We’ve written at length about autism at DISCOVER, including the scientific debunking of the myth that vaccines are behind the disorder. But thanks to growing celebrity support, the vaccine-autism movement has been spreading misinformation and gaining converts in Hollywood and beyond at an alarming rate.
Media attention on the issue skyrocketed last month, when Playboy model-cum-actress-cum-autism activist Jenny McCarthy led a Washington D.C. march demanding changes to the CDC’s child vaccination guidelines. McCarthy, hailed by supporters as “the biggest thing to happen since the word autism was coined,” is throwing her weight behind chelation, an unproven and possibly dangerous treatment that removes heavy metals from the body—and increasing numbers of parents are backing her. The government has begun feeling the heat over the rise (which may not be a rise at all) of the disorder (which may not be a disorder at all), and the National Institute of Mental Health is pushing to begin tests of chelation.
Still, some big names in Tinseltown are less than convinced by McCarthy’s efforts.
