The published RT-qPCR protocol for detection and diagnostics of 2019-nCoV and the manuscript suffer from numerous technical and scientific errors, including insufficient primer design, a problematic and insufficient RT-qPCR protocol, and the absence of an accurate test validation. Neither the presented test nor the manuscript itself fulfils the requirements for an acceptable scientific publication. Further,…
Tag: Bias
Lifesite News reports “Minnesota lawmakers claim 40-percent inflation in state COVID death numbers”
State senator Scott Jensen, a practicing physician who is calling for an audit, noted that ‘doctors and hospitals have an incentive to, if you will, massage the numbers.’ Two Minnesota lawmakers have called for an investigation of the state’s COVID-19 mortality data after finding that hundreds of recent deaths may have been misattributed to the…
American Institute for Economic Research reports “The Year of Disguises”
2020 is a year of disguises. Some examples include computer models/modelers disguised as “science/scientists,” Tyrants/Dictators/Totalitarians disguised as “elected officials,” propaganda machines disguised as “news sources,” brainwashing disguised as “information,” censorship disguised as “public health safeguard,” panic and fear disguised as “social responsibility.” Even the virus itself has been disguised by humans as an “apocalypse.” But,…
The Hill reports “Top HHS official accuses scientists of plotting against Trump, tells supporters to buy ammunition”
The top communications official at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) accused career government scientists of plotting against President Trump and told Trump supporters to arm themselves ahead of the November presidential election. In a Facebook Live video on Sunday, HHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Michael Caputo said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was harboring…
Dr. Malcolm Kendrick reports “COVID – why terminology really, really matters”
When is a case not a case? Since the start of the COVID pandemic I have watched almost everyone get mission critical things wrong. In some ways this is not surprising. Medical terminology is horribly imprecise, and often poorly understood. In calmer times such things are only of interest to research geeks like me. Were…
New York Times reports “Your Coronavirus Test Is Positive. Maybe It Shouldn’t Be.”
The usual diagnostic tests may simply be too sensitive and too slow to contain the spread of the virus. Some of the nation’s leading public health experts are raising a new concern in the endless debate over coronavirus testing in the United States: The standard tests are diagnosing huge numbers of people who may be carrying relatively…
The Failed Experiment of Covid Lockdowns
New data suggest that social distancing and reopening haven’t determined the spread. Six months into the Covid-19 pandemic, the U.S. has now carried out two large-scale experiments in public health—first, in March and April, the lockdown of the economy to arrest the spread of the virus, and second, since mid-April, the reopening of the economy….
CNN reports “Experts call for independent commission separate from FDA to review Covid-19 vaccines”
Citing criticism of government agencies and increasing public distrust of vaccines, several prominent physicians and experts are calling for the creation of an independent commission to review data from coronavirus vaccine trials before a vaccine is allowed on the market. The US Food and Drug Administration regulates vaccines, and its OK is all that’s needed…
Harvard University reports “Risky Drugs: Why The FDA Cannot Be Trusted”
A forthcoming article for the special issue of the Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics (JLME), edited by Marc Rodwin and supported by the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, presents evidence that about 90 percent of all new drugs approved by the FDA over the past 30 years are little or no more effective for patients than existing drugs. All…
Chicago Tribune reports “How did the NFL have 77 false positive COVID-19 tests from the same lab?”
Several NFL teams had their weekends disrupted by false positive COVID-19 tests that the league traced to the same New Jersey BioReference laboratory. The Bears had nine positive tests from players and coaches that turned out to be false positives. And according to reports around the league, the Jets, Vikings, Steelers, Bills, Browns, Packers, Eagles, Lions, Patriots…