I wonder if Mr. Stephens and @nytopinion know much about the background of the first author of this @cochranecollab review, which is truly atrocious. Here, let's tell them.
https://twitter.com/nytopinion/status/1628193032238505990
We at @ScienceBasedMed, including @MarkCrislip, first noticed Tom Jefferson in 2009, when he started saying dubious things about the flu vaccine right as the H1N1 pandemic was bearing down.
For example, I first noticed him when he was invited in 2009 to an antivax conference to receive an award. (Guess why?) He apparently had the good sense to turn it down—then. sciencebasedmedicine.org/crank-conferen…
That year, @MarkCrislip noticed him denigrating flu vaccines, and wrote a detailed rebuttal. sciencebasedmedicine.org/flu-vaccine-ef…
We also noticed that certain worshipers of "brave mavericks" like Jefferso at @TheAtlantic had taken note of how little his colleagues thought of him for his flu vaccine takes. @MarkCrislip again wrote a detailed rebuttal. sciencebasedmedicine.org/yes-but-the-an…
I also noticed this article to which @MarkCrislip had responded. respectfulinsolence.com/2009/10/26/whe…
A few years later, Jefferson appeared on the radio show of über-quack Gary Null, who invited him because of his antivax-adjacent takes. respectfulinsolence.com/2009/10/26/whe…
Unsurprisingly, @MarkCrislip noticed this appearance as well. sciencebasedmedicine.org/one-flu-into-t…
One thing not mentioned in @nytimes is that currently Tom Jefferson is a contributor to @brownstoneinst, a right wing think tank formed by Neo-Confederate @jeffreyatucker in order to promote @gbdeclaration. I've written about Brownstone many times. sciencebasedmedicine.org/tag/brownstone…
Of course, #GreatBarringtonDeclaration was a blatantly eugenicist "let 'er rip" proposal that offered false "focused protection" to the vulnerable while #COVID19 would be allowed to rip through the "healthy" population. It never would have worked. sciencebasedmedicine.org/brownstone-ins…
These days, Tom Jefferson co-authors a Substack (because of course he does) in which he basically promotes antimask, anti-public health mitigation, misinformation. trusttheevidence.substack.com
Funny how the editors at @nytopinion didn't see fit to make Mr. Stephens mention the author of the systematic review, such as his associations with an antimask/antivaccine organization like Brownstone. Also, his review doesn't show that masks don't work. sciencebasedmedicine.org/masks-revisite…
Seriously, @nytopinion and @nytimes, why do you keep such an utter right-wing, science-challenged hack like Bret Stephens as one of your columnists? You might as well be @foxnews that way./end
Oops. Forgot to include the link to Tom Jefferson's page at @brownstoneinst above. Here it is. Sorry about that. /therealend brownstone.org/author/tom-jef…
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