Site of the Day: AAP Takes on Eli Stone
Last week, I wrote about a New York Times article on the new ABC drama Eli Stone, and the fact that its titular lawyer argues and wins a case connecting vaccines -- or, rather, a made-up element in vaccines, "mercuritrol" -- to the autism of his client's son. I suggested that once we'd all seen the show, which airs this Thursday at 10 p.m., we could discuss whether it put forth anything worth praising or worrying about.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, though, sees no need to wait.
Apparently on the sole basis of the plot summary in that very same New York Times article, the AAP has written ABC a letter demanding that it cancel the show, or include a disclaimer declaring that no mercury is used in children's vaccines and no scientific link has been found between vaccines and autism. Otherwise, ABC will be to blame for all the parents who watch their show and choose not to vaccinate their children.
From the AAP site, you can read the academy's press release on the subject, download a pdf of the letter, and find a link to autism information.
Check it out, then come back and share in the comments what you think about the AAP coming out so strongly against a show it apparently has not seen. Is it really never possible to have a fictional story in which both sides of the autism-vaccine debate are aired? Of all the exagerrated and misrepresented medical plotlines on TV shows, is this really the only one worth speaking out against as taboo? Where's the letter from a surgeon's organization fretting that watching the oversexed, screw-up-prone surgeons of Grey's Anatomy will keep people from seeking vital hospital treatment?
And -- as is so often the question with ban demands like this -- shouldn't someone at an organization actually watch a show before condemning it? Eli Stone looks like a pretty wacky piece of work, closer to Boston Legal than Law & Order. I think it's worth viewing the issue in context before judging. But if a disclaimer is needed, how about: "Mercuritrol does not cause autism. It does not exist. We made it up. Please do not get your healthcare information from fictional TV dramas, especially ones in which the hero sees George Michael singing to him in his living room."
Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images
Comments
I’m annoyed with myself for giving up over an hour of sleep to stay awake to watch the show and see what all the fuss was about. The AAP should have waited and issued a statement AFTER they watched the show. As a parent and an American, I’m insulted that the AAP told ABC “Many people trust the health information presented on fictional television shows, which influences their decisions about health care.” I certainly don’t belong in that category.
“Erroneous reports” in the UK linking the measeles vaccine to autism isn’t comparable to a “fictional television show”.
“Eli Stone” is, at most, a mediocre TV Pilot. It is a poorly written reincarnation of “Ally McBeal”. In the show, the fictional drug company is said to be the ONLY company left that hasn’t taken the fictional mercury-based preservative out of their vaccines. And Eli Stone only wins his case because the fictional CEO of the fictional drug company MIRACULOUSLY admits that he would not let his own daughter be vaccinated with anything from his company. His fictional child’s fictional pediatrician used a vaccine that was manufactured by a different drug company.
We all know that vaccines are important for health issues. However, will anyone ever acknowledge that it might be a good idea to spread out the vaccination schedule over a longer period of time and start it with older children who might not be as likely to have an adverse reaction???
In my opinion, the AAP “dost protest too much”. They made themselves look even worse and provided a field day for conspiracy theorists. What would their reaction to the show have been if the drug company won the case?