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IPFS News Link • Vaccines and Vaccinations

Doctor's anti-vaccine claims ignite PR firestorm for Cleveland Clinic

• Fox News

A doctor at the prestigious Cleveland Clinic sparked an online uproar when he published an article Friday filled with anti-vaccine rhetoric, including the widely debunked claim that vaccines are linked to autism. Physicians took to Twitter to call the article "vile" and "Post-truth medicine" and demand whether the clinic endorsed its doctor's views.

Dr. Daniel Neides, a family doctor and the director and chief operating officer of the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute, wrote on a blog on the news site cleveland.com that preservatives and other ingredients in vaccines are dangerous and are likely behind the increase in diagnosed cases of neurological diseases such as autism — a claim that has long been discredited by researchers.

"Does the vaccine burden — as has been debated for years — cause autism? I don't know and will not debate that here. What I will stand up and scream is that newborns without intact immune systems and detoxification systems are being over-burdened with PRESERVATIVES AND ADJUVANTS IN THE VACCINES," he wrote. Adjuvants are added to vaccines to prompt a stronger immune response.

"Some of the vaccines have helped reduce the incidence of childhood communicable diseases, like meningitis and pneumonia," he continued. "That is great news. But not at the expense of neurologic diseases like autism and ADHD increasing at alarming rates."

Neides's wellness institute provides "world-class medical care and quality wellness programs to change unhealthy behaviors and to make healthy life choices," according to its website. But to the wider medical community, the claims that Neides espoused did not promote "healthy life choices." Instead, they said these statements were downright dangerous.

Dr. Vinay Prasad, a hematologist-oncologist at the Oregon Health and Sciences University, expressed disbelief on Twitter:

In an email to STAT, Prasad added, "That article … contains many of the tired, unsupported, irrational concerns about pediatric vaccines, as well as generally unsupported thoughts on 'toxin' exposure. Frankly, it is a little surprising it is written by a doctor, and not someone on the fringe, who lacks basic science and medical training."

Dr. Jeffrey Matthews, chair of the University of Chicago's Department of Surgery, tweeted:


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