4 ms·

I was thinking the vaccines cause autism debacle, the manufacturing consent on whether or not cigarettes cause cancer, the oil companies holding their climatolo

I was thinking the vaccines cause autism debacle, the manufacturing consent on whether or not cigarettes cause cancer, the oil companies holding their climatology research they'd finished in the 70's. But gulf war 2 probably counts too.

mcny 5y ago
I am positive growing up I read about how some anesthetic they used during childbirth in the sixties was linked to some kind of birth defect but it is ridiculous to say that about vaccines. Why is there doubt that vaccines are safe and that tobacco is harmful? I can understand reluctance to say too much of sweet smoothies filled with fresh fruits is harmful or milk/milk products are harmful because they contain lots of useful nutrients and the reality is very nuanced and our understanding will evolve over the next few decades. However, the topics you mentioned are solved issues. Why is it so easy to cast doubt about them?
- Retric 5y ago
  > Why is it so easy to cast doubt about them? Because people will say just about anything if you pay them to say it, and they will keep saying it for as long as you keep paying them. This feeds into people reasonable assumption that if to different people are saying different things these is some doubt about the issue.
- ben-schaaf 5y ago
  > Why is it so easy to cast doubt about them? The entire vaccines cause autism thing started as a disinformation campaign against the MMR vaccine in order to sell an alternative (expensive) 3 part vaccine and to win a lawsuit. The media gave the original paper huge coverage without actually reading it and it took many people a lot of work debunking and discrediting the author before he even lost his medical license. You never read "We got tricked into spreading BS" on the front page of a newspaper.
- throwaway672000 5y ago
  Thalidomide might be what you're thinking of. Didn't realise until now that it wasn't approved in the US until the risks were well known. But in the UK at least "thalidomide was (supposed to be) safe too" is an easy argument you'll hear fairly often. >... a subsidiary of Distillers Co. Ltd (now part of Diageo plc), marketed thalidomide throughout the UK, Australia and New Zealand, under the brand name Distaval, as a remedy for morning sickness. Their advertisement claimed that "Distaval can be given with complete safety to pregnant women and nursing mothers without adverse effect on mother or child ... Outstandingly safe Distaval has been prescribed for nearly three years in this country." >Experts estimate that thalidomide led to the death of approximately 2,000 children and serious birth defects in more than 10,000 children, about 5,000 of them in West Germany

mcny 5y ago

I am positive growing up I read about how some anesthetic they used during childbirth in the sixties was linked to some kind of birth defect but it is ridiculous to say that about vaccines. Why is there doubt that vaccines are safe and that tobacco is harmful? I can understand reluctance to say too much of sweet smoothies filled with fresh fruits is harmful or milk/milk products are harmful because they contain lots of useful nutrients and the reality is very nuanced and our understanding will evolve over the next few decades. However, the topics you mentioned are solved issues. Why is it so easy to cast doubt about them?

Retric 5y ago
> Why is it so easy to cast doubt about them? Because people will say just about anything if you pay them to say it, and they will keep saying it for as long as you keep paying them. This feeds into people reasonable assumption that if to different people are saying different things these is some doubt about the issue.
ben-schaaf 5y ago
> Why is it so easy to cast doubt about them? The entire vaccines cause autism thing started as a disinformation campaign against the MMR vaccine in order to sell an alternative (expensive) 3 part vaccine and to win a lawsuit. The media gave the original paper huge coverage without actually reading it and it took many people a lot of work debunking and discrediting the author before he even lost his medical license. You never read "We got tricked into spreading BS" on the front page of a newspaper.
throwaway672000 5y ago
Thalidomide might be what you're thinking of. Didn't realise until now that it wasn't approved in the US until the risks were well known. But in the UK at least "thalidomide was (supposed to be) safe too" is an easy argument you'll hear fairly often. >... a subsidiary of Distillers Co. Ltd (now part of Diageo plc), marketed thalidomide throughout the UK, Australia and New Zealand, under the brand name Distaval, as a remedy for morning sickness. Their advertisement claimed that "Distaval can be given with complete safety to pregnant women and nursing mothers without adverse effect on mother or child ... Outstandingly safe Distaval has been prescribed for nearly three years in this country." >Experts estimate that thalidomide led to the death of approximately 2,000 children and serious birth defects in more than 10,000 children, about 5,000 of them in West Germany