Yesterday, antivaxxers were saying that the flu vaccine caused the Wuhan 2019-nCoV outbreak because of viral interference. Now the outbreak is due to a failed SARS coronavirus vaccine. Can they get their conspiracy theories straight?
Tag: miracle mineral solution
Blaming the flu vaccine for the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak: The latest antivaccine misinformation
Antivaccine activists are blaming the coronavirus outbreak in China on—what else?—the flu vaccine, because of course they are. All they have to do is to deceptively invoke "virus interference." So science-y!
Parents are still feeding their children bleach to “cure” their autism
Nearly six years ago, I learned of parents who treated their children's autism by feeding them "Miracle Mineral Solution"—or even giving it to them in enemas. It turns out that MMS is a strong bleach. I had thought this cult of bleaching away autism had gone away. I was wrong. Incredibly, parents are still giving their children bleach enemas and tearing up their colons.
Bleaching away what ails you: Miracle Mineral Solution and Jim Humble’s Genesis II Church
It’s time to get this video clip out again: Yes, just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. But who are “they”? I’m referring to the cult that thinks that bleach enemas (and also ingested bleach) will cure children of autism. I was reminded of that cult when ABC News 20/20 aired a special on Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS), the aforementioned bleach miracle cure. It’s the sort of story that we need to see more of, the result of what was reported to be a year-long investigation of Rev. Jim Humble and his church, the inventor …
The Genesis II Church holds a secret MMS quackery conference in England
Regular readers might have wondered why there was no post yesterday. The answer’s simple: A combination of work and having to fly out to Buffalo for the CFI Reason for Change conference, where I’ll be on a panel on (of course!) alternative medicine later today. That same combination means that this post will be uncharacteristically brief. I know, I know. When I say “uncharacteristically brief,” usually what happens is that I manage to keep things under 2,000 words for a chance, but that’s just how I roll. However, as busy as I am at the moment, I just have to …
A victory in the long war against autism quackery
As depressing as the litany of quackery and patient harm that I follow nearly every day can become, occasionally I am heartened to learn of a victory for science-based medicine and, more importantly, for the patients being victimized by pseudoscientific treatments. One of the most simultaneously ridiculous and vile of these treatments is a solution known as the “Miracle Mineral Solution” or “Miracle Mineral Supplement” (MMS). MMS is the “discovery” of a man named Jim Humble who, for reasons only understood by antivaccinationists, HIV/AIDS denialists, quacks, and cranks, decided that ingesting or shooting up one’s nether regions a form of …
Autism One: As quacky as it ever was
Once again, the yearly autism quackfest known as Autism One is fast approaching. In fact, it will begin in Chicago tomorrow: five days of “autism biomed” quackery and antivaccine pseudoscience. Ever since the Great Schism in the autism antivaccine quackery community, which severed Generation Rescue from Autism One and ended Jenny McCarthy’s run of being the keynote speaker every year, it just hasn’t been the same. Well, not quite. It turns out that a lot of the speakers are still the same, Generation Rescue or not, Jenny McCarthy or not. Just take a look at the speaker list, and you’ll …
The return of J. B. Handley
He’s ba-ack. Remember J. B. Handley? He and his wife were the founders of the antivaccine crank group Generation Rescue (GR) back in the day. When I first started blogging, GR was new and shiny, with JB and his wife showing up all over the media blaming autism on mercury. In fact, I think it’s worth reminding my readers, for the benefit of newbies (and in this case, newbies could be anyone who hasn’t been reading at least five years) just what GR used to say about autism: Generation Rescue believes that childhood neurological disorders such as autism, Asperger’s, ADHD/ADD, …
Bleach Enema Karaoke
Long day in the OR yesterday. By the time I got home, believe it or not, I was too beat to deliver one of my characteristic rants full of Insolence and science that my readers all know and love (well, mostly love). Consequently, today’s a perfect day for a quickie. (No, not that kind of quickie; get your minds out of the gutter!) I’m referring to an observation that a reader sent in the other day about the upcoming yearly autism “biomed” quackfest known as Autism One. It’s a little ditty I’d like to call Bleach Enema Karaoke: It’s Kalcker’s …
Patient-led “clinical trials” versus clinical research (2012 edition)
Dying of cancer can be a horrible way to go, but as a cancer specialist I sometimes forget that there are diseases that are equally, if not more, horrible. One that always comes to mind is amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. It is a motor neuron disease whose clinical course is characterized by progressive weakness, muscle atrophy and spasticity, with ultimate progression to respiratory muscles leading to difficulty breathing and speaking (dysarthria) and to the muscles controlling swallowing. The rate of clinical course is variable, often beginning with muscle twitching in an arm or …