This Just in! Vaccines STILL Do Not Cause Autism

[The Man]

The Minnesota Department of Health has concluded that a recent outbreak of measles in the Twin Cities is linked to Wakefield's anti-vaccine bullshit. Cue whining in 3... 2... 1...

[Doctor X]

More from QuackWatch:

Anti-vaccination ad blasted.

A 21-second video ad displayed on CBS's jumbotron billboard in New York City's Times Square has been severely criticized. The ad, issued by the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) and sponsored by Mercola.com, is intended to suggest that vaccination risks deserve greater attention.

**Writing in Salon magazine, Pediatrician Parikh Rahul, M.D., said that "the founders of NVIC seem to suggest vaccines are toxic, full of ingredients that will harm your child, none of which has ever proved to do so." [Rahul P. The ad that could help fuel a health crisis. Salon April 26, 2011] The ad that could help fuel a health crisis - PopRX - Salon.com

**In a protest letter to CBS, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) noted that NVIC opposes the nation's recommended childhood immunization schedule and promotes the unscientific practice of delaying or skipping vaccines altogether. The letter stated that, "By providing advertising space to an organization like the NVIC . . . you are putting thousands of lives of children at risk."

**Arthur Caplan, Ph.D., the most prominent medical ethicist in the United States, characterized the billboard as "akin to putting ads denying the Holocaust on the jumbotron, except that people could die as a result of this one."

--J.D.

[Doctor X]

More from QuackWatch:

New books attack autism and antivaccination quackery.

During the past few months three excellent books about autism quackery and vaccination opponents have been published:

The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fears by Seth Mnookin describes the history of opposition to vaccination with emphasis on autism-related fearmongering and the de-licensing of Dr. Andrew Wakefield. Amazon.com: The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear (9781439158647): Seth Mnookin: Books

Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All by Paul A. Offit, M.D., Ph.D. focuses on the people and organizations that have been most influential in spreading fear and confusion among American parents. Amazon.com: Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All (9780465021499): Paul A. Offit M.D.: Books

Vaccines and Your Child: Separating Fact from Fiction by Paul A. Offit, M.D., Ph.D. provides answers to more than 50 questions parents may ask.
Amazon.com: Vaccines and Your Child: Separating Fact from Fiction (9780231153072): Paul A. Offit, Charlotte A. Moser: Books

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Anti-vax group crtiqued.

Quackwatch has posted notes on the Coalition for Mercury-free Drugs (CoMeD), a group "dedicated to reducing the mercury-exposure risks, for the unborn, infants, children, adolescents and adults, from all mercury-containing medical products to which they are, or may be, exposed." Some Notes on the Coalition for Mercury-free Drugs (CoMeD Founded and led mainly by Dr. Mark Geier and his son David Geier, CoMeD's main goal has been to to rid the marketplace of all vaccines that contain thimerosal, a preservative that contains trace amounts of mercury. In 2008, the FDA dismissed a CoMeD citizen petition after concluding that its contentions were legally and scientifically unsupportable by either law or science and that the drug products that still contained mercury preservatives were safe. CoMeD then sued, but a U.S. District Court judge concluded that the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue. CoMeD is appealing the dismissal, but there is no reason to think that its suit is winnable. Meanwhile, the Geiers are facing regulatory action by the Maryland Board of Medicine.

Seth Mnookin wrote the fantastic Feeding the Monster about the selling of the Red Sox, the fights to change the team philosophies, all the way to the winning of the 2004 WS. I particularly enjoyed the part in 2003 when Grady Little infamously left Pedro Martinez in Game 7 of the ALCS after 100 pitches--despite being buried in statistics all through the year such that EVERYONE knew he should come out at that point--he got shelled . . . Aaron Fuckin' Boone . . . Sox lose!:

[Red Sox lead 5-2 bottom of the 8th--Ed.] When Pedro Martinez returned to the mound in the eighth inning of Game 7, John Henry [Principle owner of the Red Sox--Ed.] felt as if he was spent; hell, Henry thought, any sentient being watching the game knew the pitcher was cooked. He looked over at [Theo--Ed.] Epstein [General manager--Ed.], sitting a couple of sections away, and the two men caught each other's eye. Epstein gave a little shrug, as if to say, "I have no idea what he's doing out there, either." [Bad things happen.--Ed.] The score was now 5-3.

Now, finally, Little shuffled out of the dugout and over to the mound, where he conferred with Martinez. In his seat, Henry was beside himself. At least, he reassured himself, there's still a two-run lead and Martinez was finally coming out of the game. Then, inexplicably, Little walked back to the dugout alone, leaving Martinez on the mound to face the dangerous Matsui. Henry turned to Lucchino [Other owner--Ed.]. "Can we fire [Little] right now?" Henry asked. "I felt pure rage," . . .

Pedro gets shelled, MFYs win, Little gets fired pretty much immediately.

--J.D.

Reference

Mnookin, S. Feeding the Monster: How Money, Smarts, and Nerve Took a Team to the Top. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2007.

--J.D.

[Doctor X]

More from Quackwatch

Study Looks at Vaccine Hesitancy:

A study of 376 responses to a prominent survey has found that most parents take their children for recommended vaccinations, but there are widespread fears that vaccines cause autism and that children are getting too many vaccines at once. [Kennedy A and others. Confidence about vaccines in the United States: understanding parents' perceptions. Health Affairs 30:1151-1159, 2011] Confidence About Vaccines In The United States: Understanding Parents’ Perceptions

A book review in the same journal issue identified reasons for these unfounded fears:
Vaccination: Facts Alone Do Not Policy Make

**By giving equal airtime on television shows such as Oprah to the likes of actress Jenny McCarthy and other celebrities to inveigh against vaccination, and by treating the facts about vaccine safety as if they were still in dispute, the media foster fear and confusion.

**Parents bombarded with mixed messages about the dangers of technology-are more likely to listen to emotional narratives and charged stories than to reasoned evidence about what is right for our children.

**The media, technophobia, irresponsible doctors, and an increasingly risk-averse middle and upper class have all played key roles.

**Andrew Wakefield's report, which ran in the Lancet, may have been be "the flimsiest, most underpowered study supporting a conclusion of monumental importance to appear in a leading peer-reviewed journal in the past fifty years."

**Bernadine Healy, M.D., former director of the National Institutes of Health, is quoted repeatedly by anti-vaccinators as having serious qualms about vaccine safety.

**Medical schools are not teaching students how to engage parental worries about vaccine safety.

**Public health agencies have not pulled their weight in the vaccine wars. Those in charge do not speak out forcefully and vehemently in support of vaccines.

For more about vaccine fears, see:

**Gerber JS, Offit PA. Vaccines and autism: A tale of shifting hypotheses. Clinical Infectious Diseases 48:456-461, 2009. Vaccines and Autism: A Tale of Shifting Hypotheses

**Offit PA, Moser, CA. The problem with Dr Bob's alternative vaccine schedule. Pediatrics 123e164-e169, 2009. The Problem With Dr Bob's Alternative Vaccine Schedule

--J.D.

[Janet]

Wait, this idiocy is about mercury? Hell if mercury caused autism all the fish eating people of the Great Lakes would be autistic. Stupid humans.

[LadyShea]

Exactly Janet. Way back in this thread we had that very discussion (ingested mercury levels being much, much larger doses than any vaccine ever had and certainly more now that mercury has been removed from all but a few vaccines), but the vaccine guy didn't care.

[Doctor X]

Originally Posted by Janet

Hell if mercury caused autism all the fish eating people of the Great Lakes would be autistic.

I mean . . . have you met anyone from Michigan?

--J.D.

[Vivisectus]

yeah that is probably the most convincing argument in favor of anti-vac I have heard so far

[Janet]

I AM someone from Michigan and I have lovely walleye that my brother-in-law caught me sitting in my freezer. Yummy, yummy mercury.

[Vivisectus]

Walleye! Nom!

[Vivisectus]

Lovely. 21000 cases of the Measles in Europe since the beginning of this year. Thank you anti-vac morons! You have cost us all untold millions and allowed a simple, preventable disease to harm loads of people. Fucktards.

http://www.independent.ie/health/lat...n-2853440.html

[Doctor X]

Just sent to me: Jenny McCarthy Body Count

--J.D.

[Gonzo]

der... doc read the description for this video

[Dingfod]

There is currently a measles outbreak in Texas, the Dallas area. The epicenter of the outbreak is the anti-vax church of Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Eagle Mountain International Money-raker Church.



I don't know if it's just me, but I always thought Kenneth Copeland looked demonic, not a face you'd want to wake up to early Sunday morning when you feel nauseous after a Saturday night drinking binge.

[thedoc]

Stupidity is it's own reward.

[thedoc]

Originally Posted by Gonzo

der... doc read the description for this video

What's so shocking, the Geiger counters count was less than the normal background radiation. So who cares?

[Adam]

Originally Posted by thedoc

Stupidity is it's own reward.

And, when your stupidity compromises herd immunity, it's everyone else's reward too!

[ceptimus]

Originally Posted by Adam

And, when your stupidity compromises herd immunity, it's everyone elses reward too!

I think there is a hierarchy of stupidity here:

1. those who don't get vaccinated and advocate against vaccination for everyone
2. those who choose not to get vaccinated because they believe that vaccination is a bad thing, but who don't proselytize their views to others
3. those who know about vaccination and don't think it's bad, but decide to not be vaccinated and rely on herd immunity
4. those too apathetic to bother doing anything
5. those who have been vaccinated, or who want to be but can't because of medical/financial/other reasons

There are also likely to be some who have been vaccinated themselves (and/or who vaccinate their own children), but still urge others not to vaccinate - for religious reasons, bad science reasons or maybe for financial gain. I'm reluctant to place such people on my stupid scale - I need a three dimensional scale with an 'evil' axis as well as a 'stupid' one to represent this group.

[lisarea]

Except it's almost never actually a decision people make for themselves. It's parents doing it to their kids.

[LadyShea]

Originally Posted by ceptimus

I think there is a hierarchy of stupidity here:

1. those who don't get vaccinated and advocate against vaccination for everyone
2. those who choose not to get vaccinated because they believe that vaccination is a bad thing, but who don't proselytize their views to others
3. those who know about vaccination and don't think it's bad, but decide to not be vaccinated and rely on herd immunity
4. those too apathetic to bother doing anything
5. those who have been vaccinated, or who want to be but can't because of medical/financial/other reasons

Here in the US, it's difficult to fall into the latter 3 categories, because immunization is required for school attendance. One can get an exemption (medical in all states, religious and/or philosophical in some), but it takes work to do so, so apathetic people probably won't go to the trouble.

[ceptimus]

I edited my post a couple of times before I saw lisarea's and LadyShea's posts - but too quick for the 'last edited by...' message to kick in.

[Dingfod]

Originally Posted by Dingfod

There is currently a measles outbreak in Texas, the Dallas area. The epicenter of the outbreak is the anti-vax church of Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Eagle Mountain International Money-raker Church.

Church now offering free measles vaccinations, telling those who don't want them to stay quarantined for two weeks. Apparently Jesus needed a little help there.

[Dingfod]

21 cases now.

[The Man]

Grieving parents speak out against anti-vaccination extremists | thetelegraph.com.au

Pretty damn awful, to say the least.

[BrotherMan]

The couple has been accused of being on the payroll of drug companies; they have had their daughter's death questioned and mocked; they have even been told to "harden the f . . . up" by an opponent of vaccination.

Alright. I get it that some people want to re-examine the necessity of vaccinations and determine if they're causing some harm to children or you don't like Big Government up in your beans, but there is seriously no reason to say unconscionable shit like this to anybody and that goes double for people who have just lost a child. Intellectually, I can listen to your argument and disagree with you but when you start saying shit like this I don't give a shit what your argument is.