Hi, folks, Ima Frawde here. I spend every working day denying the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, denying the reality of climate change and denying the deadliness of the COVID pandemic. How do I relax? I’m a football fan! I spend all my free time watching football, following my team on social media and reading […]
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How can we know what is true?
Science denialists believe the opposite of scientists. Science shows that vaccines are safe and effective; anti-vaxxers believe they’re neither. Science shows that the earth’s climate is changing as a result of human activity; climate denialists either claim it isn’t changing or the change is not the result of humans. Science shows COVID-19 is a coronavirus […]
Science denialism and the evidence double standard
Science denialists have a deeply fraught relationship with scientific evidence. On the one hand, even the most outlandish forms of denialism attempt to invoke the imprimatur of science. Claims range from the simple (“studies show …”) to the elaborate (lists of scientific citations of papers that appear to support the claims being advanced, but actually […]
Science denial, Dunning Kruger and the Tuteur Corollary
I spend my days wrangling with science denialists on the Skeptical OB Facebook page. I don’t really argue with them since a doctor can no more argue science with a denialist than a mathematician can argue calculus with a four year old. Neither denialists nor four year olds know enough to come to grips with […]
Who’s responsible when an anti-masker gets COVID?
Imagine this scenario: A woman, after reviewing the evidence from both sides, after carefully considering the increased risks, and after deciding that she is willing to accept the responsibility for the outcome, decides to … smoke cigarettes. This situation happens all the time. Indeed, a substantial portion of the population smokes cigarettes. In 2021, everyone […]
Forcing pregnant people who request a C-section to see a psychiatrist is obstetric violence
It’s one of the oldest tricks in the misogynist playbook: declare that any woman who tells inconvenient truths is mentally ill. Physicians of the 19th and early 20th Century even had a name for the purported mental illness: hysteria. That’s why it is the bitterest irony that Australian midwives have declared that women who request […]
Why do denialists delude themselves?
Why do people believe things that even the most cursory exploration would reveal to be untrue? Why do people fervently embrace vaccine denialism, climate denialism and even election denialism? It’s only partly because they find these delusional beliefs comforting. The real reason is because belief in fantastical delusions has become a form of identity signaling, […]
Scientists create first vaccines against stupidity
It’s been a dream for so long, but scientists have finally created the first vaccines against human stupidity. Early tests show that they are more than 90% effective at selectively extending the life and promoting the health of intellectual elites. They have the added advantage of also protecting those who are smart enough to follow […]
Antivaxxers will be begging for the new COVID vaccines!
As the new COVID vaccines begin to come to market, there is concern among public health officials that a substantial proportion of the population will refuse the vaccine. I doubt it. In fact, I suspect that it’s just a matter of time before antivaxxers will be begging to get it. Why? Because they’ll witness it […]
Breastfeeding ableism
Recently Chrissy Teigen issued a full throated defense of infant formula. ok I’m gonna say something and you all are definitely gonna make it a thing but here goes: normalize formula. [N]ormalize breastfeeding is such a huge, wonderful thing. but I absolutely felt way more shame having to use formula because of lack of milk […]
Amy Tuteur, MD
Dr. Amy Tuteur is an obstetrician gynecologist. She received her undergraduate degree from Harvard College in 1979 and her medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine in 1984. Dr. Tuteur is a former clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School. She left the practice of medicine to raise her four children. Her book, Push Back: Guilt in the Age of Natural Parenting (HarperCollins) was published in 2016. She can be reached at DrAmy5 at aol dot com... More
