Results for: abstract
I Disagree With an Article Called “Vaccines Save Lives”
For contrarian doctors anchored to their ideas and sheltered from their consequences, it’s easier to erase 1,000 dead children, ignore overwhelmed pediatricians, and disparage an effective vaccine than to consider they could have been wrong. How sad.
As 2021 shambles to a close, the misuse of VAERS by antivaxxers continues apace
Misuse of the VAERS database to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt about vaccines has been a favorite technique of antivaxxers for decades. Unfortunately, 2021 was the year when this particular antivax trope was turbocharged, and public health messaging seemed powerless to counter it.
Why It’s Worthwhile to Debunk Shivambu
Richard Feynman famously said, "The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool". This is the most important lesson skepticism has to offer.
John Ioannidis and the Carl Sagan effect in science communication about COVID-19
We have been critical about John Ioannidis over a number of his statements about the COVID-19 pandemic. Now he's done it again, producing a poor-quality paper whose unwritten assumptions suggest that the Carl Sagan effect, in which scientists are penalized professionally by their peers for becoming popular science communicators, still holds considerable sway in science and medicine.
The PULS test and COVID-19 vaccinations
No, nobody has proven that the COVID vaccine series increases your risk of heart attack. Here's why.
Laser Therapy for Vaginal Rejuvenation
Some doctors are offering laser therapy for "vaginal rejuvenation". It is no more effective than placebo, can cause harm, and is very expensive.
Even in a pandemic, bait-and-switch acupuncture studies still get published in Nature
Last week, a study claiming to have identified a neurologic mechanism by which acupuncture reduces inflammation was published in Nature. It does no such thing. it's another bait-and-switch mouse study that likely would never have been published in such a high profile journal if it hadn't rebranded electrical stimulation as "electroacupuncture".
Conclusions Not So NICE: A Critical Analysis of the NICE Evidence review of puberty blockers for children and adolescents with gender dysphoria
A critical look at the UK's National Health Service-commissioned review of transgender youth health services and the harm it has caused.
Experts Abused for Talking to the Public
Nature survey finds that most media experts talking about COVID are facing threats and attacks.