Category: Skepticism/critical thinking

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

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

Ozempic
I hate the Ozempic jingle almost as much as I hate Dr. Prasad's brain dead analogy. Almost.

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.

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Antivaccine nonsense Clinical trials Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

Economist Mark Skidmore publishes antivax propaganda disguised as a survey

Mark Skidmore
Mark Skidmore is a perfect example showing why economists shouldn't be trying to determine how many adverse events are caused by vaccines. At least, antivax economists shouldn't, as they embarrass themselves and their schools when they do so.

Antivaxxers love surveys. This time BMC Infectious Diseases has the dubious “honor” of publishing a truly awful one by an economist named Mark Skidmore that claims that COVID-19 vaccine have killed nearly 300K people.

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Announcements Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

R.I.P. SkepDoc

Harriet Hall, a.k.a. The SkepDoc
Harriet Hall, a.k.a. The SkepDoc, at CSICon in 2016.

Orac is greatly saddened to announce that Dr. Harriet Hall, a.k.a. The SkepDoc, passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday night.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics Popular culture Skepticism/critical thinking

If 2022 was the “year of the gaslighter,” expect a lot more gaslighting in 2023

Gaslight: The inspiration for "gaslighting"

“Gaslighting” is a term that refers to the manipulation of someone in order to lead them to question their own reality and even sanity. Last month, a COVID-19 minimizer and antivaxxer declared 2022 the “year of the gaslighter,” revealing yet again that it’s always projection with science-denying propagandists. Unfortunately, 2023 looks to hold a lot more of the same in store.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking Sports

Why did antivaxxers seize on the Damar Hamlin case?

Was Damar Hamlin the latest athlete to die of COVID-19 vaccination?
Was Damar Hamlin the latest athlete to "die suddenly" because of COVID-19 vaccines? Of course not. His cardiac arrest was, however, a convenient event for antivaxxers who had been pushing this narrative for at least a year.

When Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed from an on-field cardiac arrest most likely due to chest trauma, antivaxxers quickly blamed COVID-19 vaccines. The reason was a particularly nasty preexisting variant of the “died suddenly” myth in which athletes are dropping dead from the vaccine. They aren’t.