There have been a few diaries about vaccines on this site -- most ridiculously and controversially here, where a diarist was claiming Oprah Winfrey and Jenny McCarthy were teaming up to kill babies. And this over-the-top diary made it to the rec list!
It's strange that a progressive site would be such a cheerleader for Big Pharma, but anyone here who dares suggest that vaccines are not the single answer to healthcare risks getting vilified -- in fact, gets accused of killing children.
Bill Maher recently posted a great piece over at HuffPo. In it, he writes:
... mainstream media rarely interviews doctors and scientists who present an alternative point of view. There is a movement to stop people from asking any questions about vaccines -- they're a miracle, that's it, debate over. I don't think its that simple, and neither do millions of other people. The British Medical Journal from August 25 says half the doctors and medical workers in the U.K. are not taking the flu shot -- are they all crazy too? Sixty-five percent of French people don't want it. Maybe its not as simple as the medical establishment wants to paint it.
It seems to me that vaccines are a topic where reasonable people can disagree and where an open discussion could actually shed some light. But when people equate people who are simply trying to make vaccines safer by getting the mercury out of them with baby killers, and the majority of people agree with that point of view, you've entered Bizarro World.
Maher concludes his piece with this:
Is it conspiracy theory to believe that American medicine too much treats symptoms and not root causes of disease? I always ask my friends when they go to the doctor for something, "Did your doctor ask you what you eat?" The answer is almost always 'no,' and a lot can be cured with diet and a healthier lifestyle. (And a lot can't. I also understand the role of genetics and generations of artificial selection). But Americans don't want to hear that, so doctors don't push it. It's easier and more profitable to write a prescription for Lipitor. They're not bad people, and at the end of the day, you can't make someone eat right. I like and respect all the M.D.s I've had over the years, and for the record, I have a naturopath doctor and I have a Western doctor. I would make an analogy to Republicans and Democrats: in both politics and health, I don't commit to either party because I'm on the side of the truth, whoever has it. In both cases, I'm an Independent.
Ms. Fisher said "If we want to create a society that is dependent on shots for immunity -- the same way we are getting dependent on prescription drugs, antibiotics, and surgery -- this is the path we should keep going down."
I don't think its "anti-science" to pause and consider that point of view.