General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Either you believe in the scientific method or you don't [View all]kristopher
(29,798 posts)You use "vaccinations are a big-pharma conspiracy" and "medical science requires rigor and proof" but you fail to incorporate the existence of the profit motive and its corrupting influence.
Let's take a different tack and think about "big oil" or "big tobacco". I don't think there is a question in anyone's mind that both of these industries lie about and distort the science in order to make profits. To think that the pharmaceutical industry is someone immune to that same influence is naive in the extreme. The biggest constraint on their actions isn't ethics, it is the facts that 1) unlike oil, when they do harm it is more directly traceable to the agent and 2) unlike tobacco they have the ability to pursue profits with beneficial products.
However, the pharma industry still suffers from incentives to play fast and loose. For example, the moneys at stake are huge; investments are made that don't pan out; and careers are often on the line. These and other perverse incentives are more than enough to give reason for looking at the drug industry with a great deal of skepticism. And that could quite conceivably include instances of regulatory capture where unneeded or marginally effective treatments are supported by some sort of government policy.
Just to be clear - I do not in any way accept that any of the present programs involving vaccinations are corrupt, harmful or anything but beneficial. I'm just addressing the weakness in the way your argument is framed.