Categories
Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Hack conspiracy journalism: Paul Thacker vs. the definition of “physician”

I normally don’t publish email exchanges, but when someone like Paul Thacker misleadingly characterizes an email exchange with me, let’s just say that I will make an exception in his case.

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Popular culture

The BMJ publishes another biased “investigation” that promotes antivax narratives

The BMJ, once a bastion of evidence-based medicine, has become disturbingly susceptible to publishing biased “investigations” that feed antivax narratives. Its latest report on VAERS by Jennifer Block, who in the past has defended Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop and whose history is not one of supporting science, is just another example of this deterioration.

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Clinical trials Religion

Thacker parrots an old antivax trope: “Vaccines are magic!”

Paul Thacker proclaims, “Vaccines are magic!” and likens them to religion that you can’t criticize. This is an old antivax narrative that he’s now parroting.

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

The BMJ editors strike back against Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook

The BMJ’s outgoing editor Fiona Godlee and incoming editor wrote open letter to Mark Zuckerberg over Facebook’s labeling Paul Thacker’s conspiracy-filled Pfizer story as lacking context. It did not go well. Actually, it was downright embarrassing.

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Clinical trials Medicine

WTF happened to The BMJ?

The BMJ recently published an “exposé” by Paul Thacker alleging patient unblinding, data falsification, and other wrongdoing by a subcontractor. It was a highly biased story embraced by antivaxxers, with a deceptively framed narrative and claims not placed into proper context, leading me to look into the broader question: WTF happened to The BMJ? (Updated and revised from a week ago.)