Kimball Atwood
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Kimball C. Atwood IV is an American medical doctor and researcher from
Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located roughly west of Downtown Boston, and comprises a patchwork of thirteen villages. The city borders Boston to the northeast and southeast (via the neighborhoods of ...
. He is retired as an assistant clinical professor at
Tufts University School of Medicine The Tufts University School of Medicine is the medical school of Tufts University, a Private university, private research university in Massachusetts. It was established in 1893 and is located on the university's health sciences campus in down ...
and anesthesiologist at
Newton-Wellesley Hospital Newton-Wellesley Hospital (NWH) is a community teaching medical center located in Newton, Massachusetts on Washington Street. It is affiliated with Tufts University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School. Founded in 1881, part of its ca ...
. An active
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 ...
, Atwood has served as an associate editor of the journal ''
Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine The ''Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine'' is a discontinued peer-reviewed medical journal published by the Commission for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health. It was established by Wallace Sampson (Stanford University) and Paul Kurtz ( C ...
'' and as associate editor at ''
Science-Based Medicine ''Science-Based Medicine'' is a website and blog with articles covering issues in science and medicine, especially medical scams and practices. Founded in 2008, it is owned and operated by the New England Skeptical Society, and run by Steve ...
''. He is also co-editor of Naturowatch, one of
Quackwatch Quackwatch is a United States-based website focused on promoting consumer protection and providing information about health related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct. It primarily targets alternative medicine, questionable health cl ...
's affiliated sites. In 2010, Atwood was elected as one of sixteen Fellows of the
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is a program within the U.S. non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to " ...
. Atwood is best known as a critic of
naturopathic medicine Naturopathy, or naturopathic medicine, is a form of alternative medicine. A wide array of practices branded as "natural", "non-invasive", or promoting "self-healing" are employed by its practitioners, who are known as naturopaths. Difficult ...
. His long term interest in pseudoscience was piqued in 2000 by a nursing conference held at his hospital where
therapeutic touch Therapeutic touch (TT), or non-contact therapeutic touch (NCTT), is a pseudoscientific energy therapy which practitioners claim promotes healing and reduces pain and anxiety. "Therapeutic Touch" is a registered trademark in Canada for the and ...
and other alternative healing practices were promoted as effective treatments for pleural mesothelioma. Atwood represented the opposition to naturopathic physicians licensing in his state and was the primary author of the minority report opposing such licensure in Massachusetts.


Education and career

Atwood is the son of Barbara Frances Drew and
Kimball Chase Atwood III Kimball Chase Atwood III (1921 – October 13, 1992) was an American geneticist who spent much of his academic career at the University of Illinois and later at Columbia University Medical School. Early life and education Atwood was born in 1 ...
, a geneticist. He has four siblings. He attended
Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...
and did his internship and residency at
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston, Massachusetts is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and one of the founding members of Beth Israel Lahey Health. It was formed out of the 1996 merger of Beth Israel Hospital (f ...
. He holds board certifications from the American Board of Anesthesiology and the American Board of Internal Medicine. He received his Massachusetts State Medical License in 1981 and retired as an anesthesiologist in 2019 from
Newton-Wellesley Hospital Newton-Wellesley Hospital (NWH) is a community teaching medical center located in Newton, Massachusetts on Washington Street. It is affiliated with Tufts University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School. Founded in 1881, part of its ca ...
. Atwood is a Founding Fellow Board of Director for the Institute for Science in Medicine. In 2010, he was elected as one of sixteen Fellows of the
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is a program within the U.S. non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to " ...
, an honor granted for "major contributions to science and reason, critical inquiry, and public education". He has served Citizens For Responsible Care and Research Incorporated (CIRCARE) as a board member from 2009-2014 and as vice president from 2013-2015. He has been affiliated with
Massachusetts Medical Society The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) is the oldest continuously operating state medical association in the United States. Incorporated on November 1, 1781, by an act of the Massachusetts General Court, the MMS is a non-profit organization t ...
.


Opposition to naturopathy licensure in Massachusetts

Atwood was a member of the Massachusetts Special Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medical Practitioners, which convened in 2000 after six attempts by naturopathic groups to become licensed as health care providers. The Special Commission generated two reports in 2002. The majority report recommended licensure for naturopaths. Atwood coauthored the minority report which opposed the licensure. The minority report stated that there was no point in pursuing the goal of naturopathic licensure until the field radically changed, otherwise healthcare in the state would suffer in terms of safety and reputation. In 2003 Atwood, who was at the time chair of the MMS Committee on Quality of Medical Practice, gave testimony opposing naturopathic licensure in Massachusetts to the Joint Committee on Health Care on behalf of the MMS. Naturopathic licensure did not succeed in the state of Massachusetts until 2017.


Criticism of naturopathy

Atwood is especially critical of
naturopathic medicine Naturopathy, or naturopathic medicine, is a form of alternative medicine. A wide array of practices branded as "natural", "non-invasive", or promoting "self-healing" are employed by its practitioners, who are known as naturopaths. Difficult ...
and is concerned about the extent to which medical institutions have accepted naturopathic practices. In an interview on the podcast The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, Atwood explained why he concentrates his efforts on naturopaths. Atwood said that, although some naturopaths have "the trappings of legitimacy", such as advanced degrees from naturopathic institutes, and may seek state licensure or recognition as primary healthcare providers, they are not trained in modern medical techniques. In the interview, Atwood described the "hodgepodge" of techniques promoted by naturopathic physicians. He indicated the dangers of state and federal officials and Medicare legitimizing alternative medicine, and said that, while naturopaths may claim that their teachings are based on science, they are not supported by clinical research.


Science-based medicine advocate

Atwood is an advocate of science-based medicine (SBM) rather than
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 ...
(EBM). In a series of blog posts, Atwood said that EBM falls short in evaluating the claims of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Atwood uses
homeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths or homeopathic physicians, believe that a substance that ...
as an example to illustrate the weakness of EBM. Under the guidelines of EBM, all health claims should be subjected to
randomized controlled trial A randomized controlled trial (or randomized control trial; RCT) is a form of scientific experiment used to control factors not under direct experimental control. Examples of RCTs are clinical trials that compare the effects of drugs, surgical ...
s, including those of pseudoscientific "alternative medicine" practices like homeopathy. Atwood says this is inappropriate because homeopathy is a health claim with no prior plausibility. Atwood writes that clinical trials to investigate homeopathic claims are often backed by proponents of the practices, and tend to be small and of poor quality. He says that equivocal or weakly positive results are wrongly interpreted as evidence for the validity of homeopathy, or of the value of further homeopathic research. Eventually, he believes, these studies will be superseded by larger, better-designed ones disproving homeopathic claims. He urges skepticism of clinical results which contradict established knowledge or basic science. In the abstract of Atwood's presentation to the European Skeptics Congress in 2003, he wrote that the claims of naturopaths "are so implausible that to study them is a bad idea.... gives a scientifically-naïve citizenry the misleading impression that legitimate scientists think such claims have merit, thus encouraging health fraud and waste. It is bad ethics because it wastes resources and exploits human subjects."


Criticism of chelation therapy

In 2008, Atwood was the lead author of "Why the NIH Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT) Should Be Abandoned", a
Medscape Medscape is a website providing access to medical information for clinicians and medical scientists; the organization also provides continuing education for physicians and other health professionals. It references medical journal articles, Con ...
article criticizing the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) for spending on the Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT). Chelation therapy is a high risk (including death), medical procedure used to remove heavy metals from the body. The original study started in 2003. The criticism by Atwood is summarized: The Chicago Tribune indicated several problems with the study including difficulty in finding enough patients, improper consent by failing to include death as a risk, the expense and a congressional push in 1999 by Representative Dan Burton of Indiana. Proponents of the procedure pointed out a statistical significant difference in the results. 26% of the chelation patients went on to suffer a heart attack, stroke, or other heart problems compared with 30% of the patients on placebo. Medical researchers question the results because: Atwood said in 2012 that the results of TACT research agreed with his 2008 prediction: they were ambiguous and the authors could not recommend chelation therapy for CAD. While the authors recommended further research, Atwood disagreed, saying the study "convincingly demonstrates that the claims of chelationists have been bogus all along. That's because those claims have been far more dramatic than even the small effect that the TACT may appear to support." Atwood alleged that many of the investigators had criminal records. He said that medical journals should not publish this study due to alleged ethical violations of misleading the subjects in the consent form, which he said were a violation of the Helsinki Declaration.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atwood, Kimball American skeptics American critics of alternative medicine Living people People from Newton, Massachusetts Tufts University faculty Year of birth missing (living people) Harvard Medical School alumni