Jeremy Henderson
New Blood
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- Feb 19, 2007
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Pediatricians Say Fictional TV Show's Autism-Vaccine Link Could Be Literally Lethal
By Brandon Keim
January 29, 2008 | 1:54:19 PM
The American Academy of Pediatrics wants television network ABC to cancel the opener of "Eli Stone," a legal drama slated to debut on Thursday with an episode featuring a mother awarded $5.2 million after a jury finds her son's autism to be caused by a vaccine additive.
Though the additive in "Eli Stone" is named "mercuritol," it's clearly a proxy for thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative. Thimerosal was largely pulled from the U.S. market in 1999 after the FDA belatedly realized that an expanding routine immunization schedule had led to infant mercury exposures far beyond the EPA's suggested safety limits.
Some parents and scientists hypothesized that thimerosal was responsible for a sudden and disturbing rise in autism diagnoses. Eight years later, a growing body of evidence has cleared thimerosal: even though it's off the market, autism rates haven't fallen. Nevertheless, the controversy refuses to die out, and doctors worry that unsubstantiated fears will cause parents to withhold vaccines from their children.
Such exemptions are on the rise -- and while vaccinologists have been cavalier about lessons that ought to be learned from the thimerosal debacle, there's no question that vaccines are critical to public health.
Avoiding vaccines is far more dangerous than receiving them.
From the American Academy of Pediatrics:
By Brandon Keim
January 29, 2008 | 1:54:19 PM
The American Academy of Pediatrics wants television network ABC to cancel the opener of "Eli Stone," a legal drama slated to debut on Thursday with an episode featuring a mother awarded $5.2 million after a jury finds her son's autism to be caused by a vaccine additive.
Though the additive in "Eli Stone" is named "mercuritol," it's clearly a proxy for thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative. Thimerosal was largely pulled from the U.S. market in 1999 after the FDA belatedly realized that an expanding routine immunization schedule had led to infant mercury exposures far beyond the EPA's suggested safety limits.
Some parents and scientists hypothesized that thimerosal was responsible for a sudden and disturbing rise in autism diagnoses. Eight years later, a growing body of evidence has cleared thimerosal: even though it's off the market, autism rates haven't fallen. Nevertheless, the controversy refuses to die out, and doctors worry that unsubstantiated fears will cause parents to withhold vaccines from their children.
Such exemptions are on the rise -- and while vaccinologists have been cavalier about lessons that ought to be learned from the thimerosal debacle, there's no question that vaccines are critical to public health.
Avoiding vaccines is far more dangerous than receiving them.
From the American Academy of Pediatrics:
While the show includes statements that science has refuted any link between autism and vaccines, the episode’s conclusion delivers a contrary impression; the jury awards the mother $5.2 million, leaving audiences with the destructive idea that vaccines do cause autism.
“A television show that perpetuates the myth that vaccines cause autism is the height of reckless irresponsibility on the part of ABC and its parent company, The Walt Disney Co.,” said Renee R. Jenkins, MD, FAAP, president of the AAP. “If parents watch this program and choose to deny their children immunizations, ABC will share in the responsibility for the suffering and deaths that occur as a result.
ABC doesn't plan to cancel the show, but will preface it with a CDC website link and a disclaimer: “The following story is fictional and does not portray any actual persons, companies, products or events.”“A television show that perpetuates the myth that vaccines cause autism is the height of reckless irresponsibility on the part of ABC and its parent company, The Walt Disney Co.,” said Renee R. Jenkins, MD, FAAP, president of the AAP. “If parents watch this program and choose to deny their children immunizations, ABC will share in the responsibility for the suffering and deaths that occur as a result.
