Subject: Fwd: {RMA} Dr Jay Gordon and his "notoriety" for advising parents about vaccination risks

From: Ronnie Falcao <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2005 13:20:00 -0800

Hi, David,

This came across one of my midwife lists today.  If you want
to see my collection of links, it's at:

http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/vax.html

Thanks for a lovely evening.  :-)

Love,
Ronnie

>His style is just as warm and straightforward as the news article
>describes. He writes for one of the mainstream baby magazines and I was
>surprised/delighted last spring when in response to a letter a mother
>wrote about the (bad) advise about breastfeeding she had received, he
>suggested a change of pediatrician rather than a change to formula!
>Abrazos
>Joni  
>
>Los Angeles Times
>March 7, 2005
>
>Doctor Contrarian
>By Hilary E. MacGregor
>Times Staff Writer
>
>A pregnant mother from Topanga Canyon has brought her toddler son to Dr.
>Jay Gordon for a checkup. Her son received all the recommended
>vaccinations, but she wonders aloud if she should do the same for her
>second child, who is due in a few months.
>
>It's a topic about which Gordon is passionate. Parents from around
>Southern California choose Gordon for his outspoken and controversial
>stance on vaccinations, driving from as far away as Santa Barbara and
>Long Beach.
>
>They know he will lend a sympathetic ear to their concerns about the
>possible adverse side effects of childhood vaccinations - even though
>several large scientific studies have failed to find a connection.
>
>His openness to alternative approaches has earned him an avid following.
>With thousands of patients, his practice is so busy that he no longer
>accepts new patients.
>
>"What is normal for the first year?" asks Robyn Forman, the pregnant
>mother, who has been seeing Gordon since her son turned 1.
>
>"I prefer to give no vaccines or just the DPT during the first year,"
>Gordon responds. "DPT is relevant because you can get whooping
>cough-diphtheria." He rattles off information: There have been no new
>polio cases in the U.S. for the last decade; it's highly unlikely that a
>young child would contract hepatitis B; there are only a few dozen cases
>of tetanus in this country each year.
>
>"In my opinion, we vaccinate in an unscientific and potentially
>dangerous way," he says.
>
>Gordon is not anti-vaccine. He acknowledges the benefits of vaccines,
>but prefers to vaccinate later and slower. No one knows for sure how
>many other doctors take a similar stance. But it is rare for a
>pediatrician to be so outspoken on the subject. Gordon's views put him
>at odds with virtually all of his colleagues. Experts on vaccination
>consider his attitude socially irresponsible, unscientific and just
>plain wrong.
>
>Dr. James Cherry, a pediatrician at UCLA's David Geffen School of
>Medicine who has conducted vaccine research since the 1960s, and who has
>consulted for vaccine manufacturers, puts it more bluntly: "He is
>endangering the lives of children."
>
>In recent years, childhood vaccinations have become a lightning rod for
>some parents who are concerned that their children may develop autism,
>epilepsy or learning disabilities from certain immunizations. While
>there is little or no scientific evidence to support links between these
>diseases and vaccines, the issue has become such a loaded topic between
>doctors and patients that the leading professional organization for
>pediatricians is preparing a formal statement - due out this spring - to
>provide guidance to doctors on how to deal with parents who are
>resistant to vaccinating.
>
>Public health officials believe vaccinations are a matter of social
>responsibility. If enough doctors, and enough patients, choose not to
>vaccinate, it might endanger the public's health and allow deadly
>diseases that have been eradicated, or nearly so, to reemerge as
>significant threats. Gordon is steadfast in his controversial stance. He
>will repeat his views on vaccination to parents throughout the day. As
>patients pepper him with questions, he patiently answers.
>
>"I have 15 to 20 patients from Santa Barbara," he says. "The reason is,
>no one will talk to them about vaccines. They need to talk."
>
>Targeting a dozen diseases
>
>The number of recommended vaccinations for children up to 24 months has
>nearly tripled since 1988, according to the national Centers for Disease
>Control and Prevention. Currently, the CDC recommends vaccination
>against 12 diseases. Because some vaccines must be given more than once,
>a child could get as many as 23 shots by age 2. While the timing of
>shots may vary with different doctors, a child might receive as many as
>six shots during a single doctor's visit.
>
>Beyond the inconvenience of frequent doctor visits and children's fear
>of needles, the biggest source of parental concern about vaccines is the
>claim that these shots might be linked to a rise in autism rates.
>Between 1987 and 2002 there has been a more than six-fold increase in
>autism cases in California, according to a 2003 report by the state
>Department of Development Services. So far, researchers have been unable
>to explain the reason for the increase.
>
>Because autism begins to manifest itself during the same period when
>young children are receiving many of their vaccinations, some parents
>believe that the vaccinations may have triggered the disorder. Thousands
>of parents across the country have filed lawsuits in the U.S. Court of
>Federal Claims alleging that thimerosal, a form of mercury used as a
>preservative in pediatric vaccines until 2002, was responsible for their
>children's autism or other neurological disorders.
>
>No major scientific study has shown any link between vaccines and
>autism, or any other neurological disorder. But anecdotal stories by
>parents of what has happened following vaccinations - often circulated
>on the Internet - have heightened many parents' anxiety about shots.
>
>Because some childhood diseases - polio, for example - are virtually
>unseen today, some parents are more frightened of the vaccines than the
>diseases, experts say. "Immunizations have been so good, and diseases so
>rare, that people have forgotten what they are, the types of damage they
>can do to children, including killing them," said Dr. Jay M. Lieberman,
>who is chief of pediatric infectious diseases at Miller Children's
>Hospital in Long Beach, and who has been a paid consultant to vaccine
>manufacturers.
>
>As a result, parents have become increasingly assertive about
>questioning pediatricians on the need to follow the vaccine schedule.
>And, in some instances, parents are refusing their pediatrician's
>recommendation to vaccinate.
>
>Parental concern about vaccination has become relatively common, says
>Dr. Jeffrey Botkin, professor of pediatrics and medical ethics at the
>University of Utah. Surveys have shown that a small percentage of
>physicians feel so strongly about the benefits of immunizations that
>they refuse to work with patients who will not vaccinate. "These
>physicians will dismiss these families from their practice," says
>Botkin, who is chairing an American Academy of Pediatrics bioethics
>committee that is preparing the statement on childhood vaccinations.
>
>The academy hopes to encourage pediatricians to be open-minded about
>parents' concerns, while at the same time emphasizing the importance of
>sticking to the vaccination schedule, Botkin says. Despite parental
>concerns, the number of children receiving childhood immunizations
>continues to rise in Los Angeles County. In 1998, 70.5% of children
>between 19 and 35 months had been vaccinated. By 2003, that number
>climbed to 80.3%, said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, Los Angeles County's
>public health director. One reason behind the rising rates: Public and
>private schools require children be vaccinated before admission.
>
>Today, 18 states, including California, will waive the vaccination
>requirement if parents request a "philosophical exemption." The rate of
>vaccination exemptions for children enrolling in kindergarten in L.A.
>County remains below 1%, though the rate has inched upward during the
>last decade, Fielding said.
>
>A homeopathic approach
>
>Gordon's homey Santa Monica office on Montana Avenue, housed in a
>Streamline Moderne building across from a school, looks like any
>pediatrician's office. Toys are scattered across the waiting room floor.
>Pictures of beautiful children adorn the walls. After medical school at
>the Medical College of Wisconsin, Gordon did his residency at Childrens
>Hospital Los Angeles, and began his career in the office of Dr. Paul
>Fleiss, a Los Feliz pediatrician. It was there that Gordon first
>encountered patients who were interested in alternative therapies. These
>are themes that feature prominently in his practice today. He is an
>advocate of homeopathy and encourages mothers to breastfeed as long as
>possible and endorses the idea of parents allowing their young children
>to sleep with them in a "family bed."
>
>A quotation taped to the wall by the receptionist reads: "I don't always
>go into details about the possible side effects of drugs. I tell them
>all drugs are poisons with possible beneficial side effects."
>
>In 1980, Gordon said he was giving the standard DPT shot to his
>patients. "More than occasionally I would get calls from parents saying,
>'Ever since that shot, my child has been a little different. I can't put
>my finger on it . but they are different."
>
>Gordon's suspicions would later be confirmed. Many in the medical
>community now acknowledge that the old DPT vaccine caused damage to the
>brain in rare cases, says Dr. John Menkes, professor emeritus of
>neurology and pediatrics at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine. In
>1996, a new vaccine with no side effects was introduced.
>
>Gordon said those early experiences helped shape his beliefs about
>vaccines. His practice began to subtly shift. He said he started giving
>many fewer vaccines. Gordon acknowledges the role of vaccinations in
>improving public health and controlling disease. But he believes that if
>a child has an underlying neurological disorder, a vaccination may
>trigger the disorder to become active. So for certain shots - polio,
>hepatitis B for the first decade of life, Hib (to prevent meningitis) -
>the risks outweigh the benefits, he says.
>
>In 25 years of practicing medicine, he says he has seen enough examples
>of strange reactions to vaccines that he cannot ignore them.
>
>Gordon isn't the only doctor who believes that parents' views about
>vaccinations should be carefully considered. Dr. Robert Sears in San
>Clemente, coauthor of the popular parenting guide "The Baby Book," says
>most pediatricians in south Orange County refuse to accept a child as a
>patient unless they follow the vaccination schedule. Sears allows
>patients to make their own choices.
>
>"I think it is pretty clear that thimerosal does contribute to
>neurologic disorders," he says. "Whether or not that has truly
>contributed to autism, I leave that to the public health officials."
>
>Although Gordon says he has no set of recommendations, he discusses the
>risks and benefits of all vaccines with patients and prefers to
>vaccinate later and over a longer period. On a recent day, he advised
>parents to avoid vaccination during the first year - with the exception
>of the DPT - then reassess after the child's first birthday. If a parent
>chooses not to vaccinate at all, he supports that decision. He refuses
>to vaccinate siblings in families with an autistic child.
>
>Gordon does not shun the spotlight. He has written five books, consulted
>on television scripts, appeared on "Good Morning America," and been an
>on-air medical correspondent for ABC's "Home Show."
>
>He cites medical studies that he says show some association between
>mercury and autism and is critical of doctors who say there is no link
>whatsoever between the two. "They could say there is a tenuous
>connection, or an improbable connection," but to say there is no
>connection is inaccurate, he asserts.
>
>Gordon's theories are considered heretical by many who study vaccines
>and infectious disease.
>
>"There is not a single scientific, medical, or public health group that
>would endorse such a policy," says Dr. Joel I. Ward, director of UCLA's
>Center for Vaccine Research, who has performed several studies with
>vaccine manufacturers. "It is unorthodox, unsanctioned, and in my view,
>irresponsible. For those who are not experts in this field to customize
>the vaccine schedule is dangerous medicine."
>
>Other vaccine experts say doctors such as Gordon - and his patients who
>decide not to adhere to the vaccination schedule - benefit from the fact
>that most parents do follow the rules.
>
>"Many of his patients will be fine with that schedule," says Lieberman,
>of Miller Children's Hospital in Long Beach. "The reason is, they are
>relying on the goodwill of others. So when unvaccinated children are in
>school, they are still less likely to get the disease because their
>classmates have been vaccinated."
>
>How we vaccinate should be based on science, not theories or anecdotes,
>says Lieberman.
>
>"Science tells us how safe vaccines are. There are 4 million infants
>getting vaccines each year. Why should it surprise anybody that some of
>those children develop colds, or fevers, or have seizures, or even die
>of SIDS [Sudden Infant Death Syndrome]. But the fact that those events
>happen following vaccinations in no way means that vaccines cause that."
>
>Whatever the professional opinion, Gordon inspires intense devotion from
>his patients. "There is nobody like him," says Allyson Sanger, a mother
>of three daughters, ages 18 months, 4 and 6, who drives from Hollywood
>to see Gordon. "The information out there is just so frightening; I
>couldn't read it any more."
>
>Carly Rodriguez, a mother of a 22-month-old who lives in the South Bay,
>said she wanted to be able to discuss her vaccine concerns with a doctor
>and be taken seriously. She said she was frightened by information she
>read on http://www.909shot.com , a website produced by the National
>Vaccine Information Center, an organization led by parents who advocate
>reforming the vaccination system, and stories in Mothering magazine.
>
>"I can't imagine the feeling of horror that a parent must feel after
>they take a child for a vaccination and the child begins to exhibit a
>reaction like that," she says.
>
>Gordon's way of practicing medicine carries risks. By not following the
>recommended vaccination schedule he is going against his profession's
>standard of care - and leaving himself open to malpractice claims.
>
>He acknowledges that his support of delayed vaccinations could end up
>harming, perhaps fatally, one of his young patients if they contract a
>preventable disease. But he believes the risks of vaccinating can
>sometimes outweigh the benefits.
>
>"I would feel horrible," he says, when asked about the possibility that
>one of his patients would become seriously ill or die from a preventable
>disease. "And yet I would recognize that both they and I long ago
>accepted responsibility for the statistical possibility that these
>diseases still exist and children can get them."
>
>Between patients, a nurse hands Gordon the laboratory results for a
>family that has come to his office. Two of their children have tested
>positive for whooping cough. And the mother is now coughing. This is a
>family that has decided against all vaccinations.
>
>"Anybody could hold me liable," Gordon says, before calling the family.
>"I can say, 'I told you [there were risks],' and they could tell me, 'No
>you didn't. You didn't tell us how bad it was. You didn't tell us that I
>would be missing two weeks of work. You didn't tell us about the anxiety
>involved.' "
>
>Gordon makes the call. The parents do not blame him. He breathes a sigh
>of relief, then heads off to see his next patient.
>
>A shot in the arm
>
>These are some of the immunizations recommended for children between
>birth and two years of age.
>
>Birth-6 months
>
>Hepatitis B: 2 doses
>
>Diphtheria, Pertussis (DPT), Tetanus: 3 doses
>
>Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib): 3 doses
>
>Inactivated poliovirus: 2 doses
>
>Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR): not recommended
>
>Varicella: not recommended
>
>Pneumococcal conjugate: 3 doses
>
>Pneumococcal polysaccharide*: not recommended
>
>Influenza: not recommended
>
>Hepatitis A*: not recommended
>
>Totals: 13 doses
>
>-- 
>
>12-24 months
>
>Hepatitis B: 1 dose
>
>Diphtheria, Pertussis (DPT), Tetanus: 1 dose
>
>Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib): 1 dose
>
>Inactivated poliovirus: 1 dose
>
>Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR): 1 dose
>
>Varicella: 1 dose
>
>Pneumococcal conjugate: 1 dose
>
>Pneumococcal polysaccharide*: 1 dose
>
>Influenza: 1 dose
>
>Hepatitis A*: 1 dose
>
>Totals: 10 doses
>
>
>
>* Vaccines recommended for children and adolescents in selected states
>and regions and for certain high-risk groups.
>
>Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention