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Bad science Bioethics Medicine Politics Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

China is forcing people to use traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) quackery to treat COVID-19

There is no evidence that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is effective against COVID-19. That’s not stopping China from forcing people to use it to treat coronavirus.

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Antivaccine nonsense Computers and social media Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Plandemic 2: Electric Boogaloo, or: How Mikki Willis doubled down on COVID-19 conspiracy theories

“Plandemic” is back with “Plandemic 2: Electric Boogaloo.” It’s even more COVID-19 conspiracies with even less credibility!

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Antivaccine nonsense Biology Medicine Popular culture Pseudoscience Skepticism/critical thinking

Cries the antivaxxer: “Vegans, don’t take a COVID-19 vaccine because it uses horseshoe crab blood!”

Antivaxxers are now urging vegans not to use a COVID-19 vaccine because blood from horseshoe crabs will be used in its manufacture. This is no different than their weaponization of beliefs against other vaccine ingredients.

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Bad science Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery

The astroturf effort promoting hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19 continues apace

A week and a half ago, a “study” published on “HCQ Trial” by an anonymous source claiming to be a group of PhD scientists went viral. It claimed that countries that used hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 had a 79% lower fatality rate than those who didn’t. It was horrible science and quickly debunked on Twitter by several epidemiologists. That didn’t stop it from going viral. Disinformation like this during a pandemic is one of the most dangerous challenges we face.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Cancer Computers and social media Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery

Joe Mercola: Celebrating 23 years of promoting quackery and antivaccine misinformation

“Dr.” Joe Mercola just celebrated 23 years of his website. It’s actually been 23 years of promoting quackery and antivaccine misinformation, culminating in a lot of COVID-19 disinformation.