Health Nerd
@gidmk.bsky.social
Epidemiologist. Research Fellow. Doctor of Spreadsheets. Writer (Slate, TIME, Guardian, etc). PhD, MPH. Host of senscipod Email [email protected] he/him. Find my writing on Substack and Medium.
Pinned
Are Administrators To Blame For Skyrocketing Healthcare Costs?
The story of a viral meme
gidmk.substack.com
My new piece looks at a meme that's been going viral for the last 6 years, and whether healthcare administrators are really causing healthcare costs to skyrocket in the United States.
gidmk.substack.com/p/are-admini...
gidmk.substack.com/p/are-admini...
The averages are actually correct as far as I can tell! They're just row averages for some bizarre reason.
The ct averages though...are they even simple averages?
The ct averages though...are they even simple averages?
November 25, 2025 at 7:05 AM
The averages are actually correct as far as I can tell! They're just row averages for some bizarre reason.
The ct averages though...are they even simple averages?
The ct averages though...are they even simple averages?
This is the sort of critique that makes sense, but it's not an ~error~ as such. Think more mathematical mistakes and the like.
November 25, 2025 at 5:08 AM
This is the sort of critique that makes sense, but it's not an ~error~ as such. Think more mathematical mistakes and the like.
Scientific error-checking, difficulty: easy
Find some issues in this table of results from an RCT of vitamin D for COVID-19. There's a couple of obvious issues, and some that are less easy to spot.
Find some issues in this table of results from an RCT of vitamin D for COVID-19. There's a couple of obvious issues, and some that are less easy to spot.
November 25, 2025 at 4:59 AM
Scientific error-checking, difficulty: easy
Find some issues in this table of results from an RCT of vitamin D for COVID-19. There's a couple of obvious issues, and some that are less easy to spot.
Find some issues in this table of results from an RCT of vitamin D for COVID-19. There's a couple of obvious issues, and some that are less easy to spot.
No one got the main thing, which is that the menopause durations are both remarkably homogenous (pretty much everyone in this study hit menopause at age 49-51), impossible (they are all GRIM errors), and also impossible (SDs are too low given the range)
November 25, 2025 at 4:37 AM
No one got the main thing, which is that the menopause durations are both remarkably homogenous (pretty much everyone in this study hit menopause at age 49-51), impossible (they are all GRIM errors), and also impossible (SDs are too low given the range)
Yes, the menopause regularity is...remarkable. It's not quite proof of anything, but it is to my understanding very unusual!
The 2 d.p. is an average. I would say that these values are odd, because they do imply that the data was COLLECTED in non-integer form, but that's also not quite an issue.
The 2 d.p. is an average. I would say that these values are odd, because they do imply that the data was COLLECTED in non-integer form, but that's also not quite an issue.
November 25, 2025 at 4:35 AM
Yes, the menopause regularity is...remarkable. It's not quite proof of anything, but it is to my understanding very unusual!
The 2 d.p. is an average. I would say that these values are odd, because they do imply that the data was COLLECTED in non-integer form, but that's also not quite an issue.
The 2 d.p. is an average. I would say that these values are odd, because they do imply that the data was COLLECTED in non-integer form, but that's also not quite an issue.
Reporting to 2 d.p. for means is not suspicious - certainly the vitamin D values are possible.
But tell me more about menopause onset. Are these timelines believable?
But tell me more about menopause onset. Are these timelines believable?
November 25, 2025 at 4:24 AM
Reporting to 2 d.p. for means is not suspicious - certainly the vitamin D values are possible.
But tell me more about menopause onset. Are these timelines believable?
But tell me more about menopause onset. Are these timelines believable?
Scientific error-checking, difficulty: easy
Find the problems in this table of results from an RCT. Two main things I've noticed so far.
Find the problems in this table of results from an RCT. Two main things I've noticed so far.
November 25, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Scientific error-checking, difficulty: easy
Find the problems in this table of results from an RCT. Two main things I've noticed so far.
Find the problems in this table of results from an RCT. Two main things I've noticed so far.
Every time I think that the story of vitamin D supplementation can't get any more ridiculous, it somehow does.
The most used pill in the world and we know it's probably a waste of time for most people.
The most used pill in the world and we know it's probably a waste of time for most people.
November 24, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Every time I think that the story of vitamin D supplementation can't get any more ridiculous, it somehow does.
The most used pill in the world and we know it's probably a waste of time for most people.
The most used pill in the world and we know it's probably a waste of time for most people.
My new piece is on the idea that Batman can make us more ethical and why it is very unlikely to be true.
gidmk.substack.com/p/does-batma...
gidmk.substack.com/p/does-batma...
Does Batman Make Us More Ethical?
The story of a very unlikely finding.
gidmk.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:03 AM
My new piece is on the idea that Batman can make us more ethical and why it is very unlikely to be true.
gidmk.substack.com/p/does-batma...
gidmk.substack.com/p/does-batma...
Ah, Bryan Johnson: the man who looks a decade older than he is and has almost certainly harmed his health through a cocktail of useless - but harmful - supplements.
Also, he pays millions a year for the privilege. HEALTH.
Also, he pays millions a year for the privilege. HEALTH.
And then there was Bryan Johnson, a Silicon Valley multimillionaire known for his extreme anti-ageing ‘biohacks’, like receiving plasma from his teenage son.
Johnson, on a quest to live forever, wants “competing for the best biomarkers of anybody in the world” to be something of a new sport.
Johnson, on a quest to live forever, wants “competing for the best biomarkers of anybody in the world” to be something of a new sport.
November 22, 2025 at 4:51 AM
Ah, Bryan Johnson: the man who looks a decade older than he is and has almost certainly harmed his health through a cocktail of useless - but harmful - supplements.
Also, he pays millions a year for the privilege. HEALTH.
Also, he pays millions a year for the privilege. HEALTH.
Sad to see the CDC is now spreading fairly straightforward lies.
CDC has overhauled its website to assert that “the claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim”
November 20, 2025 at 4:51 AM
Sad to see the CDC is now spreading fairly straightforward lies.
My new piece is on the deeply worrying problem of fraud in the obstetric and gynaecological space and what's being done about it.
gidmk.substack.com/p/the-terrif...
gidmk.substack.com/p/the-terrif...
The Terrifying Problem Of Fraud In Women's Health
A scientific issue impacting pretty much every person with a vagina.
gidmk.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:20 PM
My new piece is on the deeply worrying problem of fraud in the obstetric and gynaecological space and what's being done about it.
gidmk.substack.com/p/the-terrif...
gidmk.substack.com/p/the-terrif...
Very interesting data - desk rejections have risen hugely at Frontiers journals due largely to paper mill detections and other fraud checks.
Do any other publishers do this automatically?
Do any other publishers do this automatically?
November 18, 2025 at 4:20 AM
Very interesting data - desk rejections have risen hugely at Frontiers journals due largely to paper mill detections and other fraud checks.
Do any other publishers do this automatically?
Do any other publishers do this automatically?
"There are stupid fabricators and there are more competent ones.
Potentially, LLMs lower the bar and allow the stupid ones to do a better job"
~a chilling problem highlighted by Jack Wilkinson at the International Research Integrity Conference
Potentially, LLMs lower the bar and allow the stupid ones to do a better job"
~a chilling problem highlighted by Jack Wilkinson at the International Research Integrity Conference
November 17, 2025 at 11:38 PM
"There are stupid fabricators and there are more competent ones.
Potentially, LLMs lower the bar and allow the stupid ones to do a better job"
~a chilling problem highlighted by Jack Wilkinson at the International Research Integrity Conference
Potentially, LLMs lower the bar and allow the stupid ones to do a better job"
~a chilling problem highlighted by Jack Wilkinson at the International Research Integrity Conference
Reposted by Health Nerd
Live posting day 2 of the International Research Integrity Conference in Sydney.
researchintegrityconf.com/internationa...
We start with session 4: What might work?
Cyril Labbe with "Detection of Research Rubbish and More"
#IRICSydney
researchintegrityconf.com/internationa...
We start with session 4: What might work?
Cyril Labbe with "Detection of Research Rubbish and More"
#IRICSydney
November 17, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Live posting day 2 of the International Research Integrity Conference in Sydney.
researchintegrityconf.com/internationa...
We start with session 4: What might work?
Cyril Labbe with "Detection of Research Rubbish and More"
#IRICSydney
researchintegrityconf.com/internationa...
We start with session 4: What might work?
Cyril Labbe with "Detection of Research Rubbish and More"
#IRICSydney
Reposted by Health Nerd
Next: Jack Wilkinson @jdwilko.bsky.social with 'Problematic clinical trials and the threat to evidence synthesis'
Systematic reviews are considered the cornerstone of medicine. But some of the eligible trials that could be included might be problematic. They could get included.
#IRICSydney
Systematic reviews are considered the cornerstone of medicine. But some of the eligible trials that could be included might be problematic. They could get included.
#IRICSydney
November 17, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Next: Jack Wilkinson @jdwilko.bsky.social with 'Problematic clinical trials and the threat to evidence synthesis'
Systematic reviews are considered the cornerstone of medicine. But some of the eligible trials that could be included might be problematic. They could get included.
#IRICSydney
Systematic reviews are considered the cornerstone of medicine. But some of the eligible trials that could be included might be problematic. They could get included.
#IRICSydney
Reposted by Health Nerd
We end today's conference day with a discussion led by Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz @gidmk.bsky.social
Anyone who has tried to report concerns will have experienced how journals and institutions defer responsibility to the other party and how they 'investigate' and find 'no misconduct'.
#IRICSydney
Anyone who has tried to report concerns will have experienced how journals and institutions defer responsibility to the other party and how they 'investigate' and find 'no misconduct'.
#IRICSydney
November 17, 2025 at 4:05 AM
We end today's conference day with a discussion led by Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz @gidmk.bsky.social
Anyone who has tried to report concerns will have experienced how journals and institutions defer responsibility to the other party and how they 'investigate' and find 'no misconduct'.
#IRICSydney
Anyone who has tried to report concerns will have experienced how journals and institutions defer responsibility to the other party and how they 'investigate' and find 'no misconduct'.
#IRICSydney
My only question - 20-25 billion dollars...presumably that's mostly for either microbiome OR autism, not both?
November 13, 2025 at 10:21 PM
My only question - 20-25 billion dollars...presumably that's mostly for either microbiome OR autism, not both?
Reposted by Health Nerd
We did a thing. 😬
The link between the gut #microbiome and autism is not backed by science, researchers say.
Read the full opinion piece in @cp-neuron.bsky.social: spkl.io/63322AbxpA
@wiringthebrain.bsky.social, @statsepi.bsky.social, & @deevybee.bsky.social
Read the full opinion piece in @cp-neuron.bsky.social: spkl.io/63322AbxpA
@wiringthebrain.bsky.social, @statsepi.bsky.social, & @deevybee.bsky.social
November 13, 2025 at 5:59 PM
We did a thing. 😬
Well, they managed to get a major RCT published in the BMJ. The only reason for the scrutiny is that someone finally checked the data file after the publication came out.
November 12, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Well, they managed to get a major RCT published in the BMJ. The only reason for the scrutiny is that someone finally checked the data file after the publication came out.
This is true, but there is very little public oversight into how that process works. I do think that fraud is incredibly rare in pharmaceutical trials because of this requirement, but as we are seeing in the US right now it's only as good as the staffing of the regulator.
November 12, 2025 at 10:34 PM
This is true, but there is very little public oversight into how that process works. I do think that fraud is incredibly rare in pharmaceutical trials because of this requirement, but as we are seeing in the US right now it's only as good as the staffing of the regulator.
I wrote about this debacle and the implications for, well, most of healthcare:
gidmk.substack.com/p/stem-cell-...
gidmk.substack.com/p/stem-cell-...
Stem Cell Infusions And Heart Failure: The Story Of An Academic Trainwreck
Some truly bizarre data behind a big new clinical trial
gidmk.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 9:33 PM
I wrote about this debacle and the implications for, well, most of healthcare:
gidmk.substack.com/p/stem-cell-...
gidmk.substack.com/p/stem-cell-...
Having read the paper, it would be challenging to identify the issues without access to the dataset. There were a few noticeable quirks but certainly nothing overtly problematic.
November 12, 2025 at 1:58 AM
Having read the paper, it would be challenging to identify the issues without access to the dataset. There were a few noticeable quirks but certainly nothing overtly problematic.
Because it was caught quickly. The only reason it was so quick was because they uploaded their data.
How many studies like this didn't upload data and are still out there...
How many studies like this didn't upload data and are still out there...
November 11, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Because it was caught quickly. The only reason it was so quick was because they uploaded their data.
How many studies like this didn't upload data and are still out there...
How many studies like this didn't upload data and are still out there...