Why Paul Offit Isn't Flexible on Vaccines
Reader Comments
Medicine should be free choice
Polio won't come back here like measles--measles was never fully eradicated like polio. The only polio cases are ones caused by the vaccine. Smallpox is gone. That is why we don't vaccinate against it anymore. Most of these diseases had subsided greatly before vaccines due to clean water, surroundings, and general improvement in hygiene. That is why 3rd world countries have such a problem.
In the end a parent should have the medical choice to vaccinate or not and should not be a zombie following Offit-minded Drs. who obviously have conflicts of interest.
If a child is hurt by a disease that has a vaccine than the parent will feel guilty. If a parent gives children the shots and they are 'wrecked' and autistic, asthmatic, etc. how do you think they would feel? It is a double-edged sword here, not a simple proposition.
And to the woman who asked why "your kids are better than mine?" That attitude is sick and suggests an underlying sense that vaccinations are bad. If my kids have to be exposed to this crap, than your kids should be too...
Makes me sick
I cannot even comprehend how a government employee who is responsible for authorizing vaccines could have a personal profit off of them. That is OUTRAGEOUS!
phentermine pharmacys
Q2dkFo Great work, webmaster, nice design!
Get the Whole Picture
The medical and pharmaceutical insdustries offer one side of the picture; the anti-vaccine movement offers another. It's obvious which side has the most money on its side, but I commend those here who are interested in looking at both sides of the issue. What I don't commend is the blanket assertion by doctors that anyone who questions their judgement is a kook and "unscientific." Even the Vaccination Court in Washington has acknowledged a link between some vaccinations and Autism-spectrum disorder. You can read an article about the Vaccination Court's own conflicted rulings here, complete with links to the case that awarded a plaintiff a huge settlement because the plaintiff had proved a link between the vaccine and ASD: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-f-kennedy-jr-and-david-kirby/vaccine-court-autism-deba_b_169673.html
Suffering from vaccines
Johns asks, "But he then says these people would suffer from life without vaccines. How does he know this?"
He and many others know this because 1) before vaccines came along millions of children and adults died or were injured from the diseases vaccines prevent.
2) Diseases come back when vaccination rates go down. Measles is coming back in the United States because vaccinations for MMR are declining. More so in England. Remember polio? If you don't, watch the PBS documentary. Then thank God your parents made you get vaccinated.
3) Example: Tetanus does not develop a permanent antibody response so booster doses through out life are necessary. If one does not keep up with these shots, the danger of tetanus increases. There is no cure for tetanus except prevention through vaccination.
Americans are incredibly well-protected from vaccine preventable diseases, so much so that they have become complacent. Unvaccinated children can get away without shots because most of the people around them ARE vaccinated. But that will change if vaccination rates go down. Secondly, many are scientifically illiterate. Immunology is complicated. People are easily frightened by things they don't understand. Take the idea of poison.
Stating that mercury is a poison is not enough. Most substances, from table salt to water, are poison if taken in too great a quantity. The key things are dose and chemical composition. A friend of mine drank 15 Pepsis on a very hot day and had a seizure. So, shall we ban Pepsi? Methyl mercury is very neurotoxic. Ethyl mercury that used to be in most vaccines is a mercury but its properties are not the same as Methyl mercury. There has never been a known case of brain damage from vaccines containing ethyl mercury which has been used in vaccines since the 1930s. It was removed from childhood vaccines because it was found that its cumulative concentration in a series of multiple vaccinations was higher than the FDA standard for methyl mercury. There was no standard for ethyl mercury. This was probably a prudent move even though there was no known damage.
So, try to understand the nuances before you rush to make untenable conclusions.
Vaccines are not risk-free. But life is not either. I would rather not die from tetanus, polio, or whooping cough, or develop liver cancer from Hepatitis B, or have my liver melt from fulminating Hepatitis A.
vaccines
I have recently read a book by Dr. Sears on vaccines. It is a book that is neither for or against vaccines. It simply states who makes what vaccines, what goes into them, the side effects and if they are worth having. Along the way I learned that not only are the vaccines mixed with Aluminum,other human and animal tissue are used in making them. No one speaks of any potentially harmful outcomes caused by this.There was such an outbreak in the 90's with SR-40. I dont have the book in front of me and am not sure it that is the correct name but I believe something was wrong with the tissues of monkeys that were used in the making of the vaccine.
I also have a 4 month baby and I questioned his need for vaccines. There seems to be some diseases that are not associated with childhood. Tetanus is almost unheard of in infants but in order for children to have protection against Petussis, they have to have tetanus. That makes no sense to me. Also, the likelihood that my son will acquire Hepatitis B is also unlikely. I dont plan on putting him in daycare.
Vaccines
I would like everyone who dislikes vaccines to look into the eyes of any parent whose child died of HIB or meningococcal meningitis and tell them their kids died for a good cause. You're all idiots.
Hey Kristi of CO. My kids were all vaccinated on schedule (4boys). They are all excelling academically. Why are your kids "better" than mine? Point is, Dr. Offit is right that no scientific evidence associates vaccines and autism. Why has this country ignored decades of statistical proof and chose to believe Hollywood celebrities instead? Because they are pretty? I'm 43 and I recently had my DPT booster. You ought to consider one.
vaccines
Offit uses anecdotal stories when it suits his purpose and scoffs at them when they don't. We should all buy into his flu story, but he does not believe ALL the parents who feel their child was damaged by an immunization. What a narrow minded view!
Of course noone who ever really questions vaccine psuedo-science would ever work on the development of a vaccine, so why would we expect him to have any ability to entertain an alternate viewpoint?
I do not believe in treating a disease I do not have. That should be my inalienable right.
Get Your Quotes Right Please
It is no wonder that misinformation gets spread when people can't even do enough research to actually read the article they are commenting on.
healthy living of VA says, "Did he really say that mercury, aluminum and other metals pose no risk to brain development? I have never heard such nonsense."
That may be because you didn't hear that said and it seems like you didn't read it either. The article states,"Offit says...that thimerosal, aluminum, and other metals found in vaccines are in such small quantities that they pose no risk to brain development."
Very different than your blanket misquote that they "...pose no risk to brain development." The statement clearly states what is true, that in very low quantities these metals are harmless.
