2002

Misleading WHO Study on Violence (10/3/2002) - The World Health Organization's claims about violence around the world use distortions on a number of claims.
Media Credibility on the Verge of Extinction (10/2/2002) - A hoax about blonds gets picked up by all the usual media suspects.
Washington, DC's Keystone Kops (10/1/2002) - District of Columbia police rely on pseudoscience to assess suspects in the murder of Chandra Levy.
USA Today's Sloppy Sludge Statistics (9/30/2002) - Reporter says that a study found 25 percent of people living near sludge sites were infected with S. aureus -- but the study actually said something very different.
Study: Media Distorts in the Way it Reports Medical Research (9/11/2002) - British media ignores strongest studies and good news.
No Evidence for Beneficial Effects of Garlic, Soy Supplements (9/11/2002) - In fact, there are no standards among supplement companies for levels of active ingredients (or even if there are any active ingredients).
Is the Focus on MMR Hurting Autism Research? (9/9/2002) - Autism researcher says MMR focus recalls the wasted time and money on facilitated communication.
Are More Black Men In Jail Than College? (9/3/2002) - A recent study that claimed more black men were imprisoned than in higher education relied on inaccurate statistics.
British Study Exonerates Nuclear Reactor in Childhood Cancer Clusters (8/29/2002) - Has there ever been a cancer cluster which turned out to be anything that a statistical anomaly?
Animal Study Finds No Evidence of Harm From Cellular Phones (8/29/2002) - Researchers exposed rats to very high levels of cellular phone radiation for two years, but found no evidence that the electromagnetic field increased the risk of cancer.
World Wildlife Fund Advertisement Criticized (8/28/2002) - British Advertising Authority censures a misleading WWF ad.
Ronald Bailey on the Long Island Cancer Cluster (8/27/2002) - Yet another study of a cancer cluster finds no evidence that exposure to chemicals such as DDT or PCBs contribute to cancer. How much longer can we afford to spend millions of dollars chasing down every statistical anomaly in cancer distribution?
Florida Group Finds No Risk to Arsenic-Treated Playground Equipment (8/26/2002) - But no matter -- the EPA has already reached an agreement with manufacturers to discontinue production of arsenic-treated lumber.
Medical Journals, Journalists Confuse People with Discussions of Risk (8/22/2002) - By focusing almost exlusively on the percentage increase in risk, study authors and journalists leave out the information that people really need -- the change in absolute risk.
Controlled Study Finds No Benefit to Ginkgo Biloba (8/21/2002) - People taking placebo had same cognitive abilities as those taking gingko in study.
Fresh Debate Over MMR Vaccine (8/19/2002) - An American researcher says he's found abnormal MMR antibodies in children with autism, but British experts dismiss his claims.
The Evils of Coffee (7/18/2002) -
New York Times Screws Up Correction of Global Warming Story (7/16/2002) - Hopefully the paper of record will publish the correct figures for Alaskan warming eventually.
Ugh -- Irradiated Mail Syndrome (7/10/2002) - Is irradiated mail causing Capitol Hill workers to become ill?
London Mayor Offers Ridiculous Anti-MMR Argument (7/10/2002) - Who needs science when we've got Ken Livingstone's impressions and memories to rely on?
New York Times Leads in Global Warming Nonsense (7/10/2002) - The Times refuses to let the facts get in the way of its anti-global warming editorial.
Coloring the Debate Over Global Warming (7/2/2002) - Lies, damned lies, and mapping global warming.
Chernobyl Hysteria In Great Britain (6/26/2002) - A statistician claims that the Chernobyl accident increased infant mortality and birth defects in Great Britain.
Is Organic Agriculture Viable? Probably Not (6/26/2002) - A study claiming that organic farming is more efficient than intensive farming tells a very different story on closer inspection.
Increasing Life Span, Wealth Is Killing Westerners (6/26/2002) - Cancer is killing us because we live so darn long.
Salon.Com Debunks John Edward (6/21/2002) - Edward uses clever guess and credulous audiences to pull off his vaudeville act.
British Review Finds MMR Dangerous -- To Measles Virus (6/20/2002) - Surprise! Yet another look at MMR-related research finds no evidence that the vaccine is unsafe.
Study Finds No Radon Cancer Link (6/20/2002) - Another study confirms that the fear over household radon was unwarranted hysteria.
The Horrors of For-Profit Hospitals (6/20/2002) - A study that finds no statistically significant difference in mortality rates between non-profit and for-profit hospitals is spinned as a horror story about for-profit hospitals.
Government Officials Charge That MMR Researcher Refuses to Allow Claims to Be Verified (6/17/2002) - British researcher keeps charging that he has found measles in vaccinated children, but so far has not made it possible for other scientists to verify his work.
BBC to Broadcast Anti-GM Drama (6/6/2002) - Scientic adviser to "Field of Gold" attacks the two-part drama as anti-GM hysteria.
Is Hydration Advice All Wet? (5/28/2002) - It turns out claims that people need to drink at least 8 eight-ounce glasses of water every day is an urban legend.
Who Needs Nukes When You Have Ancient Hindu Texts? (5/15/2002) - India's defense minister turns to pseudoscience to gain a military edge over other nations.
Consumer Products Safety Commission Asleep at the Wheel Again (5/15/2002) - The CPSC's recommendation that infants should not sleep with adults is bizarre and not based on a scientific assessment of the risks.
Typical Al Gore Nonsense on Global Warming (5/14/2002) - When it comes to global warming, Al Gore cannot even keep his own past statements consistent.
How Reliable Are Epidemiological Studies? (5/2/2002) - The results of randomized trials of hormone replacement theory is raising questions about just how much can be learned from epidemiological studies.
Study Finds No Link Between Cell Phones and Ear Cancer (5/2/2002) -
Recycling Is a Waste in New York City (4/29/2002) - Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to temporarily halt recycling of glass, metal and plastic products because they are a drain on the city's budget.
The DOE's Dowsing (4/24/2002) - The morons at the Department of Energy get suckered by yet another dowsing scam.
Autism and Thimerosal (4/23/2002) - There's no evidence that small amounts of mercury in vaccines contributes to autism, but that does not stop people from going to often dangerous lengths to try to prevent the "harm" that the mercury supposedly causes.
FBI Bullet Matching Claims Called Into Question (4/22/2002) - Chemical bullet matching testimony has been used in hundreds of cases in the United States and Great Britain, but it turns out to lack any scientific basis.
Suicide Pilot's Mother Sues Accutane Maker -- But What About Her Own Past? (4/18/2002) -
Should More Clinical Drug Trials Be Double Blinded Studies? (4/17/2002) - A study of cancer trials finds that a lack of double-blinded studies biased the outcomes in favor of the experimental drug.
Steve Milloy on the Latest College Drinking Study (4/12/2002) - A headline-grabbing study of alcohol-related deaths among college students make some unsubstantiated assumptions about college students and drinking deaths.
British Poll on What Constitutes a Disease Draws Controversy (4/12/2002) - Is everything that can go wrong with human health a disease?
Do Medical Errors Kill More People Than Automobile Accidents, Breast Cancer or AIDS? (4/12/2002) - An article for Salon.Com repeats this claim to justify more automation of medicine, but it is largely an unsubstantiated fear.
Hiding Behind Copyrights (4/11/2002) - Scientific American adopts a favorite tactic of the Church of Scientology -- threaten critics with copyright lawsuits.
Nature Says It Should Not Have Published GM Maize Study (4/9/2002) - Critics claim a study purporting to show that genetically modified maized had contaminated wild plants is unfounded.
Does Watching Too Much Televison Cause Aggressive Behavior? (4/1/2002) - Researchers debate what a new study suggesting just such a link really means.
PVPOnline Skewers John Edward (4/1/2002) - I'm sensing someone with hair. Long hair ... or maybe short.
The Peer Review Debate (3/28/2002) - A creationist and a crank with an idiosyncratic view of physics claim they are shut out by peer reviewed journals. And for good reason!
Tuvalu Is Not Sinking (3/28/2002) - Its problems with ocean water may be real enough, but they are likely related to land use issues in the island nation rather than any rise in the Pacific Ocean.
Miss Cleo and the Suckers Who Call Her (3/28/2002) - Do people gullible enough to call Miss Cleo deserve what they get?
Climate Change During Medieval Warm Period Very Similar to 20th Century Rise in Temperature (3/24/2002) - Of course when it makes claims about global warming, the IPCC simply pretends the Medieval Warming Period never happened.
Global Warming Shatters Reporter's Abilities to Do Simple Math (3/21/2002) - Reuters thinks that a 2.5 degree Celsius increase in temperature is equivalent to a 36 degree Fahrenheit increase in temperature.
U.S. Forest Service Fudged Its Vistior Numbers (3/20/2002) - Was a U.S. Forest Service report fraudulent or just incompetent?
Gulf War Syndrome and Lou Gehrig's Disease (3/19/2002) - A Pentagon study claimed last year that Gulf War veterans had a higher incidence of ALS, but what did its study really show? Not much.
CSCICOP on John Edward's Fraud (3/18/2002) - Edward uses the standard tricks -- and apparently outright deceit -- to make it appear he can contact people's death relatives.
Drunk on Bad Statistics (3/16/2002) - A center for substance abuse wanders all over the place in its claims about underaged drinkers.
Nature's Rush to Judgment on Genetic Cross-Contamination (3/12/2002) - A study that claimed genetically modified corn was cross-contaminating local versions of corn in Mexico turns out to be seriously flawed.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Is Magically Transformed Into a Disease in the UK (3/12/2002) - A report concedes there's no way to diagnose it nor to explain it, but *poof* it is a disease anyway.
Study Finds No Benefit to Asthmatics from Homeopathic Remedies (3/4/2002) - It is amazing how poorly designed studies always find a benefit to homeopathy, while carefully designed double blind studies find it no better than a placebo.
Upcoming Abortion/Breast Cancer Trial in North Carolina (2/22/2002) - A judge will try to decide who is right in the debate over whether or not abortion and breast cancer are causally linked.
Institute of Medicine Panel Recommends No Changes to U.S. Vaccination Procedures (2/21/2002) - Finds no link between vaccination and immune system problems.
Cuba vs. the United States on Infant Mortality (2/21/2002) - Cuba's low infant mortality rate is impressive, but comparing it directly to the U.S. rate is difficult for a number of reason.
Number of Shark Attacks Worldwide Were Down in 2001 (2/21/2002) - The Summer of the Shark turns out to have been the Summer of Media Hysteria.
Is Too Much Sleep Killing You? (2/18/2002) - Media should give a rest to a new study claiming that eight to ten hours of sleep each night is a deadly hazard.
Five Years Later, Tulane Researcher Sanctioned for Fraud (2/17/2002) - Research that spurred the endocrine disrupter scare and led to quick approval of an EPA screening program turns out to have been fraud.
Measles Outbreak in Great Britain (2/17/2002) - As many as 67 cases of measles have been found in south London children, many of whom never received the MR vaccine thanks to anti-vaccination hysteria.
History Channel Repeats Urban Legend about Dr. Charles Drew (2/12/2002) -
Environmentalists Who Live in Glass House (2/12/2002) - Bjorn Lomberg's critics do not stand up very well to their own standards.
Michael Bellesiles Can't Stop Lying (1/30/2002) - Bellesiles claimed he had found the missing San Francisco probate records that are solidly at the center of the debate over his book, Arming America, but this turns out to be yet more dissembling from the Emory University scholar.
Michael Fumento Skewers Claims about Accutane and Suicide (1/30/2002) - When a 15-year-old smashed his small plane into a Florida building, the media was too busy sensationalizing a possible link with Accutane to bother digging up the facts.
Do Household Appliances Increase the Risk of Miscarriages? (1/28/2002) - California researchers claim that women exposed to high peak levels of electromagnetic fields suffer higher incidence of miscarriages.
Another Review Find No Connection Between MMR Vaccine and Autism (1/23/2002) - But that will hardly do anything to stop the hysteria surrounding the MMR vaccine.
Mendocino, California, Held Hostage by EMF Quacks (1/23/2002) - Anti-wireless fanatics in Medocino want a high school radio station antenna torn down because it is a danger to public health.
Is Tom Ridge Calling up the Psychic Hotline? (1/20/2002) - Psychics claim the federal government has contacted them for help with the war on terrorism.
British Health System May Pay for Alternative Therapies (1/17/2002) - Great Britain's National Health System already pays for chiropractic, acupuncture and osteopathic treatment, and may expand into other alternative treatments.
Cancer Researcher: West Is Not on the Verge of Cancer Explosion (1/11/2002) - Increases in cancer over the past 30 years have been due to an increasingly aged and obese population combined with more sophisticated detection methods.
Foot Massage Does Not Appear to Alleviate Irritable Bowel Syndrome (1/10/2002) - A small, controlled study of reflexology find it does not relieve the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.
Federal Judge Restricts Fingerprint Evidence (1/10/2002) - A judge rules that fingerprint experts cannot tell a jury that a latent fingerprint and a known fingerprint match, because there is no scientific basis for such claims.
The Myth of the Sugar Buzz (1/8/2002) - It turns out, the idea that sugar promotes hyperactivity is a myth started in the 1940s by the U.S. government to alleviate a sugar shortage.
What Caused the Most Damage at Chernobyl: Radiation or Relocation? (1/7/2002) - A Unicef report finds that the damage from radiation was much less than originally thought, while the relocation of hundreds of thousands of people caused a great deal of harm.
Bjorn Lomborg, 'Scientific American,' and Animal Rights (1/3/2002) - Why I do not trust 'Scientific American' when it comes to controversial issues.
The Latest Round in the Abortion/Breast Cancer Debate (1/2/2002) - A new study claims that half of all cases of breast cancer are attributable to abortion.
Do Suicides Increase During the Holidays? In a Word, No. (1/1/2002) - In fact, suicides are at their lowest in November and December.