I'm particularly offended by the barrage of direct-to-consumer ads for drugs whose names look like a bad set of Scrabble tiles. The ones that particularly rub me the wrong way are for anti-depressants. Did you ever notice that the great majority of actors in those ads are young women?

The statistics over the years have proven both the overall safety and effectiveness of required vaccinations. The measles out break in California is an excellent example why we should require all children in public schools to be properly vaccinated. I am old enough to remember chicken pox, measles, and mumps because I had all three during my childhood. Both measles and mumps can cause permanent physical harm and can even kill while chicken pox is related to later life shingles attacks. I also remember knowing kids permanently crippled as a result of polio. All these diseases along with small pox had been pretty much wiped out due to the development of effective vaccines.

The arrogance of certain people claiming a privilege by not vaccinating their children endangers the health of the community at large. The risk of vaccines is infinitesimal while the risk of these diseases is significant. I am not willing to grant special privileges to these people for whatever reason they may claim. If their kids are in public schools then they should be required to be vaccinated. No exceptions. If these people do not want to vaccinate their kids, then they should stay out of the public schools.