At first I wasn't going to write this post since I believe that a film that appears to be (at least in part) based on thoroughly discredited, fear-mongering nonsense should get as little attention as possible.
Then after browsing several anti-vaccine and conspiracist websites I found as I suspected, that this has already exploded and whatever I write here won't make matters any worse.
The film 'Vaxxed' is directed by Mr Andrew Wakefield, a former physician who lost his medical license after research that he had authored, was found fraudulent (containing as I understand it, both methodological and ethical flaws).
Just watching the trailer for this film elevated my BP into dangerous territory. How is it that this man keeps promoting the same debunked data to this day? Hasn't it caused enough harm already?
It seems that anti-vaccine proponents span the entire spectrum from sadly misinformed to clearly unhinged. However, no matter what their individual motivation happens to be, they are in my opinion dangerous. We have fought a hard battle against diseases that today are vaccine-preventable. Millions of children have died in the past and some still do, to this day. We don't see much of it in first-world countries due to the success of vaccines. Anti-vaccine proponents seem to believe that the "olden days" were better. I think it's deeply worrisome.
In my escapades around the internet, I've found all sorts of scary blogs, clips and opinions relating to childhood vaccines.
This YouTube clip rather amusingly (in a sad way) has 90 likes and zero (!) dislikes (probably because no rational person would even click on it in the first place). (I'm not sure what this says about me)
Anyway this women thinks that nagalese (an enzyme) is added on purpose to vaccines in order to induce autism, cancer and type 2 diabetes in vaccine recipients. And the doctors who discovered this were subsequently murdered to cover this up. This vaccine tampering seems to be a part of some nefarious population control plot.
(It seems that alpha-N-acetylgalactoseaminidase (referred to as nagalese in the YouTube clip) can deglycosylate vitamin D binding protein (DBP) and DBP plays a role in the immune cascade response. So it seems that alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase can interfere with the immune response. While some cancer cells can release alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase, I've found no proof that injecting them into humans induces cancers, never mind autism and DMII. I will however admit that I didn't spend an inordinate amount of time researching her theory).
I admit that this last video is a bit extreme. But this woman and other "anti-vaxxers" have one thing on common. They are willing to accept something as true, even when there is no supporting evidence available.
Serious questions:
* Why are some people so vulnerable/susceptible to flawed logic and poor research?
* What can we as nurses/healthcare professionals do to ensure that our patients base their decisions on sound evidence-based facts or at least have the opportunity to do so? Or should we just reconcile ourselves with the fact that a portion of the population will base their decisions on questionable or outright false information, misconceptions and fear?
A verdict is NOT suggested because the studies are FLAWED. The studies look at the correlation of ONLY the MMR vaccine and autism. (The studies do not look for the causes of autism.) The other 13 vaccines children receive have never been studied for a link to autism.
Other studies have looked at thimerosal and its connection to autism. These studies are flawed as well because they only looked at children receiving different amounts of thimerosal, rather than comparing children who have received thimerosal to those who have not. That is like comparing people who smoke 1 pack a day and people who smoke 2 packs a day, finding no difference in lung cancer rates, and declaring that smoking doesn't lead to lung cancer.
No studies have ever been done comparing vaccinated children to unvaccinated children OR looking at unvaccinated children. On reasons often cited is that it would be unethical to withhold vaccines from a child for the purposes of a study, but children who don't receive vaccines could easily be found throughout the U.S.
DO NOT MISTAKE WHAT I AM SAYING AS BEING ANTI-VAX. I am simply pointing out the flaws in the studies cited that claim vaccines do not cause autism.
It was observed that many Somali immigrants had higher rates of autism when immigrating to industrialized nations.
Somali families in Sweden that had children with autism had never heard of autism or observed any symptoms defined as autism in their homeland of Somalia. Dr Barnevick-Olssen and colleagues, psychiatrists in Sweden, published a report of their observations in 2008. They noted that children from Somali backgrounds are over-represented in the total group of children with autism and suggest a search for triggering factors is warranted. The Somalis living in Sweden have named it the Swedish diseaseâ€.
Interesting. However, there could be a number of factors that could influence the increased observation of autism in Somalis in Sweden. I couldn't access the entire article, so I don't know if the following were discussed-malnutrition, vitamin deficiencies, lack of qualified diagnosticians in Somalia, psychological and emotional trauma, etc. Just some food for thought.
A few problems with that; Dr. William Thompson never reported that the "CDC had lied to world", data had been intentionally omitted from a study he had done because actual ages of some of the children the data was drawn from could be confirmed, which made it unusable for the purposes of the study. With or without that data, no link was found between MMR and autism and no link has ever been found between the two.
There is no arguing that Wakefield fabricated his data, it's a bit ridiculous of the producer to suggest that because there were other authors involved in the study he couldn't have possibly have included fabricated data, actually there is nothing that prevents him from doing so, the other authors contribute their own data, they don't evaluate Wakefield's data.
As for the unnecessary procedures, if he had simply been guilty of using faulty scientific methods, which would leave open the possibility that he actually thought his research was legitimate, then one could argue he was only guilty of something mildly horrible. But we now know that's not what happened, he simply fabricated data, which means he knowingly subjected autistic children to procedures and tests that had no purpose.
To suggest that Andrew Wakefield is anything other than a fraud is disingenuous.
This is a doctor that negotiated a contract with a lawyer to be paid nearly a million dollars to generate and publish a scientific study linking autism to the triple vaccine. In this process he lied about his disclosures, hand selected children who's parents were trying to sue pharmaceutical companies, carried out unethical studies on impaired children, and then tried to market a product to benefit from the state of panic that he fabricated.
This is why his 11 co-authors, who had also been lied to, removed their names from the paper, why the Lancet retracted it, and why Andrew Wakefield was tried and stripped of his medical license.
He he is a fraud that abused 13 vulnerable children to make himself a profit. He has endangered tens of thousands more. And he is continuing to do so.
"Vaxxed" is a video adaptation of Andrew Wakefield's attempts to gain fame and fortune by intentionally harming children, this included rectally probing autistic children for no other purpose than to plump up his ego and bank account. I have to think there's a special place in hell for people like that. When such a person is promoted as anything other than an example of how depraved humans can be, it shouldn't be surprising that it triggers heated opposition.
I think we all agree on the same basic premise that we should always seek more knowledge, and to be weary of those who make false claims for their own benefit, where we seem to disagree is with the level of evidence that exists on MMR-autism links or lack-there-of, and who here is trying to make money off of dishonest claims.
Prior to actually fabricating the study data, Wakefield accepted $400,000 from a group of lawyers who were looking for data that could be used to win tort decisions, which has been argued maybe he just didn't know that's a violation of basic research ethics or that his study wouldn't show a link without having to make one up. That $400k sort becomes a moot point when you look at the plan he came up with after he fabricating a connection, which was to market a testing protocol that could be used to make many more false connections. He wasn't rumored to have had this plan, he shared it openly with a number of colleagues and institutions, and went so far as to have an analysis done of it's potential, which predicted about $42 million in revenue.
I really don't see how it's possible to view Wakefield, and as a result "Vaxxed" as anything other than a prime example of what we need to protect our children from.
No difference in onset of autism in those vaccinated and unvaccinated.
Taylor, B., Miller, E., Farrington, C., Petropoulos, M. C., Favot-Mayaud, I., Li, J., & Waight, P. A. (1999). Autism and measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine: no epidemiological evidence for a causal association. The Lancet, 353(9169), 2026-2029.
A few problems with that; Dr. William Thompson never reported that the "CDC had lied to world", data had been intentionally omitted from a study he had done because actual ages of some of the children the data was drawn from could be confirmed, which made it unusable for the purposes of the study. With or without that data, no link was found between MMR and autism and no link has ever been found between the two.
There is no arguing that Wakefield fabricated his data, it's a bit ridiculous of the producer to suggest that because there were other authors involved in the study he couldn't have possibly have included fabricated data, actually there is nothing that prevents him from doing so, the other authors contribute their own data, they don't evaluate Wakefield's data.
As for the unnecessary procedures, if he had simply been guilty of using faulty scientific methods, which would leave open the possibility that he actually thought his research was legitimate, then one could argue he was only guilty of something mildly horrible. But we now know that's not what happened, he simply fabricated data, which means he knowingly subjected autistic children to procedures and tests that had no purpose.
MunoRN, I agree.
This is the stumbling block that those without an understanding of how a research project is conducted, have difficulty wrapping their heads around: - - - What exactly, Wakefield did wrong.
Unless you have a background in research, such as the lay public, And Some of us in the nursing profession, you really cannot grasp how profoundly unethical and poorly-strung-together Wakefield's study was.
As I've said before, there are those who desperately wanted Wakefield to be right. Unfortunately, Wakefield's study was so amazingly flawed, that even using Wakefield's own lab failed to reproduce the results that Wakefield claimed.
Other studies have looked at thimerosal and its connection to autism. These studies are flawed as well because they only looked at children receiving different amounts of thimerosal, rather than comparing children who have received thimerosal to those who have not.
Just so everyone is clear, thimerosal was removed from all childhood vaccines in the US in 2001. Autism rates haven't dropped since then have they?
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
Seatbelt don't always prevent people from being injured/killed in car accidents. I guess you should stop using seat belts, too.
My brother's life was actually spared by not wearing a seatbelt. If he had, he would have been crushed to death. Instead, he was vaulted over the center console into the passenger seat and only suffered a broken femur and tibia. Guess what? I still wear my seatbelt every single time I get in a car with the engine running.
Just like I get my recommended vaccines when they're due. I'd rather deal with the sore arm/mild immune response than the actual disease.
Interesting. However, there could be a number of factors that could influence the increased observation of autism in Somalis in Sweden. I couldn't access the entire article, so I don't know if the following were discussed-malnutrition, vitamin deficiencies, lack of qualified diagnosticians in Somalia, psychological and emotional trauma, etc. Just some food for thought.
BCgradnurse,
The study looks at the possibility of vitamin D, genetics, and other possibilities. The real conclusion is that more research needs to be done because of a positive correlation with developed countries and increase of autism.
No difference in onset of autism in those vaccinated and unvaccinated.
Taylor, B., Miller, E., Farrington, C., Petropoulos, M. C., Favot-Mayaud, I., Li, J., & Waight, P. A. (1999). Autism and measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine: no epidemiological evidence for a causal association. The Lancet, 353(9169), 2026-2029.
This study looks at children who received MMR vaccines and those who did not receive MMR vaccines. It does not take into account other vaccines or other factors. The system of controls is very poor in this study.
Just so everyone is clear, thimerosal was removed from all childhood vaccines in the US in 2001. Autism rates haven't dropped since then have they?
NOT TRUE!!! Influenza (flu) vaccines are currently available in both thimerosal-containing (for multi-dose vaccine vials) and thimerosal-free versions. Source: CDC
There are no studies that look at Ethylmercury's occurrence in the environment as a potential environmental toxin. Methylmercury has been studied (extensively) as an environmental toxin.
There have also been no inquiries into other preservatives and additives that the pharmaceutical industry is using in vaccines. For example, DTaP adds formaldehyde. (Source: CDC)
NOT TRUE!!! Influenza (flu) vaccines are currently available in both thimerosal-containing (for multi-dose vaccine vials) and thimerosal-free versions. Source: CDC
There are no studies that look at Ethylmercury's occurrence in the environment as a potential environmental toxin. Methylmercury has been studied (extensively) as an environmental toxin.
There have also been no inquiries into other preservatives and additives that the pharmaceutical industry is using in vaccines. For example, DTaP adds formaldehyde. (Source: CDC)
Again I am not anti-vax, but I am pro truth.
There are thimerosal-free versions of all childhood vaccines; most have never had it to begin with.
SafeMinds and spent a lot of money to research thimerosal after complaining that here was a "lack of well-designed statistical research". The result was this readily available study:
Gadad, B. S., Li, W., Yazdani, U., Grady, S., Johnson, T., Hammond, J., ... & Ferrier, C. (2015). Administration of thimerosal-containing vaccines to infant rhesus macaques does not result in autism-like behavior or neuropathology. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(40), 12498-12503.
)
to cover this up. This vaccine tampering seems to be a part of some nefarious population control plot.
BCgradnurse, MSN, RN, NP
1,678 Posts
Interesting. However, there could be a number of factors that could influence the increased observation of autism in Somalis in Sweden. I couldn't access the entire article, so I don't know if the following were discussed-malnutrition, vitamin deficiencies, lack of qualified diagnosticians in Somalia, psychological and emotional trauma, etc. Just some food for thought.