Tag: book review

The Vaccine Friendly Plan – a book review

The Vaccine-Friendly Plan by Paul Thomas and Jennifer Margulis emphasizes informed decision-making regarding childhood vaccinations. While promoting a pro-vaccine stance, the authors advocate for considering individual health needs and offer guidance on pregnancy and child development. Their approach includes discussing environmental toxins and providing strategies to support immune health in children.

updated December 22, 2025

This information is current as of the date of original publication or update but may have changed by the time you read this. Do not use this information for diagnosis or treatment purposes. Before making health decisions, discuss with a qualified healthcare professional.

The Vaccine-Friendly Plan

by Paul Thomas, M.D., a pediatrician  and

Jennifer Margulis, Ph. a science journalist.

In 1961,  my mother and I went to my school on a Sunday afternoon to receive the newly released oral polio vaccine. She along with other parents eagerly sought a way to prevent a dreaded disease that had the potential to cripple or even kill their children.

In medical school I learned about diphtheria, a painful throat infection due to a bacteria, Corynebacterium diphtheriae. Once a common cause of severe illness and death, a vaccine had rendered it rare. I saw no cases of diphtheria in medical school, nor have I since.

As a young physician I welcomed the introduction of the H.Flu vaccine (Haemophilus influenzae bacteria, not the virus) in 1985. At that time, any infant or toddler with a fever was a potential victim of meningitis due to H.Flu, which could be deadly or leave the child with neurological damage.

Similarly, the Hepatitis B vaccine made healthcare a less risky occupation; Hepatitis B is a blood-borne infection contracted from contact with infected blood.

VACCINE-PREVENTABLE DISEASES
FROM THE CDC, JANUARY 2016-

So, I was first surprised, then puzzled, then alarmed at the number of parents who reject vaccination for their children, and adults who decline immunizations for themselves. Some people now fear the vaccines more than the diseases they prevent. must consider this to help people stay well instead of treating them when sick.

I was intrigued when I heard of a book, by a physician that seems to promote a compromise-

The Vaccine-Friendly Plan

The Vaccine-Friendly Plan is published by Ballantine Books,  2016

It is based on his pediatric practice, Integrative Pediatrics,  as well as their extensively noted references. The book’s subtitle summarizes the contents accurately-

“Dr. Paul’s Safe and Effective Approach to Immunity and Health- from Pregnancy through your Child’s Teen Years.”

The book discusses pregnancy, infant, and child care in general, not just vaccination, although that is a major emphasis. There is a chapter about pregnancy and for each stage of child development through adolescence.

The first chapter discusses a popular health topic now- toxins. (As an aside, I don’t know when we started calling poisons  “toxins”) . This should grab your attention-

“Toxins, Toxins, Toxins: Raising Healthy Children in a Poisoned World”.

Anything can be “toxic” if misused, overused, or abused but they concentrate on these toxins in particular- acetaminophen, aluminum, aspartame, fluoride, methanol, mercury, and what they call endocrine disruptors(this includes pesticides).  They state “environmental toxins are likely contributing to the autism epidemic” as well as other neurodevelopmental and mental disorders in children.

 They base their conclusion on an extensive list of review articles from the medical and scientific that support their view and from Dr. Paul’s medical practice of 11,000 children who he calls “among the healthiest in the world.” While I suspect families who are already health-conscious tend to select a physician who is health-oriented, this claim sounds impressive.

I agree with some of the advice the authors offer. For example this advice for pregnancy is hard to argue with-

  • Eat a whole foods, organic, non-GMO diet 
  • Skip the soda
  • Drink filtered water
  • Minimize stress
  • Get treatment for addiction
  • Join a support group

But in addition, they recommend declining all vaccinations during pregnancy, certainly not mainstream medicine advice.

A later chapter also offers sound advice:

“ The Best Ways to Support your Child’s Immune System” 

  • Breast feed
  • Enjoy cuddling
  • Laugh a lot
  • Relax often
  • Rock your body
  • Stay hydrated
  • Eat a variety of foods
  • Maintain social connection
  • Read
  • Get Dirty
  • Be cautious but not afraid
  • Choose vaccines based on real science, your family’s needs and common sense
  • Sleep enough
  • Trust your children
  • Trust yourself

He offers an interesting list  Ten Questions to Ask When Looking for a Pediatrician (which I assume would apply if you use a family physician for your child’s care).

As a physician, I have never liked the idea of being “interviewed” by a potential patient; I  want a relationship with patients, not a job. But I think pediatricians routinely offer “get-acquainted” visits so you may find it helpful.

Some of the questions seem more appropriate to explore  in a long-term relationship with a physician, not quick answers in a short visit, like “What would you like me to know in order to keep my family healthy?”

An appendix compares the CDC immunization schedule of 1983 to the current 2016 version, illustrating  many more vaccines and doses are now recommended.

Of course the list is longer since several new vaccines have been developed in the past 30 years and the CDC recommends those considered necessary for the public health. Most areas of medical care have changed dramatically in the past 30 years, we have a lot more of everything-drugs, procedures, etc- so this should not be a surprise.

vaccines
CDC Immunization Schedule-

Also in the appendix is Dr. Paul’s Vaccine Plan at a Glance, which is a much abbreviated version of the CDC recommendations. The plan is offered free at his web site . (There is also a “store” on the website offering an assortment of vitamins, minerals, probiotics, and melatonin.)

The authors describe themselves as “pro-vaccine”, have received vaccines themselves and vaccinated their children. But they also believe that physicians and parents should have a choice and make informed decisions about immunization and other procedures. 

Universal vaccination is recommended , but there are individual circumstances where the routine schedule might need to be altered due to a child’s particular medical circumstance, but not for some vague concern that vaccination might not be “safe”. Neither is infectious disease.

If you are a parent who has deferred vaccination for your children,  please read this book soon.

Also, read another review of this book by  Vincent Iannelli, MD , a pediatrician and Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Sonia Shah, a science journalist, also wrote about vaccination in her book
Pandemic – Tracking contagions from cholera, to Ebola, and beyond

Pandemic- a book review

If you like history, current events, medical science, or just want to be more knowledgeable about why we should be concerned about infections , antibiotic resistance and vaccine phobia, you should read this book.

Keep reading
another post on this topic

Vital questions you should ask about immunization

This coronavirus pandemic is serious. We don’t yet have a vaccine or effective treatments. To protect ourselves, our familes, and our entire communities we should all be practicing social distancing and other hygiene measures as we wait for a safe, effective vaccine and treatments.

Keep reading

Exploring the HEART of Health

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a review of Being Mortal by Dr Atul Gawande

Dr. Gawande discusses end-of-life care- care when a disease has become terminal and a cure is no longer likely. Sometimes it is difficult to determine when that occurs. As he says, it is rare in medicine when there truly is “nothing more we can do”.

Being Mortal 

Medicine and What Matters in the End

by Atul Gawande

(This blog post features affiliate links which pays a small commission to this blog from purchases, without additional cost to you)

I read Being Mortal by Atul Gawande, M.D. (To be exact, I listened to the audio version)

Atul Gawande- Being Mortal-book cover

Dr. Gawande is a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts and professor at Harvard Medical School. He writes for The New Yorker and has authored three other bestselling books.

In Being Mortal, he explores the way most people live, age and die and for the most part it’s not a pleasant prospect.

Caring for elderly people

As people age and lose independence due to frailness, illness, mental decline and poverty, they often also lose whatever is most important to them- their home, pets, hobbies, possessions. And these losses often occur to protect them from harm as they progress into assisted living centers, nursing homes and hospice.

Dr. Gawande describes how his  family in India expected  to care for their elderly relatives, which differed from what he saw happen when they immigrated to the United States. After becoming a physician, he recognized that our care of the elderly often robs them of the well-being that he sought to promote in his practice.

He wondered how it can be done differently. To find out, he interviewed people who are developing novel ways to provide care to older people, care that preserves their independence, dignity and choices while still keeping them safe and protected.

Most of us either have relatives or friends facing these decisions, or are facing them ourselves. If not now, we all will eventually. Whichever the case, this book show”s” the ultimate goal is not a good death but a good life-all the way to the very end. “

woman sitting in a cemetery
photo from the Lightstock.com collection, an affiliate link

“ the ultimate goal is not a good death but a good life-all the way to the very end.”

Atul Gawande

Caring for dying people

Finally, Dr. Gawande discusses end-of-life care- care when a disease has become terminal and a cure is no longer likely. Sometimes it is difficult to determine when that occurs. As he says, it is rare in medicine when there truly is “nothing more we can do”.

However, just because we can do something, doesn’t mean we should. Some treatments, rather  than extending life just prolong the suffering. Still it is heart wrenching for patients and families, along with their doctors, to decide that it is time to forgo treatment and instead opt for palliative care, with or without hospice.

(Palliative care focuses on symptom management and social and emotional support for patients and families.)

Dr. Gawande poignantly describes this process by sharing in detail his  father’s cancer diagnosis, treatment, progression, hospice care and death. He shows how difficult a process this can be, given that even he and his parents, all of whom are physicians, struggled to come to terms with the reality of terminal illness and the dying process. Though they were all familiar with and experienced in dealing with the medical system, they still felt unprepared to face the decisions required at the end of life. But in the end, both he and his father felt at peace with the outcome and Dr. Gawande senior did experience “a good life-all the way to the very end.”

Atul Gawande on Priorities, Big and Small–

a podcast interview with Tyler Cowen

Other books by Dr. Gawande–

Complications : A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science

In gripping accounts of true cases, surgeon Atul Gawande explores the power and the limits of medicine, offering an unflinching view from the scalpel’s edge. Complications lays bare a science not in its idealized form but as it actually is―uncertain, perplexing, and profoundly human.

Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance 

The struggle to perform well is universal: each of us faces fatigue, limited resources, and imperfect abilities in whatever we do. But nowhere is this drive to do better more important than in medicine, where lives may be on the line with any decision.

Atul Gawande, the New York Times bestselling author of Complications, examines, in riveting accounts of medical failure and triumph, how success is achieved in this complex and risk-filled profession

The Checklist Manifesto:How to Get Things Right

Atul Gawande shows what the simple idea of the checklist reveals about the complexity of our lives and how we can deal with it.

exploring the HEART of caring

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