David Gorski, MD, PhD
@gorskon.bsky.social
Surgeon/scientist promoting science-based medicine and deconstructing quackery. Editor, Science-Based Medicine blog (sciencebasedmedicine.org). X/Twitter & Threads: @gorskon. (He/him)
Reposted by David Gorski, MD, PhD
One of my absolute favorite expert virologists (who is also one of the editors of the journal Vaccine) tells it like it is
“Prasad can heap suffering on CBER staff all he likes, but it always must be in the service of Kennedy’s MAHA agenda. What Kennedy asks, Prasad will deliver.”
“Prasad can heap suffering on CBER staff all he likes, but it always must be in the service of Kennedy’s MAHA agenda. What Kennedy asks, Prasad will deliver.”
This REALLY annoyed me yesterday. Mostly because I know what the intended impact is on vaccination (stripping access), but also because it is not evidence-based. Prasad & Høeg provided no data to support their position besides "it's VAERS."
bsky.app/profile/angi...
bsky.app/profile/angi...
Vinay Prasad sent Tracey Høeg dumpster diving in VAERS for pretext to block access to flu vaccines, alter safety standards, end combo vaccines, & hold clinical trials to impossible standards.
CBER is supposed to regulate vaccines, not withhold them. FDA is as broken as CDC.
CBER is supposed to regulate vaccines, not withhold them. FDA is as broken as CDC.
November 30, 2025 at 12:00 PM
One of my absolute favorite expert virologists (who is also one of the editors of the journal Vaccine) tells it like it is
“Prasad can heap suffering on CBER staff all he likes, but it always must be in the service of Kennedy’s MAHA agenda. What Kennedy asks, Prasad will deliver.”
“Prasad can heap suffering on CBER staff all he likes, but it always must be in the service of Kennedy’s MAHA agenda. What Kennedy asks, Prasad will deliver.”
Wow. Nice to see Makary regurgitating old lab leak conspiracy theories about HIV. This should serve as a reminder that *every* new pathogen that’s caused an epidemic or pandemic since the age of genetic engineering has spawned conspiracy theories that it was created in and/or leaked from a lab.
While Makary spreads bullshit about the origin of HIV.
(To be clear, this has been thoroughly investigated and fits neither the timing nor the molecular epidemiology of HIV).
(To be clear, this has been thoroughly investigated and fits neither the timing nor the molecular epidemiology of HIV).
November 29, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Wow. Nice to see Makary regurgitating old lab leak conspiracy theories about HIV. This should serve as a reminder that *every* new pathogen that’s caused an epidemic or pandemic since the age of genetic engineering has spawned conspiracy theories that it was created in and/or leaked from a lab.
Reposted by David Gorski, MD, PhD
Studies finding a link between autism and vaccines haven’t been ignored. They’ve been examined and found deeply flawed. www.wsj.com/opinion/rfk-... via @wsj.com (paywall)
Opinion | RFK Jr. Turns the CDC Against Vaccines
The agency’s website is revised to spread autism fears, despite serious science finding no link.
www.wsj.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Studies finding a link between autism and vaccines haven’t been ignored. They’ve been examined and found deeply flawed. www.wsj.com/opinion/rfk-... via @wsj.com (paywall)
No, he can't. At least he can't lead it competently. And WTF is this fawning headline? This man's policies have already started demolishing public health and vaccine infrastructure in the US and will likely lead to many unnecessary deaths.
Over many interviews, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Michael Scherer about how he plans to remake America’s public-health system. Can he lead the scientific establishment he’s spent much of his life crusading against?
Read more in our new cover story: theatln.tc/q9hXxlbM
Read more in our new cover story: theatln.tc/q9hXxlbM
November 24, 2025 at 4:58 PM
No, he can't. At least he can't lead it competently. And WTF is this fawning headline? This man's policies have already started demolishing public health and vaccine infrastructure in the US and will likely lead to many unnecessary deaths.
Reposted by David Gorski, MD, PhD
. @edyong209.bsky.social went independent and I am glad he did, because this fawning piece about a man who will be responsible for millions of excess #deaths would never be written by a proper #health and #science #journalist
Over many interviews, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Michael Scherer about how he plans to remake America’s public-health system. Can he lead the scientific establishment he’s spent much of his life crusading against?
Read more in our new cover story: theatln.tc/q9hXxlbM
Read more in our new cover story: theatln.tc/q9hXxlbM
November 24, 2025 at 4:50 PM
. @edyong209.bsky.social went independent and I am glad he did, because this fawning piece about a man who will be responsible for millions of excess #deaths would never be written by a proper #health and #science #journalist
The CDC is lying to you about vaccines and autism. The CDC webpage about vaccines and autism now misrepresents the science and lies to the public about vaccines and autism. It’s just part of RFK Jr.'s ongoing war on vaccines. sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-cdc-is-l...
The CDC is lying to you about vaccines and autism
The CDC webpage about vaccines and autism now misrepresents the science and lies to the public about vaccines and autism. It's just part of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s continuing war on vacc
sciencebasedmedicine.org
November 24, 2025 at 1:57 PM
The CDC is lying to you about vaccines and autism. The CDC webpage about vaccines and autism now misrepresents the science and lies to the public about vaccines and autism. It’s just part of RFK Jr.'s ongoing war on vaccines. sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-cdc-is-l...
I wonder what he thinks of amalgam. 😂
November 23, 2025 at 8:59 PM
I wonder what he thinks of amalgam. 😂
Oh bloody hell. Ioannidis was arguably the most (previously) respected scientist to politicize public health and COVID science. 🤦🏻♂️
November 23, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Oh bloody hell. Ioannidis was arguably the most (previously) respected scientist to politicize public health and COVID science. 🤦🏻♂️
Reposted by David Gorski, MD, PhD
Reposted by David Gorski, MD, PhD
NEW: I spoke with David Vickrey, the Daily Kos blogger Robert Kennedy Jr. spent the last five years pursuing in court with a dead-end, costly defamation lawsuit.
Here’s what he had to say:
www.importantcontext.news/p/robert-ken...
Here’s what he had to say:
www.importantcontext.news/p/robert-ken...
Robert Kennedy Jr. ‘Absolutely Tried to Silence’ Me: Blogger Sued by HHS Secretary Speaks Out
David Vickrey spoke with Important Context about the legal battle that consumed the last five years of his life.
www.importantcontext.news
November 22, 2025 at 8:45 PM
NEW: I spoke with David Vickrey, the Daily Kos blogger Robert Kennedy Jr. spent the last five years pursuing in court with a dead-end, costly defamation lawsuit.
Here’s what he had to say:
www.importantcontext.news/p/robert-ken...
Here’s what he had to say:
www.importantcontext.news/p/robert-ken...
Sadly, Peter Gøtzsche is now clearly in the antivaccine camp.
🧵OMG... This will immediately appear as though the 🤡 Peter C. Gøtzsche is being an apologist to Sec. 🧠🪱 based on the Nov 21st date Brownshit Institute published his crap "How CDC and FDA Defrauded the American Public about Serious Vaccine Harms". Except...
Archive Today: archive.ph/a66hS
Archive Today: archive.ph/a66hS
November 23, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Sadly, Peter Gøtzsche is now clearly in the antivaccine camp.
This has always been the case. Back in the 2000s, Dr. Bob Sears suggested in his book on vaccines that parents who don’t vaccinate have their kids “hide in the herd.”
Vaccines themselves are such a metaphor for how the anti-vax demographic views society. If the rest of us didn’t do our part, most of them would be doing a very different risk assessment before declining immunization. They depend on the rest of us getting vaccinated so we stay above herd immunity.
November 23, 2025 at 12:31 PM
This has always been the case. Back in the 2000s, Dr. Bob Sears suggested in his book on vaccines that parents who don’t vaccinate have their kids “hide in the herd.”
Reposted by David Gorski, MD, PhD
Dec 7, 11 AM PST: Fascism in Modern America: Drawing Parallels to Historical Fascist Regimes. Join historian Dr. Craig Johnson for a virtual talk on how today’s radical right echoes the past. Register now.
@cajohnson-craig.bsky.social
Register here.
us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
@cajohnson-craig.bsky.social
Register here.
us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
November 13, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Dec 7, 11 AM PST: Fascism in Modern America: Drawing Parallels to Historical Fascist Regimes. Join historian Dr. Craig Johnson for a virtual talk on how today’s radical right echoes the past. Register now.
@cajohnson-craig.bsky.social
Register here.
us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
@cajohnson-craig.bsky.social
Register here.
us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
Reposted by David Gorski, MD, PhD
While we're at it, why do we pay for a fire department when most houses don't even burn down.
Tell me you don’t understand risk pools without telling me you don’t understand risk pools
November 10, 2025 at 6:46 PM
While we're at it, why do we pay for a fire department when most houses don't even burn down.
Del Bigtree and and the MAHA Institute embrace being proudly antivax. I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so.
MAHA: Its antivax mask has been dropped
Del Bigtree and and the MAHA Institute embrace being proudly antivax. I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so.
www.respectfulinsolence.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Del Bigtree and and the MAHA Institute embrace being proudly antivax. I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so.
We now have concentration camps in the US. Fascism is here and in control.
Her husband told her that detainees at Broadview had to get up at 5am to get in line for one bathroom. He often peed himself. One time he had to wait until 2pm to use the bathroom. You could only use the bathroom once a day. He said the agents would beat you if you used the bathroom on yourself.
November 7, 2025 at 10:09 PM
We now have concentration camps in the US. Fascism is here and in control.
Reposted by David Gorski, MD, PhD
MAHA Action, the 501(c)(4) dark money group founded to support (and sell) Robert Kennedy Jr.’s anti-science agenda at HHS, is attacking the March for Science and Health.
In its “report,” it calls @accountabilityji.bsky.social “a pro-censorship group.”
And I think that’s objectively hilarious.
In its “report,” it calls @accountabilityji.bsky.social “a pro-censorship group.”
And I think that’s objectively hilarious.
With Deep Pockets, the Anti-Kennedy Cabal Wants to Remove the Secretary From Office. They Will Fail.
By Adam Garrie, Contributor, The MAHA Report
www.themahareport.com
October 31, 2025 at 10:01 PM
MAHA Action, the 501(c)(4) dark money group founded to support (and sell) Robert Kennedy Jr.’s anti-science agenda at HHS, is attacking the March for Science and Health.
In its “report,” it calls @accountabilityji.bsky.social “a pro-censorship group.”
And I think that’s objectively hilarious.
In its “report,” it calls @accountabilityji.bsky.social “a pro-censorship group.”
And I think that’s objectively hilarious.
The brain drain that this administration’s policies are resulting in will hobble us as a nation for generation. Say goodbye to our leadership in science. Before you know it, China and the EU will lap us.
A Nature poll found that 75% of U.S. researchers are considering leaving the country.
Guyz, even the *historians* are leaving or contemplating / likely to go. Including, at least 3 historians that I know of in my subfield. 😢
Guyz, even the *historians* are leaving or contemplating / likely to go. Including, at least 3 historians that I know of in my subfield. 😢
Top researchers consider leaving U.S. amid funding cuts: 'The science world is ending'
A poll from the journal Nature found that 75% of researchers in the U.S. are considering leaving the country. That includes a man who’s been dubbed the "Mozart of Math." Stephanie Sy examines what’s b...
www.pbs.org
October 31, 2025 at 9:14 PM
The brain drain that this administration’s policies are resulting in will hobble us as a nation for generation. Say goodbye to our leadership in science. Before you know it, China and the EU will lap us.
Reposted by David Gorski, MD, PhD
Rather than trying to read entrails of some vaccine move by RFK Jr, just ask:
a) Does it encourage vaccination? OR
b) Is it one more step towards vaccination elimination?
(Ex: MMR=> solo M, M, R.)
Meanwhile, follow @gorskon.bsky.social & @joho.bsky.social,
who've dissected RFK Jr actions for years.
a) Does it encourage vaccination? OR
b) Is it one more step towards vaccination elimination?
(Ex: MMR=> solo M, M, R.)
Meanwhile, follow @gorskon.bsky.social & @joho.bsky.social,
who've dissected RFK Jr actions for years.
I strongly recommend fine documentary “A Shot in the Arm” on vaccine hesitancy & its (often well-paid) promoters, incl RFK, Jr.
www.pbs.org/video/shot-i...
Watch whole thing, but especially:
34:32-onward RFK, Jr
43:45-50:27 Samoa deaths: he denies/evades involvement, video records contradict.
www.pbs.org/video/shot-i...
Watch whole thing, but especially:
34:32-onward RFK, Jr
43:45-50:27 Samoa deaths: he denies/evades involvement, video records contradict.
Shot in the Arm
Explore vaccine hesitancy historically and in the context of COVID-19.
www.pbs.org
October 29, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Rather than trying to read entrails of some vaccine move by RFK Jr, just ask:
a) Does it encourage vaccination? OR
b) Is it one more step towards vaccination elimination?
(Ex: MMR=> solo M, M, R.)
Meanwhile, follow @gorskon.bsky.social & @joho.bsky.social,
who've dissected RFK Jr actions for years.
a) Does it encourage vaccination? OR
b) Is it one more step towards vaccination elimination?
(Ex: MMR=> solo M, M, R.)
Meanwhile, follow @gorskon.bsky.social & @joho.bsky.social,
who've dissected RFK Jr actions for years.
A giant has passed. (I rotated on his surgical service during medical school.) www.michiganmedicine.org/news-release...
Robert H. Bartlett, ‘Father of ECMO,’ dies at 86
Known as the 'Father of ECMO', an active emeritus surgeon at Michigan Medicine and a professor at the University of Michigan Medical School, Dr. Bartlett leaves a historic legacy
www.michiganmedicine.org
October 22, 2025 at 3:23 PM
A giant has passed. (I rotated on his surgical service during medical school.) www.michiganmedicine.org/news-release...
In these dark times, sometimes schadenfreude is one of my only consolations.
The knives are out for Jay from his former allies.
He rose high enough to become part of the conspiracy.
That’s his future now.
He rose high enough to become part of the conspiracy.
That’s his future now.
October 21, 2025 at 1:48 AM
In these dark times, sometimes schadenfreude is one of my only consolations.
Oops, they did it again.🤦🏻♂️ www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
Trump nominee says MLK Jr. holiday belongs in ‘hell’ and that he has ‘Nazi streak,’ according to texts
Paul Ingrassia’s bid to lead a whistleblower agency is set for a Senate confirmation hearing Thursday.
www.politico.com
October 20, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Oops, they did it again.🤦🏻♂️ www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
Surgeon General nominee Dr. Casey Means is an advocate of “functional medicine.” She, MAHA, and a new “board certification” will falsely legitimize quackery. sciencebasedmedicine.org/surgeon-gene...
Surgeon General nominee Dr. Casey Means and functional medicine: Legitimizing quackery
Surgeon general nominee Dr. Casey Means is an advocate of "functional medicine." She, MAHA, and a new "board certification" will falsely legitimize quackery.
sciencebasedmedicine.org
October 20, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Surgeon General nominee Dr. Casey Means is an advocate of “functional medicine.” She, MAHA, and a new “board certification” will falsely legitimize quackery. sciencebasedmedicine.org/surgeon-gene...
I find it hilarious that, for years later, they are still so cheesed about the commentary @gavinyamey.bsky.social. Good.
October 20, 2025 at 12:58 AM
I find it hilarious that, for years later, they are still so cheesed about the commentary @gavinyamey.bsky.social. Good.