Categories
Cancer Medicine Quackery

Fenbendazole: I’m having flashbacks to laetrile and Stanislaw Burzynski

Antivaxxers who “repurposed” deworming drugs like ivermectin and fenbendazole are peddling cancer “miracle cure” testimonials that remind me of laetrile and Stanislaw Burzynski. Truly, everything old is new again.

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense

The ultimate antivax conspiracy theory

Toby Rogers takes big pharma conspiracy mongering to the next level, claiming it will cause an intentional economic crisis.

Categories
Cancer Medicine

NBC News and false balance on whole body MRIs

A week ago, NBC News aired a story on whole body MRI scans. Although it did include the usual cautions about false positives and the harm they cause, the caution was diluted by the story’s focus a rare case of a woman who had a brain tumor detected. Overall, it was false balance that reminded me of vaccine/autism stories 20 years ago.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Quackery

Antivax quacks: It’s always (also) about the grifter and grift

When it comes to the behavior of antivax quacks, I like to say: Come for the quackery and ideology, stay for the grift. A Washington Post story this week confirms this characterization.

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics

Physicians are their own worst enemies with respect to misinformation

A recent study found that physicians and scientists who are perceived as “experts” are prevalent within the antivax community and more influential because of their status as physicians and scientists. Why do physicians continue to tolerate antivax quacks within our ranks?