An email from Amy Pisani – a thoroughly charming lady who runs the organisation Every Child By Two – made me nod appreciatively today. I’ll quote it in full:
It has been quite some time since Every Child By Two (ECBT) has asked you to take action on an issue related to immunizations. I write to you today with an urgent request for your assistance in reaching out to the Oprah Winfrey Show to urge that she dedicate a show to the science behind the question of whether vaccines cause autism.
More than fourteen credible studies have been conducted worldwide exonerating vaccines and yet the media and entertainment industry continue to frame this as a debate. ECBT and our public health partners have reached out to Oprah’s producers countless times without success. However, I recently had a lengthy conversation with one of the producers who recommended that we initiate a letter writing campaign by commenting within the Oprah.com feedback section of the website. This information is tabulated to determine whether there is enough interest to conduct follow up shows.
I urge you to take five minutes to fill out the Oprah Winfrey Show online form by following the link below. In your comments, please request that Oprah invite credible scientists and/or physicians to explain the science of vaccines to her viewers. We also would like her to invite parents who have suffered the loss of a child from a vaccine-preventable disease, and a parent of an autistic child who can speak on behalf of the many families that are frustrated over the continued focus on vaccines and their supposed link to autism and the therapies that focus on “repairing vaccine damage”. Please relate any personal experiences you may have with vaccine-preventable diseases or autism. In addition, please refer the Oprah Winfrey Show to Amy Pisani, Executive Director of Every Child By Two, for any follow-up questions.
And finally, please forward this to your family and friends and request that they also reach out to the Oprah Winfrey Show.
An excellent idea. I’d like to see a show that mirrors the one sided show that Jenny McCarthy recently got – the one where she was free to spout off her latest game of ‘cure the Evan‘ (he’s cured, no he’s not, yes he is….) but this time with a careful step by step walk through the science that:
…is largely complete. Ten epidemiological studies [plus two clinical ones and the testimony of Stephen Bustin] have shown MMR doesn’t cause autism; six have shown thimerosal doesn’t cause autism; three have shown thimerosal doesn’t cause subtle neurological problems; a growing body of evidence now points to the genes that are linked to autism; and despite the removal of thimerosal from vaccines in 2001 [and the 10% drop in MMR uptake between 1997-2007], the number of children with continues to rise.
– Autism’s False Prophets, Page 247. Dr Paul Offit.
Compare this hard, clinical, transparent (and thus independent) science with Mother Warrior Jenny McCarthy’s recent evangelical call to arms:
“I made a deal with God,” she explains. “I said, ‘You fix my boy, you show me the way and I’ll teach the world how I did it.'”
Hallelujah! Or whatever. To misquote the Pythons – she’s not the Messiah, she’s just a very silly girl.
Please act on Amy Pisani’s request – do it right now.
Left Brain Right Brain 
Hi Kev! I’m keeping a running tally of blogs urging Oprah to host an antidote to Jenny’s toxic emissions.
I’ve just added LBRB.
A very silly, and very dangerous girl.
It would be biased of me to fail to point out that those who believe Jenny are writing too:
“Include Boyd Haley” — http://tinyurl.com/5g3dpn
The following blogger believes that Oprah’s invited pro-science experts to “debate” Jenny before and they’ve declined–http://tinyurl.com/5g3dpn
Predictably Ginger thinks that the vaccine=autism question is still open, and can be settled by debate between true believers and scientists.
http://tinyurl.com/5g3dpn
Already left Oprah a comment.
If there is any indication, sure.
The question comes to the definition of “non-harmful”. The standard internet-advice decision tree for people who put their kids on the diet is
Try the diet
A) It doesn’t work. Therefore, you need to do more biomed.
B) It does have an effect. Therefore biomed works, and you need to do more biomed.
As a gateway “treatement” to the wonders of chelation, B12 shots, Lupron and the rest, it most certainly has potential to be harmful.
Note that even Jenny McCarthy is dancing around the subject in interviews. “It’s just diet and supplements”. That’s deceptive marketing at its worst. Is an IV chelator a “supplement”??? Yes, I know that Jenny McCarthy hasn’t stated that they did IV chelation, but the approach she is taking is and will lead to more IV chelation of autistic kids (amongst other “alternative” treatements).
If the AAP or the CDC did exactly that, you can bet there would be hue and cry in the land of what Dr. Offit calls “risky medicine”.
Sorry, the above response was intended for the autism/allergies thread.
Bombs away! I’ve submitted a message to the Oprah site, linked to this post on my blog, and as soon as I get my email working again I’ll be sending it around to friends and family. Thanks for the heads up.
Just wondering, Was that God of Indigo or the God of Abraham? The picture is still not very clear about whether the Indigo influence remains.
I believe that an Oprah show would be entirely wrong for a debate format.
Generally, scientists are not loud and rude; why invite them to try to present something of a serious nature in a circus environment.
Perhaps a university would be willing to invite credentialed people on both sides of the issue to a formal debate.
A debate is the entirely wrong idea. This isn’t the goal.
The idea, as I understand it, would be to present a nice considered discussion of the parents who are worried about vaccination coverage dropping and who agree with the science that autism and vaccines are not linked.
Jenny McCarthy et al. have demonstrated the ability and willingness to lie and mislead in open forums. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but take a look at the recent capital hill briefing (Kirby) and the statements by Jenny McCarthy which lead people to believe that her son had a seizure immediately following his vaccination.
No, a show with Jenny shouting “Bullshit” at Amanda Peet is probably good for ratings and would sell more books for Jenny. But, what would that do for Amanda Peet’s message?
Besides, Amanda Peet has taken the stance that she is not an expert. People, parents especially, need to look to real experts, not celebrities.
How is that message carried well in a debate format?
Amanda Peet: Listen to experts
Jenny McCarthy: the experts are afraid of the truth: vaccine damage.
They aren’t talking the same subject, really.
Or,
Mother: My child died of whooping cough
Jenny: my child has seizures.
I doubt that Amanda Peet would agree to a debate format. She’s already shown that she won’t debate Jenny McCarthy in the press (good for you, Amanda!)
Amanda Peet is out there to give a simple, important message. She’s out there to use her celebrity to make the message be heard.
Jenny McCarthy is quite capable of using the message for her own benefit. Hence the comments she made about Amanda Peet and Barbara Walters–which Jenny McCarthy held back until it would give her book publicity.
A wise man once said, “Every story has a victim, a hero and a villian”. Which role do you think the people sharing a couch with Jenny McCarthy would be cast in?
Besides, it wouldn’t fit the Oprah format–shows should be uplifting. A debate between Jenny McCarthy, a parent whose lost a kid to a vaccine preventable disease and an autism parent noting that the vaccine/autism notion is sucking resources away from autism research (and many autism parents), how does that fit Oprah’s model?
How does Jenny telling an autism parent and a parent of a child killed by vaccine preventable disease that they are part of the vast government conspiracy work?
She’s invoking God? She’s saying she made a deal with him? As a Christian, I am offended. I don’t normally like to judge others’ Christianity but using God to make money in her crusade against autism is, well, is just downright wrong. (yes, I know many, many others do the same thing – but I’m of the belief miss Jenny doesn’t really believe all this crap she’s spouting, she’s just doing it to make money, because she doesn’t care about any children other than her own)
It kind of piques my interest too. Weren’t we just last week hearing of a devilish debauchery fundraiser over at the (sarcasm) ever so refined playboy mansion?
Asperger Women Association ~ AWA is a world wide association of women with aspergers or autism. We support the views of the article. We have several board members and women psychologists who are welcomed to be interviewed by Oprah Winfrey. We are also aspies.
You may find our organization at
http://www.aspergerwomenassociation.com
or
http://www.myspace.com/aspergerwomen
AWA ~ ASPERGERWOMENASSOCIATION Supports the view of this article.
http://www.aspergerwomenassociation.com
http://www.myspace.com/aspergerwomen
That girl is dangerous. I don’t know how I call her. She’s unique!