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Blake Murdoch

@blakemurdoch.bsky.social
1.3K followers 98 following 192 posts

JD, MBA. Canadian. Health policy, law, bioethics and inconvenient truths.

PostsRepliesMedia
Blake Murdoch @blakemurdoch.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
I'm not the first to say this, but if Ms Rachel is considered controversial then we’ve completely lost our way as a society. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
theguardian.com
Ms Rachel, the controversial queen of toddler TV: ‘My goal isn’t to be the most liked. It’s to help kids and speak the truth’
Her catchy videos have racked up billions of views, but Rachel Accurso’s statements on everything from Gaza to LGBTQ rights have caused a stir. She talks about screen time, song fatigue and speculatio...
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Julia M. Wright @juliamwright.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Great piece here, with info from @mark-ungrin.bsky.social and @drdavidkeegan.bsky.social .
ctvnews.ca
‘Outdated’ health policies surrounding Covid still pose a danger today, says U of C researcher
University of Calgary professor Mark Ungrin has dedicated years of research highlighting what he believes is of significant concern to all Canadians’ health.
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Blake Murdoch @blakemurdoch.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Typical CDC, regardless of the political party in power
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Jared Wesley @jaredwesley.ca · 21/07/2026
Given that long waits prompt would-be voters to leave the lines (that's part of the UCP's strategy for urban areas), conventional get-out-the-vote strategies fall short if they don't encourage people to use advance polls and mail-in ballots. +
specialballot.elections.ab.ca
Special Ballot Request · Voter Registration Portal
voter registration election elector register
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The Beaverton @thebeaverton.com · 04/07/2026
Mark Carney promises to take climate change seriously once every other problem on Earth is solved
thebeaverton.com
Mark Carney promises to take climate change seriously once every other problem on Earth is solved
"Things are tough right now. And as the saying goes, ‘when the going gets tough, quit doing the hard stuff and just cling to what kind of worked in the past.'"
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Blake Murdoch @blakemurdoch.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Getting a ton of rain in western Canadian cities apparently means nothing, only wind direction is saving us from the smoke hellscape that blankets much of Canada as Saskatchewan, Manitoba, NWT and Quebec ignite en masse. zoom.earth/maps/satelli...
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Blake Murdoch @blakemurdoch.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Large study: Covid infection increases dementia risk 18% (similar to other viruses), but 4x Covid vaccination reduces dementia risk by 31%. Interesting implication that dementia risk could be lower when 4x vaccinated + infected vs pre-covid. Lifestyle bias? onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
SARS‐CoV‐2 Infection, Vaccination Status, and Dementia Risk: A Nested Case–Control Study
Objectives Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) may affect cognition, but its association with incident dementia remains inconsistent. We explored the association of SARS-CoV...
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Raffi_RC @raffic.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
design with the child in mind. www.nbcnews.com/think/opinio...
nbcnews.com
Opinion | Raffi Cavoukian: To save the world, rebuild it for children
Science and economics support the moral and civic duty of caring for our young from their earliest days.
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Blake Murdoch @blakemurdoch.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
"Inhalation exposure to [wildfire smoke particulates]... increases susceptibility to respiratory viral infection." All struggles are interconnected. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Woodsmoke particle exposure prior to SARS-CoV-2 infection alters antiviral response gene expression in human nasal epithelial cells in a sex-dependent manner
Inhalational exposure to particulate matter (PM) derived from natural or anthropogenic sources alters gene expression in the airways and increases susceptibility to respiratory viral infection. Woodsm...
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Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
About 6 months ago, Marty Makary, Vinay Prasad and Tracy Beth Hoeg falsely claimed that they had data showing that COVID19 vaccines killed 10 children. The public has never seen those data, and we never will, b/c they have all been booted, as they richly deserve for lying to the people of the US.
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Jonathan Howard @joho.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
A fountain of disinformation from doctors who specialize in it.
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Trish Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Awful news about the cruise ship outbreak. Just waiting for the WHO announcement: “FACT: hantavirus is not airborne”.
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NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Doctors say that vaccines protect children from dangerous diseases. A nepo baby who barbecues dogs and snorts cocaine off toilet seats says that vaccines make children vulnerable to 5G radiation. For busy parents, it can be hard to know who to trust.
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Chantzy @chantzy.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
February 2026 - the BMJ publishes a piece called "Why covid-19 is “a vascular disease masquerading as a respiratory one” Some of us have been screaming this for years www.bmj.com/content/392/...
bmj.com
Why covid-19 is “a vascular disease masquerading as a respiratory one”
Covid-19 is not just a respiratory infection. Cardiovascular symptoms are seen in both acute and long covid. Katharine Lang reports on what we’ve learnt since the onset of the pandemic Cardiovascular...
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Barry Hunt @barryhunt008.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
You don't need to be an Olympic athlete or an astronaut to wear a respirator Your life is precious too ❤️
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Blake Murdoch @blakemurdoch.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
If you're having trouble with your mood, don't forget to feed your intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells. 😉
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Parksy @pfparks.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Well ain’t that something. The politician “experts” saying more people vaccinated would not have helped. Complete and utter BS. Better build many many more hospitals UCP… or is the plan to just keep letting ABs die in the ED WRs?
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Hazel B. 🇨🇦 @hab3261.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Alberta’s flu season is the deadliest in years, yet the UCP is doubling down on anti-expert rhetoric. While doctors state clearly that higher vaccine uptake would save lives, the government is calling that "false" to cover for their failing health policy. Spin kills. #AbLeg #Abpoli #Cdnpoli
A political graphic titled "Alberta's Flu Season—Jan 2026 comments." It compares "Medical Experts" on the left with "UCP Spin" on the right. On the left, Dr. Stephanie Smith states that increasing vaccination rates would prevent severe disease, calling it a "fact." On the right, a UCP statement claims it is "false" that realistic vaccine uptake could have prevented a heavy impact. The bottom asks, "The Difference Is...?" and cites a Jan 26, 2026, CBC article by Jen Lee.
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Bean & Sprout's Mom @beansproutsmom.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
I keep saying this over and over: You cannot be pro-infection and pro-vax. Those who have been pro-infection (from the early unicorn kids in magical virus blocking schools to the more insidious 'hybrid immunity' and 'immunity debt' narratives) own a LOT of this.
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Blake Murdoch @blakemurdoch.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
#1 popular shows on Rotten Tomatoes in the past year that rely on the character trope of child or infant death to "flesh out" their adult characters: 1. His and Hers 2. Stick 3. The Beast in Me 4. Untamed 5. The Girlfriend Probably more. Just fucking stop already
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NB COVID info @nbcovidinfo.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
Please push back loudly against the chronic absenteeism propaganda. It’s absence. It’s absence due to illness. That is the no 1 reason for kids missing school. A big driver of that is that buses and school buildings are not safe/healthy for kids or workers. Everyone in school deserves healthy air.
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Philip Palermo @palermo.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
Disappointed to see Jon Stewart & co joke about masking in public. I do it for my medically fragile daughter (Batten Disease). People not masking properly led to her getting pneumonia, which led to her being on life support, which led to me getting price quotes on her cremation just in case.
A screenshot of an episode of The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart with captions that read:

Tim Miller: Well, it's a progressive outlet, so there are a couple of people wearing masks.

Jon Stewart: Oh, there's always two. And you always say, "Oh, are you sick?" 

And they go, "Uh, I don't want to talk about it."
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doctor eep (𝘢̶𝘭̶𝘵̶ℴ𝒻𝒻𝒾𝒸𝒾𝒶𝓁 decorative gourd season) @absolutely-not.bsky.social · 28/12/2025
in a very real way, jon stewart's greatest public accomplishment is premised on a willful and reckless disregard for ppe. if firefighters had worn proper respiratory protection on 9/11, all he'd have is a few peabody awards and some money.
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Blake Murdoch @blakemurdoch.bsky.social · 28/12/2025
Liberals in a nutshell. You just have to wait for their slip up moments then you realize they are actually conservatives from 2020, and some of them would be fascists if given a little scratch. As the saying goes.
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Mark Ungrin @mark-ungrin.bsky.social · 27/12/2025
Look at this chart and remember: 1) the COVID immune damage claim is that after a COVID infection, influenza gets worse vs 2) the "immunity debt" claim is that after a bad influenza season, influenza gets better Now look at how 2022-23 compares to previous years, and ask "Which claim was right?"
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Da(N95)iella [fka DaniAtomicus] @sharpflower.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
I spoke to the people who continue to shape their lives around avoiding [cholera/typhoid/dysentery] and only drinking ‘clean’ water
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Dr Noor Bari @njbbari3.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
Quite apart from the misinterpreted and poorly presented science that will continue to get some of his readers killed or disabled, I’d like to point out another glaring factual error. People that wear masks did not and do not refuse to enter society. Society refuses to accept mask wearers.
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Chantzy @chantzy.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
People I know who were equivocal about climate change a decade ago are now very convinced it's a large threat. These same people are equivocal about the threat of long COVID now. History repeats
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Samuel Hurtado @samuelhurtado.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
I used their results to build this table, I think it is a cleaner way to convey that message
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Blake Murdoch @blakemurdoch.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
25% reduction in all cause mortality over 4 years for those vaccinated against covid, huge study. Wow, this almost suggests covid is implicated in an unbelievable number of deaths. And that vaccinated people should wear respirators if they want to remain abled. www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/mrn...
cidrap.umn.edu
mRNA COVID vaccines tied to drop in death rate for 4 years
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Chantzy @chantzy.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
3 children die from influenza A complications in Ontario 💔 Still no airborne virus mitigations in schools, hospitals, healthcare, LTC Even in this article, handwashing is the first bullet listed on how to prevent getting the flu 😡 www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/artic...
ctvnews.ca
3 children die from influenza A-related complications in Ottawa and eastern Ontario region
Three children have died from flu-related complications in the Ottawa area, as officials report a “rapid and significant rise” in Influenza A in the region.
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Chantzy @chantzy.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
If only there were something we could do to prevent the problems we've chosen not to prevent
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Blake Murdoch @blakemurdoch.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
Reddit: "The people who are studying the impact of COVID literally talk about it in the past tense, as if we are building monuments to some past event. Like “wow we should learn from COVID to listen to disabled people” you mean the disabled people trying to tell you covid is still ongoing??!"
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Mark Ungrin @mark-ungrin.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
If it doesn't get inside you, it can't make you sick. Respirators are designed by experts to help protect you from aerosol hazards, including COVID, the flu and other airborne diseases, and tested to make sure they are effective - and they are. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a quack.
independent.co.uk
Does wearing a face mask stop you catching flu? Experts give verdict
Wearing a mask is inconvenient, but not as inconvenient as lockdowns
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🇨🇦Joe Vipond🇨🇦 @jvipondmd.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
just passed the peak of flu last year. and exponential rise ongoing
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Blake Murdoch @blakemurdoch.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
This study is amazing, it demonstrates that close contact is slightly, but far less risky for respiratory infections than total exposure time in congregate settings & poor indoor air quality (basically, airborne long distance transmission). Engineers can solve this. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
The relative contribution of close-proximity contacts, shared classroom exposure and indoor air quality to respiratory virus transmission in schools - Nature Communications
The relative importance of close-proximity interactions, shared space and air quality to the transmission of respiratory viruses is not well understood. Here, the authors investigate this question by ...
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Nick Tsergas @nicktsergas.ca · 08/12/2025
Why the “immunity debt” narrative ultimately collapsed: Over the past few months, the conversation has moved toward the conclusion the evidence has been pointing to for years. Since 2022, immunity debt offered an easy explanation for the unusual patterns of illness we kept seeing. 1/7
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Chantzy @chantzy.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
Accusing people with long Covid or other invisible illnesses of having "Munchausen syndrome" & using terms like this to deny someone's real suffering is emotional abuse
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Blake Murdoch @blakemurdoch.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... "Our findings redefine SARS-CoV-2 infection as a condition of long-lasting immune compromise." But sure, keep basing your life on the idea that it's fine to get reinfected annually.
sciencedirect.com
Persistent Attenuation of Lymphocyte Subsets After Mass SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Growing evidence suggests that lymphocyte subsets are declined in COVID-19 patients, but it is unclear if these alterations persist after widespread e…
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Dr. Jen Irwin @drjenirwin.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
Read this twice. “Our findings redefine SARS-CoV-2 infection as a condition of long-lasting immune compromise.” www.sciencedirect.com:5037/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
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Michelle Cohen @docmcohen.medsky.social · 05/12/2025
Not one fucking word from any quoted health expert on cleaning classroom air. Yes, talk about vaccines, ofc that's important. But there's something else we could talk about here: a measure that protects everyone but doesn't trigger endless debates on the choice to vaccinate. Clean classroom air!
cbc.ca
Children’s hospitals face flood of flu visits as physicians urge Canadian families to get vaccinated | CBC News
An early start to Canada’s flu season is hitting children hard, sending a flood of young patients into multiple pediatric hospitals as medical teams warn that emergency visits and admissions could kee...
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Chantzy @chantzy.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
Like many Canadians, his death was hastened by Covid. Because of ableism, some may say "oh he had underlying conditions," but he was happy & living at home. The last pic he sent me was him smiling with his new kitten. After getting Covid, he couldn't text anymore & lived between the ER & LTC
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Julia Métraux @juliametraux.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
Unvaccinated infants are the second most likely group to get hospitalized for Covid after older adults. Any effort to minimize the effectiveness for kids is evil.
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Jonathan Howard @joho.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
We are supposed to believe that FDA paused and removed the J&J vaccine immediately after 6 cases of clotting, but they hid 10 kids dying from the mRNA vaccines until Prasad and Hoeg, who were always antivaxx, revealed the truth. Checks out.
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the corgi from cowboy bebop @realqrampage.fightins.online · 29/11/2025
I cannot even begin to express my rage at this lie reading this through me back into my pandemic EMT life, attempting to resuscitate a child experiencing a cardiac arrest secondary to COVID while a father says “we heard that the vaccine was riskier than COVID for kids” and a mother wails in agony
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Timothy Caulfield @caulfieldtim.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
WTF, @theatlanticpr.bsky.social ? Why give this anti-science, lying, grifter this kinda positive framing? He is a disaster. Period. False balance disaster👇
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Chantzy @chantzy.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
My highly controversial two prong solution for fixing healthcare in Canada 1. Tax the rich 2. N95s in all healthcare settings
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Matt Oliver @sameo416.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
To highlight Mark’s call out here, EBM acts in a way that reflects underlying colonial values labelling some types of knowledge as ‘savage’ and others as pure and holy. When used to control information this is colonialism manifest. Same strategy used to place Western knowledge over Indigenous.
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ali alkhatib @ali-alkhatib.com · 14/11/2025
i'm sorry to have to relay this, but Leslie Lee III has passed away. if you can help with his family's expenses, please read on. they need the help right now.
Please read. -YB. All proceeds from the GoFundMe will go to cover funeral costs and as temporary replacement of loss of income.This is YB, @stuffhedoes Leslie’s spouse. I am sad to share with you the tragic news of his passing on Monday, November 10th, aged 43. Leslie Lee III was a beloved husband, son, brother, uncle, cousin, nephew, and friend. He left us much too soon. I appreciate your kindness at this time, while we process our grief. 
If you wish, you can donate directly to his gofundme linked in his profile, any later news I will post from this account. A private service for family is being held this week with a memorial service to be held at a later date in NYC.
He was to me, my everything. 
He was an advocate for others with Long COVID. He was an amazing writer and  passionate podcaster.
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