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Bad science Medicine Politics Popular culture Science

What leads to trust or mistrust of scientists and physicians?

Given all the denial of the science behind vaccines, GMOs, evolution, and climate science, you might think that Americans in general distrust scientists and physicians. It’s actually not true. Trust in scientists and doctors remains high, but there are still areas where mistrust of scientists is a significant problem. What can be done?

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Antivaccine nonsense Computers and social media Medicine Popular culture

Sayer Ji: Outraged that Google views “vaccine safety questions” to be akin to Pizzagate

Sayer Ji is outraged by a “Google Document Dump” that allegedly shows that Google views antivaccine views as being similar to conspiracy theories like Pizzagate, QAnon, Holocaust denial, and the like. I’m surprised that, if these documents are real, Google actually “gets” what antivaccine views are.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Popular culture Quackery Religion

The annals of “I’m not antivaccine,” part 28: New York S2994 and the disappeared

In response to measles outbreaks among the Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn and Rockland County, New York passed S2994, eliminating nonmedical exemptions to school vaccine mandates. This provoked a lawsuit and an offensive analogy that actually didn’t involve the Holocaust. So much for the protesters not being antivaccine.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics Popular culture Religion

Why is the Church of Scientology helping antivaxers in a last ditch attempt to block passage of SB 276?

California SB 276, a bill to clamp down on bogus medical exemptions to school vaccine mandates, is nearing the finish line and looks likely to be passed into law soon. Why are Scientologists helping antivaxers in a last ditch effort to block its passage?

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine Politics Popular culture

Is the current generation of children the “sickest generation,” as antivaxers claim?

Presidential candidate and New Age self-help guru Marianne Williamson has been repeating a claim that over half of our children have chronic illness and implying that the expansion of the vaccine schedule since the late 1980s is responsible. But is it true? Are over half of our children sick? Is this “the sickest generation”?