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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Blogging Medicine Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Duluth Reader: A wretched hive of scum and antivaccine quackery, thanks to Gary G. Kohls, MD

Last week, The Duluth Reader published an article by Gary G. Kohls, MD sliming Orac with easily refutable misinformation and misattribution. Today, Orac takes a closer look at the Reader and Dr. Kohls and finds a long history of antivaccine quackery. Why does the Duluth Reader give such a crank a regular platform for his dangerous misinformation?”

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Bad science Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

Antivaccine misinformation by Dr. W. Gifford-Jones in the Toronto Sun: Retracted (under pressure) but not forgotten

A week ago, The Toronto Sun published a syndicated column by a pseudonymous Canadian doctor, Dr. W. Gifford-Jones. The column was packed with antivaccine misinformation and pseudoscience. Apparently due to complaints, the article was taken down after an uproar, but is still available on the website of at least one other Canadian newspaper. How is it that a physician who writes such twaddle can be syndicated in over 70 newspapers?

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Antivaccine nonsense Holocaust Medicine Politics Popular culture Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking World War II

Are antivaccine groups “hate groups”? Not exactly, but the answer isn’t entirely no, either.

Recently, Dr. Peter Hotez characterized antivaccine groups as “hate groups,” and antivaxer Barbara Loe Fisher took great umbrage, accusing Dr. Hotez and the public health community of “bullying” parents of “vaccine-injured” children. Did Dr. Hotez go too far? And what about Fisher’s hypocrisy, given that Dr. Hotez has received death threats credible enough to warrant police protection and Fisher herself has sued her critics, in effect trying to bully them into silence?

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Bad science Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Dr. Paul Thomas: A rising star in the antivaccine movement

For credibility, the antivaccine movement needs antivaccine pediatricians, such as Dr. Jay Gordon and Dr. Bob Sears. Meet the pediatrician who is the latest rising star in the antivaccine movement, Dr. Paul Thomas. He even claims to have his very own “vaxed vs. unvaxed” study.

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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.