I started to write about science and medicine at the ‘Washington Post,’ in the early days of the AIDS epidemic. Michael Specter Read Quote
Newspapers and magazines are vanishing. But science writers are not. In fact, they are becoming so adept and varied that I hardly have time to read ‘Gawker’ anymore. Michael Specter Read Quote
Throughout the United States, at the dawn of the Progressive era, dozens of laws and regulations were established to empower police officers, public-health officials, and even the armed forces to vaccinate at will, and, if necessary, at gunpoint. Michael Specter Read Quote
When most members of a community are vaccinated, they protect those who are not by eliminating the viral reservoirs in the population. The effect is known as ‘herd immunity.’ Michael Specter Read Quote
When people say they prefer organic food, what they often seem to mean is they don’t want their food tainted with pesticides and their meat shot full of hormones or antibiotics. Many object to the way a few companies – Monsanto is the most famous of them – control so many of the seeds we grow. Michael Specter Read Quote
It is not possible to assert publicly that Monsanto is anything other than venal without being accused of being a sellout, a fraud, or worse. Michael Specter Read Quote
Why do people refuse to vaccinate their children against measles or whooping cough? In many cases, because they have never seen measles and have no idea what it might do. Michael Specter Read Quote
The numbers matter: underreporting of Lyme disease obscures the true burden of the illnesses, on individuals as well as on health-care systems. It also makes it harder to convince Congress to fund research. Michael Specter Read Quote
There has never been a verified scientific report that chelation therapy, a gluten-free diet, or anything else can cure autism. Michael Specter Read Quote
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has established highly specific criteria for the diagnosis of Lyme disease: an acknowledged tick bite, the appearance of a bull’s-eye rash, and, for those who don’t live in a region where Lyme is common, laboratory evidence of infection. Michael Specter Read Quote
