Doctors Are No Experts on Vaccines
There is a common belief that doctors are “experts” on vaccines and vaccination. Almost nothing could be further from the truth. The average medical doctor, for example, may not know the names of the ingredients in vaccines, or what they are and how they interact with each other. The average doctor giving people vaccines may not know how vaccines affect the immune system…
Nominee for FDA Commissioner Has Pharma Industry Ties
If confirmed by Congress, the next commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be Robert M. Califf, MD. Dr. Califf is currently the FDA’s deputy commissioner for Medical Products and Tobacco—a position to which he was appointed on January 26, 2015, just two months prior to the end of former FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg’s six-year term.
The Moran Team Study of 480 “Anti-Vax” Websites
A story circulating on the Internet is publicizing a new study that concludes much of the information on anti-vaccination websites promote “unscientific views about vaccinations” and “use pseudoscience and misinformation to spread the idea that vaccines are dangerous.” The research, presented at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association…
Peer Review Process in Academic Publishing Untrustworthy
The peer review process is known to be the pride of the rigorous academic publishing process. It is a critical component used to maintain the integrity of academic publications and a method used to ensure that the information in the publications is thoroughly vetted for accuracy. The process begins after a researcher submits a paper to an academic journal.
Scientific Publishing Industry Has Become An Oligopoly
The flow of scientific research has significantly metamorphosed in the last 40 years. The content and production of published scientific research in the 21st century has been significantly influenced by a change in ownership of mainstream medical journals. As a result, today the scientific publishing industry has become an oligopoly that is controlled by a few big…
Merck Leads World’s Top Vaccine Makers, Novartis Out
The vaccine manufacturing industry has long been dominated by five companies. In alphabetical order, these include multi-national firms GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) of Brentford, England; Merck & Co. of Kenilworth, NJ.; Novartis AG of Basel, Switzerland; Pfizer, Inc. of New York City, NY; and Sanofi Pasteur SA of Lyon, France. In 2014, the value of the world market for…