Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine

Just in time for Halloween, Mark Skidmore’s zombie antivax pseudoscience rises again

Tech bro turned antivax influencer Steve Kirsch is claiming that Michigan State University economist Mark Skidmore has been “exonerated” after having had a paper retracted claiming 278K deaths from COVID-19 vaccines in 2021 alone. In reality, Skidmore’s paper is zombie pseudoscience that’s back from the grave.

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Cancer Medicine

An antivaxxer interviews a respected oncologist about “turbo cancer”

Once again, Orac is depressed to discover that an oncologist and scientist whom he admired 30 years ago is now giving credence to the antivax myth that COVID-19 vaccines are causing an epidemic of “turbo cancer.”

Categories
Bad science Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Placebos without deception: Misinformation that never dies

He’s ba-ack! Longtime “integrative medicine” apologist and exaggerator of the “power of placebos” Ted Kaptchuk is promting misinformation again in an op-ed in The New York Times.

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Cancer Medicine

Dr. William Makis: Promoting the nonsense that is “turbo cancer”

A prominent oncologist and cancer biologist, Wafik El-Deiry, recently amplified claims that COVID-19 vaccines cause “turbo cancer,” wanting a “civil discourse about science and actual answers that are missing.” Unfortunately, calls for “civil discourse” by an eminent oncologist about unfounded claims only lends undeserved credibility to them. So, once more into the fray…

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Medicine

“The midwit effect”? Antivaxxers are irritated by a study on intelligence and vaccines

A study was published linking vaccine acceptance to intelligence. Whatever the validity of the study, it irritated an antivaxxer, who called it the “midwit” effect.