That's Jenny McCarthy Making one of her many TV appearances speaking out against vaccines. The problem is, her grasp of the facts are about as hazy as this picture of her.
Last week, America was treated to an overdose of Jenny McCarthy as she made appearances on the major daytime shows (Oprah, Good Morning America, American Morning, among others) and slammed vaccines while she promoted her new book, Mother Warriors, about her effort to cure her son of autism. McCarthy, a board member of the anti-vaccine group Generation Rescue, has done this on several occasions in the past, most notably last Spring when she appeared on Larry King Live, where the spent the hour cutting off any sensible discusion with flashes of anger and inflammatory talking points, at one point shouting expletives at the physicians sitting next to her.
Let's look more closely at her interview on CNN's American Morning to fact check her talking points (her comments excerpted here from the show's online transcript):
On why doctors and the American Academy of Pediatrics aren't willing to admit vaccines cause autism:
MCCARTHY: Well, when you really think about it, the reason why is because there is such a huge business in pharmaceuticals.
Ms. McCarthy employs a usual tactic here--she says pediatricians--every single one of them in this country--are in bed with vaccine companies and the only reason we continue to vaccinate is because we get paid handsomely to do it. Fact check: we call get paid by somebody, but pediatricians don't make a ton of money, if any at all, on vaccines. Take a look at the following links for more information about this.
http://conf.testmd.com/xmsegment.aspx?sid=800
http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/apr07vaccinecosts.htm
(Yes, anti-vaccine advocates, it is from the AAP, but I can promise that one thing they care very, very good at is making sure they count every dollar they can get)
On the other hand, there is money on both sides of this "debate." Anti-vaccine groups are well-financed, and they have been rife with financial conflicts of interest since this movement began (see my review of Offit's book for examples of just a few). These groups have been able to take out full page ads in National Newspapers created by very savvy PR firms (like Fenton Communications, the group that helped prosecute the campaign against silicon breast implants in the 80s and 90s), and to post attack ads against those who go against their point of view--actress Amanda Peet is their latest favorite target. Doctors who specialize in treating autistic children with alternative treatments like chealtion, labs that do testing of blood, urine, and stool samples from kids, and makers of supplements all make money from parents trying these treatments. Certainly much more than doctors trying to keep kids healthy by vaccinating them.
Take a look at some anti-vaccine patrons here:
http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/10/leather-meets-l.html#more
http://www.anteupforautism.org/
http://www.aneveningforautism.org/
More on vaccines:
MCCARTHY: People are also dying from vaccinations. Evan, my Evan, my son died in front of me for two minutes. So, you ask any mother in the autism community if we'll take the flu, the measles over autism any freaking day of the week. So, I think they need to wake up and stop hurting our kids. And we're not telling people not to vaccinate. I don't understand why it's so freaking hard to comprehend we deserve safe shots and a safer schedule.
Nobody will contend that vaccines can cause injuries--that's why the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program was created. But when was the last time a child died from a vaccine? (sorry, despite Ms. McCarthy's grizzly description, and what must have been a very, very frightening experience, a seizure does not equal death)
According to a report from the CDC looking at adverse events due to vaccines between 1991-2001 (by 2001, the schedule that we now have for vaccines is essentially similar to what we use today):
Secondly, can a sensible person really understand how Ms. McCarthy can, so vociferously, give kids the false choice of measles or the flu over autism? If you can, then what about tetanus, polio, or h. flu meningitis?
Her comments are those of a person who, thankfully, has never had a person she cares about contract, get sick and die from a vaccine-preventable illness. At least 3 generations of children haven't seen this happen en masse because of mass vaccination.
I hope Ms. McCarthy travels a little in the future and sees just how these diseases kill and maim. Maybe she will read the stories of families whose children really died from influenza, a vaccine-preventable disease, here:
http://www.familiesfightingflu.org/
Finally, Ms. McCarthy goes on to claim she isn't anti-vaccine. On the other hand, since she would take measles or the flu any "freaking day of the week"
Ok, so she's not anti-vaccine. But given those comments, isn't it safe to say she's pro-infectious disease?
In the end, and like other anti-vaccine folks, she provides no evidence and cites no study to back up some very serious charges. She can't provide specifics when she demands "safe shots and a safer schedule."
What's worrisome here is that when major news outlets give Jenny McCarthy a soapbox to speak on, they provide very little time for the medical community to respond in kind, which obviously amplifies her comments. At most, next time they have her on, they should at least hold her more accountable or be more specific. At most, they should invite a doctor to clarify the evidence. Better yet, invite a family whose child suffered or died from shots after they listened to Ms. McCarthy.
We don't know that child yet, but I can promise you, if the media keep giving free reign to Jenny's McCarthyism, we will. Then, all too late for that child and her parents, we'll all understand and regret how careless she is being.
Good Night, and Good Luck.
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Davis Liu, MD
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Comments
Blaming vaccines at this point is premature, and the benefits to our society from vaccination are overwhelming. While I have often thought that autism is a combination of genetic predisposition and allergic reaction, I have found Jenny McCarthy and her cohorts incredibly irresponsible in the vehemence with which they assert that vaccines are "the debil."
I put my child on Dr. Sears' schedule. No more than two to three shots at a time and the MMR broken into three separate events for the first series. My child is getting ALL the shots (except possibly chicken pox which I have some doubts about). They're just spread out over a slightly longer period of time, with the diseases most dangerous to smaller children done first (DTAP for example). Polio is pushed back to nine months for the first shot, and the hep b shot is pushed back a bit as well. Flu shots are given only if mercury free, and the nasal 'injection' is encouraged if the mercury free shots aren't available. It's a completely sensible schedule. It does mean more doctor visits. But, I'm more comfortable, and if there's an allergic reaction, I can figure out more easily what's going on.
I can't really see a downside to it. I'm doing my civic duty. I'm getting my child her shots. Just not on the more aggressive schedule.
I agree that immunizations are one of the greatest advances ever in medicine and one of the reasons for much improved life expectancy. Sure, adverse reactions happen, including anaphylaxis, but such reactions also happen with various medicines, foods, etc. Maybe Jenny McCarthy feels better attacking a concrete "cause" for autism rather than embracing the vagueness that surrounds it.
Odette, I don't think the altered schedule is a problem. Our pediatrician is on board with that as well. It's not like you aren't vaccinating at all and just relying on other people's immunity to protect your child.
That said, I want to make it clear I am by no means anti-vaccination: my little boy has certainly received all of his. But I am very much against a MSMC that has treated these concerns as hysteria, while doing nothing of substance to develop treatments for autism. It should be noted by the way that people were decrying the use of timerosol and being dismissed by the MSMC for years, before they finally prevailed. Whenever anyone says it is irresponsible to blame vaccinations, one should remember that they were saying the same thing about the preservative, even though that preservative has proven in fact dispensable. The attitude of the MSCM toward legitimate complaints is itself to blame for the conspiracy mindset displayed by Jenny McCarthy. Had the apologists for the MSCM, like Mr. Parikh, ever displayed the appropriate urgency about the rising tide of autism over the last 15 years, their defense of current procedures would not ring so hollow.
The good doctors own percentages are 1.4% to 2.3% for vaccine related deaths, but the influenza mortality rate is about .32%. Which is more dangerous -- flu or the vaccine?
Flu vaccines have been proven to increase the risk of Guillain-Barré Syndrome as well. That has been proven over and over, and yet millions get this shot without ever hearing of this deadly complication.
And the CDC's own website had this to say: Yes, the majority of influenza vaccines distributed in the United States currently contain thimerosal as a preservative. Their website was updated last month, so presumably vaccines still have mercury in them.
Until the doctors admit these facts which are less than complimentary to vaccines, the general public will not believe what they have to say about health related matters.
I would like to be charitable and think Jenny McCarthy is just terribly misguided but her venom and rantings mark her as a charlatan. I long for the days when minor celebs could while away their autumn years on the panel of To Tell the Truth and, well, tell the truth. The current vogue is for these C-listers to manufacture a crisis then cash-in with memoirs and cures. Exhibit B would be Suzanne Somers.
And in the comments here there is resentment against the "medical establishment" for dragging its collective feet on autism. The frustration is understandable if one has an autistic child. But progress in medicine can be maddeningly, frustratingly ponderous because medicine has to function as a science and work through problems incrementally, never embracing fads, setting up trials then allowing them to mature, replicating previous studies. Honestly, it can seem needlessly repetitive and cautious. But it's better than the converse - which is "chelation might work - let's try that". Advising patience is absolutely no comfort for the parent of an affected child, granted, but I don't see another way.
The disgust with the medical establishment is fueled by the fact that many of the innovative treatments have worked and are working. So before you patronize the parents of autistic kids for being frustrated with the best and the brightest over at the AMA, and before you dismiss innovative treatments like celation, you might want to get a clue what you are talking about.
When Ms. McCarthy says, "I saw my son die from a vaccine", without the details, it gives a very wrong impression. Given the gravity of the situation, this is not a "sound byte" story.
I would appreciate it if she could give a timeline of how long a time elapsed between her son's last vaccination and his first seizure. Perhaps she does somewhere, but I haven't seen it.
Responding to one commenter:
"I can't really see a downside to it. I'm doing my civic duty. I'm getting my child her shots. Just not on the more aggressive schedule."
And, that mother is welcome for the fact that her child is safer during the extended time he/she is undervaccinated. That is possible because of the protection the community gives by being vaccinated.
Dr. Sears is quoted as telling parents who don't vaccinate that they shouldn't tell their neighbors. The reason he gives is that if too many of the neighbors also forgo vaccination, your child will be at greater risk due to the loss of herd immunity.
That is taking advantage of your community. Plain and simple.
What if he has seizures because she smoked throughout her pregnancy? Hey, that's dramatic, but she's not going to go there is she? And why is it that if she's afraid he will have another seizure if he gets sick she's leaving him incompletely vaxed and inviting him to spend time with bunches of unvaxed kids? Maybe he's got an immunity to measles and whooping cough now from his prior vaccines, in which case she ought to be grateful for the vaccines. If he needs boosters and she's not making sure he's getting them, then she's leaving him at risk to get whatever it is he's needing boosters for and he's more likely to have seizures.
I thought it was amusing that in her appearance on CNN this time they projected a photo of her in a witch's costume (and her son in some other costume) behind her on a large screen.
Sorry, Liber. A spot check by the CDC in the winter of 2002 found less than 2 percent of scheduled childhood vaccines on physician's shelves still contained thimerosal. So it's been seven years of no TCVs for young children. That covers the entire 3-5 year old cohort.
I actually trust my pediatrician, and he approved this schedule. So, he's the person whose opinion I have to consider first.
"Under" vaccinating would be not vaccinating, pure and simple. The schedule that my child follows is absolutely fine. Do you have children? Because you don't sound like you truly know the schedule for vaccinations and I'm certain you're not aware of my full schedule in regards to my child.
You're not speaking from full comprehension of when and how vaccinations work and when children get vaccinations normally. I am. My child isn't running the risk of making one single other child, vaccinated or not, sick.
Am I able to delay polio vaccinations by a matter of a year or less (which is the actual delay--by about four months--not exactly problematic) because polio no longer exists in the country. Yes, I am. I'm lucky I can do that. But, am I running the risk of re-spreading polio? No, I am not.
Dr. Sears' schedule is a pretty smart one. The 'delays' work like this: Most people take their children for shots every few months. Mine goes every month. The shots are spread out so that she has them each time she goes to the doctor. It's not HER favorite thing, but there it is.
Also, if you've ever dealt with the pediatrician's office, you know they don't push hard on the schedule because they know it's fine. For example, the Kid got sick before her last set of shots. I had to reschedule them until after she stopped taking her medication and got over her fever. (An ear infection so don't get smug) The office was like, ah, we don't have anything for a month. I freaked out. What? A month? Her shots! They LAUGHED at me. And so, she goes in to get these shots a month late.
No one is panicking and heading for the hills. This is not the calamity you imagine it is, nor is it me leeching onto the community in the way you characterize it.
You must get the shots. That's the point. Do you have to get the shots at a certain time? No. Is it better to get them at certain ages and in certain rotations? Yes. It's better to get the DTAP early because whooping cough is dangerous for little kids. It's better to get the measles, mumps, and rubella in the first few years because that's a time when many children start school and are exposed to more than five kids in a family daycare or at home, and that's when those diseases (besides during adulthood) are the most dangerous.
The shot that most worries me is the flu shot. She gets that next. It worries me, but I'm doing it. I'm getting one of them myself.
The shot I most want them to approve for an earlier age is the Meningococcal shot. I want her to have that earlier.
One more set of thoughts: I actually had the measles, the mumps (twice!), the chicken pox. I didn't have rubella and so sweated out my pregnancy a bit, but it was okay. I survived all these childhood diseases. I remember being sick with them. I had the shots, too. They just didn't work well then. (Well, not the chicken pox one, because they didn't have that then, or rubella.) My friends all had these diseases as well. No one died. No one went into the hospital. No one. I know there's a possibility for these things, but it's kind of slight.
We play the percentages down here. I get my child the shots because that increases the safety for my child and her friends. The Kid had a minor reaction to her first full set of shots. So, the doctor and I spread them out. No more reactions.
I feel good about the decision that the doctor and I made.
I also keep in mind the voracious greed and unmitigated dishonesty of those involved in big Pharm. I can't deny it. In my lifetime, there have been an enormous number of drugs that have gone south and hurt people. As a parent, I have to think about those things. I have to consider them all. No decision I make about my child is made lightly, on some whim, or even because I'm being fanciful.
Honestly, that's why articles/commentary like this worries me. It's the other side of the same coin, in my opinion. On one side, we have people who refuse to get their children any shots. On the other side, we have people who refuse to admit that any children have problems with the shots or that more research really should be done, since we've never given as many shots as we do now. There's so much we don't understand about the immune system and/or the immune/gut reaction. Until I got some inflammatory problems, I didn't know how little, but my own gastroenterologist, a really terrific doctor, admitted this: "We really know very little about how it all works."
I get the shots, but because I know all these factors, I spread them out. And I still do it with fear in my heart because I know and have seen the greed of big Pharm in action in the past. I find it very, very easy to believe that big problems, as long as they were seen to have little financial repercussions, would get overlooked.
So, I do the best that I can. And so you know, frankly, screw you for your ill-considered judgment of me and the raising of my child.