Denialism

Month: June 2008

  • Diarrhea!

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    by

    MarkH
    in

    This topic has been running through my mind quite a bit lately. Infectious diarrhea is one of the world’s most vicious killers, but is susceptible to basic public health measures such as clean water and good sanitation, which is why cholera-ridden Americans aren’t dropping dead in pools of their own feces. (Citizens of other countries…

  • How do you say it?

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    by

    MarkH
    in , ,

    I am often the bearer of bad news. I don’t think I’ve ever been formally taught how to deliver bad news, but I’ve developed a style over the years, and I’m pretty good at it. I work with medical residents every day in their outpatient clinics. Most of them have never had to deliver bad…

  • Ah, the credulity!

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    by

    Chris
    in

    Yesterday, it was the Times with “Experts Revive Debate Over Cellphones and Cancer”. Today, it’s the Journal with “Do Fuel-Saving Gadgets Take You for a Ride?”, which includes this little gem from a gadget maker: The EPA and FTC “only test the ones that don’t work,” says Louis H. Elwell III, chairman and president of…

  • Open letter to Jenny McCarthy

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    MarkH
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    Dear Jenny, Jenny, Jenny, Jenny. Oh, Jenny. Look, I realize I might have been somewhat less than kind in the past, but I’m hoping you haven’t written me off. I’ve been told you catch a lot more flies with honey than with vinegar, so please take this letter in the spirit it was intended—corrective, constructive,…

  • I hate being sick

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    by

    MarkH
    in

    In the interest of blog synergy, I’m reposting this from my old blog. I’m actually quite lucky. Despite being surrounded by infectious diseases for sixty hours a week, I don’t get sick all that much (OK, maybe more than most, but I don’t have data). I actually called in sick for part of the day,…

  • West Nile season begins

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    by

    MarkH
    in

    West Nile season is starting up, with the first few case reports trickling in. Back in the summer of 2002, I was introduced to West Nile fever. This mosquito-borne viral illness had a minimal presence in North America in the preceding three years, but made its real American debut that summer. It may have hitchhiked…

  • Attack of the child zombies!

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    by

    MarkH
    in

    I was glancing at the Huffington Post today when I ran into yet another piece of what I wish was absurdist health reporting. Unfortunately, it’s meant to be taken seriously. What’s even worse is that there is a real problem hidden in the hyperbole, but the author’s over-the-top rant does more to obscure than expose…