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Antivaccine nonsense Computers and social media Medicine

The Age of Autism counterattack against Skepchick Elyse begins

Remember Elyse? She’s one of the Skepchicks, and a couple of weeks ago she did a most excellent skeptical thing. She organized a campaign to complain to the theaters that had, according to the anti-vaccine propaganda group SafeMinds and the anti-vaccine propaganda blog Age of Autism, accepted the advertisements, which SafeMinds were “framing” to be […]

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Biology Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery Science

The Chicago Tribune, “chronic Lyme disease,” and demands for false balance

During the six years of its existence, one frequent complaint I’ve had on this blog, it’s been about how the press covers various health issues. In particular, it’s depressing to see how often dubious and even outright false health claims, such as the claim that vaccines cause autism, that cell phones or powerlines cause cancer, […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Entertainment/culture Medicine Movies Music Popular culture Quackery Television

Once more into the anti-vaccine fray in the theaters…

File this under another “better late (as in after Christmas) than never.” Remember Elyse Anders? Remember how she successfully rallied skeptical activists to try to put the kibosh on an effort by the anti-vaccine group SafeMinds to infiltrate theaters with their commercials desguised as public service announcements over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend? Remember how she […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Medicine Quackery

The resurrection of David Kirby as an anti-vaccine propagandist

Four days later, I still can’t figure it out. I really can’t. Remember the other day when I said I was debating whether or not to respond to the latest excretion from one of the first hangers-on of the anti-vaccine movement I ever encountered after I started blogging. I’m referring, of course, to freelance journalist […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Politics Quackery

The martyrdom of St. Andy

Looks like I picked the wrong week to give up sniffing glue. Well, not really. Maybe it looks more like I picked the wrong NIH grant cycle to be submitting an R01. After all, the deadline for my getting my grant to my university’s grant’s office coincided very closely with the announcement of the General […]