Again, this is a classic crank disinformation technique. Cancer quack Stanislaw Burzynski used it extensively every time there were hearings about his antineoplastons quackery. Antivaxxers use it all the time whenever vaccine mandates are discussed.https://twitter.com/ashishkjha/status/1329646434644336642?s=20 …
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Indeed, Stanislaw Burzynski was an expert at mobilizing his patients who believed in him to besiege lawmakers with tales of "miracle cures" and to tell them that if they shut Burzynski down they'd be killing thousands of cancer patients. Again, nothing new under the sun.
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Another example:
#righttotry. Whenever RTT laws came up for consideration, advocates would gather families of dying patients, who would make incredibly sympathetic witnesses. Those speaking against RTT? They were the villains. It happened in Michigan.Show this thread -
I knew someone who testified against
#righttotry in Michigan. He was outnumbered, outgunned, and viewed by patient advocates as though he were Satan incarnate wanting to kill their relatives.Show this thread -
#Hydroxychloroquine advocates are very similar. They emphasize anecdotal evidence and unreliable, bias-prone observational trials over controlled randomized trials and really, really believe that HCQ is saving lives.Show this thread -
Any attempt to inject science into the discussion of
#Hydroxychloroquine to treat#COVID19 results in personal attacks and accusations that the one speaking up for science wants more COVID patients to die.Show this thread -
#Hydroxychloroquine advocates even have their own "miracle cure" testimonials that very much resemble the "miracle cure" testimonials used by patients of cancer quacks. The testimonials don't show that the drug worked, but sound convincing to lay people.Show this thread -
Indeed, I was writing about the similarity between
#Hydroxychloroquine "miracle cure" testimonials and the same sort of "miracle cure" testimonials used by cancer quacks to promote their quackery.https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/miracle-cure-testimonials-aside-azithromycin-and-hydroxychloroquine-probably-do-not-work-against-covid-19/ …Show this thread -
Don't get me wrong. I'm happy that there are doctors like Dr. Jha, who want to try to push back against
#COVID19 disinformation. I just wish they'd seek advice from people who've been doing this sort of thing for a very long time in different contexts.Show this thread -
People like
@stevennovella,@HHSkepDoc, and, yes, I could easily have predicted how this session would go. We've seen this movie many, many times before for similar committee "investigations" over vaccines, homeopathy, bogus cancer treatments, and more.Show this thread -
Again, there is nothing new under the sun. This is EXACTLY how such committee meetings have gone when it comes to vaccine mandates,
#righttotry, Stanislaw Burzynski's cancer quackery, homeopathy, and more topics than I can remember. No surprise here.https://twitter.com/ashishkjha/status/1329646435420270592?s=20 …Show this thread -
Then, of course, there are ALWAYS conspiracy theories. This is the same message that's been promoted by, for example, antivaxxers, basically forever. Why was Dr. Jha surprised? Conspiracy theories are at the heart of all science denial.https://twitter.com/ashishkjha/status/1329646436993163270?s=20 …
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NOW, Dr. Jha is starting to "get it." Skeptics who've been combatting disinformation for decades could have prepared him. We can prepare other doctors, whom we welcome to the struggle.https://twitter.com/ashishkjha/status/1329646438641446912?s=20 …
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Sadly, though, as was the case with Carl Sagan three decades ago, scientists and physicians tend to view this sort of work as "beneath them," as too obvious and easy, as "dunking on a 7' hoop." It took a pandemic as devastating as
#COVID19 to get them to start to see the light.Show this thread -
Even
#COVID19 hasn't brought all of them around, though. We still see the "science purists" pooh-poohing what we do.Show this thread -
I predict that, when
#COVID19 is finally under control and things are getting more or less back to normal, the pendulum will swing back and appreciation for what skeptics do will fade back to where it was before the pandemic. Memories are short. /end (for now)Show this thread -
Again, as I said, all science denial is based in conspiracy theories. Thanks to David for showing up in my mentions and helping to inadvertently illustrate that. https://twitter.com/DRMartinLLC/status/1329781775938310150?s=20 …
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