Vaccines : Are They Really Safe and Effective? : A Parent's Guide to Childhood Shots 

by Neil Z. Miller

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
A fast and passionate read about vaccination issues, May 20, 2000
Reviewer: reader and customer from Sydney, Australia
I found this book along with five other books on vaccination at my local public library. I started with Miller's book because it seemed the most concise. It was an easy read and includes many heart wrenching accounts of parents whose children reacted to routine vaccinations - and how the doctors in these cases refused to report these deaths in any way attributable to the shots. Stories to bring out the radical in you! While this book is a good start on the topic, it is one of the books that many people will find too emotional - particularly people who are pro-vaccination to begin with. To his credit, the author makes this emotional element clear at the beginning of his book. I am glad the public library had this book, but I am spending my money on a more thorough and well written one I borrowed at the time - Immunization the Reality Behind the Myth by Walene James. She gives a well rounded and intellegent presentation of much of the same research Miller glosses over. The result being the reader will understand the issue more deeply themselves and come away armed with the facts. This one is so good I want it in MY library!

In this book, "Immunizations: The People Speak!" my intent is to provide the reader with an honest cross-section of vaccination concerns. The questions, comments, and personal stories are real. They were taken from several national radio and television interviews that I gave during the past few years. The callers ranged from moms and dads to government officials and medical doctors. All had something important to contribute. Their many questions and comments about vaccines may help to clarify your concerns. Clearly, parents are perplexed, desperate for honest information on which to base their decisions.

But honest data is hard to come by. While much of it is buried in the medical literature, some of it is deliberately suppressed -- like the fact that the government operates a vaccine insurance fund to compensate parents when their children are damaged or killed by mandated vaccines. Is it any wonder we find it difficult to determine who or what to believe?

Recently, a pregnant mother shared with me the following story. She said that a close friend took her child to the clinic for her shots. Soon thereafter the child became deathly ill. Both mothers "investigated" the problem and discovered several other mothers who had similar experiences at local clinics. They concluded that the clinics offered "generic" vaccines and that they needed to go to a doctor for the "good stuff." Evidently, the glorified vaccination concept is so deeply ingrained in our psyches, that the damage being done to our own children is readily discounted.

My hope is that the many questions and comments voiced in this publication will provide you with an intimate glimpse -- both pro and con -- of the issues surrounding vaccinations. May God bless you for seeking the truth, for taking personal responsibility for your decisions, and for wanting only the very best that this world has to offer your innocent and trusting children.

Sincerely, Neil Z. Miller

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
My Compliments to the Author, March 22, 2000
Reviewer: Amy Clements from Connecticut
Are they really safe and effective? NO! This book is the answer to my prayers.I've researched vaccines extensivly on the internet.Mr.Miller puts the facts in this easy read book.I plan to buy copies for family & friends.This book has facts that made me cry.I went crazy with my highliter pen.I plan to take the book with me to our next pediatric visit.(maybe they wont mind me leaving a copy in the waiting room.)

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
Powerful Data. My Highest Recommendation!, February 2, 2000
Reviewer: H. Smythe, Education Dept. from New York, USA
I heard this author on the radio and was impressed with his knowledge of vaccine statistics. He is very convincing. I bought his book and could not put it down until I read every page. The information made me mad and it made me cry. I had read other books on immunizations but none of them affected me so deeply. This book is guaranteed to make you tremble, but it is supported with hundreds of studies. I checked some of the more important references and was pleased to discover that this book provided an accurate summary of the data. I strongly recommend this book and have already purchased more copies to give to my family and friends.

28 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
Important issue - Misleading statistics - Heavily biased, November 26, 1999
Reviewer: Ethan Blansett from United States
The vaccination issue is a controversial one and it may be possible that your child and mine will be better off without specific vaccinations. To determine this, we need more information; relevant information. It's my opinion that Neil Miller's bias towards not vaccinating has led him to report and display information that only supports his view, regardless of its relevance to the issue. For example, as other reviewers mention, Mr. Miller shows graphs that indicate that since the early 1900's, the death rate due to polio, measles, and pertussis, has been dropping significantly, even before vaccinations were introduced. Death rates? True, if you contracted a serious disease in 1950, your chances of surviving it were significantly better than if you got the disease in 1900, thanks mainly to improved hospital hygiene and medical technology. Why doesn't Mr. Miller display the likelihood of contracting the diseases instead of dying from the diseases? Perhaps it is because these graphs seem to show that vaccinations are effective in reducing disease incidence rates, and therefore can be found on the Center for Disease Control web page. The purpose of a vaccination is to prevent a disease, not to prevent a death from a disease. Focusing only on the small number of people who died from a disease, and not on the much larger group who contracted the disease, is misleading and leaves me feeling that Mr. Miller was searching for the most persuasive and dramatic graphs. He also shows charts indicating that about half of all pertussis and measles cases in 1984 occurred in vaccinated kids. This argument seems common and is another misleading and persuasive tactic. Ask yourself this question, if the CDC is successful and 100% of kids are vaccinated and vaccinations are about 90% effective, what percent of those who get the diseases will have been vaccinated? 100% So far Neil Miller has effectively shown that less people die from diseases in modern times and that the CDC is very effective at promoting vaccinations. Though I fear that the remaining half of the graphs in this book were chosen with the same persuasive tactics in mind, they do represent important points: the live polio vaccine often causes polio; doctors may be less likely to diagnose a disease as polio if they gave you a polio vaccine; the pertussis vaccine (and others) caused and still may cause many side effects, some severe. This book contains important information and it contains irrelevant information. If you wish to relax your critical thinking skills and be persuaded not to vaccinate, read this book. If you wish to be better informed about all sides of this issue, look elsewhere. I recommend The Vaccine Guide by Randall Neustaedter. I have decided that the chances of my child getting a serious reaction to vaccines is about the same as having serious problems from the disease (chance of getting disease times chance of getting serious problem once they have the disease). I'm left not wanting to vaccinate until I get further information. Unfortunately, Neil Miller's book didn't help me much in this quest.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Adds pertinent information to the vaccination debate., November 18, 1999
Reviewer: Helen E. Faria from Macon, Georgia
While I don't agree with all the conclusions drawn in this book, the author has dealt honestly with this subject and has added pertinent information to the vaccination debate. In fact, he has uncovered information that is immensely important and that has not been made readily available by the public health establishment to the general public. This thin tome, nevertheless, contains graphs showing the precipitous decline in death rates in such diseases as polio, measles, and pertussis, before immunization programs had been put in place. While the book is a best seller among parents and the public, it should also be studied by those reluctant to question conventional wisdom regarding immunization. Miguel A. Faria, Jr., M.D. Editor-in-Chief, Medical Sentinel of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
WOW!, March 19, 1999
Reviewer: A reader from New York
I read this book and was very impressed. Every parent should read this book before making a decision. I also read Mr. Miller's other vaccine books and highly recommend them as well.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
Must read for any parent!, March 1, 1999
Reviewer: A reader from Texas, USA
The case against vaccinations is presented in this book with clear and logical examples. After reading it, I was able to discern what a hard sell the medical establishment does on vaccinations. I was already sold on avoiding vaccinations when the only thing the pro-vaccination sites could do is insist that it was the right thing to do, use scare tactics about what will happen if you don't and the schedule for getting vaccinations (which is totally illogical if you take some time to think about it). This books shows me that the aforementioned tools are the only things the medical establishment can say in "favor" of vaccinating your child. I am indebted to Mr. Miller for making this information available to the public in such a concise and readable book.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Information All Parents Should be Aware of, February 22, 1999
Reviewer: A reader from Pennsylvania
I give this book as part of my gift at every baby shower I attend. All new parents, and those with young children should read this to understand the risks involved in the routine vaccinations which are given to their children. The author's 1995 book on immunizations contains additional info, but I like the way this one is organized better. It is easier to find info on a specific vaccination when you are seeking it.

This is a short, concise review of vaccine ineffectiveness., February 19, 1999
Reviewer: A reader from Portland, OR, USA
I liked this book because it has graphs showing the decline of plagues even before vaccines started becoming so popular. This is a brief book, about a quarter inch thick, not too intimidating for someone just being introduced to the natural immunity theory. I also recommend Lendon Smith's "Feed Your Kids Right" and Cheryl Townsley's "Food Smart."