In response to an article in Forbes, October 10, 2006
As Parents Nix Vaccine, Childhood Whooping Cough Increases
" Refusal to have children immunized appears to be a peculiarly American phenomenon, Offit said, caused by "the balance we have in this country between individual rights and the rights of the public. To my knowledge,this is the only country to have state mandates for immunization, and the only one that needs them.....Offit said: "We get a lot of calls from parents who are troubled by vaccines. Then there is an unmovable group that believes it is a conspiracy of doctors and pharmaceutical companies, that it is all about selling vaccines. No matter what the data shows, they are not convinced. We have to ask people to have faith, and there has been an erosion of it." - HealthDay News & Forbes
Dr. Samuel Katz, a Duke University vaccine specialist who has consulted for vaccine makers, said he is not convinced loose state exemption policies are linked with whooping cough prevalence. He said not all states with liberal policies have high disease rates. But Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious-disease specialist at Vanderbilt University who has worked with vaccine manufacturers, said the connection is plausible. Schaffner said non-medical exemptions should be allowed, but only if parents get educational information about vaccines. They should also be required to renew their exemption status each year, as some states now mandate, Schaffner said." - Lindsey Tanner, Associated Press
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
The families of vaccine injured children and those who know vaccine injured children do not trust the opinions of doctors who take money from drug companies and personally profit from laws which force vaccination, such as rotavirus (diarrhea) vaccine patent holder, Paul Offit. The disdain for individual rights and civil liberties expressed by Offit puts him at odds with America's founding fathers, who understood the importance of protecting minorities from the tyranny of the majority.
No other country in the world uses and mandates as many vaccines as the United States because government officials in Canada, western Europe and other free nations respect individual rights and health care choices. Only authoritarian regimes in underdeveloped countries take a totalitarian approach to dissent today, with some imprisoning non-vaccinators or using the militia to force vaccination. Increasing oppression and punishment of families trying to protect their children from vaccine injury and death in the United States would certainly make it easier for patent holders on vaccines to make larger and more predictable profits.
It is important for the public, including legislators, to be fully informed about all of the potential motivating factors for the public policies being promoted by individuals with letters after their names. It is also important for the public, including journalists, to independently verify the scientific integrity of studies which are used to justify the erosion of civil and human rights in America.
Disclosure: NVIC and its staff have never taken money from vaccine manufacturers. NVIC is a charitable 501(C)3 organization founded by parents of vaccine injured children in 1982 and dedicated to the prevention of vaccine injuries and deaths through public education and protection of the informed consent ethic.
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