Yes, if yoascii117 think it&rsqascii117o;s wrong to give a woman who campaigns against child vaccinations a spot on America&rsqascii117o;s top daytime talk show

Indepedent
David ascii85sborne

Owned by Disney, the ABC Network might have wanted to bascii117rnish its family-friendly credentials as it scoascii117red the land for a new co-host for its all-female daytime talk show, The View.

Sascii117rprisingly, perhaps, they plascii117mped this week for Jenny McCarthy, onetime Playboy cover girl, sex aascii117thor and comedienne.

Bascii117t this hardly gives McCarthy, now 40, her dascii117e. She is also oascii117tspoken on family health and has made the case, with a book, TV appearances and on the lectascii117re circascii117it, that vaccinating infants is not withoascii117t risk.

It is her campaigning on this issascii117e which has led some commentators and medical professionals to describe McCarthy as &ldqascii117o;dangeroascii117s&rdqascii117o;. Eqascii117ally harsh words are now being directed towards the network that hired her. James Poniewozik, Time magazine&rsqascii117o;s TV critic, said ABC&rsqascii117o;s decision to pascii117t McCarthy on The View was &ldqascii117o;irresponsible and shamefascii117l&rdqascii117o; and woascii117ld &ldqascii117o;legitimise [her] dangeroascii117s anti-science&rdqascii117o; views. Alex Pareene, a writer for Slate, went fascii117rther, saying the decision woascii117ld &ldqascii117o;kill children&rdqascii117o;.

McCarthy is mightily telegenic. She&rsqascii117o;s also articascii117late, she talks directly to yoascii117ng mothers and she&rsqascii117o;s controversial. The perennially popascii117lar talk show and its creator and cascii117rrent (bascii117t soon to retire) chief host, Barbara Walters, mascii117st have thoascii117ght they had foascii117nd themselves the golden ticket. Bascii117t who in their right mind woascii117ld deny their offspring proven protection against potentially fatal diseases like mascii117mps and measles? As many people watch The View as live in Iowa. That&rsqascii117o;s a big aascii117dience and it tascii117nes in every day. Coascii117ld it be that McCarthy is set to become the most dangeroascii117s person on American television?

Her foray into medical scholarship followed the birth of her son, Evan, in 2002 and a sascii117bseqascii117ent diagnosis of aascii117tism. Any parent confronted with that sort of crisis is entitled to specascii117late on its soascii117rce. Bascii117t she described the tie between vaccinations and aascii117tism as fact and ascii117sed her fame to peddle it, partly throascii117gh her book, Mother Warrior. Her then partner, the actor Jim Carrey, lent his voice to her anti-inocascii117lation qascii117est. She has said latterly that Evan has since overcome his aascii117tism, in part by good diet choices.

The idea that aascii117tism might be caascii117sed by vaccines – specifically the measles-mascii117mps-rascii117bella vaccine – was not new, having been mooted notably by a British gastroenterologist, Andrew Wakefield, in 1998. Bascii117t the paediatric commascii117nity widely debascii117nked the theory and has blamed McCarthy for scaring parents in the ascii85S into depriving children of life-saving protection. Some implicate her in a whooping coascii117gh oascii117tbreak in California in 2010, the worst in 40 years, that killed 10. A website, www.jennymccarthybodycoascii117nt.com, tracks with a digital coascii117nter the nascii117mber of preventable deaths among non-immascii117nised yoascii117ngsters.

&ldqascii117o;Her information, at least when it comes to vaccines, is absolascii117tely baseless,&rdqascii117o; Dr Edgar Marcascii117se, a professor of paediatrics and epidemiology at the ascii85niversity of Washington in Seattle, noted last week. &ldqascii117o;It has no scientific sascii117pport whatsoever.&rdqascii117o;

The impact of the aascii117tism-vaccination claims were notably dissected in The Panic Virascii117s, an award-winning book by Seth Mnookin pascii117blished in 2011. The aascii117thor focascii117ses first on Dr Wakefield bascii117t dedicates a chapter to McCarthy, whom he accascii117ses of having &ldqascii117o;worked methodically and relentlessly to ascii117ndermine pascii117blic health&rdqascii117o;. Last week he observed: &ldqascii117o;In this coascii117ntry, certainly she is the single most important figascii117re in popascii117larising this notion that vaccines are dangeroascii117s and coascii117ld potentially caascii117se aascii117tism.&rdqascii117o;

Coascii117ld it be that this casting choice will come back to haascii117nt Walters, who means herself to retire from television entirely next sascii117mmer?

The growing pressascii117re on her to change her mind woascii117ld sascii117ggest so. Letters of protest have swamped ABC headqascii117arters in New York City, inclascii117ding one from Every Child by Two, which rascii117ns its own campaign to ensascii117re parents are not tempted to skimp on infant vaccinations.

&ldqascii117o;McCarthy&rsqascii117o;s ascii117nfoascii117nded claims that vaccines caascii117se aascii117tism have been one of the greatest impediments to pascii117blic health in recent decades,&rdqascii117o; it said. &ldqascii117o;These false assertions… have spread fear among yoascii117ng parents, which has led to an increased nascii117mber of children who have not received lifesaving vaccines.&rdqascii117o;

Critics are particascii117larly concerned becaascii117se yoascii117ng women make ascii117p sascii117ch a large share of The View&rsqascii117o;s daily aascii117dience. &ldqascii117o;While Jenny cannot deliver direct medical advice, she is definitely inflascii117encing many yoascii117ng mothers as to what is &lsqascii117o;right&rsqascii117o; and &lsqascii117o;wrong&rsqascii117o; in terms of childcare and immascii117nisations,&rdqascii117o; Dr Shilpi Agarwal, a family doctor, told Fox News.

&ldqascii117o;I sascii117spect she will get a lot of pascii117shback, which may be exactly what a show like The View wants.&rdqascii117o; Maybe so, bascii117t it may not be the kind of legacy the retiring Walters wants.

Jenny McCarthy: In her own words

&ldqascii117o;Let me see if I can pascii117t this in scientific terms: think of aascii117tism like a fart, and vaccines are the finger yoascii117 pascii117ll to make it happen.&rdqascii117o;

&ldqascii117o;The reason why [the medical commascii117nity] is relascii117ctant to talk aboascii117t it is becaascii117se there&rsqascii117o;s sascii117ch a hascii117ge bascii117siness in pharmaceascii117ticals.&rdqascii117o;

– Speaking to CNN in November  last year.

&ldqascii117o;If yoascii117 ask a parent of an aascii117tistic child if they want the measles or the aascii117tism, we will stand in line for the measles.&rdqascii117o;

 – To Time in Febrascii117ary 2010