Paul Marantz is associate dean, clinical research education and director, Center for Public Health Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY. He blogs at the Doctor’s Tablet.

Why we must be cautious about hydroxychloroquine

Conditions
April 8, 2020

We have all listened repeatedly to the many confused, confusing, and misleading statements coming from the White House in the midst of this pandemic, unprecedented in its scope and existential threat. Responding to all the misstatements would be a full-time job. However, the barrage of reckless comments made about drug treatments for COVID-19 during a briefing on April 5, 2020, requires immediate and strong correction.

To address this, I will respond—in …

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Why we must be cautious about hydroxychloroquine

Multiple choice tests in our post-truth world

Physician
February 28, 2017

It has been purported that one of the major take-home messages from the bizarre events of 2016 is that we are now living in a “post-truth” world. Indeed, that very phrase was dubbed the “word of the year” by Oxford Dictionaries, which defines it as “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.”

We are also …

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Multiple choice tests in our post-truth world

More guns or fewer? The problems with evidence-based gun research

Policy
July 17, 2016

In the wake of the Orlando shootings, the usual battle lines are drawn in the usual, predictable way. Urban liberals and many Democrats call for more regulations and enforcement to limit access to firearms (especially assault weapons); hunters and conservatives and many Republicans — and especially the National Rifle Association …

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More guns or fewer? The problems with evidence-based gun research

The problem of expert fallacy in cancer screening guidelines

Conditions
November 23, 2015

The American Cancer Society (ACS), an advocacy organization that has fairly recently (and very positively) taken a more appropriate, evidence-based approach to cancer screening, recently revised its mammography recommendations. While it still recommends more mammograms than the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (which doesn’t recommend starting until age 50, and then screening only every other year), it has raised the starting age from 40 …

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The problem of expert fallacy in cancer screening guidelines

How to create a measles outbreak in 5 easy steps

Conditions
March 3, 2015

There’s been a lot written about the measles outbreak and antivaccine parents. Fact is, the current situation is a direct and predictable result of many social/political trends that have emerged in America over the last generation. I am sharing five easy steps to take if you want to create an epidemic just like this.

1. Raise a generation ignorant about science. The majority of Americans are Read more…

How to create a measles outbreak in 5 easy steps

The goal of medicine is to balance evidence with stories

Education
November 6, 2014

Recently, Dr. Peter Kramer published an intriguing, well-written, but poorly reasoned and potentially dangerous “thought piece” in the New York Times. His article, “Why Doctors Need Stories,” contains several logical flaws and erroneous arguments, but the overarching concept is a classic straw man argument.

He creates a false and highly misleading notion of what …

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The goal of medicine is to balance evidence with stories

Applying translational research to real world scenarios

Education
July 3, 2014

An intriguing article was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences — one of the most prestigious (more on “prestige” later) journals around — with the provocative title, “Rescuing U.S. Biomedical Research from Its Systemic Flaws.” That this was written by some of our country’s most well-respected scientists provides credibility to this challenging and thought-provoking critique. The …

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Applying translational research to real world scenarios

How financial implications influence medical decision making

Physician
May 9, 2014

A recent article in the New York Times highlighted the high costs associated with some types of subspecialty medical care, in particular dermatological procedures like Mohs surgery. Indeed, the patient profiled in the piece went for a minor procedure which, including facilities fees and questionable referrals to an anesthesiologist and plastic surgeon, generated billing that topped an unconscionable $25,000.

This piece led to the predictable Read more…

How financial implications influence medical decision making

When medical literature mislead journalists and the public

Physician
January 7, 2014

Perhaps you’ve seen some of the media coverage reporting that “an apple a day” would save as many lives as statins do, with fewer side effects. Or perhaps not — thankfully, this tongue-in-cheek “study” didn’t get the intense coverage received by the new statin guidelines (an issue I recently addressed on this blog). But I think this is a glaring and important …

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When medical literature mislead journalists and the public

Does the process of diseasification hold any promise in obesity?

Conditions
September 5, 2013

In a thoughtful, measured and well-reasoned blog post, Dr. Keith Ayoob recently discussed the AMA’s decision to classify obesity as a disease. As he concluded his post, Dr. Ayoob wrote: “I don’t care how obesity is categorized. I care about what’s being done about it … We need to stop talking about whether obesity is or is not a disease and start talking about preventing it altogether.” This got me thinking: …

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Does the process of diseasification hold any promise in obesity?