Peds call on ABC to pull show linking autism to vaccines

Three days before the premiere of a TV drama about a lawyer who wins a multi-million dollar verdict for a boy whose autism was allegedly caused by a mercury-containing vaccine,  the American Academy of Pediatrics called on ABC to cancel the show.  The AAP called the drama—set to air on Thursday, January 31—dangerous and irresponsible, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported on Monday. Noting that the show could discourage childhood immunizations, the academy urged ABC to at least make it clear that there is no scientific evidence of an autism-vaccine link.

“If parents watch this program and choose to deny their children immunizations, ABC will share in the responsibility for the suffering and deaths that occur as a result,” Dr. Renee Jenkins, president of the AAP, said in a statement. “A television show that perpetuates the myth that vaccines cause autism is the height of reckless irresponsibility on the part of ABC and its parent company, The Walt Disney Co.”

Doctors Call on ABC to Pull Show Linking Autism and Vaccines [Via Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

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