Dr. Robert S. Mendelsohn (1926–1988), a pioneer who died too early.

American paediatrician, author, and vocal critic of many aspects of conventional medicine, including vaccination.

Please note his book “Immunisations: The terrible risk your children face that your doctor won’t reveal” is no longer available on Amazon.

Dr. Robert S. Mendelsohn (1926–1988) was an American pediatrician, author, and vocal critic of many aspects of conventional medicine, including vaccination. Mendelsohn was a professor of pediatrics, the chairman of the Medical Licensing Committee of Illinois, and a syndicated columnist who aimed to inform the public about what he perceived as the overuse and misuse of medical interventions.

Key Views and Contributions:

1. Skepticism of Vaccines:

Dr. Mendelsohn expressed significant concerns about vaccination. He believed that vaccines were overused, inadequately tested for safety, and could cause more harm than good. While he wasn’t outright against all vaccines, he challenged their routine use, especially in children.

2. Criticism of Modern Medicine:

Mendelsohn described modern medicine as a “religion” and argued that it often caused harm due to over-reliance on drugs, surgeries, and other interventions. He believed in empowering patients to take more responsibility for their health and encouraged less invasive approaches. I think he describe the professors of medicine as the ‘High Priests’ of this new religion.

3. Books and Media:

There is nothing really new under the stars. His most famous book, Confessions of a Medical Heretic, outlines his concerns about the medical establishment, including its ties to pharmaceutical companies and its dismissal of alternative viewpoints. He also authored How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor, which includes advice for parents on avoiding unnecessary medical treatments for their children. His book “Immunisations: The terrible risk your children face that your doctor won’t reveal” is no longer available on Amazon.

4. Controversy:

Mendelsohn’s outspoken views made him a polarizing figure. Many in the medical community dismissed his ideas as fear-mongering, while others praised him for challenging medical dogma and advocating for patient autonomy. For me, it was at the time in the early 1980’s when I had to make a decision- push hard the practice of nutritional medicine or go back to the orthodoxy. I elected the former and have absolutely no regrets.

Dr. Mendelsohn remains a significant figure in the history of medical skepticism, particularly regarding vaccination and mainstream medical practices.

Comment:

While the public may need to have vaccine safety studies conducted (because they haven’t been proven to be safe), I was witness to vaccine damage to children in my early career in the 1970s. Whilst showing empathy, understanding and belief in mothers who blamed the vaccines on their child's illness, this was enough encouragement for more patients to discuss the problems. This was in the 1970's and 80's before the current unnecessary barrage (assault) of foreign antigens into babies and infants had begun.

When I introduced Dr. Robert S. Mendelsohn to a medical group in Melbourne in the early 1980's, I was warned in no uncertain terms by a member of the AMA (Dr. N.L.) I was risking my license to practice. Thereafter, informed consent and my advice to patients was breast feed and use the vitamins "ABCD and zinc". And that has been my teaching ever since.

Ian Brighthope