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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Politics Quackery

Jill Stein and left wing antivaccine dog whistles

During the political battle last year over the recently implemented California law SB 277, which eliminates nonmedical exemptions to school vaccine mandates and then later during the campaign for the Republican nomination for President, I used a term regarding antivaccine views. That term was “antivaccine dog whistle.” In politics, as you probably now, a “dog […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Politics

Should vaccines be compulsory?

As long as there have been vaccinations, there has been an antivaccine movement, and as long as there has been an antivaccine movement, there have been parents who refuse to vaccinate. In a past that encompasses the childhood of my parents, polio was paralyzing and killing children in large numbers in yearly epidemics, the fear […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Naturopathy Popular culture Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Antivaxers lobbying Rep. Jason Chaffetz to investigate the CDC fawn over parents who let their child with bacterial meningitis die of medical neglect

Yesterday, I took note of a meeting of advocates and lawyers with Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), the chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (OGR), which makes him a very powerful Congressman. The group that met with him included Del Bigtree, the producer of Andrew Wakefield’s antivaccine propagandafest of a “documentary” VAXXED: […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

After SB 277, medical exemptions for sale, courtesy of Dr. Bob Sears and other antivaccine quacks

I realize that it’s a cliché to say so, but some clichés are true. Time really does fly. It’s hard to believe that a year ago California—and, by proxy, the rest of the country—was in the throes of a major political war over the bill SB 277. SB 277, you will recall, was a bill […]

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Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Politics Quackery

Who knew? Tightening up requirements for waivers for school vaccine requirements increases vaccine uptake! (Part two)

Well, it’s finally done. The grants that have been taking up so much of my time are finally with the grants office and, hopefully, won’t have too many errors flagged as they go through the validation process. So it’s time to get back into that blogging thing again, even though I’m admittedly tired. So I’ll […]