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Shots in the Dark
Director: Lina B. Moreco, Canada, 2008, 85 minutes
The incidence of autism in the United States is currently estimated at 1 out of every 150 children. These staggering statistics are made flesh in director Lina B. Moreco’s documentary Shots in the Dark.
The recommended number of vaccinations for children has doubled in the last quarter century. Beginning at 12 hours of age and continuing throughout early childhood, most kids receive over 48 doses of 14 different vaccines before they reach age 6. Some of these vaccines contain mercury, aluminum, and other assorted neurotoxins. Parents who have experienced the repercussions of vaccinations reveal the true scope of the problem. "I wish I hadn’t listened to the doctor, who said you have to vaccinate your child," says the mother of twin boys, one whom developed severe autism after receiving his MMR shot (Measles Mumps Rubella). In addition to the families who have been affected by vaccine injury, pediatricians and researchers offer their own experiences. They reveal that many doctors have little knowledge about the potential side-effects of thimerosal (mercury), lead, and other additives in vaccines.
While the medical profession maintains that more vaccinations equal better public health, the evidence is often sorely lacking. Exposure to mercury and aluminum is still little understood, and the repercussions of injecting extremely young children with intensely toxic materials even less so. It remains to be determined whether the stunning rise in rates of autism, multiple sclerosis, encephalitis, paralysis, and many other neuropathies is directly attributable to increased vaccinations. But what is explicitly clear is that much more research must be undertaken.
Far from rejecting the documented benefits of vaccination, Shots in the Dark makes very clear that, in the name of the greater good, great suffering has been inflicted on the most vulnerable members of society. And the film asks the necessary question, at what point is this trade-off unacceptable?
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