25 April 2013 by Erik Davis
About a year ago, I had my first attack of gout. It sucked. It came on during the weekend we were moving into our house, and I was convinced I’d somehow broken my big toe in the move. I’d dropped a box on it or rolled a dolly over it or something — I must [...]
Posted in Alternative Medicine, Diet and Nutrition, Featured, Health, Medical Conditions, Skepticism4 Comments
20 March 2013 by Ethan Clow
(Note – this is crossed posted to Radio Freethinker) It’s been a busy month for skeptical activists in Vancouver. I wanted to write about some of the recent news regarding an anti-vaccination conference that was held at the Simon Fraser University, here in Vancouver. The anti-vaccination conference was organized by this group: the Vaccine Resistance [...]
Posted in British Columbia, Canada, Featured, Health, Vaccines5 Comments
20 March 2013 by John Underhay
Regulation and licensing of businesses is considered a normal part of government bureaucracy. Some libertarians may disagree with any form of government interference in commercial activities, however, it is generally accepted that regulation is a proper government function, even if the type or level of regulation is controversial. One area that has created some discussion [...]
Posted in Featured, Paranormal, Pseudoscience, Skepticism10 Comments
13 February 2013 by Sara E. Mayhew
This week we celebrated the scientific contributions of Charles Darwin, born on February 12th, with Darwin Day. I put my manga skills to work to create hand-drawn ink illustrations of Drawin for those who support my work by making a donation of any amount they choose. It was really popular; I’m still drawing dozens of [...]
Posted in FeaturedComments Off
29 January 2013 by Dianne Sousa
Last week, an editorial in the National Post by Tim Caulfield ruffled a few homeopathic feathers. In it, Caulfield argues that when provinces grant regulatory status to alternative practitioners like naturopathy, they are legitimizing rank quackery. This is the case because naturopathy relies heavily on homeopathy, which Caulfield correctly describes as “bogus”. Canadian supporters of [...]
Posted in Alternative Medicine, Canada, Featured, Health15 Comments
17 January 2013 by Erik Davis
The following is a guest post by Jeremy Petch, health policy researcher and Opinions Editor at healthydebate.ca. Follow Jeremy on Twitter @JeremyPetch. Dr. Oz has become a ubiquitous television icon. His daily talk show, broadcast in Canada on CTV (owned by Bell Media), rules the daytime TV ratings. In real life, Dr. Oz is a [...]
Posted in Alternative Medicine, Canada, Featured, Guest Post, Health Policy, Skepticism24 Comments
15 January 2013 by Dianne Sousa
Regular readers of Skeptic North will know that we have been consistently critical of Health Canada and how it regulates the natural health products industry in Canada. In short, we have argued that the regulation is far too permissive, consequently putting Canadians at unacceptable risk of harm. Unsurprisingly there are those that disagree. These folks [...]
Posted in Canada, Featured, Health, Health Policy, Skepticism4 Comments
10 January 2013 by Ethan Clow
Movie fans are no doubt aware that the Academy Award nominations came out today (Thursday the 10th) Leading the pack in total number of nominations with twelve is Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” including ‘Best Picture’, ‘Best Actor for Daniel Day-Lewis’ and ‘Best Director.’ I’ve seen it. It was an impressive film, with high quality acting [...]
Posted in Featured, History, Media, Reviews2 Comments
04 January 2013 by Ethan Clow
Over the holiday break I got caught up on some reading, including Oliver Sacks new book “Hallucinations” Did Sacks deliver a mind-bending or mind-numbing account of the powerful hallucinations the human brain can conjure up? I had never read any of Oliver Sacks book’s before, but I had heard good things about his previous works [...]
23 November 2012 by John Underhay
Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men. It has been said that if you are male and you live long enough you will develop the disease. That’s somewhat hyperbolic, but not much. Along with age, risk factors include race/ethnicity, nationality, family history, and socio-economic status. Prostate cancer occurs more often in [...]
Posted in Alternative Medicine, Atlantic, Featured, Skepticism5 Comments
Crack Your Back instead of a Vial of Vaccine?
Toronto Media, false balance, and the lack of evidence for claims about MIA vet John Hartley Robertson
How Western journalists in Vietnam and POW NGOs were not fooled by tales of MIA Vet back from the dead
Did a Canadian filmmaker find a left behind Vietnam vet or did credulous Toronto media give new life to an old scam?
How I cured my gout without medication
