Tag: conspiracy theories
Responding to Dr. Vinay Prasad’s “dunking on a 7′ hoop” criticism of SBM
Last week, Dr. Vinay Prasad decided to resurrect his misguided criticism from over a year ago likening SBM-style criticisms of alternative medicine to "dunking on a 7' hoop". Why he would decide to renew his attack on combating science disinformation in the middle of a pandemic that has killed close to 300,000 Americans alone we don't know, but Drs. Novella and Gorski...
COVID Vaccine Hesitancy
While many hope for a vaccine to help end the pandemic, vaccine hesitancy remains distressingly high.
“Masks make you sicker”: The COVID-19 myth that just won’t die.
Masks work to slow the spread of COVID-19, but the "masks make you sicker" narrative, like antivax nonsense, has proven to be unkillable and to be a killer.
The confluence of antivaccine beliefs and conspiracy theories in COVID-19 denial
It surprised some people that after the COVID-19 pandemic hit our shores antivaxxers so quickly joined forces with COVID-19 conspiracy theorists. It shouldn't have been a surprise. Antivaxxer beliefs are themselves rooted deep in conspiracy theories.
Joe Mercola: Falsely demonizing the flu vaccine by claiming it increases your risk of COVID-19
September is the time of the year when the CDC, state public health authorities, and doctors urge everyone to be vaccinated against the flu. In the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, that means antivaxxers like Joe Mercola have a new angle to demonize the flu vaccine: Falsely claiming it increases your risk of catching COVID-19.
Antivaccine leader Del Bigtree on COVID-19: “Let’s catch this cold!” Why antivaxxers and coronavirus conspiracy theorists are often one in the same.
Last week, antivaccine activist Del Bigtree posted a rant denying the severity of COVID-19, blaming the chronically ill for having made themselves vulnerable to severe disease through their lifestyle choices, and urging the young and healthy to "catch this cold". His rant shows exactly why COVID-19 conspiracy theorists and antivaxxers have such an affinity for each other and have teamed up to...
Medical conspiracy theories and COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has spawned almost innumerable conspiracy theories, and conspiracists like the antivaccine movement have joined forces with COVID-19 conspiracy theorists. To combat the proliferation of pseudoscience rooted in conspiracy theories, it is useful to step back and examine the nature of conspiracy theories, including ones that are not medical, even ones like QAnon. Critical thinking is the key to inoculating...
Plandemic: Judy Mikovits and the mother of all COVID-19 conspiracy theories (some final thoughts)
Last Friday, I deconstructed Plandemic, a misinformation conspiracyfest of a video that went viral last week. It turns out that Judy Mikovits, the disgraced scientist featured in the video has even more conspiracy theories and misinformation up her sleeve.
Plandemic: Judy Mikovits and the mother of all COVID-19 conspiracy theories
Judy Mikovits is a disgraced scientist who published a paper claiming that a retrovirus called XMRV causes chronic fatigue syndrome, results that other investigators were unable to replicate. Since then, she's been a regular on the antivaccine circuit, but now she's been reborn as a "Fire Fauci" COVID-19 conspiracy theorist. Sadly, it worked. Her book is #1 on Amazon.
COVID-19 pandemic deniers and the antivaccine movement: An unholy alliance
Deniers of the severity of COVID-19 as a disease and pandemic have increasingly teamed up with the antivaccine movement, emulating their rhetoric, conspiracy theories, and tactics. The effect on public health is likely to be disastrous.