Customer Reviews

A Shot in the Dark

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I heard about this book soon after my daughter had a vaccine reaction in 2002. I figured the contents might not apply to me since my child got the DTaP vaccine (with acellular pertussis) instead of the no-longer-in-use DTP with whole cell pertussis. I finally decided to read it in late 2004.

I couldn't believe how very relevant and applicable the book is to my situation in 2004. Yes, this book IS STILL VERY RELEVANT in a world where DTP has been replaced by DTaP.

How is it still relevant?

In my case, my child had inconsolable high pitched screaming for 6 hours straight after her 4 mo. shots. As explained in the book, high pitched screaming is a known and well-documented adverse effect of the whole-cell pertussis component of DTP. My child did not get DTP but instead got "the safer" DTaP, and yet this reaction still occurred. There were also longer term side effects that this book would categorize as neurological. My infant stopped making eye contact for over a week, and my previously vocal and communicative infant stopped cooing for nearly 4 weeks!! How I prayed every day God would give me my baby back!

When I reported the longer term side effects to my doctor, she dismissed it as "anecdotal" suggesting there is nothing in the data to support that a lack of eye contact or loss of cooing could be caused by any vaccine. I couldn't believe the disrespect and disregard for my report of the facts of what had occurred. This book offered some relief and support in this regard because I know now that I am not alone. And this is unfortunate. Other parents of children who have vaccine reactions are treated similarly by their pediatricians.

I concur with asking the question posed by the author, exactly when did the medical community switch from listening carefully to reports of symptoms from parents and patients and begin to listen only to published reports from controlled studies - most of which are funded by organizations with a conflict of interest? Something is very wrong with a system that denies and dismisses the valid reports of concerned parents who have witnessed changes in their child post-vaccination.

In my case, prior to reading all I could get my hands on about vaccines, I was ready to agree with the doctor that my daughter should continue with all other vaccines eliminating only the pertussis vaccine. Then, just before the next round of shots were given, a last minute record review indicated that the leg that had swollen up like a goose egg was not even the leg where the DTaP was administered!! Polio and Hib went into that leg!!

So what a quandry for this parent, indeed! Which toxin caused the swollen leg? Which toxin/vaccine/component caused the loss of eye contact? Which caused the cessation of verbal cooing and the ongoing restlessness and the changes in sleep patterns? Was it acellular pertussis? Or was it diptheria, tetanus, hib, or polio? Or could it have been some ingredient in the vaccines, a preservative or adjuvant material? Could it have been carryover materials from the human fetal cells or animal cells used in manufacturing? No one will ever know. Nor will answers ever come as long as the medical community continues to deny that vaccine reactions occur.

The last sentence of the book reads, "The time has come to become educated about vaccines."

I completely agree with the author on this point and think others will too after reading this book and others on the topic of vaccine safety.

This book is a MUST read for parents and parents-to-be. If it has ever even occured to you that the medical system is not infallible, this book will open your eyes to a reality that most people would prefer to ignore. Vaccinations DO cause temporary and permanent damage to children every year in this country, and many of the diseases against which we are vaccinated are not as frightening as the damage caused by the vaccinations themselves.

This book focuses solely on the DTaP vaccination. There are many case histories of children who were permanently brain damaged and even killed by this vaccination. In some cases more than one child in a family has been permanently injured. In others parents have had to fight in court to retain custody of their younger children when they refused to vaccinate them following severe reactions in their older children.

The companies that manufacture vaccinations are making millions of dollars per year. When a child has a permanently debilitating reaction to a vaccine, the manufacturer is not even held financially responsible - the government uses our tax dollars to compensate families through an official program called the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Would this program even exist if it weren't obvious that vaccines DO cause damage in some instances?

This book gives great information about the kinds of children who are more likely to react to vaccinations, including those who were born prematurely or with a low birth weight, those from families with allergies and food sensitivities, and those who had family members experience vaccine reactions. It also describes in great detail the kinds of reactions one can expect from vaccinations - and which ones should not be considered "normal" despite what your pediatrician's office may tell you. If your child has received some vaccinations already and you feel uncomfortable about any symptoms he or she exhibited in the days following, READ THIS BOOK before you allow any further vaccinations. MANY children who were eventually permanently injured exhibited reactions to earlier vaccinations that were ignored or considered unimportant until hindsight provided the obvious answer.

I am an RN, and have been taking care of a child with seizures, and brain damage for over a year now. The parents gave me his history.
The theory was that the seizures and developmental problems, which started after 3 months of age in an otherwise totally normal child until that time, were caused by the pertussis vaccine.

There was never a way to prove his problems were due to the vaccine, although all tests on the child and parents were negative as to any cause.
I cared for this child for a year before I read the book.

I was amazed at the similarity of his history with that of many other children in the book, and when I finished reading the book, there was no question in my mind that this child's problems were due exclusively to the vaccine.

Anyone considering parenthood,are pregnant, have newborns,are grandparents; owe it to themselves to read this book.

Be informed of the side effects so your child won't be one of the statistics. There are other alternatives, and also the new acellular vaccine is available now, but only to those who ask until the old vaccine is no longer available.

Even if only half the allegations in this book were true, it would be worth the read. As I read the account of how children were damaged by the vaccine and how doctors and public officials reacted and tried to cover up the truth, I wondered, if these kids had been mice and the mice had shown the same symptoms after doses of the vaccine, would there have been any hesitation in implicating the vaccine? Probably not, because the conclusions are inescapable. In addition, there are no financial stakes involved in vaccinating mice. I am a highly trained scientist and I find that the questions and criticisms raised by the authors are valid. Their work here pertains to the whole cell pertussis vaccine, but I would suggest that parents raise the same questions about the acellular pertussis vaccine. One has only to read the package insert to learn that it is NOT a benign concoction, free from "the side effects of the whole cell one" as doctors will no doubt tell their patients. This book has shown that apparently, our kids' lives are not as important as the profits that drug companies could make, or the reputation of the medical establishment, at least in the eyes of the lawmakers who are responsible for making vaccination compulsory in this country. I salute the parents, doctors and other scientists as well as the journalists who had, and continue to have the courage to bring the dangers of many medical practices to the attention of the public. This book is definitely becoming part of my library.

When I read A Shot in the Dark I was both saddened and enraged. Saddened because I have a vaccine-damaged child and enraged that the government, the medical establishment, and pharmaceutical companies use our children as guinea pigs. This is one of the most well-researched books I have ever read and I strongly urge any person who has received vaccines themselves or has children (or intends to have children) to read this book and investigate this issue for themselves. I only wish I had access to this book before my daughter was born.

This book as well as the Sanctity Of Human Blood by Tim O'Shea were huge eye openers for my husband and I, in the area of vaccinations. We feel every parent needs to be informed on this subject. A Shot In The Dark goes into debth on the DTP vaccine and mainly focuses on the pertussis vaccine. The book will make you cry to hear the hundreds of stories of Pertussis vaccine damaged children and their families. There are thousands of children that are damaged by the pertussis vaccine each year and must of those cases are not even reported or noted. This book talks about reactions to the vaccine, the doctors who are must of the time unwilling to admit when a child has suffered a vaccine reaction and has permanent damage. It talks about the different forms of damage and how to recognize them. It talks about the vaccine manufacturers and the lack of testing done for safety on the pertussis vaccine. This book covers the tests and information that individules and some doctors have done that is for the must part covered up by manufacturers, laboratories, and doctors that don't want the truth out. Even though this book is over 10 years old the information is still true for today as nothing much has changed in administering the pertussis vaccine. Parents are still not told that a child can suffer convulations, seizures, collapse, SIDS, and learning disabilities to name a few. My children are not vaccinated. All three are in excellent health and have never had ear infections or any other health problems in which I had to give them any drug or antibotic. Please read this book, your childs future as well as yours may depend on it.

I wish I had read this book before I had my daughter vaccinated,unfortunately she died right after receiving her vaccines in 2001,they tried blaming it on SIDS(very easy cover up) but I hired a lawyer and proved it wrong,I didn't get any money nor did I want that as it won't replace what I lost,I wanted to prove a point.If parents only knew what was in these vaccines and how alot of these aren't really needed they would be appalled.There is a reason they make you sign a consent form in the Dr's office and every state has a Vaccine Injury Compensation Program(VICP) and a VAERS(vaccine adverse event reporting system)in place.Alot of Dr's won't even vaccine their own kids because of the dangers and Dr's get paid a set amount of $ to administer these shots to our kids.Read this book please,all the side effects that our kids experience after receiving the vaccine are NOT normal.If I only knew then what I know now.One more thing,when the schools and daycares tell you that they can't enter without the vaccines,don't believe them,there are very easy ways around it,my son goes to school no problem without them and is healthy as can be.

The authors of this book have perceived, through their research and interviews, significant health threats associated with the pertussis vaccine. They have challenged the relationship between the profit motivated and secretive phamaceutical companies and an affluent medical establishment. They have taken on the arduous task of convincing the American public, which is enamored with it's national medical reputation, that the public's best interests are often not the guiding principles. We Americans have grown up in a society that rarely questions it's medical establishment. This is true even as history has time and again proven that this establishment has often promulgated dangerous and deadly medical practices. One needs not search far to find examples of malpractice disguised as scientifically "proven" medical treatment. The better known of these include blood-letting and the application of leeches to draw out disease. Dr. Benjamin Rush of colonial Philadelphia is heralded not only as a patriot but, more importantly as one of the founders of our American medical establishment. Less known, is his record during the Yellow Fever epidemics of his day. His arrogant and persistent defense of his own method of treatment, which consisted of purging the afflicted patient by infusing them with mercury, undoubtedly hastened the deaths of thousands. Modern medicine has, indeed, done much to improve the health of our society today but this does not, nor should it, protect it from concientious public scrutiny and mandated reform when medical policy goes awry. The authors ask us to question an entrenched medical establishment and they do it very effectively, all the while maintaining a strict journalistic integrity. This book is an important introduction to a profound problem facing us as a society. It is well worth the discomfort you will experience while reading it.

15 years old today, if I knew then what I know now it would of changed my life. Anyone with hopes of having a child should read this book and believe, my daughter is living proof of what the DPT vaccine can do. I tell everyone I know about this books in hopes of sparing them the horror we have and still are living through.

Shame on Amazon.com for including a link to a sanofi-pasteur ADVERTISEMENT for DPT vaccine in this book's listing information!
I am appalled that Amazon is so hard up for cash they must resort to taking blood-money from the corporations responsible for our children's nightmare. While we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars attempting to reverse the damage done to our children by this and other pharmaceutical companies, Amazon helps them to blow smoke to other unsuspecting parents and lull them into ignorant complacency regarding "government-recommended vaccinations". There is only ONE thing driving the govt's vaccination schedule, and that is MONEY.
And now these same companies add insult to injury (literally) by getting congress to pass laws to prevent them from owning up to their complicity in the damage done to our children?
Enough! Enough being a nation of sheep, all jumping off a cliff one after the other.
READ THIS BOOK and take it to heart! Your legislators (with few notable exceptions) don't care about your children, only their own deep pockets.
*Educate before you vaccinate*
*Your child...Your choice*
The message in this book (and others like it) NEEDS to be made common knowledge; the sooner the better for the health of America's children.