I am pro vaccination. I do not understand any of the logic against it. Once, I read a fabulous piece by a mother with three autistic children. Her thesis was that she'd rather her children have autism than die from a preventable disease. She didn't believe vaccinations caused autism, but she flirted with the thought that "if it did ..." she'd still vaccinate. It was a moving piece, but I read it over a year ago and I'm not about to search the internet so that I can correctly reference it here, sorry.
However, I have had conversations with mothers who do sincerely believe their child's development declined after vaccinations. Those conversations were always respectful and insightful. Most importantly, I do value each parent's right to make their own choices about their child's health. Everything has a limit -- you can't starve your child for religious reasons or abuse them for personal gain -- but when it comes to vaccinations I will respect those who choose not to vaccinate. I have come to conclude it is nearly impossible to persuade them to vaccinate, so why jump into the confrontation? And that says a lot, considering all the confrontations I'll jump into.
Tonight, I have learned some new info, and I want to share it here -- in my "talk to myself" space.
So the guy who first wrote a medical paper about the link between vaccines and autism, yeah that guy, HE DID IT SO THAT HE COULD HELP A PRIVATE COMPANY SUE THE VACCINE INDUSTRY! Yes, I am yelling over the internet. This is outrageous, everyone should be outraged by that -- especially the families who sincerely believe vaccines harmed their child. Especially the families who are looking for sincere, scientific causes of autism.
Not only were his motives monetary, he lied throughout the entire document. He found families who were already blaming the MMR vaccine for their children's autism and he fibbed their stories. He ignored medical documents that didn't fit his timeline and he made up delays that never existed. He was a big fat bold faced liar.
For years now I knew his "research" was retracted and his license revoked -- what I didn't know was his motive and his skill of deception. I figured he was some guy who didn't get enough peer edits in before publication -- so his publication was retracted. I figured he was earnestly trying to help families out, but just didn't cross enough t's or dot enough i's. I didn't realize he was being paid off to create a medical nightmare. He was working with the litigation team while writing the document! They paid him two years before it was even published.
Maybe this isn't news to anyone but me, maybe it isn't as appalling to other readers. But maybe, like me, you hadn't taken the time to research his story. So now you have it, my summary of what I just learned and a direct link to his criminal behavior. What will I do with this new found knowledge? Well, I'll stop saying his research was "retracted" and his license "revoked", and I'll start saying his research was a lie and he was being paid off to write a false thesis. Retracted and revoked are not a clear enough message, at least not to this non-medical, non-legal professional.
However, I have had conversations with mothers who do sincerely believe their child's development declined after vaccinations. Those conversations were always respectful and insightful. Most importantly, I do value each parent's right to make their own choices about their child's health. Everything has a limit -- you can't starve your child for religious reasons or abuse them for personal gain -- but when it comes to vaccinations I will respect those who choose not to vaccinate. I have come to conclude it is nearly impossible to persuade them to vaccinate, so why jump into the confrontation? And that says a lot, considering all the confrontations I'll jump into.
Tonight, I have learned some new info, and I want to share it here -- in my "talk to myself" space.
So the guy who first wrote a medical paper about the link between vaccines and autism, yeah that guy, HE DID IT SO THAT HE COULD HELP A PRIVATE COMPANY SUE THE VACCINE INDUSTRY! Yes, I am yelling over the internet. This is outrageous, everyone should be outraged by that -- especially the families who sincerely believe vaccines harmed their child. Especially the families who are looking for sincere, scientific causes of autism.
Not only were his motives monetary, he lied throughout the entire document. He found families who were already blaming the MMR vaccine for their children's autism and he fibbed their stories. He ignored medical documents that didn't fit his timeline and he made up delays that never existed. He was a big fat bold faced liar.
For years now I knew his "research" was retracted and his license revoked -- what I didn't know was his motive and his skill of deception. I figured he was some guy who didn't get enough peer edits in before publication -- so his publication was retracted. I figured he was earnestly trying to help families out, but just didn't cross enough t's or dot enough i's. I didn't realize he was being paid off to create a medical nightmare. He was working with the litigation team while writing the document! They paid him two years before it was even published.
Maybe this isn't news to anyone but me, maybe it isn't as appalling to other readers. But maybe, like me, you hadn't taken the time to research his story. So now you have it, my summary of what I just learned and a direct link to his criminal behavior. What will I do with this new found knowledge? Well, I'll stop saying his research was "retracted" and his license "revoked", and I'll start saying his research was a lie and he was being paid off to write a false thesis. Retracted and revoked are not a clear enough message, at least not to this non-medical, non-legal professional.
4 comments:
Well said. Well said.
I well remember a family in Rangely who did not believe in vaccinating their children. That was way before the autism issue. They moved to Alaska where their oldest daughter came down with polio. Lucky for her it was not seriously damaging. They changed their tune after that.
Good post by the way.
Great post sis!
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