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KaylaHodkey

ProfessorCampbell

ENC1102

January26,2017

TheVaccineWar

Formanyyears,peoplewhoopposevaccinationshaveusedmedicalterminologyasa

persuasiverhetoricalstrategy.Thisstratagemmakestheirargumentsseembothcredibleand

educational. Although lacking evidence, this tactic has caused longlasting damage to the

publics knowledge of health. I plan to prove how the misuse of medical rhetoric is being

integratedinsocietyto,notonlygenerateafalsesenseofcredibility,butserveaspersuasive

rhetoricaltechniqueaswell.Overexaggeratedlanguageishijackingmedicalterminologyto

convince laymen that vaccines are the cause to autism. I intend to focus on how medical

languageisnotnecessarilyusedforeducationalpurposes,buthasbeenredefinedtocreatea

scarerhetoricfortheantivaccinemovement.

Themedicaldiscoursecommunityplaysalargepartinthiscontroversialtopic.Thehigh

levelofexpertisemedicalprofessionalsobtain,ultimatelygivethemtheresponsibilitytoeducate

andinformthepublicabouthealth.However,pseudoscienceamongtheuneducated,external

communityhascausedanuproarofdisputesandconflictsbetweenthescientificcommunityand

antivaccinationists.LikeFishman,Iwillstudythewritingandlanguageusedwithinthemedical

discoursecommunitytofurthermyunderstandingonhow languageis usedwithinboththe

external and internal communities. Unlike the Amish community described in Becoming

Literate: A Lesson from the Amish, todays society has easy access to a large variety of
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informationwithfewlimitations.Thisgivesindividualstheopportunitytoexpressthemselves

inaunique,selfgoverningfashion,aswellastheabilitytoarticulateuniqueperspectivesandthe

freedominterpretinformationwithapersonalapproach.

ThroughprimaryresearchIhaveformulatedaresearchquestionbasedoninformationI

have read in articles and heard in documentaries: How has Dr. Andrew Wakefield's, now

retractedmedicalpublication,linkingautismtochildhoodvaccines,causedlonglastingdamage

topublichealth?Iwillstartbyexplainingthesciencethatignitedtheantivaccinemovement.An

article that was published in 1998 in the medical journal,The Lancet, by a British

gastroenterologist, Andrew Wakefield, reported that eight out of twelve children developed

symptomsofautismfollowingtheMMR(measles,mumpsandrubella)shot.Wakefieldstheory

concludedthatthemeaslesvaccinationinflamedtheintestines,causingharmfulproteintoleak

into the bloodstream, resulting in brain damage and causing autism. In 2010, The Lancet

retractedWakefieldspapersayingitwasscientificallyflawedandhisfindingscouldnotbe

replicated.Afewmonthslater,Wakefieldwasstrippedofhismedicallicense.However,despite

theserevelations,organizationscameoutinstrongsupportofWakefield,continuingtobelieve

hisscience(Palfreman&McMahonTheVaccineWar).IhopetofindoutwhatpartofAndrew

Wakefields retracted publication used persuasive rhetoric strategies to cause such a huge

controversyinsociety.

Persuasionisoneofthecentralelementsinmanymedicalinstances.Patients,without

noticeablesymptoms,mayneedtopersuademedicalexpertstheyareillandmedicalexpertsmay

persuadepatientstheyarenotill,despitethewaytheyfeel.Thewordbreakthroughpersuades

thepublictoimaginemedicalresearchasadramaticenterprise,conversely,thetermsurvivor
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leavesthedeadpersonlookingsomehowliable.Alllanguageissupposedtopersuadeeven

whenitappearsthepurposeisonlytoinform(Segal&Derkatch138139).

Whatarevariouswaystheexternalcommunityuselanguagetoconveythatvaccinesare

bad and how does it affect the lives of others? Through the analysis of language used in

documentariesIwillstudythetoneandlexisusedintheinternalandexternalcommunities,and

howpersuasiverhetoricalstrategiesareusedwithineach.Forexample,anindividualthatisa

partofanexternalcommunitymaysay:

Thelanguageusedisbasedonfearmongering.Wordslikeimmunocompromised,deadly

andneurodamaginginstantlypersuadestheaudiencetofeelfearfulanddoubtful.However,

incorporating medical lexis and terminology like monosodium glutamate, mercury and

formaldehyde, and genetically modified organisms may give the audience a sense of

credibilityandreassurance. Whereas,anarticlefromTheU.S.DepartmentofHealth&Human

Services, Five Important Reasons to Vaccinate Your Child, a source from the internal

communitymaysay:
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Althoughthisevidenceusesvividimagery,itdoesnotintendtoprovokenegativeemotionssuch

asfearandconfusion,butinsteadgivesanindividualasenseofhopefulnessandreassurance.

Noticethatmedicalterminologyisnotneededtocreatethesepositiveemotions.Afterreading

and researching articles, blogs, and comments I can critically dissect the way medical

terminologyandlexisismisusedintheexternalcommunitytoconvincethepublicthatvaccines

are the cause to autism. From there, I can provide support against these arguments using

educated, verified, evidential texts. Like texts from the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention(CDC),Health&HumanServices(HHS),InfectiousDiseasesSocietyofAmerica

(IDSA)andaPBSdocumentary,TheVaccineWar.

Whatarethekeydifferencesbetweenlanguageandmedicalterminologyusedininternal

communitiesverseexternal?Interviewsareaninteractivegenre,theyaredynamicanddialogic;

they unfold in real time and depend on the exchange between speakers with their own

knowledge,attitudes,opinions,andbeliefs(Segal&Derkatch140).Ihopetoincorporatethis

researchmethodintomyargumentandinterviewbothinsidethemedicalcommunityandoutside

ofit.Bothofwhichlendtotherhetoricaltacticofspeakingtothecorrectnessandeffectiveness

oflanguage.Iwouldaskonesimplequestion:Doyoubelievethatvaccinescauseautism?If

yes,why?Ifno,whydoyouthinkotherpeoplethinkso?Onlyonequestionwillbeaskedso
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theirresponsesareelaborateanddescriptive.Iwilltakenotes oftheirtoneandlexis.With

permission,IintendtointerviewDr.AngelaM.GarciaMD,Dr.WiljonW.BeltreMD,myaunt

whoseson(mycousin)hasautismasaresultofseizuressaidtobeasideeffectofavaccination,

andthreerandompeople.Itiscrucialtohavetheopinion(s)ofsomeoneapartoftheinternaland

external community in order to have unbiased results and the opportunity to receive new

perspectivesandpointofviews.

Thepublicsattentionhasbeencaughtbytwokindsofknowledge,withinthemedical

discoursecommunity.Thecollectivebutdryconclusionsofthescientificcommunityandthe

personal anecdotes of antivaccinationists, each expressing an idea of their own. Persuasive

rhetoricalstrategieswithinthediscoursecommunityhavecausedlonglastingdamagetothe

publicsknowledgeofhealth.Ithastaintedtheviewofamedicalprofessionalsbydepictingthem

aseviloruneducated.However,ifBritishgastroenterologist,AndrewWakefieldsarticlein

the medical journal,The Lancet, has been retracted, why are so many people still anti

vaccinationists?

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WorksCited

Segal,JudyZ.,PhD,andColleenDerkatch,MA."RealmsofRhetoricinHealthand

Medicine."RealmsofRhetoricinHealthandMedicine(n.d.):13842.Web.

TheVaccineWar.Prod.JonPalfreman.Dir.KateMcMahon.N.p.,n.d.Web.

Fishman,Andrea.BecomingLiterate:ALessonfromtheAmish.TheRighttoLiteracy(1990):

2938.1990.RptinUCFWrites:AhandbookforWritingattheUniversityofCentral

Florida