Was anything proven with Poling case?

[Guest guest]

Was anything " proven " with Poling case? (was: My letter, posted at Salon

Another spin factoid that I hear popping up about this case is that

nothing with the Poling case " proves " vaccines caused autism -- that

the government concession doesn't mean very much because it is a legal

finding and not a scientific one.

This is a specious argument. First of all, vaccines are a part of

public health policy. Public health, by definition is political.

Political matters, in this country, are settled by elections and/or

courts of law. They are not settled by medical science oligarchies

grading their own peer-reviewed papers, conflicts of interests be damned.

Public health policy is ultimately a political not a scientific

matter. Science, of course is an important component, but it is not

the final say, because " science " is too often, wrong.

So yes, it has been proven to some degree -- in a legal venue -- that

vaccines cause autism -- it happened the minute the government

conceded. The " not-proven " argument is just so much tap dancing,

which ironically has little to do with science, and more to do with

politics.

Lenny