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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Bad science Medicine Pseudoscience Skepticism/critical thinking

The L.A. Times: Painfully false balance on antivax pediatrician Dr Bob Sears

Yesterday, Melody Gutierrez published a profile of antivax pediatrician Dr. Bob Sears in the L.A. Times. Unfortunately, it’s the worst case of false balance about vaccines or an antivaxer that I’ve seen in a long time.

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Bad science Computers and social media Quackery

Generation Rescue: Rebranding in service of autism grift?

When it comes to pseudoscience, conspiracy theories, quackery, and antivaccine nonsense, remember that, very frequently, it’s all about the grift. Even when it’s not, the grift inevitably takes over.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine Quackery

Barbara Loe Fisher cries “McCarthyism!” over vaccines

Barbara Loe Fisher is back. This time, instead of Nazis and the Holocaust, she’s comparing vaccine mandates and bad press about antivaxers to McCarthyism and their “persecution” to that faced by anyone suspected of Communism in the early 1950s.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Popular culture Television

False balance on vaccines in Portland, courtesy of KATU and Genevieve Reaume

False balance is the bane of a science communicator’s existence. KATU’s Genevieve Reaume provided false balance in abundance in a story about the measles outbreak and the antivaccine movement.

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Holocaust Medicine Popular culture Quackery

Josh Rushing pwns antivaxer Del Bigtree

Josh Rushing takes on antivaxer Del Bigtree on Fault Lines and does what needs to be done. Although the report is not without problems, Rushing pwns Bigtree most satisfyingly.