Can We Trust Our Doctor and the CDC?
After our youngest was born (I didn't know better with the others) I did a LOT of research and we chose to give him some of the “mandatory” vaccines, but not all. (If I had it to do over, since I now know more about the risks, I wouldn't give any vaccines. Read more about that in these posts.)
I was tempted to take the “easy” way out…
At his 4 year old check-up recently, he was due for 3 shots: MMR, DTaP, and IPV. I have to admit, since he hasn’t been sick in months, not even a little cold, and he seems to have a nice strong immune system, I was very tempted to just pay the $30 co-pay once, only have to put him through the pain and trauma once, and only have to work my schedule around to get him in there once, because let's be real here, it's a pain dragging them in to the doctor's office several times instead of one time.
Thankfully I had just spoken to my friend, Lyn, the day before, who helped me remember all the reasons why I’m so leery about vaccines, and she encouraged me to just do one shot at a time as I had in the past. Keep in mind, when it’s the MMR or the DTaP, the one shot is actually 3 different antigens together already anyway – three different foreign toxins from three different major diseases, meant to stimulate an immune response; just enough to build up antibodies against it. So if I had let them give him all 3 shots, that would have been parts of SEVEN different diseases all at once.
Kids get all of those shots together all of the time. Problems are “rare”, and it’s safe to trust the shot schedule… right?
Wait until I tell you what happened….
First, I need to make sure you understand that I really like the receptionists, nurses and our doctor at our medical office. After having multiple miscarriages, four healthy babies, and going through all the “routine” well-baby checks, I’ve gotten to know them fairly well. They are truly kind people who are only doing what the CDC and local health department require and train them to do. And even though I know that our doctor does believe vaccines are all well and good (he vaccinates his own kids), and he buys into the saturated fat myth and other mainstream medical ideas, still I firmly believe that he does have our best interests at heart. Not only that, he knows that I disagree with a lot of those mainstream ideas, he talks openly and calmly with me about them, and even though he doesn't sway on his opinion, he still respects and honors the decisions we make for our kids. Unlike most docs, he doesn't kick you out of his practice if you're “non-compliant”. If you can’t say all the same about your doctor or their office, I would suggest you go somewhere else!
Soooo…
We’re at the doctor’s office and our 4 year old is being a little trooper as he gets checked over, and then it’s time for his shot. We have his stick of gum all ready to go — he never gets gum so this is a treat — and as the nurse is drawing up the MMR vaccine (for Measles, Mumps & Rubella – the one shot I decided to have him get that day), I asked, “Just to double check, there’s no mercury preservative in that anymore, right?” She wasn’t sure. Just that part is scary, that she didn't know this.
So I asked to see the insert.
She went to pull out the huge two-sided vaccine insert for the Merck vaccine. We looked and looked and couldn’t find the answer to our question. Another nurse came to help and I asked, “I can’t believe this hasn’t come up before, doesn’t anyone else ever ask these questions?!” (Besides me with different nurses last year when he got his 3 year old shots.) They both said, “No, nobody ever has.” I was shocked and said, “Wow, that amazes me, that people have such blind trust.” She said, “Yeah, and we trust the health department.”
I said, “I know you have to, that’s part of your job, but I don’t.”
So she went to grab the CDC book (where she ended up finding out that no, there was no longer any mercury in the vaccine, if we can even trust that), and while she was gone I spotted something on this insert that made my blood boil.
Keep in mind, if I hadn’t told them that I only wanted him to get his MMR that day, he’d have gotten all three shots…
The insert says, “Routine administration of DTP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis) and/or OPV (oral poliovirus vaccine) concurrently with the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines) is not recommended because there are limited data relating to the simultaneous administration of these antigens.”
WHAT?!!!!!!!
I said to the nurse, “But you would’ve given him all three shots today if I hadn’t have said anything!” She said (squirming and feeling obviously uncomfortable), “We just go by the schedule we get from the health department.”
When I got home I looked closer at that “What you need to know” sheet that they give you whenever your child gets shots, and this is what it said:
“MMR vaccine may be given at the same time as other vaccines.” !!!!!
So the insert says NOT to give them together, but the docs, nurses, and the flyer they give you after the shots ALL say it's okay to give these shots together!!
The CDC is so screwed up, they don’t even know what they’re DOING, and doctor's offices just follow along!
And to think I DID so blindly trust our doctor and the CDC for YEARS…
Wow. And how sad that so many DO still blindly trust the white coats and those with letters by their names, because don't we all just WANT to believe they know what they're doing? That mix-ups are rare? That vaccine injuries are few and far between? That we don't have to take the time, many hours in most cases, to dig in and figure this out for ourselves?
We're all busy. I know, I am too! But we can't blindly trust others with our kids' health, no matter how kind and caring everyone at your doctor office is.
Also on the “What you need to know” sheet were a few more tidbits I thought I’d share…
- They now have the “MMRV” shot, which combines MMR with Varicella. No thanks. We need less combining, not more! Besides, Varicella is one we chose not vaccinate our youngest for, we’ve exposed him a few times and he still hasn’t gotten it, but we’d like him to get chicken pox the natural way and let his body build up immunities the way we used to. (Here's an update on this from many years later: Safe Natural Chicken Pox Treatment — Yep, we had chicken pox here!)
- Somehow it’s also not very comforting when they tell me that “A Federal program has been created to help people who may have been harmed by a vaccine. For details about the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, call 1-800-338-2382 or visit their website at www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation.”
- At the same time, if someone has been harmed by the vaccine, as of 1986, pharmaceutical vaccine manufacturers were freed from ALL liability resulting in vaccine injury or death by the Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. So you MIGHT get some bit of “compensation” if your child is injured, but you cannot SUE them. Not kidding.
They're constantly changing their minds on what's safe, and we're supposed to TRUST them?!
The fact that one day they'll insist on which vaccines our kids “must” have before they start school, and the next day one of those very vaccines are pulled from the market for safety concerns…
This happened with our 2nd baby, back before I was too ignorant about all of this and didn't know that you have to be so VIGILANT. He got a Rotavirus shot and when I went in for his next check-up they said, “Oh, we don’t give that anymore, it’s been pulled off the market due to safety concerns after some kids had severe reactions to it.”
Comforting, huh?
When our oldest was born, the Hepatitis B vaccine was new and our doc told us, “I don't recommend that one for infants. He's not at risk since he doesn't use drugs or have promiscuous sex!” So we didn't get it, but by the time he started school it was then “mandatory” (and still is). I wasn't smart enough to question this at the time, and instead dutifully took him in to get “caught up” on those shots for school. 🙁
As if all that weren’t enough…
Probably the most horrifying point about vaccines, even more so than what I’ve mentioned so far, and something you may or may not have known about, is this: many are made using aborted fetal cell lines. (I hadn’t realized that the MMR, the one our son just got, was one of them until I was working on this post!)
Here’s the site to find out which vaccines are considered ethical and which are not.
In this crazy world, we do not have the “luxury” to blindly trust anyone.
The take-away from all of this is that just as in everything, you have to take up this issue on your own and research research research. It’s not easy, it takes a lot of work, but we must try our best to stay on top of the game at all times. Know what is going in (and on) your bodies and your kids’ bodies, whether it’s food, vaccines, skin care products, medicines…everything.
(When it comes to food, have you seen my book, Real Food for Rookies?)
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Do you trust vaccine companies or blindly trust your doctor, or DID you in the past like I did??
Related Posts:
- Read all my vaccine posts here.
- Where Focus on the Family is WRONG
- IMPORTANT: Please read this Vaccine Decisions post with some important information and also find more links there related to the vaccine issue.
Erika says
Just something to consider..the public e3ducation system inculcates a blind trust and obedience in authority, qui bono? when the scales drop from your eyes…you cannot un-see.
Rust says
Kelly, I love your site, I love your diligence and I (and many friends and family to whom I recommend you) have benefited SO MUCH from the info I have gotten from you over the years. The one drawback is THE SPIKE IN MY BLOOD PRESSURE when I read stuff like this. Infuriating. So infuriating.
Thank you so much for your hard work.
kitchenkop says
Sorry Sharon! And I know, it does the same for me!
Kelly
Rebel Siren says
Oh, and for those who did not know, the POLIO VACCINE was tainted with carcinogenic SV40 (monkey cells) exposing 98 MILLION people who had it to cancer… this isn’t “controversial” as much as a FACT, see for yourselves, this is a gov website: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10472327
Rebel Siren says
The list of toxic ingredients, known neurotoxins and just plain ole disgusting stuff, is listed on the CDC’s own pdf document such as: FORMALDEHYDE, ACETONE, MERCURY (Thimerosal), COW BLOOD/CELLS (vegans beware), HUMAN ABORTED DNA (that ought to upset pro-life advocates, right?), ALUMINUM, POLYSORBATE 80, MONKEY CELLS (“VERO cells” so animal rights activists ought to be steamed about that one), ok, just read it for yourselves… https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/b/excipient-table-2.pdf
Elizabeth Knapp says
I didn’t, we had a homepath as our primary Healthcare provider. She had previously been a Nurse Practitioner in a pediatric setting.
Cathy Finnesgard says
I’m not sure “well baby” visits should even be done. (Gasp! Shocking, I know.) if your child appears healthy and vibrant, seems to be growing normally, and has no signs of illness, you are probably more qualified than your doctor to determine for yourself that your child is well…and save yourself the cost (if any) and inconvenience of a doctor visit, where your child will probably pick up an illness from the hacking snotty-nosed child spreading their germs all over the place while they wait to be examined. And, you avoid the pressure of being told your child should be vaccinated. Believe it or not, most of today’s parents probably never had well-baby checkups– my generation didn’t, for sure.
Ten Mitropoulos says
From a medical stand point I don’t think doctors intend harm but the very few hours they get educated on vaccines is far and few between. You have to think about vaccines like any other prescribed drug on the market given per pound. Except they are not….. The same dose is given to a newborn as to a 250lb adult man, but you would not know that unless you are a Pharmacist or a PharmD. It’s a drug and yes they do save lives but going slow and one at a time is the only way to go with children.
Kristi Dykstra Celata says
Shannon Severance I didn’t want to get involved on your other “controversial” post, but thought u might like to follow this gal. She posts tons of stuff about vaccines, holistic medicine, Whole Foods, and homeschooling! I’ve learned so much from her posts. Keep your chin up! Lots of people think like u do.
Allyson Tower says
Also selfish and stupid to force people to place toxic substances into their bloodstreams. And before you type your diatribe, please tell me every ingredient in each vaccine you feel is legitimate and how that is beneficial to the human body. I am sure you have an answer for every creepy ingredient.
Kris Bell Slager says
It also says you should NOT get it if you’re pregnant and yet I hear of the flu shot being pushed on woman all the time BECAUSE they’re pregnant!
Fiona Josef says
Ha! Idiots.
Maggie Sparacin says
How is this not considered negligent? Oh because they are immune to accountability. Insanity at the highest level
Jennifer Ryan Drabik says
Don’t have to worry about the fine print when you recognize the flu shot for what it is: a giant hoax!
watchmom3 says
Don’t feel bad when it seems that others are not having adverse effects. That is an illusion, as anyone who gets vxed is a viral carrier and often gives it to those around them. Your immune system is meant to work well and be used often as that strengthens it. I worked at a hospital for 30 yrs and I can’t tell you how many of the old folks I took care of that got the shots and got VERY sick, sometimes irreversibly. Don’t doubt that God made us to fight these things off, but I do believe in acute care for extreme sickness. Having said that, I had a college age friend get the flu, after his roommates took the vax and then the flu “remedy” put him on life support with a failing liver. Even then, the parents trusted the medical opinions. Be vigilant. I left the hospital because I refused a flu vaccine. I only had the flu one time, back in 1986, after I took the vax. No more. (BTW, my friend is a Christian and did recover eventually…)
robinakagoatmom says
I feel so lucky that in the mid 80’s there were far less vaccinations and I had a Dr. who still believed in individualized risk vs benefits in practicing medicine. And while combo vacs like MMR were given, multiple vaccinations beyond that weren’t. And my Dr. did not recommend certain vaccinations for my daughter based on family history and her risk of exposure, or the newness of the vaccination to market. As a Geriatric RN for 20 years, we primarily give Flu and Pneumo in the Nursing Home setting. We give these separated by at least 72 hours apart as standard practice due to the fragile nature of the elder’s immune systems!!! But we zap the far more fragile immune systems of infants, toddlers and young children with multiple ones. I worry about my grand children’s generation and all parents right to refuse what they have concerns about medically. And even more how many never read, educate or think about their role in the health of their children.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Robin, I think it’s great that as an RN you are willing to wrestle with and delve into this issue. MANY nurses (not all of course), like doctors (again, not all), are pretty set in their mainstream ways and in their belief that vaccine safety need not be questioned.
Kelly
Ann says
FYI : not one single vaccine is required in 48 states, not even to go to school as we are told. Missippi and West Va. are the only states that require vaccination and have the athority to inject your children without consent. My advice, know the laws in your state. Do NOT sign a waiver for any doctor or school, it is not neccessary or required and if you sign it, it can be used against you should either decide to involve children’s services. You can verbally decline based on medical & religious (aborted fetuses included) reasons in 48 states, and philisophical reasons in 17 maybe more by now.
We live in an area where not vaccinating is common. Think about this, when you register your little one for kindergarten. YOU manually fill in the vaccines dates on the forms. No doctor signature is required, why ? Because it isn’t truly the law and they are not required, for all they know, you could have made up the dates and no one would ever know. I know firsthand of many children that have never had a single vaccine and attend public schools.
Sadly I too chose to trust in my doctors without questioning but didn’t allow them to get every vac and I was always behind schedule so to not over due them. When my youngest was in 6th grade, the school informed me by mail that she was due for a booster. I kindly said that we no longer vaccinate and they said ok and I haven’t heard a word since and she is now in high school. Now if it were required, don’t you think that they would have pushed?
Train your children about vaccines and their rights because when they become college students, some colleges will insist on the hep B and meningitus but they don’t ask for a doctor verication. I called under an assumed name to ask the school nurse and our college was ok with not vaccinating but I was ready to falsify dates if I needed too when it came down to it. They don’t call the doctors offices to verify.
One of my closest friends is a pediatrition and she even chooses only of few.
Sadly it took watching my 18 m. old normal, thriving, healthy nephew regress into his own little world of autism within 10 days after his last set a vacs before I decided to do my research. We have pictures & videos of when he was normal and healthy prior to that. I have seen one friends healthy baby become brain damaged within hours of vacs and another die of “crib death” within 24 hours after vacs. Countless more with learning disabilities, ADD, ADHD, and more.
I now have college and high school students who are strongly oppossed to vaccination and I pray that they will find spouses to support them in that decision.
Rachelle says
I haven’t read all the comments, so this may have been addressed, but the DTP is different from the DTaP, and the oral polio vaccine is different from the IPV. I am mostly no-vax so this isn’t out of a defense of vaxes that I Say this, but just pointing out that they wouldn’t have been going against manufacture instructions by giving you those vaccines.
Janet says
This is all very one-sided data. I realize that many of you have your opinions and that is okay, but vaccines have prevented MANY horrible diseases through our history. That is not disputable. I agree that putting unnecessary toxins into our munchkins (like the annual Flu Vaccine & Chicken Pox Vaccine) is silly, but are you willing to risk your child getting a potentially deadly disease (some are VERY deadly or disfiguring)? It’s not worth it to me. Be informed, challenge your doctors, but don’t forget the past.
Kate says
You don’t need to be afraid of tetanus. It can only grow in the absence of oxygen, so anything open to the air cannot have tetanus on it. Even if you contracted it, there is about a 90% survival rate.
Keep researching each individual disease and then you will not be afriad anymore and will not feel the need to do any vaccines. Vaccines do not protect from disease and never have, if you read the history. My children have not received any and never will.
KitchenKop says
Lisa, this is frustrating for sure. The thing is, with the flu shot, who really knows how each situation will play out, but people think they are erring on the side of caution by *getting* it, when actually, based on what we’ve learned and what common sense tells us, WE are erring on the side of caution by *not* getting it.
Lisa Imerman says
A friend recently asked if I do the flu vaccine. I said I never do it for us or the kids. She said she did it the last 2 years with herself and her kids and they haven’ t been sick at all. She has a child on the autism spectrum and is giving them flu shots. She equates the fact that they didn’t have as much illness the last 2 years with the fact she got the flu shots. I wonder if that is it, or something else. I imagine many feel the same way, they get a flu shot and don’t get sick so they think it worked, but what if it is just delaying even worse illness because you just didn’t get sick those times and when you do finally get something, you get it bad and can’t get over it quickly???
I don’t know but of course when my child missed a birthday party yesterday (for a child of this friend mentioned) because he has a bit of a sore throat, cough and a very low-grade fever (but is acting perfectly healthy, playing, etc.) she comments that her kids never get sick due to flu shots. UGGH.
Lisa Imerman says
Thanks for posting this. I have vaccinated my children (all the while not sure if I was doing the right thing, and being extremely upset over it at times, but going with what our long-time docs told us). I did do delayed most of the time when they wanted to give more than one, etc. However, with my now 4 month old, I was wiser about things and refused antibiotics, hep shot, vitamin K, etc at birth. They really give you a hard time at the hospital for this and we had to stay an extra day since I was Group B Strep positive and refused the antibiotics for me and for him. Anyhow, at 2 weeks our peds insisted on the hep we missed, so I did it. At that visit they gave me the schedule of vaccines he needed in the future. At 2 months he had a huge list, I asked if they were all required, some are some aren’t. Well I never did any that weren’t required in the past, so was questioning what was what. I was floored when they told me they recommend them all because even if they aren’t required for school now they will be by the time he goes to school (ok, who cares, why does this matter at 2 weeks old..they might later require it or may pull it off the market???) Then I asked about a delayed schedule for 2 month shots as I wasn’t comfortable giving him the 6-8 shots they want (which many are already combined and then they said they combine the others and it is only 4 shots) and they said they don’t recommend any delayed schedule. I switched doctors before his 2 month visit. We have had these docs for nearly 11 years and I cannot believe they are now unwilling to discuss or validate the fact i have concerns. You either do all the shots on their schedule or they don’t want you in their practice. Well, I left before they could kick me out for not doing all the vaccines. Started a new doctor and she listened to me and understood concerns, told me she works with each child individually on a schedule that is good for the parents, child, etc and if we don’t want to vaccinate at all, they are ok with that. She helped me talk out many of my fears and gave me what I think is solid, well thought out advice on which to do and when!! Wow,it is crazy how blindly some doctors follow the protocol and don’t research it themselves. I asked about what was in a vaccine once for my kids and they acted like I was from Mars.
KitchenKop says
Kim, I know, it can drive us crazy if we let it. And is it possible your doc doesn’t know this??? Surprisingly, I’ve come across some big time pro-lifers as well who did not know…
Kelly
Kim says
I am absolutely horrified that they use recycled parts from aborted babies in the vaccines.
I don’t even know how to respond to that. How immoral of them not to disclose that to parents. My doctor is Catholic and staunchly pro-life. Why wouldn’t she tell me that?
Like Motherhen I followed the doctors advice for my first and got her vaccinated on schedule. My second was born two years later and she has only received the DTaP series (there was a pertussis outbreak right when she was born) and the chickenpox (but only because her older sister got it). Neither of them got the second chickenpox, though.
I feel disgusted that I allowed them to not only shoot mercury, chemicals and diseases into my child but aborted fetal cell lines as well.
STOP THE VAX says
Vaccines are POISON. The only one[s] who benefit from vaccines are PHARMACEUTICALS. Lots of Vitamin D will protect you from the flu and many other diseases. DON’T be fooled by paid off media hype. STOP the sickening assault on humanity.
Motherhen68 says
The 20 month difference between my two boys was an eye opening time for me. Where as with my first, I followed everything down the letter that the doctor’s told me, with my second I was anti-doctor everything! My 2nd son was born accidentally at home (unplanned, unassisted birth!!) and from the beginning I refused medical intervention beginning when the ped. dr on call wanted to give my son all sorts of antibx because he was born in the “unsterilized” environment!
Anyway, my 2nd son only received the Polio and Dtp as a baby. He’s 9 now and at the insistence of my husband, I had him vaxed against MMR. I’ve been hoping they’d catch chicken pox naturally, but even though they’ve been exposed to several children w/the pox, nothing’s come of it. I wonder if all those kids being vaxed and still catching the pox anyway has something to do with our kids being unable to catch the pox naturally?
I heard on the news the other night, they are no longer testing for swine flu unless you are admitted to the hospital. So why are so many people still freaking over the Swine flu? could it be the $$ train? Keep the people afraid and the money will roll in?
Paula says
No child of ours will ever get a vaccine!!! Period!
GOd did nto make our bodies to need vaccines. He gave us mothers who are meant to breastfeed, and immune systems that work best if they are allowed to be exposed to diseases at a young age, so that as adults, we can live free of fear of getting things like the measles.
You do know, that all vaccines have a “shelf life” in the body.
They are longer effective after 4 years.
I never got the chance to develop natural immunity.
I fully blame modern “science”.
Paula
PS, I learned today, that 50-70% of the tests done to see if a person has Swine flu, are false negatives.
Comforting!!
No one should be relying on data that is flawed, to make a buck, and I refuse to get in the act.
Debbie says
My four year old just got her first shot 2 weeks ago, and it was kind of by accident. She got hit in the head with a plastic milk crate (long story), and her head was bleeding a lot! I kind of freaked (you think with the 6th one I would be more calm) and took her to the new doctor’s office down the street. My daughter hasn’t been to the doctor’s since she was a baby, and she has been quite healthy, but I decided to go wi th the dpt shot because I am paranoid about tetanus. My kids are outside a lot playing in the dirt. The head wound was very superficial, but the doctor prescribed an antibiotic! which I didn’t fill. I just got my statement from the insurance company and that visit cost me $550! Wow, no wonder I stay away from doctors.