By Avi Gutfreund. The recent outbreak of measles in Lakewood and other communities has reignited a fierce debate over vaccinating children. Although the vast majority of the population understands the dangers of not vaccinating and virtually every doctors concurs with studies attesting to the threats posed by non-vaccinated youth, there unfortunately remains a stronghold of anti-vaxxers who fiercely defend their misguided attitudes toward the lifesaving procedure.
The anti-vaxxer community really took off after a fraudulent study was conducted by a researcher named Andrew Wakefield who took a child showing early signs of autism, vaccinated him, and then, when the child turned out to be autistic, claimed that the vaccine caused it. After a lengthy investigation, Wakefield and the head clinician on the study lost their medical licenses and were imprisoned. Even so, individuals who for whatever reason were predisposed to being skeptical of vaccines viewed the study as legitimate and began an outcry that still lasts.
The truth is, that most parents who don’t vaccinate their children mean well. They have been told by others, friends and family whom they respect, that vaccines can cause irreparable harm to their child, and are fearful that injecting chemicals into their child will harm them for life. It’s almost understandable.
What is incomprehensible, is that there are those in positions of power and trust, often holistic healers and venders of homeopathic treatments, that insist to these hapless parents that they are killing their children by having them immunized against a plethora of diseases that debilitated and killed millions over the years. These are people who should know better. One who is in a position to sway the beliefs of parents attempting to make the best decision for their child better be proficient in the science of vaccination. Yet they are not and make no attempt to become so. In any other scenario it would be laughable. Would you bring a shaalah to a rav that never learned Shulchan Aruch? Of course not. Would you have your home built by someone who never held a hammer? No way. And yet this is exactly what is happening with vaccinations. People with absolutely no more than a layman’s knowledge of how vaccinations and the chemicals involved work are selling themselves as the keepers of medical knowledge, and as smarter-than-thou disseminators of truth.
These sellers of snake oil have been far too successful in their campaigns of misinformation. Too many parents are choosing not to vaccinate, placing their own children and others children at serious risk of harm. I don’t blame the parents; they are clueless. What they unfortunately don’t realize is that those they are listening to are clueless as well. It is a classic case of the blind leading the blind, with the added part that the leaders are telling the others that they aren’t blind. It really is astonishing in it’s audacity.
The facts of the matter are that these purveyors of falsehood have blood on their hands. They are rodfim and a bor birshus harabim, plain and simple. I believe it is high time that they are recognized for who they are, and public proclamations be made to make the public aware of the menace to society that they are.
These people telling you not to vaccinate your children are not out to help you; usually they are enriching themselves in the process of hurting your child. They may seem nice and sweet, but they are promoting the spread of terrible diseases while enriching themselves by selling worthless products to keep you and your child safe from those illnesses. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing. Learn to know what they look like.
(TLS welcomes your opinions by submitting them to [email protected])
although you have some facts mixed up, the point is clear, and very well said.
wakefield took 12 children that were autistic and tested them to see if it was caused by vaccines. 9 of the 12 were already in middle of suing the makers of vaccines for damage, and their lawyers paid wakefield about $500,000 to do a study to prove the correlation. He had also already applied for a patent for a new measles vaccine, which he made himself, 9 months before the study came out. Had his study not been debunked, he would have been providing millions with his own vaccine.
False accusations…
Please provide the patent number or any substantial proof of any patent application.
The GMC never found him guilty of any of the above charges, but apparently, as a professional troll, you know better
Can you please provide the name of which prison Wakefield was incarcerated in?
What a chock-full-of-misquotes.
Please provide any rational way that anyone can make money by telling others not to vaccinate…
Remember, the reason provided has to make sense.
One rational way he could’ve made money is that the people who were suing the vaccine makers paid him to provide evidence that they were right. i.e. an expert witness (aka professional purger).
I don’t know for a fact that this is what happened, but it (was alleged, and) is definitely a ‘rational’ way he could’ve made money, which your biased mind couldn’t comprehend.
again…
I’m asking how alternative health practitioners are making money off telling people not to vaccinate…?
@yottle
See GMC Day 31 where the patent was discussed at length. The question is what exactly it was supposed to be, but definitely a money maker.
As for making money, yes they make money by charging you for visits and worthless alternative supplements.
I have yet to hear a coherent way that an alternative health practitioner can make money by advising not to vaccinate.
Did I miss something?
Discussed doesn’t mean that it’s true.
Did any indictment ever come down on Wakefield or any proof that he carried a patent.
it’s patently false (pun intended).
Patent application was 06 June 1997. Patent number 9711663.6.
You can find the whole application on line.
Once again, the anti vaxxers are spreading lies.
dd, you beat me to it!!! I’ve been searching for the actual patent number for half hour! now that I found it, I see you already posted it.
Thanks!
Yottle, here’s a bottle. (Hey that rhymes). Or maybe it’s a good therapist that you need. Maybe medication. I don’t know. You are not looking for the truth (right now) and neither are all your cronies. You have all the answers with no questions. Maybe you’ve experienced something emotionally traumatizing. That’s ok, A lot of people have and they have recovered from it. Denial wasn’t the answer for them and I can assure it won’t be the answer for you either. You are human as all of us are and trauma has blinded you. When you recognize that, and reach out for help, it will be the beginning of a wonderful and happy life for you.
Finally someone says it as it is!! The guy that started the whole vaccine-autism study admitted he made it up!! And ppl still believe it
He never admitted such a thing; where did you get this from?!
I didn’t see anything connected to that patent which indicated that Wakefield was creating a measles only vaccine as claimed.
medical and legal jargon is quite hard for a layman to understand. He specifically didn’t call it a vaccine, but that’s what it was. too long complicated for me explain.
hey they push the flu shots as well, many people will tell you the only time they ever got the flu, was after taking the flu shot…money has a big role in what goes on with big pharma! and the decisions they make, its no secret!!