by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright February 4, 2015
All Rights Reserved.

                  Jumping into the controversial vaccine debate, former First Lady, U.S. Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged parents to accept the "science" and vaccinate their children.  With autism and other childhood disorders rising at an alarming rates, parents of disabled children look for answers to otherwise inexplicable childhood disabilities.  British physician Andrew J. Wakefield rocked the medical community in 1998 when he published his 12-subject study in the British Medical Journal Lancet linking the Measles, Mumps and Rubella [MMR] vaccines to autism.  Wakefield 1998 study linking vaccines to autism was subsequently discredited by heavily funded research from vaccine makers over a 10-year period.  When the dust settled, the U.K's General Medical Council stripped Wakefield of his medical license Jan. 28, 2010 citing egregious unprofessional conduct.

             Wakefield to this day disputes the hoards of "scientific" proof discrediting his research, accusing him of fraud and fabrication.  Tossed into the dustbin of history, Wakefield joined the ranks of notorious South Korean researcher Hwang Woo-suk, whose cutting-edge stem cell and cloning research at Seoul National University was discredited May 12, 2008, accusing him of embezzlement and fraud.  Unlike Wakefield who left the U.K. for the U.S. after losing his medical license, Hwang was sentenced by South Korean District Court to two years suspended sentence for embezzlement and fraud.  Before discredited, Hwang was a national hero and international celebrity, on the cutting edge of cloning and stem cell research, prompting California voters for pass Prop 71 Nov. 2, 2004, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Cures Act, providing $4 billion in public financing.

             Citing hard "science," Hillary and others run the risk of looking like fools when various hard ?scientific? facts wind up discredited.  "The science is clear," Clinton tweeted, "The earhh is round, the sky is blue, and #vaccineswork.  Let?s protect all our kids,# Grandmothersknowbest," poking fun at the current brouhaha over possible GOP presidential candidate New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie saying parents should have choice when it comes to vaccinations.  When the CDC announced Feb. 2 that 102 cases of measles were diagnosed around the country stemming from a Dec. 15, 2014 outbreak at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., it raised the vaccine issue.  Turns out that less than 10% of the children affected received MMR vaccines, raising the current concern.  Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), an ophthalmologist by training, agreed with Christie that parents should have some say in vaccinations..

             President Barack Obama jumped into the debate, urging parents to not leave their children unvaccinated.  "You should get your kinds vaccinated," Obama to Savannah Guthrie on NBC's "Today Show."  "It's good for them," said Obama, ignoring the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, creating a multibillion-dollar trust fund to adjudicate vaccine related injuries.  Established in 1986 to resolve a slew of cases from the Diphtheria, Pertussis and Tetanus [DPT] vaccines, the court also resolves MMR cases claiming medical injury from vaccines, including causing autism.  Since Wakefield's research was discredited by medical authorities, the burden of proof is steep to prove injury, especially establishing a link between MMR vaccines and autism.  Cedillo v. Secretary of Health and Human Services found out the hard way when Vaccine Court ruled against them Feb 12, 2009 finding no link between vaccines and autism. 

             Politicians claiming to know the "science" don't really know all the moving parts in the heavily drug-company-funded "scientific" studies pushing the drug industry's point-of-view, especially reducing liability over vaccine-related lawsuits.  "The science is, you know, pretty indisputable.  We?ve looked at this again and again.  There is every reason to get vaccinated but there aren?t reasons not to," said Obama, repeating the vaccine industry's line of reasoning.  Whether or not the Cedillo family or any other plaintiff couldn't prove their injury in court doesn't mean that they had no case or that their claims were unjustified.  Measles outbreaks raise real issues about the benefits of vaccinating or, conversely, the risks on not vaccinating.  Whether or not Wakefield's findings were discredited, federal Vaccine Court was established at great expense to compensate vaccine-related injuries.

             Only two years before Wakefield published his findings, the U.S. declared that measles had been virtually eradicated.  Today's measles outbreak represents a regression with regard to disease control but the verdict?s still out on the multiples factors at play in causing autism and a host of other developmental disorders.  Whether it's mercury, the viral load or some interaction of toxicity with sensitive immune systems, the "science" still can?t account for today's alarming rise in autism.  "We should be able to get back to the point where measles effectively is not existing in this country," said Obama, no nearly as concerned about the epidemic of autism. As a parent, Obama knows he'd trade measles any day from the lifelong misery of autism.  While it's easy for politicians to cite "scientific" studies, it's not easy to recognize how drug industry-funded research affects the outcome.

 About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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