Might be of interest...

March 28, 2010 6:11 AM

The head of Regenexx has joined MeFi in response to an FPP I posted and is commenting about claims being made about his company, treatments, studies and protocols.

Thought I'd point this out to the community at large, in case anyone else was interested in addressing him directly. I'm hoping to respond to him myself later today or tomorrow.

This is apparently not an unusual tactic for him. He's done so in other internet forums when his company's stem cell treatments have been questioned.

posted by zarq to MetaFilter-Related at 6:11 AM (43 comments total)

Was anything edited out of Mental Wimp's (totally reasonable and not at all snarky-seeming) comments that made the doctor twice go "hey, let's keep this professional?" I don't see what rankled the doctor there.
posted by mintcake! at 6:30 AM on March 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

We tend to enjoy when the subjects of the FPPs show up to participate. While he is doing some thread moderation, it's useful to see what he has to say about his treatment as well. I think Mental Wimp is doing a great job of showing that applying some science to the treatment would be in everyone's interest (everyone but the people profitting from the new treatment I suppose).
posted by garlic at 6:31 AM on March 28, 2010

I'm curious Dr. Centeno - how did you find that metafilter thread? It's neat that you came in to discuss it with us, but I couldn't find that thread in any of the first 5 google pages for regenexx, centeno, etc.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 6:34 AM on March 28, 2010

Was anything edited out of Mental Wimp's (totally reasonable and not at all snarky-seeming) comments that made the doctor twice go "hey, let's keep this professional?" I don't see what rankled the doctor there.

I don't believe anything Mental Wimp said in the thread was deleted. Calling the guy "intellectually dishonest" and what he was doing "unconscionable" might have prompted the reaction? Tame accusations, though.
posted by zarq at 6:49 AM on March 28, 2010

Ah. Fair enough.
posted by mintcake! at 6:54 AM on March 28, 2010

I would assume he has a google alert or something similar on Regenexx so it emails him whenever new results show up. Anyone who still googles themselves manually for that kind of reputation tracking is doing it wrong.

I can't say I love having him here telling members of the community how they're welcome to have a discussion in their own community.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:04 AM on March 28, 2010 [5 favorites]

"OK sir, after initial examination it looks like everything is in tip-top shape. There was just this one issue I had some concerns about—it's nothing serious, but you'll have to make a decision one way or another and I want to make sure you're fully informed about your health options. Just a minute... OK, uh, hang on. I'll be right back. SOMEBODY IS WRONG ON THE INTERNET!"
posted by carsonb at 7:38 AM on March 28, 2010 [3 favorites]

He's done so in other internet forums...

FWIW -- I'm impressed with the discussion by a number of commentors in the thread in the 'forums' hyperlink.
posted by ericb at 8:10 AM on March 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

Nothing was edited or removed, no.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:15 AM on March 28, 2010

Let's keep it professional.

$20, same as in town.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:16 AM on March 28, 2010 [6 favorites]

Let's keep it professional.

Someone should tell him that he can set up his profile with a white background.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:23 AM on March 28, 2010 [6 favorites]

The head of Regenexx

This sounds like a monster from Greek myths.

The Head of Regenexx guards the hall of Zeus, allowing entry only to Gods and vanquishing any mortal who dares to sup with the gods..or something like that.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:21 AM on March 28, 2010 [6 favorites]

Yeah, but what is Dr. Centeno's mom an expert in?
posted by cjorgensen at 9:33 AM on March 28, 2010 [3 favorites]

More than you will ever know.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 9:39 AM on March 28, 2010

I think I did that wrong.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 9:40 AM on March 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

Except for a few comments about a broken link [which we fixed], nothing was removed from that thread, fyi.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:48 AM on March 28, 2010

goodnewsfortheinsane: google actually knows far more about this subject than I think you can imagine.
posted by idiopath at 9:55 AM on March 28, 2010

s/^.*$/FIAMO/
posted by Pronoiac at 10:21 AM on March 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

> Was anything edited out of Mental Wimp's (totally reasonable and not at all snarky-seeming) comments

You may be spending too much time on MetaFilter (not that there's anything wrong with that). While Mental Wimp's comments may well be reasonable, they are quite confrontational and would probably sound needlessly insulting to anyone not steeped in internet culture, where "You asshat!" is how we say "Howdy!"

It is indeed pretty neat that the guy showed up to discuss it; I hope he's not driven away by the usual gang of snarkers.
posted by languagehat at 10:38 AM on March 28, 2010 [6 favorites]

I don't think challenging a new medical procedure technology is confrontational, particularly by someone who works in the field. After all, this is what the scientific method is about. I agree that it is interesting for him to show up.

What seemed unprofessional to me was his defensiveness.
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 10:46 AM on March 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

It's the tone more than the substance -- "intellectually dishonest" is an accusation of bad character, vs. just challenging the evidence for the efficacy of the procedure.

Agreed that it's the usual form of argument here, but it's not generally how a colleague would talk, say at a medical conference or in letters to a journal, even one who disagreed strongly.
posted by palliser at 11:19 AM on March 28, 2010

Yeah, intellectually dishonest has to be fighting words to a medical researcher.
posted by msalt at 11:43 AM on March 28, 2010

The way he formatted his comments made me feel ill so I couldn't read them.
posted by anniecat at 11:57 AM on March 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

Intellectually dishonest = one's pants are in fact on fire.
posted by fixedgear at 12:03 PM on March 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

I find the whole thing fascinating and I've learned a lot from the discussion already. Thanks for this MeTa zarq, or I would have missed it.
posted by Danila at 12:12 PM on March 28, 2010 [3 favorites]

Yeah, intellectually dishonest has to be fighting words to a medical researcher.

And, "I missed the wife beating comment, LOL..." are usually metafilter fighting words.
posted by cjorgensen at 12:27 PM on March 28, 2010

Danila, you're very welcome. :)
posted by zarq at 12:35 PM on March 28, 2010

Just want to say thanks to everyone who is contributing and maintaining decorum in that thread. I feel like I am to blame for some of the "unprofessional" comments the good doctor is referring to (I called him dumb prior to his appearance on the site, which was not my best moment). I get pretty righteous about research ethics and (admittedly imperfect) government procedures, and that's not the kind of person I want to be, which is why I left the thread. I've been following in Recent Activity, though, and appreciate the discussion.
posted by sarahnade at 1:06 PM on March 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

it's not generally how a colleague would talk, say at a medical conference or in letters to a journal

True, but this is neither a medical conference nor a journal letter.

Given the guy's history on other message boards it seems a little ridiculous to pretend that he's never seen an online discussion before and doesn't know what they usually look like.
posted by ook at 1:31 PM on March 28, 2010

> True, but this is neither a medical conference nor a journal letter.

Given the guy's history on other message boards it seems a little ridiculous to pretend that he's never seen an online discussion before and doesn't know what they usually look like.

Once again, a gentle suggestion that we not gang up on somebody or employ our most vitriolic snark is treated as some kind of un-MetaFilterian accusation: "How dare you try to limit our freedom to behave in typical online fashion?" Dude, do whatever you like, and I'm not "pretending" anything. I'm just hoping for a reasonable discussion instead of a pileon followed by his abrupt departure, probably with ill-chosen parting words that everyone can enjoy mocking.
posted by languagehat at 1:42 PM on March 28, 2010 [3 favorites]

google actually knows far more about this subject than I think you can imagine.

I think Google knows far more about every subject than I think anyone can imagine.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:01 PM on March 28, 2010

"How dare you try to limit our freedom to behave in typical online fashion?"

Hm. I'm not sure how what I actually wrote turned into such a cri de coeur in your head, languagehat.

The discussion in there looks perfectly civil to me, even by non-internet standards. Which is great. I'm by no means suggesting that a rabid pile-on is a great idea; my point was only that the guy sounds more like a flamewar veteran than like someone unfamiliar with the usual tenor of online discussions; his repeated calls to "keep it professional" and complaints about nonexistent name calling look to me like calculated rhetorical technique, not like someone baffled about why the internet is being mean to him.

Or, basically, what grouse said.
posted by ook at 2:22 PM on March 28, 2010 [3 favorites]

I'm always interested to see whether people who sign up because they're being talked about stick around. From my (admittedly small) sample, it seems like the answer is a resounding "No."
posted by stoneweaver at 2:41 PM on March 28, 2010

I'm always interested to see whether people who sign up because they're being talked about stick around. From my (admittedly small) sample, it seems like the answer is a resounding "No."

I feel like it may have happened a couple of times. Anyone know any specific examples?
posted by grouse at 2:43 PM on March 28, 2010

Didn't Amanda Palmer fetch up once?
posted by HandfulOfDust at 2:50 PM on March 28, 2010

That WhySharksMatter guy stuck around for at least a few months... I can't think of any who lasted longer than that.
posted by ook at 3:00 PM on March 28, 2010

HandfulOfDust: "Didn't Amanda Palmer fetch up once"

Yup, long enough to make one comment that got 70 favorites.
posted by idiopath at 3:07 PM on March 28, 2010

I liked Mr. WhySharksMatter and had really hoped he would stick around. In my version of the world, he's off on the deep sea and will return to regale us with shark tales when he gets back.
posted by stoneweaver at 3:12 PM on March 28, 2010 [3 favorites]

Aww. Now I miss WhySharksMatter.
posted by jabberjaw at 3:17 PM on March 28, 2010

Will people start thanking me for my membership and welcoming me if I put an MD at the end of my name?

hal_c_on, MD
posted by hal_c_on at 10:06 PM on March 28, 2010

You may be spending too much time on MetaFilter

Heh.

I'm definitely spending too much on Reese's peanut butter eggs.
posted by mintcake! at 6:35 AM on March 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

> The discussion in there looks perfectly civil to me, even by non-internet standards. Which is great. I'm by no means suggesting that a rabid pile-on is a great idea; my point was only that the guy sounds more like a flamewar veteran than like someone unfamiliar with the usual tenor of online discussions

OK, fair enough. I've seen enough of the kind of behavior I described that I was too hasty in your case.
posted by languagehat at 4:42 PM on March 29, 2010

Keep It Professional

During a recent longterm unemployment tenure I got a call from the bank with some bad news, extra fees, the typical predatory shit. I said, "Oh, god, this is crazy bullshit! You're taking money from someone who doesn't have any, you have the keys to my account, why don't you just fucking loot it and be done with me?" And the woman in the telephone said, "Sir, let's please keep this professional."

I said, "No, you keep this professional, you're the one here with a job! I haven't been professional for a year, which you professionals over there can plainly see by my unemployment checks that come dribbling in there every week! Professional is easy for you to say, you're getting paid for this shit. With my money, I might add!"

I was bit of a dick; then again, wounded elephants are dicks, too, and everybody likes elephants.
posted by breezeway at 6:06 AM on March 30, 2010