In case you missed it, CNN hosted a fun debate last night (Thursday, January 29).1
Dr. Armand Dorian gets my vote for Man of the Year for calling out “Dr.” Jack Wolfson over his unscientific positions on vaccines and the current measles outbreak in California and 13 other states. I’ve linked the video below. Even though CNN sneaks in a 30 second commercial at the beginning, it’s well worth sitting through just to hear Dorian deliver the truth: it’s hard to believe that Wolfson has a medical license. The man is literally doing harm to his patients.
Dorian and Wolfson debate. Click to launch video.
Dorian is a doctor and debunks Wolfson far better than I ever could, so please watch the video, linked here. But I can’t resist commenting. Some of Wolfson’s more ridiculous statements are that:
(1) We’re injecting chemicals in our children’s bodies (when we vaccinate).
Well, duh. Our bodies are made up of chemicals. Everything we eat and drink is a chemical. Everything we see, touch, taste, and feel is a chemical. Dr. Wolfson, here’s a beautiful online version of the periodic table of the elements.2 You should have studied this in grade school. Chemicals! Oh my God, they’re everywhere!
According to the CDC, measles is the leading cause of vaccine-preventable death in children.3 Doctors agree that’s a really good reason to inject those chemicals. They’re saving lives.
(2) Measles results in “typically benign childhood conditions”
Death is not a benign condition. The CDC says for every 1000 children who get measles, 1 or 2 will die.4 One out of every four who contract the disease will be hospitalized. There is no cure for measles. Getting the vaccine is safer than coming down with the disease. Measles can lead to swelling of the brain and severe respiratory problems.5 And, oh yeah… did I mention death?
(3) “Our children have the right to get infections”
The “right” to get infections?
Sometimes you encounter a statement that’s so utterly stupid there’s just no response. I suppose our children have the right to die in car crashes, but I’d like to prevent that.
Speaking of car crashes…
(4) “Bad things can happen to anybody. We can be in a car accident.”
When host Erin Burnett points out to Wolfson that unvaccinated people are in fact dying from measles, he responds with “Bad things can happen to anybody. We can be in a car accident.”
Yes doctor. And that’s why we wear seat belts. There’s some good science behind the seat belt concept, just as there is behind the measles vaccine. Before the vaccine was invented in the 1960s, there were up to four million cases of the disease in the USA each year, with an average of 48,000 hospitalizations.5 Thanks to the vaccine, measles was eliminated in this country by the year 2000.6 Now, thanks to anti-vaccination campaigns and quack doctors, measles is making a comeback.
(5) “They [our children] need to get appropriate chiropractic care. Actual healthy doctors […]”
Chiropractors are not doctors. They have no medical training. There’s nothing about chiropractic training or care that remotely begins to address handling a virus, which is what causes the measles.
For this statement alone, I agree with Dorian: Wolfson should not be practicing medicine. He’s violating the Hippocratic oath.
Image Credits
CNN screen snapshot is used in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, commonly known as “fair use law”. This material is distributed without profit with the intent to provide commentary, review, education, parody, and increase public health knowledge.
References
(1) Watch Doctors Have Heated Debate Over Vaccination
http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2015/01/30/erin-panel-anti-vaccination-debate.cnn
(2) Periodic Table of the Elements
http://www.ptable.com/
(3) CDC Global Health – Measles, Rubella, and CRS
http://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/measles/
(4) CDC: Measles: Make Sure Your Child Is Fully Immunized
http://www.cdc.gov/Features/Measles/
(5) CDC/American Academy of Pediatrics Bulletin
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/measles/downloads/dis-measles-color-office.pdf
(6) CDC: Frequently Asked Questions about Measles in the U.S.
http://www.cdc.gov/measles/about/faqs.html
Bad Science Debunked 