Years ago, I contested a treatment my doctor wanted to give me (she wanted to prescribe a fluoroquinolone without first trying a less dangerous antibiotic) on the grounds that it was considered a treatment of last resort. She asked if was using Google to get medical information. I said I was, but only reputable sites. She asked what I thought a reputable site. I replied, the British NHS and the European Union's EMA. She was struck speechless, then managed to choke out "Yes, those are reputable."
We can't trust the CDC, but we still have reputable sites like those two that we can access easily. That won't help in getting vaccines to elderly people like me that need them to survive, but at least we can get solid information.
There are also still plenty of reputable sources in the US — Mayo, Cleveland Clinic, Harvard Medicine, Johns Hopkins, to name a few. Trump et al have tried to get academic medicine to kiss the anti-medicine mob ring but have thus far failed.
Yes, it’s extremely sad to see the once highly vaunted and previously venerable CDC being run by medically illiterate, fringe conspiracy lovers. Crazy Cat Volz and the tinfoil hat wearing, anti-science lunatics have taken over the asylum. Look for many of my fellow Americans to die of preventable infectious diseases over the next several years.
Be glad you live in New Zealand. I wish I lived in Australia.
Of course, it was obvious that this was coming. The question was how blatant they would be. With paracetamol at least they tried to keep a veneer of scientific process.
The title of the Wakefield story is a nod to Edgar Allen Poe's tale "Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" about a man suspended at the point of death by a hypnotist, which Poe allowed readers to believe was a factual account: see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Facts_in_the_Case_of_M._Valdemar
There will be a reckoning, eventually, following which rules must be enacted to prevent unqualified hacks highjacking key governmental roles requiring earned and legitimate expertise.
But this is the US’s problem, why do you care? Because for good or ill, and it has always been a mixed bag, what the US does affects the rest of the planet to some degree.
I work with kids with neurodevelopmental disability and their families. This is a challenging enough area without RFK Jr and his henchpersons fouling the waterhole.
I cannot forget, nor forgive, that RFK Jr is responsible for contributing to the deaths of at least 93 Samoans in the measles outbreak of 2019. Yes I am aware that New Zealand is not entirely blameless in that outbreak by failing to adequately warn and prevent measles getting to Samoa in the first place.
Years ago, I contested a treatment my doctor wanted to give me (she wanted to prescribe a fluoroquinolone without first trying a less dangerous antibiotic) on the grounds that it was considered a treatment of last resort. She asked if was using Google to get medical information. I said I was, but only reputable sites. She asked what I thought a reputable site. I replied, the British NHS and the European Union's EMA. She was struck speechless, then managed to choke out "Yes, those are reputable."
We can't trust the CDC, but we still have reputable sites like those two that we can access easily. That won't help in getting vaccines to elderly people like me that need them to survive, but at least we can get solid information.
There are also still plenty of reputable sources in the US — Mayo, Cleveland Clinic, Harvard Medicine, Johns Hopkins, to name a few. Trump et al have tried to get academic medicine to kiss the anti-medicine mob ring but have thus far failed.
Yes, it’s extremely sad to see the once highly vaunted and previously venerable CDC being run by medically illiterate, fringe conspiracy lovers. Crazy Cat Volz and the tinfoil hat wearing, anti-science lunatics have taken over the asylum. Look for many of my fellow Americans to die of preventable infectious diseases over the next several years.
Be glad you live in New Zealand. I wish I lived in Australia.
What we've got here could be compared to an iceberg, and RFK Jr is only the tip of it.
I am devastated by what has happened to my home. By what we have permitted to happen here.
Caveat emptor, place your bets, "they'll never know the difference anyway..."
Shit.
Of course, it was obvious that this was coming. The question was how blatant they would be. With paracetamol at least they tried to keep a veneer of scientific process.
The title of the Wakefield story is a nod to Edgar Allen Poe's tale "Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" about a man suspended at the point of death by a hypnotist, which Poe allowed readers to believe was a factual account: see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Facts_in_the_Case_of_M._Valdemar
High crimes and misdemeanours!
There will be a reckoning, eventually, following which rules must be enacted to prevent unqualified hacks highjacking key governmental roles requiring earned and legitimate expertise.
But this is the US’s problem, why do you care? Because for good or ill, and it has always been a mixed bag, what the US does affects the rest of the planet to some degree.
I work with kids with neurodevelopmental disability and their families. This is a challenging enough area without RFK Jr and his henchpersons fouling the waterhole.
I cannot forget, nor forgive, that RFK Jr is responsible for contributing to the deaths of at least 93 Samoans in the measles outbreak of 2019. Yes I am aware that New Zealand is not entirely blameless in that outbreak by failing to adequately warn and prevent measles getting to Samoa in the first place.
As always, well written, factual 👍👍