3 ms·
I thought the main charge of the anti-vax group was the, now debunked, thimerosal-autism link. Is that not the case? No doubt that pharmaceutical companies have
by owly 12y ago
I thought the main charge of the anti-vax group was the, now debunked, thimerosal-autism link. Is that not the case? No doubt that pharmaceutical companies have a history of spreading disinformation for profit. What is the solution? I believe greater openness and greater CDC oversight of independent trials is the only way. Much of the work requires very long term studies and the public is not willing to wait.
- DanBC 12y agoThe MMR-autism sham involved a doctor (now struck off) who was developing his own measles vaccine and thus needed to stop people taking MMR, and who was being paid by a lawyer to find problems with the MMR vaccine for a law suit. That then-doctor took samples without permission, faked results, lied to colleagues. You're right about dishonest pharmaceutical companies losing the trust of the public, but in the MMR case we've had very strong evidence from a wide range of scientists and companies to show that MMR vaccine is safe. Although every thing carries some amount of risk the risks of having a vaccination are much less than not having the vaccination. I don't know how we get that message across to parents: there's a risk with everything, even with doing nothing, and in this case doing nothing is riskier than doing something.