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Antivaccine nonsense Politics Popular culture

Dr. Joseph Ladapo’s antivax assault on public health: Will it infect the federal government?

Dr. Joseph Ladapo’s Florida Department of Health recently released guidance on COVID vaccines based on antivax tropes. Could they metastasize to the federal government if Donald Trump wins in November?

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Antivaccine nonsense Politics Quackery

“MAHA”? Antivax conspiracy monger RFK Jr. is not the one to “make America healthy again”

Shortly after endorsing Donald Trump for President, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed he and Trump will “make America healthy again.” His proposals to do that range from semi-reasonable to outright quackery.

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Antivaccine nonsense Cancer Medicine

Myrna Mantaring and the bogus claim that COVID-19 vaccines caused a 1,432.33% increase in cancer

Myrna Mattaring, a retired scientist who worked in diagnostic labs, claims that COVID-19 vaccines caused a 1432% increase in cancer cases, a clearly impossible claim. Here I make a plea for examining such claims, including a much more famous and accepted one, with basic math.

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Antivaccine nonsense Cancer Medicine Quackery

Elle Macpherson’s breast cancer: Another example of how antivax and quackery are inseparable

When last I wrote about Elle Macpherson, she was dating Andrew Wakefield. I now learn that she treated her breast cancer with quackery. One more time, antivax and quackery are inseparable, and portraying the choice of quackery as “brave” is irresponsible.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics

Stanford University promotes disastrous “natural herd immunity” approaches to the pandemic

A week and a half ago, Stanford University announced a conference on pandemic policy that features several of the usual suspects who spread misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Truly, Stanford has become the “respectable” academic face of efforts to undermine public health.