Any fan of detective shows and mystery stories knows exactly what that means. Who benefits. Looking for the perpetrator of a fraud, a murder, a kidnapping? Who gets the money will be a big clue as to who has the biggest motive.
Sure, it isn’t always the case because, like any truism, we simply accept it as logical but life really isn’t. Logical, that is. Life isn’t logical or predictable or even hummable.
So why is that up there? Why are the people opposed to vaccinations suddenly so prominent? Where did they come from and why do they persist?
First off, any time you hear a show about the conscientious objectors to vaccination you will hear words to the effect “I wasn’t sure about this until I did a little research into the dangers versus benefits of vaccinating my children. There’s a lot of information out there and I encourage everyone to check it out. Just do your research and check the facts.”
Noble sentiment except there are no facts about how dangerous vaccinations are. There are no facts linking MMR to autism or any other neurological deficit. This is simply because science doesn’t work that way.
On the internet you will find websites and organizations dedicated to saving the world from the conspiracy of Big Pharma and “insert your government here”. In some countries there has been the conviction polio vaccinations are a plot to destroy the fertility of the entire male population. Apparently some kind of anti-viagra. In these countries it is a plot by the USA. And big pharma, of course.
There was one study done back in the 90’s using 12 subjects who were selected by the investigator to prove his hypothesis. He was convinced there was a link between intestinal irritation and autism.
Guess what?
He found it.
Now before you start up the “AHA!” thing, bear in mind he selected the 12 subjects for his study. Selected from his patients who were there because they had intestinal disorders. In other words, in terms of a scientific study, this is the equivalent of not wearing a blindfold to play ‘pin the tail on a donkey’.
The study was commissioned by a group of lawyers who were suing a pharmaceutical company for damages to the children. The children in the study.
So, did he profit by his findings?
Yes.
It could be argued he only profited directly from the fee he was paid for the study. And becoming famous for the results, publishing a book and going on an international tour. Paid speaking engagements etc.
Until the Lancet took a second look at the study and realized what was fabricated and what was real. The study was erased from their publication. The good doctor was expelled from the medical society and his license to practise withdrawn.
This is all well known. This fellow still calls himself a doctor and still maintains himself by speaking engagements and publishing books to be purchased by those interested in keeping the anti-vaccination movement going.
People who need to justify their actions to themselves and to their families.
Who else benefits? Every homeopathic practitioner who claims he or she has immunity boosting compounds that are natural alternatives to vaccines. Why expose your child to an overloaded immune system when they can take tinctures of water containing a 300 times diluted solution of ragweed or mandrake or antimony or whatever grows out back.
Or an injection of vitamin “C”. Very expensive injection because it is special.
They benefit handsomely by assuring their patients there is absolutely no chance of terrible side effects from these treatments. Because water rarely causes any side effect. Regardless of how much you pay for it, it won’t make you sick.
Unless it’s raw water, of course, scooped directly from a stream that probably contains a variety of delightful critters including Giardiasis = better known as Beaver Fever. Cute name for a very not cute parasite.
But that is another scam for another day.
Then there are the fundamentalist preachers who say we were made perfect by God and any attempt to introduce a vaccine is to doubt the purity of our making.
I heard one such fellow talking about how he cannot count how many times he has held small children who had extremely high fevers, convulsions and permanent neurological damage within hours of receiving a vaccination.
Praying over them to no avail. God had turned his back on them for the sins of their parents.
Here’s a thought, maybe give the child some acetaminophen, put her down and apply cool compresses to her feverish head, neck and arms. This is what you do when a child spikes a fever for whatever reason. The seizures are called febrile seizures and are the result of the young brain reacting to the rise in body temperature. They existed in biblical times, in the days when our Saviour walked the earth and ever since.
Febrile seizures do not cause permanent neurological damage. Failure to treat a fever, however, can cause damage to the developing brain. I am a person of faith, okay, but I employ prayer once I have used the tools God placed at hand.
My belief is that these tools, medicines and treatments were woven into creation for us to discover and use. That’s kinda what that whole free will thing is about.
Who else cui bono? Entertainment personalities whose careers once were dormant but now have the lights on them once again, an eager audience to listen to their message.
What about Big Pharma and the obscene profits they make from vaccines? Yes, well, the obscene profits come from a variety of drugs they produce for your comfort and to restore a flagging libido.
Factor in the research costs, testing, more testing and then final safety testing before they can go to market, however, and vaccines are pretty much a loss leader in the drug world. These companies do not charge anything beyond production costs to the government agencies using them.
So who makes a tremendous profit without having invested a penny in laboratory research or so much as making a single lab rat nervous?
You will have seen a ‘natural’ product in the pharmacy that markets itself as effective in helping your body fight off the flu, cold, weebles, wobbles and crinkles in your winkle. In 2015 it grossed 700 million Euros. The net profit, once the factory workers and ducks were paid off, was 73 million Euros.
One year.
The formula has not change in over 100 years; the pills are made from a very dilute solution of macerated duck hearts and livers.
Very dilute.
Like one liver in a swimming pool.
So, I was wrong about making critters nervous. Rats are safe but ducks, not so much.
This homeopathy company has sued the pants off anyone suggesting their patent medicine is little better than a sugar pill. I wouldn’t dream of suggesting that. I might imply you’d receive more benefit by sucking on the box it comes in but I cannot say that outright. And I certainly am not making any money with my claim.
So when someone suggests you do research check out who benefits from making kids sick. Look up the net worth of homeopathic medicines. Check up on the only study that claimed to find a link between autism and MMR. And see why it was so, so, so terribly flawed it wouldn’t meet the standards for a jr. high school science fair.
Next post, a bit of the irony in the salad. Not comic irony because there’s really no comedy in this topic…clowns yes, comedy no.
