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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Bad science Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery

Vaccine Injury Awareness Week 2018: Barbara Loe Fisher and Joe Mercola bring the antivaccine pseudoscience a month early

Here we go again. Joe Mercola and Barbara Loe Fisher make up a fake “Vaccine Injury Awareness Week” as an excuse to fundraise and spread antivax pseudoscience hither, thither, and yon. Same as it ever was. At least this year, they avoided the gratuitous Nazi references. It must have taken enormous restraint on their parts.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Pseudoscience Skepticism/critical thinking

Another antivaccine conspiracy theory, flu vaccine edition

An antivaccine blogger is amazed that big pharma has allowed its lackeys in the press to publish negative stories about the flu vaccine. Naturally, she thinks she knows why and sees a conspiracy. Not surprisingly, her conspiracy theory doesn’t make much sense.

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Antivaccine nonsense Clinical trials Medicine

Does the flu vaccine cause miscarriages?

A recent study claims to have found a link between influenza vaccination and miscarriage, and antivaxers are rejoicing. The study itself suffers mightily from post hoc subgroup analyses and small numbers in the subgroup, so much so that even its authors don’t really believe its results.

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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

CAM and low flu vaccine uptake: Fitting together hand in glove

There’s a class of studies that I sometimes refer to as “Well, duh!” studies because their conclusions are so mind-numbingly obvious that one wonders why anyone did the study in the first place. Sometimes that name is meant sarcastically, as in, “Why did these investigators waste the time, effort, and resources to do this study? […]

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Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Music Popular culture Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Antivaccine cranks ask: Did the flu vaccine kill Prince?

I heard the news yesterday morning. I was in clinic seeing patients. It was a bit of a slow morning; there was time between patients. So I spent it, as is my wont when clinic is a bit slow, signing charts (OK, signing off on charts in the electronic medical record; I haven’t actually physically […]