Is there really a medical intervention which involves the dramatic, violent stabbing of

a huge hypodermic needle through the chest and directly into the heart? A lot of movies

have depicted this and also plenty of other medical myths. Today we're going to find out

which of them are based on real medicine and which are purely the fictional inventions

of Hollywood. That's coming up right now on Skeptoid.

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For listening to Skeptoid, I'm Brian Dunning from Skeptoid.com. Medical myths in movies

and culture. When I first thought of this episode, it sounded like a great idea because the

way TV and movies abuse our understanding of medicine and the human body has always bugged

the hell out of me. But now that I've put in the research and checked out all the facts,

I realize that I'm merely being a huge party pooper. If you've enjoyed believing in

some of these fancies, you're probably going to be mad at me. Or better yet, just

proclaim that I'm on the payroll of corporate interests, ignore everything I have to say,

and go on believing that eating chocolate causes acne. And that's as good as starting

places any. Folk Wisdom tells us that eating chocolate causes acne, or that the oil from

cheap greasy food like cheeseburgers or french fries will ooze right out through your

skin and cause pimples. Fortunately, numerous trials have been done, and we've learned

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