Vaccines, Freedom, & Ethics

PROLOGUE

My sister-in-law found an article about vaccines the other day and posted it on Facebook. If you're into controversy, it's a great read- especially considering the rebuttal from Robert Sears and other Pediatricians.

Here's the synopsis of the article in case you don't want to read through the whole thing: Dr. Robert Sears' publication 'The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child' is dangerous because in its attempt to present balanced information to parents about vaccines, more and more parents are requesting alternative Vaccine Schedules rather than the one recommended by the CDC. The result is that more and more children aren't protected against diseases that could harm them.

Here's the synopsis of Dr. Sears' response: The aim of Sears' book is to inform parents about vaccines by presenting both sides of the argument. Sears is actually Pro-vaccine and intends to persuade parents who might opt out of vaccines altogether to consider a Vaccine Schedule that isn't quite as scary as the one recommended by the CDC. If they decide to go with the slower rate instead of opting out completely, this would actually leads to greater vaccination rates, since more children would be getting vaccinated even if it's at a slightly slower rate than the recommended schedule.

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MY OWN BIAS

Before I get too much further into this post, it's probably important that you know my own bias; we currently have our son Ethan on an alternative schedule- not because of Dr. Sears- but because he had a really bad reaction to his first set of vaccines and we felt that it would be better for him to receive two shots per visit rather than four. This is a different reason than most parents who opt out of vaccines or try a different schedule. Most of them are concerned about autism or heavy metal poisoning.

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WHAT'S AT STAKE

When it comes to Vaccines, there are a lot of ethical dilemmas involved, (which is why this topic fits into my blog on philosophy, politics, and religion).

First, there's an issue of who gets to decide what's best for a baby. Does he get to decide, his parents, or the state? Obviously, a baby isn't in a position to make good decisions about issues that could have life and death consequences, so the issue really comes down to mom & dad versus the government.

Who is the best equipped to decide what's right for a child?

Should we allow a child's parents to decide? They surely have a vested interest in their own child's survival! On the other hand, the also lack the knowledge and understanding surrounding disease and prevention that our government has.

Should we allow the government to decide? They, of course, are looking out for the entire population- not simply one child. They mandate vaccines for the sake of the health of the entire population. On the other hand, we all know that our government is swayed by lobbying groups who throw their money into the laps of Senators and Representatives. Some of these lobbyists are companies who research and produce vaccines and since there is money to be made when parents vaccinate and money to be lost when they opt out, we can't entirely trust that either the government or vaccine manufacturers are a completely objective when it comes to how well these drugs work and whether or not they should be required for all children. It's rather naive to assume that simply because these researchers have put a lot of time and effort into testing these drugs that they aren't simply seeing dollar bill signs when a new baby is born.

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QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION

1. Some parents opt out of vaccines because they believe that vaccines may cause damage to their child- are they still "child abusers" as some doctors proclaim?

2. Should parents with concerns over the recommended Vaccine Schedule be allowed to participate in alternative schedules that still provide the same vaccines to their children?

3. Ultimately who is best fit to decide what's right for a child- parents, or the government?

4. Should parents forgo the right to decide what's best for their own child since the decision to not to vaccinate could potentially effect other children as well (if their child gets sick).