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Respectful Insolence

"A statement of fact cannot be insolent." The miscellaneous ramblings of a surgeon/scientist on medicine,
quackery, science, pseudoscience, history, and pseudohistory (and anything else that interests him)

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Who (or what) is Orac?

orac.jpg Orac is the nom de blog of a humble pseudonymous surgeon/scientist with an ego just big enough to delude himself that someone, somewhere might actually give a rodent's posterior about his miscellaneous verbal meanderings, but just barely small enough to admit to himself that few will. (Continued here, along with a DISCLAIMER that you should read before reading any medical discussions here.)

Orac's old Blog is archived at Archived Insolence.

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Antivaccination lunacy:

What was that about not being "antivaccine" again?

I've written time and time again about how antivaccinationists go out of their way to try to reassure us that they really, truly are not "antivaccine" or even that they support vaccination. Of course, such disclaimers are often nothing more...

Recall bias, vaccines, and illness

In the eyes, of anti-vaccine advocates, vaccines bear the brunt of blame for a variety of conditions, including autism, asthma, neurodevelopmental disorders, autoimmune disorders and a wide variety others. Often this link is based on retrospective data, in which parents...

Your Friday Dose of Woo: Generation woo

Before there was angry, "warrior mom" antivaccinationist Jenny, there was the kindler, gentler Indigo Jenny.

"The Autism Myth Lives On"

It's rare that the mainstream media gets it right about vaccines and autism, and when they do I feel obligated to point it out. Such is the case with Sam Wang's article The Autism Myth Lives On. It's well worth...

Sanctioned!

Clifford J. Shoemaker: A legal thug sanctioned!

EpiWonk shoots and scores: Kirby admits his error

I could resist a brief mention of this. Remember yesterday's post, when I discussed how EpiWonk had deconstructed and demolished David Kirby's latest mangling of epidemiology and willful misreading of government reports? Apparently it had an effect. It would appear...

EpiWonk schools David Kirby in epidemiology so that Orac doesn't have to

At this stage of the game, I almost feel sorry for David Kirby. Think about it. He's made his name and what little fame he has (which isn't much outside of the tinhat crowd that thinks the guv'mint is intentionally...

If celebrity antivaccinationist Jenny McCarthy were ever to read Respectful Insolenceā„¢...

Captured by the forces of woo?

David Kirby's calling you and me out. Yawn.

Color me unimpressed. As I mentioned last week, that opportunist who has apparently become a paid shill for the hardcore antivaccination movement (namely Generation Rescue, Autism Research Institute, National Autism Association, Coalition for SAFE MINDS, and Talk About Curing Autism,...

One last time: The latest Geier & Geier paper is not evidence that thimerosal causes autism, part 2

The other day, in response to several e-mails asking me about the latest bit of bad science and epidemiology purporting to support the idea that mercury in the thimerosal preservative that used to be in many childhood vaccines is a...

One last time: The latest Geier & Geier paper is not evidence that thimerosal causes autism

Several people have been sending me either links to this paper or even the paper itself: Young HA, Geier DA, Geier MR. (2008). Thimerosal exposure in infants and neurodevelopmental disorders: An assessment of computerized medical records in the Vaccine Safety...

The nuttiness that is Whale.to: Save Scopie's Law!

Some of you may have heard of John Scudamore's Whale.to site. I've referred to it in the past as a repository of some of the wildest and most bizarre "alternative" medicine claims out there. However, I will admit that I've...

Rumors and urban legends in the antivaccinationist movement

One of the most common aspects of any good conspiracy theory is that "they" know about it but are covering it up, "they" usually being the government. Usually, the "evidence" that "they" know consists third- or fourth-hand unverifiable stories from...

To the Bat Cave! David Kirby's on the loose in the U.S.

Fellow skeptical doc PalMD informs me that apparently a new blogger, who happens to be a law student at NYU, discovered that his school had invited antivaccinationist-apologist supreme, David Kirby, to speak at NYU on June 26. In response, antivaccinationists,...

Too bad for Charlie Sheen that Jenny McCarthy's taken

What is it about celebrities and antivaccination pseudoscience?

An underwhelming performance in London

Remember how I warned citizens of the U.K. about an impending visit to their fair island by American apologist for antivaccinationist nonsense and his invitation to give a briefing at Parliament? Apparently, the whole thing was very--shall we say?--underwhelming. The...

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