Harriet A. Hall
Born	2 July 1945 (1945-07-02) (age 64)
Residence	Puyallup, Washington, United States
Known for	Criticism of alternative medicine
Website http://www.skepdoc.info/

Harriet A. Hall (born on July 2, 1945) is a retired family physician, former U.S. Air Force flight surgeon and skeptic who writes about alternative medicine and quackery for Skeptic and Skeptical Inquirer and elsewhere.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Selected publications 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Biography

Dr. Hall received her B.A. and M.D. from the University of Washington. She was only the second woman to do her internship in the Air Force and was the first female graduate of the Air Force family practice residency at Eglin Air Force Base.^[1]

Hall says she was a "passive skeptic" for quite some time, only reading the literature and attending the various meetings.^[2] She met Wallace Sampson at a Skeptic's Toolbox workshop in Oregon, who convinced her to write an article for the Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine^[3] testing so-called "Vitamin O" products she had seen advertised in the mail.^[4] She then began writing articles for Skeptical Inquirer.^[5][6] When she spoke to Michael Shermer at The Amazing Meeting about the book The God Code, he encouraged her to write a review of it for Skeptic Magazine.^[7] She wrote other articles for that publication, and since late 2006 she has had a regular column in it titled The SkepDoc.^[2] This is also the name of her web site.^[8]

She has been an outspoken critic of alternative medicine, often questioning its effectiveness. "If it were shown to be truly effective, it would be part of regular medicine."^[9] In her work she emphasizes the importance of following the scientific evidence for or against any remedy. When asked about the anti-cold remedy Airborne she said, "There's more evidence for chicken soup than for Airborne. In the absence of any credible double-blind studies to support the claims for Airborne, I'll stick to hand washing."^[10]

She has publicly criticized the recommendations and products of Daniel G. Amen in an article at Quackwatch^[11] and elsewhere, saying "Amen's recommendations defy science, common sense and logic."^[12] She has criticized many other purveyors of alternative therapies, including Andrew Weil.^[13]

She is an advisor to Quackwatch^[14] and an Associate Editor of the Science-Based Medicine blog.^[1]

She has spoken at Center for Inquiry,^[15] the Science-Based Medicine Conference,^[16] The Amazing Meeting 7^[17] and The Skeptics Toolbox,^[18] all in 2009. She has been interviewed on podcasts such as The Reality Check,^[3] Skepticality^[19] and The Skeptic Zone.^[2]

In 2008 she published an autobiography focusing on her experiences as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force (she retired as a full Colonel). As a female physician, Air Force officer, pilot and flight surgeon she was a minority in several respects, and encountered prejudice. The title of the book refers to an incident after her first solo flight when an airport official told her, "Didn't anybody ever tell you women aren't supposed to fly?"^[17][20]

Starting in the January 2010 issue, Dr. Hall has a regular 250-word column in O, The Oprah Magazine debunking common health myths.^[21]

She is married and resides in Puyallup, Washington^[3] with her husband Kirk (who is also retired from the Air Force). She has two grown daughters.^[17]

[edit] Selected publications

Dr. Hall maintains a complete list of her publications on her website. Below are selected highlights and publications mentioned in this article.

• Hall, Harriet A. (Spring/Summer 2003), "Analysis of Claims and of an Experiment to Prove That Oxygen is Present in "Vitamin O"", Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine 7 (1): 29–33 
• Hall, Harriet A. (May/June 2003), "Wired to the Kitchen Sink: Studying Weird Claims for Fun and Profit", Skeptical Inquirer (Committee for Skeptical Inquiry) 27 (3): pp. 46–48, http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/cranial2.html, retrieved August 8, 2009 
• Hall, Harriet A. (Fall/Winter 2003-2004), "Chiropractic Information in a Public Library", Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine 7 (2): 78–86 
• Hall, Harriet (2005, rev. 2007), "A Skeptical View of SPECT Scans and Dr. Daniel Amen", Quackwatch, http://quackwatch.org/06ResearchProjects/amen.html, retrieved August 8, 2009 
• Hall, Harriet A. (Spring/Summer 2005), "Blind-spot Mapping, Cortical Function, and Chiropractic Manipulation", Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine 9 (1): 11–15 
• Hall, Harriett (2005), "Seek & Ye Shall Find: The God Code (Book Review)", Skeptic (The Skeptics Society) 11 (4) 
• Hall, Harriet A. (May/June 2006), "Teaching Pigs to Sing: An Experiment in Bringing Critical Thinking to the Masses", Skeptical Inquirer 30 (3): pp. 36–39, http://www.csicop.org/si/2006-03/thinking.html, retrieved August 8, 2009 
• Hall, Harriet A. (June 24, 2008), "Death By Medicine", Science-Based Medicine, http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=136, retrieved August 9, 2009 
• Hall, Harriet A. (2008), Women Aren't Supposed to Fly : The Memoirs of a Female Flight Surgeon, Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, pp. 221, ISBN 9780595499588, OCLC 263094055 

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The SkepDoc is her official website
• Science-Based Medicine is where she blogs

Persondata
NAME	Hall, Harriet A.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Hall, Harriet
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Medical doctor & skeptic
DATE OF BIRTH	2 July 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH