16 years ago, a doctor published a study, and it made us all sick

Published

Specializes in Anesthesia.

"After years of controversy and making parents mistrust vaccines, along with collecting $674,000 from lawyers who would benefit from suing vaccine makers, it was discovered he had made the whole thing up. The Lancet publicly apologized and reported that further investigation led to the discovery that he had fabricated everything.

In the intervening years, millions have been spent on studying this further to see if there was anything that could connect autism and vaccines. This is what they found."

16 years ago, a doctor published a study. It was completely made up, and it made us all sicker.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Interesting.

Devil's Advocate:

Should we simply take the word of vaccine makers who pay for studies?

Manufacturers are, I believe, immune to lawsuits, too. If they're confident that their products are wonderful, why do they need immunity?

What reasons would someone have for saying that vaccines are not perfectly safe?

I know illnesses can cause terrible morbidity. But so, some say, can the vaccines. What do we do?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Anesthesia.

No, manufacturers are not immune to lawsuits. There is one lawsuit now about the efficacy of the MMR and the claims by the manufacturer.

Drug manufacturers cannot be sued due to normal drug reactions.

No, drug manufacturers do not pay for all of vaccine research. They often pick up a promising vaccine in the early stages and then pay for the research through FDA approval (Phase 3). Then the government of pretty much every nation pays for post-marketing testing to ensure that vaccines are safe and as a effective as claimed.

This makes vaccines different than any other medication.

No medication is perfectly safe. Water isn't perfectly safe. There is no such thing as a perfectly safe product of any kind, but overall vaccines are probably the safest medication we have. Tylenol by comparison is one of the most dangerous drugs.

What we do is utilize VAERS system and post marketing (phase 4) studies as we have done for decades to ensure that vaccines remain as safe as possible.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Interesting.

Devil's Advocate:

Should we simply take the word of vaccine makers who pay for studies?

Manufacturers are, I believe, immune to lawsuits, too. If they're confident that their products are wonderful, why do they need immunity?

What reasons would someone have for saying that vaccines are not perfectly safe?

I know illnesses can cause terrible morbidity. But so, some say, can the vaccines. What do we do?

(Geez Louise, here we go again...)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

And yet there are posts being made to the vaccine thread in General Nursing which are still perpetuating the "vaccines cause autism" lie.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

You cannot fix stupid!

JMHO and my NY $0.02

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN (ret)

Somewhere in the PACNW

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Anesthesia.

But you can combat their stupidity spreading.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in allergy and asthma, urgent care.

I think this study is one of the worst tragedies in modern medicine. These fabrications caused many parents to put their children in harms way by not vaccinating them, FOR NO GOOD REASON. No medicine, treatment, vaccine, procedure, etc. is 100% safe, but with vaccines, the benefits far outweigh the risks. That's not just my opinion.....it's science.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Emergency Department.

I think you will find that the increase in cases of Autism is due to the increase in sales of organic foods. :roflmao::cheeky:

On correlation, causation, and the "real" cause of autism

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.

I wage war on this every day.

Thanks for the post wtb.

I was contemplating this week writing an article to address the common arguments against vaccination and links to the actual science behind them, for both education and for a reference for practice/discussion.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.

I have family in Northern England. Thanks to Wakefield's study, vaccination rates have dropped low enough that the north and Wales have had regular measles outbreaks.

I'm just grateful that my state eliminated the philosophical exemption for vaccines. Unfortunately, naturopaths can issue medical exemptions. My state still has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. The last 3 years have had whooping cough epidemics. A measles outbreak is only a matter of time.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.

Should we simply take the word of vaccine makers who pay for studies?

We don't simply believe them. We do large RCT studies evaluating efficacy and safety.

Manufacturers are, I believe, immune to lawsuits, too. If they're confident that their products are wonderful, why do they need immunity?

Because the profit margin on vaccines in the 1970s and 80s was so low that no company would make them if they were also at risk of baseless litigation. It also does not apply to civil court.

What reasons would someone have for saying that vaccines are not perfectly safe?

Nothing is perfectly safe. No one ever says that vaccines are "perfectly safe". Inaction is not perfectly safe.

I know illnesses can cause terrible morbidity. But so, some say, can the vaccines. What do we do?

We look at all the available data and make a risk benefit calculation; simply, vaccines prevent far more M&M than they create.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion