Oot and Aboot with Some Canadian Skeptic

I've been a little regretful for not updating this new skeptic blog-o-mine. The problem is time; I'm finishing up my degree and very little time is on my hands to indulge in this extra-cirricular activity (although I realize that's no excuse). This afternoon I was thinking that there simply hasn't been that much skeptical news lately. Aside from some astronomical events, which I refer readers to the Bad Astronomer for better coverage, there wasn't all that much happening....and literally, as I thought that, I saw this story while flipping through the channels on CNN.

Bad for vaccinnes, good for me for having some content.

The supposed vaccine-autism link has been done to death over the last 6 years. So without getting into too deep a history lesson, here is a rough (very) primer: the anti-vaccination crowd (not their term for themselves, obviously) has been claiming for years that the MMR (Mumps-Measles-Rubela) vaccine causes autism in children because of thimerisol, an ethyl-mercury-based preservative. Mercury IS indeed a toxin, but as with most toxins, its always a matter of dosage, and the dose of mercury in a thimerisol shot is about the same as eating a big slab of large mouth bass. Aside from the science clearly showing that there is no mercury-autism link, in 2002 the U.S. government decided to remove thimerisol from the MMR vaccine as a precuation. Several of the loudest anti-vaccination people then declared that they would clearly see the rates of autism diagnosis fall....they didn't. In fact, they rose. (this rise in autism may not be a true rise in autism, but an artifact of increased reporting, as well as a larger umbrella to define what autism is, thanks to a greater understanding of the disease...in any case, the rates certainly did NOT decline). As an aside, removing thimerisol meant that the shelf-life of the MMR vaccine was reduced by orders of magnitude, meaning they can only sit on the shelf for a few weeks, as opposed to a few years, prohibiting any vaccine stockpiling to add up in the case of an epidemic....thanks anti-vaccination crowd.....dicks.

The U.S. government has a fund to provide compensation to individuals who have been harmed by getting vaccinations. This makes sense because vaccines are a public health measure, mandatory for anyone wishing to participate in public life (attend public schools, work for any level of government). However, vaccines are not without their risks, and they CAN on occasion cause harm (not autism, mind you, but other disorders and diseases can be caused by a variety of reasons). On a case-by-case basis, the directors of this fund analyze individual claims and distribute funds accordingly. So far, just over 4900 individuals have joined into a group-claim, claiming that the MMR vaccine caused their children to become autistic. So far, no one has recieved any funds for this claim because the science simply opposes their viewpoint. Autism is one of the medical buzz-words these days, and thanks to reputable scientists like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Jenna McCarthy (the one who made herself famous by eating her boogers on MTV) have helped to increase this public perception that doctors simply don't listen the mothers, don't care about mothers, and purporting the scientific value of the "mommy instinct".
In the words of Dr. Steven Novella, "I'm sorry, but your mommy instinct doesn't trump ton-of-science".

Well, today's story, http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19726464.100-autism-payout-reignites-vaccine-controversy.html, was about an individual who WAS awarded money on the basis of the MMR vaccine causing autism. It is vitally important to qualify this. Doctors and researchers are noting that the autism's link the vaccine was by incident, by by design: the girl who was made autistic by the vaccine was in such a medically precarious state that if she didn't get autism from the vaccine today, the next day she might have gotten it from getting a cold, cutting her finger on a rusty nail, or from a dog-bite. She was petering on the edge already, and it may has well have been any other medical push-factor. I think this fits well in the bounds of awarding money since, technically speaking, the vaccine DID cause autism...but not for the reasons the anti-vaccination bloggers are screaming about.

Since this debate was on the wane lately, this news story will certainly re-ignite the ignorance. This is really scary to me because imagine if more people are awarded money that don't fit this unique case? Imagine if science is not enough to prove that there is no vaccine-autism link, what company is going to want to make vaccines if its such a liability??? I can only hope that true science will continue to penetrate, and that feel-good science of the "mommy-instinct" stays out of the realm of medical research.