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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Bioethics Clinical trials Medicine Quackery

Blurring the line between scientist and parent

Being involved in clinical research makes me aware of the ethical quandaries that can arise. Fortunately for me, for the most part my studies are straightforward and don’t provoke much in the way of angst over whether what I am doing is ethical or whether I’m approaching a line I shouldn’t approach or crossing a […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Entertainment/culture Medicine Quackery Television

More biased “journalism” about vaccines

You know, I think I’ve found a bride for Steve Wilson. You remember Steve Wilson, don’t you? He’s the local “investigative reporter” in my hometown who recently did a truly awful “report” (it actually makes me cringe to call it a “report,” but I couldn’t think of anything else to call it) a couple of […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Entertainment/culture Medicine Quackery Television

Steve Wilson of WXYZ-TV in Detroit: Investigative journalist or anti-vaccine propagandist?

What is it with the local news media in my hometown? You might (or might not) remember when I noted back in February that there was one Detroit station that did an unbelievably, hilariously dumb and credulous story about “orbs” in photos and whether they are ghosts or spirits manifesting themselves to their friends and […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

The nuttiness that is Whale.to: Save Scopie’s Law!

Some of you may have heard of John Scudamore’s Whale.to site. I’ve referred to it in the past as a repository of some of the wildest and most bizarre “alternative” medicine claims out there. However, I will admit that I’ve only ever scratched the surface of the insanity that is Whale.to. Kathleen Seidel has dug […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

Epi Wonk versus Mark and David Geier: Guess who wins?

There’s a new blog in town that I’ve been meaning to pimp. It’s a blog by a retired epidemiologist who got things started looking at the role of diagnostic substitution in autism diagnoses and argued that the autism “epidemic” is an artifact of changing diagnostic criteria. The blog is Epi Wonk, and it’s a good […]