Yesterday, celebrity Alec Baldwin let his antivaccine freak flag fly by interviewing antivaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on Instagram Live, spreading disinformation about vaccines and COVID-19.
Orac is the nom de blog of a humble surgeon/scientist who has an ego just big enough to delude himself that someone, somewhere might actually give a rodent's posterior about his copious verbal meanderings, but just barely small enough to admit to himself that few probably will. That surgeon is otherwise known as David Gorski.
That this particular surgeon has chosen his nom de blog based on a rather cranky and arrogant computer shaped like a clear box of blinking lights that he originally encountered when he became a fan of a 35 year old British SF television show whose special effects were renowned for their BBC/Doctor Who-style low budget look, but whose stories nonetheless resulted in some of the best, most innovative science fiction ever televised, should tell you nearly all that you need to know about Orac. (That, and the length of the preceding sentence.)
DISCLAIMER:: The various written meanderings here are the opinions of Orac and Orac alone, written on his own time. They should never be construed as representing the opinions of any other person or entity, especially Orac's cancer center, department of surgery, medical school, or university. Also note that Orac is nonpartisan; he is more than willing to criticize the statements of anyone, regardless of of political leanings, if that anyone advocates pseudoscience or quackery. Finally, medical commentary is not to be construed in any way as medical advice.
To contact Orac: [email protected]
Yesterday, celebrity Alec Baldwin let his antivaccine freak flag fly by interviewing antivaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on Instagram Live, spreading disinformation about vaccines and COVID-19.
Steve Salzberg proposed, in essence, bypassing phase 3 trials for a COVID-19 vaccine. It was a very bad idea for a number of reasons. To his credit, Steve later admitted his mistake.
Truly, hydroxychloroquine is the Black Knight of treatments for COVID-19. “America’s Frontline Doctors” demonstrated this for me conclusively.
Evidence is emerging suggesting that COVID-19 does not spread equally. A minority of infected individuals seem to spread the virus easily to many people, while most infected individuals spread it to few others or no one at all, likely through a combination of circumstance, environment, and possibly biology. Why is this, and what does it mean for coronavirus containment strategies?
Yale epidemiology professor Harvey Risch published an embarrassingly bad op-ed in Newsweek defending hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19. It reminded me how much acupuncture and hydroxychloroquine believers have in common.