thomas capano - American Academy of Pediatrics Pressures ABC To Cancel Pilot

January 31st, 2008 · No Comments

thomas capano -

ABC is set to air the pilot of Eli Stone, a new legal drama, on Thursday. But if the American Academy of Pediatrics has its way, the episode will be yanked before anyone gets a chance to see it.

The main character of the show is a lawyer, who, in this episode, argues in court that his young client became autistic from a vaccine he received as a baby. When the lawyer dramatically reveals that an executive at the fictional pharmaceutical company that made the fictional vaccine wouldn’t let his own child get the shot, the jury awards the family an enormous judgement.

The American Academy of Pediatrics is concerned that parents will see this show and stop vaccinating their children. Dr. Renee R. Jenkins, president of the group, claimed, “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.”

But is this grounds for censorship? First of all, it’s not at all universally agreed that the vaccination-autism connection is a “myth.” Although recent studies have suggested a lack of causation, other doctors and statisticians (including some who actually work for the CDC, disagree (see Dr. Bill Weil, Dr. Richard Johnston, Dr. Mark Geier, and many others). Certainly, the debate about what does and does not cause autism is still rigorous, it’s still passionate - and it’s still far from settled, as Dr. Jenkins’ words would seem to indicate.

And it’s exactly these kinds of charged issues that make great TV. Virtually every episode of Law and Order is based on a real case, and I never heard anyone suggest that individual shows be pulled because they suggested that characters based on real political figures (Gary Condit, Thomas Capano) were guilty of murder, or that fictional corporations based on real companies deliberately poisoned or defrauded the public. Viewers understand that these kinds of television shows are not documentaries. However, if they do cause parents to go to their computers and research the vaccines their kids get - or, for that matter, the hormones in their kids’ milk, or the sweatshops their clothes might have come from, I fail to see how this is a bad thing.

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Source: thomas capano - American Academy of Pediatrics Pressures ABC To Cancel Pilot