Updates to health scares

[dex]

Doctor Behind Study Linking Vaccine to Autism Accused of 'Deliberate Fraud' - US News and World Report

An in-depth investigation just published in a prominent medical journal alleges that a decade-long effort to link childhood vaccinations with autism was really an elaborate hoax perpetuated by a British doctor who has since been banned from practicing medicine in that country.

No Cancer in Hinkley, California: Activist Hollywood Wrong AGAIN!

Proving once again that Hollywood always gravitates to the wrong causes, Tim Cavanaugh of Reason.com reported on Dec. 14 that the California town made famous by Erin Brokovich — an activism that Hollywood embraced with a major motion picture starring Julia Roberts — has proven not to have lived up to all the anti-corporate fearmongering that brought the town to the country’s attention.

 

[Gumby]

That first one really burns me. Our next door neighbors (who have since moved away) heard about that study and refused to have their six kids vaccinated. Since you can't attend school if you aren't vaccinated, the kids were "home schooled", which I put in quotes because it appeared to consist of little more than letting them run wild through the neighborhood at all hours. It did not appear that they actually received any education at all, and I'm sure that lack will limit their life options going forward. And all due to one doctor's fraudulent behavior (although certainly compounded by irresponsible parents).

 

[Pete]

If you like this kind of stuff, that story and many others are covered well in this book.

Amazon.com: Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks (9780865479180): Ben Goldacre: Books


The section about the Placebo Effect was especially enlightening.

 

[Ronnieboy]

The other sad thing is that measles, once thought to be basically eradicated has shown a higher prevalence in the US and England in part due to what Gumby described.

Oops, here it is 2nd sentence in the article:

"The doctor's original research, first published in 1998, turned many parents away from immunizing their children, which some experts now link to recent outbreaks of illnesses that had once been well under control."

 

[Texas Proud]

That first one really burns me. Our next door neighbors (who have since moved away) heard about that study and refused to have their six kids vaccinated. Since you can't attend school if you aren't vaccinated, the kids were "home schooled", which I put in quotes because it appeared to consist of little more than letting them run wild through the neighborhood at all hours. It did not appear that they actually received any education at all, and I'm sure that lack will limit their life options going forward. And all due to one doctor's fraudulent behavior (although certainly compounded by irresponsible parents).

In Texas... you can attend school without being vaccinated... you just have to sign a form saying you do not want them to have it....


I signed the form for a vaccination that was supposed to be given to kids between 6 months and 5 years... she was a few months from being 5 so the doc and I both thought it was not worth it for her to get it... signed and done...

They do make it a bit hard to do, but if you really do not want to vaccinate you go through the hoops....