Here’s the sub-headline: Tens of thousands of American adults die each year from pneumonia, influenza and other infectious diseases that could be prevented by routine vaccinations, according to a report released Thursday Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6133HO20100204

First of all this article does not present two sides to the issue: the benefits vs. the cost.  They tell you how many people die because of an infection and that it could have been prevented through vaccination, but they don’t tell you how many people died regardless of the vaccines (not because of the vaccines, rather they got the vaccine and still died of the infection).  Read the rest of this entry »

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I ran accross an article published by the World Health Organization (WHO) that stated: In all situations, the best way of preventing malnutrition and mortality among infants and young children is to ensure that they start breastfeeding within one hour of birth, breastfeed exclusively (with no food or liquid other than breast milk, not even water) until six months of age and continue breastfeeding with appropriate complementary foods up to two years or beyond. (source: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2009/world_breastfeeding_week_20090731/en/index.html)

They’re specifically talking about emergency situations that arise from natural disasters or other forms of conflict.  But this also shows the importance of breastfeeding for infant health even in everyday situations.  I’m no expert on breastfeeding, but I do know that it’s very important for infant health.  Typically in my practice, the children who come in with allergies and other ailments are those who were formula fed in lieu of being breastfed. 

So what do you think?  What’s your view on breastfeeding? 

Within the past several years many doctors have been pushing the Gardasil vaccine as a preventative measure against cervical cancer, which is thought to be caused by HPV.  But there have been many cases of adverse reaction to the vaccine.  A teenager in Colorado reported that she now has extreme exhaustion, nausea and blacking out after receiving the Gardasil vaccine in conjunction with a meningitis vaccine.  The combination was never tested for safety issues by the FDA.  Gardasil was approved by the FDA in 2006 and Merck, the manufacturer, has mounted a huge marketing campaign to promote the vaccine. Read the rest of this entry »

The book “Autism’s False Prophets” by Dr. Paul Offit has gotten support from parents who have autistic children, which is an unlikely pairing.  (If you have not heard about the controversy between vaccinations and autism you need to read this blog post till the end.  Also, as a disclaimer, this is only my professional opinion.  Please do your research and make an ‘informed’ decision rather than being coerced into making a decision).  Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE51H02O20090218 Read the rest of this entry »

According to an article published in Reuters, the U.S. vaccine court ruled against a couple families who were claiming that vaccines are the cause for their child’s autism.  As I read this article, I wasn’t surprised at all.  Of course they’re going to deny that vaccines are the cause of autism (like the tobacco industry would ever flat out say smoking causes lung cancer).  Well what did surprise me was that there is an entire program dedicated solely to the compensation of injury from vaccines called National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP).

The families sought payment under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, a no-fault system that has a $2.5 billion fund built up from a 75-cent-per-dose tax on vaccines.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE51B4AN20090212

Hmm…something is fishy here.  This statement is taken right from the VICP website:

The VICP is a no-fault alternative to the traditional tort system for resolving vaccine injury claims that provides compensation to people found to be injured by certain vaccines.

So if vaccines were safe, why would the US department of Health and Human services create this program that has accumulated $2.5 billion?  You make the call.