As Max grows older, I hope that, similar to the parents of children at the Ocean Charter School, he will feel empowered to make his own decisions and will have the self-confidence to challenge traditional wisdom. I also hope that he learns the difference between critical thinking and getting swept up in a wave of self-righteous hysteria, and I hope he considers the effects of his actions on those around him. Finally, for his sake and for that of everyone else alive, I hope he grows up in a world where science is acknowledged not as an ideology but as the best tool we have for understanding the universe, and where striving for the truth is recognized as the most noble quest humankind will ever undertake.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
In January 2009, a twenty-seven-year-old former Obama staffer named Kevin Hartnett got in touch with me for advice about building a career as a writer. I told him in no uncertain terms that he was making the worst decision of his professional life. For the sake of his marriage and his sanity, I urged him to seek work in an industry that wasn’t in the midst of an epic collapse.
Two weeks later, I asked Kevin if he was interested in helping me with some research for a book I was working on. Since that day, there is no one I have relied on more. To say that The Panic Virus would not have been completed without him would be downplaying his contributions: He transcribed hour upon hour of interviews, waded through hundreds of pages of dense scholarship, prepared reports on topics ranging from memory manipulation to tort reform, and helped wrestle an unwieldy manuscript into submission. Over the past six months, he has been as close to a writing partner as I have ever had. Oftentimes, I would write until two or three in the morning. Kevin would start reading my copy at seven a.m, and by the time I was back at my computer, my frenzied scribblings would be well on their way to coherence. I have no doubt that his name will be on the cover of many excellent books of his own in years to come.
I also owe a debt of gratitude to Kevin’s wife, Caroline, and their son, James, for their indulgence and understanding. Kristin Hartnett Sheppe, Kevin’s younger sister, performed the herculean task of organizing a bibliography that at one point stretched to well over one hundred pages long.
For the first ten months of my son’s life, I was working between ten and twelve hours a day. That would not have been possible without the help of my wife’s and my families. For three weeks, my parents, Jim and Wendy, fed and housed us as we struggled to keep our heads above water. My mother-in-law, Cathy, cheerfully pretended there was nothing she’d rather do than drive fifteen hours in order to share a foldout couch with a mildly senile cat and help care for an infant with a raging case of colic. My sister, Abby, her partner, Laura, and my brother, Jake, all logged an impressive number of hours changing diapers, giving baths, and taking our dog on six a.m. trips to the park.
When this project was in its infancy, Kurt Andersen helped me shape a series of barely connected ideas into a coherent structure. Without his input and advice, this book would never have seen the light of day. In addition to coming up with a title, crafting an introduction, and providing daily insights, my agent Scott Moyers supplied me with a steady diet of encouragement and advice. Caroline and Helmut Wymar loaned my wife and me the use of “78” on Nantucket. The only downside to the weeks we spent there was that eventually we had to leave. Hanya Yanagihara gave me invaluable advice on the book’s structure.
For two books in a row, I’ve had the good fortune of working with the people at Simon & Schuster. David Rosenthal had faith that I could write a book about a subject that was dramatically different from any I had written about before. My editor Bob Bender performed the impossible task of keeping my neuroses in check while improving my manuscript and overseeing a ridiculously truncated publication schedule. His assistant, the unflappable Johanna Li, somehow kept straight the dozens of overlapping files I sent in on an hourly basis. (She also kept me well stocked with mysteries.) Mara Lurie translated my scribbling and incorporated my many last-minute edits, re-edits, and un-edits. And Jonathan Karp championed the project during some of its most difficult moments.
In the course of my research, there were dozens of people who shared their time and expertise. I owe a special debt of gratitude to Bob Chen at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Jane Johnson at the Autism Research Institute, and Lisa Randall at the Immunization Action Coalition. Arthur Allen, whose book Vaccine is a remarkably engaging work of scholarship, gave much-appreciated feedback on parts of my manuscript.
Most generous of all were the family members who agreed to speak with me about subjects that were difficult and painful, including Vicky Debold, Peter and Emily Hotez, Kelly Lacek, Kevin Leitch, Toni and Dana McCaffery, Lyn Redwood, Danielle Romaguera, Anissa Ryland, Alison Singer, and Bob and Katie Wright. I am grateful to every one of them for their candor and trust.
The Panic Virus is the most difficult project I have ever embarked on. The research was intellectually strenuous and the writing was physically and emotionally draining. I would not have had the strength to undertake such a challenge without the love, nourishment, and support of my wife, Sara. The sacrifices she made and the commitment she displayed were humbling. I owe this book, and everything else I have done over the last three years, to her.
NOTES
INTRODUCTION
PAGE
1 On April 22, 2006, Kelly Lacek: Kelly Lacek, interview with author, May 7, 2009.
3 Oftentimes, a Hib infection: “Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) Vaccine—What You Need to Know,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d., http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-hib.pdf.
3 due to a condition called epiglottitis: K. Tanner et al., “Haemophilus influenzae type b Epiglottitis as a Cause of Acute Upper Airways Obstruction in Children,” British Medical Journal 2002;325(7732): 1099.
3 As recently as the 1970s: “What Would Happen if We Stopped Vaccinations?,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d., http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/whatifstop.htm#hib.
3 the disease all but disappeared in the United States: “Disease Listing—Haemophilus influenzae Serotype b (Hib) Disease,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, October 10, 2009, http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/
diseaseinfo/haeminfluserob_t.htm.
3 “I must have read somewhere”: Kelly Lacek, interview with author, May 7, 2009.
4 a tracheotomy, which involves cutting into the windpipe: P. Oliver et al., “Tracheotomy in Children,” Survey of Anesthesiology, 1964;7(2): 9–11.
4 The physicist Stephen Hawking: Stephen Hawking, “Prof. Stephen Hawking’s Disability Advice,” Professor Stephen W. Hawking, n.d., http://www.hawking.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content
&view=article&id=51&Itemid=55.
5 “They said something about not catching it”: Kelly Lacek, interview with author, May 7, 2009.
5 The roots of this latest alarm dated back to 1998: See citations for Chapters 8 and 9.
5 The medical establishment was so determined to discredit him: Andrew Wakefield, “Correspondence: Author’s Reply: Autism, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, and MMR vaccine,” The Lancet 1998;351(9106): 908.
5 Within months, vaccination rates across Western Europe: “Q&A: Measles,” graph titled “MMR Immunisation Levels—Children Immunised by 2nd Birthday,” BBC News, November 28, 2008, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7754052.stm.
6 Then, a year later, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Notice to Readers: Thimerosal in Vaccines: A Joint Statement of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Public Health Service,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report July 9, 1999;48(26): 563–65.
6 The move had been hotly debated: Gary Freed et al., “The Process of Public Policy Formulation: The Case of Thimerosal in Vaccines,” Pediatrics 2002;109(6): 1153–59.
6 In the year following the CDC/AAP recommendations: See citations for Chapter 11.
7 Soon, vaccination rates began to fall in the United States as well: �
�Vaccines and Immunizations—Statistics and Surveillance: Immunization Coverage in the U.S.,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d., http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/stats-surv/imz-coverage.htm.
8 Taitz, who believes that the Federal Emergency Management Agency: Benjamin L. Hartman, “Orly Taitz: Obama Policies Are ‘Clear and Present Danger to Israel,’” Haaretz, August 18, 2009, http://www.haaretz.com/news/_orly-taitz-obama-policies-are-clear-and-present-danger-to-israel-1.282161.
8 Hugo Chávez controls the software: Gabriel Winant, “What Orly Taitz Believes: The Head Birther Talks About Obama’s Boyfriends, the Long Arm of Hugo Chávez and How the Web Is Rigged Against Her,” Salon.com, August 13, 2009, http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/08/
13/orly_taitz/print.html.
9 Lou Dobbs were pimping the story: James Rainey, “A Natural-Born Canard About Obama,” Los Angeles Times, July 22, 2009, D1.
9 “those who think with their head”: Stephen Colbert, “The Word—Truthiness,” The Colbert Report, October 17, 2005, video, http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/24039/october-17-2005/the-word---truthiness.
9 “in what we call the reality-based community”: Ron Suskind, “Faith, Certainty, and the Presidency of George W. Bush,” The New York Times Magazine, October 17, 2004, 52.
11 “No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right”: Alice Calaprice, ed., The New Quotable Einstein (Princeton: Princeton University Press and Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2005), 291. (This quotation appears in Chapter 19, “Attributed to Einstein.” According to Calaprice, “This may be a paraphrase of sentiments expressed in ‘Induction and Deduction,’ December 25, 1919, CPAE [Collected Papers of Albert Einstein], Vol. 7, Doc. 28.”)
12 This was “not a close case”: Cedillo v. Sec’y of Health and Human Services, No. 98-916V (Ct. Fed. Cl., February 12, 2009), 172.
13 has barred journalists: Ken Riebel, “Listening to Parents at AutismOne,” Autism News Beat, May 29, 2010, http://www.autism-news-beat.com/archives/1030.
13 kicked out parents: Ken Riebel, “Expelled!,” Autism News Beat, May 26, 2008, http://www.autism-news-beat.com/archives/62.
13 asked security to remove a public health official: Sullivan, “AutismOne– Generation Rescue Conference Expells Registered Attendees,” Left Brain/Right Brain, June 2, 2010, http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2010/06/autismone-generation-rescue-conference-expells-registered-attendees/.
14 “The great majority of children suffering”: “About Us,” AutismOne, n.d., http://conference.autismone/?goto=aboutus.
14 “A picture caption on Tuesday”: “Corrections,” The New York Times, April 30, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/
pageoneplus/corrections.html?pagewanted=all. The correction referred to the following article: Neil Genzlinger, “Vaccinations: A Hot Debate Still Burning,” The New York Times, April 28, 2010.
14 a four-hour-long “vaccine education” seminar: Vicky Debold, Barbara Loe Fisher, and Louise Kuo Habakus, “Vaccine Education Seminar,” presentation, AutismOne conference, Westin O’Hare, Chicago, May 22, 2009.
14 “autism and vaccines in the US [legal system]”: Arthur Krigsman and Sylvia Chin-Caplan, “Autism and Vaccines in the US Omnibus Hearings: Legal and Gastrointestinal Perspectives of the Michelle Cedillo Case,” presentation, AutismOne conference, Westin O’Hare, Chicago, May 24, 2009.
14 “the toxic assault on our children”: Alice Shabecoff, “The Toxic Assault on Our Children,” presentation, AutismOne conference, Westin O’Hare, Chicago, May 22, 2009.
14 “Down syndrome, vaccinations, and genetic susceptibility to injury”: Laurette Janak, “Down Syndrome, Vaccinations, and Genetic Susceptibility to Injury: What Does the Research Show?,” presentation, AutismOne conference, Westin O’Hare, Chicago, May 22, 2009.
14 explained how vaccines are a “de facto selection”: Fisher, “Vaccine Education Seminar.”
14 premiere of a documentary called Shots in the Dark: “New Documentary Film Release: A Shot [Shots] in the Dark,” AutismOne, September 2, 2009, http://www.autismone.org/content/new-documentary-film-release-shot-dark.
15 Suppose an individual: Leon Festinger, When Prophecy Fails (London: Pinter & Martin, 2008), 1. Originally published 1956 by University of Minnesota Press.
15 “The little group”: Ibid., 171.
16 In a speech delivered at eight in the morning: Lisa Ackerman, “Starting the Biomedical Treatment Journey,” presentation, AutismOne conference, Westin O’Hare, Chicago, May 22, 2009.
16 the father-son team of Mark and David Geier stood on stage: Mark Geier and David Geier, “New Insights into the Underlying Biochemistry of Autism: The Mercury Connection,” presentation, AutismOne conference, Westin O’Hare, Chicago, May 23, 2009.
16 a cost of more than $12,000: Trine Tsouderos, “Autism ‘Miracle’ Called Junk Science,” Chicago Tribune, May 21, 2009, 1.
17 “His dad is a big guy like myself”: Ibid.
17 “below the ethical standards”: Aldridge v. Sec’y of Health and Human Services, 1992 WL 153770 (Ct. Fed. Cl., June 11, 1992), footnote, 9.
17 “intellectually dishonest”: Marascalco v. Sec’y of Health and Human Services, WL 277095 (Ct. Fed. Cl., July 9, 1993), 5.
17 “not reliable”: Haim v. Sec’y of Health and Human Services, WL 346392 (Ct. Fed. Cl., August 27, 1993), footnote, 15.
17 “fills me with horror”: Tsouderos, “Autism ‘Miracle’ Called Junk Science.”
17 “If someone like Mark Geier comes up”: Kevin Leitch, interview with author, May 5, 2009.
18 in a series of groundbreaking papers in the 1970s: Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, “Subjective Probability: A Judgment of Representativeness,” Cognitive Psychology 1973;3: 430–54; Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, “Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases,” Science 1974;185(4157): 1124–31; Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, “Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decisions Under Risk,” Econometrica March 1979;47(2): 313–27. See also: Preference, Belief, and Similarity—Selected Writings, Amos Tversky, edited by Eldar Shafir (Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 2004), Chapter 7, “Belief in the Law of Small Numbers,” 193–202; Chapter 9, “Extensional Versus Intuitive Reasoning: The Conjunction Fallacy in Probability Judgment,” 221–56.
18 A recent Hib outbreak in Minnesota: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Invasive Haemophilus influenzae Type B Disease in Five Young Children—Minnesota, 2008,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, January 23, 2009;58(Early Release): 1–3.
19 Among those infected was Dana McCaffery: Toni and David McCaffery, interview and e-mails with author, 2009–2010.
19 A decade after the World Health Organization: World Health Organization, “Measles Eradication Still a Long Way Off,” Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2001;79(6), http://www.who.int/mediacentre/
factsheets/fs288/en/index.html.
19 In Great Britain, there’s been more than a thousandfold increase: “Agency Publishes Annual Measles Figures for 2008,” Health Protection Agency (U.K.), February 9, 2009.
19 outbreaks in many of the country’s most populous states: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Update: Measles—United States, January–July 2008,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, August 22, 2008;57(33): 893–96.
19 “felt safe in making the choice”: “How My Son Spread the Measles,” Time, May 25, 2008.
20 Before the MMR vaccine was introduced: Nancy Shute, “Parents’ Vaccine Safety Fears Mean Big Trouble for Children’s Health,” usnews.com, March 1, 2010.
20 On the fourth morning of Matthew Lacek’s coma: Kelly Lacek, interview with author, May 7, 2009.
20 “We just celebrated [Matthew’s] 7th birthday”: Kelly Lacek, e-mail to author, “Subject: Re: from Seth Mnookin/via Trish at PKids,” April 12, 2010.
CHAPTER 1: THE SPOTTED PIMPLE OF DEATH
PAGE
23 In the three thousand years: Jessica Reaves, “The New Worry: Smallpox,�
�� Time, October 18, 2001.
23 The term “smallpox” was coined: A. Geddes, “The History of Smallpox,” Clinics in Dermatology 2006;24(3): 152–57.
23 The Plague of Antonine: Nicolau Barquet and Pere Domingo, “Smallpox: The Triumph over the Most Terrible of the Ministers of Death,” Annals of Internal Medicine 1997;127(8): 635–42.
23 Between 1694 and 1774, eight reigning sovereigns: Donald Henderson and Bernard Moss, “Smallpox and Vaccine,” Vaccines, ed., Stanley Plotkin and Walter Orenstein (Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders, 1999).
24 The virulence of smallpox: Ibid., 2.
24 In 1717, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu: Edgar M. Crookshank, History and Pathology of Vaccination: Vol. 1, A Critical Inquiry (Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son, & Co, 1889), 32.
24 clearly considered those risks worth taking: Paul Strathern, A Brief History of Medicine (London: Robinson, 2005), 179.
24 In London, her doctor: Stephanie True Peters, Epidemic! Smallpox in the New World (New York: Benchmark, 2005), 37.
25 In 1706, a “Coromantee” slave: Ibid., 34.
25 Mather, whose wife: Barbara Rogoff, The Cultural Nature of Human Development (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), 106.
25 still, it wasn’t until 1721: Margot Minardi, “The Boston Inoculation Controversy of 1721–1722,” The William and Mary Quarterly 2004;61(1): 48.
25 Not long after he and Boylston: Mitchell Breitwieser, “Cotton Mather’s Pharmacy,” Early American Literature 1981;16(1): 42–49.
25 After a dormant period: Elizabeth Fenn, Pox Americana (New York: Hill & Wang, 2001), 16–19.
26 One eighteenth-century account: Noble Cook, Born to Die (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 116.
26 Throughout the 1700s: Barquet and Domingo, “Smallpox,” 635–42.
26 In a 2001 paper: Valerie Curtis and Adam Biran, “Dirt, Disgust and Disease,” Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 2001;44(1): 17–31.
27 On September 28, 1751: Fenn, Pox Americana, 1–2.
27 by the time it was at thirty: Ibid., 47, 265.
The Panic Virus Page 33