Age of Autism Award: Jim Carrey, Quote of the Year
We award the 2009 Quote of the Year to Jim Carrey, who appeared on Larry King Live on April 4th, with Jenny McCarthy, J.B. Handley, Dr. Jerry Kartzinel and a group of autism epidemic and treatment deniers who appear to be against vaccine safety for all children.
Thank you, Jim.
KING: Isn't the problem here, Jenny, that people sometimes listen with one ear are going to panic. And not vaccine at all?
MCCARTHY: Probably. But guess what? It's not my fault. The reason why they're not vaccinating is because the vaccines are not safe. Make a better product and then parents will vaccinate.
CARREY: We're not the problem. The problem is the problem.
HANDLEY: The AAP has failed our kids.
Hey - Can this be our new T-shirt?
"We're not the problem. The problem is the problem."
Truth - I never bought the old one... "The bull stops here!" never spoke to me.
Posted by: Henderson | January 11, 2010 at 01:35 PM
Tired, can we call a truce? I do think Jim Carrey et al were trying to move the public gradually, and I also think it's possible that they were caught a bit off-guard by the specific question about overreaction and "canceling that vaccine." It's live television, and it's difficult for me to come down very hard on them for saying something that doesn't sync with the message they promote in their books and other media appearances.
I also think that if asked, all four of them would say that they recommend individual M, M, and R shots for any parent actually choosing to vaccinate against those diseases--just as I believe they would say, if asked, that the acellular pertussis is safer than the whole-cell pertussis that was on the 1989 schedule. I don't think they planned their appearance on LKL to be an endorsement of the 1989 schedule per se; I think it's more likely that they wanted to use the 1989 schedule as a starting point, and then they got a little bit pushed by Larry King into endorsing it more strongly than they would have done in, say, a press release. I do know that Dr. Kartzinel says (in the book he was promoting on the show) that he has stopped vaccinating his patients, so he isn't giving his patients advice that's any different from what he would do for his own child, if given the chance to do it over again.
It's hard to know exactly what approach to take when trying to win public support for an unpopular position, particularly when one has to get booked on national television shows with pharmaceutical advertising in order to get one's message out. Myself, I tend to be a loudmouth, and I tell my friends to split up their shots (if they give them at all), and I give all my friends with new babies a copy of Deirdre Imus's book *Growing Up Green,* which talks about the dangers of the trivalent MMR vaccine on page 137. It's hard for me to say, though, that promoting a more subtle message wouldn't be more successful in the long run. First no more thimerosal-damaged kids, then no more MMR-damaged kids, then no more antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Maybe it really could work that way. Maybe my friends write me off as crazy and throw away Deirdre's book. I know they ignore me when I advise them against drugs during childbirth.
In the end, though, I have to look at where you're coming from, and then all I have for you is compassion. Your friends who were damaged by the MMR deserved better from the medical community and from our government. Of course you would not wish their fate on anyone, and any equivocation on the issue of the MMR must seem like a horrible betrayal to you. You have to be true to yourself and tell everyone you know about what the MMR can do, and I don't disagree with you for doing that.
Last night, I watched the Don Cheadle movie *The Traitor.* SPOILER ALERT... Cheadle plays a devout Muslim who infiltrates a terrorist organization with the aim of breaking it up and saving the lives of potential victims. As part of his infiltration, Cheadle participates in some attacks, and even causes some deaths. His CIA handler tells him that it's worth it if his overall mission succeeds, but Cheadle never fully believes that. He says that he must answer to God. In the end, with everything we do--be it speaking out on the issue of vaccines, or campaigning against political and/or military policies that we believe to be unjust, or what have you--we can only answer to ourselves and to whatever higher power we believe in. Tired, I believe you're doing your best. Maybe you can try to believe that about Jim Carrey.
Posted by: Theresa O | January 09, 2010 at 10:47 PM
Angela,
If you think their message in this video was: "for some, vaccination is ok, but go back to the individual shots like they were when we were kids", and "no vaccination schedule is correct for every child", I think you should watch it again.
Everyone on this show supported the use of the MMR vaccine, and no one mentioned individual M, M, and R shots. They also gave the impression that the '89 schedule would be safe for children. It wasn't that these people didn't want to appear to be anti-vaccine, they are clearly pro-vaccine.
McCarthy, Carrey, Handley and Kartzinel had an opportunity to confront three doctors on National TV about successful biomedical treatment for autism. Why didn't they do that, instead of pushing the vaccines on the '89 schedule? After all, the book that they were promoting was 'Healing and Preventing Autism', and they had stated earlier that doctors wouldn't sit down and talk about biomedical treatments. Here were three doctors, two of them major opponents in this war, that _were_ sitting down.
Jenny McCarthy could have shown these doctors in front of millions of viewers the evidence that her son had been diagnosed with autism by a top neurologist, and that after a year of biomedical treatment he had been undiagnosed. She could have asked them _how_ the treatments she used cured her son's autism. Perhaps her son's neurologist and other professionals who'd worked with him could have testified. As it was, the doctors were given a platform to fearmonger about disease, praise vaccines, blame genes for autism, state that regressive autism is _extremely rare_, and blame goalpost-shifting for the increase.
You're right, I can't see that roads are being paved when 'our side' actively promotes any vaccines or schedules, especially when the MMR vaccine is on that schedule. I know two young men brain damaged by MMR vaccines in the 1980s. One of them spent a few months in jail last year for a crime he didn't commit, the other, heavily drugged in foster homes since age 14, has finally been placed in residential care where he will remain zombified for the rest of his life.
Theresa said she wished they had mentioned the dangers of the MMR. So do I. Don't you?
Never mind that JB recommends splitting up the MMR on the GR website. If MMR vaccine can cause brain damage, and it can, why didn't they say in that interview that for parents who choose to vaccinate against these diseases, they recommend giving the individual shots? They didn't. They all agreed that people were "over-reacting cancelling _that_ vaccine" Can you give an explanation for that?
One more thing. Do you think that JB should be above criticism because he's the founder of Rescue Post and he is a person of good character? And Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey also, because their celebrity status has brought attention to autism? Much of what they say has value, but I don't think it is fair for them to give parents the impression that some vaccines are safe, or a particular schedule is safe, and tell them to get shots for their children that they wouldn't give to their own.
Theresa mentioned Kathy Blanco's name. Kathy is one of the knowledgeable people that sprang to my mind when I wrote my question. She has been trying to "stop the problem" and "get to the bottom of this" for a very, very long time.
Posted by: Tired of the nonsense | January 09, 2010 at 05:29 AM
Theresa,
You may be right when you say that Jenny and Jim might be trying to move the public gradually, and I'm sure that getting parents talking and thinking about vaccines can only be a good thing.
I'm sure you realize that what worries me about this particular show is the endorsement of certain vaccines by parents of children with vaccine-induced autism. As the parent of such a child, now a young man, I wouldn't dream of telling other parents to get any vaccines for their kids, or not to get any. It should be their choice.
You and Minority View are right when you say that parents have no idea how to estimate risk, and I think that young parents with a new baby in their arms are particularly vulnerable to pro-vaccine propaganda. I know I was. Unfortunately, most of us do our vaccine and disease research too late to save our kids.
Posted by: Tired of the nonsense | January 09, 2010 at 05:17 AM
One reason risk assessment is so difficult for parents is the inflating of infectious disease risks in relation to other risks. This is actually costing children's lives, because funds going into vaccines means less money and effort going into what would probably be more effective programs directed at the real causes of childhood mortality in the U.S.
http://insidevaccines.com/wordpress/2010/01/03/h1n1-influenza-in-the-u-s/
Posted by: MinorityView | January 05, 2010 at 08:09 AM
Tired, I shall go through your comment from the bottom up. I honestly find your comments to be ad nauseam, and telling that you have not been a reader of AoA for very long.
You call out JB and wonder how much time he (along with Jenny and Jim) spend listening here at AoA where there are some very knowledgeable and educated people who have been studying autism and vaccines for years...
As JB is the FOUNDER of Rescue Post which morphed into AoA just over two years ago (and on my birthday - thank you very much!), I am quite sure JB knows about antibiotics, acetaminophen AND the side effects of seizure meds. I won't speak for JB, but I do know to a great extent what he and his family have been through.
JB is a kind, generous, and gracious man that I have had the pleasure of meeting. He came to speak, at my invite, to a community of international birthing professionals about vaccination. Honestly, how dare you make a judgment about someone who is advocating for our children, especially in light of the fact that you go by an alias.
If you had knowledge of that which you speak, and had done your research, you would realize that when this show ran, the individual M M and R vaccines were still somewhat available. Roughly 5 months before the Larry King piece ran Merck and Co. said they would no longer manufacture the individual MMR. It’s a widely known fact.
I guess the biggest issue in your diatribe I challenge is your seeming inability to be able to understand that roads are being paved. I also question whether or not you have a child with autism, or you yourself were vaccine injured? No body going on national TV wants to appear as being anti-vaccine. I think you would understand that. The message is that parents need to be educated, or at least have the door opened for them to do so.
As Jenny (possibly) did not know at the time that she vaccinated Evan against MMR, she did not know that they were available separately. Nor did I; my youngest son is about a year older than Evan. My children were vaccinated to a certain extent, which I have published repeatedly on AoA and on my site. The message sent was that for some, vaccination is ok, but go back to individual shots like they were when WE were kids. Stop the growing problem until we can get to the bottom of this. Make parents question! !!! One of my boys regressed with the Hep B. The second with the Varicella (almost 2 years after the MMR). No vaccine schedule is correct for every child, and if you were listening instead of criticizing you would have gotten that message. Look at the schedules on GR’s site.
Oh… one last thing. Your use of asterisks is quite annoying. Yeesh.
Posted by: Angela Warner | January 05, 2010 at 01:14 AM
Here's my thing, I know my son was injured by vaccines or a single vaccine. He nose dived immediately after. I suspect with my tiny brain that it was the MMRV (ProQuad) but what I honestly don't know is, was it the MMRV, the MMRV in combination with all the others or, was it the Tylenol we gave him immediately after that did the "trick" and you know what, I'm not sure anyone does. We were told for 6 months that there was nothing to worry about, what evidence is there to support my son's claim of vaccine injury, there is no blood test, what progressive MRI, what video, brain biopsy, a single doctor's evaluation, ANYTHING showing a "table injury?" All I have is a coincidence when you really think about it and everyone out there knows that. I got nothing.
What I do have is a whole host of "experts" saying it's not possible, saying talk like that kills hundreds of thousands of innocent children, and they are all supported by BILLIONS of dollars in hush money. I'm broke... in more ways than one too.
Too many people are scared their child will die in a horrible way in a world class hospital because of a "vaccine preventable" disease that kills malnourished sickly babies in places like Bangladesh or Rwanda. It's a tough sell to tell them don't vaccinate. But to tell them to be careful gets the foot in the door, and that's the tough part, getting them to see an activist, a mother of a child that was injured by a vaccine rather than a ditsy blond Playboy pinup out to sell a book or whatever.
Like I said, I know what happened, my son got a brain injury immediately after his vaccines, I know that much, that much I can prove. What I can't prove is exactly what caused it. That's the part Jenny, et al may be dealing with in the media in order to reach the 300,000,000 others out there that don't know autism from shine-ola. What they are also dealing with is a well orchestrated conspiratorial effort to discredit anything and everything they touch or say, to destroy them where they live.
""We may need to seek them out and destroy them where they live," a Merck employee wrote, according to an email excerpt read to the court by Julian Burnside QC, acting for the plaintiff." http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/drug-company-drew-up-doctor-hit-list/story-0-1225693586492
Posted by: bensmyson | January 04, 2010 at 11:19 PM
Tired... First, Jenny *has* talked about specific biomedical treatments, in *Mother Warriors* and in *Healing and Preventing Autism,* her book with Dr. Jerry Kartzinel. So let's give her credit for that.
Second, JB Handley tells parents (on Generation Rescue's website), "If you plan to get the MMR vaccine, ask your doctor to give it in three separate vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella." So he clearly is against the MMR as a trivalent shot.
Third, you're right: it is a mixed message when Jenny and Jim talk about the 1989 schedule without saying that parents should change it by splitting up the MMR, given what Jenny has previously said about the MMR and Evan (and given her endorsement of Generation Rescue, which tells parents to split up the MMR). Since the MMR is unsafe and can cause autism, then it's a bad idea to give it, and Jenny and Jim should say that.
However, I believe that Jenny and Jim are trying to move the public gradually. The first step is pointing out the insanity of today's vaccination schedule. For all the parents today who just do whatever the doctor (or nurse) tells them at the well-baby visits, returning to the 1989 schedule would be an improvement. Yes, it would still put their child at risk for the damage that the MMR can cause. However, it would exclude the total bull**** of the birth dose of hepatitis B, etc. The 1989 schedule has fewer risks than the current schedule. (Of course, as far as I know, the old whole-cell pertussis was part of the DTP shot in 1989, and the current DTaP is supposedly safer, so that's one advantage of today's formulations, but you get my overall point: fewer viruses injected = fewer occasions to damage your child.)
I think it is very difficult to convince a parent to stop vaccinating altogether if you present it that way: "All vaccines carry more risks than rewards for American children." I mean, just look at the back-and-forth on this site nearly every time Kathy Blanco posts. As much as I believe that the vast majority of Americans have no idea how to estimate risk, and consequently have an irrational dread of communicable diseases, I don't think most Americans would change their minds if I put it to them that way. What Jenny and Jim are doing--even when they back off on something like the MMR--is raising awareness of the concept that vaccines are dangerous, which is a huge step, given the mindset of your average mom.
As for whether Jenny and Jim's message, delivered in the form that it was on LKL, causes parents to do all the homework they should regarding vaccine safety, I believe it does, for some parents. My own exposure to vaccine safety concerns was pretty limited prior to giving birth to my daughter. I vaguely recall my mom talking about the MMR being dangerous, and my childbirth instructor gave all the moms in my class the phone number of a pharmacy that sells the monovalent measles, mumps, and rubella shots. That was pretty much it. Because of those two things, I did a ton of research online, and I found Dan Olmsted's original UPI series on thimerosal. I picked a doctor for my daughter (a GP, not a pediatrician, incidentally) who doesn't force his patients to vaccinate. I made my intentions (no hep B shot) clear to the doctors and nurses at the hospital where I intended to give birth. Just the whisper of suspicion about vaccines being dangerous was enough to change my life, and thank God for AoA, my daughter is healthy and happy today.
I know I am not typical. Maybe more people need to be told very specifically everything that's wrong with vaccines and pediatrics in general. That's very hard to do. AoA does an amazing job in bringing so many issues to the surface. Although I wish Jim and Jenny had mentioned the dangers of the MMR, I still think they are part of the solution to the problem of vaccine-induced disease. What I wish most of all is that parents were thoughtful enough and free enough from the influence of pharma advertising and doctor pressure that the right message, if anyone ever phrased it perfectly and got the chance to air it on network TV, would get through to all of them.
Posted by: Theresa O | January 04, 2010 at 10:26 PM
Theresa,
What has McCarthy publicly said about her son's condition?
“Before the vaccination, he was huggy, lovey, snuggly. Then it was like someone came down and stole him.” ( US Magazine - October 2008)
"Right before his MMR shot, I said to the doctor, 'I have a very bad feeling about this shot. This is the autism shot, isn't it?' And he said, 'No, that is ridiculous. It is a mother's desperate attempt to blame something,' and he swore at me, and then the nurse gave [Evan] the shot," she says. "And I remember going, 'Oh, God, I hope he's right.' And soon thereafter—boom—the soul's gone from his eyes." (Oprah Winfrey Show - September 2008)
By these words, I never thought that Jenny McCarthy was ***implying*** that the MMR vaccine was to blame for her son's autism, I thought she knew the MMR had caused it. I'm sure that's what most people thought she meant. But what parent of a child with regressive autism after the MMR would recommend that particular vaccine to other parents? What parent with a vaccine-injured child would risk recommending any vaccines, and tell people to vaccinate their kids? I certainly wouldn't. So I think it's more than "odd" that these people are supporting the use of vaccines, period.
"I think we have to give Jim and Jenny credit for going on TV and advocating an unpopular position, even with some equivocation--after all, if you came away with the message of "some vaccines are unsafe," then you are more likely to do your homework and look up the dangers of your kid's next scheduled shot online."
Sadly, I disagree. Their message was clear, 'Our kids are getting **too many** shots "Return to the '89 schedule"'.
"Maybe Jim chickened out, or maybe he just didn't want to name a specific vaccine as something he opposes. "
You seem to think that these people oppose MMR vaccine. How can that be when McCarthy told King, "Go back to the 1989 schedule when shots were only ten - **the MMR was on that list**.... **Let's be smart.**"?
It is not smart to recommend a vaccine that she has so often implied was the cause of her son's regression and his autism, because she is giving people a conflicting message: "The MMR caused my child's autism, but you should use it". It is not smart to recommend a vaccine schedule which was in use after the rise in autism began . It is not smart to tell viewers to "Vaccinate for measles" and "Vaccinate for Mumps", when the measles and mumps vaccine on the 1989 schedule was the MMR, the vaccine that most people have heard her say caused her own son's autism.
McCarthy, Carrey and Handley are clearly not opposed to the MMR vaccine. Jim and the rest appear to believe that all kids need to be vaccinated, and that the vaccines on the 1989 schedule are necessary.
I would like to believe that these people are 'on our side', that is on the side of parents who know that their children developed autism as a direct result of vaccines, but it is clear that they are meeting the other side half-way. It's a compromise. If our aim is to prevent brain damage from vaccines, we can't afford to allow people who appear to be speaking on our behalf to tell parents to "Vaccinate for measles", "Vaccinate for mumps", and all the other vaccines used in '89, because presumably in their eyes that schedule was a safe one.
"When parents hear Jim and Jenny talk about the 1989 schedule, they should be motivated to ask themselves which diseases (if any) they should vaccinate against. They should be motivated to read the package insert before allowing anyone to inject any drug or biological product into their children. "
You're right, they should, but most parents won't. They will either listen to their doctors, as they always have, and vaccinate according to the schedule because they think doctors know what's good for their babies, or listen to "Jim, Jenny and JB" and use the vaccines on the 1989 schedule, because "this whole mess happened" ***after*** 1989, so in their minds the number of vaccines on that schedule, and the vaccines used at the time must have been safe. Most viewers of that show don't know what autism is, or its history. The earlier cases of regressive autism after vaccination weren't caused by a bloated schedule, and yet the take-home message from that interview is not that vaccines cause autism, but that too many vaccines cause autism.
In my view, if these people want to help the autism community, they should be talking about what happened to their children, and which biomedical treatments helped them recover, not shaking hands with Pharma by promoting the use of particular vaccines or schedules. They should have been discussing biomed with those doctors on the show. McCarthy must have evidence that she could have shown them that her son was diagnosed with autism at age 2, and that he was undiagnosed a year later after the treatments she gave him. The doctors should be able to explain how Evan could have recovered completely from autism if biomed doesn't work.
"How about antibiotics? Don't even get me started on that one. "
Ditto. Do Jim, Jenny and JB know about antibiotics, acetaminophen.... or the side effects of seizure medication? How much time do they spend listening here, at AOA, where there are some very knowledgeable and educated people who have been studying autism, and vaccines, for years?
Posted by: Tired of the nonsense | January 04, 2010 at 09:50 PM
The problem is the problem. I saw this when it ran back in April, and the problem is still the problem, and it's a growing problem and exactly the reason they want to find something to implicate other than vaccines. It's a growing problem, you all know the pharma ad... if they implicate something else, they can create another "miracle drug" to stop the growing problem.
A@T - haven't seen you on here in a while. Welcome back. I laughed when I read your comment. I had a situation today in which I had to talk to an attorney (something completely unrelated to autism - and nothing worrisome - just buying a great 2nd car from a friend who went through a nasty divorce). So I had to call her ex's attorney and she tried to talk circles around me with "lawyer speak". I finally got in her face, so to speak, and said look this is the problem. Don't change the subject and don't under-estimate me and think I won't realize what you're doing. Um... yeh... the problem is the problem, not what you're trying to make it into. I almost wanted to ask her (another famous Jim line) how stupid she thought I was?
Stay on topic, answer the questions, and then we won't have this growing problem anymore... oh gee... I realize you'll loose billions, but our children, our future, is more important than money.
Posted by: Angela Warner | January 04, 2010 at 09:27 PM
Tired, you're right that returning to a schedule that includes the MMR won't eliminate the problems that the MMR causes. It's odd that Jenny and Jim didn't talk about splitting up the MMR on LKL, because Jenny implies that the MMR had a role in Evan's autism (page 83 of *Louder Than Words*), and Generation Rescue (which Jenny loudly supports) advocates splitting up the MMR (http://www.generationrescue.org/vaccines.html). I think we have to give Jim and Jenny credit for going on TV and advocating an unpopular position, even with some equivocation--after all, if you came away with the message of "some vaccines are unsafe," then you are more likely to do your homework and look up the dangers of your kid's next scheduled shot online. I do wish they talked about the dangers of the MMR specifically, or at least not said those things that Jim said (because you're right--those quotes that you gave definitely give parents the wrong idea), but I also think it's hard to list all the dangers when you know the AAP guests on the show are going to say, "But kids dieeeeeeeeeee of the meeeeeeeeeeeeasles!" Maybe Jim chickened out, or maybe he just didn't want to name a specific vaccine as something he opposes.
On acetaminophen, I also agree with you. It's a dangerous drug, and some of its consequences have been known for many, many years (the liver problems it can cause, for example), and the US government has done next to nothing to discourage its rampant overuse. It's all part of the government-industrial complex: a company develops a product, and the government is loath to discourage consumers from taking part in commerce, even when doing so would improve their health. How about antibiotics? Don't even get me started on that one.
I know the idea of switching to the 1989 (or the 1983 or the Danish) schedule is not a solution to the whole problem. However, I do see it as a gesture toward what parents really should do (when it comes to vaccines and all drugs): think about what health risks their children actually face, and think take steps to mitigate those risks without incurring worse risks. When parents hear Jim and Jenny talk about the 1989 schedule, they should be motivated to ask themselves which diseases (if any) they should vaccinate against. They should be motivated to read the package insert before allowing anyone to inject any drug or biological product into their children.
Posted by: Theresa O | January 03, 2010 at 10:32 PM
"Jim Carrey did not advocate the use of the trivalent MMR vaccine, which is (correct me if I'm wrong) the one that Rimland and Wakefield have expressed concerns about."
You're right, Rimland and Wakefield are among the many doctors who have expressed concerns about the MMR vaccine, and that's why it is wrong for a group such as this to call for a return to the 1989 schedule which included 2 doses of MMR. The MMR vaccine is also on the schedules in Sweden, Finland and Norway which Handley says could be another option.
Jim Carrey did not "merely say that if parents are afraid of the measles, they can choose to vaccinate against the measles."
When Larry King asked if they wanted the measles and mumps shots, Handley said, "Absolutely"... "Larry, it's on the old schedule." By "it", Handley has to be referring to the MMR. And when Larry asked the group if parents were "over-reacting cancelling that vaccine",(the MMR) Handley replied, "Absolutely". Jenny McCarthy said, "Correct."
And what did Jim Carrey say?
"Absolutely. Vaccinate for measles, vaccinate for mumps, vaccinate for polio. That's on the '89 schedule."
These people are not anti-MMR vaccine. They are anti-"the bloated schedule" which they mention several times.
What was so special about 1989? Handley seems to think that "this whole mess happened" afterwards. If he is referring to the epidemic of autism, the rise began before 1989, and as an advocate for children damaged by vaccines and labelled autistic, he should know that. Someone should show him Bernard Rimland's graph or the one on page 4 of the pdf that 'Also tired of the nonsense' posted about acetaminophen. The whole article is worth reading because it clearly shows how doctors can freely prescribe a drug deemed "safe" for babies for twenty-odd years for a multitude of ills, and pre- and post vaccination as a matter of course, which disabled their livers.
As I said before, returning to the 1989 schedule won't stop children being brain damaged by vaccines. It won't stop regressive autism. If that's what we are here for, why are we supporting people who want to return to an earlier, and still dangerous, schedule?
Posted by: Tired of the nonsense | January 03, 2010 at 03:00 AM
I was expecting to be annoyed by an interview with yet another Hollywood couple advocating superstition based on inductive reasoning. I was surprised by Carey's informed and focused approach to the specific problem of Autism and under-screened vaccines. The problem isn't that vaccines are ineffective. It's that no one is subjecting vaccines and their scheduling to scrutiny at least equal to the intensity of pharma-co greed.
The thing I don't quite understand is why the FDA isn't being implicated in this debate. We've seen the same sort of monstrous side-effects in prescription drugs as vaccines over the past eight years. This is because the FDA has become a cheerleading team for pharmaceutical companies. Episodes of Nova and other PBS news shows have been devoted to this; other coverage (and books devoted to the subject) have appeared over time as well. I believe it's all part of the same shady consolidation of corporate drug interests into necessary regulatory organizations.
Posted by: Hindsight_Revisited | January 02, 2010 at 06:06 PM
Jim Carrey did not advocate the use of the trivalent MMR vaccine, which is (correct me if I'm wrong) the one that Rimland and Wakefield have expressed concerns about. Jim Carrey merely said that if parents are afraid of the measles, they can choose to vaccinate against the measles. Do I think that fear of the measles is a rational fear for American parents to have? Do I think vaccination is necessarily a sensible approach to take to disease? No, but I don't think Jim Carrey is a traitor to the vaccine safety movement for saying that parents should have a choice. The problem is that today, parents do not truly have a choice. They can be refused treatment by their pediatricians, subjected to grillings on the sincerity of their religious faith (in New York state), and even denied entrance to public school (in West Virginia) for choosing not to vaccinate. Jim Carrey was right: The problem is the problem.
Posted by: Theresa O | January 01, 2010 at 10:03 PM
"He said, "the onset of autism at 18 months is a recent development", and "Autism starting at 18 months rose very sharply in the mid-1980s, when the MMR vaccine came into wide use"."
That's also the time that acetaminophen largely replaced aspirin as a pain reliever and fever reducer.
Others are starting to see the association as well...
http://www.thorne.com/altmedrev/.fulltext/14/4/364.pdf
Posted by: Also tired of the nonsense | January 01, 2010 at 07:14 PM
Perhaps someone could explain why Jenny McCarthy, Jim Carrey and J.B. Handley are calling for a return to the '89 schedule, and say that they "welcome people doing the measles, mumps...polio shots..". Jim Carrey goes so far as to tell viewers to "Vaccinate for measles". Those are Carrey's words that stuck in my mind, not " We're not the problem. The problem is the problem.", I didn't actually hear that.
Anybody listening would think that vaccine damaged children didn't exist before 1990, and that the 1989 schedule was safe. Certainly, Pharma could use Carrey's words on a pro-vaccine T-shirt.
Maybe they haven't read Bernard Rimland's testimony before the House Committee on Government Reform in 2000. He said, "the onset of autism at 18 months is a recent development", and "Autism starting at 18 months rose very sharply in the mid-1980s, when the MMR vaccine came into wide use". Returning to the 1989 schedule won't stop regressive autism.
How do parents of vaccine injured children damaged in 1989 or before feel about this, and the parents of babies who have died or have been brain injured after receiving one vaccine? It seems like betrayal to me.
Posted by: Tired of the nonsense | January 01, 2010 at 05:58 PM
Helena
You are describing a science that excludes virtually all the data it doesn't like - it isn't science, it's propaganda. We have just seen the recent head of the CDC take up a post with the manufacturer of Vioxx - cause of upwards of 150,000 deaths.
They have all the credibility of money, power and office: scientific credibility they only have for the cynical and naieve.
Posted by: John Stone | January 01, 2010 at 12:03 PM
Jim pretty much put the politically correct discussion format in the toilet where it belongs with that statement!! I will be using that statement. It is the smallest number of words I can imagine to keep the conversation on track and in reality. We can't be beat in a conversation that stays on track regarding vaccine injury and how vaccines are unsafe if we can keep the damn subject ON the subject.
Posted by: A@T | December 31, 2009 at 11:27 PM
But vaccines are safe. This has been proven over and over agian by repeated scientific studies. And without them millions of children will (not might, but will) die every year.
Posted by: Helena Constantine | December 31, 2009 at 06:35 PM
Stagmom, you are AWESOME! :D I would get some and pass them out to my advocacy group here. :) I have both parents and people on the Spectrum in it, because I tire of the old argument that what people on the Spectrum want and what thier parents want is different. That is not nessicerily true. For example, I know of cases where the parents was a ND and the person on the Spectrum was pro-cure!
Anyways, consider me first in line for said bumber sticker! :)
Posted by: Darian (nickname) | December 31, 2009 at 08:52 AM
I'll get to work on a bumper sticker - OK? It might wrap around your car 3 times though by the time I add all the copy I'd want. LOL!
Posted by: Stagmom | December 31, 2009 at 08:32 AM
The whole team was great on that interview, Jim, Jenny and JB, but I was really surprised by the level of commitment and the witty comments by Jim Carrey: "there is one (kid with ASD) in every block", etc. all of them delivered with a sincere controlled rage in great contrast to the completely apathetic team on the other side of the issue (Wulnitzer, etc.) who couldn't have shown themselves more detached to the subject. To top it all off, the unveiling of the Rotateq full page add on the AAP magazine was the crowning moment.
A hollywood writer couldn't come up with a better script because this stuff is real.
Posted by: we shall overcome | December 31, 2009 at 08:30 AM
Yes, I concur! Bumper stickers and t-shirts! And the money could go towards more research for acure, into vaccine studies, and into supports for us adults. :) That would be awesome!!I would go ahead and design it if I wasn't worried about perhaps that would be a copyright issue.... I'm not sure about that...
If there isn't, I can design something and put it up on Zazzle where they can put such things on whatever you want! No, this is not spam. Just a thought.
Posted by: Darian (nickname) | December 31, 2009 at 08:28 AM
AoA or Generation Rescue -- Make a bumper sticker!
Posted by: Mom23boys | December 30, 2009 at 10:31 PM
brevity...concise..accurate...real...
That's what I think when he said that.
Posted by: cj | December 30, 2009 at 08:58 PM
YES!!!! That WAS the BEST quote! He definitely has stuck his neck out on this issue for us all, and I will always love him for that. His charm and wit is just icing on the cake!
Posted by: Sylvia | December 30, 2009 at 08:33 PM
I'll never forget that comment. No one will. Jim Carrey's genius, when channeled through his decent-thoughtful-regular-guy real self, manifests as an ability to cut straight through the maze of language trickery and ideology like a hot knife through shit and come out with the simplest equation possible. You walk away with that purified idea in your hand like a diamond. Everything else falls to the side.
Posted by: Gatogorra | December 30, 2009 at 07:49 PM
My husband and I literally stood up and cheered when Jim said this. This is not just the quote of the year, this is the quote for an entire generation.
Posted by: PhillyMom | December 30, 2009 at 07:14 PM
akmom - I agree with you completely. I often hear Dr. Offit explain that his "conflict" of interest does not color his decisions. Perhaps they don't (I doubt it) but maybe they do for the next guy. The system shouldn't be such that we have to just hope that those with conflicts will always do the right thing. It is clear that they do not.
Posted by: 4Bobby | December 30, 2009 at 07:01 PM
Figured out what they're going to do with all the leftover h1n1 shots---and with all the leftover h5n1 shots from a few years ago....mix them together to protect us against a new flu that's mutated the swine and bird varieties together...
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/12/swine-flu-continues-to-recede-worldwide-the-who-says.html
Posted by: TJ | December 30, 2009 at 06:19 PM
About the comment...
Great comment Jim, you should be a comedian.
I would think there will be an opportunity for more great comments & events in 2010.
Happy New Year for you and almost Mrs. C.
Posted by: cmo | December 30, 2009 at 04:59 PM
There are three big problems that affect the credibility of our national vaccination policy...that vaccines are mandated for our children, that manufacturers have liability protection for their products and that they are allowed to reap huge profits. Mandates, profits and liability protection. We must fight to do away with a system with such obvious conflicts of interest. It is not enough to tell us to "trust" the good employees of GSK or Merck or the CDC, the FDA or HHS or even the AAP...to trust that they are doing what's best for our children and that they know more than we do. Bullshit. There is no other product in the country that doesn't allow for the consumer to control the supply and demand. We are losing our rights, state-by-state, and we have to stand up and fight for our children. We have to fight for a fair system that allows for informed consent and parental rights. Until we do, more children will fall. So thanks to Jenny and Jim and every non-celebrity advocate who doesn't get media attention for their fierce desire to make change in this country.
Posted by: akmom | December 30, 2009 at 04:49 PM
Best comment of the year from the best hour of TV on the air of 2009! I love you, Jim!!!
Posted by: Nicole | December 30, 2009 at 04:42 PM
Katie, you're correct. Supply and demand. But as demand drops, the response has been more gov't pressure, laws, media beatings and exemption refusals.
Can you imagine if we learned spinach was tainted and then every child was served spinach in their school lunch by law? No spinach? No summer camp! No spinach? No football! No spinach? No day care!
That's what protection from liability has done - removed all fear of creating a product that has been detrimental for a subset of the population.
Fear of lost profit drives product changes. Vaccine manufacturers are safely tucked under Uncle Sam's skirts (hmm, bad analogy.) Pharma is well tucked. Our kids are well... you get the point.
Happy New Year. Thanks for all you do.
KIM
Posted by: Stagmom | December 30, 2009 at 04:06 PM
Almost $2,000,000,000 paid out in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program so far. That's for 2,400 cases out of 13,000 claimed.
Reports indicate that only 10% of vaccine injuries are reported to VAERS. Every year anecdotes about adult flu shot reactions are ignored. Gardasil victims are treated like liars.
1 in 100 kids on the autism spectrum. 1 in 50 boys in some areas. 1 in 5 receiving special education services. Sharp increases in children with life-threatening asthma, allergies, immune disorders, G.I. dysfunction.
Yes, Jim, we have a problem. Thank you for saying that the PROBLEM is the problem. And the sad irony is that many of the people perpetuating the problem basically have good intentions, but are just following their orders.
How can we get them to slow down and look objectively at the health crisis they're ignoring, instead of using fabricated statistics as excuses?
Posted by: nhokkanen | December 30, 2009 at 03:45 PM
I remember laughing as Jim Carrey said that.
Hysterical! I love it!
I also loved how Carrey went on to say that pharma needs to stop blaming the customers for not buying their product. Instead they need to try listening to the consumers and make a better product.
Posted by: Katie Wright | December 30, 2009 at 03:03 PM
Cheers and applause for Jim Carrey! What a classic, concise quote! Thank you, Jim Carrey, for your work, involvement, advocacy!
And thanks, AoA, for posting this LKL episode. It's great to see it again, and to have it available to link to. JB, Dr. K, Dr. H., Jenny & Jim were all so great on this show.
Regarding children (such as Jenny's son) recovering from autism, this statement by Jim really struck me:
"It's still shocking to see how many people are ignoring this information... You'd think that if there was any possibility that a child was being helped that someone would listen, someone would take a look and the fact is they're not even considering the information -- they're not only not considering it, they're discouraging it..."
Even if the benefits of our current schedule outweighed the negatives, it would behoove our health establishment to understand and treat vaccine injuries, instead of simply denying them or calling them acceptable collateral damage. Instead, the only response continues to be, "But diseases are dangerous."
Oh, and the other response is to call Jenny a celebrity etc. Study her child! Learn from what she has practised with her child!
Posted by: Twyla | December 30, 2009 at 01:57 PM
Yes!!!!!!! I fucking loved this comment.
Posted by: jen | December 30, 2009 at 12:44 PM
This Larry King clip covers the Autism topic pretty well in the time allowed.
Perhaps some of the girls on the "other side" could touch up the "gray hair" a little bit...which might make their crap arguments a little more attactive.
Note the complete lack of any Vaccine Manufactures at any table ever.
Oh that's right... they do not have to be responsible for their products.
Posted by: cmo | December 30, 2009 at 12:16 PM
Chiming in again . . . I can hardly watch that video without crying. Jim Carrey is brilliant, compassionate, and a true man in my eyes. Jenny - we wish you, Jim and Evan all the blessings that life can bring!
I'm going out to buy every Jim Carrey movie I can find . . .
Posted by: Parent | December 30, 2009 at 12:11 PM
To put it in Jim's vanacular...There Psychos! (The Grinch). I think the problem is more than a problem, it is an ever reaching ideal to think that you can control the immune system by injecting foregin proteins in children's bodies, who's immune systems are not developed, and or not able to detox. I would have rather dealt with the real disease with homeopathy, vitamins and nutrients, than a lifetime of chronic debilitating, life changing unwellness.
Posted by: Kathy Blanco | December 30, 2009 at 12:10 PM
I am exhilarated and dispirited at the same time to learn that American mothers, in large numbers, are forsaking the swineflu jab for their children. This is not because the jab contains Thimerosal (mercury) but because the vaccine makers have ignored the earlier removal of this material from infant vaccines from 1999 on and have simply continued as before to use Thimerosal as a preservative in multi shot vials.
The mothers believed that a danger had been removed from vaccines but now, no doubt, they regard the motives of the vaccine makers with the gravest suspicion.
As someone who alerted the Geiers in November 2002 to the wholesale absence of autistic people in the UK unvaccinated population I am delighted that my conclusions are being treated seriously.
As far as I can tell the position remains exactly the same today, seven years later. Six million parents did not vaccinate their three million children and none of them is autistic. Six million Brits can't be wrong!
But why has this taken seven years?
Tony Bateson, Oxford UK
Posted by: Tony Bateson | December 30, 2009 at 11:10 AM
Yes, that was a brilliant comment. Jenny and Jim are impressive on many levels.
Posted by: Mary T. | December 30, 2009 at 11:03 AM
There should be t-shirts with this!
That aside, I haven't got to see the interview. I might have to try again tonight. My computer as far as viewing videos is not exactly up to par.
That being siad, from what I've read, this interview reminds me of a book my stepmom has been working on for quite sometime. It's called "Because I'm the doctor!! STUPID!!"
Basicily it's a book that encourages you to ask questions of doctors. They are not God, and they do not know all!! And when you are talking about someone who is prescribing you some of the strongest meds, it is your job as the paitent to research the meds the doctor is trying to put you on and decide for YOURSELF whether or not it would be a good fit.
It's the whole "You are the expert when it comes to YOU!" concept she wants to get across. It is also going to have a chapter dedicated to parents about how to make a far more active role in thier child's medical care. All to often parents take a back seat because they trust thier doctor.
She's back to working on it after a year hiatous. But all that advice is a good idea. We are not cattle, it's our lives whom these people are messing with, we have a right to be informed and make choices for ourselves instead of "Godlike" doctors making them for us!
*Darian's rant is now over*
Posted by: Darian (nickname) | December 30, 2009 at 09:39 AM
This was one of the best moments of 2009! Jim and Jenny have been outstanding advocates and listening to them talk here again makes me so grateful for their continual efforts.
I was so impressed with Jim's thoughtful and articulate comments. This one was brilliant.
Thanks to Jenny and Jim for fighting for all of the kids!
Posted by: Teresa Conrick | December 30, 2009 at 09:15 AM
LOVE HIM!! He had so many good lines during that show! "Grab em and Stab em" is one of my favs too. Thank you Jim and Jenny, for putting yourselves out there and for bringing that beautiful boy back. Not enough people praise you for the miracle of Evan's recovery! Happy New Year.
Posted by: Allison | December 30, 2009 at 08:49 AM
Jim Carrey is a true hero. God bless him.
Posted by: Parent | December 30, 2009 at 08:08 AM