The Terrorists Of Health

[Guest guest]

The Terrorists Of Health Part II: Wake-Up Call To The Jihadists

Like some modern-day snake oil salesman. February 6, 2010

It was certainly satisfying to see the censure of Dr. Wakefield last

month by the British General Medical Council. This man and his colleagues were

one more example of the great harm the Terrorists of Health can visit upon the

public. Whereas the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Jihadists hurt innocent patients

with their selling of ineffective supplements and their advocating of costly lab

analyses that have no basis in science (but both of which enhance the income of

those who provide such things), the impact of a Dr. Wakefield is much more

deadly.

Dr. Wakefield claimed that the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine could put

children at risk of autism or bowel disease. His so-called " research " , and of

course the subsequent media coverage, resulted in many parents refusing to

vaccinate their children, despite the fact that this vaccine has been given

throughout the world for decades, accepted as a major tool in preventing

childhood illness and death. His research, however, is now discredited; further

studies have not been able to reproduce the original results.

Unfortunately, damage was done. Dr. Wakefield's comments over the years were

widely publicized, and included statements that he could not recommend the MMR

vaccine to parents. This resulted in a significant drop in vaccination rates

across Great Britain, and the generation of a noisy anti-vaccination lobby here

in the United States. This has also resulted in a surge in reported measles

cases in Britain, with more than 1,300 in England and Wales in 2008: an increase

from 57 in 1997. About a dozen deaths were linked to measles in 2008, and I am

sure countless others have sustained disfiguring scars.

Of course, there was money involved. The British General Medical Council also

found unethical behavior in the failure of Dr. Wakefield to disclose payments

from attorneys representing parents who believed the MMR vaccine had harmed

their children, describing this as a " fatal conflict of interest " .

This sordid episode only reinforces the vigilance that patients and health care

providers must maintain in this never-ending war on the Terrorists of Health,

even if it means facing the internet IEDs these Terrorists place along the cyber

highway. Because if people do not question the validity and reliability of, say,

a test for XMRV, or the research of a Dr. Wakefield, other people are going to

be harmed.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/overcoming-pain/201002/the-terrorists-health\

-part-ii-wake-call-the-jihadists

The Terrorists of Health: The Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Jihad

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/overcoming-pain/201001/the-terrorists-health\

-the-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-jihad