Predatory journals and their impact on the scientific landscape
It isn’t easy. Let’s get that out the way up front. The individuals perpetrating these frauds are complex, intelligent people who are motivated by greed, fame, and sometimes, even a real misplaced belief in their ideas. They even manage to pull the wool over fellow professionals, who may lack the knowledge necessary to judge the fraudster's particular field of expertise. Importantly, no field is immune to this. All suffer equally, data science, virology, pharma, clinical, the list is as endless as the motivators for deception.
These confidence tricksters, which is essentially what they are, motivations aside, set about creating a web of intricate, supportive lies for their concepts or products and one of their go-to tools over the last decade has become the open-access model of predatory journals. …
Very. The latest Covid-19 variant is highly infectious. We need to heed the advice of healthcare authorities
At a glance
- The B.1.1.7 variant is a new strain of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19
- It is, according to emerging evidence, up to 50% more transmissible (infectious) than the original virus.
- There is no evidence to suggest it is more lethal (dangerous) than the original strain, but for reasons explained below, it may claim far more lives.
- It has already been found in ten states (76 cases) in the U.S. and will be the leading cause of Covid-19 in the U.S. by March
It’s getting difficult to keep up with all the names. SARS-CoV-2, Covid, Covid-19, and now the variants or strains. New strains were expected and many have already been identified. It's what a virus does as it cycles through its various phases of evolution and in some ways, it's encouraging to see the original virus keep to this well-established pattern of viral evolution. …
and why you absolutely must use this feature if you write professionally
My last Medium related article raised a few questions. In the article, I invoked the esoteric sounding SEO term, canonical link. To be clear, I wasn't referring to the drunk weekend I spent in Rome with a Papal representative who shall remain nameless. It is a term used to refer to original documents or articles and the website that houses said document or article. This article will explain how to use them and why you definitely should.
Google the God of SEO
If you consider Google’s dilemma for a second, you’ll understand just how relevant these links are. Google indexes billions of webpages every day and if you've written a piece that appears on multiple websites and is duplicated by others, Google has no idea where your original document, your first published copy, lives. …
These doctors want to harm you. Act to stop them.
There is a group of American doctors that would prefer it if you didn’t wear masks. They would dose you with hydroxychloroquine, telling you it would stop Covid-19 and they want to have Covid-19 vaccines banned. They would rather expose your elderly, the infirm, and those with underlying conditions that place them at risk, to Covid-19 and have you take your chances. In short, they are trying to kill you, and they operate in broad daylight, going as far as to join in on the recent assault on the nation’s Capitol.
They are doing all this for money and they need to be stopped. …
A serious oversight or politics? You decide.
In June of 2020, Australian researchers published a study that showed ivermectin inhibited the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in a laboratory setting. The results were in vitro, which is not the same as testing the drug on humans or animals. The FDA responded by releasing a letter out of concern warning consumers not to self-medicate with ivermectin products intended for animals.
Six months have passed since then, thousands of Americans have died and this article is a direct call on the FDA for an explanation. Why was ivermectin not immediately placed into sanctioned human trials? It is approved for use in humans by the FDA, and the in vitro results should have pointed to a possible candidate to treat Covid. …
Not that anyone noticed!
It wasn't quite a declaration of war, but hostilities have been escalating over the last few months. I've considered various options, discussed tactical strikes, countermeasures, and of course the option of going nuclear. In the end, Medium left me only one clear path moving forward. It's one I can live with and one that probably doesn't suit Medium’s agenda, but hey, don't return my calls, and this happens.
Operation Cut Your Nose to Spite Your Face
What's really gotten under my skin over the last year on Medium is traffic. More specifically the thousands upon thousands of new eyes I've brought to the platform in search of the often mindless and inane drivel I produce on a broad range of topics, often celebrity related. …
How other factors beyond the scope of medicine impact ‘health’ issues like infant mortality and healthcare’s actual responsibility to its communities
Just imagine if we could cure everything. We could all pack our bags and go home.
You assume you have a right to be healthy, or at the very least, expect health as a prerequisite for a good life. We are all born with this assumption programmed into us and if you don't believe me, ask yourself this question. When you are sick or unhealthy, what tends to be the first thought that crosses your mind? Why me? It is as though the gods of ill intent have personally singled you out for a dose of pain and misery.
We use the term ‘health’ freely to describe, well, pretty much anything related to our ‘health’, but what do we actually understand of the word, in terms of definition. What does your ‘right to health’ actually entitle you to? Does it relate just to your physical state and being free of disease or does it encompass more? Should you be considering your social and economic conditions when you pose the “why me’ question and are they a part of your ‘health’? …
The ethical dilemma between freedom of choice and patient safety
I was sad to see the headline in the LA Times yesterday, but not surprised. A large number of California’s healthcare workers are refusing to get vaccinated against Covid and it’s created an uproar. The article, entitled, Some healthcare workers refuse to take COVID-19 vaccine, even with priority access, has created an uproar and highlights systemic failures within the current government's vaccine campaign.
It has also highlighted the ethical dilemmas around vaccination and vaccine safety at a time we can least afford it. Are these healthcare workers within their personal and professional right to refuse the vaccine?
The problem California’s frontline healthcare is highlighting is not a vaccine issue. They trust vaccines. They are almost to a man (women, other) vaccinated and they vaccinate their children. Their problem is one of trust. If the covid vaccine had been touted as a medicine or treatment rather than a vaccine, they would still be refusing it. It’s just hugely unfortunate, at this point in our history, that it happens to be a vaccine. …
And a look towards the rest and of the decade
Forget election results and petty political divisions. The time has come to focus on our humanity and to heed the call to arms. We are all one family under the shared flag of our humanity and we have forgotten this or chosen to ignore it. If you want to help to end the pandemic and return our lives to normality, we ALL need to take action.
We’ve stumbled and fumbled our way through a difficult year and the calendars we use to mark our progression on this beautiful rock we call home have called time.
It’s time for the yearly do-over. Fresh goals and aspirations and with it, new hope. Hope, that science and the magical engineers that unlock the secrets of hidden worlds, have afforded us. …
The ridiculous PC rebranding of pregnant women has to stop
Normally I am supportive of pretty much anyone’s right to do just about anything, with or without a consenting partner. As long as you’re not making holes in the ozone, breaking six federal laws (depends which ones), harming children, or harboring obscene thoughts for the family poodle, in my eyes you’re all good.
In fact, I will support with my last breath, your right to pursue your life in a way that keeps you happy and doesn’t impinge on the rights of others. A happy balance, which, granted isn’t always easy but is eminently achievable with effort.
Harvard has however managed to ruin my early morning coffee by now referring to pregnant women as birthing people. Oh, how the hallowed halls of academia have darkened. …
