New e-Prescribing Guide Unveiled

Abstract

is less than $20 million. Greater investment in postmarket vaccinesafety studiesandsurveillancewould allow scientists to apply genetics research tools and other scientific advances to problems such as identifying the individuals at greatest risk for vaccine-associated adverse events. Efforts should also be made to ensure that such research is well coordinated, free of conflicts of interest, and transparent. “While we make the case for how overwhelming the benefits are of vaccines compared to the low risks that exist, we owe it to the public to assure them how rigorous our studies of vaccine safety are,” Cooper said. Tayloe agreed that greater investments in vaccine safety efforts should be made to bolster public support for vaccines. Additionally, he noted that because vaccines are very safe but not completely risk-free, the United States has a system to compensate individuals who experience vaccine-associated adverse events. A lawsuit against Tayloe’s father, David Tayloe Sr, MD, by parents who believed the diphtheria-pertussistetanus vaccine harmed their child, was among the factors that led to the passage of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. The act established a special vaccine court and a fund to provide compensation when an individual has an injury linked to a vaccine. The court helped to shore up public confidence in vaccines and to ensure that physicians and vaccine manufacturers could continue to offer vaccinations. The alliance is encouraging individuals to discuss vaccine-related questions with their physicians and to rely on credible information about vaccines to make decisions about their child’s health. In addition, the group is urging journalists and others communicating about vaccines, such as bloggers, to learn about the evidence supporting vaccine use and to take care in providing scientifically accurate information about vaccine safety and effectiveness. Tayloe said the coordinated approach advocated by the alliance and an ongoing commitment to ensuring high rates of vaccine coverage are essential to the public’s health. “We can’t be complacent,” he said. “These diseases will come back with a fury if we drop these efforts.”