You know how you know when you’ve been effective deconstructing quackery or antivaccine pseudoscience? It’s when quacks and pseudoscientists strike back. It’s when they attack you. As much as Mike Adams’ near daily tirades against me last year caused problems and poisoned my Google reputation (which was, obviously, the goal), I could reassure myself with the knowledge that his attacks meant that I had gotten to him. When Steve Novella was sued by a quack, as much as I didn’t want to be sued by anyone, I knew that the fact that someone would sue him was testament to his effectiveness. Basically, counterattacks, character assassination, and, occasionally, legal threats are the price skeptics pay when they are effective...
Read more: Gwyneth Paltrow’s quack empire goop strikes back against Dr. Jen Gunter – Respectful Insolence
