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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics

Stanford University promotes disastrous “natural herd immunity” approaches to the pandemic

A week and a half ago, Stanford University announced a conference on pandemic policy that features several of the usual suspects who spread misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Truly, Stanford has become the “respectable” academic face of efforts to undermine public health.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Politics Popular culture

“Lab leak” is now very much like antivax in its harms to public health

Ever since COVID-19 first emerged in 2020, evidence-free claims that it had arisen due to a “lab leak” have proliferated and caused as much harm as antivax. A recent paper argues that this conspiracy theory has been very harmful to science. I argue that it’s more than just lab leak that is harmful.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics

Antivax lawyer Aaron Siri misrepresents vaccine safety testing

Vaccine scientist Stanley Plotkin coauthored a commentary on vaccine postlicensure studies. Antivax lawyer Aaron Siri tries to misrepresent it as an “admission” that vaccines aren’t safe. Predictable.

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Cancer Medicine Quackery

FLCCC co-founder Paul Marik has gone full cancer quack

FLCCC co-founder Dr. Paul Marik has gone full cancer quack, deceptively disparaging chemotherapy to promote his grift of “repurposed drugs.” Everything old is new again.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Quackery

Antivax quacks: It’s always (also) about the grifter and grift

When it comes to the behavior of antivax quacks, I like to say: Come for the quackery and ideology, stay for the grift. A Washington Post story this week confirms this characterization.