As the number of cases of autism, seizures, and even death as a direct or perceived result of vaccines has grown exponentially around the globe, battle lines are being drawn. On one side are the families that have suffered losses and injuries. On the other side are the drug companies (that manufacture the vaccines), the national medical associations (that prescribe and administer the vaccines), and the media (that earns billions in annual advertising revenues from the drug companies.
The battle has become bitter, and there is great imbalance between the families and the industries as to the resources at their disposal. Many families have found themselves taken to, or beyond the threshhold of bankruptcy trying to provide care and medical attention for their loved ones, especially as most treatments for autism and similar conditions are not covered by insurance and must thus be paid out of pocket. Their fight has been one of voices and community outreach.
The drug companies, with the help of their financed media resources, have blanketed the television, radio and print media promoting the safety of vaccines. They have even gone so far as to publish children's books about vaccines - one recent one of which states "Some people think that vaccines don't work or can hurt you, but they're just silly."
Regardless of who may be right or wrong in this debate, some of the actions taken by the pro-vaccine camp have been quite vicious and actually raised greater concern over whether vaccines are safe than ever before, thus potentially crippling their attempts to promote vaccines as safe.
One of these measures has been to deliberately falsify the claim that mercury had been removed from vaccines. While still proclaiming it's innocence, the drug industry announced it would remove thimerosol (the leading mercury derivitive used in vaccines) by the year 2000. Now, over a decade later, thimerosol is still an ingredient in many vaccines, including the H1N1 and regular flu vaccines. Additionally, in many other vaccines, thimerosol was either replaced by another mercury derivitive or left in and simply listed on the ingredients under one of it's lesser known names.
Another questionable measure is the attack upon families that have opted to no longer vaccinate their members. In major media literature, such as Newsweek, there have been scathing articles which not only attempt to defend vaccines, but go so far as to villify the families of the injured that choose to avoid continued vaccine regimens. The articles contend that families who choose not to vaccinate are putting everyone else at great peril. The result has been a divide between families - those that believe the media and those that believe the harm vaccines may cause.
Whether they are simply going to great, potentially excessive lengths, to defend the safety of vaccines, or deliberately trying to villify the victims of toxins for profit, the drug industry and their defending media have made a serious flaw in their recent arguments that may bring them down like a house of cards.
There is an old tale of a travelling salesman who visited a village and tried to sell the people some swords and shields. "Behold this sword," the peddler cried. "It can cut through any shield without getting a single nick." The villagers watched the spiel eagerly and started handing over money to buy the swords. "Behold this shield," the peddler cried. "It is indestructible, and can survive the most bitter battle without dent or blemish." Again, the villagers eagerly purchased the peddler's wares. Finally, a small boy called out, "What would happen if you hit that shield with that sword?" It was the innocent thoughts of a child that exposed the falsehood of the peddler.
The story above has been played out in real life by the drug companies in the role as peddler. They have claimed their vaccines are not only safe, but effective. First, they promote for everyone to get vaccinated because it will save you from the dreaded pandemic looming on the horizon. Then, they make the argument that the folks who don't get vaccinated are exposing everyone else to great risk.
If someone were to take these two statements independently of each other, it may be understandable how both could be believed to the lay observer. However, both have been touted so often they are starting to be heard so close together that folks, like the child in the story, are starting to run the thoughts together and dissect them as one. Breaking them down together, the result is as follows:
1. Anyone is either vaccinated or unvaccinated.
2. Getting vaccinated makes you immune to disease.
3. Not getting vaccinated makes you a threat to everyone else.
So, if vaccines are effective in their protection, how can the unvaccinated be any threat to the vaccinated? Either the unvaccinated are no threat to the vaccinated or else the vaccines are ineffective in preventing the diseases they were meant to address.
The drug companies have effectively painted themselves into a corner whereby they must either conceed to the wishes of those who don't wish to be vaccinated, proclaiming them to be no risk to anyone but themselves or admit to their profitable vaccines as being nothing more than snake-oil placebos.
Whether or not the drug companies are at fault for the things many in the public have accused them of, they are now truly at fault for setting themselves up in a no-win situation by which they can only come out the loser.
