New book: Anti-vaxxers: How to Challenge a Misinformed Movement
This book is a handy compendium of everything worth knowing about the anti-vaccine movement and how to challenge the misinformation.
Don’t use a COVID-19 vaccine, cry the antivaxxers, because of the horseshoe crab!
Antivaxxers are now urging vegans not to use a COVID-19 vaccine because blood from horseshoe crabs will be used in its manufacture. At its heart, this is no different than their weaponization of beliefs against other vaccine ingredients, except that it does use a germ of a good point that we should be looking for other ways to ensure that vaccines have...
Did the “Benadryl Challenge” Kill an Oklahoma Teen?
Did a dangerous new TikTok "challenge" result in the death of a 15-year-old teenager from Oklahoma? Probably not, but Benadryl is still a bad drug and parents should discuss the dangers of social media with their young children.
The TikTok “Benadryl Challenge” is demonstrating how toxic Benadryl can be
Even without the risk of overdose, there are good reasons to avoid Benadryl entirely.
COVID in Children
Recent evidence suggests children can be carriers of SARS-CoV-2, which has implications as schools reopen this Fall.
Taopatch Offers Everything… Except Science
Taopatch promises all kinds of vague benefits, but the mechanism of action is implausible and what they call scientific proof is no such thing.
Can “optimizing your metabolism” through diet prevent or cure COVID-19?
A favorite claim by those favoring "holistic" therapies is that using diet to "optimize metabolism" can prevent or treat COVID-19. These claims are of a piece with similar claims for many other diseases and are just as exaggerated.
The First Multiple Sclerosis Patient
Twenty years before Charcot described the nerve-destroying disease multiple sclerosis, an illegitimate British noble spent much of his adult life describing the disease and its effects.
Trump administration announces some COVID-19 tests can skip FDA review, providing new opportunities for dubious lab tests
The Trump administration unexpectedly announced that the FDA will no longer regulate some lab tests, including those for COVID-19. In addition to potentially allowing unreliable COVID tests on the market, the decision creates an opening for more bogus CAM tests.
Polio Eliminated From Africa
Wild-type polio has been eliminated from Africa. Now only Pakistan and Afghanistan remain.