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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine

A blast from the past: Jake Crosby retracts his antivax criticism of an MMR study

One quirk of having blogged so long is that sometimes cranks you’ve blogged about reappear after a long disappearance. So it was when antivax wunderkind Jake Crosby retracted a bogus critique of a study that failed to find a link between MMR vaccines and autism.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

“CDC whistleblower” conspiracy theory, resurrected by “new school” antivaxxers

In 2014, Andrew Wakefield unveiled Brian Hooker’s “CDC whistleblower” conspiracy theory featuring William Thompson, a CDC scientist who claimed that a vaccine-autism link was being covered up. Now, Steve Kirsch and other COVID-19 antivaxxers are resurrecting it.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine Pseudoscience

When new school antivaxxer Steve Kirsch met old school antivaxxer Andrew Wakefield

Steve Kirsch interviewed Andrew Wakefield, demonstrating that there is no distance between “new school” and “old school” antivaxxers anymore. Also, they are antivaccine, with Wakefield saying there is no safe vaccine.

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Bad science Medicine Popular culture Television

Bill Maher: Antivax transphobe or transphobic antivaxxer? You be the judge!

Last Friday, Bill Maher went full transphobe, repurposing old antivax trope commonly used to deny a predominantly genetic component to autism and claim vaccine causation in order to mock the idea that there is a biological basis to being transgender and claim its prevalence is increasing now because it’s “trendy.”

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Clinical trials Medicine

Now Steve Kirsch wants to “collaborate” with provaccine scientists?

Steve Kirsch is known for his ludicrous challenges issued to vaccine advocates to “debate” vaccines. Now he wants to “collaborate” with provaccine scientists to test whether vaccines cause autism. His proposal is equally ludicrous.