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Fake or misleading science these days is used not only for commercial purposes, but also to advance agendas such as those of anti-vaxxers. Just take a look at t

Fake or misleading science these days is used not only for commercial purposes, but also to advance agendas such as those of anti-vaxxers. Just take a look at the hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin crazes.

ceejayoz 5y ago
A lot of that winds up being commercial purposes if you dig down far enough. Antivax sites like Natural News are often also selling things like dietary supplements. Some of the big pushers of alternative COVID treatments make bank off the telemedicine appointments to get a prescription for them, too. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/ivermectin-demand-drives-trump-telemedicine-website-rcna1791 https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/ivermectin-demand-dri...
- simion314 5y ago
  What I do not understand from this conspiracies is why do "big pharma reason" also applies for China,India, Russia - I am sure China would prefer to have their citizens healthy and working so they would not suppress the miracle of some wonder-plant/pill/exercise to make rich some western companies and destroy their national economy.
  - ThaJay 5y ago
    China has big pharma too and they pivoted from authoritarian socialism to authoritarian capitalism, they're just making money now and don't care about their poor any more.
    - simion314 5y ago
      >China has big pharma too Why do you say this? anything I can read about ? From what I see in the news the government makes a plan for the future and executes it, it does not care about some billionaires or some company. China does not need to create a convoluted scheme to pump money into some company, so it makes no sense. They could just give the population the miracle medicine/plant stuff and then write a contract for the big pharma for some vitamins that will be mandatory.
      - SyzygistSix 5y ago
        Their real estate market begs to differ.
  - Nasrudith 5y ago
    Because it isn't rational reasoning (pardon the redundancy), but emotionally self-serving. It is like the other conspiracy theory "car that runs on water that big oil and their government cronies are keeping down". It gives them a bogeyman, a miracle solution, and a simple ordered view of the world. Think about it for half a second and how preposterously useful the water engine would be to governments if it existed. The military logistics of naval ships not having fuel tank but taking in water is just the start.
- SyzygistSix 5y ago
  Yep. There are lots of sketchy telemedicine sites being peddled through the anti-vax websites. Not much different than psychics bilking old, lonely, vulnerable, scared, often much older people for money
mannanj 5y ago
Is it not used by Pfizer, Moderna, or J&J in these cases to peddle a more profitable vaccine over alternative generic drugs (such as Ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, Monoclonal Antibodies, etc)?
- clarge1120 5y ago
  Yes, of course it is: follow the money. Unfortunately, Big Pharma is favored right now because they provide a big solution to an enormous problem. But, that doesn’t make them immune from the corruption that follows from greed. When it comes to COVID vaccines, anything that casts doubt on the need for them is verboten. Try stating that COVID, at 99% recoverability, is not dangerous enough for a mandatory vaccination, and watch your future prospects dry up.
  - skulk 5y ago
    So your point is that if you say really stupid things in public, people will stop wanting to associate with you?
  - Vapormac 5y ago
    I'm not sure if that's true. But I'm willing to assume COVID has a 99% recover-ability rate. Don't other diseases have a 99% recover-ability rate and we still vaccinate for them? Shouldn't we vaccine against a disease that is lethal regardless of the statistical trend? Also, like the usual stats stuff that get misrepresented all the time, the mortality rate of COVID isn't <1%. Unless you're talking about a SPECIFIC type of COVID mortality measurement, it's higher than 1%. https://ourworldindata.org/mortality-risk-covid https://ourworldindata.org/mortality-risk-covid <- Source
    - mannanj 5y ago
      I would add that "shouldn't we protect against a disease that is lethal regardless of the statistical trend?" There are many ways to protect the body from this viral disease. Most of them get no light of day. Zinc, diet, sun exposure, exercise. There seems to be a negative bias against discussing these, making studying them even harder. COVID-19 Vaccines seem to not have this issue. Why? Generic drugs too seem to have an affect on the disease, but don't get the proper funding or get exposure in a way that is free from the conflict of interest that pushes alternative more profitable treatments.
pessimizer 5y ago
Anti-vaxxers don't have an agenda, they have fear and anger. People selling products or trying to get votes have the agenda.

ceejayoz 5y ago

A lot of that winds up being commercial purposes if you dig down far enough. Antivax sites like Natural News are often also selling things like dietary supplements. Some of the big pushers of alternative COVID treatments make bank off the telemedicine appointments to get a prescription for them, too. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/ivermectin-demand-drives-trump-telemedicine-website-rcna1791 https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/ivermectin-demand-dri...

simion314 5y ago
What I do not understand from this conspiracies is why do "big pharma reason" also applies for China,India, Russia - I am sure China would prefer to have their citizens healthy and working so they would not suppress the miracle of some wonder-plant/pill/exercise to make rich some western companies and destroy their national economy.
- ThaJay 5y ago
  China has big pharma too and they pivoted from authoritarian socialism to authoritarian capitalism, they're just making money now and don't care about their poor any more.
  - simion314 5y ago
    >China has big pharma too Why do you say this? anything I can read about ? From what I see in the news the government makes a plan for the future and executes it, it does not care about some billionaires or some company. China does not need to create a convoluted scheme to pump money into some company, so it makes no sense. They could just give the population the miracle medicine/plant stuff and then write a contract for the big pharma for some vitamins that will be mandatory.
    - SyzygistSix 5y ago
      Their real estate market begs to differ.
- Nasrudith 5y ago
  Because it isn't rational reasoning (pardon the redundancy), but emotionally self-serving. It is like the other conspiracy theory "car that runs on water that big oil and their government cronies are keeping down". It gives them a bogeyman, a miracle solution, and a simple ordered view of the world. Think about it for half a second and how preposterously useful the water engine would be to governments if it existed. The military logistics of naval ships not having fuel tank but taking in water is just the start.
SyzygistSix 5y ago
Yep. There are lots of sketchy telemedicine sites being peddled through the anti-vax websites. Not much different than psychics bilking old, lonely, vulnerable, scared, often much older people for money

mannanj 5y ago

Is it not used by Pfizer, Moderna, or J&J in these cases to peddle a more profitable vaccine over alternative generic drugs (such as Ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, Monoclonal Antibodies, etc)?

clarge1120 5y ago
Yes, of course it is: follow the money. Unfortunately, Big Pharma is favored right now because they provide a big solution to an enormous problem. But, that doesn’t make them immune from the corruption that follows from greed. When it comes to COVID vaccines, anything that casts doubt on the need for them is verboten. Try stating that COVID, at 99% recoverability, is not dangerous enough for a mandatory vaccination, and watch your future prospects dry up.
- skulk 5y ago
  So your point is that if you say really stupid things in public, people will stop wanting to associate with you?
- Vapormac 5y ago
  I'm not sure if that's true. But I'm willing to assume COVID has a 99% recover-ability rate. Don't other diseases have a 99% recover-ability rate and we still vaccinate for them? Shouldn't we vaccine against a disease that is lethal regardless of the statistical trend? Also, like the usual stats stuff that get misrepresented all the time, the mortality rate of COVID isn't <1%. Unless you're talking about a SPECIFIC type of COVID mortality measurement, it's higher than 1%. https://ourworldindata.org/mortality-risk-covid https://ourworldindata.org/mortality-risk-covid <- Source
  - mannanj 5y ago
    I would add that "shouldn't we protect against a disease that is lethal regardless of the statistical trend?" There are many ways to protect the body from this viral disease. Most of them get no light of day. Zinc, diet, sun exposure, exercise. There seems to be a negative bias against discussing these, making studying them even harder. COVID-19 Vaccines seem to not have this issue. Why? Generic drugs too seem to have an affect on the disease, but don't get the proper funding or get exposure in a way that is free from the conflict of interest that pushes alternative more profitable treatments.

pessimizer 5y ago

Anti-vaxxers don't have an agenda, they have fear and anger. People selling products or trying to get votes have the agenda.