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

Let’s see, Generation Rescue has Jenny McCarthy, Britney Spears, and now…

…professional wrestling! You know, it seems eerily appropriate. Generation Rescue always struck me as being akin to pro wrestling anyway, especially its founder J. B. Handley. His antics in the service of the scientifically discredited notion that mercury in vaccines cause autism (or, these days, that it’s vaccines that cause autism) always struck me as […]

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

Britney Spears and Hugh Hefner join the anti-vaccine brigade

In the celebrity vaccine wars, as we all know, Jenny McCarthy has become the de facto leader of the “vaccines-cause-autism” lunatic fringe. However, apparently she has managed to recruit another celebrity to help her out. Her choice is amazingly appropriate: Britney Spears, who was seen at a fundraiser for “Jenny McCarthy’s autism charity Generation Rescue.” […]

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Humor News of the Weird Popular culture

Management-speak: Or let’s incentivize our workers to get complete buy-in to become a product evangelist and platform atheist

I consider myself very fortunate that I don’t work in business. As a physician and a scientist, I just don’t think I would fit in the culture that well. Oh, I’m sure I’d adapt if ever the killer opportunity in big pharma or surgical device manufacturing ever came around to which I couldn’t say “no,” […]

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

Beware and get ready, my U.K. readers, part 3: The credulous media coverage of David Kirby’s visit has begun

I figured it was coming, although I didn’t think it would come this far before David Kirby’s impending visit to the U.K., but I guess that’s the fruit of his being invited by a woo-loving Lord to give a briefing at Parliament. This time it comes in the form of an article in the Daily […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Entertainment/culture Medicine Politics Popular culture Quackery Television

The Hannah Poling case: Autism rebranded again

Damn you, mercury militia. I had had another topic entirely in mind for this week’s post, but, as happens far too often, news events have overtaken me in the form of a story that was widely reported towards the end of last week. It was all over the media on Thursday evening and Friday, showing […]