[extropy-chat] Are vaccinations useless?

[BillK]

On 3/13/06, Russell Wallace wrote:
>  Am I the only one who feels this is rather like someone coming into a space
> discussion list and saying the academic consensus is the Apollo landings
> were a hoax, and a bunch of people nodding and agreeing it's a great
> subject? :P No offense intended to Robin, whose writings are usually of
> excellent quality, but this is just silly. At least the "we never went to
> the moon" crowd offer an alternative explanation, however bad it may be.
>

Obviously vaccination has saved millions of lives.

But if you include the huge scale of medical fraud, worthless
treatments, unnecessary surgery, 'snake-oil' concoctions, useless
supplements, etc. etc., then Robin may have a point that 'overall'
there isn't much benefit.

But I feel that including all this fraud is a mistake. There are many
medical treatments and operations with obvious life-saving benefits. 
You just have to stay away from the hucksters and conmen (and Mexican
cancer hospitals).

Robin's claim is like saying you should not bother getting your car
serviced or repaired because there are so many mechanics ripping
people off, that 'overall' you might as well stay away from car
workshops.

BillK