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Monday, December 19, 2005 

Bill Maher and his anti-vaccination claims. Again.

Bill Maher has again discussed his anti-vaccination views, this time on Larry King. Among other claims, Maher says that polio was wiped out due to better sanitation, and that getting the flu shot increases your chances of developing Alzheimer's. Orac has more detail on the claims and the dubious source of the "Alzheimer's/flu shot" link. I wonder how Maher would explain the decrease in African measles that's followed an increase in measles vaccination there?

Funny how so many of these people who label themselves "skeptical of Western medicine" (including Maggiore and her brand of HIV-deniers) don't apply that same skepticism to their "alternative health" claims. Maher decries vaccination, a cornerstone of modern public health, by apparently spouting the unlikely claims of an seemingly disgraced MD. Maggiore et al/ say HIV doesn't cause AIDS, and instead of treatments shown by medical science to be effective, she advocates homeopathy and nebulous "toxin elimination" as a healthy alternative. No wonder it's so hard to get young people in the U.S. interested in science; it's all just a big conspiracy and we're always wrong anyway, so why bother?

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About me

  • I'm Tara C. Smith
  • From Iowa, United States
  • I'm a mom and a scientist, your basic stressed-out, wanna-have-it-all-and-do-it-all Gen Xer. Recently transplanted from Ohio to Iowa, I've spent most of my life in the midwest (with 4 years of college spent out east in "soda" territory). My main interest, and the subject of my research, is infectious disease: how does the microbe cause illness? What makes one strain nasty, and another "avirulent?" Are the latter really not causing any disease, or could some of those be possible for the development of chronic disease years down the road? Additionally, I've spent a lot of time discussing the value of teaching evolution, and educating others about "intelligent design" and other forms of creationism. My interest in history of science and medicine is also useful as a way to tie all of the above interests together. [Disclaimer: the views here are solely my own, and do not represent my employer, my spouse, that guy who's always sitting by the fountain when I come into work, or anyone else with whom I may be remotely affiliated.]
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