Multiple reasons explain why the vast majority of medically trained physicians support vaccinations. Physicians receive the majority of their training during medical school, which is heavily influenced by pharmaceutical companies and government institutions such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Both pharmaceutical companies and government organizations support a misguided agenda in which vaccinations are promoted as a primary tool to prevent disease. Practitioners are rewarded for high vaccination rates. Doctors are pressured to vaccinate or face negative professional and financial consequences. Medical doctors belong to professional medical organizations which recommend vaccines.
To summarize, physicians exist in a world where vaccinations are considered the primary weapon for disease prevention. The majority come to believe in vaccine safety and effectiveness. It takes great courage, curiosity and independence for physicians to think outside of the box and do their own research on vaccines. For those who dare to think outside of the box, they can face negative professional and financial consequences.
Medical School Training On Vaccinations
When viewing an actual curriculum entitled TIME (Teaching Immunization for Medical Education) used in the training of physicians in medical school, the focus appears to be on review of the childhood vaccination schedule, methods to encourage parental compliance and advocacy of the safety and effectiveness of vaccines to prevent disease. This model was used at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, dated 2011. [1,2]
An example of a case scenario and how to respond to a parent’s concern about multiple vaccinations follows:
“How would you answer the parents’ question, ‘Are so many shots really needed?’
Historically, larger numbers of cases of vaccine-preventable diseases were greatly reduced by vaccination. Deaths, hospitalizations, and brain damage decreased as well. Since these diseases are contagious, they can return if immunization rates drop, as has happened in other developed countries when immunization rates dropped (see Table 2). The immune system is capable of responding to 100,000 vaccines at one time, according to the abstract by Dr. Offit, et al.”
The TIME curriculum listed the following teaching objectives for the medical students:
- “Given a patient scenario, recommend vaccination appropriately, according to the recommended childhood immunization schedule, and state the administration routes and injection sites for these vaccinations.
- Given a child who is behind schedule, explain the principles of accelerated and catch-up vaccination, and determine needed vaccinations for current and subsequent visits.
- Explain the rationale for simultaneous vaccine administration and the potential consequences of non-simultaneous administration.
- Given a patient scenario, identify valid contraindications and precautions to vaccination without missing vaccination opportunities that are appropriate.
- Explain general vaccine safety and adverse event information, including the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), and use of the Vaccine Information Statements (VISs).
- Suggest three procedures that a physician can implement in a practice or clinic to improve childhood vaccination rates.
Secondary Objectives:
- Given a patient scenario, recommend vaccination, if indicated, during both acute-care and well-child visits to providers, thereby reducing missed opportunities
- State sources of current information on childhood vaccinations, including information about the schedule, minimal interval between doses, and vaccine contraindications.” [3] (emphasis added)
“Ways to improve office vaccination rates include the following:
- Conducting problem solving and goal setting activities, following an evaluation of the practice’s current vaccination rates. Subsequently, vaccination rates should be monitored with ongoing feedback to providers about vaccination rates.
- Having office staff assess vaccination status at patient registration or during vital signs. The office computer can generate “tickler” reminders about vaccinations.
- Administering vaccines simultaneously if more than one is indicated.
- Having a dedicated spot in the medical record for vaccination information.
- Training providers to distinguish between valid and invalid contraindications.
- Writing standing orders to allow the nurse to administer routine vaccinations.
- Marking updated copies of schedules and contraindication checklists available.
- Monitoring rates, providing feedback, encouraging competition, and offering prizes.
Take Home Point
• Practical ways to increase vaccination rates are available and include evaluation of rates, problem solving, goal setting, monitoring, and feedback.” [4] (emphasis added)
What Doctors Say About their Training
This focus in medical school on vaccination schedules and compliance has been validated by physicians who have shared their medical school training experience. Two well-know physicians reported the following about their training:
Dr. Suzanne Humphries stated:
“We learn that vaccines need to be given on schedule. We are indoctrinated with the mantra that ‘vaccines are safe and effective’—neither of which is true. Doctors today are given extensive training on how to talk to ‘hesitant’ parents—how to frighten them by vastly inflating the risks during natural infection. ..on the necessity of twisting parents’ arm to confirm, or fire them from their practices. Doctors are trained that NOTHING bad should be said about any vaccine, period.”
Dr. Bob Sears stated:
“Doctors learn a lot about diseases in medical school, but we learn very little about vaccines….We don’t review the research ourselves. We never learn what goes into making vaccines or how their safety is studied. So, when patients want a little more information about shots, all we can really say as doctors is that the diseases are bad and the shots are good.” [5]
Physicians Are Taught That Vaccines Save Lives
Physicians are taught in medical school that vaccinations are responsible for eliminating disease. Their training focuses on the great danger that once common childhood diseases posed. They are told about the death and misery that resulted from these diseases, which vaccines are credited for eliminating. Contrary views, facts, reality and positions on disease elimination and vaccine dangers are not emphasized. [6]
The Funding of Medical Schools
Pharmaceutical companies donate billions of dollars to medical schools, and with their funding comes great influence on the curriculum for medical students. Pharmaceutical companies are the makers of vaccinations, so they profit largely by teaching medical students, future physicians, the importance of vaccinations for health.
Government funding is even greater for many medical schools, which means that government institutions such as the CDC also wield great influence on medical school curriculum. The CDC supports the current childhood vaccine schedule.
NPR did a survey which found that between 2 and 16 percent of medical schools’ annual budgets are derived from the pharmaceutical industry. As one example, the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, a medium-sized medical school with 585 students, obtained 13.5 percent of its budget from pharmaceutical companies in 2003. The school received grants from drug giants AstraZeneca, Merck, Novartis, Pharmacia and Upjohn, totaling $13.8 million. More than half of their budget came from the National Institute of Health and other federal agencies, totaling $58.8 million. [7]
How Physicians Are Rewarded for High Vaccination Rates
The Centers for Disease Control has a national program called AFIX, standing for Assessment, Feedback Incentive and eXchange, which aims to increase vaccination rates. The program began as a pilot program in Georgia in 1986, and then was adopted across the country in both public and private physician offices. Physicians are tracked for their vaccination rates and offered “prizes” and rewards for high vaccination rates. [8, 9]
To gain “buy in” from providers, the AFIX program suggests the following:
“The most logical, best researched and widely documented strategies to improve vaccination practices are unlikely to succeed unless there is buy-in from the providers. Providers are barraged with auditors, consultants, patient advocates, safety committees, licensing agencies and enforcers of local ordinances. You can either compete for attention within this pool of ‘regulators’ or you can be valuable allies in helping the provider accomplish a mutual goal: providing all recommended vaccinations for all eligible children.” [10] (emphasis added)
Rewards for physicians who improve their vaccination rates include publication of successes in newsletters and paid immunization conference registration for office staff. Sponsors for rewards may include local businesses, coalitions, professional organizations, managed care or HMOs and vaccine manufacturers. [11]
Their Professional Organizations And Pharma Funding
All of the physician professional organizations recommend vaccinations. As one example, the American Academy of Pediatrics holds a strong stance for total vaccine compliance. Their organization’s home page is inundated with information on vaccines and their importance, including propaganda reminding physicians of the terrible diseases that vaccines are supposedly responsible for eliminating. [12]
However, it is also clear that the American Academy of Pediatrics is highly funded by major pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, Sanofi Pasteur, Merck, Meda Pharmaceutical and Astra Zeneca. These companies profit from the sales of vaccinations and pharmaceutical drugs, which are recommended by pediatricians. [13]
Consequences Of Doctors NOT Vaccinating
Physicians can face negative consequences if they fail to comply with recommended vaccine schedules on their patients. Doctors risk being dropped from insurance companies, losing hospital privileges and becoming ostracized from their peers. They can face losing a major source of income for their practices if they vaccinate less. For hospital-employed physicians, losing financial bonuses can be a consequence for not vaccinating. In severe cases, physicians can risk losing their medical license. [14]
Why NOT To Vaccinate
Physicians are taught well a one-sided view on vaccination safety and effectiveness. In reality, vaccines have not been proven safe or effective in preventing disease. Vaccine charts show that most diseases were eliminated prior to vaccine creation. Improvements in water sanitation are often credited with disease elimination. [15, 16]
Documented life-threatening illnesses and death result from vaccines, challenging vaccine safety. Outbreaks of diseases continue to occur in those vaccinated, raising the question of vaccine effectiveness. To explore further ten reasons NOT to vaccinate, see the article Ten Reasons Not to Vaccinate.
Conclusion
Doctors live in a world where vaccinations are a key part of their medical training curriculum, with the emphasis on how to achieve high vaccination rates. Vaccine safety and effectiveness in eliminating diseases is emphasized, with no balanced teaching of vaccine dangers and questionable vaccine effectiveness.
Physicians face negative consequences if they question vaccination rates and don’t push vaccines on their patients. All professional physician organizations support strong vaccine policies, which adds additional pressure for physicians to vaccinate their patients.
Pharmaceutical companies, which make vaccines, are a primary funder for medical school education and physician professional organizations. This funding presents a huge conflict of interest. In effect, physicians are being used as the sales force for the makers of vaccines.
The majority of physicians enter the profession to heal their patients and help humanity. Unfortunately, because of the large influence of pharmaceutical companies, government agencies and their training, most doctors are pressured to endorse a failed vaccine policy which has proven to be more dangerous than beneficial to their patients.
References:
- http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.aptrweb.org/resource/resmgr/time…pdf
- http://www.aptrweb.org/?page=time
- http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.aptrweb.org/resource/resmgr/time…pdf
- http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.aptrweb.org/resource/resmgr/time…pdf
- https://www.vactruth.com/2012/07/31/what-your-doctors-know
- https://www.vactruth.com/2012/07/31/what-your-doctors-know
- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4696316
- http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/06/02/bribery…
- http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/afix/about/overview.html
- http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/afix/resources.html
- http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/afix/components.html
- https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives…
- https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/corporate-relationships…
- http://healthimpactnews.com/2012/why-do-doctors-push-vaccines/
- http://www.healthsentinel.com/joomla/index.php…
- http://www.whale.to/vaccines/decline1.html
About the Author
Michelle Goldstein is a mental health therapist who is passionate about holistic health, natural healing, nutrient-dense foods and the politics that impact them. She has published articles for Natural News, VacTruth, and other health websites. All of her published articles to date can be found at her health website, Holistic Health to Go. She can also be followed on her Facebook Page, Holistic Health to Go.