-
MMR/autism paper fully retracted by the Lancet
Madely Health Headlines Commentary for February 3, 2010 [display_podcast] Comment: This is a story that we have covered extensively over the years on Sunday House Call. An excellent synopsis can be heard in our interview with Guardian columnist Dr. Ben Goldacre here. I hold the some of the media just as responsible as Dr. Wakefield…
-
Sunday House Call #287 for October 25, 2009 Special Vaccine and H1N1 edition
As the focus of attention turns to the H1N1 outbreak that is now occurring across the country, the public faces an array of information sources that will influence their opinion about vaccination. There have been many claims and critiques about the H1N1 vaccine and it has become a springboard to envelop other vaccines and vaccination…
-
Examining claims of vaccine harm
As the focus of attention turns to the H1N1 outbreak that is now occurring across the country, the public faces an array of information sources that will influence their opinion about vaccination. There have been many claims and critiques about the H1N1 vaccine and it has become a springboard to envelop other vaccines and vaccination…
-
An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All
Here in all it glory is the extreme reaction people have towards those who use science and reasoning to try to protect the public from harm. This article says it better than a few sentences from me. If you have the time please read it. An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers…
-
The "Oprah"fication of Medicine
Original broadcast date: July 5, 2009 The general principle in science and medicine is to challenge claims and research findings in order to evaluate its veracity and repeatability. It takes evidence, solid evidence as the fuel for debate and contrarian viewpoints, not opinion based on anecdotal evidence. To wit, the news that Oprah Winfrey is…
-
Bad Science
Original broadcast date: March 29, 2009 If there is one quote that epitomizes the plethora of ideas expressed in physician and Guardian columnist Dr. Ben Goldacre’s book bad science, it is this from paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science, Steven Jay Gould: “ When people learn no tools of judgment and merely follow their…
-
Thimerosal and vaccine safety
Original broadcast date: August 28, 2005 In a June Rolling Stone article, and in subsequent appearances on Imus in the Morning, ABC News, and The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, Bobby Kennedy Jr accuses US government vaccine scientists and their academic advisers of covering up what for him is an uncontestable fact: the causal link…