Hep-B? Why on Earth?

[Guest guest]

http://michellemalkin.com/2008/03/24/in-defense-of-parents-with-

informed-vaccine-skepticism/?print=1

 

Why on earth should we vaccinate our newborn baby against Hepatitis

B – a virus that is contracted mostly through intravenous drug use

and sexual contact? That is the question my husband and I had for

the doctors and nurses at the hospital where our son was born two

and a half months ago.

 

We didn't get very good answers. It was " convenient, " " recommended "

and " routine, " the medical staff assured us. We wanted more

information. A nurse gave us a brochure, which explained that babies

whose mothers had the Hep B virus were at high risk of developing

acute Hep B infections. Well, I tested negative for Hep B. The

Centers for Disease Control named unprotected sex, IV drug use and

being stuck with a needle on the job as the likeliest routes of Hep

B transmission. Well, my husband and I both work primarily from

home, our two children stay at home, and neither we nor our 3-year-

old daughter nor our baby (for heaven's sake!) live the Kid Rock-and-

Pamela Anderson Lee lifestyle.

 

When we told the hospital staff that we simply wanted more time to

think about giving the Hep B shot to our son – doesn't " informed

consent " mean we should be truly informed? – we were badgered

aggressively. Some lectured us about the need to " get on the proper

vaccination schedule. " Others warned that Maryland, like more than

40 other states, requires all schoolchildren to be vaccinated for

Hep B. Teachers, however, are not subject to the mandate, which is

driven not just by altruistic concern for children's health. Ohio

legislator Dale Van Vyven snuck the Hep B mandate into a 1998

hazardous-waste bill at the behest of profit-maximizing vaccine

manufacturers' lobbyists.

 

The " everybody does it " and " for the greater good " arguments worked

when we were overcautious, over-trusting, first-time parents who

submitted our daughter to every single vaccine without question.

This time, we resolved not to be rushed or bullied. We declined to

give our son the politically correct Hep B shot, decided to do more

research, and then took up the issue with our pediatrician.

 

Boy, were we in for a rude awakening. Our doctor parroted the

American Academy of Pediatrics line and mindlessly emphasized the

efficacy of vaccines in eradicating childhood diseases. Well, we

weren't questioning their collective efficacy. We questioned what

the individual health benefits and health risks to our newborn were.

Physicians have blindly plied vaccines before that have done more

harm than good. A childhood rotavirus vaccine, for example, was

approved for widespread use in 1998 and withdrawn from the market

less than a year later after causing an increase in the incidence of

painful bowel obstruction among infants.

 

Our doctor, however, pooh-poohed our inquiries about potential side

effects. He seemed to have no idea what those risks were and no

interest in finding out. He was also incredibly condescending: " 95

percent of what you read on the Internet " is unreliable, he

sermonized, as if we were too dumb to separate scientific fact from

fraud.

 

In the end, we concluded that some of the vaccines were more worth

the risks than others. At my son's two-month checkup, the

pediatrician expected him to receive a triple-combination shot

called " Pediarix " (consisting of Hep B, inactivated polio, and DTaP,

which covers diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis), as well

as HiB (for certain bacterial infections) and Prevnar (for

meningitis and blood infections). I reiterated my refusal of Hep B,

accepted DTaP and HiB, and asked to put off polio and Prevnar. In

response, I received a threat: Get all the vaccines or get out of

our practice.

 

" Informed consent " ? Ha. This was uninformed coercion.

 

We're leaving for another practice, a little bitter but wiser. The

strong-arm tactics of the medical establishment mustn't intimidate

parents from challenging the universal vaccine orthodoxy. When it

comes to protecting our children's health, skepticism is the best

medicine.