Jenny McCarthy, MD?

So.....I think this entry is venturing into controversial territory, but I'm writing it anyway. Has anyone seen the Jenny McCarthy interview where she says that vaccines are hurting our children and causing autism? Oh yeah, and she says her son is "recovered" from autism. News flash, Jenny: Find my a reputable psychologist who says someone is "recovered" from autism, and I'll show you Santa Claus. She talks about biomedical science and parents taking their children's health into their own hands, and this strikes me as incredibly dangerous and irresponsible. She is not a doctor, her background is not in biology or chemistry or science - the CDC, AAP, NIH, have all stood by the fact that vaccines do not cause autism. In fact, it is much more likely that the vaccine schedule that children are on coincides with developmental trajectories that relate to autism spectrum disorders. Jenny McCarthy's rage in this interview is well-controlled (to a point), but you can plainly see it and hear it. I don't know. When asked about putting kids in jeopardy by not vaccinating, she mentions that any parent with a child living with autism would rather have their child have the flu - well, what about polio? hmmm, Jenny? We have come this far because of medical science. It may seem like autism is on the rise, but more likely, it's merely the diagnoses that are more accurate. It's even been said that Albert Einstein most likely had a form of Asperger's. 

It's like the crazysexycancer thing - when you have an emotionally and possibly physically vulnerable population who desperately want an explanation or a cure, you have to be very careful of claims and easy fixes. Sometimes people want something so badly that they'll convince themselves it exists.