#1629: Catherine Frompovich

Catherine Frompovich is an antivaccine loon who writes for the International Medical Council on Vaccination (an Orwellian name if there ever was one) and has (proudly) co-authored several papers with anti-vaccine legend Harold Buttram. In particular, Frompovich, who claims to have a degree in “orthomolecular therapy,” which is not a medical degree, is most familiar for touting the idea that shaken baby syndrome (SBS) (or, as it is correctly termed, “abusive head trauma”) does not only not exist, but is really a misdiagnosis for vaccine injury, an idea (discussed here) “so unbelievable and so outrageous that” that it should have “died off by now through the sheer contempt and ridicule so justly heaped upon it by anyone with a modicum of critical thinking skills.” Of which, unfortunately, Frompovich is in short supply. She’s also a bit desperate for evidence for her delusion, naturally enough, and will apparently use anything that comes her way, regardless of quality and even if it does in no way even purport to support her idea. In fact, Frompovich has (with Buttram) even made presentations on SBS for the FDA. We do not know how the FDA reacted, but we suspect they’re used to facepalming.

Frompovich still believes that “vaccines DO cause autism.” Not only that, but the FDA, official health agencies and pharmaceutical companies know this. As evidence she, well, uses whatever seems to come her way, such as vaccine court rulings, which do, to put it mildly, not indicate that any such connection exists – Frompovich is fond of dumpster diving in the VAERS database, something anti-vaxxers are fond of and which is proof as good as any that they have no idea how evidence works, and Frompovich truly loved this one, which itself demonstrates that she has no idea what its significance might be. She also links to scientific studies that she has apparently not read and far less understood. Par for the course.

Her work has also been published by Age of Autism and VacTruth.org – notably an article with the title “Aborted Human Fetal Cells in Vaccines” (yes, that gambit; only the purest and craziest of antivaxx morons dare run that one.) And she is the author of a book, Vaccination Voodoo: What YOU Don’t Know About Vaccines, which does, indeed, tell you a lot of stuff neither you nor Frompovich or anyone else know or could know about vaccines – it has as much to do with reality as Time Cube. Here is a deconstruction of one of her articles on Gardasil. Needless to say, she has no idea what she is talking about.

Diagnosis: Fuming conspiracy theorist. As such, she has made a name for herself among other fuming conspiracy theorists and the darker parts of comment sections on health-related articles. Crazy as shit, and anyone who ever cites any of her stuff has automatically lost whatever argument they were engaged in and should be laughed out of the room.