Readers may remember the case of cheerleader Desiree Jennings who claimed she contracted dystonia, a rare neurological disorder after receiving a flu shot*.
Steve Novella blogged about this before and if you want a more detailed explanation of the case I recommend you buzz on over to Neurologica. He also gives commentary in this story from Inside Edition about Desiree’s seemingly amazing “recovery”.
So is it a hoax? Take a look.
* although the report above says it was the “seasonal flu” just about every news story I heard, flip-flopped between the H1N1 and the seasonal flu vaccine, and sometimes even within the same report. Media FAIL.
Tip o’the hat to Scooter
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Comments ( 8 )
Ilijas added these pithy words on Feb 07 10 at 5:26 pmOh my god… iggy pop stage moves, a mockney accent, and all that from the humble flu shot.
.Maybe this is my eastern european suspiciousness coming out, but methinks I smell a rat here.
.And the good “alt-med” doctor just happened to be there to get a tonne of free publicity from performing a miracle cure? Yeah… right…
Ilijas added these pithy words on Feb 07 10 at 5:29 pmAaaand I just saw the sideways crab-walk!
I think this girl needs a good psychiatric assessment, on top of everything else.
reasonablehank added these pithy words on Feb 07 10 at 5:42 pmI don’t know that we can question the veracity of Desiree’s claims. Her mom is a mom after all. I hear that louder than any statement from a qualified, trained, respected neurologist. What kind of name is Novella, anyway?
Ilijas added these pithy words on Feb 07 10 at 8:46 pmI know, I mean how could you possibly respect anyone with *that* hair…. I mean, really….
Chris added these pithy words on Feb 08 10 at 2:21 amreasonablehank:
What kind of name is Novella, anyway?Italian. From listening to the Skeptics Guide to the Universe that Dr. Novella does with a couple of his brothers and some friends, it has has been mentioned.
Paul added these pithy words on Feb 08 10 at 10:23 amHow long has steve’s site been down? I’m getting a ‘account suspended’ message when trying to access Neurologica!
Chris added these pithy words on Feb 08 10 at 10:51 amAccording to a post Steve made at the SGU forum they exceeded their bandwidth with the host. Apparently the above story, a good mention in an LA Times health blog and being linked at Reddit caused too many hits. The host has been slow to respond on the weekend, both Neurologica and the Rogues Gallery will be switching hosts soon.
I am about to listen to Dr. Raichie on Skeptically Speaking (a Canadian skeptical radio show).
