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• Wednesday, December 3, 2008 08:34 AM

  @ therealcervantes

  I agree with you that the history of vaccinations in protecting not only our children, but also adults, around the world is an example of what sound science should be about. I also agree that disingenous crusades against any and all vaccinations are dangerous. All we need to look at to see this are the increasing incidences of previously vaccine-controlled diseases such as whooping cough.

  However, it is also disingenuous to not recognize that much of the scepticism surrounding pharmaceuticals is a result of the corporate witholding and manipulation of the scientific data available on their products.

  I work in the research field. Increasingly our protocol teams find themselves facing severe restrictions in agreements with pharmaceutical companies regarding the results that may be published on the basic science being done using their products. When our scientists balk at the restrictions, their protocols end up being torpedoed, the research companies do the research themselves (sometimes stealing the study objectives in the process) and end up presenting the data under conditions completely within their control.

  That means we need to expose corruption and self-dealing in scientific enterprise, to be sure. But it also means that we must have respect for the cause of science, the quest for truth using human senses and reason, and the norms of honesty, openness, and intellectual integrity which the large majority of scientists and physicians try to honor.

  Exactly so. Transparency in science is critical to building the trust that is desperately needed in order to avoid fueling unnecessary fear in the public which then translates into abandoning the advances made along with the risks entailed, real or imagined.

  —Pedinska Read Pedinska's other letters
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