The Driven Researcher

Enchancing Appreciation of Evidence-Based Science

If you like to read studies published in professional journals then you probably understand that a drug, vaccine or new treatment under consideration may be given to one group of people (the exposed group) while being withheld from another similar group of people (the control group). The two groups of people are then compared to determine if the drug or treatment had an effect, perhaps a reduction in pain or the likelihood of contracting a disease. Some people who read studies are content to simply know the gist of what the authors of the paper concluded — the treatment appears to be effective, for example — without understanding the statistical methods used to quantify the results.

Primum non nocere is Latin for "First, do no harm," one of the guiding principles of medical care. Yet there is a large body of scientific evidence confirming numerous vaccine safety deficits that counteract well-publicized benefits. For example, several studies show that thimerosal (mercury) and aluminum in vaccines can cause neurological, immunological and developmental harm.