A New Science Forum
Excitingly, a new science forum Scrutable is here.
There’s a SCEINCE forum (officially known as the Nerd Lab) for discussion of, well, science – click here for breathless discussions of the latest research or to share your horror at the latest pronouncements from anti-vaccine commentators.
There’s a second serious forum for Heavy Shit (AKA Weighty Matters) which contains serious topics for serious people. Click here if you’re seriously interested in such serious discussions. Srsly.
You are also permitted to have fun, but only in the designated zones. No puns.
Oh, and one last thing: you might want to read the rules and abide by them.
Independent on Sunday’s HPV Scare Story
The Independent on Sunday apparently thought it would be a good idea to publish a front page story scaremongering about the HPV vaccine. Some elements remind me of previous unfounded vaccine scares promoted by the press and the anti-vaccine movement. Read the rest of this entry »
Wakefield Speaks – But Why Is Anybody Still Listening?
For some reason, Newsweek decided to ask the discredited researcher Andrew Wakefield for his views in the wake of a measles outbreak. To be fair, they’ve done their research and they do present the important facts (for example the retraction of his fraudulent paper). But: we all know what he’ll say (the same as he did last time there was an outbreak) and we all know how much weight we can give the word of a man who’s chiefly known for his misconduct. Read the rest of this entry »
Anti-Vaccine Authors To Promote Their Wares At University Of Minnesota
Anti-vaccine authors have successfully hired a room at the University of Minnesota. This isn’t an especially impressive or interesting development – I just couldn’t think how else to start this post. The book symposium will take place next January.
Speakers include David Lewis, Judy Mikovits, Mark Blaxill, Dan Olmsted, and the novelist-policeman Louis Conte. Oh, and some lawyers.
The symposium is being sponsored by Skyhorse Publishing, experienced in publishing “books on sports, flyfishing, nature and history” (an obvious choice for anyone who has written a scholarly tome on medical matters – as I’m sure Andrew Wakefield would tell you). The other sponsors are The Holland Center (a treatment centre which offers biomedical interventions such as hyperbaric oxygen therapy, nutrition consulting and allergy testing), CADE (a local non-profit organisation), The Canary Party, Age of Autism and Health Choice (you may notice some overlap between the last three groups and the list of authors).
The minimum ticket price appears to be $25 but this does include one of the ten books being promoted (for $99 dollars you get a ticket and enough books to remedy up to ten wonky tables).
Numberwang! Child Health Safety On Measles
Here, Child Health Safety tackles the fascinating topic of measles incidence and mortality. CHS refers to “grossly false claims by the US Centers for Disease Control [‘CDC’] – vastly exaggerating the threat measles as a disease poses” and accuses them in the title of lying.
Children’s Immunisation Centre’s Advertising: Misleading And Unsubstantiated
In August 2012, I wrote about an ASA judgement on a complaint I’d submitted about Richard Halvorsen’s Babyjabs clinic. A new adjudication on a different website’s marketing of single vaccines is now available on the ASA website. The ASA received six complaints and investigated seven issues, all of which were upheld. Read the rest of this entry »
‘Safe’ WDDTY Magazine Kills Up To 200,000 A Year
Now, I don’t believe that around 200,000 people a year are dying because of What Doctors Don’t Tell You magazine. But nor do I believe that in the region of 1700 young girls have been killed by the HPV vaccine. WDDTY, apparently, do believe this. They’re certainly happy to tell people that this is the case, in the highly misleading headline of this article. So, where did WDDTY get their figure of “up to 1700” from? Read the rest of this entry »
The Media, Online Debate and Anti-Vaccine Tactics
I’ve been catching up with my reading. I think some of what I’ve been catching up on is worth sharing. The journal Vaccine had a special edition in 2012 on The Role of Internet Use in Vaccination Decisions. Of the articles, three stood out for me. One on the nature of online discussion and participants, another on provision of information by the media, and one on tactics and tropes of the anti-vaccine movement. Read the rest of this entry »
Stuff And Nonsense 