According to The Defender, the study "claims people who choose not to get vaccinated against COVID-19 face a substantially higher risk of getting in a car crash than vaccinated people, which could justify higher insurance rates for the unvaccinated, prompting critics to pounce on the study’s flaws and researchers’ motives."
The study, published this month in The American Journal of Medicine, did not find that not having a vaccine actually caused more traffic accidents. Rather, the 'researchers' posited that there's a psychological reason why "vaccine hesitant" drivers "might also neglect basic safety guidelines," which is an absurd and baseless supposition.
"John Campbell, Ph.D., a nurse educator, and comedian and political commentator Russell Brand were among the critics who took issue with the study, citing its flaws and questioning the motives behind doing such a study," The Defender reported, adding that others were far less charitable in their criticism.
That includes Norman Fenton, Ph.D., a professor of risk information management at Queen Mary London University, who accused the journal of putting forth “a study in stupidity.”
Dr. Vinay Prasad, a hematologist-oncologist based at the University of California San Francisco, tweeted with LOL emojis: "[T]his also repeats the dumb idea that primary care doctors should specially counsel unvaccinated people about driving. How stupid! Will that lower accidents? (pure speculation) This only tells you that MMWR obs studies of VE are [poop emoji]."
? this also repeats the dumb idea that primary care doctors should specially counsel unvaccinated people about driving ?
How stupid! Will that lower accidents? (pure speculation)
This only tells you that MMWR obs studies of VE are ?https://t.co/6uUG7On3LM
— Vinay Prasad MD MPH (@VPrasadMDMPH) December 14, 2022
He added: "The authors are basically running a falsification test, and they find a ridiculous relationship. And then the media tries to spoon feed us the dumbest explanation I've ever heard in my life. Rather than accept the more plausible scenario that these are different groups of people!"
The authors are basically running a falsification test, and they find a ridiculous relationship. And then the media tries to spoon feed us the dumbest explanation I've ever heard in my life. Rather than accept the more plausible scenario that these are different groups of people!
— Vinay Prasad MD MPH (@VPrasadMDMPH) December 14, 2022
He went on to post a link to a study from a decade ago: "Ten years ago, we studied when observational study authors end their paper with unfounded baseless claims. Nothing changes."
Ten years ago, we studied when observational study authors end their paper with unfounded baseless claims
Nothing changes https://t.co/Z7dhMXj2EW
— Vinay Prasad MD MPH (@VPrasadMDMPH) December 14, 2022
The Defender notes further:
The study’s authors analyzed encrypted government data from 178 Ontario medical centers and more than 11.2 million residents of the province, of whom 84% had received a COVID-19 vaccine and 16% had not as of July 31, 2021. Among the study cohort, 6,682 people needed emergency care because they were involved in a serious car accident — either as a driver, a passenger or a pedestrian — during the one-month period the researchers analyzed.
Unvaccinated people accounted for 25% of the traffic accidents (1,682 cases), meaning they had a 72% increased risk of accidents relative to those who had taken the jab. When researchers adjusted for other variables such as age, sex, socioeconomic status and other medical conditions, the relative increased risk for the unvaccinated dropped to 48%.
The researchers went on to claim that their 'study' is significant because: “A relative risk of this magnitude … exceeds the safety gains from modern automobile engineering advances and also imposes risks on other road users.”
It's no wonder more Americans are losing faith in all of our institutions, with garbage like this passing as "science."
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