Science-Based Medicine

Started as a skeptical medical blog with five writers, Science-Based Medicine (SBM) launched on January 1, 2008. Steven Novella, Harriet Hall, and David Gorski were founding editors, along with Mark Crislip and Kimball Atwood. Science-Based Medicine is owned and operated by the New England Skeptical Society (NESS), where Novella, a clinical neurologist at Yale University The blog was affiliated with the former Society for Science-Based Medicine (SfSBM), an opinionated education and advocacy group, that registered in 2014 as a Florida nonprofit corporation led by Mark Crislip. The SfSBM was dissolved in 2020, with the Center for Inquiry receiving its funds as a donation and considered by the SfSBM's board to continue its work, Other key contributors have included writer Paul Ingraham (2010–2016) and Wallace Sampson, an editor and regular contributor to SBM until his death in 2017. == Content and format ==

Science-Based Medicine is a website in blog format that examines controversies in science and medicine, especially medical scams and practices. David Freedman, writing for The Atlantic in 2011, described SBM as "an influential blog that has tirelessly gone after alternative medicine." During the COVID-19 pandemic, Science-Based Medicine collected and debunked misinformation that had spread through social media, such as the false claim that COVID-19 vaccines could cause infertility. == Retractions ==

On June 15, 2021, Science-Based Medicine published a book review of Abigail Shrier's Irreversible Damage written by founding editor Harriet Hall. In her review, Hall wrote that Shrier's book had raised legitimate concerns about the science surrounding drug treatments for gender dysphoria in children and that there was a lack of quality scientific studies on the subject. Skeptic magazine republished Hall's review, and she remained one of three editors at SBM along with Novella and Gorski after the retraction until her death in 2023. == Legal ==

In 2014, Novella was sued by Edward Tobinick, Novella had said that it was "unethical for physicians to practice outside of their area of competence and expertise". The lawsuit, filed by Tobinick against Novella, the Society for Science-Based Medicine, Inc., and SGU Productions, LLC was resolved after the court ruled in favor of the defendants. ==See also==