Update [2005-6-25 16:50:54 by Armando]: On the issue of thimerosal,
DemfromCT has a great diary.
We spend a lot of time, rightly in my opinion, demanding that the Bush Administration drop its hostility towards science and scientific evidence. In particular we decry the distorted attacks on the Theory of Evolution and the push for creationism.
I think that being reality based is essential in all aspects of government policy, but particularly policies on the sciences. The insistence on delusion regarding stem cells by BushCo has led to a policy damaging to advancements in health care.
But it also spills over to other topics, where BushCo is not involved. For example, autism:
Public health officials like Ms. Ehresmann, who herself has a son with autism, have been trying for years to convince parents like Ms. Rupp that there is no link between thimerosal - a mercury-containing preservative once used routinely in vaccines - and autism.
They have failed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the Institute of Medicine, the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics have all largely dismissed the notion that thimerosal causes or contributes to autism. Five major studies have found no link.
Yet despite all evidence to the contrary, the number of parents who blame thimerosal for their children's autism has only increased. And in recent months, these parents have used their numbers, their passion and their organizing skills to become a potent national force. The issue has become one of the most fractious and divisive in pediatric medicine.
"This is like nothing I've ever seen before," Dr. Melinda Wharton, deputy director of the National Immunization Program, told a gathering of immunization officials in Washington in March. "It's an era where it appears that science isn't enough."
Parents have filed more than 4,800 lawsuits - 200 from February to April alone - pushed for state and federal legislation banning thimerosal and taken out full-page advertisements in major newspapers. They have also gained the support of politicians, including Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Representatives Dan Burton, Republican of Indiana, and Dave Weldon, Republican of Florida. And Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote an article in the June 16 issue of Rolling Stone magazine arguing that most studies of the issue are flawed and that public health officials are conspiring with drug makers to cover up the damage caused by thimerosal.
"We're not looking like a fringe group anymore," said Becky Lourey, a Minnesota state senator and a sponsor of a proposed thimerosal ban. Such a ban passed the New York State Legislature this week.
But scientists and public health officials say they are alarmed by the surge of attention to an idea without scientific merit. The anti-thimerosal campaign, they say, is causing some parents to stay away from vaccines, placing their children at risk for illnesses like measles and polio.
More on the flip.
In other non-scientific areas, reality disconnect has become all too common.
For example, in the discussions I've seen of the
Kelo case on eminent domain, the frame of the discussion was not whether the decision is correct as a matter of Constitutional law, and I must say that, to me, there is little doubt the majority is correct, but rather on whether it helps big corporations. That simply is not the correct way to evaluate a court decision. That is what the Save Terri Schiavo people wanted.
In politics, we tend to concentrate on those issues that are favorable and important to our side. But I like to think we try hard to remain factual.
Too often these days we're finding that some of the departure from reality comes from our side as well.
That needs to stop in my opinion.