You are correct. People need to question their “health experts” and get their questions answered.

There are a lot of reasons that doctors and health experts are giving bad advice. Sometimes they are forced by insurance, by their licensing boards, sometimes ignorance, sometimes by drug companies, sometimes by political agenda.

Although I have not followed the vaccination arguement - I wonder if it has something to do about UNhealthy children encountering problems with vaccinations - whereas healthy children usually have no problem.

Kids can have reactions to most anything. Perhaps vaccinations are just one more thing to add to the list.

Keep fighting the good fight!

Keith

Respect is a two-way street, and doctors are only human themselves.

As a physician, I see myself in the role of a consultant, not the paternalistic figure of yore. Luckily for me, I don’t get this conversation a whole lot as I’m not directly involved in giving most childhood vaccines (in Israel, they’re given at gov’t-run well-baby clinics attended by nurses), though I deal with similar issues.

However, if a parent were to approach a doctor in a not-so-veiled hostile manner (and I am definitely reading hostility between the lines of your article) and ask questions with the assumption that the answers given are those of a paid government/pharma shill, can you understand why they might be terse and impatient? I’m not saying it’s right to do this, but it’s a fairly natural human reaction on the part of the doctor, especially if s/he’s heard the same spiel 20 times before, has 10 minutes per patient and several others in the waiting room. The irritation is not necessarily aimed at you, mind; it could also be at the people who instilled these doubts and fears into parents’ minds.

If I were having this conversation with a patient, I would be very interested to know the sources of information that made them doubt the government’s schedule and the underlying assumptions the parents are working from (in your case, the fear the HUGE number of vaccines is something children’s immune systems can’t handle, and that vaccination is somehow responsible for “other problematic childhood epidemics”). It’s much easier to counteract misinformation when you know who’s providing it and what, exactly, it is.

I know it’s fashionable to ‘question authority’ and all that, but it might be prudent to consider that whose who provide alternative information might have even greater ulterior motives than the government to peddle untruths. Andrew Wakefield certainly did!

I wonder if it has something to do about UNhealthy children encountering problems with vaccinations - whereas healthy children usually have no problem.

Well, now that is just ridiculous!

Individual people have individual bodies - and sometimes those bodies react differently. Kids who are sensitive to immunological overload or to foreign chemicals aren’t necessarily “unhealthy.” (Those same kids may be sensitive to other stimuli in ways that can be quite beneficial - the great chefs, the master musicians, etc.)

As for Estherar’s comments: I’ll tell you, it is really tough for me to trust medical professionals when they are disrespectful. And so, I agree with JR White’s thoughts on mutual respect. Fortunately, my son’s current pediatrician is pretty good about acknowledging concerns, but I still have fear.

For my son’s first pediatrician, I asked my questions from a scared place, not a hostile one. I understand how the questions can become tiresome from the doctor’s pov, but assuming that it is all “misinformation” is dangerous. We are human - we are not perfect - and the information that we have is always evolving and changing. Assuming that a child’s body today is the same as it was a decade ago is risky: we *do* have more chemicals around, there *are* kids who have had some unfortunate reactions to vaccines.

It would be great to find an objective answer to everything, but we know that each individual is truly an individual! And so, if I already know that my child will regress for a week or so after a vaccine, I think it is natural for me to worry about it. No, my son hasn’t skipped any vaccines, but each time I worry that he won’t “come back.”

Fear is not stupidity. And yes — fear can create unsafe situations, but it also can create innovative ones.

After all, I do realize that propaganda does exist… but at least I acknowledge that it’s present on both sides of the debate.

YES, exactly! Like any “debate” there are radical viewpoints on both sides, and that is why it makes it so hard

Thanks for putting your foot in your mouth. Let me give you some advice. Before you start attacking people - read their comments and take a minute to understand.

You showed a complete misunderstanding of my comments. But yet you attack me.

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I think that parents absolutely have the right to all the available information on any treatment being given to their children. The problem comes with the sources of that information. The media really ran with the MMR/Autism story even though it was really a non-story, and this has had significant effects on uptake of vaccinations.

When I visited my doctor and asked her a basic question about the amount of thimerosal in the shot my child was going to receive she laughed it away. Thimerosal in shots today, no way. All that mumbo jumbo about thimerosal in shots — propaganda.

Your doctor is right. Although, by the sound of it, her tone made you skeptical. There is *no* convincing evidence for a link between thimerosol and autism or any other serious complaint. In fact, there is a growing body of evidence against such claims. As far as I’m aware, thimerosol has been removed from the vast majority of vaccines anyway. Also, in countries where this was done years ago, autism rates have not started to fall. The statistics used by the anti-vaccination people do not suggest the link they are claiming.

Of course, a small minority of children will have some adverse reaction to any vaccination. All treatments have side-effects. Those that are prescribed are deemed to have advantages that far out-weigh the potential side-effects.

You have a very valid point here. While there are some good doctors out there, there are also a number who feel that their degree makes them better than the lowly parents who soil their presence. Disrespectful attitudes, talking down, and at times flat out lying to parents is far too common. If a doctor were willing to actually have a discussion that would be one thing, but too many feel their you have no place to question their authority at all.

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