Results for: william thompson
What naturopaths say to each other when they think no one’s listening, part 2
It’s said that the true test of a person’s character is what he or she does and says when no one is watching. When it comes to science and medicine, naturopaths fail that test of character. Again. Antivaccine views and quackery? It's all there, with a dollop of paranoia.
Antivaccinationists and the Nation of Islam protest in front of the CDC, but don’t you dare call them “antivaccine”
Cranks of a feather quack together. Antivaccinationists team up with the Nation of Islam to protest vaccines at the CDC.
Antivaccine activists fund a study to show vaccines cause autism. It backfires spectacularly.
Having written about pseudoscience and quackery continuously for over a decade and having engaged in conversations about it online for over 15 years, I’ve come to recognize a number of traits that are virtually the sine qua non of quacks and pseudoscientists and their believers. Obviously, one of them is a severe case of the Dunning-Kruger effect, a tendency of those with...
Say it ain’t so, Mickey! A holiday measles outbreak makes the happiest place in the world sad
A measles outbreak at the Magic Kingdom? And it's due to unvaccinated children? Say it ain't so, Mickey!
Brian Hooker and Andrew Wakefield accuse the CDC of scientific fraud. Irony meters everywhere explode.
The antivaccine movement and conspiracy theories go together like beer and Buffalo wings, except that neither are as good as, yes, beer and Buffalo wings. (Maybe it’s more like manure and compost.) In any case, the antivaccine movement is rife with conspiracy theories. I’ve heard and written about more than I can remember right now, and I’m under no illusion that I’ve...
Ebola conspiracy theories: Same as it ever was
Does anyone remember the H1N1 influenza pandemic? As hard as it is to believe, that was five years ago. One thing I remember about the whole thing is just how crazy both the antivaccine movement and conspiracy theorists (but I repeat myself) went attacking reasonable public health campaigns to vaccinate people against H1N1. It was truly an eye-opener, surpassing even what I...
The “CDC whistleblower saga”: Updates, backlash, and (I hope) a wrap-up
Given that this is a holiday weekend here in the US and that I’m having a bit of a staycation right now, I had thought of simply not posting today or of rerunning a “classic” (if you want to call it that) blast from the past. But the topic I wrote about last week has only festered and grown bigger since Monday;...
Did a high ranking whistleblower really reveal that the CDC covered up proof that vaccines cause autism in African-American boys?
[Editor’s note: I realize this post might look familiar to some, although it has been tweaked and updated. Grant deadline Tuesday, meaning no time to produce original content up to the standards of SBM that you have come to expect. At the same time, I figured I had to contribute something this week. Hopefully this update on a certain bit of antivaccine...
Chiropractic pediatrics conference features anti-vaccination ideology . . . as usual
For the third time in four years, a chiropractic pediatrics conference will feature anti-vaccination propaganda as part of its program. Chiropractors will spread this misinformation to their patients' parents.