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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Computers and social media Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

2021: The year the weaponization of VAERS went mainstream

Misuse of the VAERS database to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt about vaccines has been a favorite technique of antivaxxers for decades. Unfortunately, 2021 was the year when this particular antivax trope was turbocharged. (Note: Orac will be taking a week off after this—see note in post.)

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Medicine Popular culture Science Skepticism/critical thinking

WTF happened to John Ioannidis revisited: The Carl Sagan effect

I have been critical about John Ioannidis over a number of his statements about the COVID-19 pandemic. Now he’s done it again, producing a poor-quality paper whose unwritten assumptions suggest that the Carl Sagan effect, in which scientists are penalized professionally by their peers for becoming popular science communicators, still holds considerable sway in science and medicine.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine

Dr. Robert Malone goes full antivaccine conspiracist

Dr. Robert Malone, “inventor of mRNA vaccines,” while still straining to maintain a pretense of being provaccine, went full antivaccine this week and is drifting farther and farther from reality and deeper and deeper into conspiracy theories.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science History Medicine Politics

RFK Jr. then vs. RFK Jr. now: Still fiercely antivaccine after all these years

RFK Jr. has long been a leader in the antivaccine movement. Unfortunately, the pandemic has turbocharged his influence, and he’s cranked his antivax fear mongering to 11.

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Bad science Medicine Quackery

Black Oxygen Organics (a.k.a. BOO): Magic dirt quackery to treat COVID-19

“BOO” stands for Black Oxygen Organics, a “cure” for COVID-19 that got the attention of regulators last week. Basically, it’s dirt billed by its believers as “magic dirt” that sells for $110 a bag (plus shipping) through a multilevel marketing sales model. What can this latest COVID cure tell us about the relationship between alternative medicine and COVID-19 denial?