Dr Eben Alexander's new book

"Personally I couldn’t care less"

Amazing how this complete disinterest has been the motivation for so many posts in this thread. Something doesn't add up.

Im not sure that’s a fair comment. Tim posted a reference to an article where Eben explained himself and it was, IMO, not quite accurate. Tim asked me to provide a reference, which I did. There’s no mystery..

I couldn’t care less in the sense that Eben Alexander’s NDE strikes me as one of the least veridical I have read.

Obiwan said > He tried to cover it up

I can only refer you back to Alexander's statement.  (I) disclosed the surgical error to all parties after follow up revealed a genuine surgical benefit.

That's clear in the statement by those at IANDS who are generally rigorous with their facts. It's possible IANDS is wrong, yes but he was cleared by the board(s)

In hindsight he should have taken the precise action that would have prevented any comeback. But what was he trying to cover up that was so terrible ? He made a surgical error which happens all the time (apparently) and it all came out in the end anyway. 

Looking through the long list of doctors reprimanded in that PDF it seems fairly unremarkable. But we all see things different ways.

I didn’t say he covered it up, his professional,body did. You can make what you like of it and so can anyone else. I’m out on this now, I’ve  provided you with the info you asked for. That’s  the end of it for me.

I didn’t say he covered it up, his professional,body did. You can make what you like of it and so can anyone else. I’m out on this now, I’ve  provided you with the info you asked for. That’s  the end of it for me.

No you didn't, apologies for that.

They actually said :

"altering the original operative report to obscure the fact of the wrong site surgery."

which I guess can be interpreted as a cover up.

Alexander qualifies it with this statement :

The most serious of the cases Dittrich cites, that Dr. Alexander altered medical records in a case of wrong-level spine surgery, similarly distorts the truth, according to Dr. Alexander. The patient in question had excellent relief of his symptoms after Dr. Alexander's surgery, delaying Alexander’s discovery that surgery had been performed at an unintended level. Dr. Alexander corrected the record to reflect the newly learned facts of the case, and disclosed the surgical error to all parties after follow up revealed a genuine surgical benefit. After full investigation by three state medical boards and the American Board of Neurological Surgeons, Dr. Alexander continued to practice medicine without restriction, with his board certification intact.

Clearly you are not prepared to accept this statement. I am.

I am inclined to be a little more suspicious of Alexander and I'm also inclined to think that my views stem from first impressions. Something didn't feel right when I read his story (or listened to interviews - I have not read his book). 

For the sceptic, the misconduct charge is a slam dunk - the guy can't be trusted, full stop. But that's not the reason for my reservations. For me it was the media fanfare and a seemingly media-savvy book promotion campaign. There's something about commercialisation that gets under my skin - perhaps it is my British reserve - but the way Americans tend to capitalise on their personal dramas always makes me suspicious.

And yet, others have published books and I have not had the same suspicions: Anita Moorjani has become successful through her writing and public speaking. Still, for me it is the bulk of unheralded personal stories - often off the cuff and unsensational - that I find convincing. Eben Alexander was able to leverage the fact that he is a neurosurgeon - probably the last person you would expect to believe in this stuff - to sell his books so it is probably fair to question his standing though not fair to use the blemish as proof of a habitual mendacious character.

I'm entirely with you, but I feel a compunction to look the other way because. " Its money that matters in the USA"

Alexander’s account employs some artistic licence to make the story more dramatic and interesting for the reader.

Alexander’s account employs some artistic licence to make the story more dramatic and interesting for the reader.

Oh really ? And your basis for this statement is what ?

Just to clarify a few things.

Alexander's NDE interested me because the report came from a highly qualified brain expert, previously agnostic, who'd ignored the NDE's reported by his patients and treated them as fantasies.

It is true that not all the neurons in his brain were stunned to silence. But the part of the brain (apparently) that is thought to be responsible for thoughts, perceptions, the part that makes us human (as Alexander often reminds us) was completely down. That's just a fact (as uncomfortable as it is for the sceptics on here) so he shouldn't have had any experience at all (apparently)

What better candidate could you have to judge the reality (or not) of this phenomenon than an agnostic brain surgeon ?

As to the 'imagery' of his report,  personally, I don't see what the problem is. But for many even on here, it seems to be that the ride on the "butterfly" is too outlandish, too 'far out' to be plausible. The logic of this is lost on me but there you go, even 'heaven' has to be normal, it seems. In that case, it's surely better to reject the whole report.  

Lastly, what I don't like about it is the commercialism. I don't like it at all... but it's got nothing to do with whether or not his experience is/was authentic and remarkable.

It's crazy to say his neurons were silent, that is the idea that he had no neurons firing. We don't have any observations about his brain state that are of sufficient detail to make such a claim, but in any case, the likelihood of no firing neurons during his coma is zero.

There are also reports from people who have experienced some very frightening and upsetting NDE's. Are you seeking to exclude these frightening experiences from your 'outlandish' heaven? People who subsequently become terrified of dying and death, because of the fear that they may re-experience their NDE again.

It's not crazy, it happens all the time in hypothermic cardiac standstill. But if you read my post properly, I didn't say all the neurons in his brain were silent. Just those in his neo-cortex (apparently) the part that makes us human (apparently).

I'm just telling you what he said. Does Alexander not know about these things ? Can you tell me anyone who is better qualified to know ?