Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Autism Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Politics Quackery

A bad day for antivaccinationists: Yet another study fails to support an association between vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders

I’m almost beginning to feel sorry for the mercury militia. Think about it. They’ve been claiming for the past several years that the mercury in the thimerosal used as a preservative in childhood vaccines is a cause of autism. If you believe Generation Rescue, A-CHAMP, SAFEMINDS, and various other activist groups, vaccines are the root […]

Categories
Complementary and alternative medicine Humor Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Science Skepticism/critical thinking

A potential consequence of global warming in a world where homeopathy is true

I hadn’t thought of this possible consequence of global warming before if homeopathy were actually true, but it’s frightening to contemplate. Fortunately, I think that even in this case the level of dilution wouldn’t be enough.

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

Some antivaccination stupidity about autism on Daily Kos

I don’t know how I missed this one, but it jut goes to show that antivaccination ignorance with respect to autism is truly a bipartisan affair. You have folks like Representative Dan Burton on the right, and on the left you have this particular Daily Kos diarist, who falls like a ton of bricks for […]

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Cancer Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

Thomas Cowles twisting in the wind defending the “cancer boy” urban legend

I’m rather amused. No, I’m very amused. Yesterday, as you may recall, I discussed a seemingly alarming e-mail that’s going around about a 17-year-old boy with melanoma whom the State of California had allegedly removed from the custody of his mother because she and he had wanted to use “advanced natural medicine” to treat his […]

Categories
Cancer Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

The story of the 17-year-old with melanoma being forced to undergo chemotherapy: Urban legend?

My recent update of my ongoing discussion of the Abraham Cherrix case reminded me that there’s a bit of alarming e-mail being sent out and forwarded far and wide. If you read it, at first glance, you will think it sounds utterly horrifying, the Abraham Cherrix and Katie Wernecke cases all rolled up into one […]