Posted on 03/09/2008 6:17:55 PM PDT by raybbr
"It's indisputable that autism is on the rise among children," Senator John McCain said while campaigning recently in Texas. "The question is what's causing it. And we go back and forth and there's strong evidence that indicates that it's got to do with a preservative in vaccines."
With that comment, McCain marked his entry into one of the most politicized scientific issues in a generation.
McCain is correct that autism diagnoses have increased in recent decades; indeed, no one disputes that. He is on much shakier ground when talking about the preservative as a cause.
While some parents' groups and lawmakers assert that the preservative, called thimerosal, has caused an epidemic of new autism cases, most mainstream researchers strongly disagree.
Several large-scale studies have found no evidence of a link between thimerosal and autism, and medical groups including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Institute of Medicine and the American Academy of Pediatrics have publicly stated as much. In January, the state of California reported an increase in autism cases, despite the removal of thimerosal from most vaccines.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
Unfortunately, we are civilized and we all live in society.
There are folks who will defend forced immunizations in order to insure the greater good for all. That even if it means that casualties shall occur, and at times even abound.
The same BS artists who espouse forced Government controlled Health Care could not care less about the child left behind because he/she is dead or almost so.
Welcome to the Brave New World of hypocrisy and big Government. Same as the old Boss.
Where I live they set aside small supplies of mercury-free flu vaccine for pregnant women.
McCain is a nut job. I’m not standing in judgment though because I didn’t go through the trauma that he did. Still though, we need to see to it that the Republican Party is represented by someone who doesn’t have the most traumatized psyche in the United States.
why? because...people have every reason to be skeptical to sticking mercury in their kids! It shouldn’t be something forced by the govt.
since when is McCain a scientist..... even they don’t know for sure what is causing the rise in Autism....
http://www.autismtoday.com/articles/Researcher%20sees%20link.asp
Here are a couple of quotes from that story:
One discredited theory is that the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal once used in childhood vaccines causes autism. Studies have failed to find any link.
The cause of autism is further clouded because some scientists speculate that part of the apparent increase in incidence - in the United States it is being diagnosed about 10 times more frequently now than in the early 1990s - may reflect improved reporting by doctors more aware of the condition.
[My comment] Vitamin D is naturally produced by skin exposed to sunlight. Coincidentally or ironically, John McCain has had melanoma, a skin cancer believed to be related to excess exposure of the skin to sunlight.
I think society has broken down because of govt policies. People expect the govt to make all their decisions for them.
I don’t want the govt to FORCE people to use a vaccine that people have raised questions and concerns, even if not everybody agrees with this skepticism.
on the other hand, the govt should not ban it either since most studies have shown it is safe.
I’m not too informed on this issue, so I’m asking a question. With the advance of medicines and treatments since the 1960’s if one were to get the measles or some of these other things that we are immunized for, could they be treated effectively most of the time or still possibly a death sentence if contracted? Maybe the vaccines could be reduced if medicine can be used effectively. I don’t know.
I’m skeptical about putting mercury in the human body myself, especially when we’re being told to reduce consumption of fish, which is otherwise very healthful. Incidentally, the largest source of lifetime exposure to mercury is said to be dental amalgam fillings, yet there is little public outcry against them.
I wonder if the Dr. isn't a Democrat jumping at a chance to attack McCain (as did the NY Slimes). McCain should have kept his mouth shut, knowing that the Leftmedia is just waiting to pounce. However, they have praised him for years for "being a maverick" and "outspoken," so it's gone to his head.
Anyway, no President is going to make decisions on an issue like this without consulting medical experts.
I think the bigger problem is that he HAS consulted the experts on global warming and accepted what they said.
Yes, and so did Bush, despite his original skepticism. I keep telling people that no politician or election is going to save this country as long as the Left has a lock on the education system and the media, feeding disinformation into the decision-making process.
If we gave up vaccinations, then we'd be trying to kill the bacterial diseases (such as diphtheria and tetanus) with antibiotics. And the bacteria for which we currently use antibiotics keep "outsmarting" us on that front.
We know vaccination can prevent certain diseases; we do not know if antibiotics would continue to be effective in curing some of those diseases in the future.
I'm old enough to have lived through polio epidemics in the fifties, and been among the first generation of kids to get the Salk vaccine. No one wants to go through those epidemics again.
I also remember seeing a sign on a neighborhood house: "Quarantined: Scarlet Fever."
Do I think that the multitude of non-mercury vaccinations for infants, as currently scheduled, may cause complications? Possibly. Definitely need more scientific studies.
But there are no antibiotics or medicines that could replace the effectiveness of vaccinations, at least not as of today.
Do parents have the right to not vaccinate their kids? Sure. But organizations will continue to set vaccinations as an admission requirement.
McCain is going to give a good reason for ending legacy admissions at our military academies.
Dr. Dean Edell has 6 million listeners on his syndicated radio program. He is a huge liberal and I can’t stand him, ran in to him on the radio this morning right when he was saying that McCain wouldn’t be capable of making a big decision in government because he never searched for another opinion.
Does that remind anyone of the complaint about our current President?
Wow. What if all this sunscreen we are told(MANDATED) to put on our kids ends up being a precursor to autism.
To be honest I have a 3+ year old and it really scares me to think that they have no idea what causes it.
IF there is any question about vaccines or what is in them can they do a comparison to a population that doesn’t get the vaccines? Maybe some American kids don’t get vaccinated or maybe even compare the rates to another country that doesn’t vaccinate their children to the level we do.
It would be hard for me to understand why my kid starts acting very different soon after getting a shot... that he has to get to go to public schools... that he has to go to by order of the government... that cant keep him safe while in said school... that they give......oh never mind, I am starting to get wound up.
Every single one of my classmates and I were vaccinated with vaccines that used Thimerisol as a base/stabiliser/preservative. Every single one. Typically at between ages 3-7, with occasional 'boosters'.
Cases of autism, as far as anyone can tell, in this class -- 2 out of 711. Perhaps 3 or 4, depending on who defines the pathology.
If autism is increasing in the population, as seems so, **rational** people will look for other causes, as opposed to simply slipstreaming the ambulance chasers.
“I always recommend politicians shut up about what they don’t understand.”
Could you extend that recommendation to FR’eepers who speak with authority on the issue, but have no scientific understanding? A hallmark of our liberal society is an entitled and immodest population which has bestowed validity to opinion, regardless of merit. Often on these threads, the conviction imbued in the rhetoric is inversely proportion to truth and reason.
I only know one thing about this subject but I am certain it is true, and that is that whatever is finally found to be the cause, a lot of lawyers will be getting rich because of it.
You left out thief and drug addict, but basically, yeah. The rich are different than the rest of us. They can do drugs and steal from charity and never serve a single day.
I do NOT like the man.
Nor do I.
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