Ben Goldacre
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| Ben Goldacre | ||
|---|---|---|
 Ben Goldacre giving a talk at the LSE in Jan 2009. |
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| Born | c. 1974 |
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| Occupation | Medical doctor and journalist | |
| Notable credit(s) | The Guardian | |
| Official website | ||
Ben Goldacre is a British medical doctor and journalist, and the author of the The Guardian newspaper's weekly Bad Science column.[1] He works full-time as a junior doctor for the National Health Service[2][3] and is a registered psychiatrist. His first book, also called Bad Science, was published by Fourth Estate in September 2008.[3] His uncle is science journalist Robyn Williams, and he is the great-great-grandson of Sir Henry Parkes.[4]
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[edit] Academic career
Goldacre studied medicine at Magdalen College, Oxford where he obtained a first class degree in his preclinical studies in 1995.[2] While at Oxford he also edited the student magazine Isis.[5] Before going on to clinical medicine at University College London, he was a visiting researcher in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Milan, working on fMRI brain scans of language and executive function. He received a master's degree in philosophy (funded by the British Academy) from King's College London.[2] He is a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and is a research fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London.[6]
[edit] Bad Science column
Goldacre writes a weekly column, Bad Science, in the Saturday edition of The Guardian newspaper,[1] and publishes expanded versions of the columns with reader comments on his website badscience.net.[7] Devoted to satirical criticism of scientific inaccuracy, health scares, pseudoscience and quackery, it focuses especially on examples from the mass media, consumer product marketing, problems with the pharmaceutical industry[8] and its relationship to medical journals,[9] and complementary and alternative medicine in Britain.[10] On the controversial topic of water fluoridation, he stated in 2008 that "anyone making any confident statement on fluoride speaks way beyond the evidence".[11]
He has been a particular critic of the claims of television nutritionist Gillian McKeith,[12] anti-immunisation campaigners (particularly followers of Andrew Wakefield such as Melanie Phillips and Jeni Barnett),[13] Brain Gym,[14] bogus positive MRSA swab stories in tabloids,[15] antidepressants,[16] publication bias,[17] and the makers of the product Penta Water.[18] While investigating McKeith's membership of the American Association of Nutritional Consultants, Goldacre purchased a "certified professional membership" on behalf of his late cat, Henrietta, from the same institution for $60.[19] In February 2007, McKeith agreed to stop using the title "Dr" in her advertising following a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority by a Bad Science reader.[20]
In 2008, vitamin entrepreneur Matthias Rath sued Goldacre and The Guardian over three articles[21][22][23] in which Goldacre criticised Rath's promotion of vitamin pills to AIDS sufferers in South African townships.[24] Rath dropped his action in September 2008 and was ordered to pay initial costs of £220,000 to the Guardian.[24] The paper is seeking full costs of £500,000, and Goldacre has expressed an interest in writing a book about Rath and South Africa, as a chapter on the subject had to be cut from his book while the litigation proceeded.[25] The chapter was added to a later edition of the book, and also published online.[26]
[edit] Bad Science book
Goldacre's book Bad Science was published by Fourth Estate in September 2008.[3] The book contains extended and revised versions of many of his Guardian columns. It has been positively reviewed by the BMJ[27] and Daily Telegraph[28] and has reached the Top 10 bestseller list for Amazon Books. In an inteview in 2008, Goldacre stated that "one of the central themes of my book [Bad Science] is that there are no real differences between the $600 billion pharmaceutical industry and the $50 billion food supplement pill industry".[29]
[edit] Awards
Goldacre has won several awards for his journalism, including:
- Association of British Science Writers award for Best Feature 2003[30] for his article "Never mind the facts"[31]
- Association of British Science Writers award for Best Feature 2005[32] for his article "Don't dumb me down"[10]
- Freelance of 2006 at the Medical Journalism Awards[33]
- The inaugural Statistical Excellence In Journalism Award of the Royal Statistical Society[34] for his article "When the facts get in the way of a story"[35]
- the HealthWatch Award for "significant steps in improving the public's understanding of health issues"[36]
- Honorary Doctor of Science at Heriot Watt University "in recognition of his outstanding contribution to scientific journalism and in the promotion of public engagement with and greater understanding of science."[37]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Goldacre, Ben. "Bad Science (weekly column)". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/badscience/. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
- ^ a b c "Ben Goldacre". PFD Group. Archived from the original on 2008-08-14. http://web.archive.org/web/20070208152026/http://www.pfd.co.uk/clients/goldben/a-pre.html.
- ^ a b c Goldacre, Ben (September 2008). Bad Science. London: Fourth Estate. ISBN 978-0-00-724019-7. OCLC 259713114.
- ^ "The Science Show". ABC Radio National. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2008/2403358.htm. Retrieved on 2008-11-03.
- ^ Goldacre, Ben. "About Dr Ben Goldacre". http://www.badscience.net/?page_id=4. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
- ^ "Staff list". Institute of Psychiatry. http://www.iop.kcl.ac.uk/staff/profile/default.aspx?go=11920. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
- ^ Goldacre, Ben. "badscience.net". http://www.badscience.net. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
- ^ Goldacre B. (2008). A quick fix would stop drug firms bending the truth. The Guardian.
- ^ Goldacre B. (2008). The danger of drugs … and data. The Guardian.
- ^ a b Goldacre, Ben (2005-09-08). "Don't dumb me down". The Guardian. http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/research/story/0,,1564615,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
- ^ Goldacre B. (2008). Fluoride, teeth, and an argument that's full of holes. The Guardian.
- ^ Goldacre, Ben (2007-02-07). "Brought to book: the poo lady's PhD". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/badscience/story/0,,2004999,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
- ^ Goldacre, Ben (2009-02-03). "Bad Science Bingo, with Jeni Barnett". Bad Science. http://www.badscience.net/2009/02/bad-science-bingo/.
- ^ Goldacre, Ben (2006-03-25). "Exercise the brain without this transparent nonsense". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/badscience/story/0,,1739365,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
- ^ Goldacre, Ben (2005-11-19). "How many microbiologists does it take to change a tabloid story?". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/badscience/story/0,,1646323,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
- ^ Goldacre B. (2008). Depression - the facts and the fables. The Guardian.
- ^ Goldacre B. (2008). Missing in action: the trials that did not make the news. The Guardian.
- ^ Goldacre, Ben (2005-02-10). "Troubled water". The Guardian. http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/research/story/0,,1409131,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
- ^ Goldacre, Ben (2004-09-30). "Dr Gillian McKeith (PhD) continued". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2004/sep/30/badscience.research. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
- ^ Gibson, Owen (2007-02-12). "TV dietician to stop using title Dr in adverts". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/food/Story/0,,2011151,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
- ^ No way to treat an Aids hero Published January 20, 2007. Accessed September 3, 2008
- ^ 'Gambia's president may be weird, but Aids superstitions strike closer to home’ The Guardian. Published January 27, 2007. Accessed September 3, 2008.
- ^ 'How money is not the only barrier to Aids patients getting hold of drugs’ The Guardian. Published February 17, 2007. Accessed September 3, 2008.
- ^ a b Boseley, Sarah (13 September 2008). "Fall of the doctor who said his vitamins would cure Aids". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/12/matthiasrath.aids2. Retrieved on 2008-09-13.
- ^ Goldacre, Ben (12 September 2008). "Matthias Rath drops his million pound legal case against me and the Guardian". badscience.net. http://www.badscience.net/2008/09/matthias-rath-pulls-out-forced-to-pay-the-guardians-costs-i-think-this-means-i-win/. Retrieved on 2008-09-13.
- ^ Ben Goldacre, badscience.net, 9 April 2009, Matthias Rath - steal this chapter
- ^ Smith, Richard (2008-10-01). "Becoming Ben". BMJ (London: British Medical Association) 337 (337): a1856. ISSN 0959-8138. OCLC 19024268. http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/337/oct01_3/a1856. Retrieved on 2009-03-27.
- ^ Lake, Ed (2008-09-26). "Review: Bad Science by Ben Goldacre". Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/non_fictionreviews/3561272/Review-Bad-Science-by-Ben-Goldacre.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-27.
- ^ Ben Goldacre interviewed on the Australian Broadcasting Company's The Science Show, Part 2.
- ^ "Science Writers Awards - Winners 2003". Syngenta ABSW Science Writers' Awards. http://www.sciencewritersawards.co.uk/science/past/2003/index.htm. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
- ^ Goldacre, Ben (2003-12-11). "Never mind the facts". The Guardian. http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/research/story/0,,1104096,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
- ^ "ABSW Science Writers' Awards - Winners 2005". Syngenta ABSW Science Writers' Awards. http://www.sciencewritersawards.co.uk/science/past/2005/index.htm. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
- ^ "MJA News October/November 2006" (PDF). Medical Journalists Association. 2006. http://www.mja-uk.org/admin/upload/pdf/MJA%20News%20Oct-Nov%202006.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
- ^ "2007 Award for statistical excellence in journalism". Royal Statistical Society. http://www.rss.org.uk/main.asp?page=2721. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
- ^ Goldacre, Ben (2006-04-01). "When the facts get in the way of a story". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/badscience/story/0,,1744541,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
- ^ "Highlights from Newsletter no 62, July 2006". HealthWatch. July 2006. http://www.healthwatch-uk.org/newsletterarchive/hw62.htm#Badsci. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
- ^ Heriot Watt University Graduations: Honorary Graduates
[edit] External links
- Bad Science - Goldacre's website
- Radio interview with Ben Goldacre, broadcast 23 December 2005, from Little Atoms, a show on Resonance FM
- Radio interview with Ben Goldacre, broadcast 3 October 2008, from Little Atoms, a show on Resonance FM
- Radio interview with Ben Goldacre, broadcast 1 November 2008, on The Science Show, a program on ABC Radio National
- Pulse Project Interview with Ben GoldacrePulse Project Podcast: Interview with Ben Goldacre (12 May 2009, Skeptics in the Pub Oxford)
