Clear Thinking About Vaccines
Instead of trying to settle the controversy about vaccines, I want to target those who are genuinely curious, confused, or otherwise unclear about the question of whether it's a good idea to vaccinate your kids. My method is not to offer incontrovertible facts, but instead provide a pathway to the question that might lead the reader to conclusions that feel suitably rational. The simplest path is that is to consider what the medical field thinks about vaccines. Although medicine may seem cooly scientific, internal debates rage about the efficacy of even the most straightforward treatments. Mainstream figures in medicine make compelling arguments that the standard treatments for common conditions like heart attack and stroke are more harmful than helpful. This trial , published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that coronary artery stenting for a large portion of heart attacks was unhelpful. This study in the same journal is one of many that question the value...