Thank you!

In reply to this comment by gwiz665:
Frist is absolutely correct on Vaccines. People who reject the notion of medicine in favor of "alternative medicine" are never doctors, just idiots.

*quality

>> ^kceaton1:
He is giving an opinion on his show that could kill people.

His opinion isn't going to kill anyone and you ought not to be fear mongering. Just because someone is wrong doesn't mean they should be kept from voicing their opinion.

Some people might take Bill's stance as their own and not get vaccinated. A fraction of those people might get sick with the flu. A fraction of that fraction might become seriously ill and even die as a result. That is still their own fault for taking medical advice from a comedian.

For my part, I won't be getting vaccinated. It's not that I don't believe they work or any such thing, I just tend to respond badly to a lot of medicines and the like and so I take as few of them as I can. I am more likely to take a nap than an aspirin for a headache. I will let my immune system do its thing and if that's not enough, so be it. Natural selection... if I can't hack it then I don't deserve to be here.

If you have questions about the scientific merit of a given medical practice, then contact an expert (i.e. an M.D. Ph.D.) and discuss your concerns with them. Go to a library, and read the actual scientific literature pertaining to a given topic.

It is true there is a business side to medicine, but no one controls science. And in the rare instances that science has been influenced by business, it has always corrected itself. (e.g. Some poor graduate student spent 2 years trying to confirm single molecule transistors and never got it to work. The original data was eventually proven fraudulent. See Jan Schon) Since their conception in 1796, vaccines have proven to a be a valuable way to control the spread of viruses.

In conclusion, it is good to question science and medicine. Questions, however, need to be reinforced with controlled scientific experiments, otherwise they are out of ignorance.


>> ^dag:
^Yes, how dare anyone question the all-knowing oracles of medical knowledge.
I think the reason that many geeky type people always toe the main-stream medical line is because they conflate medicine with science (which we all love). Yes, it's almost the same, but if I had to draw it as a venn diagram, there would be a crescent of over-hang. Medicine to me is 80% science and then the rest is filled in with dogma, patriarchy and business ($$).
That crescent of non-science is the part that makes me squirm. I don't think it's that wrong to question medical programs like vaccinations- with the idea that it may be being pushed non-scientifically by the medical industrial complex. (big pharma).
Bill Maher is not a kook.

>> ^nach0s:
That's why I love the sift. We can love and hate our political commentators/figures at the same time. Frist is not perfect, he has his own issues (Terry Schiavo, anyone?) but Maher is wrong on this issue, imo. Frist makes a good argument, and it isn't a shouting match.


This is just what I was thinking.

Still, I wish I knew what to think about this. I normally lean towards not bothering with a flu shot, but I heard on NPR yesterday that 40% of the people being hospitalized for swine flu had no pre-existing conditions.

I have seen someone get extremely ill after getting a flu shot though, and even though I know that it's unlikely, it still comes to mind every time I think about vaccinations.

Congratulations! Your comment has just received enough votes from the community to earn you 1 Power Point. Thank you for your quality contribution to VideoSift.

On the topic of swine flu vaccines, Maher doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about. And that's even with some major issues to criticize, especially with pretty significant gaps being jumped in the FDA's clinical trials (relying instead on foreign trials, which are of variable reliability) right now because of the rush to get vaccines to market in preparation for if/before shit can hit the fan.

Maybe he's reasonable in questioning the many biases (social, governmental, corporate, etc.) that can influence the adoption of particular vaccines, but it's easy to handwave and fingerpoint without examining any clinical data, the kind of stuff Maher clearly hasn't even farted in the direction of much less mulled over himself.

Also Frist is delusional if he thinks the US has the best healthcare in the world. Then again, this is the same asshole who gave a completely incorrect, uninformed opinion on Schiavo's PVS based on an hour or two of video footage of her.

Congratulations! Your comment has just received enough votes from the community to earn you 1 Power Point. Thank you for your quality contribution to VideoSift.

That's why I love the sift. We can love and hate our political commentators/figures at the same time. Frist is not perfect, he has his own issues (Terry Schiavo, anyone?) but Maher is wrong on this issue, imo. Frist makes a good argument, and it isn't a shouting match.

Congratulations! Your comment has just received enough votes from the community to earn you 1 Power Point. Thank you for your quality contribution to VideoSift.

>> ^longde:
My god what a douche, luddite, and a hypocrite.


"Luddite" isn't an insult from my perspective, and has nothing to do with denying the results of scientific research.

It is disheartening to see Maher so off the mark in this case. Atheism isn't just giving up religion, it's giving up dogmatic thought. I'd even say that the latter is more important than the former.

>> ^dag:
^Yes, how dare anyone question the all-knowing oracles of medical knowledge.
I think the reason that many geeky type people always toe the main-stream medical line is because they conflate medicine with science (which we all love). Yes, it's almost the same, but if I had to draw it as a venn diagram, there would be a crescent of over-hang. Medicine to me is 80% science and then the rest is filled in with dogma, patriarchy and business ($$).
That crescent of non-science is the part that makes me squirm. I don't think it's that wrong to question medical programs like vaccinations- with the idea that it may be being pushed non-scientifically by the medical industrial complex. (big pharma).
Bill Maher is not a kook.


As Raigen said, in this instance Bill is being a kook. Yes, we need to question everything, especially medicine. But at the end of the day one has to look at the science behind the medicine and make an informed decision. The science, as Frist said, shows that vaccines work and will save your life.

I think it's really funny how, in the last few years, people have begun to fear and distrust vaccines. Smallpox, a disease that killed 300-500 million people in the 20th century alone, was eradicated thanks to vaccines. Thanks to vaccination the occurrence of Polio went from 350,000 cases in 1988 to 1300 cases in 2007.

Vaccines work, ignoring the science kills people. Bill Maher ignores the science. In this instance he is a dangerous kook.

Your video, Bill Maher Gets Schooled On Vaccines By Bill Frist, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

>> ^Yogi:

How is it hypocritical to say we treat symptoms as they pop up rather than care too much about public health as a whole. I don't see how that can be interpreted as a hypocritical statement, unless he himself can be proven to only treat symptoms or something.


It's not hypocritical to say we treat symptoms. Its hypocritical to advocate we focus more on preventative medicine and then run the fear monger campaign against vaccine on what so far what seems to be baseless conjecture and a poor understanding of evolution.

>> ^brycewi19:
I love hearing a rational conservative talk (especially on health care). The United States needs two healthy parties.
I'm really rooting for the conservatives to pull their act together, dump their extremists, and join the good fight in doing proper checks-and-balances with the dems so we can all act like adults again.
This was a nice step.


ABSOLUTELY. I couldn't agree more, rational and measured debate is some of the most invigorating and empowering stuff in politics. We should see more.


Also, Frist made a VERY good point about not broadcasting to pregnant women not to get the vaccine... it will literally kill them not to get it. Bill is very very wrong, wantonly wrong, and aggressively ignorant about this issue.

Successfully processed your "amazon" invocation - view all Amazonized posts here