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NBC's ER PROVOKES VACCINE "REACTION"
(UPDATE 5/5/01 - SIGN A GROUP LETTER OF PROTEST TO NBC - WE DID! GO TO http://vaccinationnews.com/instructions.htm
FOR ALL THE INFORMATION!)
Dear PROVE Members,
As you know, on February 15th, 2001, NBC's television drama ER contained a highly controversial
story line about a family who chose not to vaccinate their children, and one of the children
contracts measles and dies from complications while the doctors on the show lash out at the mother
and categorically deny any risks posed by the vaccine.
NBC's lack of responsibility, compassion and sensitivity about a very real problem is highly
disturbing. Measles containing vaccines do sometimes injure and kill children. A death
or injury from a vaccine is just as awful as a death or injury from a disease.
Anyone wanting to read some of the MMR vaccine adverse event reports can do so at http://www.fedbuzz.com/vaccine/vac.html.
Here is one that would have been a more realistic basis for a story line.
VAERS ID 105905
State FR
Vaccine Type MMR
Vaccination Name MMR II
Manufacturer MSD
Age in Years 1
Sex M
Lab Data biopsy brain measles inclusion bodies; Reported Text pt recv vax 1997 & pt exp
encephalitis & was hosp; COD encephalitis, viral & measles inclusions bodies were found @
the brain biopsy;investigation found type 1 virus;
Life Threating Illness Y
Died Y
Recovered N
Disability Y
Families across the country are lashing back in their letters to NBC. I am forwarding just
a small sampling to our readers. As these letters demonstrate, parents concerned about vaccine
safety are hardly the blubbering idiots portrayed by NBC's ER (which is supported with vaccine
manufacturers' advertising money).
Pass this on to anyone asking you questions about this latest pharmaceutical stunt so the truth
can shine.
Also, it is not too late to send your letters to NBC. Go to www.nbc.com,
and on the right side there is a scroll box where you can select "your favorite show".
Click on "ER" and then scroll to the bottom section entitled "Contact Us", and
click on "Email ER". There is an online form where you can let the producers know
what you think about this episode.
___________
I've been a faithful ER fan for years. It's the ONLY show I have ever been able to say that
about. Last night was my last viewing. I was actually watching the show in my daughter's hospital
room. She was admitted suffering from yet another side effect from one of the horrible treatments
she received for her autoimmune disease. An autoimmune disease caused by the MMR vaccine. I'm
thankful she was so sedated from her pain medication that she missed the whole show. We usually
watch it together.
I found it sadly ironic that in the same show you showed such compassion for the man suffering from
lupus, the disease that my daughter's hemotologist believes she is developing. Are you even remotely
aware of the connection between the vaccine and autoimmune diseases? You could have at least had the
sensibility to catch that sad insult. After your condescending and reprehensible treatment of the
parents, you cut immediately to a vaccine commercial. You left me spinning with nausea. Now I leave
your viewing audience.
Shame on you.
Sara Smith
__________
As a pediatric physician in the alternative health care field, I am becoming increasingly alarmed
by the growing incidence of chronic, debilitating auto-immune and immunodeficiency diseases in my
pediatric patients. It is not merely coincidental that the disease symptoms presented by these
helpless children, whose ages vary from six months to seventeen years old, either started or became
severely aggravated shortly after a vaccination or series of vaccinations.
It is very frustrating, if not infuriating, to witness such a biased and obviously unethically
promoted view of vaccination in a recent ER. You people have not done your homework. If, at a
minimum, this promotion was a public service message courtesy of a government regulatory agency in
need of more regulatory control over the lives of its people, your message is little more
than propaganda for the sake of "the end justifies the means". If, on the other hand, this
advertisment was an attempt to educate your audience about the benefits of vaccination, your message
will end up benefiting the pharmaceutical industry far more than it will the millions of children
who are at high risk for adverse reactions and/or long term consequences from our
very reckless mandated vaccine policy.
For your information, there is not only plenty of measurable scientific evidence to suggest that our
reckless vaccine policy is dangerous; there also exists a number of ethical premises upon which the
very notion of health is predicated (such as: "Doctor, do no harm") that lead intelligent
people to question whether the application of our reckless vaccine policy is flawed.
Without considering or weighing the pros and cons of vaccination, one need only understand that the
fundamental issue of importance in this vaccine controversy is the right of consent. You have not
only done a disservice to people by insulting our collective intelligence with your biased view (and
incomplete facts) of this controversial medical procedure, you have succeeded in leading us further
down the slippery slope towards political expedience and moral decay by condoning the repression of
our constitutional freedoms.
This particular ER program was another example of ignorance on display in the media and another
reason why more and more rational people are turning television off and looking for news in other
places.
Toni Krehel
__________
I am a long time fan of ER but I was shocked last night by the inaccuracy of the measles story line.
First of all to portray the parents in the light that you did is unconscionable. This is 2001. Not
only do parents have a right to make an informed decision for their child it is their
responsibility. Did
the people who wrote this story have any idea that there are children being injured every day
in the United States from vaccine reactions. In 1986 Congress passed a law to compensate these
individuals. This government program has paid out over $1 billion to children who have been injured
and killed by mandated childhood vaccines, including the measles vaccine. To flat out say
there is no connection between autism and vaccination is a lie and disservice to your audience.
There is evidence and studies are ongoing at the National Institutes of Health, the Institute of
Medicine and the M.I.N.D. Institute to name a few. You have done a great disservice to your viewers
by presenting such a biased story. About the only thing that was accurate were the way
doctors treat parents on this issue. Many parents are berated by health care providers for
exercising their informed consent rights on the vaccination issue which pushes parents away from
their health care providers. I would like to know why your producers would think that the life
of a child that dies from a disease is more valuable than the life of a child who dies
or is permanently injured by a vaccine?
As a viewer I have to wonder who brought this storyline to ER. I'm sure it was only a
coincidence that the first advertisement was for a new childhood vaccine, Prevnar. You sold out and
you should be ashamed of yourselves.
Kathi Williams
Co-Founder and Director National Vaccine Information Center Vienna, VA
__________
You've gone too far. As a registered nurse, disabled with an 'undifferentiated connective tissue
disease' and severe peripheral sensory neuron disease because of multiple vaccines including:
influenza, DPT, hepatitis B and MMR series - mandated as a condition for clinical practice - I have
a "desk job" which affords me the option of working flexible shifts.
Uncharacteristically, I was home to see the 'ER' episode February 8, 2001, including previews for
February 15th promising something outrageous in the way of infectious diseases.
'Lordie, what now?' I pondered. 'Small pox?' It was obvious that the Vaccine Machine had reached
into their deep pockets and bought an episode of 'ER.' I chose to work my usual preferred evening
shift and avoid watching the exaggerated infectious disease scenario, to miss this episode that
promised further insult and condescension to vaccine casualties like myself.
It was my responsibility to do professional fee abstraction for the ER at Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia in 1997, and for 15 months reviewed an average of 150 pediatric' ER medical records per
day, 5 days a week. I never read of one incident of death from wild measles virus presenting to
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Emergency Room.
On the other hand, there were countless, daily reminders of the pervasiveness of Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism, Asthma, Diabetes, metabolic and other chronic disorders in this
generation of vaccine mutated children. Are we going to tamper and promote chronic disabling
conditions in our society by terrifying them with horror stories of infectious disease epidemics
when we've barely shaken hands with human genome prototypes? Your ties to your sponsors, the
promoters of Prevnar, were shamelessly transparent.
May I suggest, as a way of making amends with the increasingly large autoimmunity and otherwise
vaccine-injured community - how about a story line about Dr. Green's pathology report, owning up to
the fact that his malignancy is seeded with SV40? That Dr. Green was one of the hundreds of millions
of citizens, 100 million in the U.S. alone, infected +/- 40 years ago from the polio vaccine that
was contaminated by Simian Virus 40. You might win back a few of us, your Former Fans that you've
offended.
If it is sensationalism you're after. Give credit that a few of us out here can still appreciate
subtlety in ethical issues.
- Disappointed RN, CPC
_________
I have been wondering over the years why ER and other medical shows haven't gone near this issue
regarding the vaccination controversy. You have chosen to air one side of the controversy.
Why not go to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System and select 1 of the thousands of reports
of children who have reacted to a vaccination, been rushed to the ER in full blown tonic/clonic
seizures, brain swelling, projectile vomiting, edema, rash all over the body, fever, etc. Have
the ER crew valiantly try to save the child but fail.
Then {the doctors would} console the parents saying that most children that survive this sort of
vaccine reaction are left severely damaged and maybe this outcome was best for all. And as the
parents slowly leave the hospital, Elizabeth Corday does a little research and finds that same lot
of vaccine given to the child that died had 136 other reports of vaccine reactions, of which: 68
were rushed to the ER, 2 had life threatening conditions, 19 were hospitalized, 1 was immediately
and permanently disabled, 19 had unknown recovery, 3 had no recovery, and 5 died, and the FDA new
this, but didn't recall the vaccine. Then Elizabeth Corday would throw down her stethescope in
outrage and say "those bastards".
Barabara Loe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center could be your medical
consultant/expert.
Michael Framson
__________
I am writing to you today because of the ER episode in which a non-vaccinated child died on your
show. My suggestion to you is that you do your homework on vaccines.
You see, my son is vaccine injured. He is one of the victims of vaccination. We should all be
allowed to do our homework and decide what is best for our children and protect them the best way we
know how. The way you portrayed the family was wrong. I am an educated person from the medical
field. The condescending tone you used to the family was disgusting.
My son is severely and permanently brain injured. He had many complications following his
vaccinations. He eventually had an aneurysm rupture in his brain, he died three times and was
resuscitated, his aneurysm ruptured a 2nd time 10 days later. He was only 4 months old. He was
hospitalized for over 4 months and he was not expected to live many, many times during this stay. No
one can understand the pain that this can cause. Since this happened to my son I have done
extensive research and have been sickened by what I have uncovered. My son will never receive
another vaccine. I will not play Russian Roulette with his life again.
I suggest that you do your homework, read the package inserts, and hopefully you will never need to
deal with vaccine injury personally.
I also noticed that you ran an ad for Prevnar during this show. You can view a 33 page research
paper on this which shows all the conflicts of interest in getting this vaccine approved. I would be
happy to supply you with this research paper. It has killed children already. No child should be
expendable in the name of the public good.
When one child died from getting locked inside a trunk of a car the world was mortified and made
changes in automobile manufacturing. The result was a release latch inside the trunk. One child's
death was one too many. Why does this rule not apply to my child? To the millions of
vaccine injured children?
Because shows like yours mislead people about the truth.
I am shocked that you would run something like this and I am never going to watch your show again. I
truly believe that you owe the entire vaccine injured community (there are millions of them out
there) an apology.
Tammy Carrington
__________
How much research did the writers for this script do on MMR's & Autism? The actor,
Anthony Edwards who plays Dr. Mark Green - (CAN - Cure Autism Now Board Member) was he ever asked
about Autism? Does anyone on one's staff have a child who has suffered from receiving a
vaccination or even died from receiving one?
I have a child who was born without traces of Autism. He developed "normally";
however, after receiving his MMR shot at 14-15 months of age - within a few amount of weeks, he
started to lose speech and as time went on - he developed Autistic Traits. Fortunately, today
(3 1/2 years
later), he still is weak in the speech area but has dramatically improved in other areas due to
our intense therapy approaches, supplementations, testing, gluten/free - casein/free diet and other
approaches as well.
He has had a colonoscopy and an endoscopy - he is currently having tests run in Ireland which is a
Measles Virus Detection Analysis Report. He has had DMSA (heavy metals detoxification)
treatments to remove the vaccine parts of Mercury that is in the MMR shot.
I understand that TV scripts cover only a short version of the truths. However, though my
thoughts will more than likely be overlooked - I do feel that how one portrayed the family on the
show which aired (Feb. 15, 2001) regarding MMR vaccination truly did an injustice to families
regarding their decisions not to vaccinate. If one really wants to pass judgement - then I
suggest that one does an episode on Merck Industries the makers of vaccines and other drugs.
Check on the legal levels of Mercury and other toxins that go into vaccines (aborted fetus tissue is
in some vaccines).
I assure NBC that the network will be receiving numerous comments regarding the airing of ER and
MMR-Vaccines. Anthony Edwards - please help to educate in this area. I'm sure you are aware of
the effects and possibilities regarding vaccines.
Though I'm not totally against vaccines, I'm against all of the additives that are going into them
and the increasing amount of vaccines that one feels forced to give to such small children.
To let one know, I felt somewhat offended due to one's true lack of knowledge regarding vaccines -
today. The toxin levels of heavy metal incased in a vial and injected into an innocent child
who doesn't understand what is happening. As days go by this child could develop high fevers,
seizures, lose speech, or begin living a life of dazed looks and withdrawing from the world.
This is AUTISM. My son lives it and so does his family. We are doing everything in the world
to make his world a better reality. He will not ever receive another MMR vaccine. His
levels of MMR in his blood system (Titer's Test) are extremely above normal - meaning that his body
had a
reaction to that vaccine - the tainted MMR shot.
Please ask one's self this question, what if this were my child? What would I do to make a
difference in his world? Educate people about vaccines and the effects that vaccines could
cause.
Contact me for info. I am an advocate, consultant, and an educator regarding Autism, vaccines,
and disabilities.
Sincerely,
Darlene Carl
__________
Dear John Wells,
Above, the preamble says the you value opinion and feedback.
I would like to think that that is not some sort of platitudinous garbage put in as corporate
weasel-speak.
No doubt in your intent as executive producer and creator of ER - and as a person who can do what
you want, was to do your paediatrician a favour. The programme, about which I am sure you are
heartily sick of hearing about, concerns a boy who dies as a result of measles, because his mother
makes an informed choice not to vaccinate him.
The problem with this program is that it misrespresents the truth in two ways.
Firstly, to my knowledge there has never been a death of a child, by measles, to a parent who
has conscientiously chosen not to vaccinate. That is borne out by statements issued in the
past by the FDA and CDC saying that the problem of vaccine uptake has nothing to do with choice, but
everything to do with delivery of service.
While children who are not vaccinated do get measles, recent medical articles facilely suggest
that we should not have exemptions, because the vaccinated children get it to. What is a
vaccine supposed to do? Prevent you getting "IT". So why are fully vaccinated
children getting measles? Could it perhaps be.... that is doesn't work?
In New Zealand, we recently had an interesting double lesson. Firstly, a huge measles
vaccination campaign using MMR to pre-empt a measles outbreak. Of the 150,000 children
revaccinated, I have documented evidence of 8 children who landed up in ICU with encephalopathy
between 8 - 14 days after the vaccine. One child died. Every parent tells me that the medical
personnel tested for every "OTHER" thing that could have caused encephalopathy and got a
blank
sheet. Interestingly, not one child was tested for MMR viral encephalopathy.
Such good science - good medicine, don't you think? So naturally, my documented evidence is
classified as "anecdotal" and proves nothing. Now, why do you think that might be,
Mr Wells? That is real life - and would portay reality far more accurately than your
programme. But ER is about glorifying everything medical theory stands for, not showing
another reality, John,
isn't it.
Shortly after this MMR campaign, I got involved with a family near me, whose 10 month boy got
encephalopathy after MMR, and they did all the right things. But did they get a correct diagnosis?
No. He was misdiagnosed as microcephaly. Fortunately I knew a thing or three, and the child,
after evaluation by a knowledgeable doctor,was correctly diagnosed. Not only that, the child
now has government compensation, and is state supported. That that child, also subsequently
developed autism.
But lets also talk about this measles epidemic that was supposed to be forestalled by this campaign
- during which some children received their third MMR. The Health Department said the campaign
prevented an estimated 90% of cases that COULD HAVE HAPPENED. They of course tell the future
and have crystal balls which mere mortals don't... But what they don't tell you, is
that of the thousands of children who did happen to get measles, most were appropriately vaccinated,
and some had had 3 MMR shots. And that some of the children hospitalised had severe measles.
What they also don't tell you is that of the unvaccinated pre-school children, very few landed in
hospital, none had serious complication - and.... wait for it... most of them caught
it from the vaccinated children. That is actually the most interesting thing about this epidemic -
that the early notifications were all in vaccinated children.
Right now, we are in the midst of a whooping cough epidemic. And guess what.
Nearly all the cases are in fully vaccinated children. Who by our regulations, are allowed
to stay at school, since according to school records, they are protected. This situation is
compounded, because many cases are diagnosed incorrectly, so that these vaccinated infectious
children, are
erroneously at school with whooping cough, because idiotic doctors who believe vaccinated children
can't get it, won't test for it - they just prescribe steroids for asthma.
And these vaccinated infection spreading children, whose parents haven't a clue that they have
whooping cough, are spreading it to all the other vaccinated - and a few unvaccinated children.
The Health Department is aware of this. Are they doing anything? Yes, Showing an
advertisement of a 6 month old child with whooping cough and saying "Vaccination prevents
this..."
My hope for you, and your family would usually be for the best of health. After this program, I
hope that circumstances in the future will bring home to you the reality of what hundreds of
thousands of parents in USA are now suffering. So please, make sure your children and
grandchildren are fully vaccinated with all their boosters. Without you taking this action,
you are
less likely to share, or understand, their pain.
Unless a close friend wakes you from your present torpor.
Sincerely,
Hilary Butler.
__________
I was disappointed in the handling of the measles case in last night's ER episode (2/15/2001).
It included distortions that can mislead the public and, ultimately, affect the health of children.
The incidence of autism as well as other chronic, auto-immune diseases (asthma, diabetes, etc.)
among children is growing at an alarming rate, and coincides with the increase in the number of
vaccinations routinely given to children. The possible relationship between these diseases and
various vaccines has been recognized for a generation. Some physicians have offered
the explanation that the chemicals included in vaccines tamper with the body's immune system, both
suppressing and over-stimulating, until the immune system finally starts attacking itself. New
vaccines put forth by drug companies are being accepted by pediatricians and, in many cases,
mandated by state laws, without the necessary long-term studies to guarantee safety.
In last night's episode, the ER doctor dismisses these concerns with statements that there is
"no relationship" between vaccines and autism, and that "vaccines improve the immune
system." Parents who take the time to study the risks and benefits, and make their own
choice against vaccination, rather than leaving it up to the experts, are dismissed as "fringe
lunatics." The statistic of "1 in 500 children die from measles" does not take
into account the previous health of the child, management of the disease, other complications, etc.
In fact, this type of statement is often used by doctors to scare parents who question vaccine
safety and make them fall into line.
I would encourage you to balance the scales by presenting the other side of the issue. You
might present an episode where a child dies or becomes severely retarded following a vaccination.
The parents then decide not to give that vaccine to their younger child but are hounded by health
and child welfare authorities because of state vaccination laws. If you want to study some
real-life cases for background information, the National Vaccine Information Center at
703-938-0342 or http://www.nvic.org/ could surely
provide them. (Believe me, this situation is no more rare than a health child dying of
measles.)
Martha Fitzgerald
__________
I'm quite sad to say this, as a loyal viewer and fan of ER, but I believe the Thursday, February
15 show was the last one I'll ever watch. And, unfortunately, I'll most likely give up Will and
Grace as well as the West Wing and Law and Order and Law and Order SVU.
In your thinly disguised propaganda piece for vaccine manufacturers ER just goes beyond anything a
reasonable, fair-minded production should do. You vacated the principle I wrongly believed was one
of the tenets for ER.
I have not always agreed with the story lines of certain characters and, frankly, this is the last
straw. When you portrayed the woman who was into herbs as slighly kooky and astral, I let that
pass, when you have had highly medicated, technical, overly complicated births, I've let those pass.
I mean after all, I expect you to portray the allopathic opinion as this is an "ER"
docu-drama. But the vaccine episode was the end. The only accurate part of this story line was the
condecension and pretentiousness as well as the closemindedness and parroting of the physicians.
This wasn't a case of strong arguments on both sides where a doctor disagrees with a patients
desires or doctors differ about treatments -- those story lines catch you and make you think -- that
is one thing I've always admired about the show, it's ability to put people between a rock and hard
place with no definitive answer.
Not only was the vaccine information presented inaccurate and highly inflammatory, but it was
delivered so condesending and patronizing as to make me feel physically ill.
It only takes a short look to determine that physicians are not always correct in what they believe
and do -- vaccine doses, administration schedules and formulas are as different around the globe as
the languages and colors of the people who inhabit this planet. This is not the proven, safe,
effective treatment physicians would have us believe it is.
In addition, your portrayal of this woman as a blabbering ninny is uncomprehensible and
unforgivable. In the time I have been researching this subject and making decisions (going on
11 years now), I have found people who opt out of the vaccine roulette game to be intelligent,
educated and VERY concerned about their children. They know and understand concepts and
information that would make you shrink and hide in the closet. For most of us this has come at a
dear price.
For me, my first son became quite ill the day after his first shot. I thought he was going to die.
From that day, until the time I quit doing what our pediatrician told us to do,he was one sick
child.
For many of us parents, this can be categorized under the heading "More than We Wanted to
Know." I was brought up in a midwestern state by a highly-educated mom who was a physical
therapist and convinced me that any other approach was just quackery. I did not come
to CHANGE my beliefs easily or quickly. (Which BTW, I think most of us conscientious objectors are
converts)
It was only after much agony and strenuous research I discovered the dangers and issues associated
with this process. (11 years ago there WAS NO internet for us, just a few books and a couple
of people willing to question this). Just like the woman in your story line I was LIED to! I live in
Minnesota where it is a parents' free choice to opt out of this dangerous and untested practice.
Guess what?!?!? NO ONE, not one single person advised me I had the right to opt out of
this. Why would the doctors and others have to lie if this was such a great, safe, effective thing?
It is this dissociative, mechanistic view of the world that causes the problems. I too have been
patronized by the John Carters, Deb Chens and Cleo Finch's of the world. In most cases I was well
into adulthood before these children were out of their diapers!
In this case, I have a free choice to discontinue viewing a tv show blatantly bought and paid for by
big drug money.
Celia Cezzium
___________
From Feat www.feat.org:
The Mean Spirit of NBC's ER Episode
Commentary and Letters
It is perhaps, the most overused cliché in medical television drama. The
patient lies motionless on a platform in surgery or the emergency room surrounded by medical types
in high drama. Everyone is racing to resuscitate a cardiac arrest. "Clear!" shouts the
rescuer. Paddles are slapped down on the victim's chest. The lifeless body arch in
response to the thumping
sound of electricity supplied with a jolt. The pulse is checked. Nothing. Again,
"Clear" is shouted and another jolt is hopefully applied, this time with some success. "I'm
getting a pulse!" shouts a tech or nurse. Cautious sighs of relief are passed around to
everyone in room, and also to the loved ones observing from a distance. Most of the time the
viewer can guess whether the patient is going to make it or not depending on the context of the
plot.
On last night's episode of NBC's ER, this cliché played out again with
a handsome blond-hair, blue-eyed, nourished, four year old boy with morbid complications from
measles. The mother explains that she intentionally did not have her children inoculated
out of her concern over possible vaccine side effects. Autism is specifically mentioned.
The boy gets his heart restarted, but he remains unconscious and motionless.
"Is he ok?" asks the frightened mother. "Yea, he's doing
fine," the doctor sarcastically sneers back without looking at her. Portraying the mother as
suburban and articulate highlights the contempt. This is not white trash operating from
ignorance. No sir, this is one of those educated
moms who gets her information on vaccines and autism from questionable sources on the Internet and
not the family pediatrician. Every word of dialog that addresses the mother from that point on is
expressed with utter contempt. The writers could have added the phrase "you stupid,
irresponsible twit" to end of every sentence spoken to her. The boy dies shortly thereafter.
You couldn't make it any more heavy handed without having the ER set morphing into a Smack Down
Wrestling event.
Considering that this publication is the most-read, highest profile
independent source of information on autism and vaccines on the Internet, the program's references
are to you, our readers, and to us, the FEAT newsletter. We had a role in killing that
beautiful, innocent little boy, is the implication.
The mean spiritedness of NBC's ER message can only add heat, not light to
the public conversation now going on about the safety of vaccines. The desire for parents to
make informed decisions about their children's health should be encourage, and not vilified with
comic book theatrics like the ER production.
The autism community demonstrates every day its commitment to a fair handed
and competent education of ourselves on the issue of vaccines and their safety.
With the incidence of autism being at its historical high, it is only a matter
of time before someone close in the family of an ER writer or producer has an autistic child.
It is only a matter of time before someone in the family of a programming executive at NBC gets
autism. And when that happens we suggest that you avoid your own spin and theatrical
productions; it won't help you much. We suggest you come here to get a balanced presentation
of the facts on vaccines and autism.
When you come you will find a responsible commitment to the facts, and not
theatrics and scare tactics, if you read this newsletter.
You will find that we do not sneer sarcastically at families who
suddenly find themselves with disasters like autism or any of the other possible side effects of
vaccines, no matter where you come from, hometowns or Hollywood. We won't bash you - simply
because at the least, you have now become one of us. It's just a matter of time.
Lenny Schafer
P.S.
From the early letters, a number of readers noted the contradiction
of ER Show star Anthony Edwards and character Dr. Green, being connected to this production.
Edwards is a high-profile supporter of autism research and works closely with Cure Autism Now (CAN).
Often it is asked, "Why didn't he say something to someone about this awful presentation of
parents concerned
about autism?"
Jon Shestack of CAN provides following explanation of Edward's role.
I have spoken with Anthony Edwards who did not agree nor endorse that
storyline and was in fact distressed by the patronizing dismissal of family concerns about vaccine
safety. Evidence of this is that Tony's, character, Dr. Green, did not participate in that story.
The idea for the episode rests totally with John Wells who is the executive
producer and creator of the show and who basically gets to do what he wants. That he was influenced
by his pediatrician, the American Academy of Pediatricians, the National Institute of Child Health,
and vaccine manufacturers is possible and even likely but totally beyond Tony's sphere of influence.
__________
First the vaccine commercial with the episode (who say's advertisers
don't pay for Hollywood scripts), then the worst case of scare tactics I have ever seen on TV. ER
and those associated with that program should be ashamed of themselves. Bought and paid for to the
highest bidder. At the
very least they should disclose in the credits the names of the scriptwriters from Merck who wrote
this fiction.
First Hollywood makes "Rain Man" and tells us it's about autism,
later we find out the character the story is based in part, on someone who is not even autistic!
Now tonight Hollywood does it again, this time serving as the mouthpiece of the vaccine
manufacturers and their cronies in the public health department telling us about autism and MMR,
nothing based on science mind you, only scare tactics designed to coerce parents into vaccinating
their children at all costs.
Hollywood should stick to what it does best: making cartoons.
Rick Rollens
__________
WOW!! I can't believe what I just saw on ER tonight. Did
you do your homework? What a pathetic display of misinformation. Do you have any idea of
how many families are touched by horrible reactions to vaccination (including death)? If your
actors were aware of the truth would they agree to portray this information in the light it was
presented? I find the timing of this program quite ironic with all the controversy over the
validity and safety of our current vaccination program. I sure hope you are prepared to
present the other side of this story.
A funny thing happened to me about a month ago. I was at
one of our local elementary schools to do a presentation. During the two hours I was there two
students presented to the school nurse, one with mumps and one with measles. Both were
vaccinated. What's up with that?
You lost a viewer.
Yvonne Wood, D.C.
__________
From Mothering Magazine www.mothering.com
Mothering Editor Calls
for Boycott of NBC's ER
Following the February 15, 2001 airing of an episode of the
hit television show ER in which an unvaccinated child dies from measles, Mothering
Editor and Publisher Peggy O'Mara has called for a boycott of the program because of its
misrepresentation of families who choose not to vaccinate and because of the show's obvious ties to
vaccination manufacturers.
Her letter to the network:
17 February 2001
To the Writers of ER:
Journalists around the world are threatened, tortured and murdered for telling the truth. As
journalists in the US we have immense privilege not enjoyed in many other countries. With this
privilege comes a responsibility. You especially, the writers for ER, have a privileged
platform from which to tell the truth and instead you have used your privilege for propaganda.
On the ER episode that aired February 15, 2001, a child died from measles. This episode
portrayed the parents' informed choice not to vaccinate as irresponsible and negligent, and
implicated them in the death of their child. Not coincidentally, Dr Carter's implication of the
parents' negligence was followed immediately by an advertisement for Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceutical's
Prevnar vaccine. Surely you have breached your broadcasting integrity by aligning the message of
your episode with the message of your sponsors. In doing so you have breached the truth. Your
transparent and one-sided coverage of a very important issue only fuels belief in the
"conspiracy" that your character so vehemently derides.
Your depiction of parents who choose to forgo vaccinations as irresponsible and negligent is
simply not borne out in fact. In reality, the total number of parents who conscientiously object to
vaccines is small, probably less than one percent and they do not "free-ride" on other's
immunity. Research at the University of Pennsylvania concluded that parents in general were more
likely to do what everyone else did (that is, to vaccinate) than to "free-ride" on the
perceived immunity of others. It is the inadequate access to health care of the unimmunized poor
that is the greater risk to immunization compliance than is the minority of well-informed and health
conscious families who do not vaccinate.
Scientific and ethical oversight supports this view. The Institute of Medicine in their 1997
workshop summary Risk Communication and Vaccination stated "The goal that all parties
share regarding vaccine risk communication should be informed decisionmaking. Consent for
vaccination is truly "informed" when the members of the public know the risks and benefits
and make voluntary decisions."
Your portrayal of the parents ignored and patronized legitimate safety concerns that some parents
have about vaccines. It also ignored the legitimacy of informed consent, a tradition in American
jurisprudence for nearly 100 years. By definition, a parent's right to informed consent means that
he or she must not be coerced into making a decision. Your cooperation with Wyeth-Ayerst in coercing
the parents of America is unethical. And, your portrayal of doctors who coerce parents into making
such decisions violates the ethical standards of the medical profession.
Your portrayal was further compromised by its blatant association with advertising. It is often
the case that the medical establishment places stories in the media prior to a major policy
statement or publication. Was this recent ER episode meant to test public opinion for the
upcoming American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation of the Prevnar vaccine and the subsequent
requirement of Prevnar by the CDC?
I can understand the need for the advance publicity. Prevnar is a vaccine for
pneumococcal/pneumonia and has been endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. However,
according to Erdem Cantekin, PhD, professor of otolaryngology at the University of Pittsburgh and an
international authority on otitis media, "The big push for Prevnar came from its supposed
prevention of otitis media, even though it had not been approved for this use.... This vaccine is
the perfect example of profit-driven health care with no checks and balances." Prevnar is one
of the most expensive vaccines ever developed and is expected to deliver sales of up to $500 million
per year.
Prevnar is made by Wyeth-Ayerst, the same company that made Rhotoshield, a diarrhea vaccine.
Rhotoshield was withdrawn from the market in 1999 after reports of numerous cases of
vaccine-associated bowel obstruction and amidst claims of conflicts of interest between vaccine
manufacturers and governmental agencies that, critics say, knew of the vaccine risks all along.
Your portrayal of the complexity of the vaccine decision was not only one-sided; it was also
inaccurate and therefore inflammatory. It was stated in the episode that the death rate for measles
was one in 500. While this was the death rate in the prevaccine era, the death rate today is one in
5,000. As there are less than 1,000 cases of measles a year in the US, it would be rare for a US
hospital to witness a measles death. To terrorize parents with the threat of such a rare occurrence
is unconscionable.
In the episode, Dr. Carter stated that there was no proof that measles vaccine causes autism
while, in fact, the evidence that implicates the MMR vaccine in autism is compelling and should be
taken seriously if we are genuinely interested in safe vaccines.
It is not uncommon for industry to use its influence in the media to frame stories. Increases in
breastfeeding rates, for example, are met with increased stories in the media about the very rare
and preventable "insufficient milk syndrome."
During a two-month period in 1994, unusual cases of tragic infant dehydration were covered in The
Wall Street Journal, Time magazine and on Prime Time Live. More recently, a 1998 episode
of TV's Chicago Hope and a 2000 episode of Law and Order also implicated breastfeeding
in shows about "insufficient milk syndrome." "Insufficient milk syndrome," a
media euphemism, is totally preventable if a new breastfeeding mother gets appropriate information
and support from her healthcare providers.
Tragically, this breastfeeding bashing has not been balanced in the media with public service
programming that encourages breastfeeding or portrays breastfeeding advocacy in a positive light.
This is particularly ironic in light of the World Health Organization recommendation that all women
breastfeed for at least two years. Most babies in the US are weaned by six months.
Likewise, the January 2000 publication of the American Academy of Pediatrics' book on infant
sleep, a book that advocates an authoritarian approach to infant sleep, was preceded by the
co-sleeping caution issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission in September 1999. Most media
coverage of these official statements parroted the viewpoint of the government and medical
associations.
What co-sleeping, breastfeeding and questioning vaccines have in common is that they are the
minority choices that do not make money for anyone. Increasingly, the conscientious viewpoints of a
minority of citizens who question the status quo in one way or another are looked upon as
un-American. In fact, it is the minority viewpoint that the US constitution was written to protect.
The American Academy of Pediatrics minimizes parental concerns about vaccines by labeling them
misconceptions. ER suggests that informed choice is criminal. The media and the
medical establishment increasingly attack parents who exercise legitimate, informed choice if that
choice is controversial. All states, however, grant religious exemptions to vaccination, and parents
can claim these exemptions based on deeply held personal beliefs as well as on church membership.
As an editor, I advocate for parents to be able to make personal choices regarding the care of
their own family. I am for informed choice. None of us is safe to act on our deeply held beliefs if
one of us is unsafe. This is not about vaccines. It is about informed consent. Whatever we believe
or choose regarding vaccines is irrelevant to the fact that we all want to reserve the right to
choose medical care that is appropriate to the needs of our particular family. Standing by while
broadcasters trample on the freedom of parents is something I will not do.
Citizens are not interested in watching television shows that are so obviously compromised. It is
bad enough that television programming on the public airways is a vehicle of advertising for the
few, but it is doubly bad when advertising is disguised as programming.
If we are to have any impact on the excesses of materialism, we will have to start by refusing
such overt manipulation.
ER has misused its position of media privilege.
ER has violated its own standards of artistic excellence.
ER has violated broadcasting integrity by overtly aligning the content of the episode with
the interests of the advertisers.
I am calling for a boycott of ER for violating broadcasting ethics in their portrayal of a
medical establishment that justifiably coerces parents into making vaccine decisions.
Peggy O'Mara
Editor and Publisher
Mothering
____________
www.aapsonline.org
Your show concerning the unvaccinated child who died of measles, which was highly insulting to
concerned parents who have done their homework and are rightly concerned about vaccine reactions,
could do much harm.
It is true that measles can be fatal. Perhaps 1 in 1,000 children who gets measles has
complications, occasionally resulting in death. Measles is very rare these days, but vaccinated
children can get it too. Of cases reported in Colorado between 1987 and 1998 (time interval probably
chosen to include the epidemic of 1989-90), 45 were in "exemptors," but 137 were in
vaccinated children (see JAMA of 12/27/00). In most cases, the source of the infection was not known
or stated, but it was probably not indigenous to the U.S.
However, vaccine reactions can be fatal or seriously disabling too. The safety standards for
vaccines are unacceptably low. Testing involves a limited number of subjects, who are generally
followed for a very short time.
All medical treatments carry some risk, and the risk:benefit ratio is different for different
individuals. Therefore, we believe that no one should be forced to undergo a medical treatment, even
if a physician recommends it. Physicians have a duty to present the risks and benefits as
accurately as they can, including an honest appraisal of gaps in our knowledge. Glibly assuming that
"absence of evidence is evidence of absence"--when in fact studies of sufficient power
have simply not been done--is a profound disservice to patients.
The Association of American Physicians and Surgens passed unanimously a resolution condemning
mandatory vaccines at its annual meeting in October, 2000. AAPS was founded in 1943 to preserve the
traditional patient-physician relationship. We are not against vaccines per se.
I am sure you are getting positive email from a group of self-styled "quackwatchers," who
call anybody who questions any vaccine mandate a "chiro anti-vax quack." They do not
represent very many physicians. I have spoken, for example, at hospital grand rounds on this
subject, and not one physician has objected to or refuted my concerns about certain vaccines.
Stories that should be of interest to NBC include:
1. Serious adverse reactions to vaccines (I have a Microsoft Excel data base of 25,000 adverse
reactions to hepatitis B vaccine from the FDA and CDC Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, VAERS,
available on request).
2. The money trail: state agencies or school districts that get money for forcing children to
receive vaccines, and conflicts of interest that compromise the "experts" who testify for
mandates.
3. CDC stonewalling on requests for safety data on hepatitis B and other vaccines.
4. Parents or other caregivers jailed for murder when their babies die, possibly from a vaccine
reaction, when there is no direct evidence that they ever abused the child in any way. (Was a
vaccine history taken in the English nanny case, by the way?)
5. Parents whose children are excluded from school and reported to Child Protective Services because
they have exercised a legal and conscientious objection to a mandated vaccine (even against a
disease such as hepatitis B that is very rare in children and not ordinarily transmitted in a school
setting).
You could be missing the story of the decade, even the century, while being complicit in forcing
children to risk harm from inadequately tested vaccines. (And remember, we're not talking about
smallpox or other diseases that are common, highly lethal, and very easily transmitted.) Firestone,
asbestos, and even tobacco might seem like minor escapades in comparison, in
retrospect. Investigative reporters are needed, but must be prepared for a lot of flak from powerful
special interest groups.
You are cordially invited to examine material on vaccines posted on our web site, www.aapsonline.org.
Please feel free to call if you have any questions.
Jane M. Orient, M.D., Executive Director, AAPS.
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