Comments on: The Bernadine Healy Card

By: Autism Blog - Age of Autism get annoyed at Amanda Peet | Left Brain/Right Brain

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:25:49 +0000

[...] the same blog that continues to trumpet the opinion of Bernadine Healy who actually did assert that cigarettes do not cause cancer and worked closely with Philip Morris to do so. Its either stupidity or a purposeful attempt to obfuscate the truth, I couldn’t possibly [...]

By: Autism Blog - Dear Mercury and MMR Militia | Left Brain/Right Brain

Autism Blog - Dear Mercury and MMR Militia | Left Brain/Right Brain — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:45:51 +0000

[...] have also latched onto the words of Bernadine Healy. I can see why but she (is/was) a member of a paid lobby group that advances the [...]

By: Autism Blog - More Talks for David Kirby | Left Brain/Right Brain

Autism Blog - More Talks for David Kirby | Left Brain/Right Brain — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:03:51 +0000

[...] your literature that a ‘former NIH director’ has stated autism is an epidemic. Is this Bernadine Healy, former member of The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition who are lobbyists for Phillip Morris [...]

By: Thimerosal and autism - an overview, Part III « Mainstream Parenting Resources

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 20:22:02 +0000

[...] study in Britain? You can see the CBS interview with her here. Kev at LeftBrainRightBrain has a good post regarding Healy’s credentials and history as [...]

By: Schwartz

Schwartz — Sat, 31 May 2008 21:57:17 +0000

Kev,

I keep forgetting you’re from the UK. Rush Limbaugh is a right wing political commentator in the US and has a controversial past.

Orac,

Your literary accuracy is up to your usually standards. That statement is wrong because she’s a crank? Great logic. I pulled that quote not from her, but from one of many peer-reviewed articles on the topic of EBM. The same criticism can be found in textbooks on the topic. Or do you wish to imply that EBM is perfect and without flaws?

By: alyric

alyric — Sat, 31 May 2008 16:10:14 +0000

Also she was sacked as head of the Red Cross for apparently mishandling blood donations post 9/11. She is mostly a politician it seems.

Not being US based I’ve often wondered why some really weird people get to run very important organisations. NIH is certainly one but there’s Thomas Insel of NIMH as well and his series of crass motherhood statements in the New York Mag article were embarassing.

It night be fine for a politician to be able to do the social dance beautifully but surely there should be some minimal competence standards as well if the organisations they run are as important as these are.

By: Kev

Kev — Sat, 31 May 2008 13:49:01 +0000

No surprise AAPS liked it. ‘Microfacism’ eh? One step away from a rather silly conspiracy theory.

You may (well, Orac might, you more recent readers might not ;) ) recall a Daily Mail story featuring Peter Fletcher I blogged about two and a bit years ago. This strikes me as similar to that. A retired former ‘high up’ talking rubbish about science.

An effort to to regain the public eye perhaps?

By: Orac

Orac — Sat, 31 May 2008 12:28:47 +0000

The EBM comment by Healy is a widely acknowledged weakness of EBM and hardly a rebellious point of view. It is certainly not anti-science as you state.

Nope. Wrong. Healy took a criticism of EBM and turned it into crankery. She uncritically parroted a truly over-the-top “criticism” of EBM that likened it to “microfascism.” The American Association of Physicians and Scientists, a crank organization, loved it.

No, Healy has apparently gone off the deep end in recent years.

By: Maya M

Maya M — Sat, 31 May 2008 12:07:22 +0000

Healy doesn’t seem to me quite an authority in scientific/medical matters, but at least I sympathize with her stand about Terri Schiavo.
It is sooooo easy to deprive someone of human status and kill him just because he is unable to communicate.

By: Kev

Kev — Sat, 31 May 2008 06:28:21 +0000

Hi Schwartz,

I’m not exactly sure who Rush Limbaugh is. I recall the name but I can’t recall under what circumstances.

Assuming you’re referring to the current CDC chief, I’m not sure I would support her directly. I think she’s said the right things on autism, pretty much (from what I’ve read) beyond that, I don’t really know much about her.

I’m not sure what you’re saying she’s wisened up about – not the tobacco stuff, surely.