by Joe Martino
I wanted to share my story about what happened when I refused my tetanus vaccine after having cut myself with a knife at home. I want to share this story not as an example of what will or will not happen every time, but more so as an example of how it’s important we stay open minded and question things before we blindly accept them.
I got into studying vaccines, their efficacy and safety a few years ago when I began to hear more and more about people being injured by vaccines.
There is an unfortunate belief going around that vaccines are completely safe and scientific studies have proven this to be the case. I’m here to say, this is not true. Regardless of the fact that there are studies to show efficacy and safety, there are also a large number of studies showing the dangers and lack of efficacy when it comes to vaccines. Simply search the Web, published journals, studies, books, documentaries and stories of doctors who have spoken out about this to get more information. Be careful with your sources on both sides of the argument. The existence of the argument itself shows that there is a clear case to be made when it comes to having to re-think vaccines. At this point, to continue to make uneducated decisions about vaccines has become an irresponsible choice given the amount of information now available. I’m not telling you what choice to make, but educate yourself of the dangers on both sides.
My Story
I was cutting a sweet potato one evening when I looked down and realized I had somehow sliced a decent portion of the tip of my pinky finger. I still don’t know how this happened, but it did. Immediately I knew I either needed stitches or glue to have it heal properly. I looked more closely at my finger and confirmed my initial thoughts. After applying some hydrogen peroxide, I hopped in the car with my girlfriend and we made our way to the hospital.
Upon arriving we went through the normal procedure in the emergency room: papers, name, health card etc. From there I went to the treatment room where I waited for a doctor for about 30 minutes. A young doctor showed up to the bed I was sitting on and introduced himself. He seemed friendly, nice, outgoing and willing to help. He looked at my wound, assessed the situation, heard my opinion of treatment and agreed. Glue it was.
He then asked me if I had received a Tetanus shot in the past few years. Given I was 26, I was due to receive my next immunization, since I hadn’t received the shot he told me we would do that at the same time. I told him I would think about it. Of course, this was a bit of a stall tactic as I had no intention of getting the vaccine since I walked in the hospital. He pressed on. “You should really get the vaccine as if you aren’t up to date this could be fatal.” I then decided to ask him what the ingredients of the vaccine were. He was a tad confused and was not sure how to answer. He ended up saying it was crushed up bits of the bacteria (not live) and it would protect against allowing the bacteria to become toxic in my body if it were present. In theory he was correct. I then asked, “Does the vaccine contain thimerosal?” He looked at me and responded “I have no idea what that is.” I then let him know that it was a ethylmercury and has been shown to cause neurological damage. This is where things changed.
He
chuckled to himself almost as if to suggest I was believing in some
conspiracy theory. “Most of what you hear about vaccines is not true.
There are only a couple vaccines that have had bad effects on people.”
he said. It’s important to note that up until this point and for the
remainder of my visit I was as kind, peaceful and nice as anyone could
be in speaking with another person. I said “I’m open to some of it being
overstated, but I have also researched results myself so I come asking
questions because of what I have found in my research.” He responded in a
condescending and angry manner “Well I don’t have an information kit
with me here and I don’t think these vaccines are unsafe, but the choice
is still yours.”
We didn’t speak more about it for the next minute or so. He filled out some paperwork and then asked again if I was going to get the shot. I told him no. He then said “Well I leave it up to you, you can let the nurse know but it’s basically you get this or you die in 3 days. Tetanus can be fatal and so it’s your choice.” He was also laughing and annoyed at this point because he could not believe I was questioning and challenging his authority. I kept with my decision of opting out of the vaccine and he simply walked away. There was no “bye”, no “have a nice night”, no chance for me to thank him, nothing. He simply turned around and walked away as if he was not happy with me at all.
When the nurse came over she asked me about the shot. When I refused she ran me through a quick explanation of how it was not the best choice and that I should get the vaccine in the next 3 days or else I could die. After I left the hospital I reflected on the entire experience and realized that it might be important to share this story as there are some interesting things to observe.
Question & Do Research
I don’t want to generalize, but this is not the first case I have heard, by any means, of doctors getting offended when their authority is challenged by patients. In my case, there was a clear attempt to make me fear my own death should I not follow his arrogantly delivered orders. It was very clear that me challenging him made him feel more equal to me which made him become very unpleasant and irresponsible as a doctor. One thing we all have to remember is that every person on this planet is a human being and each of us are equal. We should never look to anyone as an authority on any matter but instead take what they have given as information from their experiences and use it to formulate our own feelings and information without blindly following it. I feel this is especially the case in the medical field, as people journeying through medical training are subject to a great deal of bias that comes from teachings formulated on belief. So often, as new information comes into the medical arena, it is not updated and added to what is known presently unless there is some way to profit from the information being added to the equation. We can see this through many sectors of the medical field as pharmaceuticals is ultimately what controls the natural flow of new discoveries. If something cannot be produced and sold, it is likely that it will never see the light of day.
Where students get their medical education has a direct link to the benefits of the pharmaceutical industry as they help fund and pay for much of what schools require to operate labs, equipment etc. In exchange, those companies ask them to focus on pharmaceutical drugs and certain areas of teaching and often times textbooks are even linked to large pharmaceutical companies. We can most obviously see this happening through the cancer industry as obviously there are a number of available cures yet people are coming out of med school only focusing on mainstream chemo and radiation which have low success rates and are sometimes very lethal to the human body.
I
don’t intend to encourage people to never trust a doctor. Instead I
encourage you to do your research before making decisions that involved
vaccines and other pharmaceuticals. A doctor rarely ever tells you the
damages associated with vaccines regardless of the $2.5 billion in
injury awards that has been paid out to victims of vaccine injury. In my
research over the years I have come across an alarming number of facts,
experience and practices that make it abundantly clear the mainstream
medical field is not about cures and health, but more so about profit
and the need to create perpetual customers. I am not saying doctors have
an agenda, more so that their education does and they don’t always
recognize that until they begin to question it themselves. Unfortunately
this usually leads to them being smeared and called a ‘quack’ for their
courage to start thinking differently.
Make smart and educated decisions, not decisions based around fear. This is very important whether you are choosing mainstream or alternative medicine.
Tetanus Vaccine Facts
Ingredients:
sodium phosphate, peptone, bovine extract (U.S. sourced), formaldehyde, ammonium sulfate, , aluminum potassium sulfate, thimerosal (trace), gelatin, polysorbate 80 (Tween 80), modified Mueller and Miller medium, modified Stainer-Scholte medium
Thimerosal has been linked the permanent brain damage even in small doses.
Tetanus has shown a fatality of about 10% in reported cases. Although
this number is considered high, if you remember from my story, I was
told I was going to die in 3 days had I not taken the vaccine.
While I knew he was most likely using fear tactics, many people would
have simply opted in at this point.
Sources:
http://www.cdc.gov/search.do?action=search&subset=nip&queryText=tetanus+ingredients&searchnow.x=-919&searchnow.y=-61
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC539316/
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/toxic-ingredient/thimerosal
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11064-011-0427-0
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1883449,00.html
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlKVkqiDmak
http://vaccines.procon.org/sourcefiles/vaccineinjurytable.pdf
I wanted to share my story about what happened when I refused my tetanus vaccine after having cut myself with a knife at home. I want to share this story not as an example of what will or will not happen every time, but more so as an example of how it’s important we stay open minded and question things before we blindly accept them.
I got into studying vaccines, their efficacy and safety a few years ago when I began to hear more and more about people being injured by vaccines.
There is an unfortunate belief going around that vaccines are completely safe and scientific studies have proven this to be the case. I’m here to say, this is not true. Regardless of the fact that there are studies to show efficacy and safety, there are also a large number of studies showing the dangers and lack of efficacy when it comes to vaccines. Simply search the Web, published journals, studies, books, documentaries and stories of doctors who have spoken out about this to get more information. Be careful with your sources on both sides of the argument. The existence of the argument itself shows that there is a clear case to be made when it comes to having to re-think vaccines. At this point, to continue to make uneducated decisions about vaccines has become an irresponsible choice given the amount of information now available. I’m not telling you what choice to make, but educate yourself of the dangers on both sides.
I was cutting a sweet potato one evening when I looked down and realized I had somehow sliced a decent portion of the tip of my pinky finger. I still don’t know how this happened, but it did. Immediately I knew I either needed stitches or glue to have it heal properly. I looked more closely at my finger and confirmed my initial thoughts. After applying some hydrogen peroxide, I hopped in the car with my girlfriend and we made our way to the hospital.
Upon arriving we went through the normal procedure in the emergency room: papers, name, health card etc. From there I went to the treatment room where I waited for a doctor for about 30 minutes. A young doctor showed up to the bed I was sitting on and introduced himself. He seemed friendly, nice, outgoing and willing to help. He looked at my wound, assessed the situation, heard my opinion of treatment and agreed. Glue it was.
He then asked me if I had received a Tetanus shot in the past few years. Given I was 26, I was due to receive my next immunization, since I hadn’t received the shot he told me we would do that at the same time. I told him I would think about it. Of course, this was a bit of a stall tactic as I had no intention of getting the vaccine since I walked in the hospital. He pressed on. “You should really get the vaccine as if you aren’t up to date this could be fatal.” I then decided to ask him what the ingredients of the vaccine were. He was a tad confused and was not sure how to answer. He ended up saying it was crushed up bits of the bacteria (not live) and it would protect against allowing the bacteria to become toxic in my body if it were present. In theory he was correct. I then asked, “Does the vaccine contain thimerosal?” He looked at me and responded “I have no idea what that is.” I then let him know that it was a ethylmercury and has been shown to cause neurological damage. This is where things changed.
He
chuckled to himself almost as if to suggest I was believing in some
conspiracy theory. “Most of what you hear about vaccines is not true.
There are only a couple vaccines that have had bad effects on people.”
he said. It’s important to note that up until this point and for the
remainder of my visit I was as kind, peaceful and nice as anyone could
be in speaking with another person. I said “I’m open to some of it being
overstated, but I have also researched results myself so I come asking
questions because of what I have found in my research.” He responded in a
condescending and angry manner “Well I don’t have an information kit
with me here and I don’t think these vaccines are unsafe, but the choice
is still yours.”We didn’t speak more about it for the next minute or so. He filled out some paperwork and then asked again if I was going to get the shot. I told him no. He then said “Well I leave it up to you, you can let the nurse know but it’s basically you get this or you die in 3 days. Tetanus can be fatal and so it’s your choice.” He was also laughing and annoyed at this point because he could not believe I was questioning and challenging his authority. I kept with my decision of opting out of the vaccine and he simply walked away. There was no “bye”, no “have a nice night”, no chance for me to thank him, nothing. He simply turned around and walked away as if he was not happy with me at all.
When the nurse came over she asked me about the shot. When I refused she ran me through a quick explanation of how it was not the best choice and that I should get the vaccine in the next 3 days or else I could die. After I left the hospital I reflected on the entire experience and realized that it might be important to share this story as there are some interesting things to observe.
Question & Do Research
I don’t want to generalize, but this is not the first case I have heard, by any means, of doctors getting offended when their authority is challenged by patients. In my case, there was a clear attempt to make me fear my own death should I not follow his arrogantly delivered orders. It was very clear that me challenging him made him feel more equal to me which made him become very unpleasant and irresponsible as a doctor. One thing we all have to remember is that every person on this planet is a human being and each of us are equal. We should never look to anyone as an authority on any matter but instead take what they have given as information from their experiences and use it to formulate our own feelings and information without blindly following it. I feel this is especially the case in the medical field, as people journeying through medical training are subject to a great deal of bias that comes from teachings formulated on belief. So often, as new information comes into the medical arena, it is not updated and added to what is known presently unless there is some way to profit from the information being added to the equation. We can see this through many sectors of the medical field as pharmaceuticals is ultimately what controls the natural flow of new discoveries. If something cannot be produced and sold, it is likely that it will never see the light of day.
Where students get their medical education has a direct link to the benefits of the pharmaceutical industry as they help fund and pay for much of what schools require to operate labs, equipment etc. In exchange, those companies ask them to focus on pharmaceutical drugs and certain areas of teaching and often times textbooks are even linked to large pharmaceutical companies. We can most obviously see this happening through the cancer industry as obviously there are a number of available cures yet people are coming out of med school only focusing on mainstream chemo and radiation which have low success rates and are sometimes very lethal to the human body.
I
don’t intend to encourage people to never trust a doctor. Instead I
encourage you to do your research before making decisions that involved
vaccines and other pharmaceuticals. A doctor rarely ever tells you the
damages associated with vaccines regardless of the $2.5 billion in
injury awards that has been paid out to victims of vaccine injury. In my
research over the years I have come across an alarming number of facts,
experience and practices that make it abundantly clear the mainstream
medical field is not about cures and health, but more so about profit
and the need to create perpetual customers. I am not saying doctors have
an agenda, more so that their education does and they don’t always
recognize that until they begin to question it themselves. Unfortunately
this usually leads to them being smeared and called a ‘quack’ for their
courage to start thinking differently.Make smart and educated decisions, not decisions based around fear. This is very important whether you are choosing mainstream or alternative medicine.
Tetanus Vaccine Facts
Ingredients:
sodium phosphate, peptone, bovine extract (U.S. sourced), formaldehyde, ammonium sulfate, , aluminum potassium sulfate, thimerosal (trace), gelatin, polysorbate 80 (Tween 80), modified Mueller and Miller medium, modified Stainer-Scholte medium
Thimerosal has been linked the permanent brain damage even in small doses.
Sources:
http://www.cdc.gov/search.do?action=search&subset=nip&queryText=tetanus+ingredients&searchnow.x=-919&searchnow.y=-61
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC539316/
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/toxic-ingredient/thimerosal
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11064-011-0427-0
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1883449,00.html
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlKVkqiDmak
http://vaccines.procon.org/sourcefiles/vaccineinjurytable.pdf
