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Bad science Medicine Politics Quackery

Reining in doctors promoting COVID-19 misinformation

The disinformation epidemic about COVID-19 has pushed state medical boards to consider disciplining physicians who promote COVID-19 disinformation. How would that work? What are the obstacles? Is it even possible? It should be, but it will be messy and complicated.

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Antivaccine nonsense Computers and social media Medicine Popular culture Pseudoscience Skepticism/critical thinking

How antimaskers co-opt techniques of scientific data analysis to generate COVID-19 propaganda

There’s a new paper out analyzing how antimask activists weaponize the tools of data visualization and scientific argumentation to produce convincing antimask propaganda. Antimaskers are claiming that it shows that they are more “scientific” than those supporting the consensus viewpoint with respect to COVID-19 and masks. What it really shows is that they are good at weaponizing the tools of data visualization and scientific arguments to come to the conclusions that they want to come to.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Music Skepticism/critical thinking

About Eric Clapton’s adverse reaction to AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

Last week Italian architect and film producer Robin Monotti Graziadei posted to his Telegram channel a report from Eric Clapton that he had had a bad reaction to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Can we tell what really happened? And why is Clapton saying he “should never have gone near the needle”?

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Bad science Skepticism/critical thinking

Medical Hypotheses is back, and it’s pushing antimask disinformation

Medical Hypotheses is a fringe journal published by Elsevier that’s long been known for publishing pseudoscience, such as antivax and HIV/AIDS denial. In the age of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s now back with antimask nonsense.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine Pseudoscience Skepticism/critical thinking

Poor, poor, pitiful Prof. Gøtzsche: Antivaxxers and COVID-19 cranks are quoting him in support of their pseudoscience

Prof. Peter Gøtzsche really, really doesn’t like that COVID-19 deniers and antivaxxers are quoting him to support their misinformation. He has no one to blame but himself. He is a useful idiot for such people.