Source: Forbes.com Author: Henry Miller The agency has sown confusion by asking physicians to stop administering a vaccine that even they admit is safe. By applying its now-customary excessive precaution, the FDA has painted itself into a most interesting corner. The result will likely be confusion among pediatricians and the public and parents reluctant to permit their children to get an important vaccination. And that in turn will cause unnecessary cases of rotavirus infection, debilitating diarrhea and, in a few children, death. The FDA last March asked pediatricians to stop administering GlaxoSmithKline's ( GSK - news - people ) Rotarix, a vaccine that prevents rotavirus infection, a diarrheal illness that commonly affects infants and children and that can cause severe dehydration. Their rationale was self-contradictory and unpersuasive. On one hand, the FDA seemed still to be confident about the vaccine, explaining that, "Extensive studies, including placebo-controlled, randomized clinical studies involving tens of thousands of vaccine recipients, support the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine." And the positive experience of countless infants and children vaccinated since the licensing of the vaccine two years ago further confirms its safety. So why do regulators want a "pause" in administration? Because using a new ultra-sensitive assay, small amounts of DNA from a pig virus were detected in the vaccine preparation. That might sound like a good reason for concern--except that the FDA itself confirms "that the material has been present since the early stages of product development, including during clinical studies." In other words, all of the studies that confirmed the [...]