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In an op-ed in the Chicago Sun-Times, Jenny McCarthy claims she is not anti-vaccine. "I believe in the importance of a vaccine program and I believe parents have the right to choose one poke per visit. I've never told anyone to not vaccinate. Should a child with the flu receive six vaccines in one doctor visit? Should a child with a compromised immune system be treated the same way as a robust, healthy child? Shouldn't a child with a family history of vaccine reactions have a different plan? Or at least the right to ask questions?"
However Jeffrey Kluger, who interviewed McCarthy in 2009, responds in Time Magazine that McCarthy believes vaccines cause autism, that they are related to OCD, ADHD and other physical and behavioral ills, that they are overprescribed, teeming with toxins, poorly regulated and that the only reason we keep forcing them into the sweet, pristine immune systems of children is because doctors, big pharma and who-knows what-all sinister forces want it that way. "Jenny, as outbreaks of measles, mumps and whooping cough continue to appear in the U.S.-most the result of parents refusing to vaccinate their children because of the scare stories passed around by anti-vaxxers like you-it's just too late to play cute with the things you've said. You are either floridly, loudly, uninformedly antivaccine or you are the most grievously misunderstood celebrity of the modern era. Science almost always prefers the simple answer, because that's the one that's usually correct. Your quote trail is far too long-and you have been far too wrong-for the truth not to be obvious."
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 15 2014, @01:15PM
I think the wingnuts are a *good* thing.
The force us to up our game. To make things better. To make what they say so wrong that no one will listen to them.
To say things like 'the science is settled' is lazy. What if there is something wrong in the numbers? What if the schedule could be better? What if the dose is too low/high? These are precisely the sorts of questions our doctors should be asking before they give the stuff to a few hundred people. That is part of science questioning the norm. Is it really the norm? Is it working or are there side effects we need to work on?
For example recently a lady who was fully vaccinated in NY picked up the measles and gave it to 5 people (2 of whom were also vaccinated, 3 partials). Something broke, they are looking into it. Exactly what should happen. To just say 'dont worry about it' is lazy and backwards.
I celebrate the wing nuts because they ask the stupid questions. Sometimes you need to go back and check that yeah those facts *are* true and someone didnt just make it up to get a paper published. Which happens more than you would like to know.
I trust my doctor to use the knowledge he has at this time to make sure I, my family, and friends are vaccinated properly.
Yes it is tiresome to deal with them. Yes it takes energy away from other goals. But if you dismiss them they will harden their lines and scream even more. If you show them what you did and why they are wrong you can get a better response. They are scared and we dismiss them.
(Score: 2) by wantkitteh on Tuesday April 15 2014, @08:06PM
If the Wingnuts read these and checked the sources, they'd realize how stupid they were being:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMR_vaccine_controve rsy [wikipedia.org]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Wakefield [wikipedia.org]
So let's see, some crooked lawyers wanted to make a fast buck sewing the vaccine manufacturers, so they asked a doc to cook up some evidence for them. The science was never in genuine doubt. Idiots who can't accept that the sky isn't falling don't keep anyone on their toes, they drag the entire human race down to their idiotic level. It's been SIXTEEN YEARS since these blatant lies were first published and kids are still dying today. I'll say it loud so everyone can hear me: FUCK THE WINGNUTS!