In 1971, Hoag did an internship atDavid Grant USAF Medical Center in California.[5] She was then stationed in Spain for seven years as a general medical officer.[5]
Hall said she had been a "passive skeptic" for quite some time, only reading the literature and attending the various meetings.[7] In 2002, she metWallace Sampson at theSkeptic's Toolbox workshop in Eugene, Oregon.[2] Sampson encouraged Hall to write an article for theScientific Review of Alternative Medicine[8] testing so-called "Vitamin O" products she had seen advertised in the mail.[9] She then began writing articles forSkeptical Inquirer.[10][11] Hall spoke withMichael Shermer atThe Amazing Meeting in 2005 about the bookThe God Code and he asked her write a review of it forSkeptic magazine.[12] From 2006–2023 she had a regular column inSkeptic magazine titledThe SkepDoc,[7] which was also used as the name of her website.[13] Before the Toolbox, "I had not done any writing... one thing led to another and now I'm on the faculty of the Skeptic's Toolbox."[14]
In 2008 she publishedWomen Aren't Supposed to Fly: The Memoirs of a Female Flight Surgeon, 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?"[15][1]
In 2008, Hall was among the five founding editors to launchScience-Based Medicine.[16] In addition to serving as an editor, she contributed over 700 articles toScience-Based Medicine.[17]
Hall spoke at the Science-Based Medicine Conference[18] and The Amazing Meeting 7,[15] among other venues in 2009. She was interviewed on podcasts such asThe Reality Check,[8]Skepticality[19] andThe Skeptic Zone.[7]
Starting in the January 2010 issue, Hall had a regular 250-word column debunking common health myths inO, The Oprah Magazine.[20] Her relationship with the magazine was rocky, and the column ended in the June 2010 issue.[21] She later said about this experience that "The editor who hired me was replaced by a less sympathetic one (...). They restricted me to a measly 200 words and wanted to tell me exactly what to write about and what to say. I couldn’t even recognize the final edited version as my writing."[22]
Hall was on the board and had been a founding member of the Institute for Science in Medicine, formed in 2009. In 2010 she was elected a Fellow of theCommittee for Skeptical Inquiry.[23]
Hall on theJREF Amazing Adventure — North to Alaska
On August 21, 2010, Hall was honored with an award recognizing her contributions in theskeptical field, from theIIG during its 10th Anniversary Gala.[24]
Hall spoke at the 6th World Skeptic Congress in Berlin, "Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fairy Tale Science and Placebo Medicine".[25]
Hall was 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."[28] In her work she emphasized the importance of following the scientific evidence for or against any remedy. When asked about the cold remedyAirborne she said, "There's more evidence for chicken soup than for Airborne. In the absence of any credibledouble-blind studies to support the claims for Airborne, I'll stick to hand washing."[29] She criticized theU.S. Army for its use ofacupuncture: "the idea that putting needles in somebody's ear is going to substitute for things likemorphine is just ridiculous."[30]
Hall publicly criticized the recommendations and products ofDaniel G. Amen in an article atQuackwatch[31] and elsewhere, saying "Amen's recommendations defy science, common sense and logic."[32] She criticized many other proponents of alternative therapies, includingAndrew Weil.[33]
Hall was an advisor toQuackwatch[34] as well as an Associate Editor and frequent author of theScience-Based Medicine blog.[4]
In 2022, Hall published a children's book calledThere's No Such Thing as the Tooth Fairy! about kids who debate the existence of thetooth fairy.[35] Hall had previously coined the term "tooth fairy science" to refer to studying a phenomenon before establishing its existence.[36][37]
Hall emphasized her "SkepDoc's Rule", which states: "Before you believe a claim, find out who disagrees with it and why."[38][3] She elaborates, "Once you have located the opposing arguments you can evaluate which side has the most credible evidence and the fewest logical fallacies. It's usually easy to spot the winner."[39][3]
Hall firmly advocated for only one standard of evidence:
Science-based medicine has one rigorous standard of evidence, the kind [used for pharmaceuticals] ....CAM has a double standard. They gladly accept a lower standard of evidence for treatments they believe in. However, I suspect they would reject a pharmaceutical if it were approved for marketing on the kind of evidence they accept for CAM.[40]
On June 15, 2021, Hall published a book review ofIrreversible Damage inScience-Based Medicine (SBM) stating that the book "brings up some alarming facts that desperately need to be looked into", that the affirmative care model forgender dysphoria in children "is a mistake and a dereliction of duty", and that the current political climate has made scientific study of these matters nearly impossible.[41][42]
Within two days, the review was removed and replaced with a retraction notice authored bySteven Novella andDavid Gorski. They stated that the health protocols for dealing with gender dysphoria in children were misrepresented and argued that an increase in gender dysphoria diagnoses can be explained without invoking a theory of social contagion, as well as stating that the science behindgender-affirming care indicates it improves mental health.[43] Novella and Gorski emphasized that Hall was still an editor in good standing atScience-Based Medicine, and praised her history of promoting good science.[41]
Science-Based Medicine also published a series of articles from doctors specialising in LGBTQ+ health care, which were critical of the book and Hall's positive review.[44][45][46] Several skeptics supported Hall[47] including the evolutionary biologistJerry Coyne[48] and SBM editor emeritusKimball Atwood[49] who advised SBM to retain Hall's review and criticized Novella and Gorski's decision to censor it.[48][49] When journalistJesse Singal criticized Novella and Gorski's retraction of Hall's original article and the factual accuracy of the follow-up articles, his critique was also met with criticism.[50][51][52][53]
Hall's review of Shrier's book was republished atSkeptic.com, and an updated version that responded to the critiques was published on her personal website.[42][54]
^abcHall, Harriet (Autumn 2017)."My Journey Into Skepticism".Kurtz Institute. The Human Prospect. pp. 17–19. Archived from the original on January 18, 2023. RetrievedJanuary 18, 2023.
^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 (2005). "Seek and Ye Shall Find. Book review of The God Code: The Secret of Our Past, the Promise of Our Future, by Greg Braden".Skeptic Magazine.11 (4):85–6.
^Thorp, Brandon K. (December 10, 2009)."Harriet Hall's Big Big News".SWIFT. James Randi Educational Foundation.Archived from the original on December 13, 2009. RetrievedDecember 10, 2009.
^Hall, Harriet A. (September 7, 2010),"Write for Oprah? Wrong for Me",Science-Based Medicine,archived from the original on September 9, 2010, retrievedSeptember 8, 2010
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