In a cover story in Wired magazine, writer Amy Wallace says vaccine deniers like Jenny McCarthy are exploiting public anxieties over autism to create a climate in which children are dying of diseases that could be prevented.

The war on vaccines, she says, amounts to a challenge to traditional science that is being stoked by instant communication and easy access to information that is often erroneous.

People are clinging to the illusions of pseudo-science, Wallace says, because science has yet to find the precise cause of autism and pseudo-science offers consolation. Pediatrician Paul Offit is fighting to restore rationality to the vaccine conversation, but Wallace says his effort is “probably a losing one.”

“There will always be more illogic and confusion than science can fend off. Offit’s idea is to inoculate people one by one, until the virus of fear, if not fully erased, at lease recedes.”

See also:

The misinformants: Prominent voices in the anti-vaccine crusade — Wired

How to win an argument about vaccines — Wired

From the New York Times:

As the possibility of a flu epidemic looms, public health officials around the country are developing triage plans to address one of medicine’s most troubling questions: Who should receive medical treatment when demands are high and resources are scarce?

The draft plans vary and have attracted little publicity. All involve methods for rationing care and diverting it away from vulnerable and impaired patients during a disaster.  Health officials defend formal rationing as the last in a series of steps taken to stretch scarce resources to serve the maximum number of people.

Employees at New York-Presbyterian Hospital were recently asked, in a hypothetical exercise, whether a man with cystic fibrosis who was rushed to a hospital during a flu pandemic could be relieved of his mechanical ventilator so that another healthier patient might have a chance to survive. (The employees couldn’t agree on what to do.)

Earlier posts:

Who should MDs let die in a pandemic? Panel makes a list

Report: People with disabilities left out of disaster planning

From ABC News (with video):

Two teacher’s aides are facing felony criminal charges for allegedly abusing Montana middle school students with disabilities last year.

Witnesses have accused Julie Parish and Kristina Marie Kallies of abusing 14-year Garret Schilling, who has Fragile X syndrome and limited verbal skills, by holding his head under running water, making him eat his own vomit, and leaving him sitting in his own feces for prolonged periods.

Other families have also come forward with allegations of abuse, including one report that a girl with cerebral palsy came home with chunks of hair missing.

The aides have resigned but deny the allegations.

See also:

Great Falls educators open window on special ed in wake of abuse charges — Great Falls Tribune

Editorial: Sunshine could help reassure special-needs community — Great Falls Tribune

Attorney general won’t investigate alleged school abuse — Great Falls Tribune

Special Ed Teacher Accused of Abusing Students – [Nashville, TN] WSMV

Lawsuit claims teacher abused special needs students – Nashville Newschannel5

From USA Today:

Crumbling sidewalks across the nation don’t meet federal requirements for disability access, putting people in wheelchairs at risk as they take to the streets.

Although there are no specific statistics on the number of accidents involving wheelchairs in streets, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System, disability was a factor in 617 pedestrian traffic fatalities last year.

Disabled residents here take their lives in their hands getting from point A to point B, says Scott Crawford (above), a disability-rights advocate.

([Jackson, MS] Clarion-Ledger photo from USA Today)

See also: Cape gets mixed grade for access — Cape Cod Times

From ABC News:

Medical experts at the annual American Academy of Pediatrics meeting said there are cases when it’s ethical and legal for pediatricians to ‘fire’ a patient who refuses vaccines.

Experts said pediatricians struggle to cope with a growing number of parents who fear a link between autism and vaccines despite adamant statements to the contrary from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Centers of Disease Control. The experts say some pediatricians face an ethical dilemma because they feel that the parental concerns about vaccines conflict with their responsibility to protect the safety of the patient and other patients in the office. In those cases, experts say it is not unreasonable for pediatricians to recommend that the patient switch to another provider.

Dr. Steven Abelowitz, director of the Coastal Kids clinic in southern California, said it used to be rare for patients to express concerns about vaccines. Now he says doctors in his clinic “deal with vaccine concerns 10-20 times a day,” with the big change coming after Jenny McCarthy appeared on TV.

Abelowitz said the major concern about keeping unvaccinated children in a practice is the risk it poses for other children, particularly for “young babies who are under the age of 2 months who are not vaccinated.”

From Newsday, New York Daily News, and UPI:

Speaking to a group of disability advocates, New York Gov. David Paterson said he faces “degrading” attacks because he is blind.

Paterson said ridicule of his blindness by actors and commentators reflects a growing hostility toward people with visual impairments.

“Anything I did got associated with the fact that I do have visual impairment,” he said during a speech before the state chapter of the National Federation of the Blind. “That’s an insult.”

… Paterson said he can take the shots, noting that unlike 70% of blind people nationally, “I have a job and I will be keeping my job for four more years.”

But the attacks on him could influence how others, particularly potential employers, view everyday blind people.

(New York Daily News photo)

From the Baltimore Sun:

Maryland disability advocates have launched a campaign to reverse $29 million in state budget cuts that would affect more than 20,000 residents with developmental disabilities. They say the vulnerable community is already underfunded.

“In good times, we don’t get our share. In bad times, we shouldn’t have to give back,” said Carol Beatty, executive director of the ARC of Howard County.

Supporters have organized a series of nine public meetings around the state, and are meeting with Gov. Martin O’Malley, legislators, and other top officials.

“I know how painful these cuts are,” O’Malley said. “We’re not doing these things because we think no one will be affected adversely. At this point, anything we cut is core mission.”

Senate minority leader Allan H. Kittleman criticized the governor for using state funds to buy large tracts of land for preservation when state residents with disabilities are losing services.

UPDATE:

See also: Developmental disabilities community decries budget cuts to state services — Annapolis Capital