Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Pseudoscience Skepticism/critical thinking

ICAN and Del Bigtree’s “victory” against the CDC: A huge nothingburger

Del Bigtree’s antivaccine group ICAN has claimed a huge “victory” over the CDC over the bogus antivax claim that vaccines cause autism. It’s really a huge nothingburger, a grifting fundraising tactic.

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Pseudoscience Skepticism/critical thinking

RFK Jr. doesn’t like being called antivaccine and antimask

RFK Jr. is angry—so very, very angry—because Terry Gross had pro-science guests on her NPR show “Fresh Air” who called him antivaccine and antimask.

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery

Even in a deadly pandemic, germ theory denial persists

As hard as it is to believe, in the middle of a global pandemic that’s claimed so many lives and so thoroughly disrupted society, there are people who still deny germ theory. How can this be?

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Andrew Wakefield spews nonsense about how the COVID-19 vaccine will “permanently alter your DNA”

Andrew Wakefield’s back, and—surprise! surprise!—he’s a COVID-19 conspiracy theorist who doesn’t understand biology. He thinks RNA vaccines are “genetic engineering” that will “permanently alter your DNA.”

Categories
Bad science Bioethics Medicine Popular culture Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Looking back on 2020: Too many physicians behaving badly

Looking back on 2020, if there’s one thing that the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us, it’s that crises reveal character. Unfortunately, even as many doctors bravely risked their lives taking care of COVID-19 patients, the character of too many other physicians was been found wanting, as they spent 2020 denying the pandemic and spreading misinformation. What can be done?