Category Archives: Science

“Demolishing anti-vaccine frauds in live debate”

Posted in Anti-Vaccination Lobby, COVID-19, Education, Health, Immunisation, Science, Social Media by

Those of you lucky enough to attend Skepticon in Melbourne early last month will remember Dave Farina presenting his talk The Birth of the Science Communicator, from the USA.

He recently joined up with Dr. Dan Wilson of Debunk The Funk to take on two full time anti-vaccine grifters, Steve Kirsch and Pierre Kory. You can check out Dave’s take on how things went by dropping in on his video explanation here. Regrettably the debate turned out a predictable mess as the audience was loaded with anti-vax trolls and the conduct of the notably loathsome Kory and Kirby, meant the full schedule of discussion points wasn’t even met.

This would be because Kory, who in August last year, lost his medical licence for promoting, and wildly profiting from pushing ivermectin during COVID, spat the dummy and walked out. Aw Gosh. Anyway, there’s Gish-galloping from the anti-vax chaps and heckling from their supporters. Dave and Dan do an excellent job handling the horrific misinformation that we’re now seeing in our post COVID-19 pandemic world. I’m not surprised things went astray, as I learnt in Australia that anti-vaxxers deserve not a molecule of oxygen.

Still, perhaps given the state of anti-science rhetoric and the steady rumble of runaway grift trains, then documenting their demonstrably deceptive tactics is a pursuit with rewards we’re yet to fully appreciate. This is an almost two hour gig which is perfect for either bingeing or letting play whilst you do the housework or head out for a walk.

You can watch the same event without Dave’s commentary, at The greatest vaccine debate in history here at Pangburn. Apologies that neither video appears to permit embedding.

Paracetamol use in pregnancy | Therapeutic Goods Administration

Posted in Anti-Vaccination Lobby, Education, Health, Human Rights, Immunisation, Media, Politics, Science by

Warnings from Donald Trump that acetaminophen (popular brand name Tylenol), also known as paracetamol (popular brand name Panadol) has a causative link to autism when taken by pregnant women are unsupported and rejected by health authorities world wide.

Absurdly, his ramblings were a unilateral seizure of what was apparently a planned nuanced announcement, prepared by his own so-called health administration. They intended a caution on Tylenol, a supposed treatment for autism and to reveal $50 million for autism research.

Using his feelings and purported anecdotes, Trump urged pregnant women to “fight like hell” against paracetamol. He reasoned with a bizarre risk-benefit myth that not taking the drug meant only good things would happen, opposed to the risk of bad things, if women took the drug. Yet the reality is that paracetamol/acetaminophen is necessary to combat fevers women may experience during pregnancy and that failure to treat fever can cause neurodevelopmental disorders for the unborn child. These include autism, ADHD or developmental delay. Another identified risk is miscarriage.

Trump also used vague anecdotes to link the vaccine schedule to childhood death and harm. There is no evidence for either Trump’s tale of vaccines killing the child of an employee, and no scientific evidence to justify the changing of vaccination schedules. Trump argued the Hepatitis B vaccine should be held off until 12 years. Yet the primary source of exposure for infants and children is maternal, not sexual activity as claimed by Trump. He further suggested spacing out Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccines as well as other combined vaccines. The apparent logic is that children are given too many antigens at once.

In fact, children receive fewer antigens today to combat a greater range of disease. Thirty years ago 30,000 antigens were required to encourage immunity against 8 diseases. Today’s US vaccine schedule uses 305 antigens to tackle 14 diseases. And active children take on 2,000 – 6,000 antigens daily through eating, playing and even breathing.

Pregnant women should fight like hell to ignore Donald Trump’s monumental woo.

Therapeutic Goods Administration Statement – 23 September 2025

  • Australia’s Chief Medical Officer and the TGA join with other global medicines regulators, leading clinicians and scientists worldwide in rejecting claims regarding the use of paracetamol in pregnancy, and the subsequent risk of development of ADHD or autism in children.
  • Robust scientific evidence shows no causal link between the use of paracetamol in pregnancy and autism or ADHD, with several large and reliable studies directly contradicting these claims.
  • Paracetamol remains the recommended treatment option for pain or fever in pregnant women when used as directed. Importantly, untreated fever and pain can pose risks to the unborn baby, highlighting the importance of managing these symptoms with recommended treatment. Pregnant women should speak to their healthcare professionals if they have questions about any medication during pregnancy.
  • Paracetamol remains pregnancy category A in Australia, meaning that it is considered safe for use in pregnancy when used according to directions in TGA-approved Product Information (PI) and Consumer Medicines Information (CMI) documents.
  • This means that a medicine has been taken by a large number of pregnant women and women of childbearing age without any proven increase in the frequency of malformations or other harmful effects on the fetus having been observed. As with the use of any medicine during pregnancy, people who are pregnant should seek medical advice tailored to their specific circumstances before taking paracetamol.
  • The TGA is responsible for ensuring the safety, quality and efficacy of medicines on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG), with safety in pregnancy a key consideration for all products on the ARTG.
    The TGA undertakes evaluation of clinical, scientific and toxicological data prior to registration of a medicine, and this information is summarised in TGA-approved PI and CMI documents, targeted at healthcare professionals and consumers respectively, to help support safe use of a medicine in the community. These documents include information relating to use of a medicine in pregnancy.
  • The TGA is aware of announcements by the US Administration that use of paracetamol in pregnancy may be associated with an increased risk of autism and ADHD in children, though a causal association has not been established.
  • TGA advice on medicines in pregnancy is based on rigorous assessment of the best available scientific evidence. Any new evidence that could affect our recommendations would be carefully evaluated by our independent scientific experts.
  • Whilst there are published articles suggesting an association between maternal paracetamol use and childhood autism, they had methodological limitations. More recent and robust studies have refuted these claims, supporting the weight of other scientific evidence that does not support a causal link between paracetamol and autism or ADHD.
  • The TGA maintains robust post-market safety surveillance and pharmacovigilance processes for all medicines registered in Australia, including paracetamol. This includes detailed analysis of adverse event reports made by medicine consumers, clinicians and pharmaceutical companies, review of published medical literature, and close liaison with international medicines regulators. If a safety issue is confirmed prompt regulatory action is taken to mitigate risks.
  • International peer regulators including the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the United Kingdom have reiterated that paracetamol should continue to be used in line with product information documents. Following evaluation in 2019 the European Medicines Agency (EMA) found that scientific evidence regarding effects of paracetamol on childhood neurodevelopment was inconclusive.
  • People who have concerns and are pregnant, or considering pregnancy, are advised to consult their healthcare professionals in the first instance to discuss this issue. [Source ©️ TGA]

GLOBAL NEWS COVERAGE

DNA contamination of mRNA vaccines is still not a thing

Posted in Anti-Vaccination Lobby, COVID-19 Vaccine, Health, Immunisation, Science, Skeptic, Skeptical Activism, Social Media by

The fact that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are not contaminated with excessive or dangerous levels of residual DNA should not really have to be addressed. Nonetheless, doing so often comes up in arguments to debunk what is becoming a persistent trope of the anti-vaccine lobby.

In November last year I looked at an excellent report from Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), which plainly called the claim, misinformation. In March this year refuting the myth of “Turbo Cancer”, I went through a bunch of already well debunked attempts to justify the existence of this non-existent cancer. DNA contamination of COVID mRNA vaccines took up a few paragraphs.

The popularity of residual DNA contamination as a cause of invented harms favoured by anti-vaccine fear mongers shouldn’t surprise us. We received easy to understand information from health authorities well before the COVID vaccine rollout, that mRNA in vaccines never penetrates the cell nucleus and thus, DNA would remain untouched. Yet that very notion was targeted early and often by contrarians. Then came the flawed science with flawed methodology, that still remains unpublished. Remember the testing of vials that arrived anonymously in the mail without cold packs? Don’t forget mRNA vaccines require storage at about -20ºC. Then came sleight of hand by Kevin McKernan et al, using Qubit Fluorometric Quantification (fluorometry) in an unwarranted addition to the original testing regime of Quantitative PCR (qPCR). qPCR indicated DNA below FDA guidelines. Fluorometry significantly and inaccurately inflates results because it measures mRNA when calculating total DNA levels.

In fact there’s a few elements to understanding why DNA in mRNA vaccines is a non-event. That’s why I recommend watching Dr. Dan Wilson of Debunk the Funk on YouTube. Dan’s been flattening bogus bumps in the anti-vaccine world for quite a while now. His video on 2 July called Update on DNA contamination is one of a few he’s done tackling this particular myth. Interestingly, what recently caught my eye was Dan’s praise for the TGA report on misinformation about excessive DNA in mRNA vaccines.

Dan wrote to the TGA to check how they determine COVID DNA in their samples, as there are various ways to do this (see video 7:15). It turns out the TGA used the method that “most over-estimates the amount of DNA that could possibly be in that vial”. This still yielded “zero batches that exceeded the limit of residual DNA”.

So again, what this tells us is that DNA contamination of mRNA vaccines is a total furphy and they remain completely safe. Still, I sincerely recommend spending 10 minutes checking out Dan’s video, and having a look through his others for sound information to educate yourself about persistent and evolving anti-vaccine disinformation and misinformation.

Skepticon 2025 Early Bird Tickets On Sale

Posted in Education, General, Health, Science, Skeptic, Skeptical Activism by

Skepticon Australia 2025 is to be held at the Forum Theatre in Melbourne over the weekend of 4-5 October. There’s also a Friday night meet and greet on the evening of the 3rd. Tickets are now available.

The speakers list is steadily growing. The Skepticon page tells us:

This is the twelfth Australian Skeptics convention to be held in Melbourne.

Renew old friendships, make new ones, and hear from the best speakers at Skepticon XL.

The 2025 convention will be held on the weekend of October 4-5 at the Forum Theatre, University of Melbourne, a great venue a few steps from the newly constructed Parkville Underground train station.

You can expect another line up of high quality speakers giving skeptical perspectives on medicine, science, education, belief and consumer issues. Guaranteed to be informative, incisive, challenging, and lots of fun.

Stay tuned for information about the Friday night meet and greet and the Saturday night dinner.

It will be a festival exploring science, reason, critical thinking and skeptical conviviality.

I can recommend the event, and advise keeping an eye on the Skepticon site as finer details about speakers, topics and the Saturday night dinner take shape.

TICKETS

  • Drop in to Humanitix to purchase tickets
  • Access the full price list here
  • Contact the host of Skepticon 2025 if necessary
  • Tickets will be in your Order Confirmation Email from order@humanitix.com

DIRECTIONS

Get directions to the Forum Theatre in the Arts West Building (Building 148) Uni of Melbourne

Heavens to Gimbals – James Randi video restored

Posted in General, Media, Science, Skeptic by

Forty five years ago, Australian businessman Dick Smith arranged for James Randi to visit Australia and conduct controlled, scientific experiments on water divining. This particular event played a role in promoting interest in scientific skepticism in Australia and the formation of the Australian Skeptics, who have an article on this very topic here.

The 1980 experiments were produced by Dick Smith Adventure Pty Ltd. It proved compelling in what it revealed about water divining (aka dowsing) as a promoted skill, the reasons dowsing has been by some, uncritically accepted as factual, and the thinking process behind those that believe it is a genuine phenomenon. In addition, Randi brought with him a wealth of experience and explanation regarding the cognitive bias specific to water divining and non-critical thinking in general. These became apparent as the documentary unfolded.

Digital restoration from a 45 year old VHS tape took a significant amount of time including the application of unique software. Thanks go to Richard Saunders and Glenn Brady. You can learn more about this and Randi’s visit via The Skeptic Zone, Episode #870.

Do enjoy, James Randi in Australia – 45th Anniversary Edition.