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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Bad science Bioethics Medicine Politics

A belated Fourth of July antivaccine rant about “zero tolerance vaccine laws,” courtesy of Barbara Loe Fisher

It may be two days after the 4th of July, but it’s never too late to deconstruct a holiday-inspired antivaccine rant about “zero tolerance vaccine laws” by the grand dame of the antivaccine movement.

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Antivaccine nonsense Holocaust Medicine Politics Popular culture Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking World War II

Are antivaccine groups “hate groups”? Not exactly, but the answer isn’t entirely no, either.

Recently, Dr. Peter Hotez characterized antivaccine groups as “hate groups,” and antivaxer Barbara Loe Fisher took great umbrage, accusing Dr. Hotez and the public health community of “bullying” parents of “vaccine-injured” children. Did Dr. Hotez go too far? And what about Fisher’s hypocrisy, given that Dr. Hotez has received death threats credible enough to warrant police protection and Fisher herself has sued her critics, in effect trying to bully them into silence?

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Antivaccine nonsense Pseudoscience Quackery

“Vaccine Awareness Week,” misinformed consent, and, of course, Nazis and eugenics

Orac is back, and what does he encounter upon his return? Barbara Loe Fisher, founder of the Orwellian-named antivaccine propaganda organization, the National Vaccine Information Center, pontificating about “informed consent” and vaccines. What she really means is misinformed consent to refuse vaccines, as in consent based on misinformation, pseudoscience, and fear mongering about vaccines. Naturally, she can’t resist bringing in Nazis as well.

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Humor Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

I am Spartacus! or: Orac applies some Insolence to a rather confused antivaccine blogger

I’ve used my current pseudonym since at least the late 1990s, first on Usenet and then on the first incarnation of this blog. Not surprisingly in retrospect (although it surprised me at the time), people who didn’t like me began trying back in the 1990s to “unmask” me. It began with Holocaust deniers. No, I’m […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Politics Popular culture Quackery Science Skepticism/critical thinking

The antivaccine movement wins in Oregon: Senate Bill 442 is dead

How quickly things change. If there’s one thing I always feel obligated to warn my fellow pro-science advocates about vaccines and the antivaccine movement, it’s that we can never rest on our laurels or assume that the tide is turning in our direction. The reason is simple: Antivaccinationism is a powerful belief system, every bit […]