Warren Kennedy, Mullumbimby.
Meryl Dorey’s piece AVN replies to Mandy Nolan’s Soap Box demonstrates that deniers of climate change and vaccinations have much in common. Certainly their uses of ‘facts’ are equally loose.
Nothing demonstrates this more than her reference to Dr William Thompson’s so-called ‘whistleblower’ action of confessing to omitting data in a CDC report. It appears from his explanation that the data were incomplete, however, the crucial question is did the collected data actually prove that the MMR vaccine produces a 700% increased risk of autism as claimed by Ms Dorey? According to the fact-checker website Snopes (https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bad-medicine/) the answer is no, it did not.
Ms Dorey made an omission of her own as well: she failed to reveal that the data in question applied only to African-American boys.
Moreover in the preamble to his explanation Dr Thompson wrote ‘I want to be absolutely clear that I believe vaccines have saved and continue to save countless lives. I would never suggest that any parent avoid vaccinating children of any race. Vaccines prevent serious diseases, and the risks associated with their administration are vastly outweighed by their individual and societal benefits.’
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
