By the tone and pressure of her speech we realized it would not be of any value to try and explain to her the reality of vaccination and the millions of lives that have been spared by there use. We could not explain to her that the autism claims were based on pure conjecture without any real studies. On the other hand there were 100's of studies documenting the danger of not using vaccines. She was too far gone and had shut down. So we asked about using antibiotics in the infants eyes to prevent any bacterial infection. The most common cause of blindness in the world is bacterial infection in the infants' eyes. This is no longer an issue in the USA since we began treating infants with antibacterial drops at birth. We have nearly erased this kind of blindness in the USA, in fact the only cases that occur in the USA are cases where the parent refused treatment for their child or had a home birth without treatment. The mother refused this treatment as well and began to rant about the evils of medicine.
I was wondering how the doctor I was working with was going to handle this situation. She politely addressed the patient and explained that she could not accept her baby as a new patient. She explained to the mother that not being able to treat the baby with appropriate treatments would be against her philosophy as a doctor. We tried to answer any questions but our effort was futile. It was like trying to convince the leader of a cult that his/her views were slightly askew. The mother would not hear any of it and we were afraid that she would ask us to partake in her kool-aid.
The interesting thing about the media, is that they run articles and news stories that do not have to be based on actual facts or scientific data. By doing this they create a legion of zealous followers who rally together and continue to keep the movement which is often based on false concepts, going. A perfect example is in the early 90's a movement came about when many news media sources ran articles about silicon breast implants. Their mantra were stories of how these silicone implants were causing a myriad of illnesses, from cancer to connective tissue diseases. At the time that these stories were published there were no studies backing up their claims. Most of their claims were based on anecdotal stories told by questionable patients. These stories gathered momentum and converts were many. Eventually the momentum was enough to put many doctors out of business due to law suits they received for putting in silicone breast implants. The final death blow came as the media continued to push the issue that still had no factual studies or evidence behind them, until the manufacturer went out of business and lost millions of dollar to lawsuits. 1000's of employees lost their jobs. Many doctors started making money by removing the silicone implants and replacing them with saline. The patients thought nothing about a second surgery as they felt that it was necessary to remove the evil silicone.
Researchers started questioning the claims of the few isolated patients and the media and began multiple studies to determine if the silicone was the evil that the media had claimed. After many years and several double blinded studies it was determined that silicone was completely safe and caused no diseases as had been claimed. Eventually the data was so overwhelming that the media sheepishly bowed out and we have not heard anymore of their false claims. The problem with this is that in the mean time we have many jobs lost, several doctors driven out of practice and 1000's of patients who underwent needless surgeries of which a small number suffered serious complications and even death all as a result of media hype.
The vaccine issue shares many similarities to the silicone debacle. Unfortunately the media is powerful and is not held under the same scrutiny that researchers are held to, when it comes to making claims. The media can sway a nation and change the face of medicine with their claims but often these claims are not based on true scientific data.
3 comments:
I can't blame this mother. I too don't trust doctors. With a 42% c-section rate at our hospitals, mercury in the flu vaccine and the amount of vaccines we are giving our children no wonder she doesn't trust you. Who would? And what is wrong with a patient not believing in what you say? Dr. God's your time is short and you need to change your ways. We are not all sheep willing to follow you just because you say. You don't know it all!
I can appreciate the concern about trusting doctors. However when you have witnessed innocent children dying from diseases that would have been preventable with a vaccine but their parents denied the vaccine based on unproven media hype, it is hard to take pity on the anti-vaccine mentality.
Earlier this year we had a beautiful little girl in perfect health whose parents refused vaccinations and she subsequently contracted meningitis by a pathogen that would have been protected by the vaccine. Due to the meningitis this girl is now permanently deaf in both ears and will suffer the rest of her life. You can imagine the heartbreak of the parents, especially as they researched the vaccination issue (after the fact) and realized that there were no substantial proven claims to the reasons that prevented them from getting their child vaccinated. Rather this behavior of denying vaccination is considered by some to border on child abuse given the risks / data. That being said I am not qualified to judge these individuals and their circumstances.
The reason c-sections are at 42% at many hospitals is based on the lawsuits that have been filed against OB/gyn regarding vaginal deliveries. Doctors would rather have the patient deliver vaginally in most cases. However if there is a complication juries are quick to criticize the doctor for not performing the c-section in the first place. With this litigious history doctors are much more likely to just do a c-section as a protective measure rather than open him/herself to the liability. The lawyers play a large role in these c-section statistics. Currently OB/gyn doctors have to pay $200,000 - $300,000 / year for malpractice insurance.
Like you said it is not wrong for individuals to not believe their doctors. I agree with you here as well. It is not a question of right or wrong. Everyone has to be their own advocate and not all doctors are created equally so there has to be great discretion on the patient's part. Patient's should educate themselves and question their doctors when they have a question or do not understand something. I really appreciate these motivated patients. It is refreshing to have patient's who take an active role in their healthcare.
You also mention that I do not know it all, and I can't argue with that because you are correct. I am very far from knowing it all. In fact the more I learn, the more I realize I do not know. I concur with your conclusion, that I do not know everything. In fact I have a long way to go and I would even go one step further and say in the grand scheme of things I know very little!
Hey HLM,
if you want to talk to the doctor, you will address him as others do: IN PRAYER. Listen, just because you have some sort of inferiority complex...Perhaps you drew from the shallow end of the gene pool... Let me guess: You home school your spawn. Nothing but granola for those ankle biters.. the DATA is irrefutable. Read it (if you can) and you will see that statistically, you are nearly always better off vacinating the public... Dumb ass.
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