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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics

“New school” anti-(COVID-19)-vaxxers are all-in on “old school” vaccines-cause-autism antivax

Over the last month, Orac has noticed that “new school” COVID-19 antivaxxers are rediscovering old school “vaccines cause autism” pseudoscience in a huge way. Also, there’s transphobia. Lots of transphobia. WTF is going on?

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Bad science Medicine Politics Pseudoscience Science Skepticism/critical thinking Television

President Trump and “just asking questions” about disinfectants and UV light to treat COVID-19

Last night, President Trump remarked about somehow getting disinfectants or light “inside” the body could kill coronavirus. Hilarity ensued, but his inadvertent promotion of COVID-19 quackery is deadly serious.

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Bad science Medicine Quackery

Black Oxygen Organics (a.k.a. BOO): Magic dirt quackery to treat COVID-19

“BOO” stands for Black Oxygen Organics, a “cure” for COVID-19 that got the attention of regulators last week. Basically, it’s dirt billed by its believers as “magic dirt” that sells for $110 a bag (plus shipping) through a multilevel marketing sales model. What can this latest COVID cure tell us about the relationship between alternative medicine and COVID-19 denial?

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Clinical trials Medicine Pseudoscience

Andrew Wakefield 25 years later: Paving the way for FLCCC and COVID quacks

It was 25 years ago last week that Andrew Wakefield launched the modern iteration of the antivaccine movement.In doing so, he laid down a template that antivax quacks today still follow.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Quackery

Quackery and antivax are inseparable

A recent study reaffirms the high degree of correlation among physicians between antivax views and an embrace of quackery. This is an old finding that needs to be documented periodically and shows why the acceptance of non-science-based treatments by physicians endangers vaccination efforts.