Anti-vaccine course brings U of Toronto one step closer to offering a masters of pseudoscience

[n2doc]

TABATHA SOUTHEY
The Globe and Mail

Was the University of Toronto just feeling too venerable? Did a memo go out: “We’re looking pretty august here, scholars, let’s dial it down a bit. We don’t want to seem stuffy.”

Perhaps institutions selling diplomas on the backs of matchbooks are feeling the crunch these days, what with everyone vaping, and University of Toronto, the place where stem cells and insulin were discovered, is determined to level the playing field.

That’s the most charitable spin I can put on the university’s just released report – a document that gives an all-clear, or at least all-clear-enough, to an anti-vaccine course taught by homeopath Beth Landau-Halpern at U of T’s Scarborough campus’s department of anthropology, as part of the health studies program offered there.

“We will delve into quantum physics’ understanding of disease and alternative medicine to provide a scientific hypothesis of how these modalities may work…” Ms. Landau-Halpern promised those considering registering for her course, Alternative Health: Practice and Theory.



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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/u-of-t-one-step-closer-to-offering-a-masters-of-pseudoscience/article25419832/?click=sf_globefb

A BS in BS?

[SheilaT]

1. One course is hardly the entire downfall

of a good university.

[uppityperson]

2. I would have a difficult time sitting quietly through those classes.

[nenagh]

3. Enjoying...

the comments...

[tymorial]

4. This:

"That sentence, which has given actual quantum physicists the vapours, is the academic equivalent of reversing the polarity of the neutron flow to stabilize the fluctuations in the temporal rift. It’s the kind of babble that saves fictional spacecraft and kills real babies."

Okay, kudos for inserting both Victorian era understanding of emotional agitation and Jon Pertwee's favorite technobabble from his years on Dr Who. I applaud anyone who points out the danger of anti-vaccine hysteria and the pseudoscience that perpetuates the problem. This isn't just a baby problem though. No, this is an everyone problem. Our herd immunity is at risk and that can cause the death of adults such as we saw in Washington last week. Anyone who is immunosuppressed is at risk. Some children cannot be immunized. They are at risk because some parents believe in whackery instead of scientific fact. I am in Massachusetts and we have some areas where vaccination rates have dropped significantly. Some of these are due to poverty and a lack of education on the dangers. I have worked in those areas and the understanding of risk is not present. Some believe that they cannot afford immunizations for their children despite the fact that the state has programs to help. Some are just above the income level that would allow them free vaccinations but there are still providers who would administer at a reduced rate or free. Then we have the other group and those are the people I loath. They are largely white middle to upper class who believe that Jenny McCarthy knows more than any physician. It isn't just Jenny's fault though. news sites such as the Huffington Post peddle pseudoscience under the health section... its on Huffpo so it must be true.

Now, I am not totally against holistic health and alternative health treatments. I have known patients who have received tremendous help from those providers. I do believe that herbalists, acupuncturists, naturalists and other providers can help patients . I also believe that far too many people are overmedicated. Vaccinations however are necessary. They ought to mandated. The histrionics must end. You are more likely to have a serious adverse reaction or die from OTC cough syrup than you are from the immunizations from the standard vaccine schedule. Enough is fucking enough.

(sorry for the swear word but it was necessary for me).