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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Science denial: A form of conspiracy theory

Regular readers of this blog know that many forms of quackery and science denial have conspiracy theories associated with them, but a further examination suggests that all science denial a form of conspiracy theory. In the middle of a deadly pandemic, it is a form of conspiracy theory with potentially deadly consequences.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Biology Medicine Pseudoscience

James Lyons-Weiler and Paul Thomas: Incompetently demonizing aluminum vaccine adjuvants

James Lyons-Weiler has published an analysis claiming that Paul Thomas’ “Vaccine-Friendly Plan” is safer than the current CDC-recommended vaccine schedule because contains less aluminum. Unsurprisingly, The modeling behind the analysis is risibly incompetent. Same as it ever was.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

An antivaccine “Circle of Mamas” has “questions” about vaccines. Orac has answers.

An antivaccine Circle of Mamas has asked a bunch of disingenuous questions about vaccines that have gone viral. Fortunately, Orac has answers.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics Popular culture

Jay Bhattacharya and Martin Kulldorff want to hold “lockdowners” accountable

Great Barrington Declaration author Dr. Jay Bhattacharya claimed that the pandemic was over and “regular people” will hold “them” accountable, while coauthor Martin Kulldorff Tweeted an article with an image of a guillotine. Do they know that calls for “justice” like this echo an old and very dark antivax fantasy?

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Medicine Popular culture Science Skepticism/critical thinking

WTF happened to John Ioannidis revisited: The Carl Sagan effect

I have been critical about John Ioannidis over a number of his statements about the COVID-19 pandemic. Now he’s done it again, producing a poor-quality paper whose unwritten assumptions suggest that the Carl Sagan effect, in which scientists are penalized professionally by their peers for becoming popular science communicators, still holds considerable sway in science and medicine.