Preview

Autism Argumentative Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
834 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Autism Argumentative Essay
Although there is much debate regarding whether or not vaccines cause autism, scientific evidence shows that there is no link between the two. The three most popular theories are that the MMR vaccine, Thimerosal, and the simultaneous administration of vaccines cause autism in children. Many influential people, such as Donald Trump and the United States Surgeon General, have spoken out supporting and denying this myth. The continued coverage of the media on the vaccine-autism controversy has led to misinformation, which causes irrational fear in parents. There is still heavy research on the subject of autism and vaccines, but science at this time has disproven these theories, and shown vaccines to be an effective way of preventing deadly diseases. …show more content…
Andrew Wakefield has hypothesized that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine causes inflammation of the intestines, which sends certain peptides to the bloodstream, and to the brain, that affects development. This study has since been retracted, and Wakefield lost his medical license. This paper is a fraud, Andrew Wakefield was paid over $674,000 by lawyers who intended to sue vaccine manufacturers, which is an obvious conflict of interest (Deer). He also did not collect data systematically. This study is extremely flawed, and though it has been retracted, it still causes much …show more content…
Though he has stated this, many influential people and organizations strongly disagree with Trump. CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has said many times that vaccines are completely safe, and that they have no connection with Autism. The Centers for Disease Control has also conducted multiple studies, and have released multiple statements regarding this subject. According to the CDC, “There is no link between receiving vaccines and developing ASD,” (Vaccines do not Cause Autism).The US Surgeon General has also released a statement in this controversy. In this brief speech, he states that although parents are concerned about the said correlation between vaccinations and autism, the science is very clear. They have nothing to do with one

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In 2010, the study that sparked the anti-vaccine movement was fully retracted from the journal which published it as a result of its author, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, being found to have a massive conflict of interest, amidst other ethical issues. Dr. Wakefield was employed by lawyers suing over alleged vaccine injuries (Novella, 2010). For the purpose of money, Dr. Wakefield sparked a worldwide debate over the legitimacy of vaccines as a whole, and has caused the deaths of thousands by proxy. The misinformed parent isn’t the victim, they were vaccinated and protected, the one suffering is the child whose parents feared autism more than measles. The Measles Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine is a beneficial form of treatment and any links to autism…

    • 1217 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Famous actor Jim Carrey believes that vaccines cause autism to children. Recently, Jim Carrey issued a Twitter tirade to his millions of followers that included misinformation, misused photographs and misfired ad hominem attacks. He even criticizes California’s Gov. Jerry Brown. This clouds many people’s judgement, especially those without knowledge of medical science, just because they occur around the same time doesn’t mean one caused the other.…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Quote from The Age of American Unreason, page 219-220: “The first and most fundamental warning sign [of junk thought] is an inability to distinguish between coincidence and causation—a basic requirement for scientific literacy.” “During the past twenty-five years, there appears to have been a significant increase in the incidence of autism in children around the world. Whatever the reason for the rise in reported cases of autism, it has coincided with an increase in the number of recommended child immunizations. Anti-vaccination groups have focused on a relatively new triple vaccine, introduced in 1987, that immunizes children against measles, mumps and rubella.”…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Autisms Scapegoat Summary

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In this day and age there are thousands of experts and researchers trying their hardest to find more information about what causes autism. With new technology, new science is discovered. And with new science, new technology is discovered. Scientific and expert studies have been conducted therefore there is no link between autism and vaccines. Eventually a real cause for autism will be found and when that day comes, all “Anti Vaxxers” shall be put to…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After much research and thought processing, I saw many issues in that of children with autism and the vaccinations. There were many concerns that were addressing on this particular issue on the effects in the children. In today’s society, we don’t know what to believe with that of media and what they are saying to be true, but then again we don’t know what to believe unless we do our own research and connect the dots. In general what media does is to promote the issue and give ratings on the issue because we look at the numbers and percentages not the details behind the actual research. Honestly, I really despise the media because most of the time they aren’t right on the issue and it’s not best…

    • 460 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    A scientist named Andrew Wakefield started studying bowel problems that were linked to the MM2 vaccine, his studies eventually began to link autism and vaccines together (“Do vaccines cause autism?”). Two other scientists, Fudenberg and Gupta also started to back his claims (“Do vaccines cause autism?”). Eight years later Wakefield along with twelve other scientists published an article stating one hundred percent that there is a connection between vaccinations and autism (“Do vaccines cause autism?”). However, when someone digs deeper into Wakefield's personal finances he filed a patent for a single antigen vaccines, the only “safe” type of vaccines only a year before he published that article (“Do vaccines cause autism?”). Then in 2004 Dr. Richard Horton, the editor of Lancet, came out to the public and told them that Wakefield had been paid by attorneys seeking to file a lawsuit against vaccination makers (“Do vaccines cause autism?”). The article was completely removed from Lancet in 2010 and Wakefield was banned from practising medicine in the United Kingdom three months later (“Do vaccines cause autism?”). A year later a journalist named Brian Deer finds evidence that Wakefield committed research fraud and falsified data, further proving no link has been found between autism and vaccines (“Do vaccines cause autism?”). Another case happened in America concerning a little girl named…

    • 1386 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    In 1998 this journal published an article detailing a study that examined the MMR vaccination and its relationship to autism. The article was titled; Illeal – Lymphoid – Nodular Hyperplasia, Non-Specific Colitis, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder in Children (Wakefield ,“The Lancet”). The lead author of this study is Dr. Andrew Wakefield. The study examined twelve children aged three to ten. Eleven of these subjects were males and one female. Each of these children underwent gastroenterological, neurological developmental assessment, and review of developmental records. Each of these children were referred to a pediatric gastroenterologist due to an onset of the loss of acquired skills such as communication. This was coupled with abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloating and food intolerance. This study focused heavily on developmental assessment and the review of developmental findings (Wakefield, “The Lancet”). The findings denoted that either by parents or the child’s physician, the association of onset behavior symptoms was due to the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination in eight out of the twelve children (Wakefield, The Lancet). Five children had an early adverse side effect on to the immunization such as rashes and…

    • 1512 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 2010, the General Medical Counsel released its findings on Wakefield’s experiments on children pertaining to vaccinations. They found his methodology extremely unethical. They also debunked the idea that there is a correlation between autism and vaccinations.…

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    There is no proof between the outrages claims that vaccines cause death and autism. The idea that something that has been around for the past few decades and, all but eradicated several diseases, could be causing autism and people to die around the world from taking this is simple outrageous. Vaccines may keep us down for a little with mild side effects but that doesn’t mean that they’re going to kill us or give us a problem that is caused through genetics, I could easily turn around and blame the same things on chewable vitamins but I don’t because I’m a decent human being of average…

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Some people are strongly against vaccinating their children. They feel it is unsafe and can even lead to autism. There have been many reported cases where vaccines have actually done a lot of harm. As the amount of vaccines being administered to children has risen, so has the percentage of children with autism. This is ground-breaking evidence to the anti-vaccine movement. They assume that the more vaccines a child receives, the higher they go up on the autism spectrum. It is believed that a child starts to show signs of autism around the time they are receiving an abundance of vaccinations. In addition to autism, they claim that it is too dangerous to inject infants with such harsh viruses and bacteria. They can not fight this off properly,…

    • 329 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Vaccines are responsible for minimizing the risk of many deadly diseases and even eradicating some completely. People today are privileged enough to live during a time where the fear of dying from a disease like measles or smallpox is negligible. Even so vaccines are not without dissenters. There is a segment of humanity that believes there is a credible association between vaccines and rising autism rates. The following articles will show that there are varying ideas on the best way to disprove vaccination opponents, yet no solid solution has been reached on how to convince vaccination opponents that their fears are unfounded.…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Not Vaccinating Children

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Being vaccinated is extremely critical and important to one’s health, but due to false information being spread about vaccines, many guardians of children opt out to having the children vaccinated for fear of the child developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The reason for guardians not vaccinating their children due to the result of a false study done by Andrew Wakefield that manipulated and/or misrepresented the twelve patients who were involved with the study in 1998 (Hagan). This is the reason why guardians have been avoiding getting their children vaccinated, causing a comeback on a few diseases. Mr. Wakefield has had his medical license revoked, and his paper has been discredited by a large community of scientists. Although there has…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dr. Andrew Wakefield conducted an experiment in regards to vaccinations. His experiment had caused him his license and he was convicted for the misleading of people to believe that vaccinations were harmful and caused autism. “The fact that so many individuals were at risk for the disease because of their lack of vaccination is a significant threat to public health in the United States. This trend originated from parents fearing that the vaccine could cause autism. In 1998, British researcher Andrew Wakefield suggested in a published report that the MMR vaccine triggered autism. This study was determined to be fraudulent in 2011, and the article was retracted by the journal. However, its influence remains strong despite widespread press coverage and discussion. Many parents of autistic children still believe that autism is directly linked to vaccines and their preservatives, including the mercury-based thimerosal that was the original topic of the study by Wakefield. Thimerosal was removed from vaccines following the study in 1998 to try to reassure parents that the vaccines were safe. Despite this removal and the debunking of the study by Wakefield, many parents continue to fear that vaccination could cause autism in their children. (Pierce)”. “The article discusses an outbreak of measles in southwest Wales that some connect to claims made by Dr. Andrew Wakefield in the late 1990s about an alleged link between autism and immunization for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR). At the time, many parents reacted by refusing to get their children immunized. Between November 2012 and early July 2013, 1219 new cases of measles were reported in southwest Wales. (WHALEN)”. The medical board felt that the experiment made by Dr. Wakefield was not relevant and that he had to be removed for making people believe something that was not true. “The UK researcher who…

    • 1900 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    the argument that vaccinations cause autism is one of ignorance. It was said that the ingredient thimerosal was the link to autism. Studies show that even after thimerosal was removed in 1992 autism continued to increase. This shows that thimerosal has no causation or correlation with autism. The rise in autism correlates directly with the fact that autism is being more easily identified and has a wider…

    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    While there is a lot of conspiracy out there today about whether or not vaccinations cause autism, there is no proven fact about this argument. However, there is strong, valid evidence for both sides of the argument. Vaccinations and Autism: A Tale of Shifting Hypotheses discusses ways that vaccines could cause autism but states why none of those experients and arguments are not valid, and Vaccines Cause Autism, Behavioral Disorders discuss why vaccinations do cause autism.…

    • 1195 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays