lalala I can't hear you hands over ears 2

I’m lucky. My internist is not only a top notch physician, he’s also a sharp-as-a-tack, hilarious, proud liberal. Whenever I go in for a check-up, we spend the first ten minutes talking politics (Well, after he tells me a couple of jokes. Priorities, people!). And by talking, I mean lamenting. And by lamenting, I mean wanting to get drunk and point and laugh at random conservatives.

Take the anti-vaccination crowd, for instance. You know them, the ignorami who want you to Just Say No to vaccines, because… freedom!

Now meet Dr. Richard Wulfsberg, who not only rocks in general, but nailed it specifically in the following Los Angeles Times letter to the editor, because our voices matter (bolding is mine):

In 1998, Dr. Andrew Wakefield published an article in the Lancet showing a direct relationship between the administration of the measles vaccine and autism. Eventually, British Medical Journal assessed the article and found it to be fraudulent. Wakefield lost his license, and the Lancet retracted the article. (“Disneyland, holiday travel a perfect mix for measles’ spread,” Jan. 14)

Tragically, too many misguided individuals, some with celebrity status, continue to preach the evils of vaccination based on this discredited article. Worse, they encourage other to do the same. The inevitable result is the measles epidemic we are now experiencing.

We can no longer tolerate subjecting children to the risks of preventable diseases. Ignorance cannot dictate public health. No unvaccinated child should be allowed to enter public school. Parents who withhold vaccination of their children are subjecting their children and their contacts to a serious disease and should be held accountable in a court of law.

Before widespread vaccination, this country had 500 deaths annually from measles. Enough. Society must protect its children from the consequences of ignorance — or should we stop mandating child restraints in cars because someone believes it causes lifelong claustrophobia?

Richard Wulfsberg, MD, Studio City

vaccine denial Jenny McCarthy crazy