I feel like I'm on a sinking ship

[ASusan]

of my marriage.

I've posted here before about my husband's view's toward vaccination and our arguements about it, and I thank all of you for taking the time to read and respond. We did try to watch one of the Tenpenny videos 2 weeks ago. We got 38 minutes into it, and had a huge fight when we stopped to grab a bite to eat. Basically, DH rejected it based on the fact that he did not agree with the 3 assumptions she presented in the first few minutes. HUGE fight, where he told me that this is ruining our marriage. I have asked him numerous times to just read SOME of what I've read - and the Tenpenny film was a part of that. (although I had not watched her stuff before DH and I watched it together - his rejection of her film was, to him, a way to reject ALL the reading I've done). He did agree to research...

I just got back from a quick trip to his office (we work in the same building). He wasn't in, but on his desk were 2 crisp copies of:

Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine's Greatest Lifesaver
by Arthur Allen

AND

Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure
by Paul A. Offit


AARUGH. Just what I would not want him to be reading, based on what I've read about those two books.

I just don't think I can win this one. I do think our marriage is in serious trouble. We canNOT even discuss this issue without getting completely worked up within MINUTES.

I'm trying so hard not to cry, but I'm on the verge of crying. This issue is just sucking the life out of us right now.

We have agreed to START with the vaccines that we were given as children. BUT, those have changed since we got them (MMR, Diptheria-Pertussis-Tetanus, and Polio).

Thank you for reading this, if you've gotten this far. I have to go pick up DS at daycare.

ETA - The Evidence of Harm (David Kirby) is at our community library, right next to DS' daycare. I'm going to start there. It REALLY scared me when I read it - first thing that started to open my eyes. I just have to convince the librarian to overlook the 4 boardbooks that are 6 months overdue...

[applejuice]

Get him the other book by Paul Offit The Cutter Incident, which describes how some early versions of the polio vaccine, the Salk version which we use in the U.S., caused thousands of cases of polio. It laid the foundation for product liability law in the U.S. and made Melvin Belli famous.

Still, Paul Offit is in favor of vaccinating every kid he can get his hands on, despite admitting that some vaccines caused the very disease in some children it was entrusted to protect. I would not trust a man like that. Does he have children?

[Marnica]

Wow....that sux and I am really sorry you are facing such resistance! I can't even imagine. When we were faced with this issue I did 100% of the research and urged DH to do his own, but he hasn't. He basically trusts my judgement. I also told him we would vaccinate over my dead body, so who knows...maybe he just saw how serious I was.

If your DH wants to read those books, fine, but he needs to read books about the dangers as well so he can have a balanced view. I read lots of provax struff when I was trying to decide, and lots of stuff about the dangers as well. Encourage him to look at the industry as a whole as well. When I discovered how corrupt it was, this is what sealed my desicion.

have him look at this report "Conflicts of Interest in Vaccine Policy Making Majority Staff Report Committee on Government Reform U.S. House of Representatives June 15, 2000"
http://www.*********/v/staff.html
Nothing has changed since 2000. Conflict of Interest waivers are still granted routinely.

Have him read the simpsonwood transcripts: http://www.autismhelpforyou.com/HG%2...net%20File.pdf

This shows how the industry acknowledged that thimerosal was causing damage and them proceeded to cover it up to maintain profits.

If he has issues because they are posted on "antivax" sites, have him request them via freedom of information act. They are actual reports and transcipts and are just provided through these websites, but one could obtain them for themselves if they so choose.

I really do feel for you. I'm sending good vibes your way! :

[Ophelia]

Wow I'm so sorry, he sounds very extremely stubborn. Do you remember what exactly he was picking apart with Dr. Tenpenny's video? The first few minutes?? That is not even giving it a chance.

I probably posted to you about this before, but my DH bullied me into DS's 2-12 month shots (no live ones though). He is better than he was, but still doesn't seem to believe me on a lot of stuff (he got the flu shot even though I gave him studies indicating they dont' do much at all). I have lost some trust with him because of this, and also because of this, we've had more problems that we've needed professional help with, so I have been in fear of our marriage ending because of it. It's basically snow-balled into other things, and the second time DS got croup and I didn't want to rush out right away to get another steroid shot (the croup was gone by that time) he accused me of withholding medical treatment, that I hate/don't trust doctors/etc. you get the picture.

The information in Offit's recent book can most likely be picked apart pretty good, and I think they have done so at Age of Autism. Offit as far as I know does not treat kids with autism yet he proclaims to be an expert on it.

Offit also recently wrote something in a publication that slammed Bob Sears' vaccine book, and he got slammed right back with several professional replies. It was discussed here recently. Seems he likes to take things out of context.

Will your DH read http://www.insidevaccines.com?
How about the Dr. Jay Gordon vaccination DVD?

[marlne]

My husband too wanted our son to get vaccinated.
It could have become a battle, he was worried about meningitis the most since his brother got it when he was younger. His brother survived it but ended up with 80% hearing loss. It was truly a scary ordeal with them..

I ended up agreeing to starting with what my girls had when they were younger but on a very delayed schedule and only one shot at a time. My DH felt better about that.

I had come to the agreement because he is my husband and my son is his son too. We had to find a compromise and thankfully he agreed to that. Is your hubby willing to come to a more comfortable compromise for now with you too? I know it's not what everyone will agree to, but for me and my husband. It helped.

I didn't give up though and I still tried to share things I'd read regarding shots. I even bought the book "What your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccinations" by Stephanie Cave and read out loud to him a few things here and there.
One day I printed out a bunch of papers with all the ingredients in them. I left them laying around for a long time and never said a thing. I just made sure they were easy to read whenever he was at the desk. They were always on top and easy to even glance at.

What does your husband think of the ingredients in them?

I just needed to have my husband see something that didn't come from "me" in a way. I started with the ingredients because it was one of the best things to keep with me too when I went to some of my son's doctor visits. I have a horrible memory but I felt it was a good start for myself.

One day it was time to get my son's DTaP, he ended up with a knot in his leg lasting for a couple weeks and the first week was in so much pain he wouldn't even walk on his leg. I just felt so horrible!
It was that day when I told my husband I just can't do it to him anymore. That the next one could be worse.
He told me to do what I felt comfortable. (whoa!)

Well, last week I was watching the Private Practice tv show that I dvr'd and got really upset and scared because of what it was about. (measles) It really scared the heck out of me.
I got on the computer to do more research on measles and found a link from here to a Brady Bunch show that was about the kids getting the measles.
I couldn't believe the difference in how it was portrayed!
My husband was sitting behind me and I told him what happened, how much it scared me and what I was watching. I told him I couldn't believe the difference and was asking him, what in the world has happened?

I was shocked that he then brought up things about the ingredients in vaccines and talking about not having to give our son any more shots. I wonder if he read those papers?
He even talked about how he thought shows like that were possibly written by those who could make money off it.lol

It was a nice surprise to see he changed his stance on vaccinations.
I think I had to find one small thing that we really couldn't "argue" about, and that one small thing was the ingredients. I think it made him think.

If your hubby is willing to read about vaccinations, can you ask him to atleast read some others that show the "other side" to atleast make things even and ask him to think about them again?

I know how hard this is and I'm so sorry you have to deal with it. I truly hope he's willing to read both sides atleast and then maybe you two can find a compromise at the least. Maybe a compromise isn't good enough though for some? But for me, it possibly helped and gave me more time.

[mamakah]

I'm sorry. I don't have any words of wisdom for you. Other than fight fight fight. If you feel this strongly about it, then I hate to say it, but you shouldn't give in just because you DH refuses to open his mind. It would be one thing if he has done the same research as you, but he hasn't even done that!!! Which is why you should not give in!!!! I am not trying to encourage divorce or unhappiness in your relationship, but YOU were the one to research research research. He seems to be sitting back letting the western medicine brainwashing seep in...
Maybe you should set up a formal debate on the issue in your living room. (sounds silly I know...but this works). You come with tons of information, studies, stats etc. and he will too. guarenteed in a head to head debate where only information rather than emotion is used, YOU WILL HANDS DOWN WIN. When he realizes that you have a great argument for everyone of his arguments, he will be forced to at least think that you are right.

[xmasbaby7]

Here is my indirect experience and advice on this. Stop and reflect on how the emotional subject of protecting your child's health is actually playing out weaknesses in the marriage.

Two of my dearest friends could have written your post. One of them started going to couple's therapy to talk about it and other things and just started paying more attention to the marriage and making the husband feel as important as the kids again. Once their connection started showing signs of improvement, they started having the vax discussion that they should have had all along which was much less emotional and more respectful of each other's opinion.

She agreed to one vaccine that he allowed her to choose, and waved a white flag, but said respectfully, "I am doing this because I love you and value our marriage, but it must be known that I do not believe this is in our baby's best interest." He caved because she showed him the flexibility he needed to see.

My point is that the topic of vaccines will showcase any weakness in the marriage. Try and heal the marriage while delaying the vaccine choice and return to it when either of you have no interest in fighting about it.

I wish you all the support you need to get you through this!

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by xmasbaby7

Here is my indirect experience and advice on this. Stop and reflect on how the emotional subject of protecting your child's health is actually playing out weaknesses in the marriage.

Two of my dearest friends could have written your post. One of them started going to couple's therapy to talk about it and other things and just started paying more attention to the marriage and making the husband feel as important as the kids again. Once their connection started showing signs of improvement, they started having the vax discussion that they should have had all along which was much less emotional and more respectful of each other's opinion.

She agreed to one vaccine that he allowed her to choose, and waved a white flag, but said respectfully, "I am doing this because I love you and value our marriage, but it must be known that I do not believe this is in our baby's best interest." He caved because she showed him the flexibility he needed to see.

My point is that the topic of vaccines will showcase any weakness in the marriage. Try and heal the marriage while delaying the vaccine choice and return to it when either of you have no interest in fighting about it.

I wish you all the support you need to get you through this!

Well said.....I agree 100%. It is more than likely about way more than just this 1 issue.

[ASusan]

Thank you for all your thoughtful replies. I have a very few minutes as DH and I are going to a movie tonight and the sitter arrives in 20 minutes. DH is sleeping, as his cold got much worse throughout the week (treated with Tylenol cold and sinus). My cold is almost better (treated with homeopathics, but I'm not telling him that).

Originally Posted by Ophelia

Wow I'm so sorry, he sounds very extremely stubborn.

He is. Jokingly, he is called Caribbean man by our mutual friend when he gets stubborn and, for lack of better term, patriarchal.

Do you remember what exactly he was picking apart with Dr. Tenpenny's video? The first few minutes?? That is not even giving it a chance.

He didn't agree with the three assumptions that she set forth at the beginning. And, as he put it, if you start to listen to a talk, and you think the basic assumptions the speaker has are wrong, do you take much stock in anything else they say? No, and so he didn't. THe fact that he sat through 38 (or was it 48?) minutes was so that "he gave it a chance" and didn't just shut it down in the first few minutes. We got through the section on...can't remember the specific disease, but it was the first disease/major point that she went through. It wasn't even really related to childhood vaccines. (Maybe we had the wrong video - it seems there are 2 and I just arbitrarily chose one of them to start with.)

I probably posted to you about this before, but my DH bullied me into DS's 2-12 month shots (no live ones though). He is better than he was, but still doesn't seem to believe me on a lot of stuff (he got the flu shot even though I gave him studies indicating they dont' do much at all). I have lost some trust with him because of this, and also because of this, we've had more problems that we've needed professional help with, so I have been in fear of our marriage ending because of it. It's basically snow-balled into other things, and the second time DS got croup and I didn't want to rush out right away to get another steroid shot (the croup was gone by that time) he accused me of withholding medical treatment, that I hate/don't trust doctors/etc. you get the picture.

I see us needing an intermediary. However, I KNOW that he will NEVER go to a psychologist or counselor (how ironic that he IS a psychologist; however, he is a research psychologist, not a clinician). I did go to a counselor before we were married. I took great care to choose someone that might be able to see things through DH's eyes/have similar experiences...and it didn't work. DH made very clear that when he went to the counselor, it was MY counselor he was going to, and he was going because I wanted him to. Hard to explain....of course, it all makes sense in his head. Sorry to ramble.

I see the potential for similar things to occur in our marriage - that I want to be careful about treatment and DH may interpret that as withholding treatment or distrust of medicine. THe irony is that HE doesn't like medicating his body or being the "guinea pig" of the pharmaceutical industry. He tells his students (in psychpharmacology) to take the oldest drug available, with the longest track record. Yet he can't see how injecting his son with the current vaccine schedule is exactly that - being a guinea pig of the industry. It just kills me. DH is reluctant to give DS a benedryl to interrupt an itchy, sleepless night when DS is reacting to something.

The information in Offit's recent book can most likely be picked apart pretty good, and I think they have done so at Age of Autism. Offit as far as I know does not treat kids with autism yet he proclaims to be an expert on it.

Yes, Age of Autism is where I get most of my information. I read it every day. I would put it high on the list of things I would like him to read. (except that he pretty much rejects everything out of hand if it isn't peer-reviewed article. And those, while there are many, require a lot of lines to be drawn to connect the dots. I believe the dots can be connected, but I have yet to see a good scientific review that does so - and I simply do not have the time to do all the reading, learning, and writing to do it myself. I work a full-time job and I manage my son's allergies)

Offit also recently wrote something in a publication that slammed Bob Sears' vaccine book, and he got slammed right back with several professional replies. It was discussed here recently. Seems he likes to take things out of context.

Yup; I read a lot of that back-and-forth. But it is not the type of "evidence" that I can use for DH.

Will your DH read http://www.insidevaccines.com?

If it is a .com, he smells a rat. Wanted to reject the TEnpenny DVD because she SELLS it. OK - using that logic, he should reject Offit. I know. I know. I point out that Offit is paid by the pharmaceutical industry...and he gets to reject Tenpenny's DVD because she profits from it. I can't even make the point that Tenpenny is probably barely covering her expenses, while Offit is gaining...millions? Because, in his mind, the pharmaceutical industry is just that - industry - and their goal is to make money. And that's ok, because they are a business. We all like and need (some of the drugs) that they put out; why should they be denied a profit? It costs a lot for drug R&D, blah, blah, blah (by this point, he is "lecturing" me and saying what he has said before...)

Sorry to be so whiny and ranty. I have no one in real life that I can talk wit this about.

How about the Dr. Jay Gordon vaccination DVD?

I'll look into it, with careful screening on my part first, I guess

THANK YOU!

[ASusan]

Originally Posted by xmasbaby7

Here is my indirect experience and advice on this. Stop and reflect on how the emotional subject of protecting your child's health is actually playing out weaknesses in the marriage.

Yup. I know. I have been thinking about this. YOu are so very right.

DS has eczema, food allergies/intolerances. I spend SO much time reading alternative stuff about them. DH - whatever the DR says, goes. And yet, DH's entire arguements are begun with "DS is the most important thing in my life." "We must protect DS." DH sees anything alternative that I do as suspect, because it lacks scientific evidence. ANecdotal evidence does not matter one whit - I cured my lupus with acupuncture! We were married when this happened! DH saw me get progressively ill with lupus before we were married. He was there when I got the diagnosis, based on what was in my blood. He knows that the western meds gave me irreversible side effects. Acupuncture...no more evidence of lupus in my blood. Doesn't matter to him. He would NEVER allow something like acupucture or chiropractic or (insert alternative treatment here) on DS, because that is "treating DS like a science experiment."

Aarugh! Sorry to go on, but I just have to get it out.

Babysitter has arrived so we can go on our date. No vaccine discussions this evening; we just need to watch a movie together to regroup, I hope.

Two of my dearest friends could have written your post. One of them started going to couple's therapy to talk about it and other things and just started paying more attention to the marriage and making the husband feel as important as the kids again. Once their connection started showing signs of improvement, they started having the vax discussion that they should have had all along which was much less emotional and more respectful of each other's opinion.

She agreed to one vaccine that he allowed her to choose, and waved a white flag, but said respectfully, "I am doing this because I love you and value our marriage, but it must be known that I do not believe this is in our baby's best interest." He caved because she showed him the flexibility he needed to see.

I see myself - ourselves - in this. I was thinking about submission earlier today. (can't believe I admitted that in a place outside my own mind!!)

My point is that the topic of vaccines will showcase any weakness in the marriage. Try and heal the marriage while delaying the vaccine choice and return to it when either of you have no interest in fighting about it.

I wish you all the support you need to get you through this!

Thank you thank you thank you!!

[peainthepod]

It sounds like he has made up his mind and no amount of books, DVD's, or websites is going to convince him. What if you just say no? Not vaccinating is the default, right? We are not born with some deficiency of vaccinations. He needs to show YOU why vaccinating is necessary and worth the very real risk of vaccine injury. He needs to show you information from sources that don't come directly from the vaccine manufacturers.

Ask him why vaccine studies are never done using real placebos, but only against other, older forms of the same vaccine. Ask him why the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program exists, and how much has been paid out of it. Ask him why it is illegal to sue pharmaceutical companies for vaccine reactions. Ask him how much money the pharmaceutical industry spends on lobbying Washington (hint: they spend more than any other industry).

If he refuses to listen to reason then he needs to show you why vaccines are necessary. Not just that they are the current pediatric moneymaker, but necessary for your children's health. If he can't do that--and he can't--then he needs to drop it. And if he won't drop it, well...I'm sorry, mama, but this would be my hill to die on. I'd take his stubborn a** to court before I'd let him hire some quack to inject my babies with poison.

I'm so sorry you're going through this right now. I know it must be agonizing. But don't be afraid to stand up for your little ones. Don't be afraid to say, "NO!" Channel your inner mama bear.

[Arduinna]

It doesn't sound like the foundational issue is about vax, there is more going on. I don't think this is going to be fixed by giving him research. I'm not sure exactly what the issue is, but he sounds really controlling.

[curlyfry]

Sorry you're dealing with such a stubborn man...but I agree wholeheartedly with this...

Originally Posted by peainthepod

It sounds like he has made up his mind and no amount of books, DVD's, or websites is going to convince him. What if you just say no? Not vaccinating is the default, right? We are not born with some deficiency of vaccinations. He needs to show YOU why vaccinating is necessary and worth the very real risk of vaccine injury. He needs to show you information from sources that don't come directly from the vaccine manufacturers.

[rmzbm]

Originally Posted by peainthepod

It sounds like he has made up his mind and no amount of books, DVD's, or websites is going to convince him. What if you just say no? Not vaccinating is the default, right? We are not born with some deficiency of vaccinations. He needs to show YOU why vaccinating is necessary and worth the very real risk of vaccine injury. He needs to show you information from sources that don't come directly from the vaccine manufacturers.

: Wish I had some advice but I don't. Me, personally, I would not budge. Good luck.

[ASusan]

Well, I think that any smaller (or larger) issues in our relationship ARE coming out in our discussion/dealing with the question of vaccination. But, I'm not going to try to solve all of our relationship and communication problems this week.

We've had a decent weekend, and I think things are looking up right now. Out to see "Gran Torino" on Fri night (I recommend it), and yesterday was relaxed and we had friends over for cards in the evening. This morning, I asked him to read 4 things for me, and he agreed.

Here are the 4 things:

Evidence of Harm, by David Kirby
What Your Doctor May Not Tell you about Vaccinations, by Stephanie Cave
The Simpsonwood transcript
Age of Autism blog


I very simply stated that I wanted him to read some of the same things that concern me. I didn't say anything about how suspect I found his sources (e.g., Paul Offit). Very honestly, I read Evidence of Harm back in '05 when I wasn't even really concerned about vaccines. I just picked it up from the "new releases" table at the library. It totally opened my eyes and made me question things. And Age of Autism builds on it. (although I would prefer that he start with Evidence of Harm and then look at the blog - it puts the blog into a better context).

Thank you all for your support. It came at the right time.

[kiara7]

I would also recommend Russell Blaylock, MD, prominet neurosurgeon. Russellblaylockmd. In information section, he has paper "Vaccines, Neurodevelopment and Autism Spectrum Disorders". Scientifically written, but not that hard to read on what happens in a baby's brain upon injection of neurotoxic materials.

[ASusan]

Originally Posted by kiara7

I would also recommend Russell Blaylock, MD, prominet neurosurgeon. Russellblaylockmd. In information section, he has paper "Vaccines, Neurodevelopment and Autism Spectrum Disorders". Scientifically written, but not that hard to read on what happens in a baby's brain upon injection of neurotoxic materials.

Err, we've had our run-in with Blaylock before. DH was asked by a local health food store owner to participate in a public session about MSG. DH, as a neuroscientist, was asked to give the science behind glutamate and glutamate receptors in the brain. So, he reviewed the scientific literature on MSG, glutamate...and basically shot down most of what Blaylock says about MSG being, for lack of a better term, dangerous. ALthough at the time, DH did concede that MSG could affect some people in a not-so-good way (e.g., there may be individual differences to how people respond to MSG. BUT, overall, that MSG is not necessarily a "bad" thing.) After that public lecture, I think that there may have even been some private back-and-forth emailing between Blaylock and DH. I seriously doubt that DH will take seriously anything that Blaylock says about vaccines.

It doesn't matter that it is "scientifically written" - it must be an actual study published in a peer reviewed journal. DH doesn't want someone else's interpretation of the research or a synthesis of the research that is out there with implications for brain development. He is not receptive to someone else's "connecting of the dots." He wants to connect them himself.

I do think that I need to get the vaccine inserts with the ingredients list. It's just a huge matter of where to start, as there are so many - even of each vaccine, there are different manufacturers and formulations. DH does have experiencing with injecting drugs directly into mouse/rat brains and looking at the effects. I'm going to ramble here...You know, DH has done research on a psychiatric drug that has been in use for many years in humans. They did the research because, even though the drug has been used to treat a psychiatric condition, no one knew what the drug ACTUALLY DID in the brain. So, they did the animal research to find out - what neurotransmitters were affected, and where. The thing that kills me is that DH HAS THE SKILLS (and even the equipment and the lab and the animals and the drug licenseing...) to do research investigating the actual effect on the brain of some of these vaccine ingredients. He's even done research on autism. He seriously knows the animal and brain scientific research literature in this area.

It's just when it is connected to public policy, public health, Western medicine...that's where those dots need to be connected in ways that don't necessarily involve the scientific method. Those dots need to be connected with investigative journalism, FOIAs, government committee transcripts, how decisions are made at FDA...and for some bizarre reason, DH doesn't question the way those dots are connected.

"Hey," he seems to reason, "Western medicine is built on science. I trust science. Western medicine has saved my life twice (in very dramatic fashion, I might add). If modern medicine is built on science and works to save people's lives, then vaccines (as a part of modern medicine's playing out of science) are fine, needed, and desired. To deprive our son of modern medicine's advantages is extremely risky and akin to child neglect."

DH is extremely logical - to a fault.

Thanks for reading thus far. It's helping me as I articulate his view and reasoning.

[kiara7]

I guess it sounds to ME that you might have to print out the ingredients lists for each vax and ask him to research each one and see what he comes up with. Many known neurotoxins, etc. - may be that will get his wheels moving in the right direction?

[ASusan]

Here's a link to Blaylock's blog article about Vaccines, Neurodevelopment, and Autism.

http://web.mac.com/rblaylock/Russell...Disorders.html

Now, see, I think this is very interesting. Covers a lot of ground, has some conclusions that are concerning, etc. There is 172 - ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY TWO - scientific references cited in that review. Like DH has the time to read 172 references!!! AAARUGH!

But, I would not be able to get DH to read it (and/or he would outright reject it) because (1), it has Blaylock's name at the top; and (2) it is not published in a peer reviewed journal.

Aaarugh. And JUST LAST NIGHT we were talking with friends how very prominent scientists' careers were sometimes based on a series of small studies that just happened to fill a niche - right place, right time. And those prolific scientists climb the career ladder by publishing reviews of their own work, variations on the same research, citing themselves over and over. And DH used TOM INSEL (director of NIMH) as the primary example. DH knows Insel's research well. He just doesn't know (or chooses not to know) how Insel - in the views of those at Age of Autism - can be implicated in the "should we study vaccines and autism? No, I guess we won't," controversy. The fact that the committee at NIH recently (last week) decided NOT to research the link after deciding TO research the link would be used as evidence that there this isn't an avenue of research that will yield fruitful data. The fact that NIH DID decide (but later recinded) to investigate the link isn't damning evidence against vaccines (or against the vaccine-autism link) - it's that the committee caved to public pressure, and then righted itself a few days later. AAARRRUUUGGGGHHH!!!! Is it no wonder that I end up in tears of frustration!?!??!

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by ASusan

Here's a link to Blaylock's blog article about Vaccines, Neurodevelopment, and Autism.

http://web.mac.com/rblaylock/Russell...Disorders.html

Now, see, I think this is very interesting. Covers a lot of ground, has some conclusions that are concerning, etc. There is 172 - ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY TWO - scientific references cited in that review. Like DH has the time to read 172 references!!! AAARUGH!

But, I would not be able to get DH to read it (and/or he would outright reject it) because (1), it has Blaylock's name at the top; and (2) it is not published in a peer reviewed journal.


Aaarugh. And JUST LAST NIGHT we were talking with friends how very prominent scientists' careers were sometimes based on a series of small studies that just happened to fill a niche - right place, right time. And those prolific scientists climb the career ladder by publishing reviews of their own work, variations on the same research, citing themselves over and over. And DH used TOM INSEL (director of NIMH) as the primary example. DH knows Insel's research well. He just doesn't know (or chooses not to know) how Insel - in the views of those at Age of Autism - can be implicated in the "should we study vaccines and autism? No, I guess we won't," controversy. The fact that the committee at NIH recently (last week) decided NOT to research the link after deciding TO research the link would be used as evidence that there this isn't an avenue of research that will yield fruitful data. The fact that NIH DID decide (but later recinded) to investigate the link isn't damning evidence against vaccines (or against the vaccine-autism link) - it's that the committee caved to public pressure, and then righted itself a few days later. AAARRRUUUGGGGHHH!!!! Is it no wonder that I end up in tears of frustration!?!??!

Wow...you really are in for an uphill battle it sounds like. A fruitless one I believe. I agree with PP. Your DH seems to have made up his mind and it is totally closed. Yes he agreed to read the 4 things you asked him to, but undoubtedly jus so he can rip them apart and prove them wrong. What would happen if you basically said to your DH what I said to mine. "We are vaccinating over my dead body"...just wondering what response you would get.