I had read rumors on Twitter about this happening a few days ago, and sadly it has been confirmed. Jenny McCarthy, infamous for her vigorous anti-vaccine stance, is joining "The View" as a full-time host. The show has seen recent departures from former co-hosts Joy Behar and Elizabeth Hasselbeck.
Let me be blunt about this - giving Jenny McCarthy a day-time television platform to spew her anti-vaccine bullshit is going to be a signifcant setback the movement of doctors, scientists, and thoughtful parents that has been working tirelessly to counter anti-vaccine garbage since Andrew Wakefield published in 1998 his now entirely fraudulent "study" linking the MMR vaccine to autism.
I've written a few times about Jenny McCarthy's anti-vaccine crusade. You can read those diaries here and here. I wrote that first article way back in August 2009, so as you can see, Jenny McCarthy still has the ability to grab the spotlight and corrupt America's parents into thinking that vaccines are dangerous.
The aspect of myself that I like the most is my self-awareness - it allows me to see myself in other people's shoes and at least attempt to give me perspective on a wide range of issues. I've always considered Barbara Walters to have no self-awareness (the same goes for Oprah), and you can see why I think this when you read Barbara's statement on Jenny McCarthy joining The View. (Bold my emphasis):
"We are delighted that Jenny will be joining us as a permanent co-host on 'The View' starting in September," said Walters. "Jenny brings us intelligence as well as warmth and humor. She can be serious and outrageous. She has connected with our audience and offers a fresh point of view. Jenny will be a great addition to the show as we usher in an exciting new chapter for 'The View.'"
Pardon me for not acknowledging an individual's intelligence when the only claim to fame for that person is posing for Playboy Magazine, being a ditsy comic relief co-host of a stupid ass MTV show called "
Singled Out", and
being married to dating actor Jim Carrey for a moderate amount of time.
At the University of Pennsylvania (where I am currently a 4th year graduate student in cell and molecular biology), my fellow graduate students and I have discussed the anti-vaccine. We have talked about the most effective method to counteract anti-vaccine quackery, and whether anti-vaccine spokespeople even deserve a platform in main stream media. I have argued that anti-vaccine people should not get a platform, and David M. Perry from The Atlantic agrees.
Last week, the state Supreme Court of Wisconsin upheld the reckless homicide convictions of Dale and Leilani Neumann. Their daughter, Madeline, had diabetes, a 99.8 percent treatable condition. When she grew sick, her parents decided to pray for her instead of taking her to a doctor. The parents belonged to no specific denomination forbidding medical treatment, but had started to correspond with a controversial Florida apocalyptic ministry that advocates faith healing. As they prayed, the child died.
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This week, news leaked that The View, a popular daytime talk show featuring a panel of four women, is considering making Jenny McCarthy one of their hosts. This is a mistake, as it would provide a platform for a dangerous voice. Over the last decade, McCarthy has become one of the most prominent voices against vaccinations. She declared, as a fact, that vaccinations had caused her son's autism, and promoted this idea in venues aimed at mothers, such as on Oprah.
McCarthy later insisted that she had cured their son through a combination of diet and vitamins. She accuses the government of being afraid to confront "the truth" about vaccines. In the last year or so, although she now admits her son never had autism, she is still selling fear by talking about the schedule of vaccines as dangerous. She has put the full force of her celebrity to the task of convincing parents to leave their children vulnerable.
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Beyond these generalized health issues, and here I am writing from the perspective of a parent deeply involved in the disability community, the notion that it is worth the risk of serious or even fatal illness to avoid autism hurts people who are living with the condition. McCarthy portrays autism as a terrifying disease you can nevertheless fix with fad diets. Claims of cures like McCarthy's have led parents to feed their children bleach, buy expensive (though harmless) specialized diets, and spend tens of thousands of dollars on experimental treatments.
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The article is about 5-6X longer than the paragraphs I posted, but you can get the main idea from those.
As you can see, the anti-vaccine movement is not only entirely based on fraudulent data that were entirely made up, it's literally killing our children. Sadly, America is a perfect storm to eat up any medical conspiracy peddled by celebrities, and here is why.
-America has an infatuation with celebrities and are willing to consider their words and advice on any subject, even if they are entirely unqualified to be giving such advice.
-Science education has been attacked across the nation, particularly in states with high percentages of fundamentalist Christians. This leaves a large population without even basic science literacy, and people are afraid of the unknown.
-The strong influence of religion (and particularly, fundamentalist Christianity) must also be considered. A lot of the most prominent cases of anti-vaccine extremism have originated in very fundamentalist Christian households.
-America is always able and willing to consider conspiracies by the pharmaceutical companies and other anti-government stuff. Sadly, we see a lot of this bullshit here on Daily Kos. I'm not arguing that pharm companies are saints, but at least they make medicines that vastly improve the quality of life for hundreds of millions of patients.
Where physicians and scientists have to win the battle in the present is with young mothers, especially those who watch day time television - you know, the type of people that subscribes to US Weekly and all that type of stuff. Sadly, anti-vaccine quacks like Jenny McCarthy get huge platforms on television, whether it be "The View or "Oprah" or "Dr. Oz".
Where we will win for the future is in the classroom and school boards. It is essential to get well-funded and accurate science education for our children.
I've been working with my fellow scientists to increase their communication skills on this very important issue. A lot of scientists are quite frankly not good at communicating science to non-scientists, but it's a skill that many of my peers give me credit for, so that's why I very much enjoy writing for this community.
Please write, tweet, post on Facebook, etc. about this very disappointing news. Let ABC and The View know that by giving Jenny McCarthy a platform to spew her anti-vaccine garbage, they are literally putting children's lives at risk.