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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Clinical trials Medicine Politics Popular culture

Can we trust the CDC and FDA any more?

Since the COVID-19 pandemic reached the US, increasing concern has been expressed about the politicization of the CDC and FDA due to pressure from the Trump administration to downplay the severity of the pandemic and push out treatments and a vaccine as fast as possible, potentially at the expense of safety. This has led me to a disturbing question: Can I trust the CDC and FDA any more?

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Cancer Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

A dumpster fire of a study about HPV vaccination and female fertility, courtesy of Gayle Delong

Gayle Delong is an economist who thinks she’s an epidemiologist. Consistent with that delusion, her latest study of HPV vaccination is all amateurs hour, in which she misses a major potential confounder on her way to “proving” that HPV vaccination could be associated with decreased fertility in young women.

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Bad science Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery

Adventures of a science-based mole at an antivaccine crankfest (part one)

Last week antivaxers Shannon Kroner and Britney Valas held an antivaccine quackfest known as One Conversation. It had started as a “balanced” debate/conversation/panel/roundtable, or whatever, but rapidly devolved into an antivaccine crankfest as the pro-vaccine scientists invited declined. A brave minion attended and is now reporting back.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics

V is for Vaccine: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Del Bigtree rile up an antivaccine demonstration against SB 276

“V is for Vaccine” was an antivaccine protest at the California Capitol yesterday. RFK Jr. and Del Bigtree fired up antivaxers with their usual cocktail of pseudoscience, misinformation, and political posturing as “health freedom” advocates.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Quackery

Dr. Jay Gordon and Bill Maher: Still spreading antivaccine misinformation to the masses

A week and a half ago, an old “friend” of the blog, pediatrician and antivaccine apologist Dr. Jay Gordon, made an appearance on Real Time With Bill Maher. In a long segment, the antivaccine misinformation flowed fast and furious in a Gish gallop of pseudoscience. WTF, HBO?