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 By Steve Vaitl in Education on June 9th, 2013 at 10:07 am
HSPH-HMS214X Fundamentals of Clinical Trials is just one of the courses offered at www.edx.org.
Ever wonder what it would be like to take a course offered at an Ivy League University? Wonder no more! Harvard is part of a consortium of the most prestigious Universities in the world that is offering MOOC‘s (Massive Open Online Courses). There are no costs involved in taking a MOOC and you get all the same information that you would in an on ground course. The only differences are that you don’t get the instructor (or even TA’s) grading your papers nor will you get college credit on a transcript from Harvard. They are however the same information used in the universities’ on ground for-credit courses that can cost thousands of dollars.
MOOC’s typically use open source materials (available at no charge for personal use) and a type of self grading system based off of discussion forums in the course (It is totally up to the professor how that is handled, so it will vary depending on the course and instructor). They are a combination of one answer to cutting high educational and making it available to everyone.
The course begins October 14, 2013, runs a total of 13 weeks and depending on your background will take between 4-6 hours of your time each week. A background in biostatistics and epidemiology equivalent to the content of PH207X Health in Numbers: Quantitative Methods in Clinical & Public Health Research.
From the course site;
“This course will provide an introduction to the scientific, statistical, and ethical aspects of clinical trials research. Topics include the design, implementation, and analysis of trials, including first-in-human studies (dose-finding, safety, proof of concept, and Phase I), Phase II, Phase III, and Phase IV studies. All aspects of the development of a study protocol will be addressed, including criteria for the selection of participants, treatments, and endpoints, randomization procedures, sample size determination, data analysis, and study interpretation. The ethical issues that arise at each phase of therapy development will be explored.”
By Frank M. Painter, D.C. in Ethics on October 25th, 2012 at 10:48 am
Senate Investigation Reveals That Millions Were Paid
for Positive Spin on Spine Fusion Product
The Chiro.Org Blog
SOURCE: MedPage Today ~ October 25, 2012
By John Fauber
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/MedPage Today
Highly positive studies, published in peer-reviewed medical journals, depicted Medtronic’s spine fusion product as a major breakthrough in back surgery, but those studies were drafted and edited with direct input from Medtronic employees, while the doctors listed as authors were paid millions, according to a U.S. Senate investigation.
The company’s heavy, undisclosed manipulation of information about its bone morphogenetic protein-2 product called Infuse included removing and downplaying concerns about serious complications linked to the product and overstating its benefits.
The Money Trail
Over the course of 15 years, Medtronic paid $210 million to a group of 13 doctors who co-authored the series of now-repudiated papers about the product. The payments also included two corporate entities associated with some of the doctors.
The investigation by Senate Committee on Finance was prompted in part by Journal Sentinel/MedPage Today investigations that showed how the practice of medicine has been corrupted by conflicts of interest involving doctors, drug and device companies and medical journals.
Continue reading …
By Steve Vaitl in Ethics on February 23rd, 2012 at 9:08 am
One current trend into fighting antibiotic resistant bacteria is developing a new class refered to as antimicrobial peptides (AMP’s). However a newly published study published1 a proof of concept that bacteria will develop not only resistance to these new drugs but to our own innate immune response peptides as well.
A very nice summary of the findings was published in the latest issue of The Scientist online magazine.2
1. G. J. L. Habets, Michelle, and Michael Brockhurst. “Therapeutic
antimicrobial peptides may compromise natural immunity .” Biology Letters. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2012. <http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2012/01/20/rsbl.2011.1203
2. Richards, Sabrina. “Antimicrobial Cross-Resistance Risk | The Scientist.” The Scientist. N.p., 24 Jan. 2012. Web. 23 Feb. 2012. <http://the-scientist.com/2012/01/24/antimicrobial-cross-resistance-risk/
By John in Ethics on March 1st, 2010 at 5:42 pm
Chiro org has been following this story since it’s inception.
Today The Guardian reports that one in four chiropractors in Britain are under investigation as a result of a campaign by Singh supporters.
As the British Chiropractic Association’s battle with Simon Singh continues to work its way through the legal system, chiropractors are counting the financial costs of a major backlash resulting from a libel action that has left the Lord Chief Justice “baffled”. What was originally a dispute between the BCA and one science writer over free speech has become a campaign to reform an entire industry.
The article claims that one in four chiropractors in Britain are now under investigation for allegedly making misleading claims in advertisements, according to figures from the General Chiropractic Council.
Read more.
By Frank M. Painter, D.C. in Education on October 31st, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Happy Halloween! Trick or Treat?
The Chiro.Org Blog
Happy Haloween, everyone!
I just had the pleasure of seeing about 800 children walk past my office this morning on the yearly Haloween Walk, sponsored by our local business association.
Besides goodies for the kids, we have handouts for all the moms about the benefits of chiropractic.
And that always makes me think about the dangerous side-effects of medicine, also known as iatrogenesis or iatrogenic injury.
Many of these poor little children have been given unnecessary antibiotics.
I hope you will find both these information pages as useful resources in advising your patients who have children.
By Frank M. Painter, D.C. in Education on October 27th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Update on Vertebroplasty: A Unique Evidence-based Review
The Chiro.Org Blog
SOURCE: Dynamic Chiropractic
By Deborah Pate, DC, DACBR
A few years ago, I wrote an article (May 22, 2006 issue of Dynamic Chiropractic) reviewing vertebroplasty as a treatment option for painful compression fractures due to osteoporosis. [1] I felt that as chiropractors, we should be aware of the common medical procedures that are available to treat disorders we generally manage; osteoporotic compression fractures being one such entity.
Continue reading …
By John in Ethics on October 15th, 2009 at 9:28 am
In two previous articles, here and here, I talked about author Simon Singh’s battle with the British Chiropractic Association. The Guardian reported yesterday that the initial ruling has been overturned.
From The Guardian:
A science writer who is being sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association is to fight on after a preliminary judgment against him was overturned on appeal today.
Simon Singh was sued by the BCA after he wrote an article in the Guardian criticising the association for supporting members who claim that chiropractic treatments – which involve manipulation of the spine – can treat children’s colic, sleeping and feeding problems, frequent ear infections, asthma and prolonged crying.
Singh described the treatments, for which he said there is not a lot of evidence, as “bogus” and criticised the BCA for “happily promoting” them.
In May, Mr Justice Eady in the high court ruled on the meaning of the words, saying they implied the association was being deliberately dishonest. Singh said that interpretation would make it difficult for him to defend himself at a full trial.
Singh was initially refused leave to appeal, but Eady’s interpretation was rejected by Lord Justice Laws, who said Eady had risked swinging the balance of rights too far in favour of the right to reputation and against the right to free expression. Laws described Eady’s judgment as “legally erroneous”.
Many scientists and science writers have rallied to Singh’s support, claiming that the freedom of scientific opinion is at stake.
Speaking after the judgment, Singh said this was the “best possible result”.
“Simon Singh’s battle in this libel case is not only a glaring example of how the law and its interpretation are stifling free expression, it shows how urgent the case for reform has become,” said Jo Glanville, editor of Index on Censorship.
By Frank M. Painter, D.C. in Education on August 14th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Editorial Commentary:
The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) has been begging conventional medicine to stop overprescribing antibiotics for decades. Even so, a recent study in the Journal of Hospital Infections found that 37% of 600 antibiotic prescriptions were considered unnecessary and another 45% were considered to be inadequate.
Considering that antibiotic use in infants has been associated with doubling the incidence of asthma, and other studies have revealed that 76% of adults who visit a primary care physician because of a sore throat are given an antibiotic, even though viruses (that are not affected by antibiotics) are the primary cause for upper-respiratory-tract infections.
Continue reading …
By Frank M. Painter, D.C. in Education on August 8th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Editorial Commentary:
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently crafted and published the WHO Guidelines on Basic Training and Safety in Chiropractic (FULL TEXT Adobe Acrobat 512KB) in consultation with the World Federation of Chiropractic, the Association of Chiropractic Colleges and various chiropractic, medical, osteopathic, and other groups. [1]
Continue reading …
By Frank M. Painter, D.C. in Education on July 19th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Orthopedic Residents Are Incompetent To Diagnose or Manage Musculoskeletal Complaints
The Chiro.Org Blog
Editorial Commentary:
Chiropractors pride themselves in their ability to diagnose and manage neuro-musculo-skeletal (NMS) complains. According to all the surveys, this is our bread and butter, and no one on the planet is better trained to diagnose (locate) and treat (correct) neck, low back, or peripheral joint (knee, elbow etc) complaints. But, don’t take my word for it.
Orthopedic surgeons are supposed to be the *gods* of medicine, the pinnacle of medical knowledge. First they become MDs, then rotate through a variety of specialties, and finally take residence in a highly competitive orthopedic residency program. You may want to review this interesting description of the requirements for the UCLA Orthopedic Surgery Residency Program.
Continue reading …
By Frank M. Painter, D.C. in Education on July 15th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
How Much of Orthodox Medicine Is Evidence Based?
The Chiro.Org Blog
This is an interesting letter from the British Medical Journal:
Scientific heavyweights deplore the NHS money wasted on unproved and disproved treatments used by practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), [1, 2] but Lewith, a CAM proponent (see previous letter), is cited elsewhere as saying that the BMJ reckons that 50% of the treatments used in general practice aren’t proved, and 5% are pretty harmful but still being used. [3]
Continue reading …
By Frank M. Painter, D.C. in Education on July 1st, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Evidence-based Practice
The Chiro.Org Blog
As long as we’re on the topic of Evidence-based Practice, you’ll enjoy Anthony Rosner PhD’s article “The Shifting Sands of Evidence-based Medicine”.
Robert D. Mootz, DC, who is the Medical Director for the State of Washington Department of Labor and Industries also penned an interesting review in JMPT titled “When Evidence and Practice Collide” (FULL TEXT) that sheds a lot of light on EBM issues.
Continue reading …
By Frank M. Painter, D.C. in Education on June 30th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Chiropractic and Infantile Colic
The Chiro.Org Blog
After enjoying John’s posting on the Canadian BCA/Singh case, I feel it’s time to pour some gas on the conversation, to heat things up a bit.
First, you can review the articles under consideration at the Chiropractic and Infantile Colic page.
Continue reading …
By John in Ethics on June 29th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Previously I wrote about the British Chiropractic Association suing science writer Simon Singh for libel. This has been widely criticized as a tactical mistake due both to the expense and to the negative publicity which has thus far ensued. The BCA has recently produced a list of evidence justifying the chiropractic treatment of children with asthma and colic which evidence-based blogs have proceeded to, for want of a better term, eviscerate. One of the criticisms was for the BCA not including a study which showed manipulation to be no better than placebo for infantile colic.
Continue reading …
By Steve Vaitl in Ethics on June 25th, 2009 at 7:02 am
Modafinil is a popular drug used by people who want or need to stay alert. It has become a popular stimulant, used by soldiers to stay awake and by citizens looking for a safe brain boost, including one in 10 researchers. The FDA issued their “Approved” stamp for it to be used for treating narcolepsy and sleep disorders in 1998. At that time, scientists claimed that it did not change levels of dopamine in those who took the drug. Increases in dopamine levels are considered a chemical signature of possible addictiveness to a drug. Since its FDA approval, modafinil is now being used “off-label” to treat depression, Parkinson’s disease and fatigue.
However, the March 2009 issue of JAMA published this study;
Volkow N, et. al., Effects of Modafinil on Dopamine and Dopamine Transporters in the Male Human Brain., JAMA, Vol. 301, No. 11, March 18, 2009.
You can read more on this report at the Wired Science Blog.
By Frank M. Painter, D.C. in Education on June 21st, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Vaccination is a controversial topic with chiropractors because of our non-drug and non-surgery approach to health.
The Vaccination Page attempts to present both sides of the vaccination issue.
By Steve Vaitl in Ethics on June 12th, 2009 at 11:04 am
We here at Chiro.org take great pride in providing current, updated and accurate information for chiropractors. In this the latest of my posts about fake journal articles being uncovered, I provide further evidence that what you see, not only on the web but also in “scientific” journals, my not be all it is presented to be. Great care is an absolute MUST when obtaining information, period, no matter what the source of that information! So to borrow a phase from the only TV Series, Hill Street Blues, “Hey! Hey! Hey! Be careful out there!”
Here at 2 more posts from The Scientist blog reporting, yet more, fake journal news:
Editors quit after fake paper flap
OA publisher accepts fake paper
By Steve Vaitl in Ethics on May 8th, 2009 at 7:58 am
The “Scientist” magazine blog posted a follow up on a report last week of a division of a ‘fake journal’. Yesterday a follow up post was made stating that the reported journal was not the only one of its type, which bore the imprint of Elsevier’s Excerpta Medica. The follow up post reported there were a total of 6 journals of the type mentioned in the original report. Elsevier issued a statement, which read impart…
“It has recently come to my attention that from 2000 to 2005, our Australia office published a series of sponsored article compilation publications, on behalf of pharmaceutical clients, that were made to look like journals and lacked the proper disclosures,” said Michael Hansen, CEO of Elsevier’s Health Sciences Division, in a statement issued by the company. “This was an unacceptable practice, and we regret that it took place.”
The full posting can be read here;
http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55679/
By Frank M. Painter, D.C. in Education on February 26th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Inappropriate Use of the Title “Chiropractor”
The Chiro.Org Blog
Chiropractic & Osteopathy 2006 (Aug 22); 14 (1): 16 ~ FULL TEXT
The results of this year-long prospective review suggests that the words chiropractor and chiropractic manipulation are often used inappropriately by European biomedical researchers when reporting apparent associations between cervical spine manipulation and symptoms suggestive of traumatic injury. Furthermore, in those cases reported here, the spurious use of terminology seems to have passed through the peer-review process without correction.
Additionally, these findings provide further preliminary evidence, beyond that already provided by Terrett, that the inappropriate use of the title chiropractor and term chiropractic manipulation may be a significant source of over-reporting of the link between the care provided by chiropractors and injury.
Continue reading …
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