Richard Hirschman

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Richard Hirschman shows off his white fibrous clot with chunky ball sacs.
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“”Mr. Hirschman demonstrates the qualities of a good embalmer but a terrible scientist.
—Benjamin Schmidt, Science-Based Medicine, December 5, 2022[1]
“”I’m not a doctor nor a scientist — I never said I was.
—Richard Hirschman, FactCheck.org, December 1, 2022[2]

Richard "white fibrous clot with chunky ball sacs"[3] Hirschman is a licensed funeral director and embalmer in Alabama,[4][2] whose party trick is to show off his extensive collection of blood clots which he claims to have extracted from the cadavers of the vaccinated deceased (potentially without the permission of the next of kin).[5][6] He maintains he only started finding these “white fibrous clots”,[2] which look like “calamari”[7] and have "chunky ball sacs",[8] after the COVID-19 vaccines became available, and that they are to be found in 50 to 70 percent of the vaccinated,[4] but admits he has no actual evidence of a connection between the clots and the vaccines.[2] Apparently unaware of where to officially report his concerns, Hirschman instead took them to fellow cranks Jane Ruby, a frequent guest and co-host on Alex Jones's Infowars, and Stew Peters, who made Hirschman's testimony a key part of his 2022 American anti-vaccination film Died Suddenly.[9][7]

A clot too far[edit]

Hirschman and his collection of clots made a variety of media appearances throughout 2022 culminating in their movie debut.

Dr. Jane Ruby Show[edit]

Hirschman publicly unveiled his collection of "fibrous" clots on the January 26, 2022, episode of the Dr. Jane Ruby Show on the Stew Peters Network Rumble channel, stating that his "gut" tells him that these clots are caused by the vaccine.[10][11] The US National Funeral Directors Association confirmed annecdotal evidence of an uptick in clots in COVID-related deaths, however, these had been found in the vaccinated and the unvaccinated alike, and it has been suggested that they may be the result of the coronavirus rather than the vaccine.[11]

Hirschman's collection was subsequently featured in such reputable outlets as Alex Jones's NewsWars (January 28, 2022),[12][11], Mike Adams' Natural News (February 4, 2022),[13] and the Falun Gong's Epoch Times (September 2, 2022).[14][4] Expert responses to these articles noted that it is largely impossible to tell the cause of the clots by looking at them[4] and that his specimens appear to be nothing more than normal post-mortem clots.[15] Any apparent increase in the number of clots found by embalmers at this time has been put down to bodies spending longer in refrigeration due to the increased demand.[4] The claims and collection were, nonetheless, subsequently shared widely on social media.[4][16]

Died Suddenly[edit]

“”Yes, we embalmers love a good clot story, however it seems that the clot story in Died Suddenly is now being used to repackage many of the same old antivaccination tropes we have heard before.
—Benjamin Schmidt, Science-Based Medicine, December 5, 2022[1]

Hirschman's claim forms the central testimony of the first part of Stew Peters' 2022 American anti-vaccination film Died Suddenly.[7] The consensus of expert responses to the film was again that it is difficult to distinguish antemortem from postmortem clots[6] and that those in the film appear to be identical to expected post-mortem clotting,[9][2] and despite Hirschman's claiming to having never seen anything like this before, the film illustrates his claim with footage of clots from 2019 (before COVID-19 vaccines were available).[2] The authenticity of original autopsy footage in the film has also been cast into doubt by analysis by fellow embalmer Benjamin Schmidt.[1]

A further criticism as that as an embalmer Hirschman is unlikely to have access to the deceased's medical history, which would be essential for accurately analyzing a cause of death or even to ascertain their vaccination status. This was confirmed by the administrative assistant of one of the funeral homes where Hirschman has worked.[2] Schmidt's analysis of the film concludes that Hirschman suffers from confirmation bias and could have found the answers to many of his so-called mysteries by simply cracking open and embalming textbook.[1]

See also[edit]

  • John O'Looney — an aptly-named fellow funeral director who appeared alongside Hirschman in Died Suddenly supporting his clottish claims.

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 A clot too far: An embalmer dissects antivax misinformation about blood clots in Died Suddenly by Benjamin Schmidt, (December 5, 2022) Science-Based Medicine
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 ‘Died Suddenly’ Pushes Bogus Depopulation Theory by Saranac Hale Spencer, Jessica McDonald and Catalina Jaramillo (December 1, 2022) FactCheck.org
  3. ↑ Dr. Jane Ruby: Two new stunning discoveries found in blood clots from the COVID vaccinated – Brighteon.TV by Kevin Hughes (07/22/2022) Natural News (archived from July 25, 2022).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 US embalmer baselessly links clots to Covid-19 vaccines (September 19, 2022) AFP Fact Check
  5. ↑ Clot nonsense weaponized against COVID-19 vaccines by David Gorski (August 19, 2022) Respectful Insolence
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Died Suddenly: A tsunami of antivax misinformation and conspiracy theories by David Gorski (December 5, 2022) Science-Based Medicine
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 The film “Died Suddenly” rehashes debunked claims and conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 vaccines by Iria Carballo-Carbajal (November 29, 2022) Health Feedback
  8. ↑ Jane Ruby: The Mike Adams of nursing and health economics by David Gorski (July 29, 2022) Respectful Insolence
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Anti-Vaccine Documentary Died Suddenly Wants You to Feel, Not Think by Jonathan Jarry (November 25, 2022) McGill Office for Science and Society
  10. ↑ Worldwide Exclusive: Embalmers Find Veins & Arteries Filled with Never Before Seen Rubbery Clots (January 26, 2022) Stew Peters Network
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Embalmers finding ‘strange clots’ in jabbed people, by Naseem Ferdowsi (February 9, 2022) PolitiFact
  12. ↑ Shocking Interview: Embalmers Finding “Strange Clots” In Jabbed People by Kelen McBreen (January 28, 2022) NewsWars (archived from May 10, 2023)
  13. ↑ Dr. Jane Ruby: Unnatural blood clots found in dead bodies of vaccinated by Kevin Hughes (February 4, 2022) Natural News (archived from February 15, 2024)
  14. ↑ Embalmers Have Been Finding Numerous Long, Fibrous Clots That Lack Post-Mortem Characteristics (September 2, 2022) Epoch Times (archived from September 11, 2022)
  15. ↑ Mike Adams’ flawed analysis of a clot sent by embalmer Richard Hirschman doesn’t demonstrate any link between blood clots and COVID-19 vaccines by Iria Carballo-Carbajal (September 12, 2022) Health Feedback
  16. ↑ Photos of blood clots removed during embalming don’t show any link with COVID-19 vaccines; blood clotting risk is much higher after COVID-19 than vaccination by Iria Carballo-Carbajal (November 2, 2022) Health Feedback
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