The end of the autism/vaccine debate? (CNN)

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The end of the autism/vaccine debate?

"On August 27, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the 2009 ruling of a special vaccine court denying a link between vaccines and autism.

"(Parenting.com) -- On playgrounds and at playdates, it's hard to have a conversation about childhood immunizations without the word autism popping up. In fact, a recent study published in the journal Pediatrics showed that one in four parents is concerned that vaccines can cause autism.

"It's no wonder when the Internet and television airwaves are full of personal stories that raise a question about the link. But the study that started the autism vaccine scare was recently retracted by the prestigious journal that published it 12 years ago, and the lead researcher had his medical license pulled."

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Isn't this old news? I thought that I heard about Andrew Wakefield losing his license a few months ago already.

This will not end the debate as long as there is no/little funding for treatment of autism, particularly the issues those at the low functioning end of the spectrum face. Simply put, the drug companies have deep pockets and parents will still be looking at that as a way to help their children.

This won't stop as long as people listen to celebrities like Jenny McCarthy (who's getting her own show!) for medical advice.

Yup. Old news that proponents have been aware of and have already been actively dismissing as irrelevant for quite some time now.

It seems that people will never learn that correlation is not causation. I posted a few months ago a
TED Talks video about people ignoring science at their own peril.

Scientists have studied this. They have studied scientists, people trained in observation, and have found that even trained scientists will fail to see data that conflicts with what they already believe to be true. Not dismiss it, they fail to see it.

Yes, that's why studies have to be repeatable. In any case there has been shown to be no correlation between vaccines and autism and people have to accept that.

That's the problem. There is a correlation between vaccines & autism, they happen at the same time, but it's not a causal relationship. Nevertheless, people want what they already believe to be true, (lest they suffer the shame of having been wrong). Believing we know gives us some feeling of control in a world of uncontrolable events.

I know about that correlation but I also know that not vaccinating a child would not effect whether they are autistic or not. I think they have shown that. Children just normally happen to be vaccinated at the same time the first signs of autism appear. That doesn't mean there's a connection.

Yeah, in fact, a causal relationship has been disproven. (Science can't prove anything, it can only disprove.) Thermosol was removed and there was no drop in autism rates. If the vaccine was the cause then we'd have an easy fix.

LOL at people still believing this rubbish. I think Scientology's recruitment department is compiling a list of them as we type

They're only human. It's hard for humans to accept that what they believe is not true.

This is a joke right?

I'm not sure, but I don't think her show is for medical advice.
Oprah Winfrey to Launch Jenny McCarthy Talk Show

Considering that her career for a while has been pushing autism biomed quackery, I'd expect that the show will have that as a major topic along with all the other typical talk show drivel.

As for the vaccine controversy - there really is nothing that will convince the anti-vaxxers. Every reputable study gets dismissed because it's been done by scientists and doctors - ALL of whom are in the pocket of Big Pharma which is making record profits from vaccines that are given once in a person's lifetime and are all evil people who meet in dark boardrooms and plot to give kids autism, because they're evil.