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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

Gobsmacked by germ theory denialism. Again.

People believe a lot of wacky things. Some of these things are merely amusingly wacky, while others are dangerously wacky. Among the most dangerously wacky of things that a large number of people believe in is the idea that germ theory is invalid. Perhaps a better way of putting it is that among the most […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Medicine

For the anti-vaccinationists out there: The results of a real “vaxed versus unvaxed” study

In many ways, the anti-vaccine movement is highly mutable. However, this mutability is firmly based around keeping one thing utterly constant, and that one thing is vaccines. No matter what the evidence, no matter what the science, no matter how much observational, scientific, and epidemiological evidence is arrayed against them, to the relentlessly self-confident members […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Entertainment/culture Medicine Movies Popular culture Quackery Science

Medical advice from Chuck Norris

Not too long ago, I posted a rather amusing little video called Immunize! One line in the song that amused me went something like this: Don’t give Chuck Norris shots! That’d be dim. Chuck need vaccines? Naw Vaccines need him? Actually, not too surprisingly, it turns out that the word “dim” should be applied to […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Medicine Quackery

Deaths from vaccines in Japan?

Confusing correlation with causation. Post hoc ergo propter hoc. These are two of the most common errors human beings make. Indeed, they’re natural errors that our brains appear hard-wired to make, and, without scientific training, it’s virtually impossible to avoid making the conclusion that, because two occurrences correlate with each other they must be related […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Medicine Quackery

Society of Homeopaths director and MMR solicitor Richard Barr: Using British libel law to silence Paul Offit

Over the years, I’ve pointed out just how horrible British libel laws are. If there is a set of laws more designed to be used and abused by the wealthy to silence criticism, it’s British libel laws. Indeed, I was pointing out the travesty that is British libel law in the context of David Irving’s […]