Dr. Harrison Explains Why Lyn Redwood of SafeMinds is Wrong About Genetic Research and Autism
Nov 05, 2014
Every Child By Two is pleased to launch our new Expert Commentary Series which will be referenced here on Shot of Prevention with links to the in-depth articles that will be permanently housed on the Every Child By Two website.
This series will feature guest writer Joel A. Harrison, PhD, MPH, a retired epidemiologist who has worked in the areas of preventive medicine, infectious diseases, medical outcomes research, and evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. Dr. Harrison’s passionate desire to combat false vaccine information is evident in his introductory bio and mission statement:
“Outbreaks of totally unnecessary vaccine-preventable diseases have been occurring as a consequence of misinformation and disinformation from anti-vaccine advocates who don’t understand science, don’t apply critical thinking, display poor scholarship….
I decided to devote time combating the misinformation and disinformation of the anti-vaccinationist by showing the level of poor scholarship, irrational, unscientific, and sometimes even lacking common sense claims made by anti-vaccinationists. My approach is quite simple. I will use accurate direct quotes from their articles and show, using accurate direct quotes from other articles and documents, together with clear explanations of scientific method, etc. that they literally don’t know what they are talking about. Each of my articles will contain detailed footnotes, including page numbers, and references with the URL/hyperlink to any papers available on the web.”
The idea for this new Expert Commentary Series was inspired by one of Dr. Harrison’s previous articles which was printed in The Open Vaccine Journal and featured here on the Shot of Prevention blog on May 16, 2014. This article systematically debunked the claims regarding the dangers of vaccines made by Andrew Wakefield in his book “Callous Disregard.”
Today’s submission, written exclusively for Every Child By Two, is a review of Lyn Redwood’s Article “Science as a Means of Social Control” posted by SafeMinds on August 23, 2013.
In his article, Dr. Harrison counters a series of arguments made by Lyn Redwood regarding genetic research and autism. Redwood’s piece echoes the sentiments of another article she located on the internet which she believed validated her instincts that “science is being used as a means of exonerating industry and/or government for culpability by blaming the individual for having the poor luck of bad genetics.” Dr. Harrison’s critique of Redwood’s premise is both thorough and quite insightful.
We are pleased to present this article, Wrong About Genetic Research & Autism, Lyn Redwood’s “Science as a Means of Social Control” as the latest piece in our Expert Commentary Series and we look forward to future articles by Dr. Harrison.
Please note: The opinions in this article reflect the views of the author who is not an employee of Every Child By Two and do not necessarily reflect the views of Every Child By Two. Dr. Harrison volunteers his time to provide in-depth, well-researched analysis of articles which ultimately make false claims about the safety of vaccines. His articles are summarized here on Shot of Prevention with links to the full response on the Every Child By Two website.
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