How good is your doctor?

GrumpyBrit - sorry about your mother's experience. Am glad you shared her story here, my youngest is now allergic to penicillin and I must say I've always trusted doctors - until now - to have taken note of his allergy when prescribing medications for him. Would NEVER have occured to me that penicillin might be found in any kind of medications other than anti-biotics. 'Simvastitin' certainly wouldn't have sounded any alarm bells for me before now.... I personally am 'allergic' (in that I have an unpleasant reaction that makes me feel like I'm gong to die, it's hard to explain) to caffeine, and I was astonished to learn the hard way just how many medications, including common OTC ones like Midol, contain it.

Stephx86 - wow, your experience with zyban is interesting. I took it in the States to quit smoking, and the effect on me was quite alarming! I became dangerously depressed and full of dark and suicidal thoughts, and had to go off it after just a few days. At least I understand now from first-hand experience why there is so much concern these days about the fact that some anti-depressants which have been known to literally 'cause suicide' are still regularly prescribed to depressed teens, as the companies that manufacture them have 'hidden' or played down their KNOWN potentially-fatal side effects. I contacted Zyban to let them know about the effects their product had on me, by the way, and they were NOT interested AT ALL...

Speaking of 'unknown medical dangers', I stopped the other day to talk to an acquaintance who I hadn't seen for some time, and discovered he was only just back on his feet again after having spent 6 months recovering from mercury poisoning.... from his influenza injections! This is a guy no older than 45 or 50 years old. He had had 2 or 3 jabs per the recommendation of his doctor, but after he became seriously ill apparently some of the nurses at the clinic told him that there had been a number of deaths from this same jab. As part of his treatment, he had to have all his teeth fillings removed because of the mercury in them. He says he won't be buying any 'eco' light bulbs in his lifetime!....Many people are still unaware that many if not all of the standard children's inoculations that we all used to take for granted as 'perfectly safe' contained mercury until only recently, and that many of them still do contain it - you're very unlikely to be told this though by any doctor/nurse before they stick that needle into your child.

Guess one lesson in all this is that we really must be constantly reminding ourselves (it's easy to forget over time) to be vigilant about these kinds of things, to be proactive in asking the important questions each and every time, and to never trust 100%.in ANYONE, even (especially??) if they have 'Dr' in front of their name... 

Many people are still unaware that many if not all of the standard children's inoculations that we all used to take for granted as 'perfectly safe' contained mercury until only recently, and that many of them still do contain it - you're very unlikely to be told this though by any doctor/nurse before they stick that needle into your child.

They do not contain mercury anymore, at least not in the U.S.

They do not contain mercury anymore, at least not in the U.S.

Can you point to any solid verification of this statement?

http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/thi-table.htm [nofollow]

I do know that Influenza vaccines containing thimerosal (a preservative of which 50% is mercury) were still being administered to at least some children in USA within the last year. The influenza vaccines CAN be made without thimerosal now, but that has not necessarily meant that all influenza vaccines no longer contain it.

Many people are still unaware that many if not all of the standard children's inoculations that we all used to take for granted as 'perfectly safe' contained mercury until only recently, and that many of them still do contain it - you're very unlikely to be told this though by any doctor/nurse before they stick that needle into your child.

Guess one lesson in all this is that we really must be constantly reminding ourselves (it's easy to forget over time) to be vigilant about these kinds of things, to be proactive in asking the important questions each and every time, and to never trust 100%.in ANYONE, even (especially??) if they have 'Dr' in front of their name... 

I agree 100% with being proactive where our health is concerned. I ask all kinds of questions and the fact that a person's a doctor really doesn't equate them to being perfect.

I think the statement that many routine childhood vaccines still contain mercury isn't quite true, at least in the US. Only certain flu vaccines contain thimerosol, but not all of them.

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/thimerosal.htm

thanks for the reply to my post, I would like to report him but how? isn't it his word against mine? It was nice to see that some of you actually found good doctors. I'm sorry others have had bad experiences like mine.
I did look at the website but I heard that you don't get the actual drug sometimes or that the contents are not known. I am just wary.
Thanks again

I would think that you would get more mercury in your body from eating tuna once a forthnight than getting a jab once a year.

Can you point to any solid verification of this statement?

http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/thi-table.htm

I do know that Influenza vaccines containing thimerosal (a preservative of which 50% is mercury) were still being administered to at least some children in USA within the last year. The influenza vaccines CAN be made without thimerosal now, but that has not necessarily meant that all influenza vaccines no longer contain it.

You said many childhood vaccines.

Many people are still unaware that many if not all of the standard children's inoculations that we all used to take for granted as 'perfectly safe' contained mercury until only recently, and that many of them still do contain it - you're very unlikely to be told this though by any doctor/nurse before they stick that needle into your child.

That is not true.  The only vaccine that still might contain mercury is the flu.  That is one vaccine out of many people will get in their lifetime. 

Soundsl ike some people in this thread should be rating their GPs here:

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=45347.0

Also, the UK was still using the mercury-containing DPT vaccine until as recently as 2006, years after the US stopped.

You said many childhood vaccines.  

That is not true.  The only vaccine that still might contain mercury is the flu.  That is one vaccine out of many people will get in their lifetime. 

Plus, not everybody gets a flu vaccine. It's not considered essential, other than for people who are  at high risk of developing serious complications from the flu, such as the elderly and people with respiratory conditions. Unlike other vaccines, it's meant to prevent the individual from developing complications from the disease, not to prevent the disease from spreading throughout the population.