Tag: COVID-19
Florida Surgeon General declares single positive COVID test proves immunity forever
Florida's Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, continues to defy scientific consensus with new rules declaring a single positive COVID test proves one has "natural immunity" forever. This is but one example of recently enacted laws and similar efforts gutting public health protections in Florida, thanks to Ladapo and his boss, Gov. Ron DeSantis.
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.
Loud Silenced Doctors
When the history of this pandemic is written, contrarian doctors divorced from patient care won't be seen as its principal victims because YouTube removed their video, because someone called them "fringe", or because someone put up posters reminding them of words they said.
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.
Tennessee hamstrings medical board fight against COVID misinformation and unproven treatments
A new Tennessee law hampers the state medical board's efforts to rein in COVID misinformation and will make disciplining physicians prescribing unproven COVID treatments impossible until the board goes through cumbersome rule-making procedures, an effort that could outlast the pandemic.
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.
Treating the Unvaccinated
Should vaccination status be used to triage care for critically ill patients during a crisis?
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.
The Need for Science-Based Medicine
The mission of SBM continues.