Vaccines and Autism

I was about to get ready and rip into THIS ARTICLE. First of all, I thought it would just be another one of those "I'm a celebrity and thus I'm a scientist as well" type article... but it wasn't. It was actually very, very well written. It is by Jim Carrey. It is about vaccination and autism. Which makes sense, as Jenny McCarthy has long been the major spokesperson against the over-vaccination of children.

Now, let me say that this movement has kind of irked me a bit. It reminds me of the people that keep my beloved fluoride out of my water. But while I still doubt the link between vaccines and autism (and other developmental issues), Carrey highlights the fact that these huge concerns about vaccines still haven't been investigated properly.

Now I do NOT take my notes from Jim Carrey, but it reminded me of special I saw on Larry King about a week ago that highlighted the vaccine issue. Pretty much everyone there acknowledged that the concerns over vaccines still have not been properly investigated. This seems fair, right? Even many on the "pro-vaccine" side (if you can call it that) acknowledge that we should just bite the bullet and do a study comparing rates of autism among the immunized and non-immunized.

To this I agree. Why don't we put this whole issue to rest and get some definitive findings. What is stopping us? Why hasn't this research been conducted?