Tag Archives: Quackademic Medicine

Critiquing the Skeptics re “Funny how you never see Orac and this person in the same place at the same time”

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“Funny how you never see Orac and this person in the same place at the same time”

#1 – Marc Stephens Is Insane – 3/30/2013

“Eric Merola and DJT have already resorted to making fun of Orac’s “friend’s” presentation on the #burzynski thread

“They are now disputing the “sugar does not feed cancer” claim that is raised in the video”

“NOW DISPUTING” ?

I do NOT need to waste my time “DISPUTING” the

“sugar does not feed cancer”

claim

That has already been done by organizations in the USA, as I noted here; the bottom 1/4th:
https://stanislawrajmundburzynski.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/critiquing-david-h-gorski-quackademic-medicine

#2 – Marc Stephens Is Insane – 3/30

“To wit, the twit:”
http://twitpic.com/cffrfv

Does this mean that some poor sod has to suffer through an Orac’s “friend’s”

“Alternative sleep therapy”

video in order to determine where THIS reference came from?

It’s NOT like ORAC’s “friend” did NOT already do a fabulous job at estranging the whole “Faith-Based” segment of society

Gorski, care to repeat your little insignificant presentation at the Southern Baptists’ Convention, for example?

#8 – Neil B. Feldman – Rockville, MD – 3/30

“Orac, I am the fellow in the audience (with stage IV RCC on Sutent) who asked about nutrition and the fact that marginalizing this vital subject just pushes it further into the arms of sCAMers”

The man I mentioned at “20.” of my “Critiquing David H. Gorski – Quackademic Medicine” blog post

#9 – David James – 3/30
http://www.skeptical.gb.net
“MSII – I think you’ll find Orac’s friend has posted this as a direct conciquence of Eric and DJT linking to it”

“Conspiracy Theorist” David James; as can be expected from a fair number of “Skeptics,” as a “conciquence” of being a “Skeptic,” gets it WRONG

I did NOT link to it on Twitter

THAT, was Eric

“Personally, I think it’s odd that you only ever see them in the same place at the same time… I mean seriously guys, get a room!!”

I suggest a “Time-Out” for you in your own “get a” personalized rubber room

#10 – JayBee – Everywhere Else –
3/30

“MSII #5:
Jake’s appearance was neat and clean enough

I was more entertained by his attempts to engage Dr. Gorski after the meeting by loudly and repeatedly asking”

“Since when is everywhere else a geographical location?”

There were much better subjects that could have been “broached” with Orac’s “friend”

Like:

“Would you like some sugar with your Black Crowes?

#11 – Melissa G – 3/30

“Orac, your “friend’s” HEAVY SIGHS at the Quackademic medicine during the presentation were the most awesome part!”

Ohhh, trust me

THAT was NOWHERE near close to being:

“the most awesome part!”

“Poor Jake

He just absolutely does not understand the meaning of cherry-picking”

Do NOT worry

Do NOT be afraid

Orac’s “friend” provided him with a plethora of examples of:

“cherry-picking”

“You TOTALLY pwned him … “

“Someone” got “pwned,” his name begins with the Big “O,” and he resides behind a CAM (Clear And Magic) curtain, in the “Land of Oz,” similar to the Emperor who has no clothes

” … he pulled out of his arse”

EXACTLY!!!

#13 – S – 3/30

“Jake’s appearance was neat and clean enough

I was more entertained by his attempts to engage Dr. Gorski after the meeting by loudly and repeatedly asking”

“Since when is everywhere else a geographical location?”

Is there an ECHO ECHo ECho Echo echo in here from #10?

#22 – Alain – 3/30

” … for some peoples, it’s all about me, myself and I”

Or in Orac’s and his “friend’s” case:

it’s all about @OracKnows, @gorskon and @ScienceBasedMed

#39 – Quokka – Pretoria South Africa – just for a change – 4/1

“Posting here will make a difference to others who are beginning to question”

Maybe as long as you do NOT begin to

“question”

Orac and his “Oracolytes”
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2013/03/30/funny-how-you-never-see-orac-and-this-person-in-the-same-place-at-the-same-time

Critiquing David H. Gorski – Quackademic Medicine

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Twenty-one (21) things I learned (first hand) from the recent screening of David H. Gorski – Quackademic Medicine
(Or, in layman’s terms: 21 pick-up)

David Gorski (@gorskon) tweeted at 8:12am – 30 Mar 13:
http://t.co/Pctpb3RFHs

“Funny how you never see Orac and this person in the same place at the same time”

Orac (@oracknows) tweeted at 9:16am – 30 Mar 13:
http://t.co/uVDgYnrkOn

Posted by Orac on March 30, 2013

“Three weeks ago, a certain

“friend”

(one David H. Gorski, MD, PhD, FACS, managing editor of
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org
#sciencebasedmedicine
http://www.scienceblogs.com/Insolence
@ScienceBasedMed @gorskon @oracknows)

of mine gave a talk to the National Capital Area Skeptics at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, VA”

(3/9/2013)
http://www.ncas.org/2013/02/mar-9-david-h-gorski-quackademic.html?m=1
The topic was one near and dear to my heart, namely quackademic medicine; so I couldn’t resist posting a link to the video”

(4/1/2013 – Amazingly the YouTube video displays “no stream” Quackademic Medicine – David H. Gorski, MD, NCASVideo: 1:19:14)

So in order to have a good laugh one must access:
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2013/03/30/funny-how-you-never-see-orac-and-this-person-in-the-same-place-at-the-same-time

1. Appropriately enough, GorskOrac starts with:

“What am I talking about here?”

Indeed !

2. It appeared that GorskOrac was not well prepared as he then refers to:

“a few months ago”

then:

“last fall”

and finally settles on:

“October”

3. He stumbles over words repeatedly

4. He seemed unaware that the position of the microphone matters
(It was to the Right; from the view of the audience, his Left)

5. One wonders where the funding for this fiasco came from

6. The presentation wasn’t exactly “pabulum for the soul”

7. Attempts at trying to be witty were painful to hear

Luckily he had a golden parachute;
his audience, who sometimes failed to prevent the crash landing of a number of his “skepticisms”

8. He mentioned:

“I really wish I thought up

“Quackademic” Medicine”

But then again, this is the individual who couldn’t even think up

“ORAC”
(Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity)

9. While describing an individual, he utters:

“He was a Quackademic before he turned to TV”

Leaving the listener to wonder if one is no longer a

“Quackademic”

once they have

“turned to TV”

10. GorskOrac eventually gets to

EBM = Evidence-based medicine

whereupon he ejaculates:

“But what does that really mean?”

I ask myself that quite a few times whenever I read Orac’s and his “Oracolytes'” blather on his blog, considering that a lot of it definitely does NOT contain much in the way of:

Evidence-based “facts”

11. He continues with:

“I like to point out there were other “BMs” before EBM”

To me, the video certainly brought to mind one of the biggest “BMs” known to Medicine:

“Bowel Movements”

12. He then goes on to mention

“3 of the most dangerous words in medicine”
(Experience-based medicine)

which is fitting, since Orac shows his “lack” of experience by stating, in relation to a person he was attempting to describe:

“It took her a few years but she died”

as if this particular “she” had been attempting to die for

“a few years”

13. Gorski refers to his Apple computer PowerPoint presentation display:

CAM according to NIH
(Complementary and Alternative Medicine according to the National Institutes of Health)

“Mind-body medicine”

and states:

“whatever that means”

It’s good to find out that just as with his blog, Davy knows his subject-matter in exquisite detail !

14. He refers to

“Manipulative … “

on the screen, and; not on list but he mentions

“Chiropractic”

as if this; along with all the other “alternative” therapies he ridicules, is NOT an effective therapy; which sure explains how when I was doing “dipping” exercises and had something in my upper body get out of position so that when I breathed deeply it felt like a bone was poking one of my lungs, that I should have eschewed chiropractic therapy for drugs, in an attempt to mask the pain instead of dealing with the muscular-skeletal issue

15. Maybe this should be why David should stick to lecturing about

“Butt Hoaxes”

and the like

16. However, I do have to give him credit for making at least 2 “factual” statements:

“I’m not an expert at this”

and

“It’s not my area of expertise”

17. Gorskon then presents:

“When the pluralism of free speech is extinguished, speech as such is no longer meaningful”

This is obviously a concept that OracKnows does NOT seem to “know” all that well, considering he blocked my comments from being posted on his blog, where I was continually pointing out the

misinformation,

disinformation,

and / or

misdirection

being posted on his blog and comments section

18. Dr. “Free Speech” then goes on to mention the “ubiquitous”

“Shruggie”

which aptly sums up his position on

“Free Speech”

19. Amusingly, a woman makes an appearance in the Q and A, positing; as opposed to “depositing BM”

(1:01:17)
“The only place … the best place to read … is the blog science based medicine . org

Gorski, I hope she was paid handsomely for her “ringing” endorsement

20. A man having experienced his “great” Memorial Sloan Kettering cancer experience:

(1:11:55)
“You’ve got Dr. Robert Lustig talking about sugar”

(which is timely, considering that on 3/28/2013, Dr. Lustig was on “The Colbert Report” talking to Stephen about sugar, and he has been an author on at least 24 cancer studies, including Phase I – III, and Randomized Clinical Trials)

21. David responds:

“Weeeell … ya know … the whole sugar feeds cancer thing”

Gorski, do you mean THIS:

“SUGAR FEEDS CANCER”

thing???

“In cancer, for example, cells multiply at a much faster rate than normal cells, FEEDING ON SUGARS like glucose”

Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
http://www.snm.org/index.cfm?PageID=7988

“In many types of cancer, diseased cells metabolize the sugar in FDG more avidly than normal cells, and so stand out clearly on a PET/CT scan

This is because cancerous cells grow at a faster rate than surrounding tissue, FEEDING ON SUGARS like glucose”

New England PET Imaging System
http://www.nepetimaging.com/why.html

“All cells use glucose as an energy source

However, cancer cells grow faster than normal healthy cells and THEY USE GLUCOSE AT MUCH HIGHER RATE than normal cells”

Diagnostic Imaging Center at the NYU Clinical Cancer Center
http://www.med.nyu.edu/di/petCt/faqs.html

“When disease strikes, the biochemistry of your tissues and cells changes

In cancer, for example, cells begin to grow at a much faster rate, FEEDING ON SUGARS like glucose”

University of Maryland Medical Center
University of Maryland Medical System in Partnership with the University of Maryland School of Medicine
http://www.umm.edu/petct/pet_faq.htm

“A PET/CT scanner is used to detect cancer

… a sugar solution, is given because

cancer cells FEED OFF OF THE SUGAR and create “hot spots” that the scan will pick up on”

University of Tennessee Medical Center
http://www.utmedicalcenter.org/departments/radiology/radiology-patient-services/pet-ct-scan/

“cancer, for example, cells begin to grow at a much faster rate, FEEDING ON SUGARS like glucose”

North Mississippi Medical Center
http://www.nmhs.net/pet-ct_imaging.php

“Use of PET/CT scanning in cancer patients:

technical and practical considerations”

“malignant cell UTILIZES MORE GLUCOSE to meet its energy needs”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1255942
Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2005 October; 18(4): 321–330
PMCID: PMC1255942
Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings

How many more would you like, Gorski???

(For some unknown reason, Orac could NOT handle a full hour of Q and A)

NO, this is NOT an “April Fools'” joke

Now, who has been “pwned”?

David Gorski (@gorskon) tweeted at 7:26am – 30 Mar 13: