This blog deals with healthcare consumer protection, and is therefore about quackery, healthfraud, chiropractic, and other forms of so-Called "Alternative" Medicine (sCAM).

Sunday, July 18, 2004

Treasure Chest of Quotes & Jokes

Here are a few quotes from the beginning of my quotes pages:

"There cannot be two kinds of medicine - conventional and alternative. There is only medicine that has been adequately tested and medicine that has not, medicine that works and medicine that may or may not work. Once a treatment has been tested rigorously, it no longer matters whether it was considered alternative at the outset. If it is found to be reasonably safe and effective, it will be accepted." - Angell M, Kassirer JP, "Alternative medicine--the risks of untested and unregulated remedies." N Engl J Med 1998;339:839.

***

"There is no alternative medicine. There is only scientifically proven, evidence-based medicine supported by solid data or unproven medicine, for which scientific evidence is lacking. Whether a therapeutic practice is 'Eastern' or 'Western,' is unconventional or mainstream, or involves mind-body techniques or molecular genetics is largely irrelevant except for historical purposes and cultural interest. As believers in science and evidence, we must focus on fundamental issues-namely, the patient, the target disease or condition, the proposed or practiced treatment, and the need for convincing data on safety and therapeutic efficacy." - Fontanarosa P.B., and Lundberg G.D. "Alternative medicine meets science" JAMA. 1998; 280: 1618-1619.

***

> It is apparent to me that the simply black and white view of> alt-med (AM)/evidence-based-med (EBM) is dysfunctional and> often leads to quack busters and skeptics looking silly."Recently we on the list have begun to use the term evidence-based medicine instead of "traditional" medicine. Of course, the opposite of evidence-based medicine is not "alternative medicine," but "unproven medicine." Dr. Dean Edell was the first person I heard divide medicine in this manner: what is known to work, what is known not to work, and what is still unsatisfactorily investigated."Now, can you honestly say that if you were a physician, you could, in good conscience, recommend that a patient take a substance or undergo a procedure which was either known to be ineffective or the efficacy (and dangers) of which were unknown?"Lauren Eve Pomerantz

***

"Evidence-based methods are effective, and effective methods should be evidence-based. If a method appears to be effective, then it should be possible to prove it. If the research has not been done yet, it should be. We must remember that 'Absence of proof is not the same as the absence of fact; it simply demonstrates the lack of adequate research.' - Robert Sydenham. 'Lack of evidence in the literature is not evidence of lack of effectiveness.'" - Paul Lee

***

"Science is a way of thinking, much more than it is a body of facts." - Carl Sagan

***

"Science is not a body of information. Science is a method of investigation."

***

"The medicine that I use has two things that distinguish it from some other forms of "medicine:"1. It appears to work anywhere on the planet. 2. I don't have to believe in it for it to work."David Ramey, DVM

***

"Scholars are trained to scrutinize, to insist on adequate evidence, to ferret out logical inconsistencies and weak arguments. We are naturally suspicious of claims that go beyond our experience. Scholars are trained skeptics. Our professional motto is 'show me'. Where's your evidence? If you can't prove it, you shouldn't believe it!...If trust is the natural disposition of childhood, doubt is our disposition as adults. Academic training cultivates an ethic of suspicion, if not unbelief....we've learned to put every aspect of life through the fire of critical reflection....[But] the fact we don't know everything doesn't mean we don't know anything." - Richard Rice, Ph.D.; Spectrum, v. 28:1, pp. 39-40.

***

"The mind may find unique ways to express what it conceives of reality, but reality remains unchanged by the mind's efforts." - David Haas

***


There are plenty more!

Treasure Chest of Quotes & Jokes