Tag: COVID denial

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

Did the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine cause Dr. Gregory Michael’s fatal ITP?

Dr. Gregory Michael, who died of ITP after COVID-19 vaccination

Recently, a post by Heidi Neckelmann, the wife of Miami obstetrician Dr. Gregory Michael describing his death from idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) 16 days after being vaccinated with the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine went viral. Unsurprisingly, in her grief she blamed the vaccine for her husband’s death from a rare autoimmune condition that destroys platelets and causes bleeding. Unfortunately, Dr. Michael’s tragic death underlines the difficulty distinguishing coincidence from causation when evaluating adverse events after vaccination.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery

Even in a deadly pandemic, germ theory denial persists

A particularly silly form of germ theory denial
This is the sort of silly analogy that germ theory deniers consider compelling. Dr. Gorski can only respond: Why not both? It’s not as though we don’t have to use just one (vaccines) or the other (sanitation, better diet, etc.). Science-based medicine uses anything that sciences shows to be effective and safe.

As hard as it is to believe, in the middle of a global pandemic that’s claimed so many lives and so thoroughly disrupted society, there are people who still deny germ theory. How can this be?

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Bad science Bioethics Medicine Popular culture Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Looking back on 2020: Too many physicians behaving badly

Physicians behaving badly

Looking back on 2020, if there’s one thing that the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us, it’s that crises reveal character. Unfortunately, even as many doctors bravely risked their lives taking care of COVID-19 patients, the character of too many other physicians was been found wanting, as they spent 2020 denying the pandemic and spreading misinformation. What can be done?

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine Pseudoscience

Vaccines cause female infertility: Another antivax lie resurrected and repackaged for COVID-19

No, Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine doesn't cause female infertility

Antivaxxers have been claiming that vaccines cause female infertility for as long as I can remember. So it’s not surprising that they are now claiming that COVID-19 vaccines will make women infertile. Their assertion is based on a highly speculative and incredibly unlikely immunologic mechanism. Same as it ever was.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Computers and social media Medicine Popular culture Pseudoscience Quackery

Scientists and physicians versus the central conspiracy theory of science denial

Conspiracy theories

Dr. Ashish Jha has led other scientists into the fray against COVID-19 pseudoscience and deserves a lot of praise for that. However, to be more effective, he and his colleagues need to understand the critical role of conspiracy theories in science denial.