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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOrac wants you to join the Society for Science-Based Medicine
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2014/01/07/orac-wants-you-to-join-the-society-for-science-based-medicine/Im also going to add a few words of my own, because I cant help it. (As Hans Solo once said, Hey, its me.) The reason this new organization, the Society for Science-Based Medicine, is so needed is because, quite frankly, in the skeptical movement SBM is but one area of many areas of concern, and, in my estimation, one that doesnt receive attention proportional to the real societal damage done by quackery. That has changed a bit (this years TAM featured two talks on Stanislaw Burzynski, and the skeptical movement has shown a gratifying movement towards combatting the antivaccine movement over the last few years), but, even so, I dont think I exaggerate too much when I say that, even now, SBM tends not to be as prominent a concern in organized skepticism as other brands of pseudoscience and unreason, in particular creationism, religion, and the paranormal. This viewpoint should be nothing new to regular readers of this blog; Ive made no secret of my opinion. It should also come as no surprise that I tend not to be an anti-theism warrior, if ever I was. Im perfectly happy to let others fight that battle. These days, the only time I ever address such issues tends to be when they intersect with medicine, as in the case of Sarah Hershberger or Christian Science believers using prayer instead of medicine to treat diabetes in children. Nor should it surprise anyone that I write much less about evolution and the paranormal than I used to do back in the early years of this blog, although I do still occasionally wander back to revisit those territories from time to time, particularly when evolution intersects with medicine, as it does so much in cancer.
No, these days Ive pretty much specialized, and thats whats needed in medicine, a specialization in promoting science and combatting pseudoscience in medicine, hence the need for a new organization. SBM and how pseudomedicine threatens public health are my main topics now. The harm pseudomedicine does is undeniable; it is direct and indirect; and it is often immediate. Worse, as Ive described time and time again, both here and at my not-so-super-secret other blog, it is invading and metastasizing throughout the field of medicine, in particular in medical academia, a phenomenon I like to refer to as quackademic medicine. Those of us who try to slow or block the rise of pseudomedicine are scattered, outgunned, underfunded, and beset by a profound apathy in the medical profession, also known as the shruggie phenomenon. Its a rag tag band against Dr Oz and his media empire. Skeptical organizations, on the other hand, have segments of their membership who are interested in combatting quackery, but they tend to lack the expertise, with relatively few physicians and other medical professionals available. The problem is that so few physicians actually know what complementary and alternative medicine is, why integrative medicine is the integration of pseudoscience with SBM, and what the basis of much of CAM really is, and fewer still have an interest in skepticism.
A new organization is needed to counter unreason and pseudoscience in medicine. That is why the Society for Science-Based Medicine is being founded. That is why I want you to join us.
For more details, please read Mark Crislips announcement and, if the idea of such an organization appeals to you, join:
We are proud to announce a new organization: The Society for Science-Based Medicine.
A Society for a community of like-minded individuals, both in and out of health care, who support the goals of Science-Based Medicine.
People should not suffer, die, go bankrupt, and lose time and hope because of complementary and alternative pseudo-medicine.
The mission of the Society for Science-Based Medicine includes, but is not limited to,
1 Educating consumers, professionals, business people, legislators, law enforcement personnel, organizations and agencies about Science-Based Medicine.
2 Providing resources and information for information concerning all aspects of Science-Based Medicine.
3 Providing a central resource for communication between individuals and organizations concerned about Science-Based Medicine.
4 Supporting sound consumer health laws for the practice of Science-Base Medicine and opposing legislation that undermines Science-Based Medicine.
5 Encouraging and aiding legal actions in support of the practice of Science-Based Medicine.
Sid
dionysus
(26,467 posts)MattBaggins
(7,904 posts)MattBaggins
(7,904 posts)SidDithers
(44,228 posts)me too
Sid
Octafish
(55,745 posts)Are there big bucks in debunking?
http://www.amazingmeeting.com/tam2013/speakers/
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Sid
Octafish
(55,745 posts)Is that a not-for-profit organization?
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)but I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's a hotel and casino.
Sid
Orrex
(63,220 posts)Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)That old fuck. He used to stand there with the 'gay is a disease' people and nod along with them which is why I have never respected him.
At least he finally found the courage and honesty to do what most of us do in our much younger years.
Better late than never, I guess. So much harm he did with his cowardice.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)always take what they say with a grain of salt the size of a Toyota. They claimed 'evidence' showed that being gay was a disease, which they sought to cure. They did this not in the 1800's, but in the 20th Century, until the 1970's. That ignorance lead them to be utterly unprepared for the greatest health crisis of our time, and that cost thousands of lives.
Grain of salt because like Marcus Bachmann, 'Science' said gay was a sickness and they could cure it, for a fee.
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Sid
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)They held that bigotry as if it was 'science' for about 150 years. Maybe in a century we can drop the grain.
40 years is not that long, James Randi is mentioned in this thread. He's old enough to have been teaching his 'Science Based is always right' sermon in the 70's. He was gay then too, trust me. But he did not boldly counter the bullshit 'Science' was spouting, oh no, and now he refuses to talk about that. He never lifted a finger to counter the Superstition posing as Science then, when it counted and when it would have taken personal courage from him. Now he showboats as 'skeptic' but then he nodded along as accomplice.
Some doctor in CA just recently listed 'chronic homosexuality' as a diagnosis for a patient. That sort of ignorance does not simply vanish, and none of those who took part in the worst days did a thing to correct what they'd done.
Like Marcus Bachmann, only they called it 'Medical Science' and then poked out the frontal lobe as 'treatment for homosexuality'.
Grain of salt. Too dangerous to think otherwise. They did lobotomies, to 'cure the gay'. Big giant grain of science flavored salt.
etherealtruth
(22,165 posts)GoneOffShore
(17,340 posts)I've always been a fan of Orac over at Science Blogs. And his Respectful Insolence is a great read.
He's an excellent skewer-er of the anti-vax, anti-pharma, "they're hiding the cures from us", "fill in the blank" CURES CANCER crowd.
And in the cold, woo filled winter he is a comfort.
eShirl
(18,502 posts)sorry, it sounds like that cruise ship fiasco last year with the backed up toilets, etc.