Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Politics Pseudoscience

RFK Jr. guts ACIP to pack it with antivaxxers

As predicted, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has fired all the members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Watch him replace them with antivaxxers. I hope you’re up to date on your vaccines.

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Quackery

The Mercola tapes: A wealthy antivax quack scammed

Dr. Joe Mercola embraced “alternative health” in the late 1990s, including quackery and antivax, and has since become very wealthy. Lately, he’s fallen under the spell of a psychic grifter and declared himself to be the “new Jesus.” What will happen to his business empire?

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics

Jay Bhattacharya’s attack Chihuahua smears Orac for criticizing him and the Great Barrington Declaration

Hack conspiracy “journalist” and attack Chihuahua Paul Thacker defends Nominee for NIH Director, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, and his Great Barrington Declaration by rehashing the same old attacks on its critics. I appear to be living rent-free in their heads.

Categories
Cancer Clinical trials Medicine

Is it safe to watch DCIS rather than remove it?

Ductal carcinoma in situ is a precursor of breast cancer that is usually treated with surgery, radiation therapy, and estrogen blockade. A new study (COMET) suggests that watchful waiting might be safe for low risk DCIS.

Categories
History Medicine Science

The frequent crank fallacy of the appeal to Semmelweis

A proponent of the Great Barrington Declaration is comparing rejection of its “natural herd immunity” approach to the pandemic to the rejection of Ignaz Semmelweis and his findings (and Galileo, too). It’s a deceptive comparison beloved of all manner of scientific cranks.