What makes a physician become an antivaxer?
Even though they should know better based on their training, too many physicians embrace the dark side and become antivaccine. How does this happen? What personality traits common among physicians can facilitate a descent into pseudoscience? (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - April 20, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Evolution Intelligent design/creationism Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking Douglas Mackenzie physician plastic surgeon vaccines Source Type: blogs
Quoth an antivaxer: Vaccines are making dogs autistic!
To antivaxers, it's always the vaccines. Now they're claiming vaccines cause autism in dogs. The problem, of course, is that vaccines don't cause autism in humans, and labeling dog behavior as "autistic" is problematic in the extreme. (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - April 18, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking canine Canine Dysfunctional Behavior dogs Mady Hornig Nicholas Dodman Source Type: blogs
Federal biomedical science policy under Donald Trump, nearly 100 days in
In less than two weeks, the Trump administration will have passed that magical "first 100 days" marker. Let's check in and see how Donald Trump is shaping federal biomedical policy thus far. Hint: It's deregulation über alles. (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - April 17, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Antivaccine nonsense Cancer Clinical trials Politics Science Skepticism/critical thinking Department of Health and Human Services Donald Trump fda Scott Gottlieb Tom Price vaccines Source Type: blogs
A “ teachable moment ” : Guggie Daly goes full Orwellian to promote antivaccine beliefs
Antivaxer Guggie Daly thinks that manipulating and twisting speech will help spread her antivaccine message. She could be right, but fortunately for prescience advocates she's just really bad at it. (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - April 14, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking Guggie Daly Natural Mother Magazine vaccines Source Type: blogs
SB 277 works. Period. No wonder antivaxers hate it.
The numbers are in. SB 277, the new California law banning nonmedical exemptions, works. Vaccine uptake is up, and personal belief exemptions are down dramatically. (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - April 13, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Politics Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking SB 277 Source Type: blogs
Death by intravenous “ turmeric ” : Naturopaths circle the wagons and the chair of the Naturopathic Medical Committee of California looks for dirt on conventional medicine
A patient is dead because a naturopath dosed her with intravenous curcumin. Instead of learning from the debacle, naturopaths circle the wagon, and the chair of the Naturopathic Medicine Committee for the State of California Department of Consumer Affairs shows his intent to try to exonerate the naturopath responsible. (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - April 12, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Naturopathy Politics Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking California curcumin David Fields Kim Kelly Naturopathic Medicine Committee Paul Anderson turmeric Source Type: blogs
Death by intravenous “ turmeric ” : Why licensed naturopaths are no safer than any other naturopath
March seemed to be naturopathic quackery month. Let’s face it, though, every month is naturopathic quackery month. It’s just that in March there were two stories that really caught my eye. The first was the story of a naturopath in Bowling Green named Juan Sanchez, who was gunned down in his office one Friday evening,… (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - April 11, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Complementary and alternative medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking AANP American Association of Naturopathic Physicians curcumin intravenous Jade Erick Kim Kelly naturopathic licensure Paul Anderson SB 796 Source Type: blogs
The “ war on cancer ” : We ’ re doing better than commonly portrayed
If you were to rely on much of what you see in the mainstream media and on social media, you probably have the impression that we are not doing very well against cancer. Indeed, a common trope I see in a lot of articles is that we are somehow “losing” the war on cancer. Just… (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - April 10, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Cancer Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking chemotherapy lead time bias overdiagnosis screening survival war on cancer Source Type: blogs
Cancer charlatan Belle Gibson: Con artist or delusional?
Cancer huckster Belle Gibson was recently fined for deceiving the public by claiming that she had brain cancer, a story that she used to sell all manner of dubious treatments. Was she delusional or a run-of-the-mill con artist? Does it matter? (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - April 7, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Cancer Complementary and alternative medicine Popular culture Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking belle gibson delusion Jessica Ainscough Ranjana Srivastava Source Type: blogs
It ’ s a strange world, after all: Orac vs. The Shat and fake news over … Autism Speaks?
Orac is attacked by Capt. Kirk using fake news. Truly, it is a strange world. (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - April 6, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Popular culture Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking Autism Autism Awareness Autism Speaks Star Trek vaccines William Shatner Source Type: blogs
Make measles great again? Our Michigan legislature is doing its best to bring back epidemics of vaccine-preventable diseases.
The depths of stupidity to which the Michigan state legislature will stoop never cease to amaze me. This time, legislators are doing their damnedest to make measles great again. (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - April 5, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Politics Popular culture Quackery HB 4425 HB 4426 nonmedical exemption Patrick Colbeck personal belief exemption SB 299 SB 300 Tom Barrett vaccines Source Type: blogs
Make measles great again? The Michigan legislature is doing its best to bring back vaccine-preventable diseases.
The depths of stupidity to which the Michigan state legislature will stoop never cease to amaze me. This time, legislators are doing their damnedest to make measles great again. (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - April 5, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Politics Popular culture Quackery HB 4425 HB 4426 nonmedical exemption Patrick Colbeck personal belief exemption SB 299 SB 300 Tom Barrett vaccines Source Type: blogs
Antivaxers marched on Washington last week. It was less than impressive.
A few dozen antivaccine activists descended upon Washington, DC to protest and lobby their legislators. The protest itself was not impressive, but pro-science advocates shouldn't let this pathetic march lead them to be complacent. Antivaxers are meeting with legislators, and President Trump is sympathetic to their aims. (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - April 4, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Politics Popular culture Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking Barbara Loe Fisher Brian Hooker Del Bigtree Donald Trump Jason Chaffetz Rebecca Robbins Revo Source Type: blogs
Did cannabis oil save Deryn Blackwell ’ s life?
In a forthcoming book The Boy in 7 Billion, Callie Blackwell claims that cannabis oil, which she had started giving her son Deryn to relieve his symptoms during a bone marrow transplant for two cancers, actually saved his life when the bone marrow transplant appeared to be failing. Unfortunately, her story appears to be another testimonial that confuses correlation with causation. (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - April 3, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Cancer Complementary and alternative medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking bone marrow transplant Callie Blackwell cannabis cannabis oil Deryn Blackwell Karen Hockney Source Type: blogs
Is homeopathy the end of vaccines? Only quacks would think so …
Elissa Meininger argues that homeopathy is better than vaccines, going so far to ask the question, "Is this the end of vaccines?" Vaccines have nothing to worry about from homeopathy, although those of us who don't want to see the return of vaccine-preventable diseases have to worry about antivaccine cranks like Meininger. (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - March 31, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Paranormal Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking epidemic Tim Bolen vaccines Source Type: blogs
