Category: pandemic

Editorial by Thomas E. Levy, MD, JD

OMNS (Oct. 18, 2021) No issue in the history of medicine has been as strident and polarized as that of the risk/benefit profiles of the various COVID vaccines being administered around the world. This article does not seek to clarify this issue to the satisfaction of either the pro-vaccine or the anti-vaccine advocates. However, all parties should realize that some toxicity does result in some vaccinated individuals some of the time, and that such toxicity can sometimes be unequivocally attributed to the preceding administration of the vaccine. Whether this toxicity occurs often enough and with great enough severity in vaccinated persons to be of greater concern than dealing with the contraction and evolution of COVID infections remains the question for many people.

Practically speaking, it does not matter whether an adverse event that occurs after a vaccination gets “blamed” on the vaccination. Such a matter may never get resolved. The issue of greatest concern is whether that adverse event can be clinically resolved if not effectively prevented, and whether any long-term damage to the body can be prevented once an adverse event is recognized. The remainder of this article will address the etiologies of such damage along with measures that can mitigate or even resolve such damage.