Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

More Doctors 'Fire' Vaccine Refusers
Wall Street Journal ^ | FEBRUARY 15, 2012 | SHIRLEY S. WANG

Posted on 02/15/2012 1:10:19 PM PST by FewsOrange

Pediatricians fed up with parents who refuse to vaccinate their children out of concern it can cause autism or other problems increasingly are "firing" such families from their practices, raising questions about a doctor's responsibility to these patients.

Medical associations don't recommend such patient bans, but the practice appears to be growing, according to vaccine researchers.

In a study of Connecticut pediatricians published last year, some 30% of 133 doctors said they had asked a family to leave their practice for vaccine refusal, and a recent survey of 909 Midwestern pediatricians found that 21% reported discharging families for the same reason.

By comparison, in 2001 and 2006 about 6% of physicians said they "routinely" stopped working with families ...

Most pediatricians consider preventing disease through vaccines a primary goal of their job. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and AAP issue an annual recommended vaccination schedule, but some parents ask if their child's immunizations can be pushed back or skipped altogether, pediatricians say. While rates for several key inoculations in young children rose between 2009 and 2010, according to the CDC, lower immunization rates have been blamed as a factor in U.S. outbreaks of whooping cough and measles in recent years.

Parents often voice concerns about autism or that their child's immune system may be overwhelmed by too many vaccines at once. Worries about a link between vaccines and autism arose because some parents noticed their children regressed, or lost some skills, around the time of their vaccinations at two years of age. Another concern centered on the former use of mercury as a vaccine preservative.

Numerous studies since have dispelled these concerns among scientists. Rather, scientists say, it is more likely that autism symptoms begin showing up around the same age children are vaccinated.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: antivacc; antivaxxers; autism; vaccinations; vaccines
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 181-200201-220221-240 ... 261-263 next last
To: porter_knorr

“once a fire is extinguished does the fire department stay and continue putting water on it?”

Only if they don’t want their kids to die of preventable childhood diseases.


201 posted on 02/16/2012 5:25:36 AM PST by RFEngineer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 174 | View Replies]

To: Tired of Taxes

“To those of you who believe all children should receive all vaccinations, I would ask: Which vaccinations? How many? How many more vaccinations are you willing to add to the schedule? Will there ever be a limit?”

On what basis are you refusing vaccinations, and which ones?

If you have a good reason, great, but if you really just don’t know, why not just go with the recommended course?

Yours is twisted and uninformed logic. That medical science evolves is a good thing, but for crying out loud.

When you doctor gives you antibiotics (You DO take those, don’t you?) it is YOUR thinking that causes drug resistant strains of bacteria. “I feel better, so I’m going to stop taking them”.

Get your vaccines, take the full course of antibiotics and stop questioning things you have no capacity to understand.


202 posted on 02/16/2012 5:39:14 AM PST by RFEngineer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 165 | View Replies]

To: SaintDismas
My doc is not pleased with me for not accepting a statin drug for cholesterol.

Good move. Stay away from those poisons. (Probably a good idea to get a new doctor as well!)

203 posted on 02/16/2012 5:50:06 AM PST by zzeeman ("We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: Just mythoughts; RFEngineer
“Bad parenting”

or maybe their kids are just stupid.

204 posted on 02/16/2012 6:06:53 AM PST by starlifter (Pullum sapit)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: freedomfiter2
“For a number of years, every case of polio in the US was directly or indirectly caused by the live vaccine”

Citation?

205 posted on 02/16/2012 6:10:15 AM PST by starlifter (Pullum sapit)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 65 | View Replies]

To: Osage Orange

And the same to you! I’ve been sending baby pictures to my friends in Oklahoma in the last few days. Sometimes I miss living in a place where everything was nicely square and almost completely flat!


206 posted on 02/16/2012 6:13:05 AM PST by Tax-chick (I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's. His hair was perfect!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 171 | View Replies]

To: Secret Agent Man
Did you forget to refill your Thorazine prescription?
207 posted on 02/16/2012 6:16:26 AM PST by starlifter (Pullum sapit)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 108 | View Replies]

To: Secret Agent Man; Cato in PA
Your description may certainly be true for some of them. But I have a different take on it that explains it (actually, it explains a lot of why people have such a hard time with accepting truth), that is, the “Normalcy Bias.” Most people have so much of themselves wrapped up in believing what they always believed to be true.

The bridge that needs to be crossed to accept the fact the gubmint, bigPharma, AMA members, etc. may not have your best interests at heart, and may actually be harming you on purpose, is just to difficult for most people to accept. And for some, when they are pressed on matters like this, will often get very testy/angry/obnoxious and attack, since that is the easier path to follow (after all, you get to hold onto all of those beliefs and don't have to think much about it).

The “Normalcy Bias” provides a great deal of the reasons/explanation why our society has devolved to the current state, and has allowed gubmint to grow to its behemoth extra-Constitutional state.

208 posted on 02/16/2012 6:22:48 AM PST by zzeeman ("We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 121 | View Replies]

To: editor-surveyor
“If the vaccine fails to bring on trouble immediately, it likely will later on, with fibromyalgia, ALS, MS, or other polio vaccine related conditions.”

Citation please, especially for “likely”?

209 posted on 02/16/2012 6:25:23 AM PST by starlifter (Pullum sapit)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 146 | View Replies]

To: NoPinkos

What a piece of work you are. Crawl in a hole.


210 posted on 02/16/2012 6:25:45 AM PST by commonguymd (Freedom is a myth anymore it seems)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: starlifter

You need to reconsider who’s on drugs here buddy.

The guy who says it’s up to the individual to decide if the benefits outweigh the risks of certain vaccines for them, or people like you who can’t somehow tolerate anyone else having a different decision than yours.


211 posted on 02/16/2012 6:39:33 AM PST by Secret Agent Man (I'd like to tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 207 | View Replies]

To: MD Expat in PA

I know/this, I said they are cultured from aborted cell lines. Instead of a medium. Like chicken embryos, yes, I get that. It’s still exploitation using an aborted baby’s material for the supposed benefit of others.


212 posted on 02/16/2012 6:43:16 AM PST by Secret Agent Man (I'd like to tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 200 | View Replies]

To: Liberty Tree Surgeon
You Luddites are really something. First, you howl about the number of shots a child receives because, in your mind, their bodies cannot possibly withstand so much antigen at one time. Then, when industry reduces the amount of antigen used so the total number of antigens a child receives in the entire vaccine schedule is lower than a single dose of vaccine used in the past, you losers howl about the adjuvants that help make it possible.

Adjuvants are added to vaccines to stimulate the immune system's response to the target antigen. It makes them more effective and allows for much smaller amounts of antigens to be used. There's a reason why less antigen is used today. It is also why vaccines are safer today than at any other time in history. It's comical that you would fear the product that made it possible. I do not have a comprehension problem. You, though, have been clearly spared from the ravages of being able to think critically. Ok, so you're afraid of the adjuvants as well as the number of shots a child receives. Your fear knows no bounds. You are quite the chemicalphobe. How do you even manage to breathe knowing the air you inhale contains benzene? Living in fear of things you don't understand is no way to go through life. But then, it's human nature to fear the things you don't understand.

I'd ask you what your specific fear of adjuvants might be but I'm afraid I'd get some toxic terrorist tin foil screed about peanut oil. As much as I'd appreciate the laugh, it's clear to me now that you possess a fixed mentality based on ignorance and nothing I say can ever change that. Ignorance is one thing, however, willful ignorance is an entirely different story. When luddites like you fail to vaccinate their kids, they endanger my kids too, because you undermine our ability to develop a community immunity, which provides an important layer of protection for all. Thanks. How selfish of you. Fear is more infectious than any virus.

Over the past century, science has provided us with products and services that have reduced infant and child mortality by more than 90%, and has increased our life expectancy by almost 30 years. All of this change carried risks. Good thing the luddites lost the argument. The ignorant minority goes on about their lives without thinking about the horrors they might have suffered without vaccinations. One of the problems in defending modern science and technology against the idiots who criticize progress is that so many of the benefits they enjoy are unseen. We've used adjuvants in vaccines for more than 60 years, but here you are whining about things you don't understand oblivious to the mountain of evidence in front of you that proves you wrong.

If nothing else, at least you can stop lying about the fact that you are an anti-vaccine zealot.

213 posted on 02/16/2012 8:00:18 AM PST by Mase (Save me from the people who would save me from myself!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 199 | View Replies]

To: slowhandluke
I'm not really up on this issue. But the vehemence used to shout down anyone who dares question the safety of the vaccines makes me curious. Sort of like the birther stuff. “Shut up, they explained.”
214 posted on 02/16/2012 8:22:26 AM PST by Forgotten Amendments (Sheep and insects need leaders.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: DustyMoment
Lawyers have cleaned up making doctors the target of the litigious-minded!!

I have even heard of doctors refusing to treat any lawyer who has ever sued a doctor. Makes sense to me.

215 posted on 02/16/2012 8:51:16 AM PST by Oberon (Big Brutha Be Watchin'.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 105 | View Replies]

To: RFEngineer

Polio was the one I was concerned about - until my at the time, pro-vaccination doc—explained it was eradicated.

What he was concerned about was the tetanus shot. My opinion at the time, and still is - is that we have hot water, topical and oral antibiotics - and our lifestyle doesn’t really allow for rusty nails in feet. If we lived in a different area, I may re-think that one.

Death from measles, mumps, chicken pox, whooping cough, etc is not likely to happen. It may be uncomfortable, but we’ll work through that if it happens.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t vaccinate your kid if after the research you decide that is the best way for your family to proceed. I am saying that each family should be able to make the decision for themselves and not be blackmailed into it at the risk of losing a doctor they may otherwise really like.

(although in all honesty I would rather go to a doc that could appreciate my ability to research and decide what is best for my child and not fight me every step of the way...but that’s just me.)


216 posted on 02/16/2012 9:27:07 AM PST by porter_knorr
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 201 | View Replies]

To: RFEngineer

There’s nothing wrong with my logic. But I have to laugh at you calling my logic “twisted and uninformed” and then you proceeding to set up a strawman argument. ;-)

Here’s my question again: The medical community itself has disagreements over the vaccination schedule. New immunizations are consistently added to the schedule, and sometimes others are removed. So... which shots do you think should be required? Do you think there should be a limit at all? Is there any number of shots that you consider too many to require? 50? 100? (It’s already up to around 30.) I’m just curious to know if any of you have a limit.


217 posted on 02/16/2012 9:56:33 AM PST by Tired of Taxes (Every day is a blessing.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 202 | View Replies]

To: Mase

Like I said, keep on taking them, since you believe them to be safe. No one is stopping you, but don’t you dare try to inflict your ideas on me and mine, since I don’t rely on belief but actual knowledge of the risks.

Good luck to you! I hope you don’t ever have to see a loved one’s health smashed - I really do.


218 posted on 02/16/2012 11:09:56 AM PST by Liberty Tree Surgeon (Mow your own lawn!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 213 | View Replies]

I suffered from whooping cough, the chicken pox and the German Measles (twice). I vividly remember those illnesses as a child. I have family members who live with the effects of polio. I made sure my children were vaccinated.

I found it interesting that an acquaintance refused to have her child vaccinated (the 80’s). She was very vocal about it, criticizing those who did. When her child reached adulthood they joined the US Army and had to have them all anyway - as an adult. I bet that was way more miserable than having it done as a child.


219 posted on 02/16/2012 11:24:27 AM PST by Jenny217
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: Tax-chick
I live up in Osage County.....lots of hills, draws and valleys. Oh yeah...you can stretch your eyes too!! : )
220 posted on 02/16/2012 12:30:19 PM PST by Osage Orange (A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 206 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 181-200201-220221-240 ... 261-263 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson