Tag: Dorit Reiss

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Pseudoscience

Thacker the hack keeps Thacking and hacking

Paul Thacker

hack: adj.: 1. Working for hire especially with mediocre professional standards (a hack journalist); 2. performed by or suited to a person who works or writes purely for the purpose of earning money; 3. characteristic of a hack 4. MEDIOCRE (e.g.) hack writing, hackneyed, trite.

Thack: adj: All of the above, but in the style of Paul Thacker. Verb (transitive): To write hack hit pieces in the style of Paul Thacker.

I know I’ve written about Paul Thacker’s attacks on young physician Dr. Allison Neitzel three times now, but he just keeps going lower and demanding more not-so-Respectful Insolence. Orac is happy to oblige.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics Popular culture Quackery

The FDA just handed quacks a massive propaganda victory on ivermectin

FDA on ivermectin

Last week, quacks were crowing that the FDA had “lost its war” on ivermectin. Ivermectin still doesn’t work against COVID-19. but by settling a lawsuit the way it did, the FDA did hand quacks and antivaxxers a massive propaganda victory that they will regret for years to come.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

Paul Thacker amplifies antivaccine messaging by attacking science communicators

Paul Thacker at work
Paul Thacker at work writing another entry for his Substack.

In his eagerness to attack skeptics for what, in the wake of reports of blood clots associated with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, he sees as “vaccine cheerleading,” anti-GMO hack Paul Thacker has inadvertently amplified antivaccine messaging. Or was it inadvertent?

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Popular culture Pseudoscience

Harassment of doctors and grieving mothers: A feature, not a bug, of the antivaccine movement

Online harassment

Harassment of its opponents is a feature, not a bug, of the antivaccine movement, even if the victims are grieving mothers. The idea is to harass and intimidate their opponents into silence.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bioethics Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

NYU holds a conference on resistance to vaccines. Antivaxers lose it.

One of the great things about America has been the First Amendment, particularly the right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. These are rights allow us to gather together to protest when we see something that we don’t think is right and want to change. Unfortunately, there is one downside to these freedoms, […]