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?
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?
