title: It did happen here: fear and loathing on the vaccine trail.
abstract: Adverse publicity that placed undue emphasis on a possible connection between autism and the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and vaccines containing thimerosal made parents in the United Kingdom reluctant to allow their children to receive the vaccine. The same concerns have played themselves out in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's decision to recommend removal of thimerosal from other vaccines, even as the individual autism claims have been rejected. That recommendation, based on unsubstantiated safety concerns, reveals a deep-seated institutional overreaction that is more likely to cost lives than to save them.
authors.affiliation: Hoover Institution, Stanford University, California, USA. repstein@uchicago.edu
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Epstein
mesh_terms: D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000209:etiology; D005239:Fear; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D022542:Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine / Q000009:adverse effects; D018570:Risk Assessment; D016312:Treatment Refusal; D006113:United Kingdom; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration
chemical_list: D022542:Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine