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Antivaccine nonsense Blogging Holocaust Holocaust denial Medicine Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Legal thuggery: A favored technique by disinformation merchants to silence critics

What do Didier Raoult, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Portuguese quacks have in common? They’re using legal thuggery to silence criticism.

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Antivaccine nonsense Computers and social media Medicine

Harassment: The price of defending science-based medicine

Harassment by cranks and antivaxxers is all too often the price of defending science-based medicine. Is it worth it? How can we stop it?

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Medicine Popular culture Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Is medical error really the third most common cause of death in the US?

The claim that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the US has always rested on very shaky evidence; yet it has become common wisdom that is cited as though everyone accepts it. But if estimates of 250,000 to 400,000 deaths due to medical error are way too high, what is the real number? A recently published study suggests that it’s almost certainly a lot lower.

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Bad science Medicine Pseudoscience Skepticism/critical thinking

Did James Randi “destroy skepticism”?

Mitch Horowitz argues that the late James Randi “destroyed skepticism.” Unfortunately his arguments are not what I’d call…skeptical.

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

Del Bigtree wastes the CDC’s time during the COVID-19 pandemic with an abusive FOIA lawsuit

In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, antivaxxer Del Bigtree wastes the CDC’s time with an abusive FOIA request and lawsuit to dishonestly claim that there’s no evidence some vaccines don’t cause autism.