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An open letter to Jenny McCarthy

9 Mar

Dear Jenny McCarthy,

You start a recent HuffPo post by stating:

Parents of recovered children, and I’ve met hundreds, all share the same experience of doubters and deniers telling us our child must have never even had autism or that the recovery was simply nature’s course. We all know better, and frankly we’re too busy helping other parents to really care.

I simply don’t believe you. Let me explain why.

Firstly and least importantly is your track record as a celebrity parent. You used to claim that you were an indigo mum and your son a crystal child. Indeed you used to participate heavily in the online Indigo community but most of those web pages have disappeared from the web over the last few years. Who’s afraid of the truth there Ms McCarthy? Were you worried those beliefs were just _too_ kooky?

Secondly and much more importantly is your track record as a health advocate. You and your boyfriend have lied about the makeup of vaccines, claiming that they contain antifreeze for example, in order to scaremonger.

Regarding these hundreds of recovered children I have one simple question…where are they? According to Generation Rescue there should be hundreds of recovered children (someone from GR once claimed thousands) and yet I have never seen one – and that includes your own child Ms McCarthy. Your own child that has a very strong doubt over his own autism diagnosis.

It’s easy Ms McCarthy, all you have to do is get onoe of these hundreds of children and do a proper science led case study on them. Have it published in a decent journal and then the scientific community will listen to you. The leadership of GR have known this for _years_ – why has it never been done?

How do you establish that these hundreds of autistic children have not recovered via non biomed means? Helt et al report that autistic children have a recovery rate of between 3 and 25%. And guess what, when I asked her, Helt told me:

The recovered children studied by us and others, and described above, however, have generally not received any biomedical intervention.

…

Complete medical histories were taken, including vaccination status, and had it turned out that our optimal outcome sample hadn’t been vaccinated or had by and large received chelation, we certainly would have reported that

You go on to say:

Corner one of the hundreds of doctors who specialize in autism recovery, and they’ll tell you stories of dozens of kids in their practice who no longer have autism. Ask them to speak to the press and they’ll run for the door.

I bet they will. They have no answers to the serious scientific issues surrounding autism and instead peddle items like foot detox or urine injection therapy.

You then say:

Who’s afraid of autism recovery? Perhaps it’s the diagnosticians and pediatricians who have made a career out of telling parents autism is a hopeless condition.

I donlt think anyone is _afraid_ of autism recovery Ms McCarthy but I’ll tell you what some of us _are_ afraid of and thats someone with a big mouth and not a lot of science behind her relating horror stories about vaccines and singing the praises of doctors who have no idea what they’re doing.

You then ask about the MMR, which I believe you blamed for your sons autism:

Even with the MMR, studies only compare kids who have otherwise been fully vaccinated. Is that really an honest way to evaluate the issue?

You are wrong Ms McCarthy, clinical studies have looked at the MMR belief and found it wanting. During the Autism Omnibus, Stephen Bustin spent over 1500 hours looking at the only work that alleged an MMR connection autism and found it seriously wanting. Get someone who knows about science to explain it to you.

You say:

How do you say vaccines don’t injure kids, when a government website shows more than 1,000 claims of death and over $1.9 billion paid out in damages for vaccine injury, mostly to children?

I say: _who_ says that? I don’t know anyone who claims vaccines are 100% safe. You’re creating a strawman of enormous proportions to deflect from the reality of your crackpot ideas about autism. Like _all_ medical proceedures, vaccination carries some risk. Nobody claims they don’t.

You then say:

In the recent case of Dr. Andrew Wakefield, why did the press constantly report that his 1998 study said the MMR caused autism when anyone could read the study and know that it didn’t?

Quite possibly because during a press conference given _about_ the paper in question Andrew Wakefield needlessly made claims that linked MMR to autism causation.

…the work certainly raises a question mark over MMR vaccine, but it is, there is no proven link as such and we are seeking to establish whether there is a genuine causal association between the MMR and this syndrome or not. It is our suspicion that there may well be…

is just one amongst many.

Ms McCarthy I find it deeply amusing that directly underneath your closing line:

Who’s afraid of the truth? Usually the people it would hurt the most.

is a lovely graphical link to all of your turgid books. It seems to this autism parent that you have as much to lose in terms of finance as well as credibility as those you name.

The absolute truth is that you don’t understand the science Ms McCarthy. You have well and truly missed the boat on the MMR vaccine, you have no science that establishes any aspect of autism to any aspect of vaccination. All you have is a big mouth and lots of money to spend getting it out there in front of people. I absolutely assure you, you do not speak for the autism community. You speak for the anti-vaccine community and them alone.

Jim Carrey Jenny McCarthy Definitely not anti-vaccine

6 Feb

In the recent statement released by Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy regarding Andrew Wakefield, the twosome made a number of references that clear up once and for all how they feel about vaccines. Because as we all know they’re not anti-vaccine.

Dr. Andrew Wakefield is being discredited to prevent an historic study from being published that for the first time looks at vaccinated versus unvaccinated primates and compares health outcomes, with potentially devastating consequences for vaccine makers…

Dr. Wakefield and parents of children with autism around the world are being subjected to a remarkable media campaign engineered by vaccine manufacturers…

The retraction from The Lancet was a response to a ruling from England’s General Medical Council, a kangaroo court where public health officials in the pocket of vaccine makers…

The fallout from the study for vaccine makers and public health officials could be severe. Having denied the
possibility of the vaccine-autism connection for so long while profiting immensely from a recent boom in vaccine sales around the world, it’s no surprise that they would seek to repress this important work.

No, definitely not anti-vaccine.

Is Wakefield being shut up, or are Jenny and Jim trying to get publicity for his research?

5 Feb

In a public statement, Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey claim that “Dr. Andrew Wakefield is being discredited to prevent an historic study from being published”. Readers of LeftBrainRightBrain are already well aware that Dr. Andrew Wakefield was recently found to be “dishonest” and to have acted in a manner against the clinical interests of the children who were his research subjects. This recent statement is in support of the now discredited doctor.

Or, is it? A cynical mind might consider that this is a public relations ploy to get Dr. Wakefield’s current research in front of the media. His last paper was much hyped by Jenny McCarthy’s organization, but got little if any actual press coverage. But now, with the media focused on Dr. Wakefield, what better time to promote his research in hopes of getting some play in the media?

Ms. McCarthy and Mr. Carrey are prominent members of Generation Rescue (“Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey’s Autism Organization”) and have posted their statement on the Generation Rescue website with the full version on the blog sponsored by Generation Rescue, the Age of Autism.

This reader is somewhat amazed at the language used and the ignorance of the history of the General Medical Counsel proceeding that Ms. McCarthy and Mr. Carrey have shown.

The language puts the team well into the world conspiracy-theory:

It is our most sincere belief that Dr. Wakefield and parents of children with autism around the world are being subjected to a remarkable media campaign engineered by vaccine manufacturers reporting on the retraction of a paper published in The Lancet in 1998 by Dr. Wakefield and his colleagues

We are to believe that the news reporting on the retraction of the paper in The Lancet is orchestrated by vaccine manufacturers. That’s worth considering a moment–two actors, people who depend on their public image for their livelihood–are claiming that the reporting on a major news event is “engineered by vaccine manufacturers”.

The fact is that Dr. Wakefield thrust himself into the limelight with a press conference to publicize the paper. This and the fact that he has kept himself in the public’s eye for 12 years appears to have been lost on the McCarthy/Carrey team. After over a decade of promoting his research well beyond its importance or scientific merit, of course the media would take to the story that Dr. Wakefield had been found guilty of misconduct and that his paper had been retracted.

If there is any doubt as the conspiracy-theory theme of the statement, phrases like “Kangaroo court” and “in the pocket of vaccine makers” should put that to rest:

The retraction from The Lancet was a response to a ruling from England’s General Medical Council, a kangaroo court where public health officials in the pocket of vaccine makers served as judge and jury.

The article goes on:

Despite rampant misreporting, Dr. Wakefield’s original paper regarding 12 children with severe bowel disease and autism never rendered any judgment whatsoever on whether or not vaccines cause autism, and The Lancet’s retraction gets us no closer to understanding this complex issue.

This is a very strange statement to have made by representatives of Generation Rescue. Generation Rescue states on their own website, in reference to Dr. Wakefield’s paper in The Lancet, “”This study demonstrates that the MMR vaccine triggered autistic behaviors and inflammatory bowel disease in autistic children”.

Much more to the point, the press release for Dr. Wakefield’s press conference on the release of his study in The Lancet states that “Their [Wakefield et. al] paper, to be published in The Lancet 28 February, suggests that the onset of behavioural symptoms was associated with MMR vaccination”

If the defense now is that there is a difference between “proven” and “associated with” in the minds of the public, the importance of that is lost on me. Dr. Wakefield himself put the idea in the public’s mind that the MMR was causing autism.

In a video interview about his 1998 study, Dr. Wakefield stated that the link was not proven. However, he went on to claim that the “risk of this particular syndrome developing is related to the combine vaccine”:

Again, this was very contentious and you would not get consensus from all members of the group on this, but that is my feeling, that the, the risk of this particular syndrome developing is related to the combined vaccine, the MMR, rather than the single vaccines.

If there is rampant misreporting of the notion that Dr. Wakefield’s study in The Lancet promoted the idea that vaccines cause autism, then it is the fault of Jenny and Jim’s own organization, together with Dr. Wakefield himself.

Much of the trouble resulting from Dr. Wakefield’s work (and by that I mean trouble caused to the world and the autism communities in particular, not trouble to Dr. Wakefield), stems from Dr. Wakefield overplaying the importance or the quality of his research. Even had the study been done as claimed in the publication, it was not a very strong study. It has been reported that four referees recommended rejecting the paper before publication. I don’t know the policy at The Lancet, but often 2 or 3 referees total are used to screen a paper for a journal.

Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. In this case, overplaying the importance of research well beyond its scientific merit. In their statement, Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey promote Dr. Wakefield’s ongoing research as though it is so earth shattering that it must be stopped at all costs. They discuss a series of studies Dr. Wakefield’s new group is undertaking. This research has been discussed by Medical Researcher David Gorski in an article Monkey business in autism research.

We are to believe that there is a media campaign afoot to keep Dr. Wakefield from making his new research public. In the internet age, there is no way to keep information from the public. Dr. Wakefield and his colleagues are even editors of a new pseudo-journal for autism research.

At no point to Ms. McCarthy and Mr. Carrey address the ethical violations that Dr. Wakefield was found guilty of. No mention of whether it is appropriate for medical researchers to perform invasive procedures on disabled children when there is no clinical reason to do so.

In other words, Ms. McCarthy and Mr. Carrey never actually defend Dr. Wakefield for his actions. They never address the serious ethical lapses found proved by the General Medical Counsel.

I am left thinking that this is in reality a pre-release promotional event to get press coverage for Dr. Wakefield’s upcoming paper. The study is “on the brink” of being published. In other words, it is likely already in-press. The faux outrage that his work is being suppressed in light of this is painful to read.

Forbes on “Stars Vs. Science” once again the autism community looks bad

15 Jan

Forbes Magazine has an article, Stars Vs. Science, From Jenny McCarthy to Tom Cruise, some Hollywood hot shots are leading a war against modern science. The opening paragraph is pretty telling about the tone:

When the medical journal Pediatrics released a consensus report early this year concluding that autistic children do not benefit from special diets, ABC News’ Diane Sawyer knew just whom to call. Jenny McCarthy, former MTV game host, nude model and now mother of an autistic son Evan, enthusiastically denounced the study. “Until doctors start listening to our anecdotal evidence, which is it’s working, it’s going to take so many more years for these kids to get better,” she opined

Or, you can just take a look a the URL–science-jenny-mccarthy-business-healthcare-hollywood-autism.html

Once again, the Autism community takes it on the chin that our representative in the public eye is, well, in a league of her own when it comes to understanding science. Even though the story is about celebrities and science in general, autism plays a big part in the story as a whole. Take a look at the celebrities that were selected for the “slideshow”

Of course, there are Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey (click to enlarge and read the caption):

Ms. McCarthy and Mr. Carrey have been trying to shake loose the anti-vaccine image for a while. It doesn’t appear to be working. From the article:

But some of the best-known celebrities use their soap boxes to spread scientifically dubious–and potentially harmful–messages. Jenny McCarthy believes vaccines cause autism, despite numerous studies to the contrary. She campaigns against child vaccines that have been shown to save lives. In 2008, the Centers for Disease Control reported that measles outbreaks had spiked because more parents were deciding to leave their children unvaccinated, thanks to the burgeoning anti-vaccine movement.

Others who made the cut? Arriana Hufffington, of the Huffington Post, (again. click to enlarge):

It is worth reading the caption to that one. Dr. Rahul Parikh is quoted from his Salon.com piece, The Huffington Post is crazy about your health, Why bogus treatments and crackpot medical theories dominate “The Internet Newspaper”.

The quote:

But Huffington has distorted science and facts…fairness and accuracy in health and medicine take a back seat to sensationalism and self-promotion

In his piece, Dr. Parikh had noted the Huffington Post blogs by “David Kirby, Jenny McCarthy’s pediatrician Jay Gordon and detox advocate Dierdre Imus” and also spends a considerable amount of time discussing a piece by Jim Carrey.

The Forbes piece also discusses Oprah Winfrey (click to enlarge):

Once again, autism is prominent in the description given by Forbes.

I’m sure some readers will assume I’m putting this up to embarrass these celbrities. Yeah, like being in Forbes is so low profile that LBRB is going to be the embarrassment for Oprah and company. No, this is just another vent of anger. Anger that the autism community is once again seen by the public as the home to people who are “leading a war against modern science.” Tell me how that helps us advocate.

One notable entry outside of autism is Bill Maher. (click to enlarge)

I bring this up because Forbes notes that Bill Maher has been discussed by “quack busting doctor-blogger David Gorski”. That’s the same guy you can find on Science Based Medicine,

The article does seem to be following a recent trend: they aren’t looking for “balance” by quoting groups from the anti-science side. Instead, qutoes are had by:

William Schaffner, chair of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt School of Medicine:

“These are folks who really don’t have the best information, but because they are vocal and well organized their message has gotten out” [as a result] “around the country pediatricians and their staffs are having to spend more and more time persuading parents to have their kids vaccinated in a timely fashion. It is an enormous problem.”

Stephen Barrett of Quackwatch.org

“Talk shows don’ t pay any attention to whether the advice on their program will kill people. … Producers consider it entertainment,” he says, adding: “Never take health advice from a talk show.”

and

Dr. Paul Offit of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia:

Why do celebrities feel the need to spout off on medical or scientific matters? Because they’ve excelled in one field, stars “think they’re an expert in many things,” says the vaccine expert Offit. “That part doesn’t bother me. It’s the part that we listen that bothers me.”

I’m inclined to agree with Dr. Offit. It is the part that we listen to celebrities when they talk about things far outside their expertise that bothers me.

Age of Autism Abandon Pretence

9 Dec

To many of us who have been following the online ‘careers’ of the various people and factions behind Age of ‘Autism’ for many years (at least 7 in my case) this will be no surprise but it still needs pointing out once more:

The Age of ‘Autism’ blog is a repository of and a flag waver for anti-vaccine quackery.

Easy to say and growing easier and easier to demonstrate every day. As of the time of publishing of this post, the latest *six* posts from Age of ‘Autism’ have absolutely nothing to do with autism. These posts are (in reverse order):

1) Counting Offit’s Millions: More on How Merck’s Rotateq Vaccine Made Paul Offit Wealthy
2) Is One Man to Blame for the WorldWide H1N1 Panic?
3) $300K to Banyan Communications from Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines?
4) Harvard and CNN Report on Lower than Expected H1N1 Vaccine Uptake
5) Oops. Flu Pandemic May Be The Mildest since Modern Medicine Began Tracking.
6) Kickin’ the Tires of the Green Vaccine Initiative

*All* the above have no relationship to autism. *All* the above have a direct relationship to anti-vaccine beliefs.

One or two stories every now and then that don’t touch on your blog’s core subject is routine and only to be expected – but six in a row? Thats only routine if your core subject is drifting. Or if your *real* core subject is slowly being revealed.

A quicker guide to the ‘Green Vaccines’ Initiative

30 Nov

Some music to accompany this entry.

Over at AoA, Kent Heckenlively must be making the rest of the crew nervoous. Maybe you haven’t read his brand new idea for making the ‘green our vaccines’ initiative a political…um…’force’. To whit:

We’re not going to get anywhere with our current legal system because everything gets funneled into Vaccine Court. We’re not going to get far with the current media because they’re so heavily funded by pharmaceutical drug ads. We’re not going to get far with the medical community because they’re part of the machinery.

And don’t even get me started on the politicians. On one hand you have pharma handing out millions of dollars to politicians, and on the other you have parents of children with autism who are slowly bankrupted by this disease. Who do you think is going to have more money to ‘support’ the politician of their choice?

So Kent wants to tackle the legal system, the media, the medical community and politicians. And how?

In the months leading up to this announcement I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the necessary ingredients for a successful rebellion. Reading books on our own American Revolution has given me some guidance…

Cool. Nifty idea Kent. Tackle the legal system, the medical system, the political system and the media by reading a few books on the American Revolution. I think this is definitely a winner.

I’ve carefully scanned the article a few times (whilst wiping the tears of laughter away) but yep – that seems to be about it. And really, if we (god save us) look at this seriously for a moment what is it? Its a tacit admission that Kent doesn;t like the fact that these systems he wants to change don’t agree with him and his loon friends that vaccines cause autism. In fact, take a look at the comments and you’ll see its moved beyond autism to outright anti-vaxx. Is Kent proposing the very first anti-vaxx based political party? Some choice comments:

…thank you for the opportunity your statement gave us to refine the expression of our opposition to any form of vaccination.

I will never vaccinate again…

I no longer think any vaccine is safe…

There are no green vaccines. I am convinced.

I am in the camp that you can’t make vaccine safe ever

Finished listening to Pink Floyd yet? Good isn’t it?

Jenny McCarthy: I’d like to see some action behind those words

18 Aug

Jenny McCarthy is on the cover of the latest Cookie Magazine. As part of her interview, she asserts that she is “pro safe vaccine”, not anti vaccine.

Now McCarthy, along with her boyfriend, actor Jim Carrey, serves on the board of directors of Generation Rescue, an advocacy and research organization that calls for eliminating toxins in vaccines and for delaying shot schedules.

Notice “delaying” shot schedules.

Another quote, talking about her own experiences:

Going over his medical history now, she sees a link between a series of ear infections, a severe case of eczema, and a hepatitis-B booster shot. “Looking back, I’d say, ‘God, if a kid is having more than seven ear infections in a year and he’s got eczema, there are some issues here—his immune system is obviously under attack, and we need to put him in the sensitive category. Let’s just delay some of his shots,’ ” she says. “Not eliminate, delay.”

Again, note the phrease “Not eliminate, delay”.

This isn’t exactly new. The Generation Rescue website page on vaccines tells parents to “consder delaying vaccines”. As near as I can tell, GR has had a statement like this since the vaccines page was first put up.

But here is where actions and words part company for both Jenny McCarthy and Generation Rescue. They have “recommended” vaccine schedules. Their “favorite” schedule, included in their paragraph on “consider delaying” vaccines, states flat out: no live virus vaccines. I.e. no Measles, Mumps, Rubella or Varicella (chicken pox).

That’s not “delay” that’s “eliminate”.

Let’s compare the GR alternative schedules to the CDC recommended schedule, shall we?

The childhood schedule includes vaccinations against 15 diseases:

Hepatitis B
Rotavirus
Diptheria
Tetanus
Pertussis
Haemophilus influenzae type b
Pneumococcal
Polio
Influenza
Measles
Mumps
Rubella
Varicella
Hepatitis A
Meningococcal

Now let’s check GR, Jenny McCarthy’s organization, and their recommended schedules:

First, GR’s “favorite” schedule only has protection against 4 diseases.

Pertussis
Diptheria
Tetanus
and, Polio

Again, that’s not “delay” that’s “eliminate”.

For their second option, GR claims you can “turn back the clock” and use the 1983 schedule. I don’t know how anyone could think that is supposed to be a “delay” in shots. Here’s the count (6 diseases covered):

Diptheria
Tetanus
Pertussis
Polio
Measles
Mumps
Rubella

As the third option, Jenny McCarthy’s organization suggests you “go Danish” and use the Denmark schedule (7 diseases):

Diptheria
Tetanus
Pertussis
Haemophilus influenzae type b
Polio
Measles
Mumps
Rubella

Jenny McCarthy *says* she is promoting “delaying” vaccines. Her actions speak much louder than her words.

If you want to say you are for “delaying” vaccines, then change your website. Pretty simple.

Of course, when you do, I’d love to see the science showing that the delayed schedule you pick is safer than the current one.

Jenny McCarthy needs to learn: autistic is not psychotic or crazy

6 Aug

Last year Amanda Peet had a story in Cookie Magazine. She came out very pro-vaccine. Jenny McCarthy “jumped” on the story (delayed to be coincidental with Jenny McCarthy’s need for publicity).

This year, Cookie Magazine has a story with Jenny McCarthy. There is a lot bad in there. I am saving the worst for last (you can skip to the bottom if you want).

As to be expected in a magazine article about a celebrity, Ms. McCarthy is pushing her own business interests. In this case, her educational DVD collection:

“Through a series of entertaining vignettes featuring a cast of kids (including Evan), puppets, and dolls, the DVDs model correct social behavior and tackle everything from sharing and patience to maintaining conversations with friends to sibling rivalry. “Any parent will tell you that her kid watches a show and imitates it,” McCarthy says of her inspiration for the idea.”

I find that statement really strange for educational videos targeting autistic kids. I can think of a number of parents of autistic kids who would disagree with “Any parent will tell you that her kid watches a show and imitates it” From the book “Educating Children with Autism” by the National Academies Press:

Studies over longer periods of time have documented that joint attention, early language skills, and imitation are core deficits that are the hallmarks of the disorder.

Another quote from the Cookie Magazine story:

McCarthy’s widely publicized journey began in 2004, when her son had a seven-hour seizure and went into cardiac arrest. When he got home from the hospital, Evan was put on a heavy dose of antiseizure medication, which kept him awake for four days and induced hallucinations that made him not recognize his mom and bang his head against the wall until he bled. “I ran out of my house and into my driveway and screamed at the top of my lungs to God to just take him away, because I loved him so much and he was in so much pain,” McCarthy says of the period she describes as her “second rock-bottom” (the first being the moment Evan’s heart stopped momentarily).

A couple of observations.

First, I wish Cookie Magazine had clarified the point as to how long after his vaccination the seizure came. His MMR was at 14 months, his first seizure was after he was 2.

Now for the second. Did Jenny McCarthy really write that she had wished her child would be taken by god?

I didn’t want to blog this story. Why give Jenny McCarthy more publicity? Well, here’s the paragraph that made me want to blog:

McCarthy is leading a more normal life now, too, after having felt very alone in her first marriage, to Evan’s dad, and suffering what she calls a “breakdown” two years after Evan went into cardiac arrest and suffered those terrifying seizures. “When your kid is psychotic or crazy, you go into this place of shock so you can remain calm,” she says. “A problem a lot of moms [of autistic children] have is that they need to get out all [their emotions] later. I kept mine bottled up for two years, and then I finally released all this pent up fear, sadness, and anger. I just cried and cried and cried and cried and cried.”

“When your kid is psychotic or crazy, you go into this place of shock so you can remain calm”

I just don’t know what to say. Autism is not “crazy” or “psychotic”. Why is this woman chosen by the press to represent autism?

Maybe next year Cookie Magazine could interview a mother who is autistic or, at least, has an autistic child.

More non-autism blogs critical of the vaccine-autism story

23 Jul

There is a substantial public relations push to get the vaccines-cause-autism idea in front of the public’s eye. High end, expensive PR firms have been hired, and, let’s face it, they got a big free boost from Jenny McCarthy and Oprah.

The cost to public health is obvious. Declining vaccination rates have already had a big impact in the UK, and the US has also seen a resurgence of measles and other diseases.

But, there is another cost. As noted recently on this blog, Jenny McCarthy has already become the butt of comic strip jokes for her position on vaccines. Many people are likely to not realize that Jenny McCarthy speaks for a minority (loud though they may be) of the autism community. My kid relies on on the public’s perception of “the autism community”. When people like Ms. McCarthy damage that perception, there is a very real cost to my kid, my family.

It isn’t new for bloggers outside of autism to be critical of Jenny McCarthy and others in the vaccines-cause-autism groups. Most notably, Orac has taken Ms. McCarthy to task a number of times in what is one of the most well read medical blogs, “Respectful Insolence“. Likewise, Science Based Medicine has had a number of bloggers take on the pseudoscience and dangerous opinions of the vaccines-cause-autism crowd. But, one could argue that they are medical blogs and, thus, more connected to vaccines, public health and autism than your general blogger.

But, the past week has seen a couple more prominent blogs

Discover Magazine’s Bad Astronomy has come out against the dangerous pseudoscience with Jenny McCarthy: spreading more dangerous misinformation. If the title isn’t clear enough, here’s the first paragraph:

If you haven’t had your quota of shockingly wrong medical advice for the year yet, try watching this video by Dr. Jenny McCarthy, as she manages to squeeze about a metric ton of misinformation into a two-ounce package.

Note: “try watching this video” is a link in the Bad Astronomy blog piece. A link to the video hosted by Generation Rescue. For some reason (bad publicity? Too much bandwidth?) GR has pulled the video from their site.

While I cringe at yet more damage to the public perception of the “autism community”, I applaud Bad Astronomy for taking on Ms. McCarthy. It isn’t Bad Astronomy’s fault if “the community” looks bad. It is squarely at the feet of Jenny McCarthy.

Interestingly, Mr. Kent Heckenlively of the “Age of Autism” blog decided to comment at Bad Astronomy. Even more interesting, Mr. Heckenlively was forced to retreat to his own blog to continue the discussion where his claims wouldn’t be exposed to actual criticism.

But, once again, one could say it is expected that a science blog like Bad Astronomy would take on Jenny McCarthy. The do-vaccines-cause-autism question is a science question after all.

Enter Mother Jones. MJ blogger Sonja Sharp posted, Breaking: Vaccines Still Don’t Cause Autism.

Mother Jones is not a science or medicine based publication. In fact, as Ms. Sharp states:

We love a good conspiracy as much as the next investigative magazine—especially one that involves Big Pharma, the FDA, and the CDC. But as we’ve extensively reported here, the vaccines = autism meme might just be the most damaging medical myth of the decade. Not only is it based on false “science” that’s tearing apart the families of sick children, it’s unintentionally sickening thousands of others.

While the vaccine/autism story isn’t completely new to Mother Jones (for example, see Arthur Allen’s piece, Vaccine Skeptics vs. Your Kids)), Jenny McCarthy et al. should take a big hint when they can’t even get sympathy from MJ.

This blog piece obviously hit a nerve. Take a look at the comments. Second comment: David Kirby. David Kirby is, for better or worse, one of the most read bloggers talking about autism. I can already feel the heat from those who will (with good cause) tell me that David Kirby doesn’t really talk about autism. Point well taken. That said, Mr. Kirby doesn’t even participate in the comments of his own blog. Why suddenly break the tradition with Mother Jones?

I expect Mr. Kirby to actually partake in the discussion beyond his one comment. I may be forced to take a page from Mr. Heckenlively’s book and take the conversation here.

Jenny McCarthy: making autism advocates the butt of comics

18 Jul

There are many reasons I have for being vocal about my objections to Jenny McCarthy. Public health, that’s obviously a big one. Making the rest of the world look at the “autism community” as a bit of a joke, well that’s another.

With a hat-tip to Brian Steinberg of Examiner.com, cue the comic strip “Soup to Nutz”.

Soup To Nutz

It isn’t like they don’t know who is most responsible for giving Jenny her platform either:

Soup To Nutz

Mr. Steinberg closes his post so well I just have to quote it as my closing:

Look, it’s one thing to make fun of the president or a prominent politician, or even make reference to a big-name movie star or starlet. But it’s quite another to take on a celebrity with a pet cause or peeve. Mr. Stromoski is on firm ground taking on Ms. McCarthy’s credentials. I just wonder if her fans will treat him courteously.

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