A few weeks ago Bill Maher made a number of critical remarks about medicine and physicians. I sent Mr. Maher the following response in an effort to address his comments. I am sharing this with you in hopes that other physicians will also speak out in defense of our profession.
Dear Mr. Maher,
Let me start by saying that I have been a …
Bill Maher criticizes doctors: A physician responds
This morning, a friend of mine posted an article on Facebook that was titled, “Dear anti-vax parents, we’re not mad at you. Sincerely, your doctor.” She had captioned it, “Maybe when all the vitriol and anger and judgment dies down, maybe we can start having conversations like this, instead.”
The funny thing is that I had posted the exact same …
As a mother, I’m angry at vaccine refusers. As a physician, I’m scared.
My father’s sister Mary died from measles when she was six years old. Her death haunted my grandparents for the rest of their lives.
She was one of the thousands who died each year from measles before there was a vaccine to prevent this life-threatening disease.
Her story has always stayed with me — from my days as a child to my years in medical school. And once again I’m reminded of …
Eliminating personal belief exemptions will save lives
There has been an outbreak of measles, a vaccine preventable disease, along with an outbreak of people yelling at each other. There have been angry exchanges between people who would like all children vaccinated according to the recommended guidelines and people who support the rights of parents to choose which vaccines to give their children, if any, and when to give them. There has been much focus on the assertion, …
The measles outbreak and vaccines: We need civil discourse
Recently, as I juggled work, family and shoveling, I prepared a lecture on promoting equity in health delivery. My first slide is a picture of the Ebola virus, and as of this morning, my last slide is a map of the ongoing measles outbreak. That’s because this week, we’ve heard a clear public health message from both President Obama and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy: Vaccines are safe and effective.
Why is this …
It’s the year 2015: Why are we still debating vaccines?
As a medical student, I strongly support vaccination. It works, it’s safe, and it doesn’t cause autism. But I also understand why many parents don’t believe me and the medical community when we beg them to vaccinate their kids.
Medicine has come a long way from “do no harm.” Now we talk about risks and benefits: and none of our tests, medicines, or procedures are without risks. Increasingly, pharmaceutical companies have …
Why don’t some parents believe the safety of vaccines?
Some people who argue against vaccinations claim that vaccine policies infringe on their “rights” — their rights, as parents, to make medical decisions for their children. It’s a scary, misleading, and chilling message. We need to be careful about where one person’s rights end and the next person’s rights begin. We need to remember that children (their children, and your children too) have rights of their own.
For example, Dr. Bob …
On vaccines: Don’t forget the rights of children
Cases of measles linked to an exposure at Disneyland continue to spread, not just in California, but in several other states and in Mexico. The numbers of cases are climbing — and so are the number of exposed people who might get sick — and expose more people before they realize they are sick. Measles is extremely contagious; if someone has it, they will infect 90 percent of the people …
Why the Disney measles outbreak could be a game-changer
A cartoon of an angry looking physician, a spotted boy, and some anxious parents in The New Yorker reads, “If you connect the measles, it spells out, ‘My parents are idiots’.”
A facetious article in GomerBlog announces, “Big Pharma Admits They’re Just Trying to Kill Everyone with Vaccines.”
Even television host Stephen Colbert gets in on the make-fun-of-anti-vaxxers act, recently declaring, …
What doctors must learn from the anti-vaccination movement
Many parents around the U.S. are asking what to do about a possible measles exposure with a baby at home who is too young to be immunized. Should they stay home? Can they travel? Should they cancel that trip to Utah or to Vermont or even to Disney next month? Can they head out to the store without worry? Are they “safe”?
I hate that I can’t completely say they are …
Answers to your questions about the measles outbreak
We all know them. We see them on TV. We read about them in the paper. And, with the explosion of social media, you hear about it from people you know. If you have a Facebook account with a sizable enough network of friends, you’ve probably seen at least one negative comment about vaccines. On one end of the spectrum, there are the seemingly innocent people who claim that they …
We have the power to prevent disease. But we’re not using it.
As the measles outbreak gathers worrisome steam in parallel to the explosion of passionate rants both pro and anti-vaccination, I find myself wondering; what is this really about? Rather than get bogged down in the myriad of issues on either side- though at the outset I will say that as a pediatrician I unequivocally recommend vaccination; I will aim to look at the bigger picture.
Is this issue really about trying …
The measles outbreak: Let’s look at the bigger picture
“Nervous.”
I’ve heard that word a lot lately. It keeps falling from the mouths of my families in clinic, landing on the floor with a silent thud.
I mean, we have a right to be. We should be. It is one of the most infectious diseases on the planet, today about 400 people worldwide will have died of it, and the number of infected people in the U.S. is climbing.
As Read more…
When should parents be vaccinated against measles?
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In a recent post (“Dear Anti-Vax Parents: We’re Not Mad At You”), I wrote about the critical need for better education and communication between doctors and vaccine-hesitant parents. It was far more popular than I would have imagined, and I appreciate all of you who shared it. And in the spirit of providing reliable information about vaccine-preventable illnesses, I wanted to take the time to write about why measles matters.
The measles vaccine …
So what’s the big deal about measles?
The other day, I read about some really cool research that suggests that little kids are naturally altruistic.
It got me thinking: What is it we do that stops them from being that way? Because, let’s face it, not all big kids — and definitely not all grownups — are kind and look out for others.
Felix Warneken, a Harvard researcher, studies the evolutionary …
3 ways parents quash the kindness in their kids
As survival rates for pediatric cancer continue to improve, more and more pediatric practices include children who have been treated for cancer. Some patients are making the transition back to primary care after finishing their cancer treatment. Others are only a few years post-treatment and still being closely monitored for recurrence. Still others have survived five years or more and are considered cured. Whatever their circumstances, these patients can present …
5 things pediatricians should know about treating children who’ve had cancer
The measles outbreak from Disneyland is a potent reminder of a) how infectious measles actually is; and, b) what happens when people don’t vaccinate.
However, despite a mountain of evidence that vaccination is safe and does not cause autism or immune dysfunction or really anything terrible at all people still refuse. I live in a county that is on the leading edge of this scientific ignorance, but we are not …
5 things to remember when considering vaccines
Disneyland is in the news, and not because it is the most magical place on earth. It also is the origin of the most recent rubeola measles outbreak, now spread to seven states and Mexico with over eighty cases diagnosed so far. Unvaccinated children are being kept home from school in some California districts and vaccination requirements once again have become a battleground between public health agencies and the “right …
Don’t give life to the killers of yesteryear
This past Christmas holiday, an as-yet-unidentified “index case” — the first person to start an epidemic — visited Disneyland in California. Five employees became infected, along with dozens of visitors to the park. Since then, the outbreak has spread to about 80 people, including people who’ve caught it not directly from visiting Disney, but by coming in contact with Disney cases. These “secondary” cases will soon lead to “tertiary” cases …
Measles in Disneyland: How is the media reacting?
Headlines still appear about the vaccine “controversy.” However, there really isn’t one is there? Vaccines hold no controversy in the arenas of science, public health records, and medical schools across the country. In fact, the use of vaccines is considered standard of care. All mainstream religions uphold their immense value and even make them a part of their humanitarian relief programs. So, what is happening?
I am a physician and a …
Is there a cure for the anti-vaxxers?
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