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gorskon's profile
David Gorski, MD, PhD
David Gorski, MD, PhD
David Gorski, MD, PhD
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@gorskon

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David Gorski, MD, PhDVerified account

@gorskon

Surgeon/scientist promoting science in medicine and exposing quackery. Editor of Science-Based Medicine. My opinions do NOT represent those of my employers.

Michigan, USA
sciencebasedmedicine.org
Joined October 2009

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    1. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

      David Gorski, MD, PhD Retweeted Dr. Sean Gallagher

      This is nothing new. Spurred by Jake Crosby 10 years ago, antivaxxers at @AgeofAutism flooded email & phone lines of my medical school dean, my department chair, my cancer center director, and the university board of governors complaining about a fake "conflict of interest." 1/https://twitter.com/TheKidKidDoc/status/1235588567453388800 …

      David Gorski, MD, PhD added,

      Dr. Sean Gallagher @TheKidKidDoc
      Anti-vaxxers in my state arranged a telethon to my training hospital during residency because of my advocacy on social media. It didn't work; I'm still here sharing evidence-based information. #VaccinesWork #DoctorsSpeakUp https://twitter.com/thepedimom/status/1235307133576589315 …
      2 replies 23 retweets 80 likes
      Show this thread
    2. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

      It got so bad that my dean called me to ask me if I felt physically threatened. I said (at the time) that I didn't, but in retrospect, perhaps I should have answered yes. OTOH, antivaxxers back then hadn't reached the level of vitriol and violent rhetoric that they use now. 2/

      1 reply 2 retweets 21 likes
      Show this thread
      David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

      It eventually blew over, and the university, cancer center, and hospital supported me. I ended up by sending the antivaxxers a message. 3/ #DoctorsSpeakUp #NursesSpeakUphttps://youtu.be/ZHwVBirqD2s 

      11:58 AM - 5 Mar 2020
      • 4 Retweets
      • 19 Likes
      • Susanne Lissys Frauchen Nina Milanov SusanRez the Fully Vaxxed gmopundit (David Tribe Ph.D.) Vinceremo Ashley Murphy 𝔻 𝕀 𝕍 𝔸 💉 Theresa ♿🎭 Gregory Briddick, MSHI, BSN Christina
      1 reply 4 retweets 19 likes
        1. New conversation
        2. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          In fact, if anything, I was stronger after the attack. Sure, it gave me great agita to have to explain to my various bosses just what the heck the kerfuffle was about and how there was no conflict of interest, but I survived. If anything, my standing might have been enhanced. 4/

          2 replies 1 retweet 20 likes
          Show this thread
        3. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          Another time (2016) in response to my #DoctorsSpeakUp activities, antivaxxer Mike Adams of Natural News started publishing libelous articles about me. There were something like 40 of them over the course of about 5 or 6 months, most of them over the course of the first month. 5/

          2 replies 2 retweets 21 likes
          Show this thread
        4. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          For a while, it seemed as though there was a new libelous post about me every day. Worse, Adams made a concerted effort to name my cancer center in each article and attack it as being either a crappy cancer center because I worked there or "complicit" in my "crimes." 6/

          1 reply 1 retweet 17 likes
          Show this thread
        5. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          This had the intended effect. My cancer center's legal department got involved and considered whether to sue Adams or not. Ultimately, leadership decided just to let it blow over and advised me to do the same. They weren't wrong, as it turns out. It did ultimately blow over. 7/

          1 reply 2 retweets 18 likes
          Show this thread
        6. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          Adams was clever, too. He was very good at stopping just short of defamation per se. He couched his claims in JAQing off. I thought long and hard about whether it would be worth it to risk tens of thousands of dollars or more suing for libel, given the low chance of winning. 8/

          1 reply 1 retweet 17 likes
          Show this thread
        7. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          The result was that, for several years, my Google reputation was hopelessly poisoned. The top hits on searches on my name were not @ScienceBasedMed or my webpages on my cancer center and university websites. They were all libelous attacks on me from Adams and other quacks. 9/

          1 reply 1 retweet 18 likes
          Show this thread
        8. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          I was basically in a situation where patients Googling me would see all those lies and half-truths first thing. I was also unemployable other than where I worked because switching jobs would have been a nonstarter as soon as potential employers did a Google search on my name. 10/

          1 reply 2 retweets 18 likes
          Show this thread
        9. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          Fortunately, my Google reputation is much improved since Google tweaked its algorithms last year to deemphasize unreliable sources, antivaccine pseudoscience, and fake news. You have to scroll down through several pages before any of the attacks show up. 11/

          1 reply 1 retweet 26 likes
          Show this thread
        10. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          As an aside, Google's changes to its algorithm have actually been fairly effective. Search traffic to antivax and quack websites has plummeted by as much as 95%. 12/

          2 replies 4 retweets 35 likes
          Show this thread
        11. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          That's not all the harassment I've experienced. A more recent "innovation" by antivaxxers is to attack the pages of #DoctorsSpeakUp doctors on physician rating sites like @vitals, @Yelp, @Google, @Healthgrades, etc., by posting fake patient reviews critical of the doctor. 13/

          1 reply 2 retweets 17 likes
          Show this thread
        12. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          I've come across a number of fake reviews on my pages. I can always spot them, because they always include criticisms of my being "arrogant" or dismissive. Some of them say I started attacking alternative medicine out of the blue. 14/

          2 replies 1 retweet 16 likes
          Show this thread
        13. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          This is, of course, ridiculous. I NEVER bring up alternative medicine unless the patient asks me first, and then I try to be as respectful and empathetic as I can be. 15/

          1 reply 1 retweet 16 likes
          Show this thread
        14. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          Just ask patients who came to me with advanced cancers who had wasted time being treated by a naturopath, allowing their cancers to grow and ulcerate, how I treated them or if I criticized them for having chosen naturopathy first. I've never done it. 16/

          1 reply 2 retweets 18 likes
          Show this thread
        15. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          Other fake complaints that are easy to spot are the complaints claiming that I wouldn't talk about anything other than my blogs. These are even more ridiculous. I NEVER mention my blogs or social media activity to patients unless they bring it up first. EVER. 17/

          2 replies 1 retweet 15 likes
          Show this thread
        16. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          Just a couple of months ago, I learned that some local Michigan antivaxxers were discussing coming to my cancer center in their "V Is For Vaccine" cosplay to "protest." It never happened, but again it caused a brief stir. 18/

          1 reply 2 retweets 16 likes
          Show this thread
        17. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          In particular, I despise people who would disrupt operations in any way at a cancer center, where patients with cancer, many very sick, are being treated. I'm fair game, but leave our patients alone; I don't even like the thought of them being inconvenienced or bothered. 19/

          2 replies 1 retweet 21 likes
          Show this thread
        18. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          To conclude, if #DoctorsSpeakUp and #NursesSpeakUp, they have to be ready for the possibility of harassment. A pseudonym is a poor defense. Indeed, if you use a pseudonym, antivaxxers WILL try their damnedest to dox you, and they will often succeed because they are relentless.20/

          1 reply 3 retweets 17 likes
          Show this thread
        19. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          If you are effective, if your profile rises high enough that they notice you, you WILL be attacked online. It will be worse if you're a woman, because misogynistic attacks will be aimed your way. It will be worse if you're a person of color, thanks to antivax racism. 21/

          1 reply 4 retweets 21 likes
          Show this thread
        20. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          If you are effective, if your profile rises high enough that antivaxxers notice you, you WILL eventually be harassed at work. Fake negative reviews will show up on health care rating sites. Your Google reputation might be poisoned. It's inevitable. 22/

          1 reply 2 retweets 14 likes
          Show this thread
        21. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          If you are effective, if your profile rises high enough that antivaxxers notice you and you work for a private company, your job might be in danger if you continue to be active on social media defending vaccines. 23/

          1 reply 2 retweets 15 likes
          Show this thread
        22. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          Academia tends to view social media activity as a matter of academic freedom and will often rally to the defense of those attacked by antivax cranks. Private companies? Not so much. Managers tend not to want to be bothered and may tell you to knock it off or lose your job. 24/

          1 reply 1 retweet 16 likes
          Show this thread
        23. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          These days when my cancer center director sees me, he often says that he hasn't had any complaints about me from antivaxxers in a while. I now respond that, if that's the case, obviously I'm falling down on the job and promise to try to do better. Yes, we joke about it. 25/

          3 replies 2 retweets 27 likes
          Show this thread
        24. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          Increasingly, I worry about violence, given the increasingly unhinged violent rhetoric used by antivaxxers, who view themselves as heroic figures and fantasize about Nuremberg-like tribunals after they "win" punishing the pro vaccine establishment. 26/https://respectfulinsolence.com/2017/03/16/the-antivaccine-conspiracy-theory-narrative-you-want-it-darker/ …

          2 replies 3 retweets 19 likes
          Show this thread
        25. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          If you see the increasingly violent and dark memes being shared in the recesses of antivaccine and quack websites, you'd be concerned too. 27/https://respectfulinsolence.com/2019/05/03/violent-rhetoric-antivaccine-intensifies/ …

          1 reply 3 retweets 18 likes
          Show this thread
        26. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          Indeed, @delbigtree once said, "I don’t know what you were saving that gun for then. I don’t know when you planned on using it if they were going to take control of your own body away. It’s now. Now’s the time." 28/https://youtu.be/ZaR81c9bscA 

          1 reply 2 retweets 15 likes
          Show this thread
        27. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          Given that antivaxxers regularly compare the pro-vaccine establishment to Hitler and the Nazis, it's no wonder that some of the more unhinged among them start thinking that violence would be justified. 29/https://respectfulinsolence.com/2017/11/08/vaccine-awareness-week-misinformed-consent-course-nazis-eugenics/ …

          2 replies 2 retweets 16 likes
          Show this thread
        28. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          Bigtree is also the antivaxxer who donned a yellow Star of David of the sort that the Nazis forced Jews to wear to allow easy identification and persecution, likening antivaxxers to Jews in occupied Europe. 30/https://respectfulinsolence.com/2019/04/15/kucinich-perils-reporting-antivaxers/ …

          1 reply 2 retweets 14 likes
          Show this thread
        29. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          I mean, @RobertKennedyJr himself compared the vaccination program to the Holocaust, not once but at least twice I'm aware of. If you really believe something is akin to the Holocaust, then doesn't it follow that violence would be justified to stop it? 31/https://respectfulinsolence.com/2013/05/30/can-antivaccinationists-knock-it-off-with-the-autism-holocaust-analogies/ …

          1 reply 3 retweets 11 likes
          Show this thread
        30. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          To be honest, I'm actually rather surprised that no one's gotten hurt yet, given the increasing violence in antivax rhetoric. Sure, someone shoved @DrPanMD, and sure someone threw menstrual blood at a CA legislator, but no one's suffered serious injury yet. 32/

          2 replies 2 retweets 12 likes
          Show this thread
        31. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 5 Mar 2020

          I fear that time could end any day. There's a parallel between the antiabortion movement and the antivaccine movement. in terms of rhetoric. Eventually, that rhetoric inspired radicalized antiabortion activists to kill doctors who performed abortions. 33/

          1 reply 1 retweet 12 likes
          Show this thread
        32. Show replies

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