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LETTERS: Stephen B Lambert Patient care drives mandatory vaccination BMJ 2008; 337: a2588 [Full text]

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Be Aware Of The Abridgment Of Freedom Of The People By Silent Encroachments Of Those In Power

Dr. Herbert H. Nehrlich   (24 November 2008)

Be Aware Of The Abridgment Of Freedom Of The People By Silent Encroachments Of Those In Power 24 November 2008
Dr. Herbert H. Nehrlich, Private Practice Bribie Island, Australia Send response to journal: Re: Be Aware Of The Abridgment Of Freedom Of The People By Silent Encroachments Of Those In Power	Dr. Lambert strikes me as one who has forgotten that all health care practitioners as well as the entire public health system are charged not with the duties and privileges of a dictator but with giving advice, learned advice to the community and its individuals. There are no good grounds on which a blanket refusal of anything mandatory could be based, however, we must be careful when subjecting others, especially those in a dependent position (e.g.employees)to measures even slightly controversial. There is no convincing evidence that the vaccination of health care workers with flu vaccine confers any protection whatsoever on visitors, patients or others, let alone on the recipients of such vaccination. The evidence is clearly missing. Yet, this has not stopped authorities in so-called democracies from mandating drinking water fluoridation and there are serious calls to further expand the mass medication of people with such agents as statins for the express purpose of preventing cardiovascular disease. Both are saddled with potentially very serious side effects and there is a fair chance that flu vaccination is far from safe. The arguments that these vaccines (or some of them) are now free of mercury holds no water, outlining as it does, that we seem to coerce people into doing things under the guise of its huge benefits and its absolute safety. Some time later, new evidence emerges but one rarely hears the words "we should not have been so hasty". Protection from the flu is best accomplished by the inexpensive and very effective means of appropriate nutrition and other lifestyle measures. Not very scientific you object? Nor is the rationale of using the current vaccines, without telling the folks that their aim is off and likely to do little. Competing interests: None declared