Big CARma doesn't tell us about boosters

This day has been emotionally exhausting, especially for people in Wales and in the UK in general, so I thought I'd repost something that is not about measles from the brilliant Refutations to Anti-Vaccine Memes, this time taking on the "If your child is vaccinated, why are you worried about them catching anything from my child?" fallacy:

Love it: "when you purchase your first car seat, they don't tell you that boosters are required. Until they make a car sear that lasts a lifetime, I will never buy one". I can just imagine the indignant tone.
Cue someone who points out that car seats are "not injected into the blood stream".

Organic Food Causes Autism (r=9971; p=0.0001)

not found by me, but by jasonp55 - it is impressive, it is unambiguous, it is clearer than the fact that storks deliver babies (p=0.008)

I think respondent Doorsofperceptron has a point when s/he says:

I think they're related.

Both diagnosing autism and buying organic food indicate movement to a society rich enough to concern itself with secondary health issues.

No one believes that autism or eating inorganic food will kill you, but diagnosing autism and developing coping strategies or eating organic food, are seen as good ways to improve people's lifestyle.

Not only have you found a real correlation in American history, but I think if you checked countries all around the world, the percentage of food sold labelled as organic should strongly correlation with the proportion of the population diagnosed as autistic.

Basically, autism testing and organic food are proxies that measure how rich people are.

In any case, this little graph shows impressively that correlation ≠ causation. An important thing to keep in mind when the usual anti-vaccine activists make vaccines responsible for autism and infant deaths.

sources: http://www.ota.com/pics/documents/2011OrganicIndustrySurvey.pdf
http://penndata.hbg.psu.edu/documents/ADR/Idea06.pdf

La Crosse Purposes

Anyone who has an interest in the Andrew Wakefield debacle also knows who Brian Deer is.  Mr. Deer is giving a talk at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse 4 and 5 October 2012 and that has the Wakefield worshippers in a collective apoplexy.  What is particularly striking about the current Deer versus Wakefield affair is where the latter has been relegated to.

Wakefield was once the darling of media outlets.  But after his demise following the GMC Fitness to Practise Proceeding and the determination of over forty counts of serious professional misconduct, his ouster from the former Thoughtful House (now Johnson Center for Child Health and Development) and subsequent British Medical Journal series by Brian Deer chronicling Wakefield's fraudulent activities, Wakefield is deservedly reduced to wallowing in the dregs.

Brian Deer gets invites to speak at notable universities and societies and wins press awards whilst Wakefield has been reduced to giving interviews to paranoid conspiracy-theorists Alex Jones and Mike Adams, nipping at Brian Deer's heels in the form of failed lawsuits and now appearing in little park sheds with a capacity of 40, a mile away from where Mr. Deer will be presenting to crowds numbering in the hundreds.

That has to sting.  And for your visual entertainment, this is where Wakefield will be:

Myrick Gun Club, La Crosse, Wisconsin.  Capacity: 40.  Cost: $140/day.

(Photo courtesy of: http://jamielynnbuehner.blogspot.com/2012/04/4-my-steers-family.html)

And it looks like it might be a rainy day for the Wakefield fans.  Too bad.

This is where Brian Deer will be presenting:

 

Centennial Hall and Clock Tower, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.  Capacity: 250.

Just go away Wakefield; you aren't relevant any longer and you certainly haven't done a damn thing to help benefit the autism community.  It's a shame that people with more money than brains don't recognise Wakefield for being the unscrupulous money-suck he is and can't seem to find themselves legitimate figures to identify with.

Australian Anti-Vaccination Network AVN pwned by stopAVN statistician at their own seminar

Since we didn't post anything yesterday, here's a quick post to celebrate Stop the AVN's Scotty Harrison's beautiful talk at the Australian Anti-Vaccination Network's seminar "Vaccination and health - your right to choose" held in Armidale NSW a couple of days ago. I think the audience and organisers were expecting a slightly different take on the issue than they got - have a look and hear the guffaws about 3 minutes in as the penny drops:



Rather small-mindedly, the organisers turned down Scotty's generous offer of coming back for the next seminar the next day to provide some balance. Pwned - just beautiful - cheers mate!

The Best Anti-Vaccine Comment Ever!

We recently got an anonymous commentor on the Sue Reid propagates MMR Manufactuversy in the Daily Mail post.  She, by far, represents everything that is so wrong  with anti-vaxx dogma and offers a chilling glimpse into the tortured, erratic, absurd and obtuse mind that latches onto vaccine disinformation.
Anonymous first stated:

my son survived because a life saving surgery to fix his colon has been introduced. 50 years ago, he would not have survived!

I then asked:

Now let me ask you this about your child's medical procedure. Did you demand studies from the surgeons that the procedure had been submitted to controlled trials for several years before being performed on your child? Why not?

And then came this from Anonymous (in its glorious, grammar-addled entirety):

Your stupid question Science mom...
Did you demand studies from the surgeons that the procedure had been submitted to controlled trials for several years before being performed on your child? Why not?

Where have I ever led you to believe that I rely on scientific research to make my decisions. My son needed a life saving surgery, and because of advancements in science, he is here today, taking a direct hand in decreasing infant mortality. stop giving credit to your vaccines!
For you gals WHO need so called research to think for yourselves...Where is the solid evidence that babies, who get more than two-dozen doses of vaccines by age six months, are healthier as they grow up than those, who get fewer vaccines or no vaccines? No large, prospective studies have been done comparing the long-term health outcomes of children, who are vaccinated according to the CDC schedule, with those, who are not. I will again take my awesome intuition leading me to think for myself over your "research" conducted by the giant pharmaceuticals, coupled with law makers that are recipients of the deep pockets of these companies. they are the ones who use fear mongering tactics to sell more and more vaccines. Stop accusing Sue Reid and let her write about our debated topic here.. don't you see the conflict of interest with all your "research"?

well here in America, we are progressively challenging the bloated and expensive vaccine schedule and are telling doctors and legislators: "Show Us the Science, and Give Us the Choice." yes i took this from an anti vaccine website -- so what, get over it.
Your children may be healthy now, but you will never know how healthy they could be without all the toxins you are giving them. you Gals, have yet to answer my looming question - what is your explanation (don't care if it is scientific or not) of the growing number of neurological and other disorders? please..I would really love to know?? If your child or (someone you know), suddenly develops lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or any other auto immune disorders later in life.. you may consider you lended a hand by inundating them with toxins.

so we are clear about the toxins: (to name a few) There is aluminum in Hep B... There are also trace or residual amounts of 2-phenoxyethanol, phenol, albumin, sucrose, lactose, MSG, glycine, formaldehyde, and antibiotics (neomycin) in vaccines. These are very small amounts, but do we want to continually inject even small amounts of these toxins directly into our tiny babies’ developing bodies, given their inability to detoxify and how vulnerable they are to low levels of toxins? If trace amounts of formaldehyde, MSG, or antibiotics were in foods that were to be given to our babies, most of us wouldn’t allow it. Yet, these toxins go directly into the baby’s bloodstream. Vaccines also can contain egg and yeast proteins. We delay giving our babies solid foods, mostly to avoid the proteins that can cause allergies. Why would we inject isolated proteins into their bodies at 2 months old?
Please understand, I am not in favor of any shots... so please stop criticizing my debate, saying i am not posting to the right blog or what does this have to do with MMR or whatever. I am speaking out against them all.

The Italian family received justice. the vaccine was the tipping point, full stop! and Italian court agrees.....THEY WON! :o)

These bear repeating more than I can say:

"Where have I ever led you to believe that I rely on scientific research to make my decisions."

"For you gals WHO need so called research to think for yourselves..."

"I will again take my awesome intuition leading me to think for myself over your "research" conducted by the giant pharmaceuticals, coupled with law makers that are recipients of the deep pockets of these companies."

She don't need no steenkin science, she's got her awesome...

INTUITION

But but but then goes on to say:

well here in America, we are progressively challenging the bloated and expensive vaccine schedule and are telling doctors and legislators: "Show Us the Science, and Give Us the Choice." yes i took this from an anti vaccine website -- so what, get over it.

And this is it, my sublime epiphany.  Oh sure many others have identified and analysed the incongruity, hypocrisy and flat-out deception that embody anti-vaxx diatribes.  But for me, this comment is an unmitigated exposition of what we are dealing with and why we will never, ever be able to proffer any study, any explanation or any debate good enough for them to accept what is so antithetical to their awesome...

I N T U I T I O N

I have no good answers to combat this and I am left to continue to speculate on the state of education in the United States that people such as Anonymous can find their way onto the internets and make comments like this in earnest.  Regardless, it is cathartic to achieve this realisation and I will continue to pillory and counter anti-vaccine disinformation as long as I care to.

Letters: Dear Doctor - Dear Parent

The Thinking Moms' Revolution blog (not to be confused with the very useful Thinking Person's Guide to Autism) is written by a number of mothers who strongly believe in "healing" their children's (vaccine-induced) autism. Overall, they seem to be very angry, which is beautifully reflected in a recent post - "The letter I wish I could send to my old pediatrician". There is, of course, no reason why the poster could not send that letter, although her chances of the pediatrician actually reading it might go up, if she find another address than "Dear Dr. Asshat". Orac does a good job in taking the fallacies in the letter down, however, as often the case, one of the commentators takes the cake with a response letter, which deserved to be showcased:

Dear Ignorant Parent:

We are well aware that you pulled your child out of our practice, since we've seen a marked decrease in the volume of ignorant questions that our nurses have had to answer as of late. Trust us, you won't be missed.

Will we lose an ounce of sleep over you deciding the vaccines are wrong for your child? No. However, if your young, and unvaccinated little one comes down with measles, mumps, whooping cough, polio, or rubella then we would wager that you will. We've treated all of them in our tenure as doctors and be assured, while modern medicine can reduce the risk to your child after infection, the results can still be daunting.

Blindness, paralysis, deafness, and even death are some of the results of not vaccinating your child from diseases that once killed millions around the world. By not allowing us to vaccinate you are saddling your child with plenty of risks, none of which he should or need bear.

We all understand that the internet is a treasure trove of information. The problem with that is that not all the information is correct. Certainly you can find information claiming vaccines cause autism and a host of other developmental problems. Guess what else you can find? People that believe the earth is flat and that nobody has ever been to the moon. You claim there's evidence to support your claim? How nice. So do the people that believe the earth is flat. A cursory internet search on vaccines being bad does not make you an expert. Years upon years of medical training does, and that learning process is ongoing.

If you thought we were curt with you when you started asking these questions then it's most likely because we've been inundated by questions from you. Asking the same thing a hundred times but slightly changing the wording isn't going to get you a different answer. You decided long ago that vaccines were evil and now you simply want to try to get us to go along with you. We aren't going to. When we rolled our eyes at you for citing a study that was twenty years old it was because there was twenty years of newer information that supported our point of view.

Your claims that we broke your child are ludicrous. When you showed us an outdated study that linked autism with vaccination we showed you a dozen that did not. Our data was somehow tainted in your mind because you believe that we're all in the pocket of some shadowy conspiracy group. We aren't. Your claims that we're running a business and that we make money off vaccinations are also completely unfounded. Be assured that treating a child who has contracted the mumps is going to be a lot more lucrative than simply vaccinating against it. Yet, that's what we do. The Hippocratic Oath says do no harm, you like to say that, but there is another important part of that oath you missed, where is states that prevention is preferable to cure. In our tenure as medical professionals we have come to believe in that statement after treating scores of children permanently harmed by diseases the should never have been stricken with but for their parent's misguided good intentions.

We wish you the best of luck with your family and hope only for the best for you all. We also hope nothing bad comes of your decision.

I am not sure that time could mend the communication breakdown between mothers who think of their doctors as "asshat" and doctors who think of their patients' mothers as "ignorant", but lack of communication is one of the main reasons why parents take their children (or adult patients themselves) to charlatans. We know that time with the patient/parent influences continuity in care (i.e. how long the patient will stay with a health care provider), there are good recommendations in the literature how to address the concerns of parents who refuse vaccination, which also have time as an essential component to build trust and establish and maintain communication channels. More and more physicians dismiss non-vaccinating parents from their practices. They perceive the risk for their other patients as too high. This does mean though that the children of these parents are likely to end up in suboptimal medical care reinforcing their unrealistic views of vaccine dangers. Do you think an insurance-reimbursed hour per new child in a pediatrician's practise would be a solution?

Catherina and Science Mom Need to Come with a Warning!

Last week, Dr. Bob Sears issued "IMPORTANT INFORMATION FROM DR. BOB".  It had never been my intent to write about him as much as I have but the statements he makes create such a target-rich environment.  He has offered such disclaimers before, one being so mock-worthy, going so far as to call us 'secret agents' for pharma,  that Respectful Insolence couldn't even resist.  His entire "Disclaimer and warning about Catherina and Science Mom" appears as the indented text.

Thank you for being a part of our vaccine forum. I appreciate your questions and comments. Please be aware that the only person officially affiliated with the forum is Dr. Bob Sears (usually posts as just "Dr. Bob"). There are two people on this site who have been unofficially involved since the beginning - Science Mom and Catherina. Please be aware of several things:
1. These two have absolutely no official affiliation with this website. I have no idea who they are or what their credentials are.

 Dr. Bob needed to clarify this as Catherina and I seem to have a greater dedication for answering parents' questions on his forum than he has. 

2. In the vast majority of circumstances, I DISAGREE with the advice they choose to give. So, take their advice with a few grains of salt. Having said that, they do happen to give accurate medical information when it comes to diseases. You can generally trust that info. But when it comes to things like "what should I do about a particular vaccine, vaccines in general, alternative vaccine approaches, and worries about vaccine side effects," they often give advice that I disagree with.

Dr. Bob agrees that we "give accurate medical information when it comes to diseases" and even goes on to say that you should "trust that info".  But he DISAGREES with the "vast majority" of the advice that we give.  The embuggerance is that the the advice he DISAGREES with is firmly rooted in the "accurate medical information" he praises us for.  The good doctor is essentially saying that our advice based upon "accurate medical information" is not to be trusted but that his advice based upon... um, well something, should be relied upon.

3. I have stopped reading info posted by SM and Cath because it's just too annoying to read. Unless you ask them a direct question yourself, I suggest you do the same (unless you like debates that go around in circles).

Athough Bob has stopped reading our annoying "accurate medical information" he hasn't gone so far to stop telling others to stop reading our "accurate medical information" (fingers in ears; "NANANANANA I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!!").  Of course it's annoying, it is always "annoying" when someone calls you out on your bullshit.

4. It is my opinion that SM and Cath are being paid to play an active and daily role by one or more companies that have a financial interest in the success of vaccines. I have no direct evidence of this. But given then way they treat most people who doubt or question vaccines, I just can't believe that they would spend hours each day, almost every day, for THREE YEARS answering questions out of the goodness of their hearts.

Well, it is "my opinion that SM and Cath" should be paid by the evil drug companies (and the evil oil companies and the evil auto companies and the evil defence contractors any other evil companies who are giving away free money), unfortunately, that ain't happening.  It would be nice to think that the pharma companies care enough about Dr. Bob's blog to pay shills to post there as much as we do, it's nice to believe in the tooth faerie too.  Anyway, the good doctor says he has "no direct evidence of this", but honestly, when has that ever stopped him from giving his opinion.  He can't believe that we would spend "THREE YEARS" taking time to answer parents' concerns out of the "goodness of their hearts" because if he wasn't getting paid to write books, he sure as fuck wouldn't.

5. I trust the judgement of the site administrator (a personal friend of mine) who will be routinely deleting unnecessary and unproductive posts.

Amazingly, Dr. Bob and I agree on something.

6. As a final, and slightly unrelated note, my primary role here is to answer specific questions to help guide you in your understanding and decisions. As a full-time practicing pediatrician, husband, and father of three, I don't have extra time to engage in online discussions or debates. So you will rarely see me jump into such.

Thank you for your participation. I look forward to answering your questions.

"unrelated", I do not think it means what you think it means.   He'll answer your questions as long as they aren't difficult ones.  He just doesn't "have extra time to engage in online discussions or debates".  Dr. Bob put this community together, it would be selfish to expect him to have the time to get involved with parents' "discussions" or "debates".  He is far too busy as a "practicing pediatrician".  But he has enough time to tell parents that they shouldn't listen to "SM and Cath" whom he can't believe would spend "hours each day, almost every day, for THREE YEARS answering questions out of the goodness of their hearts."  Come on, he's a busy guy.   And actually, we're quite busy too but it doesn't take hours each day out of our schedules to answer these questions.  It probably just seems like that to Dr. Bob because it would take HIM that long to even attempt to answer those questions.

I'm Really Bonnie Offit

This morning, J.B. Handley, one of Age of Autism's mouthpieces wrote a hilarious 'investigative report' about uncovering the true identity of Sullivan, a contributor to LeftBrain/RightBrain.  What makes it so hilarious is that he is obviously so disturbed by Sullivan's dissemination of information about quackery regarding autism aetiologies and treatments, namely those touted by Handley's brain trust, that he has 'outed' him as, get this,

Bonnie Offit, paediatrician wife of Dr. Paul Offit

As stellar as a piece of investigative work as this is, J.B. Handley is off the mark.  Because,

I am Bonnie Offit.

That's right J.B. Sherlock, back to the drawing board.  But it is worth noting that the comments about this are equally hilarious.  J.B.'s loyal flock believes him and congratulates him for such a stellar post, all except one.  Craig Willoughby  bravely goes against the tide and denounces the post for what it really is, a silly smear campaign.

Poor J.B., here's a hint, don't take investigative reporting tutorials from Jake Crosby.  Or do so we can all point and laugh.

I am Bonnie Offit

Both Orac and Kev have posts up as a reaction to Age of Autism's weird allegation that Sullivan is Dr. Bonnie Offit, Paul Offit's wife. Both claim that in fact, they are Bonnie Offit - that, of course, is total and utter rubbish. It is quite clear that I am Bonnie Offit and I am happy to say so!

Andrew Wakefield has written a book

Oh joy - Andrew Wakefield has written a book. In a brilliant display of his 'special kind of humour' (haha, two children fainted and one threw up over his mother, haha), he has called it "Callous Disregard". This comes from the ruling of UK's General Medical Council, which attested Wakefield "callous disregard for the distress and pain children might suffer". Good one, Andy, wink wink, nudge nudge.

Fiction is Andrew Wakefield's field and has been for over a decade, readers will remember his wonderful work of fiction about children with an autism specific gut inflammation caused by measles containing vaccines published in the Lancet in 1998. Certainly, we can expect the same kind of imagination from his new publication - cannot wait!

(sarcasm off)