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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 […]

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Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

The infiltration of woo into medical academia continues apace

Here we go again. As regular readers know, I’ve lamented long and loud the infiltration of unscientific “complementary and alternative medicine” (CAM, or what Dr. RW dubbed “quackademic medicine, a term I very much like) into medical school curricula, academic medical centers, and postgraduate medical education. A while back, in particular, I got rather worked […]

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Medicine Pseudoscience Religion Science Skepticism/critical thinking

A Sunday exercise for my readers: Spot the error(s) in this argument

I’m busy working on a talk today, but there is a tidbit that lends itself to a brief (and hopefully amusing and educational) Sunday exercise. It comes, not surprisingly, from the anti-vaccine blog Age of Autism. It doesn’t actually have anything to do with vaccines per se, but it is a perfect encapsulation of the […]

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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 […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine History Hitler Zombie Humor Medicine Quackery

From a crypt in Berlin, it returns to decimate the anti-vaccine movement

SETTING: A NONDESCRIPT CLINIC IN AUSTIN, TEXAS TIME: AFTER DARK It had been a long, hard day at the clinic. The man trudged to the back of the building and plopped himself down on a large, cushy leather office chair, causing it to spin around. He was fiftyish, but still boyish in appearance, possessed of […]