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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Medicine Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Motivated reasoning and the anti-vaccine movement

One theme that I keep revisiting again and again is not so much a question of the science behind medical therapies (although certainly I do discuss that issue arguably more than any other) but rather a question of why. Why is it that so many people cling so tenaciously to pseudoscience, quackery, and, frequently, conspiracy […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Medicine

Why not just castrate them? (Part 7): The fallout from the suspension of Mark Geier’s medical license

The other day, I wrote about how mercury militia general and autism quack extraordinaire Dr. Mark Geier had his medical license suspended by the State of Maryland. At the time, I lamented how it was at least five years two late, but there was one aspect of the story that I didn’t really dwell on, […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

The Internet as anti-vaccine tool

It’s official now. The U.S. is on track to accumulate more cases of measles than it has seen in a decade: The United States seems to be on track to have more measles cases than any year in more than a decade, with virtually all cases linked to other countries, including Europe where there’s a […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

Why not just castrate them? (Part 6): The State of Maryland finally takes “emergency action” against Mark Geier and his Lupron protocol for autism

One of the most persistent myths is one that’s been particularly and doggedly resistant to evidence, science, clinical trials, epidemiology, and reason. It’s also a myth that I’ve been writing about since a couple of months after the beginning of this blog. Specifically, I’m referring to the now scientifically discredited myth that the mercury-containing thimerosal […]

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Medicine Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Progress mixed with hype in personalized medicine

“Personalized medicine.” You’ve probably heard the term. It’s a bit of a buzzword these days and refers to a vision of future medicine in which therapies are much more tightly tailored to individual patients than they currently are. That’s not to say that as physicians we haven’t practiced personalized medicine before; certainly we have. However […]