Skeptical Raptor

2020-01-142020-01-14

Anti-vaccine Informed Consent Action Network requests emails

On January 7, 2020, my school informed me that it received a new Public Records Act request for my emails, this time from the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN), a well-funded anti-vaccine organization headed by Mr. Del Bigtree. The request was submitted via the law firm of Siri and Glimstad in New York, though it was not signed by Aaron Siri, a lawyer who represented groups fighting vaccines in the past.

They were also involved in an aggressive 9-hour deposition against a vaccine expert who agreed to support, pro-bono, a father seeking to vaccinate his young daughter (the father recently won his appeal). The request was signed by Attorney Allison Lucas; but since one of the requests was for emails with the word “Siri”, it is fair to see Attorney Siri as relevant, whether or not he was directly involved. Continue reading “Anti-vaccine Informed Consent Action Network requests emails”

2020-01-132020-01-13

High fructose corn syrup – myths and claims debunked by real science

People demonize food additives all the time. Just see monosodium glutamate, as just one example. And there’s high fructose corn syrup, a sugar that is blamed for everything from cancer to diabetes to climate change. OK, maybe not climate change.

High fructose corn syrup is just sugar, but because it has a complicated name, it must be bad. It’s part of the “chemophobia,” the fear of anything that sounds like a chemical.

The so-called Food Babe has made a lot of money endorsing a belief that all chemicals are evil. Of course, such claims ignore the simple fact that all life, the air, and water are made of chemicals.

They want us to believe that man-made chemicals are more dangerous than “natural” chemicals, but that betrays several things about science:

Many “natural” chemicals are dangerous.
Those “natural” chemicals didn’t evolve for the benefit of humans, so they are not inherently better for humans.
Nature isn’t always better.

And high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is considered one of the evil “chemicals” that are destroying humanity. But is it? Let’s answer that question.

Continue reading “High fructose corn syrup – myths and claims debunked by real science”

2020-01-12

HPV vaccine uptake doubles over 5 years in USA – anti-vaxxers show sad faces

A new study has shown that, despite the false information of the anti-vaccine fanatics, HPV vaccine uptake doubled between 2013 and 2018 in US adults between the ages of 18 and 26.

The HPV vaccine is one of the few actual methods to prevent cancer, more important than drinking kale-blueberry shakes every day. Thus, this increase in the HPV vaccine uptake in both girls and boys will lead to a long-term decrease in the rate of many cancers.

Let’s take a detailed look at the results of this report. Continue reading “HPV vaccine uptake doubles over 5 years in USA – anti-vaxxers show sad faces”

2020-01-092020-01-09

Homeopathy is just water – and it is very expensive water

Despite the articles you might read on this website, there are many more pseudoscience pushers than the ones we observe pushing their anti-vaccine religion. One of my favorite ones to mock is homeopathy, a quack treatment that is essentially pure water (see Note 1).

Not only is it pure water, but it’s very expensive pure water. It’s much more expensive than your GMO-free, gluten-free water, taken from the melting glaciers in the Alps (thanks to climate change deniers).

It is a scam that tries to convince people that a vial of nothing more than water (and sometimes ethanol) has some magical medical properties. It is magic that requires suspension of much of our scientific knowledge of chemistry, biology, and physics.

Let’s take a look at homeopathy, just so you know more about this expensive water.

Continue reading “Homeopathy is just water – and it is very expensive water”

2020-01-08

Falling cancer death rate – cancer scam artists crying homeopathic tears

Despite the various tropes from internet scam artists, the American Cancer Society (ACS) reports falling cancer death rates in the USA. Maybe we haven’t won the “war on cancer,” but it is far from bleak.

As you know, cancer myths run rampant on social media. One of them is that cancer is a massive epidemic these days, killing everyone. And the second myth is that “Big Pharma is hiding a secret cancer cure. So, according to the internet scam artists pushing fake cancer “cures,” not only are we dying more of cancer but the evil Big Pharma scientists are hiding a miracle cure from us.

Well, the facts don’t support those fake claims. This article will take a look at the new data from the American Cancer Society about the falling cancer death rates in the USA. Continue reading “Falling cancer death rate – cancer scam artists crying homeopathic tears”

2020-01-06

Immune system boosting myths – 15 bogus ways to avoid the flu vaccine

I keep track of articles that claim that they have THE METHOD for immune system boosting. There are so many of them, but I find them all amusing and filled with pseudoscience.

Why do I do this? Outside of those individuals who have some chronic disease or chronic malnutrition who require special treatment, the only methods for immune system boosting are vaccines.

Recently, I ran across a blog post on a woo-filled website called Nature Moms. As you can imagine, science isn’t exactly the standard of evidence. The post that caught my eye was entitled, “15 Ways to Boost Immunity and Keep Illness Away Without Vaccines.”

As you can imagine, out of the 15 ways, only 3 or 4 may be useful for immune system boosting. I know, you’re shocked.

OK, time to do what I do – debunk (or confirm) the 15 ways to boost immunity, so I’ll do that in order. Continue reading “Immune system boosting myths – 15 bogus ways to avoid the flu vaccine”

2020-01-052020-01-05

Tetyana Obukhanych – another anti-vaccine appeal to false authority

The old Skeptical Raptor took a bit of a break to recharge their batteries to tackle all of the pseudoscience that will be coming out in 2020. In lieu of new content, I will be republishing the top 10 most read articles on this blog during 2019. Here’s number 1 – the queen of the false authority of the anti-vaxxers – Tetyana Obukhanych.

One of their favorite pseudoscientists of the anti-vaccine religion is Tetyana Obukhanych, someone who appears to have great credentials. Unfortunately, once you dig below the surface of her claims, there is no credible evidence in support.

One of the most irritating problems I have with the anti-vaccine movement is their over-reliance on false authorities – they overrate publications (often in worthless predatory journals) or commentary from someone who appears to have all of the credentials to be a part of the discussion on vaccines, but really isn’t close to being a real vaccine scientist.

Nevertheless, credentials don’t matter – an “authority” on vaccines must follow the evidence that vaccines are safe and effective unless those “authorities” can provide robust, peer-reviewed, published evidence that vaccines aren’t. Someone like Tetyana Obukhanych almost never does.

For example, Christopher Shaw and Lucija Tomljenovic, two researchers in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of British Columbia, have, for all intents and purposes, sterling credentials in medicine and science. However, they publish nonsense research (usually filled with the weakest of epidemiology trying to show a population-level correlation between vaccines and adverse events) in low ranked scientific journals.

Following in the footsteps of Shaw, Tomljenovic, James Lyons-Weiler, and Christopher Exley, let’s take a look at the background and education of the anti-vaccine hero, Tetyana Obukhanych. Continue reading “Tetyana Obukhanych – another anti-vaccine appeal to false authority”

2020-01-032020-01-03

MTHFR gene and vaccines – what are the facts and myths

The old Skeptical Raptor is taking a bit of a break over the next few days to recharge his batteries for all of the pseudoscience that will be coming out in 2020. In lieu of new content, I will be republishing the top 10 most read articles on this blog during 2019. Here’s number 2 – the MTHFR gene and vaccines.

We call them zombie vaccine tropes, beliefs of the anti-vaccine world that keep reinventing themselves and come back alive, despite being dismembered by skeptics and scientists all of the world. One of the most annoying zombie tropes has been the MTHFR gene and vaccines – the trope states that it’s dangerous to vaccinate a child with the MTHFR gene mutation, which really isn’t supported by scientific evidence.

I never know what causes these types of tropes to arise in the first place, and then, why they return from the dead, but the MTHFR gene and vaccines myth seems to be one of them. Let’s take a look at the MTHFR gene, and why there is not really any issues linked between it and vaccines.

Continue reading “MTHFR gene and vaccines – what are the facts and myths”

2020-01-022020-01-03

Jenny McCarthy, with help from Oprah Winfrey, lies about vaccines

Honestly, I thought she had faded from the anti-vaccine world, but I guess over 150,000 people still researched her.

Jenny McCarthy was once the MTV drunk college dating game hostess and former “journalist” on The View. I remember when she joined The View – there was widespread condemnation of her hiring from scientists, journalists, and yours truly because of her loud and annoying anti-vaccine rhetoric. Clearly, no one of any note supported her being hired on the View, except for websites like the Age of Pushing Nonsense To Harm Children. Continue reading “Jenny McCarthy, with help from Oprah Winfrey, lies about vaccines”

2019-12-312019-12-31

Do physicians study vaccines? Yes, and anti-vaxxers are wrong again

And here we go again debunking another uninformed trope – do physicians study vaccines? The anti-vaccine religion likes to claim that they don’t, but it’s one of their most ignorant, illogical claims about vaccines. Well, maybe I’m being harsh, since there are like 1,000 claims they make about vaccines, all completely and utterly wrong.

The ignorant trope that the anti-vaxxers make is that physicians don’t take classes in “vaccines,” so they don’t know anything about them. Of course, the Dunning-Kruger infected anti-vaccine zealots think their 30 minutes “researching” on Google makes them experts on vaccines. That would be like watching a 30 minute YouTube video on repairing a Ferrari engine, and thinking that you are an authorized Ferrari mechanic.

On the other hand, a fake Ferrari mechanic isn’t going to do much harm except to the privileged internet billionaire, while a fake vaccine expert harms children. And when I write “fake vaccine expert,” I mean about 99.99% of the anti-vaxxers that spout their benightedness to their internet sycophants.

Let’s talk about whether physicians study vaccines. Most of you will know where this is going. Continue reading “Do physicians study vaccines? Yes, and anti-vaxxers are wrong again”