Is Oregon State Senator Jeff Golden Standing with the Anti-Vaxxers?
I was personally very excited to see Jeff Golden elected to the Oregon State Senate from District 3 — Ashland, Talent, Phoenix and most of Medford. Now, I’m not so sure he’s got the district’s best interests in mind. Why? Because he is apparently standing with Ashland’s coterie of vocal Anti-Vaxxers — you know, the educated conspiracy theorists who are denying their children immunization and thus endangering their community.
After Sen. Golden recently voted “no” on HB-3063, which would have mandated vaccinations for almost all kids in public schools, and seeing a video clip of Jeff equivocating when asked directly about the issue by Oregon Rep. Mitch Greenlick, I wrote him a personal note outlining my concerns. In his reply, he noted that we were probably not going to find common-ground on this issue, and that his research had revealed a “gamut of credibility” on the subject. No, that’s not accurate at all. The research is clear. And “common ground” implies some middle space where we could both agree. That’s not going to happen, as on this issue the vast body of academic and scientific research convincingly demonstrates there is a right and a wrong, no middle ground exists.
Just yesterday, speaking for the UN, UNICEF warned that the shock rise in global Measles cases was ‘disastrous’ for children worldwide. The disease has even re-appeared in countries where it had been totally eradicated. Like this case in Costa Rica, which had been free of Measles since 2006.
According to the WHO, across the globe 3 million lives are saved every year by the Measles vaccine. That’s no small number. The WHO even included the anti-vaccine movement as being one of 2019’s “10 biggest threats to our global health.”
Here’s what UNICEF reports:
“Highly contagious, measles spreads more easily than Ebola, tuberculosis or influenza, infecting the respiratory tract. It is potentially fatal to malnourished children and babies too young to be vaccinated. In addition, once infected, there is no specific treatment for measles, making vaccination a life-saving tool.”
Anti-vaccine movements are as old as vaccines — dating back to the 18th century. But what appears to have sparked more recent movements, like what we’re seeing today in Ashland, Oregon, was the publication of a paper, since disproved and retracted, that linked certain vaccines with Autism. An oft-cited academic article in the US National Library of Medicine provides the details.
The anti-vaccination movement was most strongly rejuvenated in recent years by the publication of a paper in The Lancet by a former British doctor and researcher, Andrew Wakefield, which suggested credence to the debunked-claim of a connection between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and development of autism in young children [14]. Several studies published later disproved a causal association between the MMR vaccine and autism [15–18]. Wakefield drew severe criticism for his flawed and unethical research methods, which he used to draw his data and conclusions [19]. A journalistic investigation also revealed that there was a conflict of interest with regard to Wakefield’s publication because he had received funding from litigants against vaccine manufacturers, which he obviously did not disclose to either his co-workers nor medical authorities [20]. For all of the aforementioned reasons, The Lancet retracted the study, and its editor declared it “utterly false” [21]. As a result, three months later, he was also struck off the UK Medical Registry, barring him from practicing medicine in the UK. The verdict declared that he had “abused his position of trust” and “brought the medical profession into disrepute” in the studies he carried out [22].
So let’s talk about Ashland. This local city of approximately 22,000 has become home to one of the state’s largest and most vocal anti-vaccination groups — who are breathing new life into old diseases. As a consequence, the city has long-since totally lost its “herd immunity,” and now poses a significant threat to residents and travelers with small children, seniors and the immune-challenged.
According to the Center for Disease Control, measles prevention requires 90–95% of residents be vaccinated. In Ashland today, there are schools with over 50% of students that have not been vaccinated — immunized against common childhood and adult diseases. That’s a problem, and potentially a very big problem. Especially for the immuno-challenged.
There are some categories of visitors and members of the Ashland community that depend on herd immunity to protect them because they are particularly vulnerable to the disease. Groups include immunocompromised, those on chemotherapy, HIV positive, newborn babies, and the elderly.
According to Ashland Child, “Oregon has the highest percentage of children enrolled in kindergarten who have been exempted from receiving at least one vaccine, and Ashland, Oregon, has the highest rate of exemptions in the state.” Ashland ranks second in the country for unvaccinated children, Boulder, Colorado is first.
Let’s be clear, Ashland’s vaccination rate is so poor that the city is literally inviting once extinct diseases like Polio, Smallpox and Measles back to town. Not to mention Chicken Pox, Diptheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, and Hepatitis A and B. Now, ask yourself… Is this a town you really want to visit? Is this a place you’d send your high-school graduate to college?
For background, I know more than a little bit about what I speak. For years I was an RN, and during that time I had roles as a nursing supervisor, director of nurses, and allied health educator. I worked with the severely developmentally disabled for a while, including with “Rubella kids,” children who had been profoundly mentally disabled by a case of the German Measles in the first trimester of pregnancy.
These kids were a challenge. Most had IQ’s of infants, and some were extremely violent by nature. And their condition was entirely preventable. That had a big impact on me. Here’s what the Virology Blog says about “Congenital Rubella Syndrome”:
“Congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) is the name give to fetal defects caused by rubella virus infection. These include eye manifestations (cataracts, glaucoma, retinitis), congenital heart defects, hearing loss, microcephaly, bone disease, mental retardation, and diabetes.”
If you ask anyone over 65 about polio, you’ll learn that it was the bane of every parent in the country until a vaccine was developed in 1955. Hundreds of thousands of children were paralyzed annually. Think kids in iron lungs. Parents literally kept their children from playing outside out of concern they might somehow contract the virus.
Speaking about the biggest global health threats in 2019, the UN concludes: “…unless these threats get addressed, millions of lives will be in jeopardy.”
So I’m really wondering why Senator Jeff Golden, progressive on so many issues, is standing with the anti-vaxxers who are threatening the entire southern Oregon community — all of us. I have skin in this game, as following blood cancer treatment, I am immune challenged. I also have three grandchildren I love and don’t want them to see a future where preventable viruses are taking lives and damaging communities.
Finally, the anti-vaxx movement is now cozying-up to the far right wing in America, according to this recently published article. Senator Golden was elected to office as a Democrat. He needs to understand that his constituency values reasonable, evidence/science-based policy — and that includes public health issues like vaccination.
Nine countries, including many of our European partners, have mandatory vaccination. Argentina declared vaccination a national emergency last year and now requires proof of vaccination to obtain a national ID, drivers license, marriage license or passport. I am eagerly awaiting clarity from the Senator on this important issue that WILL have an effect, one way or the other, on his district. Why on earth would he vote to put the community at risk? Jeff, ball’s in your court….
Charles McHenry
