An edited compendium of the best of Mark Crislip's science-based medicine essays dealing with supplements, complementary and alternative medicine (SCAM). This book explains the harm--why SCAM is bad for people, animals, and the environment. It also explains why our powers of logic are often powerless against SCAM, including detailed analyses of statisical errors and fallacies. It then covers selected aspects of SCAM in detail: probiotics, herbs and supplements, chiropractic, homeopathy, acupuncture, and vaccine denial. Special emphasis is made on infectious complications caused by SCAM practices and practitioners. A final section on miscellaneous therapies exposes some unusual treatments, from moxbustion to cranialsacral therapy.


Mark Crislip received his MD from OHSU in 1983 and has been practicing Infectious Disease medicine for over 25 years. Currently he is chief of infectious diseases at the Legacy Health hospital system in Portland, Oregon. He produces several podcasts, including QuackCast and Gobbet o’Pus, and regularly writes for medicine-related blogs. He is a co-founder of the Institute for Science in Medicine as well as a co-founder and the current president of the Society for Science-Based Medicine. He has been on the Top Docs list published by Portland Monthly magazine several times. His multimedia empire may be found at edgydoc.com, and two collections of his infectious disease case histories have been published by Bitingduck Press: Puswhisperer and Puswhisperer II.