I was asked today:  "are anti-vaxxers against all modern medicine, or just vaccines?"

 

Here is my answer to that:

 

1) The word "anti-vaxxers" is a pejorative, meant to demean and polarize. If I criticize how Ford and Toyota handled their problems with stuck accelerators (denied that there was a problem, produced their own data showing no problem, blamed the drivers....and eventually admitted there was a problem), that does not make me "anti-accelerator," "anti-car," or even "anti-Ford" or "anti-Toyota."

 

Using pejoratives like "anti-vaxxer" puts the focus on the critic, rather than where it belongs: on the problem pointed out by the critic.

 

See how that works?

 

2) Criticizing today's bloated vaccine program does not mean that the critic is against everything the medical/pharmaceutical industry does. IT MEANS THAT WE'RE CRITICIZING TODAY'S BLOATED VACCINE PROGRAM. 

 

So let's stick to discussing THAT.

 

In case you do not already know:

 

3) Statins, antibiotics, cough syrup, antihistamines, steroids, antacids, and chemotherapy are not mandated in order for your child to attend daycare, school, or summer camp, nor are they mandated in order to attend college, nor are they mandated to work in a hospital, clinic, doctor's office, or school.

 

But vaccines are. 

 

4) If you have a severe adverse reaction to statins, antibiotics, cough syrup, antihistamines, steroids, antacids, chemotherapy or any other pharmaceutical product, and you can prove that the product could have been made to have a better safety profile, you can sue the manufacturer.

 

You cannot sue the vaccine manufacturers. They are protected by the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, which indemnifies all vaccine manufacturers, as well as those who administer them, no matter how severe your reaction is.

 

5) If your doctor prescribes a drug that's inappropriate for you--say, amoxicillin when you've already had an allergic reaction to it--you can sue him or her for malpractice.

 

You cannot sue doctors for giving you the wrong vaccine -- say, giving an infant Gardasil, which is not designed for infants, and is not part of the infant schedule --nor can you sue them for giving you a vaccine where a past dose of the same vaccine had already caused you to have a bad reaction. They're protected by the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act.

 

6) Vaccines are not held to the same  standard of safety testing that all other pharmaceuticals are required to undergo.  Classified as “biologicals,” rather than as “medication,” they are not required to be safety-tested against an inert placebo, nor are they required to show long-term health outcomes.  

 

In fact, the package insert for every vaccine clearly states, “___ [this vaccine] has not been assessed for carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, or impairment of fertility.”

 

Take a look at how the vaccine schedule increased after the implementation of that 1986 Act. Remember, it protects the manufacturers, not the people who get vaccinated. Keep in mind, the members of the CDC's Advisory Council on Immunization Practices -- who determine which vaccines are on the schedule -- are mainly from the vaccine industry. 

 

That's called "conflict of interest."