I don't care if it is slanted! It's his book, so he can slant it however he wants. If you don't like it, return it. Fact of the matter is, the information is presented in a way that is easy to understand, not a lot of medical terminology or political jargon tossed in. He's not showing off. I have two copies of this book because one is frequently loaned out to a friend. I wish he would update it. Pediatrix scares the HE** out of me.

This review is in response to other reviewers of this book who are complaining that The Vaccine Guide is slanted. Next time you visit your pediatrician's office, tell him that you are concerned with the safety and efficacy of vaccines. After he reports you to the Department of Child and Family services, he will give you a brochure on how safe vaccines are. Notice on the back who wrote the brochure. It will say Merck, Abbott, Pfizer and such......get the picture? If you still are not statisfied after reading this literature, and you press your doctor again, you will see the real slant, and you will probably not make the same mistake twice. Doctor's as drug pushers and policemen today, forced vaccination tommorow, just around the corner.

The book suffers from three crucial deficiencies: logical fallacies, meaningless statistics, and a double standard of evidence.

The logical fallacies tend to be ad hominem arguments, along the lines that Dr X's research can't be valid because he had an interest in the outcome. Meaningless statistics include counts of cases with bad outcomes, but no mention of the total cases or of the overall probability of a bad outcome. The double standard is that the author attacks studies that were performed using scientific methods with claims of inadequate rigor, but asserts the efficacy of untested treatments: the bad guys weren't rigorous enough, but the good guys don't have to be rigorous at all.

The author doesn't support his arguments, and his numerous errors and omissions blow his credibility, so you can't just trust his judgment either. Don't waste your time.

I bought this book as my main text to help us decide on whether or not to get our child vaccinated. As it breaks down each vaccine individually, it was very helpful for us to make individual decisions. I still go back and refer to it frequently.

I understand why the author included his opinion at the end of each chapter- its a difficult choice to make, and even though the information is being presented to us, we still want someone else to make a recommendation so that we don't, in the end, feel like we made an irresponsible choice. Nonetheless, by presenting his opinion, it might suggest that he slanted his "case in points" to help the reader make the same choice. It's very, very subtle, and despite this, I still agree with him on most aspects.

My only problem with the book is that it contains outdated information (even at the time of publishing). So, if you want to know more about the issue in a clearly presented manner, this is a great book. But don't stop there. Keep looking for more current information (although its hard to find- there are two new books out on the subject (2001) that I just bought to find out how they compare). The issue of thimersol is slowly being addressed and some of the more controversial vaccines like DPT are being replaced systematically with DPaT. The polio vaccine has also undergone some changes.

Be an informed parent. Informed consent implies that you as a parent should know the pros and cons of vaccines. This book and others present both sides, as well as a bit on why you don't get both sides from the doctor's office.

In the end, the decision is yours and yours alone. In making our decision, we asked ourselves (among many other questions), would we feel worse if our child had permanent complications from the disease or from the vaccine? That may be how you ultimately decide.

This is a great book. It's honest, and I like that. It's really interesting how unnecessary most vaccines are and how terrified the media and corporate drug companies like to keep us parents for their own gain. My husband and I have chosen not to vaccinate our son anymore than he has now that we have been able to make a completely informed choice about vaccinations.