Vaccines (thread 4), Episode 12: The Spine vs. Germs: D.D. Palmer’s Bold Rejection of Germ Theory

We finish our vaccine-hesitancy run with D.D. Palmer — the guy who blamed misaligned spines, not germs, for disease. He dismissed germ theory and vaccines with a breezy, totalizing confidence that’s oddly satisfying even if it’s wrong.

His appeal wasn’t scientific; it was psychological: simple explanations, clear fixes, and certainty when the world felt complicated. Charming, reassuring, and ultimately at odds with how infectious disease actually works.