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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine

Geoff Pain vs. The Wellness Company and RFK Jr.: I do so love a good crank fight!

Crank fight! Dr. Geoff Pain attacks RFK Jr.’s antivax org Children’s Health Defense for being in the pocket of big pharma. Hilarity ensues.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Quackery

Antivax quacks: It’s always (also) about the grifter and grift

When it comes to the behavior of antivax quacks, I like to say: Come for the quackery and ideology, stay for the grift. A Washington Post story this week confirms this characterization.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics

No matter how much he tries, RFK Jr. can’t hide his antivax nature

A week ago Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gave the keynote speech at the second annual meeting of his antivax organization, Children’s Health Defense. Once again, he demonstrated that not only is he still antivax as hell, but that his proposals are even more bizarre than before. Truly, it was a homecoming for him.

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Antivaccine nonsense Clinical trials

“No saline placebo-controlled vaccine trials”: An old antivax trope

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has resurrected the antivax claim that the childhood vaccine schedule has never been tested in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with a saline placebo controls (and therefore the vaccine schedule is unsafe). This is an old and deceptive antivax half-truth that ignores both what constitutes a scientifically valid placebo and the ethical requirements for RCTs.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics Popular culture

Return of the revenge of “no saline placebo RCTs” for childhood vaccines

Thanks to RFK Jr. the deceptive claim that the childhood vaccine schedule has never been tested in a randomized controlled trial with a saline placebo control is making the rounds again.This is an old and deceptive antivax half-truth that ignores both what constitutes a scientifically valid placebo and the ethical requirement that RCTs have clinical equipoise.