User talk:Durova/Sandbox/Harris Coulter

Latest comment: 16 years ago by Martinphi in topic Book reviews
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Comments after a quick glance

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He probably is notable but we need many more outside sources. A geocities cite makes me quite nervous unless it is a copy of something else published somewhere else. --Filll (talk) 23:13, 30 January 2008 (UTC)Reply

I agree that Geocities sites themselves aren't the best locations. Perhaps someone could add text citations to books he authored? It appears that he meets the author notability guideline. DurovaCharge! 23:15, 30 January 2008 (UTC)Reply

He has written a lot. Some of it might be a bit on the FRINGE side I suspect, and the discussion of "dangers" has to be very carefully worded. Of course there are dangers from vaccination, but then there are dangers from not vaccinating as well, and one has to weigh the two.--Filll (talk) 23:18, 30 January 2008 (UTC)Reply

Well, if he's reached a broad enough audience then he appears to be a notable author. And holding a doctoral degree from a respected university does carry some clout with the public, even if the individual becomes known for work outside of his or her formal field. Dr. Laura Schlessinger, for instance, also holds a Ph.D. from Columbia U. - her formal training is in physiology. DurovaCharge! 23:25, 30 January 2008 (UTC)Reply

Dr. Ruth has a PhD in Education.--Filll (talk) 23:29, 30 January 2008 (UTC)Reply

Also from Columbia... Lots of strange people went there (like me). DurovaCharge! 23:45, 30 January 2008 (UTC)Reply

Observations

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  • Requesting a more neutral version of the following: who made significant contributions in many areas during his career regarding cancer, the dangers of vaccinations, by serving on numerous medical advisory panels and boards, and by shedding light on the conflict between the American Medical Association (AMA) and homeopathy.
  • What field exactly was his Ph.D. in?

DurovaCharge! 23:17, 30 January 2008 (UTC)Reply

Couple thoughts

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I think the Achilles heel here, in terms of writing a neutral, encyclopedic article, is going to be a lack of solid third-party sources. Coulter doesn't have any PubMed-indexed work. I'm sure he could be notable by virtue of his writings, but I don't see any really significant third-party coverage of them beyond the self-amplifying Webosphere of anti-vaccination sites. Similarly, the "rebuttal" is sourced to a geocities page, which is problematic. I'll keep looking for better sources; if we find some, it would go a long way toward confirming his notability as well as giving us something more neutral to work with. Otherwise, the article will be half anti-vaccination coatrack, and half anti-homeopathy coatrack. MastCell Talk 23:31, 30 January 2008 (UTC)Reply

Book reviews

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The notability seems to stem from his official appointments and his writings. Suggest finding a range of book reviews to link from this article, plus any neutral publishers material if it exists. If we don't have articles on the organisations mentioned here: "the director of publications for the American Foundation for Homeopathy, and from 1983 to 1989, he served on the editorial board of the Journal of the American Institute of Homeopathy. Coulter was also an advisory board member of the Campaign Against Fraudulent Medical Research." - then I suggest explaining in the article what makes these organisations notable. American Institute of Homeopathy doesn't have an article either. Carcharoth (talk) 07:18, 1 February 2008 (UTC)Reply

Thanks for the suggestion. :) DurovaCharge! 07:58, 1 February 2008 (UTC)Reply
Good... the only thing I found in a small search turned out to be a blacklisted link. ——Martinphi Ψ Φ—— 08:05, 1 February 2008 (UTC)Reply