''Science-Based Medicine'' is a website and blog with articles covering issues in

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

, especially medical scams and practices. Founded in 2008, it is owned and operated by the New England Skeptical Society, and run by

Steven Novella Steven Paul Novella (born July 29, 1964) is an American neurology, clinical neurologist and Professors in the United States#Associate Professor, associate professor at Yale University School of Medicine. Novella is best known for his involvement ...

and

David Gorski David Henry Gorski is an American surgical oncologist and professor of surgery at Wayne State University School of Medicine. He specializes in breast cancer surgery at the Karmanos Cancer Institute. Gorski is an outspoken skeptic and critic ...

History

Started as a skeptical medical blog with five writers, ''Science-Based Medicine'' (SBM) launched on January 1, 2008.

Harriet Hall Harriet A. Hall (July 2, 1945 – January 11, 2023) was an American family medicine, family physician, U.S. Air Force flight surgeon, author, Science communication, science communicator, and scientific skepticism, skeptic. She wrote about alterna ...

, and

were founding editors, along with Mark Crislip and Kimball Atwood. ''Science-Based Medicine'' is owned and operated by the New England Skeptical Society (NESS), where Novella, a clinical

neurologist Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous system, which comprises the brain, the ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

and the

executive editor Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

of SBM, has served as president since its inception. Gorski, a surgical oncologist at

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...

, is the

managing editor A managing editor (ME) is a senior member of a publication's management team. Typically, the managing editor reports directly to the editor-in-chief and oversees all aspects of the publication. United States In the United States, a managing edi ...

for SBM. The blog was affiliated with the former Society for Science-Based Medicine (SfSBM), an opinionated education and advocacy group, that registered in 2014 as a Florida

nonprofit corporation A nonprofit corporation is any legal entity which has been incorporated under the law of its jurisdiction for purposes other than making profits for its owners or shareholders. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, a nonprofit corporation ma ...

led by Mark Crislip. The SfSBM was dissolved in 2020, with the

Center for Inquiry The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is a U.S. nonprofit organization that works to mitigate belief in pseudoscience and the paranormal and to fight the influence of religion in government. History The Center for Inquiry was established in 1991 by ...

receiving its funds as a donation and considered by the SfSBM's board to continue its work, following a period of time where SfSBM had merged with SBM. Other key contributors have included writer Paul Ingraham (2010–2016) and

Wallace Sampson Wallace Sampson (March 29, 1930 – May 25, 2015), also known as Wally, was an American medical doctor and consumer advocate against alternative medicine and other fraud schemes.Antiscience Trends in the Rise of the 'Alternative Medicine' Moveme ...

, an editor and regular contributor to SBM until his death in 2017.

Content and format

''Science-Based Medicine'' is a website in blog format that examines controversies in science and medicine, especially medical scams and practices. SBM is known for persistently challenging

alternative medicine Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices are ...

and for opposing university funding from advocates of integrative medicine. David Freedman, writing for ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'' in 2011, described SBM as "an influential blog that has tirelessly gone after alternative medicine." Editorial staff say that the best medicine is based on scientific principles, includes prior plausibility, and is not based on

evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports the proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the proposition is truth, true. The exact definition and role of evidence vary across different fields. In epistemology, evidence is what J ...

alone. Gorski, Novella, and Atwood have argued that science-based medicine differs in focus from

evidence-based medicine Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. It means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available exte ...

and stress that randomized clinical trials should only be conducted when warranted by ample preclinical evidence to justify the effort, time, and expenses involved. For a science-based approach, Novella supports minimizing or eliminating research on implausible treatments, and points out that decades are often required for clinical research to become supported by rigorous, conclusive trials, during which time decisions must be made, preferably guided by and screened by plausibility criteria. In a systematic survey of web sites providing material on

complementary and alternative medicine Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices ar ...

from 2018, medical education researcher Annie Chen and colleagues listed ''Science-Based Medicine'' alongside ''

WebMD WebMD is an American corporation which publishes online news and information about human health and well-being. The WebMD website also includes information about drugs and is an important healthcare information website and the most popular cons ...

'' as an example of an "information service" providing articles on health and illness. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, ''Science-Based Medicine'' collected and debunked misinformation that had spread through social media, such as the false claim that COVID-19 vaccines could cause infertility.

Retractions

On June 15, 2021, ''Science-Based Medicine'' published a book review of Abigail Shrier's '' Irreversible Damage'' written by founding editor Harriet Hall. In her review, Hall wrote that Shrier's book had raised legitimate concerns about the science surrounding drug treatments for

gender dysphoria in children Gender dysphoria (GD) in children, also known as gender incongruence (GI) of childhood, is a formal diagnosis for distress (gender dysphoria) caused by incongruence between assigned sex and gender identity in some pre-pubescent transgender a ...

and that there was a lack of quality scientific studies on the subject. Several days after the review was published, Novella and Gorski replaced the review with a retraction notice and responded with a review of their own, the first of six SBM posts rejecting Shrier's claims and addressing the retraction. ''

Skeptic Skepticism ( US) or scepticism ( UK) is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the p ...

'' magazine republished Hall's review, and she remained one of three editors at SBM along with Novella and Gorski after the retraction until her death in 2023.

Legal

In 2014, Novella was sued by Edward Tobinick, a doctor claiming to treat neurological conditions, over two blog posts on ''Science-Based Medicine'' critical of

off-label use Off-label use is the use of pharmaceutical drugs for an unapproved indication or in an unapproved age group, dosage, or route of administration. Both prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs (OTCs) can be used in off-label ways, although mo ...

of the drug Etanercept by Tobinick's medical clinic. Novella had said that it was "unethical for physicians to practice outside of their area of competence and expertise". The lawsuit, filed by Tobinick against Novella, the Society for Science-Based Medicine, Inc., and SGU Productions, LLC was resolved after the court ruled in favor of the defendants.

References

External links