We teach anti-bullying in schools but children witness bullying actively practiced in the pediatrics offices nationwide by no other than the doctors themselves. I can recall one instance with our old pediatrician, when he told me my child would die if she did not get the MMR vaccine, right then and there. He said it with such certainty that his tone of voice left any other possibilities out of question, completely. In addition he irately told us to find another office if we did not do as he said. I was left speechless, and shamefully succumbed into letting my child injected with God knows what. I went home stunned, ashamed and sad.
I was stunned that he would make such a statement, and had to question his medical training and medical exam that he took to get licensed to practice medicine in this country. I had to question, because I am alive, and based on his statement I should be dead for the past thirty-some years. As a child I had measles, I had mumps and I had rubeola and voilà, I am alive and well.
I was ashamed after I left his office because I let him bully me into vaccinating my child and because he was so irate in front of my children, I did not want get into an argument with him. What kind of example and experience would that leave my children with? I did not believe it was going to be a good one. I felt ashamed for not having the courage to stand up and be firm about getting answers to my questions or to get my concerns addressed. But I did not want to lose medical care for my children until I had time to think over my other choices for doctors and had time to find out more information about vaccines and side effects such as allergies, autism, skin rashes, etc. I was ashamed for not being better prepared. He seemed a little more understanding about our delayed schedule in the previous visits, and suddenly he changed.
I was sad that this is the kind of world I have to raise my children in. I have to teach my children that they cannot trust doctors because the doctors are more concerned about meeting their own financial obligations than about my children’s health. This may end up being a great benefit to them on the long run, as an Italian study has shown one of the secrets to long life is “STAY AWAY FROM DOCTORS – centenarians, by definition healthy, have little contact with doctors and pharmaceuticals” (see Upper Italy – Longevity ; also, Rule number 8 at Centenarians).
I did receive vaccines as a child but not at two month intervals after birth. I was old enough and strong enough to fight off any possible adverse reaction to a vaccine, and I was only subjected to one single vaccine at a time, never cocktails as they do today. With all the controversy out there about the safety of vaccines and their alleged benefits, it is quite astonishing to me as a parent and as an educated person to not be able to have an intelligent conversation with another educated person about vaccines without turning it into the crusades of the vaccine safety. The medical doctors seem to forget that the CDC schedule for vaccinations is merely recommended, not mandated. (See Recommended Vaccine Schedule )
As the number of injured children grow, (there has been 600 percent increase in autism in the recent years) new websites and new organizations pop up every year to join the fight for a more civilized society, freedom of choice over our children’s health care – a health care without bullying parents and children into becoming a profit making numbers for doctors and drug manufacturing companies and giving them a chance to become a healthy productive members of society.