2 Wall Street Journal Editorials- Vax and Individual Rights & Fatal Exemption

[LeslieB]

I don't know how these links will be good if you don't have a WSJ subscription, but there are two editorials from Jan 20 & 27 that are interesting. The first one was written by our "favorite" Dr. Offit. Here's the link to the first:
Fatal Exemption

Some would argue that philosophical exemptions are a necessary pop-off valve for a society that requires children to be injected with biological agents for the common good. But as anti-vaccine activists continue to push more states to allow for easy philosophical exemptions, more and more children will suffer and occasionally die from vaccine-preventable diseases.

The second is by Barbara Loe Fisher in response to Offit:
Vaccines and Individual Rights

An argument can be made on scientific grounds that the voluntarily vaccinated should have nothing to fear from the voluntarily unvaccinated if vaccines protect individuals from contracting infectious diseases. However, a more compelling argument can be made for the human right to informed consent to medical procedures, such as vaccination, which carry a risk of injury or death. This is particularly relevant when mass vaccination policies do not identify individuals who are biologically vulnerable to vaccine-induced serious health problems, as demonstrated by the $750 million awarded to vaccine victims under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986.

[Devaskyla]

I was able to read the second one, but not the first. Not that that's a problem, I'd rather not read anything guaranteed to raise my blood pressure, anyway.

[quarteralien]

That was a well-written to-the-point response. I'd love to know Offit's response, if any. But it would probably be more of the same rhetoric he spews on a regular basis.

[monkeysmom830]

My favorite part; : ; considering the average "pro-vaxer cause that's what you do" doesn't know who Offit is:

Dr. Offit, who shares a rotavirus vaccine patent with Merck,

[midstreammama]

Originally Posted by monkeysmom830

My favorite part; : ; considering the average "pro-vaxer cause that's what you do" doesn't know who Offit is:

Dr. Offit, who shares a rotavirus vaccine patent with Merck,

:Puke

[suschi]

Aside from Offit protecting his prOffit, this bears repeating,

From BLF,

"This is particularly relevant when mass vaccination policies do not identify individuals who are biologically vulnerable to vaccine-induced serious health problems..."