Oh for the love of Pete...

One of the bump.com message boards I frequent had a post about vaccines. The woman posting seems to know what she's doing and asked for reasonable advice, and is just doing her research about vaccinating her preemies. Anyway, I responded that she should read Paul Offit's book Deadly Choices (I posted the review here). Someone else responded with a "I went to a seminar by the author of Vaccine Epidemic and I haven't read the book, though. I learned some really interesting stuff and I might ask my pediatrician about some of it and follow their advice." Really? REALLY?!  First of all, Offit is a DOCTOR, an MD, who knows the medical science behind vaccines and the diseases they prevent. Neither of the editors of Vaccine Epidemic has any scientific background (from what I can glean from their author bios); one has an MA and one is a lawyer. They are both human rights specialists. One would think that if they truly cared about humanity/human rights, they wouldn't spread such tripe and would instead try to help people understand why vaccines and modern medicine can HELP people have a better quality of life, rather than such bullshit. And no, I haven't read the book. I may read it just so I can better understand what the fuck these people have to say about something that saves lives.  It just seems, from an outside view, that it is unconscionable for human rights activists to basically say that vaccines are scary and the companies that make them just want to get money for them. Dammit. Now I have to read their fucking book. Oh, and a bonus? The amazon.com description basically says that their entire book is ANECDOTAL evidence. Not scientific evidence. Coincidence and even subsequence does not equal causality, dumbass editors.

Dear god. This is one of those moments when my faith in humanity slips a little bit. If you're going to write a book about why companies that make vaccines are evil, at least enlist someone credible with some science background. Oh wait, nobody fitting that description would be involved with such an endeavor. Gah.