Results for: mercola
Andrew Wakefield after 25 years: Paving the way for COVID-19 quacks and antivaxxers
It was 25 years ago yesterday that Andrew Wakefield launched the modern iteration of the antivaccine movement.In doing so, he laid down a template that antivax quacks today still follow.
Tess Lawrie: Ivermectin isn’t just for COVID-19 but cures cancer too!
In a turn that should surprise exactly no one, the BIRD Group's Tess Lawrie effortlessly pivots from promoting ivermectin as a cure for COVID-19 to promoting it as a cure for cancer. It's another example of how single-issue quacks almost inevitably embrace more diverse quackery.
When antivax “died suddenly” conspiracy mongering vultures target a friend and colleague
After SBM suffered the unexpected loss of our co-founder Dr. Harriet Hall last week, we were angered and distressed to see antivaxxers saying that she had "died suddenly" because of COVID-19 vaccines. This dangerous narrative is even more painful when it targets a friend. Dr. Gorski tries to get past his initial anger and explain this dangerous conspiracy theory.
How antivaxxers laid the groundwork to blame COVID-19 vaccines for Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest
Right after Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed from a cardiac arrest after a tackle and was resuscitated on the field, antivaxxers immediately pounced, blaming COVID-19 vaccines even as CPR was still continuing. That's because antivaxxers had "primed the pump" over more than a year with stories of young athletes who had supposedly "died suddenly." (Warning: This one's long, even by Gorski...
It Will Take More Than “Courage” to Restore Public Trust in Medicine
Judah Kreinbrook, a first year medical student, responds to a post on Sensible Medicine by a medical student that exaggerated the risk of myocarditis from COVID-19 vaccines while expressing anger at how trust in medicine has been undermined. Having been raised by a family steeped in antivaccine views, Kreinbrook invokes his journey to SBM to gently correct his fellow medical student and...
After 15 years of SBM: Lessons learned and what the future holds
Last week, Dr. Novella discussed what SBM has accomplished over the last 15 years. I'm going to discuss lessons learned, what has changed, and remaining huge challenges. Unfortunately, after the pandemic, our position in 2022 reminds me even more than ever of Aragorn at the Black Gate of Mordor, but that does not mean things are hopeless.
“I know you are, but what am I?” Dr. Aseem Malhotra rails against COVID-19 “misinformation”
Projection is a common defense mechanism used by those spreading health misinformation and disinformation. Last week Dr. Aseem Malhotra published part 2 of a plan to cure "the pandemic of misinformation on COVID-19 mRNA vaccines through real evidence-based medicine". Unsurprisingly, it was chock full of antivaccine misinformation. It's a real "I know you are, but what am I?" exercise in disinformation.
The “12% efficacy” myth from the “Pfizer data dump”: The latest slasher stat about COVID-19 vaccines
Last week, a claim that Pfizer's own documents demonstrate that the efficacy of its COVID-19 vaccine was only 12% (not the 95% reported) went viral. This is a slasher stat, so-named because it is not new and, like the killers in slasher movie series, even when it appears to be dead it always appears in another installment of the misinformation franchise to...