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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Politics Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

The long, sordid antivaccine history of Donald Trump

Note added 9/17/2015: I knew it. The vaccine issue came up during the second debate and Donald Trump repeated basically the same nonsensical antivaccine tropes that he’s been repeating for at least eight years. It rather puts the lie to his claim that he listens to experts and changes his opinion based on what they […]

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Autism Medicine Politics Quackery

Evidence prevails: No medical marijuana for autism in Michigan—for now

Advocates have been trying to persuade Michigan to add autism to the list of conditions for which medical marijuana can be prescribed. Fortunately, this time at least, Michigan saw through their dubious arguments.

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Politics

Kevin Barry, you magnificent bastard, I read your antivaccine book!

Kevin Barry wrote a book featuring the transcripts of the “CDC Whistleblower’s” conversations with Brian Hooker as evidence that there’s a conspiracy at the CDC to hide scientific evidence that vaccines cause autism. Well, I read Barry’s book, and it is incredibly thin gruel indeed.

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Biology Clinical trials Medicine Politics Popular culture Science

What do Mike Adams, Todd Starnes, and William Proxmire have in common?

Readers of this blog of a certain age and above are likely to remember a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin named William Proxmire. Sen. Proxmire made a name for himself in the late 1970s and throughout much of the 1980s by issuing what he dubbed “The Golden Fleece Award,” which was meant to “honor” public officials […]

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Clinical trials Medicine Politics Popular culture Skepticism/critical thinking

The 21st Century Cures Act: Old vinegary wine in a new bottle

The approval of new drugs and medical devices is a process fraught with scientific, political, and ethical landmines. Inherent in any such process is an unavoidable conflict between rigorous science and safety on the one side, which tend to slow the process down by requiring large randomized clinical trials that can take years, versus forces […]