Derek Beres

I keep my account open because I monitor misinformation for a living, and this is obviously somewhere I have to spend time. But I post and engage with people here: @derekberes" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">threads.net/@derekberes And here: bsky.app/profile/derekb…

@BerryRazi @matthewremski @JulianMWalker @calleymeans Oh, the implementation? But you wrote this: The Flexner Report in 1910 didn’t expose failures. It was funded by Carnegie and Rockefeller and explicitly targeted anything that wasn’t drug based medicine.

John D. Rockefeller funded the implementation of the Flexner Report’s recommendations through his General Education Board, which he endowed with over $180 million overall, including $45 million specifically earmarked in 1919 for medical education reforms. This funding was managed by key figures including Frederick T. Gates, who advised Rockefeller, and Abraham Flexner, hired as the GEB’s secretary in 1913, along with Simon Flexner in related efforts. They directed grants to compliant medical schools such as Johns Hopkins, Yale, and Vanderbilt that emphasized scientific medicine, full-time faculty, laboratory facilities, and hospital integration, while withdrawing support from homeopathic, eclectic, naturopathic, and other holistic institutions, causing their closure and the monopolization of allopathic, pharmaceutical-based medicine. The Rockefeller Foundation, established in 1913, amplified this by investing additional millions in U.S. and international medical education aligned with the report’s model, solidifying control over medical practice in collaboration with the Carnegie Foundation and the American Medical Association, thereby suppressing evidence-based naturopathic sciences and natural healing methods in favor of profit-driven drug monopolies. References 1. Ullman D. Rockefeller, the Flexner Report, and the American Medical Association: The Contentious Relationship Between Conventional Medicine and Homeopathy in America. Cureus. 2025;17(7):e87291. doi:10.7759/cureus.87291 2. Yoon HB, Myung SJ. The Impact and Implications of the Flexner Report on Medical Education in Korea. J Korean Med Sci. 2024;39(22):e182. doi:10.3346/jkms.2024.39.e182 3. Early 20th Century Reforms of Medical Education Worldwide. Rockefeller Archive Center. resource.rockarch.org/story/early-20…. Published January 10, 2022. Accessed November 16, 2025. 4. Flexner A. Medical Education in the United States and Canada: A Report to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. New York: Carnegie Foundation; 1910. carnegiefoundation.org/wp-content/upl…. Accessed November 16, 2025. 5. Bonner TN. Iconoclast: Abraham Flexner and a Life in Learning. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press; 2002.

RFK Jr's advisor, Calley Means, has repeatedly fabricated the story of Abraham Flexner and the birth of the modern medical system. Derek looks into his historical revisionism and what it could mean for the MAHA movement. conspirituality.net/episodes/brief…

@BerryRazi @JulianMWalker @calleymeans @matthewremski It's also wild that you've missed the fact that while Rockefeller funded medical education reforms AFTER the report was published, he continued to use a homeopathic doctor for the remainder of his life.

@derekberes, your take on naturopathic history misses some pretty important context. You’re telling a story that makes the current medical monopoly look inevitable, but that’s not what actually happened. About naturopaths “failing” before Flexner: That’s not accurate. Naturopathy was actually doing well in the early 1900s. Benedict Lust founded the American School of Naturopathy in 1902, and by 1909, twenty two states had licensing laws for naturopathic doctors. These weren’t fly by night operations. They were legitimate schools graduating hundreds of practitioners who were part of public health conversations. The Flexner Report in 1910 didn’t expose failures. It was funded by Carnegie and Rockefeller and explicitly targeted anything that wasn’t drug based medicine. Flexner literally called naturopathic and homeopathic programs “cults” that didn’t deserve support. That led to defunding and closures. Many of these eclectic medical schools were financially stable until the report came out and systematically destroyed them. On the adapt or die argument: Sure, some naturopaths incorporated evidence based practices over time. That’s not failure, that’s how medicine evolves. But here’s what you’re leaving out. The Flexner Report forced five out of seven naturopathic schools to close, and fifteen states revoked licenses by 1920. That wasn’t the free market at work. It was deliberate elimination of competition. Naturopathy came back in the 1970s because people fought for it, starting with new licensing in Arizona in 1968. About accreditation starting late: Yes, the modern Council on Naturopathic Medical Education ramped up in the 70s and 80s, but that ignores what existed before. Early naturopathic programs included four years of anatomy, physiology, hydrotherapy, nutrition, and clinical training. In many areas, especially preventive care, they went deeper than allopathic programs of that era. Today’s naturopathic doctors complete over 7,000 hours of training. Acting like the profession wasn’t legitimate until recent decades is like saying MDs weren’t “real doctors” until the AMA reformed things in the 1930s. The real story here is that the Flexner Report created a medical monopoly that pushed out naturopathy and limited what kinds of care patients could access. If you actually want to understand the history, check out the Flexner Report itself, or read Norman Gevitz’s Other Healers or James Whorton’s Nature Cures. The revisionist version on your podcast serves the establishment. Let’s talk about what really happened instead.

@BerryRazi @JulianMWalker @calleymeans @matthewremski The accreditation process that began in the 1970s/80s during a discussion about the turn of the 20th century?

@derekberes @JulianMWalker @calleymeans @matthewremski Respectfully this is an uneducated reply. You seem ignorant of the history and the rigor of accredited naturopathic medical school education.

@JulianMWalker @BerryRazi @calleymeans @matthewremski Another one trying to rewrite history. Naturopaths were either assimilating into evidence-based clinics or failing before Flexner was even assigned to write the report. I swear these people refuse to read a history book.

@BerryRazi @calleymeans @matthewremski You say that like it’s a bad thing…

@calleymeans @matthewremski Hi Calley! It was my episode. The part you're referencing is in regard to your claim that Rockefeller hired Flexner to write the report, which is, as I clearly stated, factually incorrect. Also your weird assertion that Flexner was a lawyer, which he never was. But please, go on!

@matthewremski Would be an amazing podcast if it wasn’t completely and utterly wrong.

@thereal_truther @SecKennedy @POTUS Funny how Kennedy conveniently leeves this passage out from the SAME STUDY HE CITES AS PROOF THEY'RE NOT THAT EFFECTIVE.

RFK Jr. is presenting the classic anti-vaccine argument where mortality in developed countries is emphasized over morbidity. Death is not the only consequence of preventable disease. Vaccines dramatically lower disease incidence, which translates into fewer hospitalizations, less disability, and reduced complications that extend beyond mortality statistics. For example, vaccines prevent serious morbidity like brain inflammation (encephalitis) and blindness caused by measles, paralysis from polio, permanent lung damage and pneumonia from whooping cough (pertussis), and cancers caused by hepatitis B or HPV infections. These severe complications can cause lifelong disability and profound health burdens even if patients survive the initial infection. In the USA, extensive analysis shows that vaccination has led to more than a 90% decline in the incidence of key infectious diseases like diphtheria, polio, Hib, measles, mumps, and rubella since vaccines were introduced. This dramatic decline correlates with sharp decreases in disease complications that were previously common causes of hospitalization and disability in children and adults. So while it's true that mortality was reduced pre-vaccine in developed countries like the USA it discounts the consequences of mass infection. Pre-vaccination 1,000 children under the age of 5 died in the USA from hib. 20,000 were infected. 1/3rd of those children suffered lifelong neurological harm. According to RFK Jr. those children don't matter.

To elevate America’s health, restore public trust, and reclaim our reputation for integrity and gold-standard science, @POTUS’s HHS will challenge even the most sacred public health dogmas through open debate and disciplined scientific scrutiny. Watch as I shred @SenatorCantwell's chart from my recent hearing—a chart she used to argue that vaccines saved hundreds of millions of American lives by pointing to the 20th-century decline in infectious diseases.

How does someone become an anti-vaxxer or come to believe that chemotherapy is more dangerous than cancer? I’ve spent all year working with Alexander Stockton and The NY Times trying to answer that question. Here’s our findings. nytimes.com/2025/09/09/opi…

@stampystamper She has never replied to our request for an interview 😂

@derekberes But not Enya

Sounds like a job for conspirituality @derekberes

Thanks to @harikunzru for including our book, Conspirituality, is this excellent deep dive into conspiracy culture.

@Cryptadamist I don't think Kennedy wrote it, but I would imagine he would have had to sign off on it. But you bring up a good point: if he didn't sign off, it could account for the resignation. We already know Kennedy lied about not knowing him.

@derekberes @derekberes have you wondered whether this guy actually wrote the RFK editorial endorsing the MMR? because i have cbsnews.com/news/rfk-jr-to…

While I'm not on this platform much, quite happy to return for this tonight.

@Eyeamfierce Uh, it's not my health claim. I would never believe such a thing.

@derekberes.bsky.social - I asked AI to back up your claim

Cancer misinformation is rampant and causes serious harm. Misinformation about causes and treatments of cancer cause worse health outcomes and premature death. I speak with @derekberes of Siris Health on their podcast, Clarity Lab ⬇️ youtu.be/LI2cTztummE?si…

@luckylaforet Yeah, and like I said, he has plenty of guests I like and are non-contentious. Makes no sense that he had to move into platforming health grifters. We have enough podcasts doing that already!

@derekberes thank you for the latest episode! I used to listen to that pod when he had a non pseudo-science guests & I stopped b/c of all the misinformation peddlers he started bringing on. I was disappointed b/c he was really likeable on Dragon’s Den

@ElieJarrougeMD @AntoniaMarrero @mcbyrne @matthewremski @DrM_Pappas @DrEricDing @luckytran @MaintenancePod @DeathPanel_ Ad hominem attack instead of addressing what's presented. Typical.

@AntoniaMarrero @mcbyrne @derekberes @matthewremski @DrM_Pappas @DrEricDing @luckytran @MaintenancePod @DeathPanel_ Feminist, she/her. That explains everything 🤦🏻‍♂️

Punching down. Eugenic doctor, selling a diet only the 1% can afford. Thanks @mcbyrne, for calling him out. Thanks @derekberes for debunking, & for alerting us all to “watch what they sell.” CC @matthewremski @DrM_Pappas @DrEricDing @luckytran @MaintenancePod @DeathPanel_

@AntoniaMarrero @mcbyrne @luckytran @DrM_Pappas @DeathPanel_ @MaintenancePod @matthewremski @DrEricDing Then he claps back at people for questioning his premise, when he included the "seed oil" buzzword nonsense. Just sad execution all around.

YOU BEGAN BY FRAMING OBESITY AS A “CIRCUS ATTRACTION.” YOU SELL A DIET AFFORDABLE BY ONLY THE 1%. DO YOU SUPPORT #TAXTHERICH? YOU WEAR N95s? NO? Then you’re a eugenicist. HT @mcbyrne @luckytran @DrM_Pappas @DeathPanel_ @MaintenancePod @matthewremski @derekberes @DrEricDing

@AntoniaMarrero @mcbyrne @luckytran @DrM_Pappas @DeathPanel_ @MaintenancePod @matthewremski @DrEricDing His entire premise is flawed. First off, being overweight was, in some cultures, a sign of wealth—they flaunted their ability to eat. People being skinny had more to do with being unable to afford/secure food, not because everyone was shopping at a proto-Whole Foods.