#2779: Peter Doshi

Peter Doshi is a professional crank and denialist, senior editor of the BMJ, and largely responsible – together with antivaxxer and whale.to-style conspiracy theorist Paul Thacker – for the fall of the BMJ from being a leading medical journal to one that is at least not consistenly trustworthy. Doshi has been senior editor for a while, to the delight of the anti-vaccination movement as well as of various pseudoscience, denialist and conspiracy theory groups; in particular, Doshi seems to enjoy distributing misinformation, speculation and conspiracy theories about epidemiology. Doshi is an anthropologist, and has no background or expertise in epidemiology (or medicine more generally).

 

Doshi on the flu shot

An early foray into denialism and conspiracy theories was his 2005 claim, in the BMJ, that flu death estimates were heavily flawed: “Are US flu death figures more PR than science?” asked Doshi, and followed up with an article for the Christian Science Monitor (CSM) and for Harper's Magazine, in which he – possibly wilfully – failed to “understand the system or the basis for the estimates. Moreover if one really counted [non-respiratory] flu-associated deaths the figure could easily be a gross underestimate.” Doshi, however, undeterred by his failure to understand the topic, went on (in 2008) to publish a paper questioning the risk of pandemic influenza in the American Journal of Public Health, where he suggested that falling flu mortality rates in the decades after 1919 is not “the result of influenza vaccination” but of “improvement in living conditions or naturally acquired immunity.” He was invited to and spoke at a 2009 conference (discussed here) arranged by the Joseph Mercola-funded anti-vaccine organization the National Vaccine Information Center together with Andrew Wakefield.

 

Doshi's flu nonsense has, if anything, become even crankier in later years. In a JAMA Internal Medicine opinion paper (not a research paper!) from 2013, Doshi questioned, based on no evidence, the idea that influenza is a “major public health threat for which the annual vaccine offers a safe and effective solution”. His main gambit was a nirvana fallacy (because flu vaccines aren’t 100% effective they are worthless, even if they still save thousands of lives), but he also toyed with germ theory denialism, claiming, against all facts and evidence, that “influenza viruses appear to be a minor contributor” to flu. The piece followed another nonsense opinion piece in The BMJ that played up potential dangers of flu shots and questioned their efficacy, and which was widely celebrated by anti-vaccine groups. Again, it is important to note that Doshi is not an epidemiologist but an anthropologist who has “completed a fellowship in comparative effectiveness research” but no research into influenza or vaccines. Given that the antivaxx group tended to respond with claims like “Johns Hopkins Scientist Reveals Shocking Report on Flu Vaccines”, even Johns Hopkins had to intervene to point out that Doshi “has no scientific affiliation with Johns Hopkins, nor is he employed by any of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions”. Because of his lack of actual expertise in real vaccine research (but the potential to try to distort the image to make it look like he has such expertise), Doshi was an “expert witness” for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine group Children’s Health Defense.

 

COVID

Doshi was quick to go denialist on COVID-19 vaccines, too; even before the initial vaccine trials had finished, Doshi went on to suggest that the trials couldn’t show that COVID-19 vaccines prevent severe cases. Real virologists were not impressed with Doshi’s errors and misinformation, in particular his inept and deranged nonsense about methodological issues (Doshi claimed that the trials should not have excluded people who had flu-like symptoms but not COVID – and for whom the COVID vaccine obviously didn’t have much benefit – from the “have COVID” group). Anti-vaccine groups and anti-vaccine legislators like Ron Johnson were impressed, however, and Doshi was promptly invited to testify before a government panel, where he claimed that most COVID-19 hospitalizations were among vaccinated people, based on a report error that swapped the word “vaccinated” with “unvaccinated” – easily corrected, of course, unless you’ve already committed yourself to a conclusion. Doshi also claimed that mRNA vaccines are not really vaccines.

 

In 2022, Doshi managed to publish (together with a number of other anti-vaccine-adjacent conspiracy theorists like Joseph Fraiman, Sander Greenland and Patrick Whelan) a worthless exercise in p-hacking (to bias its results “in favor of the conclusion that the risk of serious adverse [vaccine-related] events are greater than the risk of serious COVID-19 outcomes”) in the BMJ itself, which went viral among anti-vaccine groups and is debunked e.g. here, here and here. In the paper, Doshi also treated the VAERS database as if it were a robust source, which it doesn’t even try to be, so even without the p-hacking it would have been stunningly worthless. (A hilariously inept defense of the paper by Norman Fenton, Professor of Risk Information Management at Queen Mary University of London, must be seen to be believed.)

 

For the New York Times, Doshi also co-authored a piece with antivaccine activist and Goop promoter Jennifer Block on COVID vaccine rollout problems, which the piece described as “needlessly divisive to use pressure, shame or mandates to get people vaccinated.”

 

Miscellaneous

Back in the days, Doshi also signed a letter supporting the HIV/AIDS denialist group Rethinking AIDS, which aimed to counter what they perceived as the false narrative pushed by “the AIDS industry and media” that “only a handful of scientists who doubt the HIV-AIDS hypothesis”. Actual HIV-denying scientists with relevant credentials don’t amount to even what can reasonably be called “a handful”, and Doshi has later repudiated the association; his name is still on the list, however.

 

Here is a decent illustration of Doshi’s proclivity to see nefarious conspiracy theories all around him.

 

Diagnosis: Denialist and hack who likes to pontificate on issues outside of his areas of expertise – a common enough type of character trait in denialist circles, but Doshi has, somehow, managed to hold onto a position as editor of the BMJ. He is, accordingly, in a position to cause immense harm with misinformation and conspiracy theories. The broader question, however, is of course: What the hell is wrong with the BMJ?

 

Hat-tip: Rationalwiki

#2778: Bobby Doscher

Bobby Doscher is an Oklahoma City-based chiropractor (the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Children’s Chiropractic Center “Oklahaven”), and apparently something of an authority in the chiropractic community – at least she is a somewhat sought-after teacher and practitioner ready to hold seminars and talks to introduce people to the magic of chiropractic, in particular chiropractic targeting children: “With gentle realignments of the spine, the life force – or the vibrations that hold every cell in the body together – flows freely into the tissue, which has been so tight for these children for so long, restoring life,” says Doscher. In chiropractic practice, this life force is known as “innate intelligence,” according to Doscher, “but it has many other names including the Holy Spirit and Chi.” And if anyone were ever to think that chiropractic – at least its core parts, those that go beyond standard physiotherapy, such as subluxation theory – was anything but New Age pseudoreligion, or that it had anything to do with, say, science or reality, they can easily put those confusions to rest. (And even if you were sympathetic to such stuff, we suspect you’d be hard pressed to explain what it means and how its beneficial for your body for ‘vibrations to flow freely into your tissue’).

 

Doscher, though, seems to think otherwise: “Chiropractic Based on Scientific Fact”, declares Doscher in an explicit endorsement of the pseudoscientific nonsense known as subluxation theory. The vision of her organization, Oklahaven, is accordingly “making chiropractic the first resort for health for the children.” And according to herself and her folio of subjectively validated anecdotes, Oklahaven has experienced great results treating a range of conditions, including “learning disabilities, developmentally delayed, dyslexia ADD, ADHD, autism, and cerebral palsy.”

 

In fact, Doscher is not only a “D.C.” but also an “N.D.”, and she is affiliated with something called the Gemstone Therapy Institute, which introduces people to the rites and tenets of the insane religious nonsense of New Age gemstone magic. She is also a fan of sacred geometry.

 

Diagnosis: Doscher has some influence, and she specifically targets children and parents, especially those finding themselves in challenging situations. She’s no doubt sincere in her beliefs, which seem to be unfettered by reality. And as Edzard Ernst points out, sincerity makes a quack more dangerous, not less.

#2777: Paul Dorr

Paul Dorr is the director of the Iowa-based drooling fundie hate group Rescue the Perishing (Dorr calls it a “crisis center and pro-life, pro-family movement”), which fortunately seems to be a rather small affair. Dorr himself, however, managed to gain some national attention for his book-burning event in 2018, when he burned a number of LGBTQ-themed library books because the “shameful and wicked” literature should not be read to children. Dorr carried out his book-burning to protest the annual Orange City, Iowa, Pride weekend, and the event accompanied by reading from a blog post titled, “May God And The Homosexuals of OC Pride Please Forgive Us!” in which he blames feminism, Hollywood, basketball, money, and sex-ed for “destroying children.”

 

“I have checked out, from the Orange City Library, several of the books targeting 4- and 5-year olds, which the drag queens will likely be reading to children here in Orange City this evening,” explained Dorr: “These copies, owned by the city of Orange City, Iowa, will not be part of those they get to read, as I am going to do what the German church leaders should have done in 1933. I am now going to burn these copies.” Precisely what he intended to convey with his reference to 1933 is somewhat unclear, but he did at least managed convey (redundantly) that Paul Dorr’s mind is a festering piece of rot.

 

Currently (2024), his website is largely dominated by rabid anti-vaccine misinformation and wild-eyed conspiracy theories, with links to Sherri Tenpenny and America’s Frontline Doctors, though there is of course plenty of anti-gay rants as well for those who go looking.

 

Diagnosis: Dingbat moron. But he is angry, and quite possibly dangerous to his immediate surroundings.

#2776: Joel Dorfman

 

Anti-vaccine groups – usually identifiable by names including the phrases “vaccine choice” or “health freedom” – have become a political force to reckon with, and they exist everywhere in the US. Joel Dorfman, for instance, is chairman of the board of the antivaccine group Michigan for Vaccine Choice, and though he’s but one member of one of a large number of such groups, at least he’s been given the opportunity to spread antivaccine misinformation in local Michigan media outlets, such as when weighing in – and apparently being treated as some kind of authority – on a case where a local anti-vaccine mother, Rachel Bredow, wanted to defy custody-arrangements when the father wished to get their kid properly immunized: “If this child is injured as a result of being given eight immunizations, who do you think is going to take care of the child?” asked Dorfman.

 

Yes, Dorfman sees vaccine injuries everywhere, and is not afraid to use your familiar array of standard anti-vaxx tropes to support his (delusional) narrative, for instance by appealing to the “unavoidably unsafe” gambit while simultaneously claiming to be educated on the topic (a contradiction), and by recommending legislators (Dorfman has also testified before the Michigan State Legislature) to read the conspiracy theory book Vaccine Epidemic (edited by well-known and leading anti-vaccine advocates Mary Holland, Louise Kuo Habakus & Kim Mack Rosenberg). Dorfman is apparently a lawyer; he has no discernible medical training.

 

Diagnosis: Local village idiot (yeah, we realize that the name suggests as much) and conspiracy theorist, but one of a rather disconcerting number of such; they’re zealous and hard-working and tireless, and all theirs efforts, instead of being used to do something constructive, go into trying to make the world a slightly worse place to live. It’s a tragedy.

#2775: Daniel Dopps

Chiropractors receive a lot of flak, and it is consistently well deserved. And there is no shortage of dumb ideas to criticize. One such idea is the idea, formulated by Wichita-based chiropractor Daniel Dopps, CEO and President at Mensez Technologies, isthe “Mensez” adhesive “lipstick”, a “persohal hygiene product” intended to replace tampons and pads. The stick is “a natural patented compound of amino acids and oil in a lipstick applicator that is applied to the labia minora and causes them to cling together in a manner strong enough to retain menstrual fluid in the vestibule above the labia minora where the vaginal opening and urethra exit;” and the “compound is instantly washed away with urine”. Well, as opposed to Dopps, you may have some idea why such a product has not been developed before (like basic chemistry and risk of infections). Actually, Dopps has some ideas about that, too: “[Y]ou as a woman should have come up with a better solution than diapers and plugs, but you didn’t. Reason being women are focused on and distracted by your period 25% of the time, making them far less productive than they could be. Women tend to be far more creative than men, but their periods that [sic] stifle them and play with their heads.”

 

Part of the motivation for developing the product also seems to stem from his rejection of the difference between a urethra and a vagina – “we’re using the vagina like a bladder just like tampons do,” says Dopps. Though he received some criticism, Dopps dismissed his critics as being lesbians – though he also emphasized that he was in no way bigoted against the LGBT community: “My receptionist is lesbian”, said Dopps. So there.

 

Diagnosis: There’s been some years, and we’ve at least still to see Dopps’s product hit the stores. He’s probably still a chiropractor with weird ideas, though. Just stay away.

 

Hat-tip: Kavin Senapathy @ forbes

#2774: Byron Donalds

Byron Lowell Donalds is the U.S. representative for Florida’s 19th congressional district since 2021 (when he ran on being a “Trump supporting, gun owning, liberty loving, pro-life, politically incorrect Black man”), member of the Freedom Caucus, and a serious wingnut and conspiracy theorist. In January 2021, Donalds voted to deny certification of electors from Arizona and Pennsylvania in the 2020 presidential election, and he has repeatedly claimed that Biden is not the legitimate president of the United States. As a staunch ally of Moms for Liberty (his wife Erika Donalds is apparently a central figure in the movement), Donalds has also become something of a nonsensical centerpiece in wingnut bookbanning efforts.

 

Before going to Congress, Donalds was a member of the Florida House of Representatives (from 2016), where he quickly made a name for himself as a tireless champion of wrong. As a state legislator, Donalds was for instance responsible for a series of efforts to make it easier for creationists and climate change denialists to remove materials they don’t like from public school curricula. In 2017, he introduced bills HB989 and HB827, whose corresponding Senate Bill, 1644 (co-sponsored by e.g. Dennis Baxley), was approved by the Senate Education Committee before dying, both of which were carefully tailored to undermine science education. Like many wingnuts, Donalds is no fan of science, and no fan of schools teaching kids science, like climate change: “I don’t believe in man-made climate change”. So there.

 

Diagnosis: A rising star in conspiracy-minded wingnut circles, Donalds has become something of a star in the rightwing’a bookban and anti-education efforts. And he’s unfortunately unlikely to go away anytime soon.

#2773: Ben Domenech

Benjamin Domenech is a blogger, editor, publisher, and television commentator: he is co-founder and publisher of The Federalist and host of The Federalist Radio Hour, writes The Transom (a daily subscription newsletter), co-founded the RedState group blog and is a Fox News as a commentator in 2021. He was briefly (three days) a blogger for Washington Post as well in 2013, but lost the gig over numerous instances of plagiarism. (By contrast, he lost his relationship with The Washington Examiner and The Huffington Post due to corruption.)

 

The Federalist, after launching in 2013, was quickly recognized as “a leading disseminator of pro-Trump conspiracies and up-is-down, funhouse-mirror distortions of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election meddling and potential Trump involvement.” During Covid, they were a major disseminator of fake news, denialism and conspiracy theories about the pandemic, with many articles in these categories being written by Domenech himself. federalist co-founder Sean Davis, for instance, accused the Democrats of intentionally trying to “destroy the economy” as a “last-ditch 2020 play”), and Domenech published an absolutely demented piece, “How Medical 'Chickenpox Parties' Could Turn The Tide Of The Wuhan Virus” (penned by someone identified as “a physician in Oregon” – presumably Douglas Perednia), recommending that people hold “chickenpox”-style parties for the coronavirus to build herd immunity, leading to The Federalist being temporarily suspended from Twitter. The publication is also notoriously cagey about where it’s funding comes from.

 

Otherwise, Domenech promotes most of the kind of wingnut dreck you’d expect. He’s of course anti-abortion, and because he’s an intellectual midget, he likes to make the case easy for himself by, instead of engaging with reality, arguing from premises such as “Progressives hate babies because they’re crying, drooling, pooping refutations of everything woke leftists believe.”

 

Domenech is also a creationist. “I personally don’t have a problem with evolution being taught in public schools,” says Domenech, but “I occasionally have a problem with the way it is taught – as a final, solid, unquestioned truth, as opposed to a still-changing theoretical approach that many scientists think best explains the way things came to be […] An academic survey a couple of years ago [which?] found that nearly a third of hard scientists believed in theories other than the typical evolutionary construct – either something involving genetic mutation, or intelligent design, or something inspired by Stephen Jay Gould, or the like”. Given that Gould (and genetic mutation) is very much evolutionary biology mainstream, one can safely conclude that Domenech, as usual, doesn’t have the faintest clue what he is talking about. That doesn’t prevent him from engaging in dishonest and stupid reasoning, claiming falsely that “no less prominent an evolutionist than Stephen Jay Gould has lent weight to the theories of Michael Behe and his brethren” (he really, really hasn’t; Domenech just made that up.) and that “biological evolution in the macro remains a theory”. “I do take Genesis literally. And I believe the commonly taught theory of evolution is a total crock,” concludes Domenech.

 

Diagnosis: Apparently, Domenech is what passes for an intellectual in wingnut circles. Domenech is not an intellectual in any sense of the word, however, any more than any random QAnon conspiracy theorist on social media. But since the image somehow sticks, he’s managed to gain a not insignificant amount of influence in wingnut circles.