Is vaccination a healthy idea or medical dogma we have learned to believe? Most of us have been vaccinated over the years due to laws and other requirements we are told we must fulfill. Few people question the amount of vaccinations our children must now endure, which includes far more vaccines than we ever had to experience for ourselves. In NJ, the pharmaceutical companies lobbied hard to make sure that it is unlawful not to be vaccinated so we really do not have a choice or do we? Unfortunately, pre schools, camps and kindergarten requires we be vaccinated, so most of us fall in line so our children can participate in these programs. The question you should ask is that in a free country, are these rules right for us? Other vaccinations are optional, so in those cases, you do have a choice. I have always told parents to do their own research about safety and effectiveness regarding any intervention, especially the many vaccines sold to us as a do it or else suggestion. My children were both vaccinated, with one having Asperger’s Syndrome, which makes me wonder to this day if the requirements now in place could be partly responsible. While I am not suggesting that vaccines are bad for us, I am suggesting that if they were so good for us, why is there a separate court that insulates big pharma from lawsuits and pays off people whose children were injured that is built into the cost of each vaccine. Is there something we should know about that is being hidden from us, with the idea of the greater good being used to make us less curious? There is quite a large amount of research that would like us to believe of the safety of all those vaccinations, yet, some such as the flu shot has such poor science behind it. There are those who tow the line and get the flu shot, exposing themselves to something that may never affect us. Why isn’t it ok to go into a crowded train, plane or bus, and consider that a vaccination too? We are exposed to many of the bacteria and viruses that can potentially leave us ill, yet, our bodies handle these infections all the time, which allows our immune systems to be strong and well exercised. This too is vaccination, since some vaccinations now come in the form of an inhalant, rather than a shot. This article is not about whether you believe or should avoid vaccinations, but one should be educated about all the risks and rewards of vaccinations and which ones we should have vs. which ones we have the option to avoid. Too much of a good thing may have its unexpected risks, and vaccinations may have unintended risks and consequences the healthcare industry glosses over. Check out this doctors article regarding vaccines. As American’s, we are health care consumers and we need to know what we are buying. This article gives us a more informed perspective. While it is his point of view, he makes a number of very good points. Vaccines and Chiropractic: Evidence-Based Medicine or Medical Dogma? By Timothy Perenich, MA, DC Right or wrong, the chiropractic profession has historically been against vaccinations. However, a growing trend within the profession is seeking to reverse this position. Articles written by respected physicians and prolific authors within the profession are seeking to sway opinion in favor of vaccination. Even chiropractic education, in some institutions more than others, has a pro-vaccine bent to it. For some chiropractors, this trend toward acceptance and promotion of vaccines is welcomed and viewed as a necessary step in the integration of science in chiropractic medicine. Indeed, some chiropractors have warned that if the profession does not accept the prevailing medical thought that vaccines are safe and effective, “the world will leave us behind where we will, rightfully, belong.”1 The argument is that chiropractors who reject vaccines do so because they are anti-science and love their so-called “chiropractic philosophy” and the founders more than evidence.1 Similarly, a member of the profession has warned that it is unethical to advise patients not to receive vaccines.2 Some have even suggested that in order for our profession to be taken seriously by other health care providers (as a means of increasing referrals), chiropractors must change their anti-vaccination position.3 Read more