It’s that time of the year again when we give the “Pseudoscience (formerly Quack) Douchebag of the Year” award to our favorite anti-science loon. Last year, the lucky winner was Dr. Robert “Bob” Sears, an anti-vaccine pediatrician. Who will it be this year?
Because he holds the title, Dr. Bob is automatically nominated this year. But I’d like to hear from you on who else should be nominated. Leave your nomination in the comments section along with a short description on why this person should be given this prestigious (not) award.
The Poxes Blog 
How about Anna Stubblefield, the disgraced Chairperson of the Rutgers Philosophy Department? She has been a vocal proponent of facilitated communication, the quintessential pseudoscientific method that involves holding the hand of another person to make them type (the facilitator who holds the hand subconsciously types the messages, not the person with the disability). You’ll recall she used the method to gain consent for sex from a man with severe disability and, consequently, was convicted of rape in October. More here: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/10/05/rutgers-professor-convicted-sexually-assaulting-disabled-man
Now, THAT is douchey
Indeed. The disturbing story of Stubblefield was reported in New York Times magazine, which is surely one of the best long reads of the year. If you’ve not seen it, it’s totally worth the the 30-45 minutes you’ll spend reading it, thought I thought it was a bit soft on facilitated communication. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/magazine/the-strange-case-of-anna-stubblefield.html
Apologies for the double post. I wasn’t sure if my first one went through because there was no “comment awaiting moderation message” l. Since I have had problems with Firefox posting comments on WP blogs before I tried Chrome and same thing. Please feel free to delete one of the ents (doesn’t matter which) as well as this one.
Thanks,
-capnkrunch
No worries.
I nominate Hollie Singleton. She was the Australian mom who got ripped on for planning a chickenpox party. reasonable hank covered it in depth*. The money quote is:
“Truth as I see it is too harsh for most to accept: illness keeps population in control and is meant to eliminate the weak and build a stronger species. I’m not liked for that belief, but it is really how I believe we should be understanding our kind.”
Not many antivaxxers are awful enough to explicitly state the terrible beliefs that underly their world view.
*here: http://reasonablehank.com/2015/12/15/the-weak-are-meant-to-die-of-infectious-disease-chicken-pox-party-mum/
and here: http://reasonablehank.com/2015/12/24/poor-hollie-singleton-the-chicken-pox-party-martyr/
Holly Singleton. The Australian mother who planned a chickenpox party and got all upset when people called her stupid for it. reasonablehank wrote about her: http://reasonablehank.com/2015/12/24/poor-hollie-singleton-the-chicken-pox-party-martyr/.
Quoting her:
“…illness keeps population in control and is meant to eliminate the weak and build a stronger species.”
Billy DeMoss. Too many reasons to list.
Jay Gordon
He should be up for a lifetime achievement award.
Perhaps make him “Emerit-ass”?
Dr Jack Wolfson, the ‘integrative’ cardiologist, who thinks childhood diseases help cull the herd.
Now, that’s a douchebag if I’ve ever heard of one.
Heather Dexter as runner-up. Given that she actually abused her children in support of her quackery, she may deserve it more than Wolfson does.
My vote goes for Whooping Heather, too.