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Antivaccine nonsense Computers and social media Medicine

Who could ever have seen this coming?

Since the pandemic I’ve said, “Everything old is new again”, referring to antivaxxers. As 2022 dawned, I thought I’d expand a bit on what I mean. Is there a term for déjà vu, but what I’m seeing now is amplified a thousand-fold? Who could ever have seen this coming? Only nearly all of us who have been paying attention to antivax misinformation and conspiracy theories.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Steve Kirsch reveals “secret plan to end the vaccine madness”

Steve Kirsch has a “secret plan to end the vaccine madness.” In reality, it’s not secret, but a conglomeration of antivaccine conspiracy theories, misinformation, and pseudoscience.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine

Dr. Robert Malone goes full antivaccine conspiracist

Dr. Robert Malone, “inventor of mRNA vaccines,” while still straining to maintain a pretense of being provaccine, went full antivaccine this week and is drifting farther and farther from reality and deeper and deeper into conspiracy theories.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics Popular culture

Antivaxxers vs. FDA’s VRBPAC and CDC’s ACIP.

The FDA’s VRBPAC and the CDC’s ACIP are the two committees that approve vaccines in the US and issue recommendations regarding who should receive which vaccine and when. Predictably, after the recent recommendation that children 5-11 receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is portraying committee members as thralls of big pharma.

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Antivaccine nonsense Clinical trials Medicine

WTF happened to The BMJ?

The BMJ recently published an “exposé” by Paul Thacker alleging patient unblinding, data falsification, and other wrongdoing by a subcontractor. It was a highly biased story embraced by antivaxxers, with a deceptively framed narrative and claims not placed into proper context, leading me to look into the broader question: WTF happened to The BMJ? (Updated and revised from a week ago.)