Re: [DIYbio] Re: Political work: DIYbio vs. "alternative 'medicine'"

One of the most dangerous alternative medicine movements I can remember from recent years was/is the "anti vaccination movement".  Spearheaded by certain celebrities and based on no hard studies, it won over a ton of followers - result: risk not just for the guardians who chose that route for children but also anyone who comes in social contact with those children (perhaps those not yet old enough to get vaccinated or need an update).  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccine_controversies

"" A 2005 measles outbreak in the US state of Indiana was attributed to parents who had refused to have their children vaccinated.^[66] Most cases of pediatric tetanus in the US occur in children whose parents objected to their vaccination.^[67]    ... Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the three biggest outbreaks of measles in 2013 were attributed to clusters of people who were unvaccinated due to their philosophical or religious beliefs. As of August 2013, three pockets of outbreak—New York City, North Carolina, and Texas—contributed to 64% of the 159 cases of measles reported in 16 states.^[69][70]"""


Cathal's view is so dangerously naive, to assume that the leaders of pseudo-science are as obvious as a "red bottomed ape".  The stars of alternative medicine are often very, very charismatic and also have a lot of financial and media resources behind them, as well as time, because they make it "their lives' work".  Especially if they are purposeful fraudsters, but even if they are not.   It's common sense isn't it?  If they're charming people's grandmothers out of health and/or savings, these are very scarily talented snake oil salesmen.  If they had red bottoms then everyone could immediately discount them.  (Bernard Madoff ran the biggest scam in the history of the world for years and no one outed him.  Nope, apparently, he charmed everyone, especially fellow professionals who should have known better!) 

The public is being educated on science by actors and celebrities.  That's a bit askew.

Jenny McCarthy is an actress, celebrity, author and activist. Her 7-year-old son, Evan, was diagnosed with autism when he was 2 1/2, following a series of vaccinations. The author of three books on autism, McCarthy helped organize a movement of parents concerned about a vaccine-autism link.   http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/jenny-mccarthy-were-not-an-anti-vaccine-movement-were-pro-safe-vaccine/

However, she does have a point: there should always be more studies.  Traditional medicine does not admit "We just don't know the answer and we don't even know the questions to ask either, so maybe we should hold off on rolling out this technology, it might take a few more decades to learn anything" often enough.  Financial pressure is no excuse for experimenting on human populations.

"""What's the top question you'd want to ask the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]?

…Jenny McCarthy: I've called the CDC myself. I've called [former head of the CDC and now president of Merck's vaccine division] Julie Gerberding — and to no avail — [for] her response. But we want answers to our questions, and they refuse to talk to us. I've tried to talk to the AAP [American Academy of Pediatrics]. I've sat down with one woman and said: "Please come look at our science. Come talk to our doctors and see what we're doing. Take a look at our hyperbaric chamber treatments and our diet and our vitamins." And she basically said to me, "No." So here we are. It really reminds me of the generation of Lorenzo's Oil. It took a parent to take medicine into their own hands, so to speak, to save their child. And that's what we're doing in this community. I just find it ironic that if you look at something like the swine flu shot — where they didn't study; they just gave it to the children and said, "We'll look at it afterward to look at adverse effects" — why are we then criticized in our community for trying the diet without having studies done?  We're doing the exact same thing they are, yet we are so criticized for something we believe is way less dangerous than injecting children. We're taking away milk and wheat, yet we're criticized for it.""" http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/jenny-mccarthy-were-not-an-anti-vaccine-movement-were-pro-safe-vaccine/

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On 4/7/16 11:40 AM, Dennis Oleksyuk wrote: