Sally Pipes, Contributor I cover health policy as President of
the Pacific Research Institute This article has been revised to
correct an error. Yet another study has debunked the notion that
vaccines cause autism. Late last month, a committee of 18 highly
respected doctors, professors, legal experts and epidemiologists
empanelled by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reviewed more than
1,000 peer-reviewed studies and articles and found “no links
between immunization and . . . autism.” As the chairwoman of the
panel, Dr. Ellen Wright Clayton, put it, “The MMR [Measles-
Mumps-Rubella] vaccine doesn’t cause autism, and the evidence is
overwhelming that it doesn’t.” But for some reason, parents are
increasingly skipping or delaying shots for their children.
Government officials everywhere from New York to Idaho have
reported that refusals to immunize are becoming more common.
This trend is deeply disturbing. Simply put, vaccines save
lives. By failing to inoculate their kids, parents are allowing
junk science to put