Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

More anti-vaccine nonsense from an old friend on (where else?) The Huffington Post

Here we go again. You may have noticed that I’ve been laying off that repository of quackery, autism pseudoscience, and anti-vaccine nonsense, The Huffington Post. I assure you, it’s not because things have gotten much better there. Oh, sure, occasionally someone will try to post something resembling science and rationality, but it’s impossible for so […]

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Religion Skepticism/critical thinking

Oprah and Chopra sittin’ in a tree…

I know I’ve been very hard on Oprah Winfrey the last couple of weeks, taking her to task for her promotion on her show of medicine that is at best dubious and at worst quackery, as promoted by frequent guests like Suzanne Somers, Dr. Christiane Northrup, and the queen of the anti-vaccine movement, Jenny “I’m […]

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Entertainment/culture Medicine Quackery Television

Patient empowerment: Who should call the shots?

“Empowerment.” What a grand word! After all, who doesn’t want to be “empowered”? Certainly not me. Perhaps that’s the reason why it’s become the new buzzword in a movement known as “patient-centered” care. Old fart that I am, I’m a bit puzzled by exactly what that term means. After all, I’ve always thought I have […]

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Bioethics Medicine

The ethics of vaccine refusal: Vaccine refuseniks as freeloaders

Vaccines have saved more lives and prevented more suffering than any medical invention ever conceived by humans. However, to be most effective, a large enough fraction of the population to produce herd immunity needs to be immunized. When the herd immunity threshold is reached, then the chances of anyone carrying a microorganism to cause disease […]

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Autism Blogging Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

Orac gets comments: Dr. Jay tries the “pharma shill” gambit on him yet again

Dr. Jay is back. You remember Dr. Jay (namely Dr. Jay “I’m not anti-vaccine but I give vaccines only ‘reluctantly‘ and am convinced that they cause autism” Gordon), pediatrician to Evan, Jenny McCarthy’s son and frequent apologist for the antivaccine movement in the media. Specifically, he was most unhappy over my posts about Dr. Bob […]