one of the principles advocated by Hippocrates as code of conduct for doctors is, 1st do no harm. no one has any doubt that most doctors have their patients' interest at heart. sometimes, however, in our zealous attempt to heal, we overlook our own ignorance & limitations, & cause suffering instead. when pharmaceutical companies push their way past so-called stringent safety measures & quality control, that noble intention may be further blurred.
we remember the thalidomide disaster of the early 1960s (read here) & more recently the issues regarding certain painkillers (read here) & heart stents (read here).
recently, the government proposed to vaccinate all 13-year-old girls against cervical cancer from next year (read here). however, reports of adverse effects of the vaccination have since emerged, including brain damage & death, with the latest involving 2 teenaged girls (read here and here). in fact, as early as 2007, there were already reports of 3 deaths that occurred hours after vaccination (read here)
so, how did these drugs & devices get approval from FDA, only to result later in failure? it is not impossible nor unthinkable that the large pharmaceutical firms, in their haste to recoup research & development costs, may have withheld vital information which, had it been made known to the licensing bodies, would have resulted in their failure to be registered for use, therefore causing loss of billions of dollars.
is that amount of money worth a human life?
i am not saying it's good or not good to have the vaccination. what i am proposing is that we should search for all relevant information regarding the issue, & then make an wise & informed decision. don't just depend on reports from the mainstream media or the drug companies concerned.
surely our children's lives deserve that level of scrutiny & discernment.
**update : key researcher downplays cancer vaccine (read here)**
16 comments:
but doctors know best..
and thank God for you. Now, we are more well-informed.
hmmm...
Wenn,
personally, i would defer vaccination for my daughter till the dust settles. there's just too much uncertainty over the safety profile of the 2 types of vaccine available commercially, & they don't come cheap.
Jo,
there are a lot of interesting health websites where you can also obtain similar info mentioned in this post.
TZ,
tell your friends & relatives to exercise caution concerning this issue. on a similar note, there has NOT been any extensive human testing on the new H1N1 flu vaccine also.
my fren and i were just discussing about it last sunday...would i allow my girl to be vaccined? my answer is NO... until they have done deeper research that it is perfectly safe for our kids...
Claire,
that is my exact sentiment - the benefit of vaccination has not outweighed the risks at the moment. in any case, the protection against cervical cancer is NOT 100%.
Even vaccine can cause death. What more for us to trust? sigh...
Superman,
the question now boils down to this:
is the benefit of the vaccine, ie. protection, worth the small risk of complications?
at this point in time, given the info available, my personal opinion (& i stress "PERSONAL") is no.
Cause of the death of 14-year-old Natalie Morton was a large tumour in the chest involving the lungs and heart. Read it here -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8284517.stm
Yan,
thanks for the update.
according to that report, the pathologist mentioned that the tumour was the PRELIMINARY cause, which means further tests are required to CONFIRM the DEFINITIVE cause of death.
with post op chronic pain, doctors always prescribed medications supposedly to Prevent or Ease but not to Cure the pain and I'm always told BENEFITS outweigh RISK.
Medications & Vacinations is not one size fits all. I always find it strange why few hospitals insists on checking yr body weight, height, age etc
Knowledge is power.
ms45,
post-op chronic pain is extremely difficult to manage. the doctor may alleviate it but to cure it is near-impossible. basically, it's like trying to close the stable door after the horse has bolted.
if you or anyone you know have a problem with chronic pain, i have a colleague in Selayang who may be able to help.
such is the cruel world of capitalism... in fact, i think a lot of food products that we eat, i doubt their safety.
Zewt,
i agree - the food we take is more dangerous than we think. you remember an email going around about how the pasar malam sellers make the crunchiest fried chicken? so crunchy that it remained so hours after they have been fried??
scary, isn't it? this fear is further compounded by movies like A Civil Action & Erin Brockovich.
the latest i read concerning our diet suggests that cholestrol plaques form in arteries that are inflammed, & the main culprit for this inflammation is the sugar in the blood.
i bet you'll never look at a bar of chocolate the same way again!!
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