There was an article published in Pediatrics that described how educating either teenagers or their parents about HPV vaccinations had little effect on the overall vaccination rate for the vaccine. Essentially, the researchers found that it was a 50:50 probability that any teen would get the vaccine, regardless of their knowledge of HPV and the vaccine itself. Some of the reasons why the HPV vaccine uptake is so low is a result of several myths about Gardasil safety and efficacy.
So I thought about why that Pediatrics study found that education about HPV and Gardasil didn’t move the needle on vaccination uptake. It’s possible that the benefits of the vaccine is overwhelmed by two factors–first, that there’s a disconnect between personal activities today vs. a disease that may or may not show up 20-30 years from now; and second, that the invented concerns about the HPV quadrivalent vaccine, promulgated by the usual suspects in the antivaccination world, makes people think that there is a clear risk from the vaccine which is not balanced by preventing cancer decades from now. It’s frustrating. Continue reading “Gardasil safety and efficacy – debunking the HPV vaccine myths”
Dorit Rubinstein Reiss – Professor of Law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law (San Francisco, CA) – is a frequent contributor to this and many other blogs, providing in-depth, and intellectually stimulating, articles about vaccines (generally, but sometimes moving to other areas of medicine), social policy and the law. Her articles usually unwind the complexities of legal issues with vaccinations and legal policies, such as mandatory vaccination and exemptions, with facts and citations. I know a lot of writers out there will link to one of her articles here as a sort of primary source to tear down a bogus antivaccine message.
Professor Reiss writes extensively in law journals about the social and legal policies of vaccination–she really is a well-published expert in this area of vaccine policy, and doesn’t stand on the pulpit with a veneer of Argument from Authority, but is actually an authority. Additionally, Reiss is also member of the Parent Advisory Board of Voices for Vaccines, a parent-led organization that supports and advocates for on-time vaccination and the reduction of vaccine-preventable disease.
Below is a list of articles that Dorit Rubinstein Reiss has written for this blog, organized into some arbitrary and somewhat broad categories for easy reference. This article will be updated as new articles from Professor Reiss are added here.
Continue reading “Dorit Rubinstein Reiss – an index of contributions to this website”
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs or GMs) are one of the most well studied areas of biological and agricultural research. However, one of the tactics of the GMO refusers is that “there’s no proof that GMOs are safe.” It’s time to look at the GMO science facts – examining myth from science.
Typically, in a debate, the side making the assertion (those that say GMOs are unsafe) are responsible for the evidence that supports their contention. But, the anti-GMO gang relies upon the argument from ignorance, trying to force the argument to “if you can’t prove that they’re safe, they must be unsafe.”
The anti-GMO forces also like to invoke the precautionary principle, which attempts to shift the burden of proof to those who are advocating GMOs (or any new technology) until the advocates “prove” that there are absolutely no negative consequences of using GMOs.
The principle is often cited by anti-science and/or environmental activists when there is a perceived lack of evidence showing that a technology is absolutely safe.
I’ve written numerous articles about GMOs, focusing on scientific evidence supported by high quality research. And more than a few articles debunked myths and bad research from the anti-GMO crowd. To assist those who are doing research on the topic, this article was created to be a one-stop shop for GMO science facts – and fiction.
Continue reading “GMO science facts – your one stop shop”
Here we go again, another attempt to link aluminum adjuvants in vaccines to something, despite the lack of real evidence for anything. Recently, an attempt by the disreputable pair of anti-vaccine researchers to show a link between aluminum adjuvants and autism was retracted by the journal.
Several researchers have proposed a systematic review (which are considered to be the pinnacle of the hierarchy of biomedical research) to determine if there are any links between aluminum adjuvants in vaccines to some medical condition. Read that carefully – this paper does not provide any new evidence, it is merely a description of their reasons for looking at aluminum along with the meta review protocol.
Mostly, I’d ignore these type of papers, because they aren’t providing us with any new information about vaccines. But in this case, I wanted to point out a bunch of flaws in their reasoning, which seems to indicate a high degree of bias. Therein is the problem – systematic reviews are powerful tools in science based medicine, but many of these systematic reviews are filled with a large amount of bias. And this study is starting from a very biased point of view. Continue reading “Aluminum adjuvants in vaccines – another attempt for something, anything”
One of the myths of the anti-vaccine crowd is that we don’t know anything about the long-term effectiveness of the HPV vaccine. Of course, the vaccine was launched in most of the world in 2008, although there is a large pool of women who received the vaccine during the earlier clinical trials, so it will take time to determine long-term effectiveness. A peer-reviewed article was recently published that confirms the long-term efficacy of the cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil 9.
Each year, we probably will see new articles published that will continue to confirm the effectiveness of the cervical cancer vaccine years after injection. So far, we see no decrease in effectiveness of the vaccine, providing us with solid evidence that it will provide long-term protection against the dangerous cancer-causing virus, thereby preventing HPV-related cancers.
I know this data will not stop the misinformation and false claims about Gardasil. That won’t stop me from discussing this important research. Continue reading “Cervical cancer vaccine – Gardasil 9 shows long-term effectiveness”
There have been two cases involving child custody and vaccines, where the vaccination status was being addressed in custody agreements, in Michigan. I am going to update one case, and discuss a new one.
On October 5, 2017 I addressed the case of Rebecca Bredow, a Michigan mother who signed a consent agreement to vaccinate her child, refused to follow through, and after apparently trying the judge’s patience one too many times – she apparently repeatedly violated orders relating to custody, and in this case, the judge ordered her jailed for seven days for contempt of court.
Another case was heard in the same Michigan court by the same judge on Monday, October 9. This post addresses both cases and provides an update. Continue reading “Child custody and vaccines – reviewing two disputes in Michigan”
A mother signed a custody agreement that included her agreement to vaccinate her son. For over a year, the mother did not do so. For this refusal, and after giving her a last chance to comply, a judge had the Michigan mom jailed for seven days. She was jailed for ignoring a court order, not because she refused to vaccinate.
Getting to the point of contempt is likely not particularly common, but it’s not unheard of in family law disputes. So far, none of the facts make this case particularly extraordinary.
What appears to be unusual in this case is that the news coverage accepted the mother’s version and painted her as a principled martyr standing up for the sacred principle of, apparently, going to jail rather than protecting her child from disease. Orac discussed the false balance in the reporting. And that’s not what the case really embodies. Continue reading “Michigan mom jailed – not because of vaccines UPDATE”
People love their bananas, one of the most popular fruits consumed in the world. We generally only eat one banana cultivar, the Cavendish, which replaced another cultivar that was susceptible to Panama disease, a type of Fusarium wilt. Unfortunately, the Cavendish banana has been devastated by a new form of that fungal disease which might lead to the end of the availability of the banana in your local grocery store. But there is hope – scientists are developing GMO bananas that may save the fruit from becoming a distant memory.
Let’s take a look at how the banana industry got here and how GMO bananas may be the salvation for the delicious yellow fruit. Continue reading “GMO bananas – necessary to save the fruit from extinction”
There are a bunch of anti-vaccine groups out there who invent legitimate sounding names in an attempt to appear to be rational, positive organizations. They’re mostly neither rational nor positive. A new one (at least for me) is a group called the “Physicians for Informed Consent,” whose “vision is to live in a society free of mandatory vaccination laws.”
Although there are individuals who are pro-vaccine but are opposed to mandatory vaccination, mostly on a politically libertarian point of view, almost all of these groups, especially in California, are specifically anti-vaccine. In fact, “informed consent” is one of those veiled code-words used by the anti-vaccine world, especially in the fight against SB277, California’s recently enacted law that removes personal belief exemptions to vaccinations for school age children.
This article is going to examine some of the issues around “informed consent,” then look at a recent statement from the radical anti-vaccine gourd, Physicians for Informed Consent. Continue reading “Physicians for Informed Consent – another radical anti-vaccine group”
Vaccines and autism are not linked or related according to real science, published in real scientific journals written by top scientists and physicians.
But this false claim is in the news again. Probably as a result of reports that more and more children are being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. So let’s take a look at the science.
On 28 March 2014, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that new data show that the estimated number of children identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a disorder of neural development, usually appearing before the age of 3 years, characterized by impaired social interaction and verbal and non-verbal communication, and by restricted, repetitive or stereotyped behavior, continues to rise. The picture of ASD in US communities is changing. Continue reading “Vaccines and autism – science says they are unrelated”
