JOHN MCCAIN CLAIMS VACCINE LINK TO AUTISM
Absolutely despicable if John McCain believes this:
“It’s indisputable that autism is on the rise among children… The question is, What’s causing it? And we go back and forth, and there’s strong evidence that indicates that it’s got to do with a preservative in vaccines.”
I don’t care what side of the political aisle you’re on, this has been debated and refuted with multiple studies, one of the most recent showing that autism continued to go up in California after thiomerosal had been removed from vaccines in that state.
I just called Senator McCain’s campaign — (703) 418-2008 — to tell them he’s flying in the face of evidence and data, and has only worsened the spread of a message that is both incorrect and harmful, as we’re now seeing measles outbreaks in San Diego.
This is not a political issue, it’s a medical one. If the political blogs can take action on political issues and see results, I think this is something we should be trying to take action on, Medbloggers. Demand that McCain state that he was wrong, and that the current evidence does not support his assertion. Nothing may happen today, ’cause of all the other Tuesday election coverage, but I’ll be following this through the week.
Thanks for the tip from the WSJ Health Blog — and boy, it seems to be taking off on ScienceBlogs. (For all my anti-vaccine-link stuff, I go straight to Orac.)
Based on his clear inability to read as demonstrated by his absolute train wrecks of victory speeches in the past few weeks, I’m pretty sure he hasn’t read the studies, nor could he even if he wanted to. This is pretty damn scary…agreed. The last thing we need is another president who’s completely ignorant of science.
Or you could just not vote for him… What exactly is the average age for diagnosis of autism? If thimerosal was removed from the vaccines in 2001, when would be the reasonable estimate to see a drop off in rates of incidence? Do you agree w/ the NYT article on the 2004-2007 time frame? And, if you’ve read the study, what are the clinical criteria they are using for their statistical evaluation of incidence? Autism spectrum, PDD, Asperger syndrome, etc? Thanks.
[...] to Brittney (my left-coast hero) and the blogger to whom she linked for this [...]
I clearly recall a parent quoting the likes of John McCain during a refusal for vaccines. According to him/her, these diseases physicians are so scared of do not exist. She was college educated. I was shocked that patients would believe the likes of Jenny McCartney (spelling?) and McCain vs. other reliable statistics. Of course they have the right to believe what they want but we do need to be worried when patients stubbornly adhere to unscientific knowledge based from celebrities who, frankly, may be unable to accurately interprete basic scientific data.
After 1hr, I still failed in convincing the parent. The next month, while on the same rotation, kid came in with chicken pox.
Hopefully, what’s her name–Oprah–doesn’t support this or else public health is screwed.
I just called McCain’s campaign. Thanks for the # dude. Really nice girl I talked to. Just told her that as a physician, I believe Sen. McCain’s comments are dangerous and incredibly misinformed and encouraged them to re-think any statements not supported by evidence as many lay people latch on to this thinking and depend on herd immunity to be saved from terrible diseases once nearly eradicated.
[...] the usual suspects are all over John McCain because of his comments relating to vaccines and autism: It’s indisputable that is on [...]
Thanks for the number! I called in and debated some poor intern this morning who told me there had been a “flood” of outraged calls. Here’s to hoping for a retraction.
I called McCain’s campaign. I think the dude that answered was in college. We went back and forth. I just wanted McCain’s evidence. I felt bad (afterward)as I eventually turned the conversation into an education on the scientific process. I mean, the kid was just doing what he felt was right unaware that his idol was merely trying to make good politics by epitomizing an unfounded sensation.
No, John McCain is not going to offer a retraction. Politicians don’t do that…he has nothing to lose at this point. Maybe in November, he’ll rephrase his point but this is probably not important enough to bring up now that he has secured his party’s nomination. Maybe Obaton or Clintoma will remind him.
By the way, if the rate of mercury in fish leaves our body slower than the amount in vaccines, I find it interesting that no one in my extended family or myself have issues because all we ate, growing up, was fish…at least 1-3 times/week (we lived next to an ocean and several rivers). Maybe I should wait until Im 40 or 50…
Good for you, Graham, for calling the campaign. It is infuriating that a politician would use his influence to add fuel to a completely misguided fire. It’s sadder still that many Americans value his opinion on medical issues more than the opinions of the Institute of Medicine. We give entirely too much credence to the beliefs of celebrities, rather than to careful analysis and sound reason. Did you know that Measles has a mortality rate of up to 30%? I studied the genes of US troops who died of the measles in the world wars… it really brought the scariness of this virus home to me.
I also agree with you and your attending about not wasting our time on the vaccine/autism link since it has been disproven. Let’s turn our attention and funding to discovering the true causes!
If you personally saw your thriving son, sister, nephew, etc. completely regress and turn into a zombie after receiving a safe vaccine, you probably would want there to be more, less biased studies conducted. Vaccines are necessary and safe for most, but to state that there are no exceptions would be more ignorant than a politician making such a comment while hoping to secure the presidency. Not all medicines work for all patients, not all people suffer from disease in the same way, and not everyone can tolerate several vaccinations injected at a very young age.
Dr. Ed,
I’m not sure sure which studies are “biased,” but I’d love to hear which ones are biased and why.
If thimerisol was not a problem, why was it removed?
Because there was some concern that perhaps thimerisol *was* to blame. This does not appear to be true, however.