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Antivaccine nonsense Cancer Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine

The Katie Couric “apology” about her segment on HPV and HPV vaccines

Vaccines against the human papilloma virus (HPV), such as Gardasil and Cervarix, seem to have a strange power over people who are otherwise reasonable about science and vaccines. For some reason, HPV vaccines seem to have an uncanny ability to turn such people into raging antivaccinationists almost as loony as the merry band of antivaccine […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine Entertainment/culture Medicine Quackery

Katie Couric on the HPV vaccine: Antivaccine or irresponsible journalist? You be the judge!

I’m not really happy to have to write this post, but a blogger’s got to do what a blogger’s got to do. The reason is that Katie Couric has done something requires—nay, demands—a heapin’ helpin’ of Orac’s characteristic Respectful Insolence. Why should I give the proverbial rodent’s posterior about who gets the Insolence today? The […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Politics Quackery

Sometimes good things happen: The antivaccine fringe suffers a setback in Congress

Well, it’s done. The server migration should be finished. I was out and about last night giving a talk; so I’ll only have time for a relatively brief post (for me, at least). Once again, things happen while I’m otherwise…indisposed. This time around, it’s something that warms the cockles of what antivaccinationists perceive to be […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Naturopathy Politics Quackery Religion Skepticism/critical thinking

California children betrayed: Governor Jerry Brown and the neutering of a law designed to make vaccine exemptions harder to get

About a year ago, I became aware of the latest celebrity antivaccinationist with a penchant for saying truly stupid things and thus making an even bigger fool of himself than he usually does. I’m referring to Rob “makin’ copies” Schneider, who most recently has been making waves for narrating a misinformation-packed “viral” video about the […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Politics Quackery

Antivaccinationists will be holding a Congressional briefing to attack the Vaccine Court tomorrow

People who follow the antivaccine movement might remember that around this time last year, Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA), a particularly antiscience legislator who appears to be trying to take up the antivaccine mantle left behind when Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) retired at the end of the last session of Congress. Given that he now chairs […]