Writing in the opinion section of the Wall Street Journal, pediatrician Ari Brown asks why the media hasn’t called celebrity activist Jenny McCarthy on the medical inaccuracies in her book alleging a link between vaccines and autism.

Call it the New McCarthyism: Who cares about 100 years of scientific research? Vaccines are evil, because the Internet says they are. When a well-meaning parent like Ms. McCarthy blames vaccines for her child’s autism, it’s dangerous. Celebrity books come and go, but the anxiety they create lives on in pediatricians’ offices across the country.

… Doctors do need to do a better job of guiding families through the maze of autism treatments. I also desperately want to know why autism happens and how to treat it. But let’s put our energy into funding autism research and treatment, not demonizing our vaccination program.

…after all I have seen, one thing is certain — I’ve vaccinated my own kids and would do it again in a heartbeat.

See earlier stories here.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 27th, 2007 at 5:01 am and is filed under autism, celebrities, vaccine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.