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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Bad science Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery

Rappin’ Hillary Simpson, #crazymothers, and #DearDoctor: Antivaxers blaming doctors for vaccinating children. Again.

Hillary Simpson created the Facebook group #crazymothers to co-opt the perception that the science-based world has of her and her fellow antivax mothers. Now, she’s cooked up a hashtag and social media campaign called #DearDoctor to encourage mothers to harass their child’s former pediatricians by writing letters blaming them for vaccinating and supposedly causing their children’s autism. Oh, and she does freestyle rap, too. Badly. Oh, so badly.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

The “Drs. Wolfson” attack the parents of Riley Hughes, who died of pertussis

Riley Hughes died of pertussis, and his father is trying to encourage vaccination against pertussis. The “Drs. Wolfson” object. They’re antivaccine quacks, and they blame the victim.

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Bad science Complementary and alternative medicine Integrative medicine Medicine Politics Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Helene Langevin is named NCCIH director. Let the quackery flow again!

Helene Langevin has been named the new director of the National Center for Complemenary and Integrative Health. Given her history of dodgy acupuncture research, my prediction is that the quackery will flow again at NCCIH, the way it did in the 1990s when Tom Harkin zealously protected it from any attempt to impose scientific rigor on it.

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Bad science Medicine Politics Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Medicaid and the Oregon Health Authority: The scam of replacing opioids with “nonpharmacologic treatments for pain” like acupuncture

The Oregon Health Authority is on the verge of passing a radical policy that would require chronic pain patients receiving Medicaid to have their opioids tapered to zero while covering “nonpharmacologic treatments for pain” that include primarily acupuncture, chiropractic, massage therapy, and other “alternative” treatments. Not surprisingly, the Oregon Chronic Pain Task Force, which is responsible for this proposed infliction of quackery on the most vulnerable, has three acupuncturists and a chiropractor sitting on it.

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Bad science Medicine Physics Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Luminas Pain Relief Patches: Where the words “quantum” and “energy” really mean “magic”

Orac discovers the Luminas Pain Relief Patch. He is amused at how how quacks confuse the words “quantum” and “energy” with magic.