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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

Andrew Wakefield and Mark Geier: Why does the “autism biomed” movement love one and not the other?

It’s been a busy and rough week. The news on the vaccine front has been coming fast and furious, with the release of one bad study and another highly touted great white hope of a legal study. As much as I’m tired of blogging about vaccines this week, it’s still mandatory for me to note […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine

Another swing for the fences and a miss by the anti-vaccine movement

Knowing what you are destined to blog about on a given night three days beforehand is a two-edged sword. On the plus side, I don’t have to worry about writer’s block or lack of suitable material to use as fodder for my Insolence, Respectful and not-so-Respectful, and that’s usually a good thing. On the other […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Medicine Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Motivated reasoning and the anti-vaccine movement

One theme that I keep revisiting again and again is not so much a question of the science behind medical therapies (although certainly I do discuss that issue arguably more than any other) but rather a question of why. Why is it that so many people cling so tenaciously to pseudoscience, quackery, and, frequently, conspiracy […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Medicine

A press conference touting “proof” that vaccines cause autism and that the government has admitted it?

I can hardly wait to see what the “proof” is this time: Investigators and Families of Vaccine-Injured Children to Unveil Report Detailing Clear Vaccine-Autism Link Based on Government’s Own Data Report Demands Immediate Congressional Action Directors of the Elizabeth Birt Center for Autism Law and Advocacy (EBCALA), parents and vaccine-injured children will hold a press […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Medicine

The annals of “I’m not anti-vaccine,” part 8 (argumentum ad Nazium edition #3, 2011)

Anti-vaccine activists are constantly repeating the claim that they’re “not anti-vaccine” but rather are “pro-safe vaccine” or “vaccine safety activists.” Depending on the specific anti-vaccine activist, it’s either a lie or self-delusion, of course, although I suppose it’s good that anti-vaccine activists do have enough of a sense of shame to realize that being anti-vaccine […]