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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine

Autism prevalence increases to 1 in 36, and antivaxxers freak out…again

The CDC updated its estimates for the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders. Predictably, antivaxxers blame the increasing prevalence of ASDs reported, particularly in Black children, on “environmental factors,” which is antivax code for, “Vaccines are to blame.”

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics

The Brownstone Institute fear mongers about mRNA vaccines

Alan Lash is fear mongering about mRNA vaccines in general, once again putting the lie to the Brownstone Institute’s denials of being antivax.

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Medicine Quackery

Ivermectin goes from being the new hydroxychloroquine to being the new MMS

A recent VICE story described a Telegram channel devoted to promoting veterinary ivermectin to treat autism. It has echoes of autism quackery going back at least to the use of MMS (a kind of bleach) to “cure” autism by eliminating “parasites.”

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Clinical trials Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

The Cochrane mask fiasco: Does EBM predispose to COVID contrarianism?

Earlier this month the Cochrane Collaborative was forced to walk back the conclusions of a review by Tom Jefferson et al that had been spun in the media as proving that “masks don’t work.” Tom Jefferson himself has been problematic about vaccines for a long time, but the rot goes deeper. What is it about the evidence-based medicine paradigm that results in misleading conclusions?

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

“Can colleges mandate Ozempic?” Clever or clueless analogy? You be the judge!

Dr. Vinay Prasad compares college booster mandates to mandating Ozempic in obese students. How are these things different from each other? Let me count the ways. How disingenuous is Dr. Prasad? Let me count the ways.