An article offering arguments against the safety of vaccines from the director of the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute is causing an uproar among the medical community.
In an op-ed published Friday on Cleveland.com, Dr. Daniel Neides recounted his experience having a reaction to a flu shot and made specific references to the use of formaldehyde, thimersol (a form of mercury), and a link between giving vaccines to infants and autism in children.
The Cleveland Clinic disavowed Neides’ column, saying it “absolutely does not reflect the position of the hospital” and that the Clinic fully supports vaccines and all evidence-based medicine, Cleveland.com reported.
Neides said in the article the formaldehyde in the shot made him sick and called it a preservative. In reality, formaldehyde is used to inactivate the virus and the amount used is very tiny compared to the amount already present in the bloodstream at all times. The body makes formaldehyde to assist in certain processes, so the formaldehyde in the vaccine would not have any noticeable effect, according to Forbes.
Neides’ colleagues have widely decried his column, with some calling for discipline against him for feeding the flames of nonscientific arguments against vaccines.
Neides later apologized for his comments and said he wanted to open a discussion about the safety of vaccines, not to advocate for people not to use them, a subsequent Cleveland.com article said.
The Cleveland Clinic later said Neides will face disciplinary action for his comments while not giving any specific details about the kind of discipline he will face, News 5 Cleveland reported.
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