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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Blogging Medicine Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Duluth Reader: A wretched hive of scum and antivaccine quackery, thanks to Gary G. Kohls, MD

Last week, The Duluth Reader published an article by Gary G. Kohls, MD sliming Orac with easily refutable misinformation and misattribution. Today, Orac takes a closer look at the Reader and Dr. Kohls and finds a long history of antivaccine quackery. Why does the Duluth Reader give such a crank a regular platform for his dangerous misinformation?”

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics Quackery

Despite the massive measles outbreak in the Minnesota Somali community, antivaxers double down

American antivaccine activists have contributed to a massive measles outbreak among the Minnesota Somali immigrant community by spreading Andrew Wakefield’s misinformation. In the wake of the harm they’ve caused, they’re not apologetic. They’re doubling down.

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Bad science Medicine Pseudoscience Skepticism/critical thinking

Antivaxxers Amy Becker and Mark Blaxill deceptively use COVID-19 death statistics to claim that vaccines cause SIDS

Antivaxxers Amy Becker and Mark Blaxill try to use COVID-19 death statistics to claim that declines in vaccination due to lockdowns in response to the pandemic caused a decline in the number of children dying every week, thus wildly speculating that vaccines cause SIDS. It does not go well.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine Popular culture Pseudoscience Quackery

“We need to catch that cold!”: Antivaxxers and COVID-19 deniers vs. public health

Antivaccine activist Del Bigtree posted a rant denying the severity of COVID-19, blaming the chronically ill for having made themselves vulnerable to severe disease through their lifestyle choices, and urging the young and healthy to “catch this cold”. His rant shows exactly why COVID-19 conspiracy theorists and antivaxxers have such an affinity for each other and resist public health initiatives.

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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.