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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.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine

Antivax ideology: The main influencers are “controlled opposition” and “limited hangouts”

Antivax is more ideology and conspiracy than science. The recent accusation that antivax influencers are running “limited hangouts” as part of “controlled opposition helps illustrate this characteristic, in which the insufficiently radical are portrayed as useful idiots for the enemy or even heretics.

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Medicine Politics Quackery

The NCCIH embraces the “integration” of functional medicine quackery with medicine

The process of “integrating” quackery with medicine continues apace as the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health embraces the quackery that is “functional medicine” to promote “whole person health,” whatever that means.

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Antivaccine nonsense Politics Popular culture

Dr. Joseph Ladapo’s antivax assault on public health: Will it infect the federal government?

Dr. Joseph Ladapo’s Florida Department of Health recently released guidance on COVID vaccines based on antivax tropes. Could they metastasize to the federal government if Donald Trump wins in November?

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery

Dr. Pierre Kory has gone all-in on anti-statin quackery

COVID contrarian turned antivax crank Dr. Pierre Kory has now embraced statin denial quackery. His evolution from COVID contrarian to all-purpose quack is now complete.