Jenny McCarthy suddenly popped up again in the autism news. Why? Some celebrity website posted an article “Changing Her View? Jenny McCarthy Abandons Controversial Position On Vaccines And Says Her Son May Not Have …”. Note that the link for that story goes to a “404” (page not found). I.e. the story seems to have been pulled.
The full title seems to have been “Changing Her View? Jenny McCarthy Abandons Controversial Position On Vaccines And Says Her Son May Not Have Autism After All“.
Note, there are two points in that story. The first–that she’s abandoned her controversial position on vaccines. She seems to have dodged that question. The second–that she says her son may not have have autism after all. She made what seems to be a conflicting response to that.
Apparently the original story cited the idea that McCarthy’s son actually had Landau-Kleffner syndrome, not autism. As I recall, that idea was first put forth by Dr. Daniel Ruben in Neurology Today in a letter “Fanning the Vaccine‐Autism Link“. He wrote:
In “After Vaccine-Autism Case Settlement, MDs Urged to Continue Recommending Vaccines” (June 5), Dawn Fallik correctly cites Jenny McCarthy as a celebrity fanning the flames of the vaccine-autism link. McCarthy also makes parents think that autism can be cured with unproven treatments — as she claims is the case with her son — documented in her much publicized book, Louder than Words: A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism (Dutton 2007).
Unfortunately, what the public does not realize as well as perhaps McCarthy is that her son was most likely misdiagnosed with autism in the first place. His disorder began with seizures and, subsequently, with the seizures treated, he improved. This would be more consistent with Landau-Kleffner syndrome, which often is misdiagnosed as autism.
Daniel B. Rubin, MD, PhD
I can’t recall Jenny McCarthy accepting the idea of Landau-Kleffner, or even commenting on it. So the original story in Radar Online was incorrect and it’s good they corrected their mistake. They posted an new article, “Jenny McCarthy: ‘My Son Does Have Autism’“. He does have autism? Present tense?
Stories circulating online, claiming that I said my son Evan may not have autism after all, are blatantly inaccurate and completely ridiculous. Evan was diagnosed with autism by the Autism Evaluation Clinic at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital and was confirmed by the State of California (through their Regional Center). The implication that I have changed my position, that my child was not initially diagnosed with autism (and instead may suffer from Landau-Kleffner Syndrome), is both irresponsible and inaccurate. These stories cite a “new” Time Magazine interview with me, which was actually published in 2010, that never contained any such statements by me. Continued misrepresentations, such as these, only serve to open wounds of the many families who are courageously dealing with this disorder. Please know that I am taking every legal measure necessary to set this straight.
Here’s a hint: don’t use “autism families” as a shield. What world do you live in where a story about you, correct or incorrect, “opens the wounds” of people like me?
Let’s pause a moment to acknowledge Jenny McCarthy accusing other people of being “irresponsible and inaccurate”. A statement dripping with irony coming from Jenny McCarthy.
Let’s also notice, we are back to present tense, Evan has autism. If statements that “Evan may not have autism after all” are incorrect, then he has autism now. Present tense.
Why make a big deal out of the tense? Because she’s made statements that her son is no longer autistic. For example, on Larry King Live in 2009:
KING: What is still evident about his autism? In other words, if I spent a day with Evan, what about him would be different about him than any kids.
MCCARTHY: Absolutely nothing. Seizures, that would probably …
CARREY: This is the risk. When he gets a fever we have to worry because there are seizures connected autism, to this disorder.
MCCARTHY: He had a vaccine injury which led to seizures. So we still can’t necessarily say that those are healed, but the autism is [gone].
The transcript had “gob” in place of what I believe was “gone”.
In 2009 autism was past tense. Now it’s present tense. And recall another interview where she says he doesn’t have autism any more.
And let’s address the whole issue of Landau-Kleffner syndrome. The statement by Dr. Ruben was that her child was misdiagnosed, not that he “was not initially diagnosed with autism” as Ms. McCarthy wrote. I don’t know what Radar Online wrote as the story is gone, but it looks like Jenny McCarthy is fighting a bit of a straw man there.
I’ll also note that Jenny McCarthy seems to be taking a page from Andrew Wakefield and the founder of her organization (Generation Rescue) and threatening legal action. It makes news. Why do I figure a phone call, a tweet or some other communication was all that was needed?
But, let’s get back to that original article: Jenny McCarthy Abandons Controversial Position On Vaccines And Says Her Son May Not Have Autism.
Tell me, where in the above statement did she address the vaccine question? Looks to me likes she completely dodged that. Perhaps there’s a statement somewhere else?
So, as far as I can see, she rushed to answer only one part of the original story. The less controversial part.
But that’s Jenny McCarthy.
While she’s storming about, threatening legal action, I wish she would rush to correct the record on other statements she’s made. For example, she hasn’t been exactly clear on how much gap there was between her kid being vaccinated and the onset of his seizure disorder. Her book, as I recall, describes her son experiencing his first seizures at about age 2.5. Which, if he was vaccinated per the schedule, would be about 1 year after his MMR.
But here’s how she told the story:
MCCARTHY: My son died in front of me due to a vaccine injury. And there are many — every week I get a picture of a dead child.
KING: You lost a son?
MCCARTHY: Evan died in front of me for two minutes, cardiac arrest. Every week, I get a picture sent to me of a child that died following a vaccination.
Another time on CNN: “People are also dying from vaccinations. My son died in front of me for two minutes.”
I recall back when McCarthy was popular in autism circles many online discussions recounting how Evan McCarthy died immediately following vaccination. Why hasn’t Jenny McCarthy taken the time to correct that impression?
Back to today, why didn’t she take the opportunity to address her “controversial” ideas on vaccines? I put “controversial” in quotes because they aren’t controversial. They are just incorrect. And irresponsible. I won’t add her other adjective, “ridiculous”, as her statements have caused too much harm to be called “ridiculous”.
Here’s another exchange from a Larry King Live show:
KING: Isn’t the problem here, Jenny, that people sometimes listen with one ear are going to panic. And not vaccine at all?
MCCARTHY: Probably. But guess what? It’s not my fault. The reason why they’re not vaccinating is because the vaccines are not safe. Make a better product and then parents will vaccinate.
Note how she again follows an example of Andrew Wakefield: “it’s not my fault”.
And what about her interview in Time Magazine? Here’s a 2009 interview (the 2010 interview is behind a paywall)
I do believe sadly it’s going to take some diseases coming back to realize that we need to change and develop vaccines that are safe. If the vaccine companies are not listening to us, it’s their f___ing fault that the diseases are coming back. They’re making a product that’s s___. If you give us a safe vaccine, we’ll use it. It shouldn’t be polio versus autism.
She’s not anti-vaccine, she just thinks they are not safe and a “…product that’s s___.”
And it’s not her fault. Never is.
Let’s go back to Larry King Live:
KING: Probably due to you, jenny, and programs like this, the percentage of children getting vaccinations is dropping.
Do you think that’s good?
MCCARTHY: I think it’s only good because it’s the only thing that’s going to shake up the CDC to do something about it. And, you know, it’s a damn shame that we invited them here on this program on World Autism Day to come sit with us so I can ask them questions on behalf of the autism community. And they denied their appearance again, which, of course, they’re going to give their statement.
OK, it’s not her fault that parents aren’t vaccinating their kids, but it is because of her that they aren’t. Pretty fine distinction, one which I don’t agree with.
And, since those statements, we’ve seen rises in vaccine preventable diseases. All not her fault, don’t ya know. It’s “good” and “due to [her]” but not her fault.
Here’s another statement on Larry King. Granted, not by her but by her ex partner Jim Carrey:
KING: Anderson Cooper, “AC 360,” 10:00 Eastern, 7:00 Pacific. Jenny McCarthy’s mate — call him that — Jim Carey, called in. He says, and I’ll like you gentlemen to comment, vaccines are more of a profit engine than a means of prevention. And that’s why there are so many vaccines. Is that true? Jay Gordon.
Yes, vaccines are not a means of protection. I.e. they don’t work.
Vaccines are “s___” and “not a means of protection”.
Jump in any time Jenny and correct some of your statements. Twitter is at your fingertips.
Jenny McCarthy made a lot of irresponsible statements about autism over the years. And about vaccines. But she just dodged the opportunity to clarify her current position. She rode the controversy she made into the news and talkshows. And now that it’s a liability she avoids the controversy.
—
By Matt Carey
Left Brain Right Brain 
Admittedly, I’ve not really kept up with the whole Jenny McCarthy thing over the years. On the one hand, she’s passionate; on the other hand, she’s a reckless and extremely frustrating person. In regards to questions over the diagnosis of her son though, while I can see some scandal (or maybe just irony?) lurking in the wings, I’m actually not that moved by whether her son has an idiopathic form of autism or a genetic autistic syndrome which has lessened in severity with treatment of his seizures. Laundau-Kleffner can often co-occur with autism or autistic symptoms, and the most common mutation that underlies the syndrome, GRIN2A, is a glutamate receptor that is firmly housed in the accepted core set of autism risk genes, as are other closely related glutamate-related genes. So whether its Laundau-Kleffner or something else, the boy still would’ve presented with autistic traits, enough to win an early diagnosis– even though seizure treatment may have affected their severity longer term. And also not knowing her son’s story and when his seizures began in relation to inoculation, it is not out of the realms of possibility that either DTP or MMR could’ve promoted febrile seizures, which they seem to do on reportedly rare occasions. And Laundau-Kleffner Syndrome is certainly a rare condition whose primary symptoms involve seizures and language disturbance. Anyways, I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m not terribly bothered by labels and “idiopathic” versus “syndromic” arguments, as autism is undoubtedly very heterogeneous– albeit likely with some commonalities at different levels like behavioral, neuroanatomical/-physiological. Of course, that doesn’t change the fact I think McCarthy lets her mouth run long before her brain catches up, and very vulnerable and desperate people latch onto that faux bravado and listen to her as though she truly knows what she’s talking about. I mean, Christ, that comment about her degree from the “University of Google”… such arrogance! And harmful arrogance at that. Her passion lacks the guidance of wiser, calmer reflection. I mean, Devil’s Advocate: What if vaccinations were having such an effect as she claims? Even then it wouldn’t be safe or wise to forgo them altogether but there are far worse illnesses waiting in the wings than autism. We’ve been lucky to grow up in an age when rampant childhood death isn’t something we’ve had to experience firsthand. And those kinds of decisions are not the kind to take lightly.
I think you are missing the point as it concerns L-K and “idiopathic” autism. They are not both causes of autism. Autism and L-K are distinct entities. While they may share some symptoms, L-K is not a “cause” of autism. If McCarthy’s child has L-K, then he never had autism. He may have exhibited L-K symptoms that were confused with autism. This, along with mountains of research, would invalidate her narrative that vaccines cause autism.
Analogy: Both a urinary tract infection and diabetes can present with increased urinary frequency, this does not mean that diabetes is a form of UTI or vice versa.
No, Laundau-Kleffner frequently exhibits co-occurring autism or autistic traits. Autism is defined by nothing more than behavioral symptomotology and the reason most cases are termed “idiopathic” is because scientists do not yet know the causes. It is a temporary wastebasket term for saying “we don’t know”. L-K is as much a form of autism when autism does co-occur as the autism which is due to prenatal valproic acid exposure, PTEN mutations, and “idiopathic” cases. Even the idiopathic conditions will I’m sure turn out to have a variety of hereditary and environmental factors, and one-by-one, different categories will probably be derived. L-K is just one example of this. Autism is a diverse group of conditions headed under a single umbrella. At present, L-K with autism would still be diagnosed as such, to distinguish it from the cases of L-K that don’t present with autism. The autism would be considered a secondary dx, though still an accurate one. You can’t argue about separating dxes saying “All genetically-derived syndromic forms of autism are not autism because they have a cause, and all forms of idiopathic autism are true autism because we don’t know what causes them yet.” It’s a specious argument to define autism behaviorally yet have a “Yes but” clause for any forms of autism which have known genetic causes. Autism is a behavioral syndrome and that is the only definition we currently have, and though we may use it as a secondary dx in conjunction with certain genetic conditions, it is still autism.
Nevertheless, I do understand the purpose of your argument and would roughly agree with it in that only a minority of cases of autism would be rooted in L-K, therefore McCarthy’s son is not an especially good representative for the larger autistic community especially when debating issues like vaccine hypotheses.
Jenny McCarthy only spoke out on vaccines because her own child was a loving little baby that was able to express that love and joy and twinkle in his eye one for more than a year . He was developing and progressing in a normal healthy way and that all changed and this occurred right after he had a panel of vaccines he now had become autistic. There was a relationship she uncovered between vaccines and autism. She searched for the answers because her child was effected by these shots. It has since been proven that mercury and metals and the increased amounts of vaccines that babies are required to have are causing neurological problems that were labeled as autism. Because these vaccines are highly profitable pressure was put on McCarthy to keep her mouth shut about any relationship. McCarthy did not back down, she wanted the powers that be to recognize how vaccines were affecting our babies with the hope that other parents would not have to experience something such as the horror of autism on their children. McCarthy should be praised for sharing with the world what she uncovered.
Hi, Judy. This relationship has not been proven, and actually there is much more solid research to suggest that it is the immunological challenge that is potentially harmful, not the mercury. There are many documented cases of illness or immune challenge (e.g., vaccination) that trigger a neurological condition and regression in skills. Various epileptic and metabolic conditions can in fact be triggered by immunological insult (for instance, a molecule called interleukin-1, which helps to induce fever, acts in an excitatory fashion on neurons, potentially eliciting a cell stress response and, if severe enough, neuronal damage or even cell death). As a scientist– and probably one of the few actively involved in autism research– I see that there is cause for concern regarding vaccination and certain vulnerable populations. While the entire population of autism is not vulnerable, there are undoubtedly subsets of individuals that we should study and perhaps rethink certain schedules or even hold back on certain vaccinations until later ages. HOWEVER, though I can understand McCarthy’s fervor (that of a mother fending for her son), it has created other dangerous problems, such as a rise in potentially deadly childhood infections. In addition, because her arguments were made so poorly, along with that of many other parents, it has made the entire thing out to be akin to pseudoscience. WHICH MEANS THAT, in spite of best intentions, there’s not a single respectable scientist who would touch this topic with a ten foot pole, let alone manage to get funding to seriously study it. I understand McCarthy’s motivations, but she made the idea a laughing stock. I’m not criticizing her concern, but merely her approach in bringing light to a topic that requires more than some cursory epidemiological studies. This is actually a topic I would like to study (it’s been mulling around in my brain the past year or so), but because it has gotten such bad press, I doubt I will ever be successful in getting funding to study it properly. The parents movement, with their anger, their shouting, and their fervor, have not helped their children but quite the opposite, sadly.
There is no point in communicating if you don’t say it so other people will actually listen. In this case, the scientific community, with a few exceptions, has not heard and most now are purposefully deaf.
“He was developing and progressing in a normal healthy way and that all changed and this occurred right after he had a panel of vaccines he now had become autistic”
Try reading the article. McCarthy’s son had his terrible seizure several months to a year after his MMR vaccine. She keeps changing her story.
Ms. Casanova: “There are many documented cases of illness or immune challenge (e.g., vaccination) that trigger a neurological condition and regression in skills.”
Please post the PubMed indexed studies by reputable qualified researchers that the immune challenge from any vaccine on the American pediatric schedule causes that kind of “trigger” in excess of the the vaccine.
“There is no point in communicating if you don’t say it so other people will actually listen. In this case, the scientific community, with a few exceptions, has not heard and most now are purposefully deaf.”
If you present actual science, we ill listen. If you propose conspiracy theories that the information is too dangerous for anyone to study, even though there have been many studies done looking for that connection over the last fifteen years, then, yes, we will ignore you.
“He was developing and progressing in a normal healthy way and that all changed and this occurred right after he had a panel of vaccines he now had become autistic. ”
Really? You see, Jenny McCarthy was never very specific about anything. She’s said that her kid was fine up until the onset of epilepsy. Which was at age 2.5, a year after his vaccines if she did them on schedule. She’s also said that she saw signs before. And Evan’s grandmother has stated that she could see that Evan was autistic from an early age.
” It has since been proven that mercury and metals and the increased amounts of vaccines that babies are required to have are causing neurological problems that were labeled as autism. ”
No, it hasn’t. Much to the contrary. Mercury in vacccines has been tested and retested and there just is no sign of an increased risk.
” Because these vaccines are highly profitable pressure was put on McCarthy to keep her mouth shut about any relationship.”
Right. How much money did Jenny McCarthy make on her books? How much publicity did the failing actress get? Look to the money. Except when it points to the wrong person?
“McCarthy did not back down”
Really? How much has she talked about vaccines in the past year? Two years? Three years?
She got her publicity, made her money and when it started hitting her bottom line, she backed off.
Evan’s grandmother speaks out. Signs of autism were there before Jenny saw them
http://autism-news-beat.com/archives/2310
A whole year between vaccination & onset of seizures & “autism” but it’s still the vaccines fault. Yeah, OK.
I too would like to see some retraction of the damaging comments about vaccines and some responsibility taken for her role there. I agree with Emily though, that the question of her son’s diagnosis is not the center or the most important here, and I think you were right to refocus the issue on her irresponsible and dangerous comments about vaccines.
Here’s a google cache of the Radar article:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:XddirspjBRwJ:radaronline.com/exclusives/2014/01/jenny-mccarthy-interview-vaccines-autism/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca
I have seen the conclusive evidence from a wide scope, with invaluable info from dedicated professionals and experts like Drs R. Laibow & S. Tenpenny thrown in, along with a growing field of courageous others.
Needless to say, no child of mine will be getting any vaccines.
I have no idea how these drug cos keep it a secret tgat they reward those who speak in support of them, however all their free gold watches & Bimmers in the world do nothing but help confirm my long-read opinion.
In fact, when I learn of such facts as big-[p]harma’s wall st cronys financially rewarding school districts and hospitals that present evidence of higher rates of medicated and immunized students & staffs (respectively), I immediately reflect on the criminality that secretly operates at high levels of the backroom allopathic industry. And it is an industry that flourishes with more customers, just like any other.
So, I trust my naturopathic nutritionist more in all health matters, save those of emergencies, than I do any pharmaceutical-selling white-coat on kick-backs & stock-options with a course or two on nutrition under s/his belt.
And this article, which skirts the wide-scope data available and creates problems where there are none by delving into the in’s & out’s of inextricable pharmacologic chemistry, similarly incriminates it’s contributors and authors…I’ll now be doubly wary of anything presented in this blog.
So thanks for the heads-up! I’m sure the good ol’ boy usury cronys of the fossil fuel/big-[p]harma industry complex down at yee olde buffalo lodge Thurs-eves are all quite proud of you all.
(BTW; … hold out for a Rolex.)
Ah the pharma shill gambit, makes for a lazy and intellectually dishonest excuse to dismiss evidence that doesn’t conform to your bias. Also the Dunning-Kruger effect in action:
Oh please do share their studies…oh wait, they haven’t any.
But why wouldn’t you trust your super duper naturopath with emergencies? I guess your faith only extends so far huh?
Ah, yes, Mrs. Gen. Stubblebine. It’s been 14 years since she claims to have been informed by “a head of state” that “it’s almost time for the Great Culling to begin.” Still, no sign of 90% of the “Useless Eaters” going anywhere, despite her doubling down with the FEMA H1N1 soft kill by HHS Vatican assassin warlocks or whatever she was babbling about during her break from being met by guns at the Codex Alimentarius meeting. Excellent choice.
BTW, she was trained as a shrink, which doesn’t exactly make her much of an expert in anything relevant. Well, except for one: PSYOPS. If you want a real vaccine expert, you should look to Dr. Rebecca Carly, who tore the curtain away from Laibow’s Disinfo Op.
Of course, if one wishes to turn instead to the acumen of Sherri Tenpenny, she conveniently provides this recent item in which she bizarrely insinuates that a British piano and voice teacher is actually a CDC operative.
…So you’re fine with your children going blind, going deaf, losing fertility, breaking a rib from excessive coughing, screaming from massive pain, becoming paralyzed, and causing unborn children to become deaf, blind and severely retarded, if they’re not miscarried first?
I would love to see Jenny McCarthy legally challenge this; she’d open the same Pandora’s Box her friend Wakefield did and expose her for the fraud she is too. Alas she’s just bloviating as she has always done.
I’ve got to ask myself why Jenny McCarthy is bringing up her child’s seizure disorder and her claims that vaccines caused her son’s autism, now.
If you follow all the statements she made about her child, there was a definite gap between the time Evan received MMR vaccine and the first seizure he experienced, yet her first claim was that MMR vaccine caused his first seizure.
Here, during an unguarded moment when her entourage was not present to answer in her behalf during the PBS interview, she admitted it was not the MMR vaccine that caused his seizures…or his autism:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/vaccines/interviews/mccarthy.html
“Jenny, in your book Louder than Words, you describe Evan’s first and subsequent seizures. Summarize that episode, when he began having seizures.
One of the first signs when I knew something was wrong was one morning he slept in late. So I opened the door and just saw Evan struggling to breathe, and pasty white, blue lips, and shaking. I picked him up and just started screaming at the top of my lungs, ran down the hallway, called 911, and it took them about 20 minutes to stop what they were calling a seizure.
We went to the hospital. They blew it off as a febrile seizure — seizures that you can get if you have a fever. And considering Evan did not have a fever, I was a little concerned….”
Further along, McCarthy admits it was not the MMR vaccine, that caused his seizures:
Interviewer: How long after the MMR was that first seizure?
“You know, a lot of people think, and probably from me saying in some interviews, that it was after the MMR I noticed changes.
I don’t think it was just the MMR shot that caused any kind of trigger with autism. I think it was a compilation of so many shots to a kid that obviously had some autoimmune disorders. So I would say maybe a couple of months, a month or so after the MMR, I started to notice some physical ailments such as constipation, rashes, eczema. That was like the first little sign. And then the train just kind of descended from there.”
Here’s how she described her child when he was undergoing treatment to stop his seizures:
Interviewer: What about viruses coming into our communities?
“My concern is not so much about any viruses, honestly, Evan will acquire. My major concern is the fevers that he might get from the regular flu. That is much more common and scary to me, because Evan still has his seizure disorder. The last one was over six hours. We had to put him in a phenobarbital coma for three days in order to make him brain-dead so he wouldn’t go into cardiac arrest. To me, the common fever scares me.”
Doctors made Evan “brain dead” when Evan was sedated to control his seizures, Jenny?
We know that she subjected her child to different treatments such as chelation, megadoses of vitamins including vitamin B12 shots, restrictive diets, hyperbaric oxygen chamber treatments and other quack treatments and pimped out her child’s seizure disorder to revive her moribund career as a minor celebrity. We know she derived her education from the University of Google and her heroes are the disgraced and discredited former medical doctors Andrew Wakefield and Mark Geier, who are featured at her annual Generation Rescue Conference, along with other purveyors of quack autism treatments (Kerri Rivera’s MMS industrial bleach to dose autistic kids with bleach enemas to “recover them”.
At this point, I don’t care if Evan McCarthy was ever diagnosed with autism. I care that Evan still has a seizure disorder that was not caused by vaccines and I care that Jenny is willing to subject her child to public scrutiny once again.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:XddirspjBRwJ:radaronline.com/exclusives/2014/01/jenny-mccarthy-interview-vaccines-autism/+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca
Still there (cached) with 256 comments.
Matt, are you sure Jenny McCarthy stated in present tense that her son has autism? Because the only source for that quote is the same tabloid website that got her son’s diagnosis wrong in the first place; it’s not in her statement responding to the fallacious story. Perhaps you should do a better job of fact-checking your blog posts.
Matt Carey is correct. Jenny McCarthy made that same statement on her Generation Rescue website, Jake:
http://www.generationrescue.org/latest-news/recovery/jenny-mccarthy-s-official-statement/
Perhaps you should do a better job of fact checking your blog posts.
Actually, no, the quote “My Son Does Have Autism” is not anywhere in Jenny McCarthy’s statement. From what I can find, the origin of that quote is the same website that falsely stated Jenny McCarthy no longer believes her son ever had autism.
Can you point to where I claim she stated “My Son Does Have Autism”? Or that lilady made that claim? It’s easy to fight with strawmen (or straw women as the case may be).
Care to take on the fact that Jenny dodged the vaccine issue? She was ready to take leagal action on the subject of Evan’s diagnosis, but not on her stance on vaccines?
Defend her all you may. Maybe someday she will come back to your cause. For now, it’s sad to see people so loyal to someone who used them and walked away when she got her career on track.
Tsk Tsk, Jake. You need to reread Matt Carey’s post again to find he published the revised/corrected version of what “Radar” originally posted. It is the exact post that McCarthy posted on her Generation Rescue website on January 4, 2014.
“Stories circulating online, claiming that I said my son Evan may not have autism after all, are blatantly inaccurate and completely ridiculous. Evan was diagnosed with autism by the Autism Evaluation Clinic at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital and was confirmed by the State of California (through their Regional Center). The implication that I have changed my position, that my child was not initially diagnosed with autism (and instead may suffer from Landau-Kleffner Syndrome), is both irresponsible and inaccurate. These stories cite a “new” Time Magazine interview with me, which was actually published in 2010, that never contained any such statements by me. Continued misrepresentations, such as these, only serve to open wounds of the many families who are courageously dealing with this disorder. Please know that I am taking every legal measure necessary to set this straight.”
I see that your reading comprehension skills fail you. How did you ever graduate with a MPH-Epidemiology degree?
btw Jake, what was the topic of your thesis/culminating experience that you presented at GWU to earn that degree and who was your mentor for that thesis/culminating experience. Inquiring minds want to know.
Oh this is so rich coming from you Jake. Not to mention you didn’t even bother reading the supporting links whilst uttering this. Still having trouble discerning incidence and prevalence? First year MPH material.
I addressed this in the article above. Perhaps you could read it and take issue with what I wrote?
“Stories circulating online, claiming that I said my son Evan may not have autism after all, are blatantly inaccurate and completely ridiculous”
If it is incorrect to say that it is incorrect to say that “Evan may not have autism after all”, then she is saying “Evan has autism after all”. Simple English: to have is present tense. So, yes, it is in her statement. Perhaps you could read that again as well?
Is it possible that she was unclear in what she meant to say? Sure, we are talking about the person who told us two different stories of her confrontation with Barbara Walters. You may recall that. Your old blog covered the version she gave in a live interview–which directly contradicted the version that was in the book she was touting in that same interview.
So, do I expect Jenny McCarthy to have a single, reliable story? Not at all.
What interests me more is how you and your colleagues handle the fact that she’s gone quiet on vaccine causation. Are you aware that you were used? Do you admit it to yourself? She rode the vaccine story to publicity and dumped it–and you–when it became a liability. I’d be annoyed. But I don’t circle the wagons around charlatans like Mark Geier, either.
When Radar Online said “Evan may not have autism after all” as opposed to “Evan may not have autism now,” the website was clearly saying that Jenny McCarthy changed her position by claiming her son never had autism in the first place. Simple English.
But even after Radar Online removed the story and Jenny McCarthy denounced it, you go and spin McCarthy’s response to try and make it look as if she was changing her position when it has always stayed the same. You’re engaged in the same type of misrepresentation of McCarthy that Radar Online was, but instead of retracting it you’re standing by it.
I’m not a fan of Jenny McCarthy, and a tabloid blog misrepresenting her position on her son’s medical history doesn’t interest me so much. What interests me more is a member of a federal autism committee following up with that same kind of misrepresentation on his blog, especially when his contributions to that blog were what got him on the committee. Think about that the next time you call somebody a charlatan.
Do you really believe what you write? It is hard to believe. Then again I thought JB Handley couldn’t possibly believe I was Bonnie Offit. I also thought he’d have the guts to apologize to her. Shows how much I know.
“Perhaps you should do a better job of fact-checking your blog posts.” This is hilarious coming from you, Jake Crosby, MPH. Did you read where Reuben Gaines (also an MPH) pointed out that the study you claim shows decreased autism rates after the removal of thimerosal doesn’t talk about rates at all? You take a sentence or statement and run with it, why?
Crosby’s Labyrinth is really something to behold. In that Labyrinth, Jenny’s son is not autistic anymore, proving that the biomedical quackery works. At the same time, her son is still autistic, so she’s more than qualified to speak out for the families dealing with autism.
Stop me if I’m wrong, Jake.
One has to thank “British Blogger” Matt Carey for allowing your comment through, Jake. Were I trying to have this conversation with you on your blog, you would never allow my comments through. Anyway, I look forward to seeing you in Nashville in June, Jake. All epidemiologists go to CSTE… All Epis worth their weight in salt go to exchange ideas with each other there. Maybe you can tell us all about your culminating experience research with the Geiers and the Vaccine Safety Datalink?
According to her twitter feed, Jenny does say that her son still has autism, in the present tense.
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1rvdf6g
What do you wish, Jake? That Evan no longer has autism, and the GFCF diet cured him? Or that he is still autistic, and therefore Jenny is still on your side?
Oh, I’m British? Since when? I guess the guy who owns whale.to is Tongan?
“What interests me more is a member of a federal autism committee following up with that same kind of misrepresentation on his blog, especially when his contributions to that blog were what got him on the committee. Think about that the next time you call somebody a charlatan.”
This is going to turn into another Crosby “I didn’t get appointed, whaaaaaaa!” type of situation, isn’t it? Looking forward to his blog post on denouncing “British Blogger” Matt Carey for this and telling us all over again how he was nominated and not appointed and how much it hurt his feelings.
‘ScienceMom’, ‘Narad’…
Do you both work at the same propaganda office? lol
I remain wholly unconvinced by your ad hominem slander of these conscious individuals. And I have the benefit of knowing these ladies, as well as the General. Thanks for referring to him, one whose vast, several decades-long wide-scope knowledge is invaluable in putting the multi-layed, veiled puzzle pieces of incorrigible cronyism (force-threat-fraud politics/wall st monopoly paper/big-[p]harma/cfr/tri-lateral/bilderberg/vatican/zionist/military-industrial complex) together.
Perhaps you don’t have benefit of some of the facts, such as the identity & track record of the ‘head of state’ to which you refered in your irresponsible comment. I suggest you take your head out of the textbooks. These are clearly disabling you from seeing behind the veils that have you in the typical ‘idiopathic’s cure-free bind’ that is so good for biz. Try taking up a regimen of long walks in nature, being conscious to keep looking straight ahead at objects in the distance. It’s wonderful for clearing cobwebs from one’s jangling intuitions & gaining honest perspective.
Otherwise, thanks for the link to R. Carly. I’ll check it & talk with Dr. Rima about it as well. Perhaps something good can come from looking in on this blog after all.
W Tufts,
grow up or go away. If you want to libel people with “propoganda office” and then accuse others of ad-hominem attacks, you clearly aren’t able to handle the type of “clever” slimy attacks you think you are.
Keep partying with your noses down in those big, fat cure-free idiopath’s books. It’s later than you think!
S/he who lives longest wins! Y’all enjoy your vaccines & big-[p]harma stock options now, ya’ hear.
lol
@w tufts
Yawn, another juvenile insult. Why should anyone be surprised by that, especially considering your previous posts.
I would say that a 4 year old could do better than you in terms of posting, but that would be an insult to the 4 year old.
Make sure you actually know the proper spelling of Dr. Carley’s name. Ask her about the loss of her medical license because of the vast conspiracy of evildoers who are scared about Dr. Carley knowledge of teh ebil vaccines.
Don’t really care. I asked where their vaccine studies were. So you’ve cleared those cobwebs, what are you going to do about those bats in your belfry?
“Do you both work at the same propaganda office? ”
Anyone who has been in this discussion for more than a week knows that he who shouts “pharma shill” has no substance to his arguments. If you felt you had substance you’d lead with that. Instead you troll.
“…after that I detoxed him, implemented many more therapies, and within one year Evan was undiagnosed. ADD yeah, autism, no. He is, after one year of treatment, became a typical happy healthy little boy”
oh and “I’m not anti-vaccine”, “I’m not against vaccination”, “I’m not against vaccines”…
A Message from Jenny McCarthy
So, evan was “undiagnosed”?
Then why is he still autistic? You haven’t kept up with Jenny McCarthy’s public statements.
So, she says she isn’t “anti-vaccine”. Does she have a term for what it means to spread misinformation about vaccines and raise a scare while enriching herself in the process?
Jenny McCarthy in 2014 telling the press that her kid is bullied because he is autistic.
http://www.people.com/article/jenny-mccarthy-the-view-autistic-son-bullied
So, about that whole “undiagnosed” thing?
haha I can’t be too upset with myself that I’m not up on the latest Jenny McCarthy….
I’m still waiting for the return of the Indigo/Star Child bit… She never actually recanted all that did she? If autism can come back maybe Star Childness can come back too. (her next reality TV series?)
Her indigo child website was pulled before her first book. She has mentioned it since, but never really discussed it nor admitted she was wrong.
Jenny McClarthy’s kid was allegedly diagnosed with “autism” in 2005, Yet, by 2007 she’s already published a book as if she’s been dealing with this for years. We know it takes several months to publish a book, so about 8 months after her kids gets diagnosed, well, wow, we see a book published. If that doesn’t raise some RED FLAGS we don’t know what wil.