Money and Motivation of the Anti-Vaccine Movement

We often hear the argument that anyone who supports the ideas that vaccines work and that they are safe and necessary must be a shill for Big Pharma. And that pediatricians, even though they are among the lowest paid doctors, are making tons of money from vaccines and even getting bonuses to get kids vaccinated.

Of course, none of these myths and conspiracy theories are true.

Money and Motivation of the Anti-Vaccine Movement

But guess what motivates many of the folks in the anti-vaccine movement?

“Vaccines are a holocaust of poison on our children’s brains and immune systems.”

Claire Dwoskin

For some, it is the idea that vaccines damaged their child.

And then there’s the money.

CNN did a report several years ago on how a few groups were funding researchers and organizations that put out much of the material that scare parents away from vaccinating and protecting their kids.

It wasn’t a surprise though.

Many others had been saying the same things for years about several of these people and we have since learned about more.

• the Dwoskin Family Foundation and CMSRI
• Barry Segal and Focus for Health
• Lisa and Bernard Selz – have donated millions to Del Bigtree and Andrew Wakefield
• David and Leila Centner – supported Robert F. Kennedy, Jr’s latest film
• JB Handley and Generation Rescue

But anti-vaccine experts aren’t just motivated by the money they directly get from those with deep pockets.

They have discovered many ways to turn the anti-vaccine movement into a money making industry.

A money making industry that generates millions of dollars a year for some of these folks!

Many of them also get money by:

• selling anti-vaccine books, e-books, videos, seminars, and movies
• getting paid to speak at anti-vaccine conferences and summits, often for chiropractors or folks like Gwyneth Paltrow, pushing her GOOP
• selling supplements and vitamins in a “wellness” store, either online or in their offices, that they claim can detox you from vaccines, protect you from toxins, and even prevent autism
• ads on their websites and Facebook pages
• appearing as “experts” in court, as they push the idea that everything is a vaccine injury
• soliciting donations and crowdfunding on Facebook and other sites

Those who are health care providers can also establish integrative or holistic medical practices that don’t accept insurance and only see patients that can pay cash. In addition to selling supplements, these providers offer unproven and disproven alternative therapies, like homeopathy, integrative testing, IV therapy, and cranio-sacral therapy.

But only if you have plenty of cash handy.

Kelly Brogan, MD, for example, who believes in a paleo approach to vaccines and thinks we should co-exist with viruses and bacteria, charges up to $4,497 for your first appointment! But if that’s too much for you, for only $997, you can start living a “happy, healthier life” with her 44 day online program.

“We coexist with bacteria and viruses to a level of enmeshment that makes the perception of ‘vaccine-preventable infections’ a laughable notion.”

Kelly Brogan, MD on Where do Vaccines Fit into a Paleo Lifestyle?

And now, some doctors are even making money by selling vaccine exemptions!

Oliver argued that Sears likes to have it both ways, seeming to support science-based medicine while once in a while saying things like “vaccines don’t cause autism except when they do.”

The line inspired Oliver to fire back with this: “Don’t worry, opportunist quacks writing books that fan the flames of people’s unfounded fears don’t cause a legitimate public health hazard, except when they do.”

John Oliver takes a shot at the anti-vaccine movement and the ‘opportunistic quacks’ behind it

Mostly they just sell fear though.

But that’s all they need to get their foot in the door and keep some parents from vaccinating and protecting their kids.

What to Know About the Money and Motivation of the Anti-Vaccine Movement

Although they cry Big Pharma at the drop of a hat, it should be clear that folks in the anti-vaccine movement are often motivated by money.

More on the Money and Motivation of the Anti-Vaccine Movement

• The Value and Cost Savings of Getting Vaccinated
• Do Anti-Vaccine Pediatricians Lose Millions Not Vaccinating Kids?
• Vaccines and Profiting Pediatricians???
• Does the CDC Own Any Patents on Vaccines?
• What Are the Greatest Tricks Anti-Vaccine Folks Use to Persuade Parents to Skip Vaccines?
• More Questions to Help You Become a Vaccine Skeptic
• A Snapshot of the Deep Pockets of the Anti-Vaccine Movement
• Here’s the Money Behind the Anti-Vaccine Movement
• CNN: The money behind the vaccine skeptics
• The Anti-Vaccine Movement in 2020
• A major funder of the anti-vaccine movement has made millions selling natural health products
• Claire Dwoskin and the Children’s Medical Safety Research Institute (CMSRI)
• Meet the New York couple donating millions to the anti-vax movement
• Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest in Vaccine Research
• How the vaccine crisis was meant to make money
• The Truth about Vaccines Episode 1: Top Ten lies debunked
• John Oliver takes a shot at the anti-vaccine movement and the ‘opportunistic quacks’ behind it
• Anti-vaccination groups still crowdfunding on Facebook despite crackdown
• Web giants profit from anti-vaccine fraud’s video
• Andrew Wakefield: In it for the money all along?
• Charity cash funds anti vaccine ‘doctor’
• Conflicts of interest among vaccine advocates: The Law of Contagion
• Are Chiropractors Backing The Anti-Vaccine Movement?
• 9 Reasons to Completely Ignore Joseph Mercola
• The Greater Good: Pure, unadulterated anti-vaccine propaganda masquerading as a “balanced” documentary
• In Goop Health: An even quackier quackfest of dangerous misinformation than expected
• Don’t Cry Wolfe: New Age Con-Artistry and Anti-Intellectualism