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Clinical trials Medicine Politics Popular culture

Yale epidemiologist Harvey Risch defends hydroxychloroquine in Newsweek—badly

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.

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Medicine Politics Popular culture Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Airborne transmission of COVID-19: The controversy

Last week, 239 scientists in 32 countries published an open letter to the WHO arguing that airborne transmission of COVID-19 occurs and urging it to change its recommendations. What is behind this controversy?

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Clinical trials Medicine Personal Politics Popular culture Skepticism/critical thinking

Henry Ford Hospital hydroxychloroquine trial: Not good evidence that the drug works for COVID-19

Recently, Henry Ford Hospital published a study of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 that showed a benefit. Unfortunately, it was a bias-prone retrospective study. That didn’t stop President Trump from touting the drug again.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics Popular culture Pseudoscience Skepticism/critical thinking

No, the Americans With Disabilities Act doesn’t say shop owners have to let maskless people into their stores

Antimask activists falsely claim they have medical problems that mean that they don’t have to wear masks and, further, that the American with Disabilities Act protects them. They’re wrong.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine Politics Pseudoscience Skepticism/critical thinking

Dr. Cammy Benton: An antivaxxer plays the “both sides” card on masks for COVID-19

Dr. Cammy Benton is an antivaxxer. She also thinks that “both sides” are way over the top when it comes to masks for COVID-19, in a classic case of false equivalence.