Quack and Burn

There has been interesting and delightful news on the anti-vaxx quack front this past week.  Most recently Dr. Mark Geier of the ghoulish duo, Mark R. Geier and pretend doctor David Geier, has had his license to practise medicine revoked in Missouri and has had his medical license suspended indefinitely in Illinois.  The last remaining state, Hawaii where Mark Geier still holds a valid license has filed a complaint against him.  Todd W. of Harpocrates Speaks has a very nice catalogue of the Geiers' offences.  While the Geiers' creepy clinics are still in operation, one with Mayor Eisenstein of Homefirst, and in spite of their claim, "We are going to open [clinics] everywhere," the loss of all of Mark Geier's licenses to practise medicine and pending action in the one remaining state will ensure that this isn't going to happen.

Another quack, Andrew Wakefield is once again "wanking for coins."  Wakefield and his fawning disciples have hoisted yet another fund-raising scheme for their St. Andy.  This one as the hilariously named, Academic Integrity Fund.  And for $750 one can enjoy dining with the Wakefields AT THEIR TABLE or $250 for being in the same room as the Wakefields to eat tacos and drink frozen margaritas (with cheap house tequila no doubt) at a chain restaurant.

I can't quite seem to figure out what the Academic Integrity Fund funds other than paying for a couple of overwrought, masturbatory blog posts by Wakefield and a couple of others.  Sadly, there are people with more money than brains so he should pull in some payola for his latest venture.

Wakefield has his own Legal Justice Fund which is really just a façade for fawning acolytes to show his fighting spirit against the evil Brian Deer and BMJ.  I doubt his acolytes will even bother to question why there are scores of pages missing from Mr. Deer's testimony and just keep throwing their money at Wakefield.

And whatever happened to his Strategic Autism Initiative (SAI)?  Yet another money suck he created and in his words:

“I have no intention of going away,” he said. “I have set up a new research initiative, the Strategic Autism Initiative, whose aim is to do the science on the environmental causes of autism that the federal agencies want to run away from.”

Not a single study nor publication nor anything to do with autism research has emerged from this so-called non-profit organisation.  It appears as though the SAI has done nothing but fund a few trips for Wakefield to frighten the Minnesota Somali community off of getting the MMR jab for their children and making an empty promise to conduct a study of their autism prevalence.  I guess he can claim partial success by facilitating a measles outbreak in the Minnesota Somali community.

This latest scam is at least the closest thing to just coming right out and saying, "pay me for nothing suckers," than his past "fund-raising" schemes.  And sadly, they will.

Are we bored yet? Measles in WA school, 25 un(der)vaccinated kids at home

Just a quick one - a student in a Washington State Primary school (remember that state with the highest rate of vaccine exemption) has come down with measles. 25 un/dervaccinated children have to stay home until they have 2xMMR or the incubation period is over.

Are we bored of these news yet? Can parents get their children vaccinated already?

Updated 11/4/2012: the child did not have measles after all, which is quite a relief. Meanwhile, Woodland Primary School have cancelled Monday's free immunization clinic for students who have had only one MMR, which is downright silly. I hope the parents who had the fright will get the second MMR after all.