Category: Science and the Media

Ignaz Semmelweis washing his hands in chlorine.

The Semmelweis gambit: A red flag for defending bad science and quackery

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. It's a deceptive comparison beloved of all manner of scientific cranks.

/ January 6, 2025
RFK Jr. Robert F. Kennedy

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is NOT a “vaccine skeptic.” He is antivax. Period.

I wish I didn't have to write this post, but the press won't stop referring to RFK Jr. as a "vaccine skeptic." He is not. He is antivax.

/ December 23, 2024

ZDoggMD on RFK Jr.’s Rise: “I’m Talking About Like These Science Based Medicine Guys”

Dr. Zubin Damania praised and promoted RFK Jr.-loving doctors. We criticized these doctors and corrected their factual errors. See the difference?

/ November 29, 2024

Any Doctor Who Enabled RFK Jr. In Any Way Is Anti-Vaccine No Matter How They Describe Themselves

If you associate yourself with Sensible Medicine, you are anti-vaccine no matter how you describe yourself.

/ November 23, 2024

FDA poised to reshape the cold remedy aisle

The FDA is proposing to order the removal of phenylephrine from oral cough and cold remedies.

/ November 21, 2024
A laboratory apparatus featuring a series of connected stainless steel pipes and tubes with clear plastic tubing. The setup includes containers, one of which holds a pink liquid. Various clamps and connectors are visible on the equipment.

Great Barrington Declaration Author Joins COVID-19 Lab Leak-Pushing Group

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and the merging of political pandemic narratives

/ August 24, 2024
New York Times

The Lab Leak Theory and the Complicit Media

How the media's need for tales of intrigue and villains fosters the political weaponization of uncertainty

/ June 27, 2024

Did I Lie About My Conference Invitation? How Bad Faith Engagement Functions As A Distraction and Silencing Technique.

It's important to honestly and explicitly call out bad faith engagement for what it is and recognize how it functions as a common, but powerful rhetorical device.

/ June 25, 2024
New York Times

Why is The New York Times now promoting an anti-science agenda?

This essay stems from concerns about two editorials published in The New York Times recently. We felt that they were problematic in that the past is viewed through a blurred prism to produce revisionist history. By John P. Moore and Gregg Gonsalves.

, / June 22, 2024

I’ve Been Silenced, Censored, and Cancelled. The Reason Why Matters.

When conference organizers told me not to make my talk "political", they were really saying there were certain people and ideas I wasn't allowed to criticize. I didn't get it at the time. I get it now.

/ June 16, 2024