FSM Friends’ News and Articles
2020 – Looking back with sadness, anger and hope: “I happen to believe that ethics in SCAM are an important, yet much neglected topic. It is easy to understand why this should be so: adhering to the rules of medical ethics would all but put an end to SCAM. This applies to chiropractic (The lack of chiropractic ethics: “valid consent was not obtained in a single case”), to homeopaths (Ethical homeopathy) and to most other SCAM professions. If I had a wish for the next year(s), it would be that funding agencies focus on research into the many ethical problems posed by the current popularity of SCAM.”
General
Science education couldn’t be more important as we endure the COVID-19 pandemic: “Science matters, especially in times of crisis. As modern history shows, we relied on science to help solve some of the most pressing technical challenges and identify solutions that would address major public health crises, including the Spanish flu, polio, and HIV/AIDS.”
Great Moments in Health and Science
Vaccine history – developments by year: So many diseases that once plagued the world are nearly forgotten thanks to vaccines. “Parents were scared of the polio epidemics that occurred each summer; they kept their children away from swimming pools, sent them to stay with relatives in the country, and clamored for an understanding of the spread of polio. They waited for a vaccine, closely following vaccine trials and sending dimes to the White House to help the cause. When the polio vaccine was licensed in 1955, the country celebrated and Jonas Salk, its inventor, became an overnight hero.”
Today’s Abused Health Concept
The fallacy of equating correlation with causation. Dr Gregory Michael dies after COVID-19 vaccine – what are the facts? This is a very common fallacy in use in anti-vaccine circles. A person notices that an adverse event happens to occur at about the same time as a vaccine is given. Without any further evidence, and without putting any effort in to checking their biases, the observer concludes that the vaccine CAUSED the adverse event. This is also known as the fallacy of “Post hoc ergo procter hoc” (after, therefore because of). In this case, a doctor suffered a platelet disorder that resulted in his death. Because he had taken the COVID-19 vaccine (about 2 weeks prior), the anti-vaxxers assume that the vaccine must be to blame.
“There have been no reports for that particular condition since the vaccines have been launched. Furthermore, the incidence of immune thrombocytopenia is approximately 4 per 100,000 children, and 3 per 100,000 adults in the general population, irrespective of the COVID-19 vaccine. It might be much more plausible that Dr. Gregory Michael contracted the immune thrombocytopenia from some other cause that just happened to be at the same time as the vaccine. And remember, millions of people have died of COVID-19 at this time. Even if immune thrombocytopenia is very rarely linked to the vaccine (and we do not have evidence of it), the benefits far far far outweigh the risk.”