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David Gorski, MD, PhD Profile picture
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18 Jul, 4 tweets, 1 min read
It never ceases to amaze me how many people seem blithely unaware that an inherent property of meta-analyses is: Garbage in, garbage out. Meta-analysis does not correct bias; it smooths out random errors. You can't turn a bunch or turds into gold through meta-analysis.
I mean, these are people who should know better, a disturbing number of them scientists and doctors.
They also don't seem to understand that meta-analysis, but its very nature, includes a number of judgment calls in deciding which studies to include and ranking their rigor (i.e., risk of bias). Methods matter. A lot.
Oh, gee. In this case, all this and blatant misogyny too.

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More from @gorskon

David Gorski, MD, PhD Profile picture
19 Jul
Some very basic points:
1. You should know that the Nuremberg Code ONLY applies to human subjects research. You should ALSO know that, after phase 3 trials with 10s of thousands of subjects and hundreds of millions of doses, #CovidVaccine is NOT human subjects research anymore.
2. Calling #CovidVaccine "experimental" is a conflation of a legal definition of "investigational," in which @US_FDA requires that designation on any drug not yet given a full FDA approval. Scientifically, it's just not true any more.
3. The Nuremberg Code is nearly 75 yrs old and mainly of historical interest. It was long ago supplanted by the Belmont Report and Declaration of Helsinki. Both ALSO emphasize informed consent, but antivaxxers love the Nuremberg Code because of its association with Nazi doctors.
Read 8 tweets
David Gorski, MD, PhD Profile picture
16 Jul
Oh, goody. Elgazzar is apparently threatening to sue. I would LOVE to see him try.
Here's a hint. @guardiannews is a UK publication, and UK libel laws are notoriously plaintiff-friendly. So you can bet the lawyers went over this story and vetted it heavily before it was published.
Ive just gone through this process with another UK publication over a commentary, and the legal vetting process is far more than what American publications do.
Read 4 tweets
David Gorski, MD, PhD Profile picture
15 Jul
Hmmm. Before the responses to this Tweet I had no idea that monocles generally require lubrication. No idea at all.🧐😂
I mean... 🧐
I guess I'm confused now. Do monocles require lubrication or not?😂
Read 4 tweets
David Gorski, MD, PhD Profile picture
14 Jul
This is a very old technique by antivaxxers. During measles outbreaks pre-pandemic, antivaxxers would point to the number of fully vaccinated children getting the measles as "evidence" the MMR doesn't work, ignoring the denominators (how many unvaxxed vs. vaxxed).
It would always turn out that the risk of getting measles was many times higher in the unvaxxed. Raw numbers of infections are misleading if you don't know the denominator. You have to look at the fraction of vaccinated getting infected and compare it to the fraction unvaccinated
Given how long antivaxxers have used this technique, it is utterly unsurprising that they have started using it to try to claim that #CovidVaccine doesn't work. Again, before there even was a vaccine, I (and others) were predicting that antivaxxers would do exactly this.
Read 6 tweets
David Gorski, MD, PhD Profile picture
14 Jul
From the article: "It's ironic: The party of "pro-life" doesn't believe that children -- including teens -- have basic rights to preserve their well-being, separate from their parents' wishes or consent." Correct! cnn.com/2021/07/13/opi…
"The state doesn’t own the children. Parents own the children, and it is an issue of freedom." -@RandPaul, February 2015. respectfulinsolence.com/2015/02/03/is-…
Much of @GOP does not believe that children are separate beings with their own rights apart from "parental rights." It's the same belief that fuels parents' beliefs that they should be able to subject their children to religion-inspired quackery for life-threatening illnesses.
Read 4 tweets
David Gorski, MD, PhD Profile picture
14 Jul
Strange things afoot at in blog comment land. Yesterday, I posted about how @RWMaloneMD's claims that @Wikipedia is "erasing him from history" because of his attacks on #CovidVaccine are utter BS. Overnight a strange thing occurred. 1/ respectfulinsolence.com/2021/07/13/is-…
In the comments of the post, someone under the 'nym Barangolo went on a rant about Katalin Karikó, the BioNTech scientist who made major contributions to the development of the company's mRNA #CovidVaccine. 2/ respectfulinsolence.com/2021/07/13/is-…
"Barangolo" ranted about how Karikó was supposedly "one of those agents in the III/II category ('counter espionage'), recruited in 1978, before she was sent “on leave” in 1985" and how she's a sleeper agent and not to be trusted. 3/
Read 7 tweets

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