Results for: National Vaccine Information Center

School mask mandate wars: Politics (Florida) v. Science (North Carolina)

Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, dictated a state-wide ban on school mask mandates based on misinformation and pure politics, while North Carolina officials took a bipartisan approach to masking based on science.

/ August 26, 2021

Is RSV Being Misdiagnosed as COVID-19?

Doctors who claimed that COVID-19 was essentially harmless to children are now being confronted with the sad fact that it is sometimes quite dangerous to them. How they respond reveals much about them and little about the virus.

/ August 13, 2021
Ivermectin repurposing

Ivermectin is the new hydroxychloroquine, take 5: The Nobel Prize gambit

Ivermectin continues to be the new hydroxychloroquine, an unproven repurposed drug promoted to treat COVID-19. Now the advocates are pointing to the history of the drug's developers being awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine, as though that has anything to do with its effectiveness against COVID-19.

/ August 9, 2021

The CDC Should Do Better

The CDC's failure to report clear and accurate data about how COVID-19 is affecting children has opened the door to those who wish to minimize its impact by spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt. The CDC needs to do better.

/ August 5, 2021
Ivermectin repurposing

Ivermectin is the new hydroxychloroquine, take 4: Bret Weinstein misrepresents meta-analyses

Evolutionary biologist turned podcaster Bret Weinstein has promoted the anthelmintic drug ivermectin as a highly effective treatment for COVID-19 based on a massive misunderstanding of a meta-analysis. Here, we correct this misunderstanding and explain why ivermectin is unlikely to be effective against COVID-19.

/ August 2, 2021

Cognitive Illusions and How Not to Write About COVID-19 and Children

Many people minimize the deaths and damage COVID-19 has wrought on children because it is "worse in adults". While it is true that more adults suffer due to the disease, that does not make the harms done to children vanish in a puff of smoke.

/ July 30, 2021

“We’ll Have Herd Immunity by April”: Reflections on a Failed Prediction

Surgical oncologist Dr. Marty Makary predicted in February that we would have herd immunity to COVID-19 in April. In late July now, it is clear that we do not, but Dr. Makary continues to make dubious and outright incorrect statements about COVID-19 on national platforms to which he has access. Why can't he just admit that his prediction had been in error?

/ July 25, 2021

Long COVID: Alternative medicine sees a business opportunity

With vaccines transforming the risk and consequences of a COVID infection, the health burden of "long COVID" may become a lasting consequence of the pandemic. Alternative medicine senses a business opportunity.

/ July 22, 2021
Ivermectin repurposing

Ivermectin is the new hydroxychloroquine, take 3: Conspiracy theories vs. science

Last month, I discussed why ivermectin is the new hydroxychloroquine:, basically a “miracle cure” that isn’t. Since then, conspiracy theories about its being "suppressed" have continued to bump heads with the science showing that, at the very best, evidence for its efficacy is very weak and, at the worst, the drug is useless.

/ July 5, 2021
NCCIH frameworks

NCCIH Strategic Plan 2021⁠–⁠2025: Meet the new plan, same as the old plan…?

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health recently released its latest 5 year strategic plan. It's basically the same as the last strategic plan, but with one new addition. It's not really a new addition, but it signals a resurrection of an old trope about "integrating" quackery with science-based medicine.

/ June 28, 2021