Strollerderby
American Academy of Pediatrics Pressures ABC To Cancel Pilot
ABC is set to air the pilot of Eli Stone, a new legal drama, on Thursday. But if the American Academy of Pediatrics has its way, the episode will be yanked before anyone gets a chance to see it.
The main character of the show is a lawyer, who, in this episode, argues in court that his young client became autistic from a vaccine he received as a baby. When the lawyer dramatically reveals that an executive at the fictional pharmaceutical company that made the fictional vaccine wouldn’t let his own child get the shot, the jury awards the family an enormous judgement.
The American Academy of Pediatrics is concerned that parents will see this show and stop vaccinating their children. Dr. Renee R. Jenkins, president of the group, claimed, “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.”
But is this grounds for censorship? First of all, it’s not at all universally agreed that the vaccination-autism connection is a “myth.” Although recent studies have suggested a lack of causation, other doctors and statisticians (including some who actually work for the CDC, disagree (see Dr. Bill Weil, Dr. Richard Johnston, Dr. Mark Geier, and many others). Certainly, the debate about what does and does not cause autism is still rigorous, it’s still passionate – and it’s still far from settled, as Dr. Jenkins’ words would seem to indicate.
And it’s exactly these kinds of charged issues that make great TV. Virtually every episode of Law and Order is based on a real case, and I never heard anyone suggest that individual shows be pulled because they suggested that characters based on real political figures (Gary Condit, Thomas Capano) were guilty of murder, or that fictional corporations based on real companies deliberately poisoned or defrauded the public. Viewers understand that these kinds of television shows are not documentaries. However, if they do cause parents to go to their computers and research the vaccines their kids get – or, for that matter, the hormones in their kids’ milk, or the sweatshops their clothes might have come from, I fail to see how this is a bad thing.
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6 Comments
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amMy problem with the show is that it
benhops commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 am“I fail to see how this is a bad thing…”
Ummm, because by and large “research” means skimming lightly on the internet and finding a few web sites that contain less than adequate info and advise which empowers said parents to think that they actually know something. This leads to the sort of stridency that we’ve been seeing around this particular issue which leads to fewer kids being vaccinated and the potential for the reemergence of previously diminishing diseases. Knowledge and education are key to good parenting but because an educated-beyond-her-intelligence blogger “fails to see” (or understand something)is not a substitute for actually knowing something.
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amThis is absolute garbage. The article published in The Lancet over 10 years ago that attempted to correlate the MMR vaccination with autism was garbage. 11 of the 12 original authors signed a full retraction of its conclusions. The study was of 11 boys and looked to associate dysfunctional stooling patterns with autism. Through some coincidence, A. Wakefield, noted that some of these children had had fevers, seizures, or other (common) reactions to a vaccine. From that single observation – he made the completely unfounded, unscientific claim that the MMR causes autism. This has put a scare into the public about vaccines ever since and has cause unimagineable harm to children who have gone unvaccinated.
Similarly, concerns about mercury in Thimerisol (a preservative used in some vaccines) spurred another controversy in the last 6 years in the U.S.A. Studies out of NY have shown that the levels of mercury from vaccinating children are FAR FAR below levels that could potentially be dangerous. Still, JUST TO BE ON THE SAFE SIDE, the US took thimerisol out of most vaccines given to children (save for some Flu vaccines, yellow fever, etc…). This also caused an unnecessary panic in our population and resulted in many children not receiving immunizations – (our widespread immunization program is the greatest achievement in pediatrics and prevents MILLIONS of serious infectious diseases each year). In fact, it is thought that the reason the US removed thimerisol from many of the vaccines was in order to PREVENT another crazy scam study like the one A. Wakefield performed on autistic children.
It is sad, to me, that the PILOT EPISODE of this show played on the unrealistic and unfounded fears that so many people still harbor today in the aftermath of the A. Wakefield autism sham. I look at it as another one of the many ways in which people profit off of parents fears/misunderstandings about autism (just like testing hair and skin for heavy metals and other UNscientific diagnostics and treatments for children with autism).
Although I don’t think this show should have been censored, I think it won’t be on long. Writers who have to dig up old ‘controversies’ to create a show will run out of material very soon. I’ll be glad when it is cancelled later this season.
Robert, M.D.
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 am“First of all, it’s not at all universally agreed that the vaccination-autism connection is a “myth.” ”
Yeah. And lots of people don’t believe in evolution and lots of people don’t believe in global warming. Doesn’t make it true. You can find a couple of scientists who will support Creationism and and a couple who will deny climate change too!
Oh, and it’s not censorship unless the government shuts you down. They should pull it. Of course they won’t.
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amWhile I certainly don’t think it’s grounds for censorship, I do think it’s an irresponsible way to get press and ratings.
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 am…[I]f they do cause parents to go to their computers and research the vaccines their kids get – or, for that matter, the hormones in their kids’ milk, or the sweatshops their clothes might have come from
Except by and large, they don’t. They hear something bad about something, they avoid it. Much, much easier. Only nerdy intellectuals actually bother to learn anything about anything.
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