---
product_id: 8649268
title: "Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine's Greatest Lifesaver"
brand: "arthur allen"
price: "VT14745"
currency: VUV
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.vu/products/8649268-vaccine-the-controversial-story-of-medicines-greatest-lifesaver
store_origin: VU
region: Vanuatu
---

# Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine's Greatest Lifesaver

**Brand:** arthur allen
**Price:** VT14745
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

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- **What is this?** Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine's Greatest Lifesaver by arthur allen
- **How much does it cost?** VT14745 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
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## Description

Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine's Greatest Lifesaver

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐ 







  
  
    A Biased and Interesting Book
  

*by W***Y on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 19, 2009*

Arthur Allen freely admits that he is biased in writing this book, calling himself a "vaccine obsessive" and claims that a doctor saved his life from an infection as a child, so he owes a lot to doctors. But he does a good job presenting his side of the issue and the history of vaccines.However, that doesn't mean that he has to demonize anyone who opposes his view and that of established medicine. He could have simply reported the facts for his side of the case, but he chose to slander the opposition whenever he could, for example calling them "mavericks, cure peddlars, slackers, fruitcakes, vaccine shunners, living in a spooky world with a profound misunderstanding of science."He is especially drawn to religious fanatics, mainly Christian, whom he apparently hates. He went out of his way to visit "kooks" wherever he could find them, and then make fun of them.If Allen was a journalist instead of a mere reporter, he would have fairly researched both sides of the controversy. He would have talked to the credible experts opposed to vaccination. You won't find any expert of any stature opposed to vaccination in this book, like Dr. Robert Mendelsohn or Dr. Andrew Saul, just two examples. Vaccine scientists are just a little lower than angels here.The really key issues are avoided,like whether diseases like polio and diptheria went away because of better sanitation and the subsidence of the virus, or because of the vaccine. Polio subsided in Europe without the massive vaccination program used in the US, Why?Another key issue is whether vaccines cause diseases like autism. The unfortunate linking between mercury based thimerasol and autism set the autistic kids up for a fall. As soon as thimerasol is removed from vaccines, the authorities can say "see, that didn't cause it!"The fact is that vaccines contain several ingredients that can freak out a kid's immune system, and babies don't even have a well developed immune system anyway. They include inactivated viruses, nasty chemicals like detergents, mercury, aluminum, etc., occasional live viruses and foreign tissue from the source media (like chicken or monkey cells)The biggest missing issue of all is prevention and an honest cost calculation for vaccines. If vaccines cost $8 each for a cheap vaccine, we can see what the total cost is for the population. It is big bucks. It includes all the time for doctors and nurses in pediatric clinics. But not everyone succumbs to viruses, many avoid them or quickly overcome them. Why isn't Allen curious why this is? He stumbles over the truth on page 340, mentioning that Buttram said that "vitamin C prevents polio" but quickly picks himself up, dusts himself off and stepped around it, as Winston Churchill quipped.Dr. Frederick Klenner cured 60 cases of polio in 1948 with ascorbate (vitamin C)and wrote a medical paper that was presented at an AMA seminar June 10, 1949, but they ignored it. They were looking for a vaccine, not a cure.So, what would the cost comparison be between curing a small number of infected individuals with a perfectly safe, cheap and effective treatment, versus innoculating the entire population and possibly killing a few in the process? Vaccines are money makers for medical staff, even if not for the manufacturers. This is the Achilles heel of the vaccine theory and it urgently needs to be discussed, but you won't find it in this book.W.G. WhitneySt. Albert, Alberta, Canada

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Great for history buffs
  

*by A***A on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 26, 2021*

I loved this because I enjoy the medical history genre and this does a great job of making the sociology of the biology very vivid. It doesn’t do the best job of the biology itself though...there’s a bit of general lack of good writing / craft story telling. This book would’ve been so different in the hands of Michael Lewis or Siddhartha Mukherjee...having said that, this book is still a treasure lore of facts and headlines that have now faded into obscurity. If you like the medical writing canon, it is worth a read.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    A fair look at vaccine history for more than two centuries
  

*by S***A on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 8, 2014*

I enjoyed reading this book for its historical perspective as well as for the few chapters of investigative journalism done during recent whooping cough outbreaks. I think Allen portrayed anti-vaccinating parents somewhat unfairly during the whooping cough epidemic, but perhaps his account was accurate based on what he experienced. More interesting was the history and the arguments for/against vaccines that have been brought up over the past 2+ centuries since variolation was in practice to protect against smallpox. A lot of the arguments from the early days have persisted, and he fairly points out, with skepticism, how some concerns just don't make much sense. One thing I was pleased with is that, even though this book seeems to come out in favor of vaccines overall, he didn't shy away from some of the serious issues with vaccines: such as SV40 in polio vaccine in the 60's which was found to cause tumors, and Hepatitis B being introduced during the course of vaccination because of the use of human blood serum and the routine re-use of needles for vaccinating in low-resource areas. A great book for anyone who wants a fair look at vaccine history. The only con is that it could get a bit dry during long discussions of the process of creating some vaccines and the politics involved.

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*Product available on Desertcart Vanuatu*
*Store origin: VU*
*Last updated: 2026-02-08*