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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics Popular culture Skepticism/critical thinking

If 2022 was the “year of the gaslighter,” expect a lot more gaslighting in 2023

“Gaslighting” is a term that refers to the manipulation of someone in order to lead them to question their own reality and even sanity. Last month, a COVID-19 minimizer and antivaxxer declared 2022 the “year of the gaslighter,” revealing yet again that it’s always projection with science-denying propagandists. Unfortunately, 2023 looks to hold a lot more of the same in store.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking Sports

Why did antivaxxers seize on the Damar Hamlin case?

When Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed from an on-field cardiac arrest most likely due to chest trauma, antivaxxers quickly blamed COVID-19 vaccines. The reason was a particularly nasty preexisting variant of the “died suddenly” myth in which athletes are dropping dead from the vaccine. They aren’t.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking Sports

Damar Hamlin’s collapse: To antivaxxers, it’s always the vaccines

On Monday, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest after a tackle. The most likely diagnosis is commotio cordis, cardiac arrest after chest trauma. That didn’t stop antivaxxers from undergoing all-too-familiar contortions to blame it on vaccines.

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Antivaccine nonsense Clinical trials Medicine Politics Science

Projection and methodolatry over COVID-19

Projection, thy name is Dr. Vinay Prasad, who complains about “ad hominem” coming from his critics while siding with some nasty COVID-19 minimizers, as he engages in obvious methodolatry about every study of vaccines, masks, and COVID-19.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics Science

NIH grant funding decisions: Reality vs. antivax conspiracies

Earlier this month, the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a plan to decrease the problem of reputational bias in grant funding. I couldn’t help but contrast how hard the NIH tries to use the most rigorous scientific criteria to decide whose grants to fund with the conspiracy theory that Anthony Fauci personally doles out NIH dollars like a mob boss to scientists who support him.