John McCain spreading fear about childhood vaccines

From what I understand there is not only no reliable evidence that mecury causes autism there is also no unreliable evidence either. It is one of those strange theoretical ideas that somehow has taken hold and refuses to die. No one has one shred of evidence to support the claim. I do understand that the use of mecury is actually very needed to stabilize vaccines but I am by no means any type of expert. I suspect that if vaccines actually caused autism there'd be a good amount of evidence and uproar. I get really tired of this culture of belief that Big Business and the US Government have the wherewithall to perpetrate conspiracies against people when A) the US Government shows an incredible lack of ability to do anything well, especially keep secrets and B) It is completely counter to Big Business interests to produce a product that exposes them to risks they don't need. They're in business to make money and making products that cause autism is a pretty stupid way of doing it.

From what I understand there is not only no reliable evidence that mecury causes autism there is also no unreliable evidence either. It is one of those strange theoretical ideas that somehow has taken hold and refuses to die. No one has one shred of evidence to support the claim. I do understand that the use of mecury is actually very needed to stabilize vaccines but I am by no means any type of expert. I suspect that if vaccines actually caused autism there'd be a good amount of evidence and uproar. I get really tired of this culture of belief that Big Business and the US Government have the wherewithall to perpetrate conspiracies against people when A) the US Government shows an incredible lack of ability to do anything well, especially keep secrets and B) It is completely counter to Big Business interests to produce a product that exposes them to risks they don't need. They're in business to make money and making products that cause autism is a pretty stupid way of doing it.

Right.

Wait...don't I recall a couple of companies making a buck or two off a product that's been proven to cause cancer? Those little white sticks people put in their mouths? Ciga-something?

Listen, I don't think it's a conspiracy either, and for the record I'm a diehard capitalist, but let's be honest: while it's probably not the rule, there's no shortage of companies who have made a buck at the expense of people's health and welfare.

You'd think making products that everyone knows cause cancer would be "a stupid way of making money" but they're still doing it and making a pretty penny in the process.

From what I understand there is not only no reliable evidence that mecury causes autism there is also no unreliable evidence either. It is one of those strange theoretical ideas that somehow has taken hold and refuses to die. No one has one shred of evidence to support the claim. I do understand that the use of mecury is actually very needed to stabilize vaccines but I am by no means any type of expert. I suspect that if vaccines actually caused autism there'd be a good amount of evidence and uproar. I get really tired of this culture of belief that Big Business and the US Government have the wherewithall to perpetrate conspiracies against people when A) the US Government shows an incredible lack of ability to do anything well, especially keep secrets and B) It is completely counter to Big Business interests to produce a product that exposes them to risks they don't need. They're in business to make money and making products that cause autism is a pretty stupid way of doing it.
Yea there has never been any companies that produce a product which cause harm. You have never read the stories about drug companies covering up info about side effects from drugs they produce. You have never heard about a co producing a product which has caused injuries and death and ignored the facts and kept on producing the product. It happens all the time.

Yea there has never been any companies that produce a product which cause harm. You have never read the stories about drug companies covering up info about side effects from drugs they produce. You have never heard about a co producing a product which has caused injuries and death and ignored the facts and kept on producing the product. It happens all the time.

That's my point... they all get caught. It isn't widespread and when it does happen they get caught. But some people would have us all believe that big business goes out of its way to make products that unecessarily expose them to risk simply to save a few peenies. I think those situations are the exceptions. In this case if the vaccines DO cause autism it would be beyond stupid to continue using mercury(which they are trying to phase out simply because of the bad pub anyways).

And msheig I'll grant you that cigarettes are bad, that everyone knows it and that tobacco companies have known it for ever if you grant that using the tobacco industry as a comparison is darn near impossible given it's history, huge influence on our economy and unique market. There is literally no other industry even remotely like it.

That's my point... they all get caught. It isn't widespread and when it does happen they get caught. But some people would have us all believe that big business goes out of its way to make products that unecessarily expose them to risk simply to save a few peenies. I think those situations are the exceptions. In this case if the vaccines DO cause autism it would be beyond stupid to continue using mercury(which they are trying to phase out simply because of the bad pub anyways).

And msheig I'll grant you that cigarettes are bad, that everyone knows it and that tobacco companies have known it for ever if you grant that using the tobacco industry as a comparison is darn near impossible given it's history, huge influence on our economy and unique market. There is literally no other industry even remotely like it.

The pharmaceutical industry seems pretty similar to me. They don't have the same brand loyalty as the tobacco industry does, but on a regular basis we see drugs getting recalled and one class action suit after another against the drug companies.

I don't think they're intentionally producing products that they know will harm people, but I think they tend to downplay the risks and will sometimes just release a product so people will buy it and deal with the consequences later.

It almost seems like a shotgun approach to drug distribution - yeah, a few might be bad but they're making so much money in the process that settling a few $100 million + lawsuits is a drop in the bucket.

This is yet another example of doctors and scientists being completely clueless. They don't understand the first thing about autism and so hysterical mothers and Don Imus are free to speculate wildly.
this is about the most ridiculous thing i think anyone has ever posted here

this is about the most ridiculous thing i think anyone has ever posted here

Hey come on now... Maybe he's a Scientologist.

Is this a topic that is particularly close to you? Either personally or professionally. I have a family member(Cousin) who has autism.

this is about the most ridiculous thing i think anyone has ever posted here

When was the last time they cured a disease? We've made demi-gods out of these people and they don't even understand exactly how aspirin works. Chris Rock had the best line. If you're blind, the best medical technology can do for you is give you a dog to haul your blind ass up and down the street.

And no I'm not a scientoligist. Nor am I a Christian Scientist which are the ones that don't believe in doctors. Scientologists oppose Psychiatry because they see therapy as competition for their movement, but I don't believe they oppose medicine per se.

I have no problem with doctors as long as people understand that 150 years from now, people will look back on things like chemotherapy the same way we look back at leaches. But for some reason you can't say anyhting bad about them without raising a shit storm.

When was the last time they cured a disease? We've made demi-gods out of these people and they don't even understand exactly how aspirin works. Chris Rock had the best line. If you're blind, the best medical technology can do for you is give you a dog to haul your blind ass up and down the street.

And no I'm not a scientoligist. Nor am I a Christian Scientist which are the ones that don't believe in doctors. Scientologists oppose Psychiatry because they see therapy as competition for their movement, but I don't believe they oppose medicine per se.

I have no problem with doctors as long as people understand that 150 years from now, people will look back on things like chemotherapy the same way we look back at leaches. But for some reason you can't say anyhting bad about them without raising a shit storm.

Just judging from what I've heard they don't use any kind of modern medicine. They tend to be against anything that could "taint" the natural order of things. Just like some fire fighters from 9/11 rejected psychological services and anti-depressants and medicines that would help PTSD, they turned to Scientology and were miraculous "cured".

As a psychology major, preparing for a psychology M.A. I think it's a load. Sure, some psychologists/psychiatrists are far too fast to throw drugs at people for a quick fix, but I believe that the majority of them try to fix those who want to be fixed and do so in a humane and hopefully truly concerned manner. As for those who don't want to be fixed, I have no problem with them rejecting modern day psychiatric methods but don't try to get in the way of those who do want help.

Not trying to hijack the thread, just my two cents. :)