The Panic Virus
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256 People . . . ran an excerpt from Louder than Words: Jenny McCarthy, “My Autistic Son: A Story of Hope,” People, September 7, 2007, http://www.people.com/people/article/
0,,20057803,00.html.
256 “Had to”: Miller, “Autism Is Treatable, She Insists.”
257 gives McCarthy credit for single-handedly: Ibid.
257 Larry King devoted his full hour-long broadcast: Larry King, “Jenny McCarthy’s Autism Fight,” Larry King Live, CNN, April 2, 2008.
258 Two months later, McCarthy and Jim Carrey led: Talk About Curing Autism, “Green Our Vaccines Rally with Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey: Rally Introduction and General Information,” May 28, 2008, http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.org/jenny/dc-rally/green-our-vaccines-rally.htm.
258 In the TACA press release: Talk About Curing Autism, “Green Our Vaccines Rally with Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey and Keynote Address by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” PR Newswire, June 4, 2008.
258 McCarthy’s rally-related appearances: “A Mother’s Mission: McCarthy and Carrey Search for Autism Answers,” Good Morning America, ABC, June 4, 2008; Greta Van Susteren, “Jenny McCarthy Speaks About Autism,” On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, Fox News, June 6, 2008.
258 She’d taken over Generation Rescue: See generationrescue.org.
258 By the end of the year, she’d published Mother Warriors: Jenny McCarthy, Mother Warriors: A Nation of Parents Healing Autism Against All Odds (New York: Dutton, 2008).
258 signed a deal with the licensing agency: Becky Ebenkamp, “Jenny McCarthy’s Too Good Line Coming to Stores,” Brandweek, September 8, 2008, http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/licensing/e3i425366f687
4393a7ec111e1578f285b8.
258 She’d also launched Teach2Talk Academy: Karl Taro Greenfield, “The Autism Debate: Who’s Afraid of Jenny McCarthy?,” Time, February 25, 2010.
259 In April 2010, Teach2Talk Academy was closed: “Inside Jenny McCarthy’s Personal Turmoil: Star Closes School for Autistic Children Amidst Split from Jim Carrey,” Shine from Yahoo!, April 9, 2010, http://shine.yahoo.com/
channel/parenting/inside-jenny-mccarthys-
personal-turmoil-star-closes-school-for-autistic
-children-amidst-split-from-jim-carrey-1271964/.
259 Scheflen appreciated that putting autistic children: Sarah Clifford Scheflen, “Video Modeling as a Fun, Effective Way to Communication and Learning,” presentation, AutismOne conference, Westin O’Hare, Chicago, May 23, 2009.
259 The only universally acknowledged treatment: Scott Myers and Chris Plauché Johnson, “Management of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders,” Pediatrics 2007;120(5): 1162–82.
259 “How many people are back from last year?”: Jenny McCarthy, “Keynote Address,” presentation, AutismOne conference, Westin O’Hare, Chicago, May 23, 2009.
260 Glutathione is a naturally occurring antioxidant: Alphonso Pompella et al., “The Changing Faces of Glutathione, a Cellular Protagonist,” Biochemical Pharmacology 2003;66(8): 1499–1503.
260 which covered a philosophy that involves wishing: John Hicks, “The Law of Attraction,” presentation, AutismOne conference, Westin O’Hare, Chicago, May 20, 2009.
261 “To take advantage of the natural ups and downs”: John Allen Paulos, Innumeracy (New York: Hill & Wang, 1998, 2001), 82–83.
262 has firsthand experience with the lure: James R. Laidler, “Through the Looking Glass: My Involvement with Autism Quackery,” Autism Watch—Your Scientific Guide to Autism, n.d., http://www.autism-watch.org/about/bio2.shtml.
263 a chemical cleansing process originally designed: Gary Wulfsberg, Inorganic Chemistry (Sausalito, California: University Science Books, 2000), 225.
263 When Liz Birt’s son, Matthew, was chelated: Kirby, Evidence of Harm, 182.
263 he went “berserk”: Tsouderos and Callahan, “Autism’s Risky Experiments.”
263 who moved with his mother to Pennsylvania: “Autistic Boy Dies During Therapy,” The Bath Chronicle (U.K.), September 1, 2005, 2.
263 Abubakar went into massive cardiac arrest and died: Alex Kumi, “Autistic Boy Dies After US Therapy Visit,” The Guardian (London), August 26, 2005, 5.
263 ear, nose, and throat specialist named Roy Kerry: Tom Leonard, “Parents Sue Doctor over Death of Autistic Boy,” The Daily Telegraph (London), July 11, 2007, 18.
263 Lisa Ackerman told parents: Ackerman, “Starting the Biomedical Treatment Journey.”
264 a designation that is obtained by attending: Tsouderos and Callahan, “Autism’s Risky Experiments.”
264 Kirkman did a voluntary recall: Larry Newman, “Notice to Our Customers,” Kirkman Labs, January 10, 2010.
264 had recently been proposing as a potential cause: Kirby, “Metals, Myelin and Mitochondria: Several Paths to Autism?”
CHAPTER 22: MEDICAL NIMBYISM AND FAITH-BASED METAPHYSICS
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265 his exposure to “Vaccine Roulette”: Jay Gordon, interview with author, April 3, 2009.
265 “No one knows your child better than you do”: See http://drjaygordon.com/.
265 “I’m a member in good standing”: Jay Gordon, interview with author, April 3, 2009.
265 “We need someone who’s willing to yell”: Ibid.
266 In the Foreword to one of McCarthy’s books: McCarthy, Mother Warrior, xiii.
266 Gordon wrote a story in The Huffington Post: Jay Gordon, “Vaccines,” The Huffington Post, March 31, 2009, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-gordon/vaccines_b_181047.html.
266 prefers to be called by his first name only: “About Sears,” AskDrSears.com, n.d., http://www.askdrsears.com/about.asp.
266 “I became passionate about educating parents”: E-mail to author, “Subject: bob sears,” August 15, 2009.
266 which includes an “alternative” vaccination schedule: Robert Sears, The Vaccine Book (New York: Little, Brown, 2007), 239.
266 about a topic in which he does not have specialized training: Sears has a medical degree from the Georgetown University School of Medicine and completed an internship and residency in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. See “About Sears,” AskDrSears.com.
266 The Autism Book: Robert Sears, The Autism Book (New York: Little, Brown, 2010).
267 “ ‘Front Line’ Response to The Vaccine Book”: Brian Bowman, “ ‘Front Line’ Response to The Vaccine Book,” Pediatrics, 2008;123(1): 164–69.
267 “natural” immunity is more effective: Sears, The Vaccine Book, 105–6.
267 don’t regret their decisions: Ibid., 22.
267 under the heading “The Way I See It”: Ibid., 96–97.
268 As Anne Harrington writes: Harrington, The Cure Within.
268 a Freudian approach to illness: Ibid., 80.
268 “laboratory based rigor”: Ibid., 244.
269 a guest on Winfrey’s show: Oprah Winfrey, “The Secret,” The Oprah Winfrey Show, Harpo Productions, February 8, 2007.
269 featured on Oprah.com: “Discovering The Secret,” Oprah.com, February 8, 2007, http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Discovering-The-Secret.
269 The Secret is based on something called the “law of attraction”: Rhonda Byrne, The Secret (New York: Atria, 2006), 4.
269 “everything that’s coming into your life”: Ibid.
269 illness is an example of being “in labor with yourself”: Oprah Winfrey, “The Big Wake-up Call for Women, with Dr. Christine Northrup,” The Oprah Winfrey Show, Harpo Productions, October 16, 2007.
269 prototypical example of this phenomenon is thyroid problems: Ibid.
269 Somers detailed her health regimen: Oprah Winfrey, “Suzanne Somers—The Bioidentical Hormone Follow-up,” The Oprah Winfrey Show, Harpo Productions, January 29, 2009; Weston Kosova and Pat Wingert, “Live Your Best Life Ever!,” Newsweek, May 30, 2009.
270 whose net worth is estimated at $2.7 billion: “The World’s Billionaires: #234 Oprah Winfrey,” Forbes.com, March 11, 2009, http://www.forbes.com/lists
/2009/10/billionaires-2009-richest-people_Oprah-Winfrey_O0ZT.html.
270 In that instance: Kosova and Wingert, “Live Your Best Life Ever!”
270 she reiterated that point in a statement: Ibid.
271 Consider the case of Julieanna Metcalf: “Victims of Vaccine-Preventable Disease,” Vaccinate Your Baby, n.d., http://www.vaccinateyourbaby.org/why/victims.cfm.
271 The outbreak that ensnared: Liz Szabo, “Missed Vaccines Weaken ‘Herd Immunity’ in Children,” USA Today, January 6, 2010.
271 a seven-year-old boy who was later revealed: David Sugerman et al., “Measles Outbreak in a Highly Vaccinated Population, San Diego, 2008,” Pediatrics 2010;125(4): 748.
272 as his mother explained in a Time magazine article: “How My Son Spread the Measles.”
272 Within days, the measles virus had spread: Cheryl Clark, “Measles Cases Now Total 11; Health Officials Await Results for 12th Child,” The San Diego Union-Tribune, February 16, 2008, B1; “Ruining It for the Rest of Us,” This American Life, WBEZ, Chicago, December 19, 2008.
272 passengers on a plane headed to Honolulu: Clark, “Measles Cases Now Total 11; Health Officials Await Results for 12th Child.”
272 a ten-month-old child was hospitalized: Ibid.
272 According to Gordon, the hospitalization: Jay Gordon, interview with author, April 3, 2009.
272 An additional forty-eight children: Sugarman et al., “Measles Outbreak in a Highly Vaccinated Population, San Diego, 2008,” 747.
272 In total, the outbreak cost: Ibid.
272 the largest measles outbreak in California since 1991: Ibid., 748; Nora Zamichow, “Program Set to Immunize Preschoolers—San Diego Is One of Six US Cities Picked for the Immunization program,” Los Angeles Times, February 3, 1992, B1.
272 That nationwide outbreak began in 1989: Walter Orenstein et al., “Measles Elimination in the United States,” The Journal of Infectious Diseases 2004;189: S1.
272 “healthy snacks” and “supplements”: Dr. Sears Family Essentials, n.d., http://www.drsearsfamilyessentials.com/.
272 I’d like to put together a nice press kit for you: Rachelle Duval, e-mail to author, “Subject: follow up/from Seth Mnookin inre: Simon & Schuster book about vaccines,” June 24, 2009.
273 The Vaccine Book has already sold more than 100,000 copies: Liza Gross, “A Broken Trust: Lessons from the Vaccine-Autism Wars,” PLoS Biology 2009;7(5): 6.
273 “The recent measles outbreak”: Robert Sears, “Dr. Bob Sears Offers Advice in March 21st New York Times Health Section on Vaccine Choices Parents Make,” AskDrSears.com, March 27, 2008, http://www.askdrsears.com/blog/.
CHAPTER 23: BABY BRIE
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274 Ralph Romaguera first met Danielle Broussard: Danielle Romaguera, interview with author, July 7, 2009.
274 Ralph was there working as a photographer: Danielle Romaguera, e-mail to author, “Subject: Re: from Seth Mnookin/book about vaccines,” August 4, 2010.
274 Brie was not quite four weeks old: Danielle Romaguera, interview with author, July 7, 2009.
275 Worst-case scenario, she said: “Victims of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases,” Vaccinate Your Baby.
275 But on Sunday Brie sounded worse: Danielle Romaguera, interview with author, July 7, 2009.
276 Finally, Dawn Sokol, a pediatric infectious disease specialist: “Dr. Dawn Sokol Joins Nemours Division of Infectious Disease,” Orlando Medical News, August 2, 2007, http://www.orlandomedicalnews.com/grand-rounds-august-cms-481.
276 “This baby has pertussis”: Danielle Romaguera, interview with author, July 7, 2009.
276 during its initial incubation period: Florens G. A. Versteeg et al., “Pertussis: A Concise Historical Review Including Diagnosis, Incidence, Clinical Manifestations and the Role of Treatment and Vaccinations in Management,” Reviews in Medical Microbiology 2005;16(3): 80.
277 bring with them paroxysms and cyanosis: Ibid.
277 “have the strength to have a whoop”: Ibid.
277 Throughout history, the disease has been given: Ibid.
277 Up until the 1940s, whooping cough: “Pertussis Disease Q&A,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d., http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/pertussis/dis-faqs.htm.
277 the total number of cases and the total number of deaths: Steve Black, “Epidemiology of Pertussis,” Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal April 1997;16(4): S85–89.
277 In Japan, pertussis vaccine uptake fell: E. J. Gangarosa et al., “Impact of Anti-Vaccine Movements on Pertussis Control: The Untold Story,” The Lancet January 1, 1998;351: 357–58.
277 between ten thousand and twelve thousand new cases: Smith, “National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Act,” 265.
277 the Swedish Medical Society abandoned: Gangarosa, “Impact of Anti-Vaccine Movements on Pertussis Control: The Untold Story,” 357.
277 from just over one thousand in 1976: Dennis A. Brooks and Richard Clover, “Pertussis Infection in the United States,” Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine 2006;19: 603–11.
278 “The first thought that came into my head was”: Danielle Romaguera, interview with author, July 7, 2009.
278 The best way to think of an ECMO: “Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO),” Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Surgical Options, n.d., http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/health/heart-encyclopedia/treat/surg/ecmo.htm.
278 The Romagueras are intensely religious people: Danielle Romaguera, interview with author, July 7, 2009.
281 “It upset me”: Ibid.
282 In the spring of 2009, The Hollywood Reporter: Nellie Andreeva, “Jenny McCarthy Inks Deal with Winfrey’s Harpo,” The Hollywood Reporter, May 3, 2009.
282 Danielle learned she was pregnant again: Romaguera, e-mail to author, “Subject: Re: from Seth Mnookin/book about vaccines.”
CHAPTER 24: CASUALTIES OF A WAR BUILT ON LIES
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284 Together, they decided that the Omnibus proceeding: Golkiewicz, “Autism General Order #1,” 2–4.
284 three separate “causation” theories: Ibid., 6.
284 not to present any test cases for the MMR theory: Cedillo v. Sec’y of Health and Human Services, 13.
284 they were given a full year: “Master Scheduling Order,” Omnibus Autism Proceeding.
284 final rulings were not scheduled: Ibid.
284 It wasn’t until 2005 that the discovery process: “Petitioners’ Filing re: Submission of Expert Reports in Support of General Causation,” Omnibus Autism Proceeding, Autism Master File, June 14 2005, http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/sites/
default/files/autism/6 14 05 pet filing re timing of expert reports.pdf.
284 the PSC received a further extension: “Ruling Concerning Issue of Time,” Omnibus Autism Proceeding, Autism Master File, August 11, 2005, http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/sites/default
/files/autism/Ruling Concerning Issue of Time.pdf.
285 Valentine’s Day 2006: “Petitioners’ Initial Disclosure of Experts,” Omnibus Autism Proceeding, Autism Master File, February 14, 2006, http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/
files/autism/PET INITIAL EXPERT.pdf.
285 three interdependent parts: Cedillo v. Sec’y of Health and Human Services, 19–20.
285 compared to those worn by heavy machine operators: Gardiner Harris, “Opening Statements in Case on Autism and Vaccinations,” The New York Times, June 12, 2007, 21.
285 Vaccine author Arthur Allen described: Arthur Allen, “Autism in Court, Day 1,” Vaccine the Book, June 11, 2007, http://vaccinethebook.typepad.com/mt/2007/06/
autism_in_court.html.
286 “an elderly, hard-of-hearing toxicologist”: Ibid.
286 Chin-Caplan kept her questions straightforward: Transcript of record, Cedillo v. Sec’y of Health and Human Services, 62–116.
286 During the cross-examination: Ibid., 117–222.
286 Would you like to see the paper: Ibid., 142–50.
287 Aposhian see
med not to realize: Ibid., 150–52.
288 “The hypothesis was made”: Ibid., 207.
288 whose primary employer was a Shanghai-based company: Ibid., 867–68.
288 began to giggle inexplicably: “Omnibus Hearing: Byers,” Autism Diva, June 16, 2007, http://autismdiva.blogspot.com/2007/06/omnibus-hearing-byers.html. See also: Transcript of record, Cedillo v. Sec’y of Health and Human Services, 986.
288 “You’re making faces at me”: Transcript of record, Cedillo v. Sec’y of Health and Human Services, 996.
288 “She’s much more attractive.”: Ibid., 997.
288 “educated by Dr. Aposhian”: Ibid., p. 984–85.
288 He’d already appeared as an expert witness in at least 185 separate cases: Snyder v. Sec’y of Health and Human Services, 19.
289 Along with Andrew Wakefield: Hazelhurst v. Sec’y of Health and Human Services, 112.
289 “suffers from the stigma”: Snyder v. Sec’y of Health and Human Services, 19.
289 in a textbook titled Child Neurology: Marcel Kinsbourne and Frank B. Wood, “Chapter 18—Disorders of Mental Development,” in Child Neurology, 7th ed. (Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2005).
289 “You developed a chart”: Transcript of record, Cedillo v. Sec’y of Health and Human Services, 1169–71.
290 appeared measured and deliberate: Ibid., 2295–493.
290 Stephen Bustin was devastatingly blunt: Ibid., 1933–2070.
290 the testimony of Eric Fombonne: Ibid., 1239–1466.
290 Kinsbourne had relied on his interpretation: Ibid., 1040–42, 1062.
290 Fombonne used contemporaneous notes: Ibid., 1327–37.
290 he pointed to numerous examples: Ibid., 1337–56.
290 “hand flapping”: Ibid., 1344, 1350.
290 a failure to make eye contact: Ibid., 1345–46.
290 respond to her name: Ibid., 1350.
290 play with toys: Ibid., 1346–47.
290 use communicative gestures: Ibid., 1339–40,
290 use words, or even use nonverbal sounds: Ibid., 1340–42.
290 her head circumference was abnormally large: Ibid., 1336–37.
291 it was Theresa Cedillo’s conversation with Wakefield: Ibid., 391–94.
291 Since 2003, Michelle had been under the care of Arthur Krigsman: Ibid., 43–44, 256, 325, 356, 363, 394–95.