Cross Country Checkup

Thalidomide survivor says Canadians should 'trust the science' on vaccines

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Alvin Law was born without arms, but says medical safety has advanced as a result of the disastrous drug

Alvin Law is a Calgary-based speaker and thalidomide survivor. (Submitted by Alvin Law)

Show more Alvin Law was born without arms as a result of thalidomide, a once-prescribed nausea drug. Despite negative experiences with pharmaceuticals, Law says vaccine-hesitant parents should trust doctors and drug companies when it comes to vaccine science. 3:00

A Calgary thalidomide survivor says that despite his own negative experiences with pharmaceuticals, he has no hesitations about the safety of vaccinations — and Canadians should "trust the science and doctors."

Alvin Law was born without arms as a result of thalidomide, a drug once used to treat morning sickness during pregnancy, which was prescribed to his birth mother.

During the 1960s, more than 100 Canadian children were born with disabilities — including missing and malformed limbs, blindness and deafness — resulting from the medication.

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Law spoke with Cross Country Checkup host Duncan McCue on Sunday during a call-in on whether the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine should be made mandatory in light of the 41 confirmed cases across Canada.

During the program, several callers expressed mistrust in pharmaceutical companies as a reason for refusing vaccinations. While Law understands their concerns, the motivational speaker says that drug safety has increased in the years following the thalidomide crisis.

This was something that happened. Mistakes happen and we corrected it. - Alvin Law, speaker and thalidomide survivor

Below is part of that conversation.

What are your thoughts on the conversation so far?

I know you've had a lot of experts on the show. I think we need to trust the science, which I believe is absolutely there. I believe we need to trust the doctors and the medical community.

And I think, previously, we've been hearing some calls on the show where people are theoretical experts — and I have a problem with people who learn to be experts by just simply reading what they want to read on the internet.

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So, I just wanted to approach this idea of saying, 'Look, I should be angry because of a pharmaceutical, but I'm not because I see the benefits.'

Sunday's call-in show focused on whether the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine should be made mandatory in light of the 41 confirmed cases across Canada. (Rafferty Baker/CBC)

You were born without arms as a result of thalidomide, so what is it that got you around to that thinking that you've gotten to now?

This is actually a very personal part of my story. I was also given up for adoption when I was less than a week old, therefore I was raised in a home that took me in as foster parents and then eventually adopted me.

But the key to their thinking in our home was, 'You cannot blame a drug company based in Germany for your having no arms because it wasn't personal.'

This was something that happened. Mistakes happen and we corrected it. So, I'm very pragmatic about it.

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I also understand there's a lot of thalidomiders, as we call ourselves, that are very angry about the drugs. So, there's not one acknowledged opinion that works for everybody.

But I like to think that when somebody wants to put forward an idea to help our children to make sure they don't get sick — by making people do something that they're otherwise opposed to because they're getting incorrect information — I think we have to trust the science and the doctors.

And then to take it one step further I mean you also favour mandatory vaccinations. Why's that?

Because I think a lot of times — and I'm not trying to be rude to anybody who believes against vaccinations — I just think that sometimes somebody has to make a decision and then move forward for the better of our society.

And one side thing, Duncan, if I may add this: Most people don't realize that the modern pharmaceutical industry regulations ... are very stringent today.

So in other words they're not going to let something go by that's going to hurt people on purpose, we're created by the wake of the Thalidomide crisis.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.