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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics Pseudoscience Quackery

Michigan Vaccine Freedom Political Action Committee: Promoting antivaccine policies in my state

A childhood friend of mine, who is running for office, forwarded me a questionnaire from the Michigan Vaccine Freedom Political Action Committee. It consisted of questions about whether she would support vaccine “choice” and “freedom.” Unfortunately, antivaccine advocacy groups are becoming more influential. Now they’re trying to lobby like any other lobbying group.

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Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Popular culture Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Does combatting quackery and pseudoscience through rational argument and ridicule work?

As hard as it is to believe, I’ve been at this blogging thing for 12 years now. In fact, it’s been so long that this year I didn’t even remember to mention it when it happened nearly two weeks ago. Over that time period, I’ve dealt with a large number of conspiracy theories. Indeed, skeptics […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery

Adult vaccine pledge. (Translation: “Wake up, sheeple!”)

Orac recently came across an antivaccine post called “The Adult Vaccine Pledge.” So he deconstructed it. It did not go well—for the Adult Vaccine Pledge.

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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Politics Quackery

Nobody promotes antivaccine nonsense in my state…without receiving some Insolence (2016 election edition)

Remember the scene in The Blues Brothers where Jake and Elwood are sitting in the Bluesmobile and come across a Nazi rally taking place on a bridge? Jake says with utter disgust, “I hate Illinois Nazis,” before driving over the bridge, forcing the Nazis to flee and jump into the river below. That’s basically the […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics Pseudoscience Quackery

The Mayor of Algonac responds to a hepatitis A outbreak by promoting antivaccine pseudoscience

Southeast Michigan is currently in the midst of a hepatitis A outbreak that started in August 2016. In Algonac, a small town in the Thumb region, the mayor decided to help a restaurant whose business suffered when one of its new staff members under training caught hepatitis A. Unfortunately, the form that help took was to host an antivaccine propaganda meeting.