Category: Science and Medicine

Study laundering: IPAK, antivax “scientists,” and the return of living dead antivax studies

Antivaxxers don't like it when one of their crappy studies that they somehow managed to sneak into a decent peer-reviewed journal is deservedly retracted, as happened to Mark Skidmore's paper that estimated that 278K people might have died from COVID-19 vaccines. Fortunately for Skidmore and others, there exist fake journals that will launder their study by republishing it so that antivaxxers can...

/ October 30, 2023

Science-Based Satire: Chiropractors Brace for November Neck Pain Tsunami

Are men who grow a beard next month at risk of neck injuries caused by chiropractic subluxations? Of course they are. And what about those leftover pandemic beards? Shave. Shave now! This is definitely a real problem. I mean, I can't just make something up...on the internet.

/ October 27, 2023
VAERS

Has MSU economics professor Mark Skidmore been “exonerated” over his retracted paper claiming that COVID vaccines killed 278,000?

Tech bro turned antivax influencer Steve Kirsch is claiming that Michigan State University economist Mark Skidmore has been "exonerated" after having had a paper retracted claiming 278K deaths from COVID-19 vaccines in 2021 alone. In reality, Skidmore just republished a revised version of his retracted paper in an antivax journal after the MSU IRB failed miserably in its oversight duties.

/ October 23, 2023

Prediction: Dr. Jay Bhattacharya Will Never Treat COVID as “One of 200 Diseases That Affect People”.

It's interesting to ponder an alternate reality where doctors who said the pandemic ended long ago took their own advice.

/ October 20, 2023

IgG Food Sensitivity Tests Not Valid

IgG testing for food sensitivity has not been validated by scientific evidence - that does not stop CAM practitioners.

/ October 18, 2023

Hitting Children in School: Bad?

The title of this post is silly. Hitting kids in school is always bad, and there is very good reason to expect the same negative outcomes from school-based corporal punishment as are seen when kids are hit at home. The AAP recently recently released a policy statement calling for a national ban.

/ October 13, 2023

Skeptics in the Pub. Cholera.

Prologue from the serialization of the novel Skeptics in the Pub: Cholera.

/ October 7, 2023

Science-Based Satire: Vaccine-Mandates and the Denial of the Existence of Natural Immunity After COVID Recovery. A Deadly Anti-Science Position

One thing I've learned during the past few years, is how quickly scenes of mass death fade from the collective memory. Denial is powerful. Everyone just wants to forget.  There's no national day of mourning or any memorial to the countless victims of previous vaccine-mandates. It seems that humanity's sad fate is that every generation is doomed to repeat the mistakes of...

/ October 6, 2023
Turbo cancer?

Dr. William Makis and “turbo cancer”: Falsely blaming COVID-19 vaccines for cancer

A prominent oncologist and cancer biologist, Wafik El-Deiry, recently amplified claims that COVID-19 vaccines cause "turbo cancer," wanting a "civil discourse about science and actual answers that are missing." Unfortunately, calls for "civil discourse" by an eminent oncologist about unfounded claims only lends undeserved credibility to them. So, once more into the fray...

/ October 2, 2023

Overhyping Vaccines Wasn’t Pro-Vaccine. It Was Pro-Stop-Worrying-About-COVID.

Overselling the vaccine in 2021 was not being pro-vaccine.  It was pro-stop-worrying-about-the pandemic, from the doctors who assured us herd immunity was imminent. 

/ October 1, 2023