31 August 2012 by Richelle McCullough
I don’t know what it is about vaccination that attracts so much vitriol, but in light of the recent pertussis outbreak which has claimed the life of an Albertan infant, I am loath to let anti-vaccine apologetics stand unchallenged. Today’s offering at the altar of McCarthy comes via Canadian pharmaceutical policy researcher, Alan Cassels. [...]
Posted in Health, Skepticism, Vaccines11 Comments
11 February 2012 by Richelle McCullough
9 Questions That Stump Every Pro-Vaccine Advocate and Their Claims found its way onto the Facebook page for the Winnipeg Skeptics when a member’s friend posted it, along with the qualification “if you can give me a good, scientifically-backed answer to each of these questions, I will vaccinate my children.” Oh, if it only were all [...]
Posted in Vaccines20 Comments
27 January 2012 by Richelle McCullough
While doing some digging into the quackery of a local acupuncturist, I came across a sentiment that I found more than usually appalling. In her story of why she became an acupuncturist, she tells a melodramatic tale about a positive Pap smear test result that changed her life*. There’s all the usual makings of an [...]
Posted in Alberta, Alternative Medicine, Health, Medicine, Skepticism, Vaccines21 Comments
08 December 2011 by Richelle McCullough
Over the course of my graduate degree, I slowly became more and more aware of the bad information in the media about science, ultimately leading to my interest in the skeptical movement. When I decided to a talk at Skepticamp Winnipeg 2011, I realized that I needed to address the way science exists in the [...]
07 December 2011 by Richelle McCullough
Image credit: B Tal Near my house in Winnipeg, there’s a summertime Farmer’s Market that I used to go to every weekend to buy fresh local fruits, vegetables and honey. I grew up in rural farming communities and come from a long line of farmers, so I like supporting the little guys who still run family [...]
Posted in Alternative Medicine, Diet and Nutrition, Prairies16 Comments
30 November 2011 by Richelle McCullough
Source There has been much abuzz about “pox parties” – the practice of parents getting a bunch of unvaccinated kids together with an infected one (pick one, really, though chicken pox is the focus of the recent article in Time) in the hope that their little sweethearts become ill and therefore “naturally” immune to the [...]
Posted in Alternative Medicine, Skepticism, Vaccines81 Comments
Richelle is a second-year medical student living in Calgary, but hails originally from Winnipeg. An outspoken advocate for lifestyle interventions within the scope of science-based medicine, Richelle’s favourite topic is to debunk complementary and alternative medicine. She is frequently trolled by geocentrists at her personal blog, Subspecies, and despite the distance, remains active with the Winnipeg Skeptics.
