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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

David Kirby admits that mercury in vaccines is no longer “the smoking gun”

Longtime readers of this blog know that my original exposure to antivaccination conspiracy theories first occurred in the context of the now pseudoscientific and discredited hypothesis that somehow the mercury in the thimerosal preservative that used to be used in vaccines was the cause of autism. Despite the backpedaling among antivaccination zealots such as J. […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics

Dr. Sanjay Gupta for Surgeon General? Yawn.

As I was sitting in the O.R. lounge yesterday afternoon between cases, the television in the lounge was tuned to CNN. One thing I noted was some rather fawning coverage of President Bush regarding the military that seemed as though it belonged on FOX News rather than CNN. Not long after that, Wolf Blitzer breathlessly […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Bioethics Clinical trials Medicine Quackery

Blurring the line between scientist and parent

Being involved in clinical research makes me aware of the ethical quandaries that can arise. Fortunately for me, for the most part my studies are straightforward and don’t provoke much in the way of angst over whether what I am doing is ethical or whether I’m approaching a line I shouldn’t approach or crossing a […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Medicine

David Kirby’s “logic”: The hepatitis B vaccine may increase the risk of multiple sclerosis, so it’s obvious that vaccines cause autism

It’s really hard to take David Kirby seriously any more. Well, actually, it’s been hard to take him seriously for at nearly four years now, ever since he wrote his paean to antivaccinationists, Evidence of Harm, in which no conspiracy-mongering related to mercury as an alleged cause of autism was too out there, too ridiculous, […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

The beginning of a very, very bad year for antivaccinationists

One thing that’s become apparent to me so far in 2009 is that, while 2008 was the year of the antivaccinationist, 2009 is already shaping up to be a very bad year for antivaccinationists. A very bad year indeed, and this is a very, very good thing–if it can be sustained. But first, let’s take […]