Essay Childhood Vaccinations: A Game of Russian Roulette?

“Immunizing Against Bad Science: The Vaccine Court and the Autism Test Case,” written by Lauren L. Haertlein, deals with one of today’s most popular controversies; vaccinations causing autism in children. Haertlein’s article gives insight into the history of vaccine litigation and the policies that accompany it. Furthermore, she talks immensely about the Vaccine Court, whose job is to work with petitioner’s stating that a vaccine, such as measles-mumps-rubella (MMR), has caused some illness to their child. The article uses

The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is a national non-profit advocacy organization established in the early 1980s in an effort to create transparency and dialogue regarding childhood immunizations (NVIC, 2016). The NVIC is one of the most prominent consumer led organizations that have led the pursuit of “advocating for vaccine safety and informed consent protections in the public health systems” (NVIC, 2016, para.1). The NVIC advocates for an

Only recently, a federal injunction lifted the act forbade mandatory anthrax vaccinations for members of the armed services. The service members that sued insisted that the safety of the vaccine was not fully determined and a federal court supported the claim until the FDA determined the safety of the product. Furthermore, claims by parents who suspect the development of Autism as a link to mandatory childhood vaccinations has provided additional legal action as the parents pursue injunctions to prevent continued vaccination of their children.

Imagine two children; one who has been completely vaccinated, and the other has never been vaccinated. Both children fall ill from the same virus, but the child who had been vaccinated fully recovers, while the child who was not passes away due to complications. That child’s life could have been saved if the child received the proper vaccinations. Ever since the invention of the Smallpox vaccine more than two centuries ago, there has been an abundance of controversy over the morality, ethics, effectiveness, and safety of vaccinations and immunizations. It has recently been argued whether laws should be introduced that render some or all vaccines mandatory for all children. Parents, health care specialists, nurses, teachers, and children

Hendrix, Kristin S., et al. "Ethics and Childhood Vaccination Policy in the United States." American Journal of Public Health, vol. 106, no. 2, Feb. 2016, pp. 273-278. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2105/AJPH.2015.302952.

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate? Parents with infants and young children have been tussling with this proverbial question for several decades now. With the advent of the internet and the World Wide Web, parents have been bombarded with a plethora of information about pros and cons of vaccines from all kinds of sources, some creditable, and some are not. To the non-scientific community, these conflicting information can create problems in the decision making process; thus, forcing parents to make the wrong choices and putting their offspring and others at risk. However, this article will attempt to address the importance of vaccinations, how vaccines work, why we should vaccinate, and why parents should not be afraid to vaccinate their offspring.

The United States will certainly experience increasing numbers of cases filed in the US Court of Federal Claims (Vaccine Court) (Newton 2013, 336). The costs incurred include employing additional lawyers and judges and paying damages awarded in any lost litigations. In addition, a government fear of potential lawsuits may initiate changes in FDA regulations, which perpetuates increased vaccine costs due to higher regulations and monitoring to produce “safer and more effective” vaccinations. Consequentially, the pharmaceutical industry will increase research and development costs resulting in more expensive governmentally distributed vaccines than previously reported. The many costs depicted above makes a mandatory vaccination policy a poor investment if the numerous potential benefits are not

Because of advancements in medicine, vaccinations are becoming a widespread medium in the prevention of disease. They have provided the eradication and immunity to many deadly diseases such as smallpox, polio and rubella. Although there is no law that mandates the vaccination of children, they are necessary to prevent the infliction of disease and harm. By making the decision to vaccinate their children, a parent has the potential to save their lives.

A public safety issue that is this huge has many interested parties but the main three are parents, medical professionals and the federal government. Parents have a strong interest in this issue because of their natural concern for the safety of their children. It’s a parent’s responsibility to make the best decisions they can with the information they have, in regards to the health of their children. Medical professionals also have a strong connection to this issue for several reasons. First, the growth of the anti-vaccination movement can be pinpointed to

Since the early 60’s the federal government has strongly advocated and supported childhood vaccination programs. In 1962 the federal government passed the “317” grants which supports the, “purchase of vaccine for free administration at local health departments and support[s] immunization delivery, surveillance, and communication and education” (Malone & Hinman).

Should children’s health be at risk for the greater good of community health? The news today is full of tragic stories about complications of vaccine use and there have been injuries from the beginning of vaccine use due to incomplete data on the side effects. The injuries have also brought about changes in the way vaccines are manufactured. The Georgia State Government requires citizens to receive vaccines in order to attend day care, go to school, and work at certain jobs and each state has its own mandates as well. The only way to get around the vaccine is to claim religious or medical exception. For either of these exceptions, one has to have a notarized affidavit for religious exception or a

While it is convenient for someone with insurance to afford for their child to receive all of their vaccinations, some caretakers must decide between paying for vaccinations or buying other items. In this scenario, it is not beneficial to follow a schedule because it is more important to purchase necessities such as food. A vaccination schedule is not beneficial to a child if an adverse reaction occurs, such as an allergic reaction. The gamble with a child receiving multiple vaccinations at once is that if there is an allergic reaction, it can be difficult to tell what the child had a reaction to. Some caregivers prefer to avoid the scenario above by not giving multiple vaccinations at once. With the compression of the vaccination schedule, a child receiving one vaccine at a time may not meet school criteria for enrollment. The caregiver’s actions are to protect the child’s health, but in turn they are in a scenario where they must compromise. The caregiver must choose what they view as more important, their child’s health or

The first major concern parents have when it comes to childhood vaccinations is that of the health and safety of their children. Some parents

To fully understand the argument for mandated vaccinations, it is important to understand how different States define the word, “mandate,” and the Supreme Court’s reasoning behind upholding vaccination laws. Many would associate the word “mandate” with an order or command, or something that signifies requirement or inexcusableness, but States’

Vaccinations are one of the single most important things one can do for the health of their children. Although, it has been a subject of recent controversy, the benefits of being vaccinated far outweigh not being vaccinated. Instead of taking medical advice from an actress, or buying into the conspiracy theories that suggest the government is using immunizations in an attempt to poison the population, parents need to spend a little time doing some research on the matter. Vaccinations were developed to preserve human life. If popular opinion concerning immunizations changes, countless illnesses, hospitalizations and even deaths will be prevented. If they do not, we are going to see a spike in needless childhood