The New York Times arts page (Edward Wyatt, “ABC Drama Takes on Science and Parents”, Jan. 23) gives the producers of the forthcoming ABC television series “Eli Stone” a surprisingly sound thwacking for lending credibility to theories that seek to blame autism on the vaccine preservative thimerosal. The script of the show, notes the Times, “takes several liberties that could leave viewers believing that the debate over thimerosal — which in the program’s script is given the fictional name mercuritol — is far from scientifically settled.” But, the review notes, “reams of scientific studies by the leading American health authorities have failed to establish a causal link between the preservative and autism. Since the preservative was largely removed from childhood vaccines in 2001, autism rates have not declined.”
Greg Berlanti, a creator of the series, tells the Times that the show presents both sides. If so, there is little doubt which side is presented as the “right” one. The title character of the TV show is supposed to have been a “bad” lawyer (he represented big businesses, you see) who after being struck by a spiritual crisis crossed over to redeem himself by representing the “little guy” in lawsuits. (Per the Times, “In each episode Eli Stone takes on a different cause; in other episodes sent to television reviewers for preview, he wages court battles against a pesticide maker and a priest.”) The ABC preview site, and trailer running in theaters, end with a logo in which the “o” in the character’s surname is presented as a halo. Nothing heavy-handed about that!
Maybe next season Stone can sue on behalf of a client claiming that overhead power line emissions triggered recovered memories of autoimmune damage from her breast implants.
P.S. Orac at Respectful Insolence, no surprise, is on the warpath: “It’s times like these that I wish the Hollywood writers’ strike had really and truly shut down production of new dramas completely.” Other reactions: Autism Vox, Richard’s Asperger’s Blog, and various others rounded up by Liz Ditz.
7 Comments
You’re missing the point. Eli is totally psychotic and suffering from visions. He’s madder than Allie “Dancing Baby” McBeal.
Although I can usually overcome the completely absurd actions of lawyers and the unrealistic treatment of the law on TV (e.g. a case coming to trial roughly 15 minutes after the client first arrives at the lawyers office, etc.), Eli Stone’s “switching sides” in the middle of a lawsuit, where an essentially non-waivable conflict was evidently acceptable thanks to a “Chinese Wall,” was a pretty big leap.
As far as the thimerosal “controversy,” yesterday, Don Imus on his astoundingly unimpressive radio show was upset with the NYT article for noting that there was little scientific support for the continued blaming of thimerosal, arguing that “many” scientists still thought there might be a connection.
I noted to a friend that there are far more scientists who question man’s role in global warming than still support the thimerosal/autism link.
Your statement “scientifically settled” is absolutely false. The Institute of Medicine(IOM.org) 2004 safety review on pg 41 of the meeting hard copy states the finding is NEUTRAL. “Evidence is inadequate to accept or reject a causal relationship between thimerosal and autism” – is their exact statement. FAR FROM REAMS of conclusive studies exonerating vaccines. Nov 2007 Journal of Child Neurology just published + finding of mercury blood levels correlate with autism. READ before you go to print with misinformation on the critical topic of child health. IOM findings are misquoted – they did NOT exonerate thimerosal.
You’re quoting the 2001 report. The 2004 report said “The committee concludes that the body of epidemiological evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between the MMR vaccine and autism. The committee also concludes that the body of epidemiological evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism.”
And the 2004 IOM report even came out before the recent rise in California autism that happened after thimerosal was removed from vaccines. It’s scientifically settled amongst all reasonable people, including the CDC.
Doreen,
Forgive me for not having access to the actual report but the summary given here(note corrected URL):
http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3793/4705/20155.aspx
seems to say that they felt that most evidence pointed elsewhere and seems to imply that funding should be directed elsewhere.
There is no connection between vaccinations and autism, (scientifically demonstrated beyond question), and all children must be vaccinated to prevent further measles brain damage from measles,a proven cause of brain damage.
Edward R.Ritvo, MD
former Chairman, Professional Advisory Board, Autism Society of America, and Professor Emeritus, UCLA Medical School
Dr. Ritvo proclaims that the lack of a connection is “scientifically demonstrated beyond question” and identifies his affiliation with the Autism Society of America, to bolster his credibility. However, the ASA website, under “Causes of Autism” contains the following verbatim statement:
“The question of a relationship between vaccines and autism continues to be debated. In a 2001 investigation by the Institute of Medicine, a committee concluded that the “evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship…. between MMR vaccines and autistic spectrum disorders (ASD).” The committee acknowledged, however, that “they could not rule out” the possibility that the MMR vaccine could contribute to ASD in a small number of children. While other researchers agree the data does not support a link between the MMR and autism, more research is clearly needed.”