Books like Vaccinated by Paul A. Offit

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks follows the story of Henrietta Lacks, a poor black tobacco farmer whose cancer cells were taken in 1951 without her consent and later became the first immortal human cell line, HeLa, driving major scientific breakthroughs while raising questions of ethics, race, and medical exploitation.

How did we get to a place where vaccines are viewed with horror rather than as life-saving medicine? The answer is rooted in one of the most powerful and disturbing citizen activist movements in our nation’s history -- a movement that, despite recent epidemics and deaths, continues to grow. Deadly Choices is the story of anti-vaccine activity in America -- its origins, leaders, influences, and impact -- and is a powerful defense of science in the face of fear. - Publisher.

John R. Brinkley, a 20th‑century medical quack, rose from selling worthless patent remedies to becoming a famous surgeon in Kansas, while battling physician authority and regulators, in a tale of ambition and controversy.

Today, one out of every three Americans uses some form of alternative medicine, either along with their conventional ("standard," "traditional") medications or in place of them. One of the most controversial--as well as one of the most popular--alternatives is homeopathy, a wholly Western invention brought to America from Germany in 1827, nearly forty years before the discovery that germs cause disease. Homeopathy is a therapy that uses minute doses of natural substances--minerals, such as mercury or phosphorus; various plants, mushrooms, or bark; and insect, shellfish, and other animal products, such as Oscillococcinum. These remedies mimic the symptoms of the sick person and are said to bring about relief by "entering" the body's "vital force." Many homeopaths believe that the greater the dilution, the greater the medical benefit, even though often not a single molecule of the original substance remains in the solution.In Copeland's Cure, Natalie Robins tells the fascinating story of homeopathy in this country; how it came to be accepted because of the gentleness of its approach--Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow were outspoken advocates, as were Louisa May Alcott, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Daniel Webster. We find out about the unusual war between alternative and conventional medicine that began in 1847, after the AMA banned homeopaths from membership even though their medical training was identical to that of doctors practicing traditional medicine. We learn how homeopaths were increasingly considered not to be "real" doctors, and how "real" doctors risked expulsion from the AMA if they even consulted with a homeopath.At the center of Copeland's Cure is Royal Samuel Copeland, the now-forgotten maverick senator from New York who served from 1923 to 1938. Copeland was a student of both conventional and homeopathic medicine, an eye surgeon who became president of the American Institute of Homeopathy, dean of the New York Homeopathic Medical College, and health commissioner of New York City from 1918 to 1923 (he instituted unique approaches to the deadly flu pandemic). We see how Copeland straddled the worlds of politics (he befriended Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, among others) and medicine (as senator, he helped get rid of medical "diploma mills"). His crowning achievement was to give homeopathy lasting legitimacy by including all its remedies in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938.Finally, the author brings the story of clashing medical beliefs into the present, and describes the role of homeopathy today and how some of its practitioners are now adhering to the strictest standards of scientific research--controlled, randomized, double-blind clinical studies.From the Hardcover edition.

Get the straight facts about vaccines and make informed choices Do you wonder whether vaccines are safe and whether they are all really necessary? This completely revised and updated edition of the classic Vaccines: What You Should Know helps you sort through the latest information about vaccines in order to determine what is right for your family. Coauthored by Paul Offit, a member of the CDC advisory committee that determines which vaccines are recommended for use in the United States, this guide tells you what vaccines are made of and clearly explains how they are made, how they work, and the risks associated with them. This updated edition includes recommendations for the smallpox vaccine, the latest information on vaccines for travelers, and the latest on the progress of combination vaccines. Expanded information on vaccine safety includes discussion of vaccines and autism, mercury in vaccines, and the ability of children to tolerate numerous vaccines at once.

This book examines every aspect of vaccination - from development to use in reducing disease. Completely revised and updated, it provides authoritative information on vaccine production, available preparations, efficacy, and safety-recommendations for vaccine use, with rationales-data on the impact of vaccination programs on morbidity and mortality-and more. The book provides a complete understanding of each disease, including clinical characteristics, microbiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment, as well as epidemiology and public health issues. It discusses the proper use of immune globulins and antitoxins; examines vaccine stability, immunogenicity, efficacy, duration of immunity, adverse events, indications, contraindications, precautions, administration with other vaccines, and disease control strategies; and illustrates concepts and objective data with over 605 tables and figures.

The vaccine race chronicles how the use of human fetal cells led to the creation of rubella and other childhood vaccines, its scientific breakthroughs, the political and ethical hurdles, and its global impact on public health.