Category: Vaccines

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...

/ December 31, 2022
Aragorn at the Black Gate of Mordor

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.

/ December 26, 2022
Sen. Ron Johnson rountable

Ron Johnson’s “vaccine round table” does little to actually help patients.

Sen. Ron Johnson held a roundtable discussion earlier this month regarding COVID-19 vaccine injuries. It featured a cast of antivax grifter and typical antivax talking points that we've come to know since the pandemic hit. This antivax propaganda exercise helps no one other than the antivaccine movement.

/ December 24, 2022
Turbo cancer?

Do COVID-19 vaccines cause “turbo cancer”?

Over the last several months, antivaxxers have been claiming that COVID-19 vaccines cause "turbo cancer", cancers (or cancer recurrences) of a particularly aggressive and fast-growing variety diagnosed in younger and younger patients. "Turbo cancer" is not a thing, and the evidence cited is as weak as any antivax "evidence", including anecdotes and misinterpretation of epidemiology.

/ December 19, 2022
Clots

A clot too far: An embalmer dissects antivax misinformation about blood clots in Died Suddenly

Two weeks ago, COVID-19 conspiracy theorist Stew Peters released an antivax pseudodocumentary, Died Suddenly, whose main claim is that COVID-19 vaccines cause clots that have caused a massive wave of people to "die suddenly". Key to its narrative are embalmers claiming that they are seeing more clots in the bodies they are embalming than ever before. SBM has recruited Benjamin Schmidt, an...

/ December 5, 2022
Clots

Died Suddenly: A tsunami of antivax misinformation and conspiracy theories

Everything old is new again when it comes to antivax tropes. Stew Peters' antivax pseudodocumentary Died Suddenly resurrects the old antivax conspiracy that vaccines kill, the plan being to cause “depopulation” that will allow “global elites” to control the world. Dr. Gorski watched the whole movie so that you don't have to.

/ December 5, 2022
NY puberty blocker article

What the New York Times gets wrong about puberty blockers for transgender youth

The New York Times recently published an article expressing grave concern about the use of puberty blockers to treat gender dysphoria in transgender adolescents. Unfortunately, the reporting ignored evidence and important context to weave a narrative portraying puberty blockers as far more risky than they actually are.

, / December 4, 2022

The Aseem Malhotra lecture isn’t what you think it is

In November 2022, Dr. Aseem Malhotra gave a lecture that was more about advancing a narrative than explaining the science.

/ December 3, 2022
The Cow-Pock

What does “antivaccine” really mean since the pandemic hit?

We frequently use terms like “antivaccine,” “antivax,” and “antivaxxers.” Critics think it’s a “gotcha” to ask how we define “antivax” or to accuse us of reflexively label "questioning" of vaccines as "antivax." It's not. There are gray areas, but not so gray that the word is never appropriate. Has anything changed since I first tried to define "antivaccine" in 2010? The answer:...

/ November 28, 2022

Don’t Forget About the Flu

We are heading into a bad flu season. Get vaccinated.

/ November 16, 2022