Last Friday, Bill Maher went full transphobe, repurposing old antivax trope commonly used to deny a predominantly genetic component to autism and claim vaccine causation in order to mock the idea that there is a biological basis to being transgender and claim its prevalence is increasing now because it’s “trendy.”
Luc Montagnier has died. He was the Nobel laureate whose descent into pseudoscience and conspiracies led me to coin the term “Nobel disease.” His final conspiracy theory before his death was to claim that COVID-19 vaccines cause AIDS.
Increasingly, the antivaccine movement has become allied with fascism, including openly fascist groups like Proud Boys marching in their rallies. Why has there developed such a disturbing affinity between antivaxxers and fascism?
Gayle DeLong was an antivaxxer best known for blaming HPV vaccines for infertility and blaming her breast cancer on her children’s autism. Yesterday, I learned that her “autism-induced breast cancer” had recently claimed her life.
Stem cells are an unproven therapy for autism, but that isn’t stopping Duke University’s Marcus Center for Cellular Cures from teaming with a for-profit stem cell company to market this quackery for big bucks.
