Sir, - I have no wish to enter into a medical discussion about the pros and cons of immunisation and I respect Philip Boxberger's wish as a parent not to vaccinate his child. My concerns centre around the journalistic content of his article ("A Shot in the Dark?", The Irish Times, November 3rd).
Medical practitioners by and large are independent and reasonably intelligent people. They read extensively on medical matters and expend a great amount of energy in keeping up to date. They are not clones who chant out a mantra foisted on them by greater forces. A brief glance at medical evidence in any given court case will show that medical people frequently hold differing views. Therefore, to describe us as orthodox medicine is to conveniently fit us into a pigeonhole at which Mr Boxberger can then proceed to throw stones.
Furthermore, this label has the effect of stifling debate because one is loath to voice an opinion for fear of being labelled orthodox, with all the connotations that tag carries with it. Needless to say, because my name carries with it the Bachelor of Medicine tag I am instantly dismissed as an orthodox practitioner. Similar connotations would follow if I were to label Mr Boxberger as a loony leftie. It causes be no end of amusement that those who purport to open up the debate turn around and exclude certain people whom they label orthodox.
Next, of course, is the question of facts. Mr Boxberger has a particular point of view. He could hardly be called a neutral observer, if your article is correct in calling him a polio sufferer and an active supporter of disability rights. So much is published at present that a surf of the Internet would produce so-called proof of black being white and white being black.
His article describes the fear and intimidation generated by orthodox medicine about vaccination. Despite, this, he proceeds to introduce the question of cot death into the debate. If he is not introducing fear and intimidation of his own variety, could we have the scientific proof of his comments? Cot death is one of the great modern tragedies and to use it in this way reduces his article to the level of religious zeal that is so abhorrent to him. - Yours, etc.,
Pearse Street Medical Centre, Dublin 2.