Debate Intensifies Over Safety of Child Vaccinations

By Darla Sitton
CBN News Producer

CBN.com – (CBN News) - Some parents do not want their children to get vaccines because they worry about the possible side-effects.

And some doctors are now refusing to care for families who do not get their shots.

Pediatricians insist they are lifesavers, that "vaccines have all but wiped-out dreaded diseases like measles and mumps."

But a number of parents are concerned about giving their child the required shots. And doctors, like R.A. Brown, are trying to calm their fears.

"Most of the time I can convince parents by giving them a little extra education and a little reassurance,” remarked Brown, “but every once in a while, I have a parent who absolutely refuses."

A recent survey of 300 members of the American College of Pediatrics found that last year, more than half of them (54 percent) had patients who refused all vaccinations.

Almost four out of the 10 doctors that were polled said they would consider dismissing families who would not change their minds.

Brown said, "I tell them that I actually cannot take care of their child as a patient. If they aren't protected with vaccines, I would be up all night worrying about that child."

Yet, for years, some parents of kids with autism have insisted that their child began to exhibit the symptoms shortly after being vaccinated.

While many recent medical studies suggest that today's vaccines pose very little risk, some experts wonder why autism rates seem to have shot up at the same time that kids began getting multiple vaccines.

Posted by Becca

« Home | GAO says paying columnist was illegal » //-->