HuffPo: Dr. Jay Gordon Responds to Frontline Vaccine War Editing
Please read the full post and comment at Huffington Post.
By Dr. Jay Gordon
PBS aired a show called "The Vaccine War." I was interviewed at great length and in great depth about vaccines and my point of view and expressed my ambivalence about the polarization of this issue and the need for more calm reasoned discussion about the number one question that new parents have. I told Kate McMahon, the co-producer of the show, that there was a large group of doctors and others who cannot be dismissed with the facile label "anti-vaccine" because we still give vaccines and see a place for them in the practice of medicine but we do not agree with the current vaccine schedule nor the number of vaccines children receive all at one time.
A few days ago, Ms.McMahon emailed me to tell me that the decision had been made to omit my interview from the show. There would not be one word from me. She didn't tell me that she had also omitted 100% of Dr. Robert Sears interview. And that any other comments from physicians supporting the parents on the show in their ambivalence about vaccines or their decision to refuse all vaccines would also be omitted.
She left this as a show with many doctors commenting very negatively, very frighteningly and often disdainfully and dismissively about vaccine "hesitation" as they called it.
Below is my email response to Kate McMahon.
Dear Kate,
The "Frontline" show was disgraceful. You didn't even have the courtesy to put my interview or any part of the two hours we spent taping on your web site.
You created a pseudo-documentary with a preconceived set of conclusions: "Irresponsible moms against science" was an easy takeaway from the show.
Did you happen to notice that Vanessa, the child critically ill with pertussis, was not intubated nor on a respirator in the ER? She had nasal "prongs" delivering oxygen. I'm sorry for her parents anxiety and very happy that she was cured of pertussis. But to use anecdotal reports like this as science is irresponsible and merely served the needs of the doctor you wanted to feature.
No one pursued Dr. Offit's response about becoming rich from the vaccine he invented. He was allowed to slide right by that question without any follow up. Dr. Paul Offit did not go into vaccine research to get rich. He is a scientist motivated by his desire to help children. But his profiting tens of millions of dollars from the creation of this vaccine and the pursuit of sales of this and other vaccines is definitely not what he says it is. His many millions "don't matter" he says. And you let it go.
Jenny McCarthy resumed being a "former Playboy" person and was not acknowledged as a successful author, actress and mother exploring every possible avenue to treating her own son and the children of tens of thousands of other families.
I trusted you by giving you two or three hours of my time for an interview and multiple background discussions. I expressed my heartfelt reservations about both vaccines and the polarizing of this issue into "pro-vaccine" and "anti-vaccine" camps. I told you that there was at least a third "camp." There are many doctors and even more parents who would like a more judicious approach to immunization. Give vaccines later, slower and with an individualized approach as we do in every other area of medicine.
What did you create instead?
"The Vaccine War."
A war. Not a discussion or a disagreement over facts and opinions, but a war. This show was unintelligent, dangerous and completely lacking in the balance that you promised me--and your viewers--when you produced and advertised this piece of biased unscientific journalism. "Tabloid journalism" I believe is the epithet often used. Even a good tabloid journalist could see through the screed you've presented.
You interviewed me, you spent hours with Dr. Robert Sears of the deservedly-illustrious Sears family and you spoke to other doctors who support parents in their desire to find out what went wrong and why it's going wrong and what we might do to prevent this true epidemic.
Not a measles epidemic, not whooping cough. Autism. An epidemic caused by environmental triggers acting on genetic predisposition. The science is there and the evidence of harm is there. Proof will come over the next decade. The National Children's Study will, perhaps by accident, become a prospective look at many children with and without vaccines. But we don't have time to wait for the results of this twenty-one year research study: We know that certain pesticides cause cancer and we know that flame retardants in children's pajamas are dangerous. We are cleaning up our air and water slowly and parents know which paint to buy and which to leave on the shelves when they paint their babies' bedrooms.
The information parents and doctors don't have is contained in the huge question mark about the number of vaccines, the way we vaccinate and the dramatic increase in autism, ADD/ADHD, childhood depression and more. We pretend to have proof of harm or proof of no harm when what we really have is a large series of very important unanswered questions...
Please read the full post and comment at Huffington Post.
Kristina, you don't have to miss Will Lyman, the deep-voiced narrator of Frontline. Google him and you'll find his other works. For me, hearing his blackly comedic voiceover on the movie "Little Children" actually detracted from the intensity of his PBS impact afterward.
Posted by: nhokkanen | April 29, 2010 at 12:08 AM
Somebody has probably already posted about this, but I noticed on the HuffPo comment page that the CDC was involved in the funding of the Frontline episode.
Surprise, surprise...
Posted by: Taximom | April 28, 2010 at 11:43 PM
All this again, so does PBS really stand for Puke & B.S.?
PBS should just hold hands with the CDC, Big Pharma, DR Profit and the rest of the chain gang.
Posted by: Allie90 | April 28, 2010 at 10:38 PM
Speil like the PBS "The Vaccine War" is the reason why there are so many Amanda Peets in my family. They never hear of Dr. Gordon's "third camp."
Posted by: Henderson | April 28, 2010 at 09:04 PM
It is unfortunate that the Dr. Jay Gordon interview was not on the PBS TV program but this is how the US media works. The US media just as the CDC, IACC and NIH are connected at the hip of the pharmaceutical companies. So noone should be surprised. I found it rather amusing that the pro-vaccine people are afraid of the unvaccinated population especially since vaccines are the "miracle medicine that prevents diseases". Unvaccinated people should be afraid of the vaccinated especially if a live virus vaccine is involved.
Nothing about the research articles of immunologists such as Vijendra Singh, Hugh Fudenberg, etc. especially in regard to the blood tests that are cited in Dr. Singh's articles involving the myelin basic protein antibodies and elevated measles antibody titers. But it figures PBS would not have anything to do with real science.
The media will continue to do this kind of bad journalism because there is no research funding for the likes of Dr. Andrew Wakefield, Dr. Vijendra Singh, and other immunologists out there that may want to look at the autoimmune link to autism.
Parents and their kids with autism are slowly losing this war because there is no research on our side. People like Singh and Wakefield are being pushed out because there is no funding research or there is character assasination from the medical community. From what I am seeing, the pro-vaccine crowd will eventually win this war if they haven't already done so.
As John Adams said in December 1770 in Defense of the Soldiers in the Boston Massacre Trials:
"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."
Sad!!!
Posted by: Raymond Gallup | April 28, 2010 at 07:33 PM
Ahhh, I get to bathe in blissful ignorance as I intentionally avoided watching this shit. Wakefield's "Dateline" interview was hard enough to sit through. I've never liked PBS. They smell a bit like NPR at this point.
Like the rest of you, I am forever grateful for this crazy thing called the internet. No matter how many hatchet jobs PBS or NBC or CBS or Trine from that crap paper put out, this thing IS NOT GOING AWAY. (oooh, and a big shout out to Yahoo! group listserves, my other autism addiction besides AoA).
Posted by: JessicaF | April 28, 2010 at 06:33 PM
Thank you, Dr. Gordon, for your efforts.
Currently our TV is only connected to the DVD player and the sometimes the internet or an MP3 player, and this seems unlikely to change by desire or need, especially now.
Posted by: JenB | April 28, 2010 at 05:51 PM
You know what the sadest thing about all of this is to me? Thinking about all he poor unsuspecting average people who now thinks after watching Frontline that vaccines have been thoroughly and completely taken "of the hook" in causing or complicating autism. Until this show I used to think Frontline had some pretty high standards in their reporting of issues. These poor future victims of lies and manipulation from Pharma and the US Health agencies then have a baby. And some of those vulnerable yet identified babies will succumb to vaccine induced autism and all the health problems that go along with that.
I almost feel better about the fact I didn't know to question. the information just wasn't out there when my kids were young and we were vaccinating. Thinking about the poor people who have seen documentaries like the "vaccine war" and them thinking and believing they are getting good and trustworthy information only to find out the hard way they have been duped and their baby paid the price for their gullibility. That to me is the saddest thing about Dr. Gordon's and Dr. Sear's words being stiffled. The innocent victims yet to come.
Posted by: Andrea | April 28, 2010 at 05:01 PM
PBS has a Facebook page with 100+ comments.
Posted by: nhokkanen | April 28, 2010 at 05:00 PM
Am I the only one who is going to miss the "Frontline monotone commentator" that cmo described? I have to admit, I did like his voice.
Posted by: Kristina | April 28, 2010 at 04:58 PM
I don't understand why Frontline posted Dr. Sears' interview on their website, but not Dr. Gordon's.
Posted by: Kristina | April 28, 2010 at 04:52 PM
I don't know about anyone else, but I felt a tinge of pride when I saw the AoA website on the screen!
Great plan, advertising the competition.
Maybe some parents will visit just to see what the "crazies" have to say and be delighted to get exposed to a side of the story they never knew existed.
Some may still agree with Frontline, but maybe a few parents agree with us.
Watching this reminded how much Datline NBC left on the floor as well. Our son exhibited severe gut pain in front of the film crew, ripping apart the waiting area at the hospital.
They showed him being mellow and cooperative - believe me, THAT was creative editing.
Posted by: Tim Kasemodel | April 28, 2010 at 04:25 PM
Dr. Gordon:
When I first read the PBS press release for "The Vaccine Wars" and saw no mention of the numerous scientists, physicians and researchers were not included in this documentary, at that point I knew this show was going to be just another one sided journalism story which is the norm for Main Stream Media. But thanks to the internet and Huffington Post I now know PBS deliberately omitted, edited out yours and Dr Sears remarks for this documentary.
Its clear, why they did it. Its the only way to make the government/medicopharma alignment of the facts they have created fit the story they wish to be told. Yours and Dr Sears comments, just another inconvenient truth.
Dr. Cynthia Christofani and others interviewed for FRONTLINE identified the internet as the source of misinformation. Come again, MAIN STREAM MEDIA'S FRONTLINE deliberately omits crucial voices in this controversy and it's the internet that provides misinformation?
When the truth matters, I will gladly wade through the internet to get reliable information. It may not be the easiest, but PBS, main stream media, clearly are lacking the ability for objective journalism. Main Stream Media is morally bankrupt, unreliable, dishonest, and dieing.
On the vaccination issue there seems to be a competition between NPR, ABC, NBC, CBS, Chicago Tribune, New York Times and now PBS on who can produce the most biased one-sided story or hit piece on parents of see vaccine/environmentally related regression in their children.
Congratulations FRONTLINE. Another nail in main-stream-media's coffin. Have a drink at the bar and celebrate.
Posted by: michael framson | April 28, 2010 at 04:13 PM
Everyone should see the documentary, 20/20 Hindsight, Censorship on The Frontline about A whistleblower and the big banks and corporations.Thank-you for your insight Dr. Jay.
Posted by: Tyranny | April 28, 2010 at 04:00 PM
Thank you Dr. Gordon. Trust me, the producers of FRONTLINE have damaged their own reputations by rejecting your comments taken over two hours.
My friend, you must have presented some very strong arguments .. apparently much too informative to allow on the show.
Sir, take that as a well-deserved compliment.
Posted by: Bob Moffitt | April 28, 2010 at 03:32 PM
Obviously, PBS 'stacked-the-deck' on this "Vaccine War" coverage. I'm a scienist, not a journalist. However, I wonder if they've violated their own policies:
guidelines on journalistic styles and practices
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/us/guidelines.html
Posted by: Heather | April 28, 2010 at 03:12 PM
Linda,
Actually, I saw that Frontline documentary on Facilitated Communication, and was blown away. FC has now been widely discredited by every major organization that works with disabled children. Many peer-reviewed studies have also debunked this method. In this case, there were not two sides to the issue. There simply was no scientific validity in the claims that severely disabled children were able to communicate on a very high level through their "facilitator."
Please don't conclude that there are always two sides to an issue, or that scientists are always wrong, simply because of the vaccine-autism debacle. That does not help anyone, least of all the children.
Posted by: lisa | April 28, 2010 at 03:08 PM
kerbob1,
In Dr. Wakefield's interview with Dr. Mercola on youtube, he talks about the mumps vaccine. He says that because the antibodies fall off very quickly, people need mumps boosters throughout life.
The great minds who put together our vaccine program have turned an insignificant childhood disease which conferred lifelong immunity into an adult disease which can be very serious in males.
Posted by: Carol | April 28, 2010 at 02:35 PM
Frontline did the same type of "one sided" documentary on Facilitated Communication in the 1990's and set that very useful communication strategy back many years. When I think of all the people trapped in their own silence because of Frontline I weep.
Posted by: Linda | April 28, 2010 at 01:39 PM
Also thanking God for the internet. If not for the internet, our child would still require 12 doses of rectal Valium each month for seizures due to a gluten intolerance that no MD ever suggested. Gluten allergy test and celiac disease test were negative.
Google gluten and seizures and find out what your doctors probably haven't told you.
For 18 YEARS, our child seized needlessly! Oh not needlessly. Silly me. She seized so that we could continue to see the Ped. neuro. and he could continue to write rx's and implant devices in her body, and schedule EEGs, etc.
And do his part in bankrupting Medicaid and Social Security?
What do you think about that, PBS?
Posted by: A Mom | April 28, 2010 at 01:18 PM
One good part was Barbra Loe Fisher of the NVIC talking about starting with just the use of a typewriter and the post office.
Thank God we have more than that now.
We need to find someone who can duplicate the voice of the "Frontline monotone commentator" and create a "Real Frontline show."
It would include the dead Dr. Profit babies, congress pulling his vaccines... the real story from Denmark, Simpsonwood and a few other issues.
Posted by: cmo | April 28, 2010 at 01:08 PM
Undoubtedly, two can play the same game. It's just that PBS is too stupid or too lazy to present the true half.
Of all things, it was left to the *parents* to disclose that the child's case of so called Whooping cough was classified as unavoidable. (too young to vaccinate)
We don't really know if, in fact, the virus was isolated. We don't know if it was a case of something else like Bronchitis.
Did PBS pay to PCR the case to determine that it wasn't actually Whooping Cough vaccine related?
I can provide Frontline with enough material to do a whole hour on the 2006 Iowa Mumps "outbreak" where 93% of the college kids had MMR history.
Oops! I forgot that Frontline isn't actually a legitimate entity for valuable information. They just play the specialty PR firm. To these scum engineering of consent is above citizenship and personal responsibility.
The truth doesn't matter. Obviously to PBS and Frontline children don't matter once they're vaccine injured. According to the secular belief system they are infidels and their parents heretics.
Cream rises to the top, but so does pond scum.
Posted by: Kerbob1 | April 28, 2010 at 12:55 PM
they blame the Internet. I say thank God for the Internet. The should look in the mirror as far as placing blame.
What they don't get is that parents talk to other parents. We know eachothers kids. Parents see the evidence in the number of children with developmental delays coming into the school system. People don't have to go to the internet. The truth is in the number of kids being placed in SPED classes across America.
Posted by: sarah | April 28, 2010 at 12:52 PM
Jacky, it's not just the autism parents. I don't have kids with autism (because I never vaccinated them). I know a lot about the issues, though, and I'm PISSED that Frontline lied to me. What else have they lied about on their other shows, that I didn't notice?
Posted by: Kristina | April 28, 2010 at 12:38 PM
The rebuttal to this piece of yellow journalism by PBS is Lina Moreco's outstanding movie "Shots in the Dark" released by the National Film Board in Canada last year. Parts of it are on youtube, I believe. However, it is also available from the NVIC if you make a donation above a certain level. Several of my family members and friends have changed their previously held beliefs about vaccination after I lent them my copy of the movie.
Posted by: Erik | April 28, 2010 at 12:37 PM
The vaccine enthusiasts are playing whack-a-mole. The fact that they were unable to include their interviews with two doctors who are critical of vaccines means that they were unable to come up with responses to those criticisms that anyone would believe. Censorship was their only option.
Posted by: MinorityView | April 28, 2010 at 12:32 PM
The First Amendment is the real cause of the Autism Epidemic!
Too much talking amongst parents on the internet is a huge public health problem!
Posted by: Katie Wright | April 28, 2010 at 11:37 AM
Thank you, Dr. Gordon, for taking the time out of your schedule to meet with PBS, even if they did not use your footage. Thank you, also, for writing to PBS as well, calling them on their cowardice, and lack of fairness on the issue of the vaccine controversy.
While the coverage was primarily one-sided, Jenny McCarthy was wonderful in that she stated the research on vaccine safety has not been done, because, "They won't do it." How true is that? I'd say it's right on the money.
I also thought Offit came off terribly due to his "first they said this, then they said that, then they said the some other thing", blah, blah, blah- crap. I am referring to the fact that Offit will not state or accept that some kids will react to just the MMR vaccine, and some will adversely react to the thimerosal component of a single vaccine, and yet others will adversely react to the aluminum and/or mercury which they, in particular, just cannot eliminate, or just the receipt of too darned many vaccines on a given day with whatever synergistic, bad ass effects that might wreak on the human brain. I have news for Offit - some kids get Stevens-Johnson syndrome from Motrin, yet others do not; some get Stevens-Johnson syndrome from sulphur based drugs, while others do not. We are not all one size fits all people, Offit! We do not come from a single cookie cutter mold. We are all different with our different DNA, and different toxicological susceptibilities. Offits comments on PBS were just plain ridiculous, and he looked foolish as a result. Why the heck does this self proclaimed "autism expert" think autism is a spectrum disorder? Not all our children have exactly the same brain insult involving exactly the same neurons from their vaccines and/or other environmental insults. How's that for a news flash?
We, as human beings may look alike, but that doesn't mean we will react the same to vaccines, or any other medicine. What a pathetic TV presentation. I would love to see just one program mention not just the children suffering terribly from "vaccine preventable diseases", but from the effects of vaccine injuries as determined and ruled by the Vaccine Court. Wouldn't that be something? Shame on PBS.
Posted by: Not an MD | April 28, 2010 at 11:13 AM
Does anyone remember the Michael Jackson interview with Martin Bashir, the "world-renown" interviewer who also interviewed Princess Di?
When it aired Michael Jackson and co. felt it was a hit piece. I'm not defending or playing apologetics for Michael Jackson, but the tactic he used for the interview served him well: he had his own film crew film the entire thing. I believe Fox aired his mash-up of the interview and the contrast was startling.
Bashir schmoozed up to Jackson and the amount that was cut in order to present the picture that ultimately aired was incredible. Bashir came across as totally disingenuous and ultimately looked like a tabloid journalist.
And look at what Bashir has done since? Nothing.
Anyway, I was wondering if there any contractual obligations that are put in place to avoid this happening again? If not, in the future, if I were ever interviewed on a controversial subject, I'd do my own filming, and I'd never agree to anything unless I could shoot the interview myself as well. Then when the hit piece airs, you can put the entire, unedited interview on youtube -- or perhaps the transcripts if there are legal issues involved.
According to PBS' bullshit, we believe youtube over SCIENCE-IENCE-IENCE, that poor, noble study which has been under siege by "parents" and "celebrities."
Posted by: Josh Day | April 28, 2010 at 11:10 AM
FIGHT BACK!
They're terrified of the power of the internet. Let's use it. I just received an e-mail about the show, and am sending a version of it to every person on my contact list. That's about 1,000 people. Please feel free to copy and send it to your own list.
Subject line:
Sexism and bias at PBS - please stop donating
On April 27th, PBS introduced Jenny McCarthy not as an advocate for safer vaccines, not as a best-selling author of seven books, not as a film and television actress, but as a Playboy playmate - in a transparent and sexist attempt to discredit her.
PBS, heavily funded by the pharmaceutical industry, launched an all-out war on Ms. McCarthy and on all Americans who do not subject their children to every single one of the 36 vaccines in the CDC's current vaccine schedule. (Our former CDC Director is now president of Merck's vaccine division.) In the show titled "The Vaccine War," not a single doctor or scientist critical of the current vaccine schedule was heard from. The interviews of at least two such doctors ended up on the cutting-room floor.
Here's what one of those doctors had to say to PBS after being informed his entire two-hour interview was cut:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-gordon/pbs-frontline-show-about_b_554691.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitterTonight
Thank you for taking the time to examine this important issue. Please forward this e-mail to at least five contacts.
For more information, go to http://www.nvic.org/
Posted by: fight back | April 28, 2010 at 11:05 AM
Excellent letter Dr. Gordon!
Thanks for trying to expand the narrative beyond researchers vs. parents, even though you knew Lucy always moves the football.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlzVDDSfeeA&feature=related
Posted by: Kevin Barry | April 28, 2010 at 10:17 AM
I think we should all e-mail PBS and let them know that 1 out 110 parents will no longer support and financially donate. That show was so hurtful.
I wished I would have never watched it. I am so angry this morning.
Dr. Gordon, I was so looking forward to your interview. I am also curious what the ratio of Autism is in Ashland, Oregon. Someone should look that up and post it.
Posted by: Jacky | April 28, 2010 at 10:09 AM
I didn't watch this show and I'm glad. Thanks for trying to make a difference. You and Dr Sears must have come across really well to be cut out.
I watched a lecture from Dr. Blaylock on you tube and he stated that 90% of vaccines are made in china and the vaccines plants are inspected every 12 years. Hello!! If the vaccine ingredients don't scare parents, shouldn't the fact that they are made in china scare people.
Posted by: mary | April 28, 2010 at 10:06 AM
I watched, I once again started screaming at the TV. I,am tired of my wife telling me to calm down and what did I actaully expect.I will fight for our kids the way that I have been, one parent at a time.I,m getting pissed off writing this comment. I once again will listen to Tom Petty,s I WON,T BACK DOWN all day. Dave
Posted by: David Troutman | April 28, 2010 at 10:03 AM
Thank you Dr. Gordon. I was so fired up last night after watching Frontline that I could barely sleep. I also noticed that Dr. John Green (from Oregon City, Oregon) was filmed in his office with a family. Yet, even though he is one of the major DAN doctors in America, there was no interview with him. I'm assuming that the interview with him was cut out as well to make more room for Dr. Offit.
Posted by: Debbie | April 28, 2010 at 09:49 AM
my family told me about it being on but I just couldn't watch when I heard early reports of its massive bias. What a joke. I may no longer support PBS. I mean it is supposed to be "public" broadcast and there is no room for bias.
Posted by: jen | April 28, 2010 at 09:45 AM
Not a peep about the "where's Thorsen and the $2,000,000?" issue while touting his Danish study but excorciation of Wakefield. Not a peep about the flawed process that we have in this country that combines promotion and safety mandates in a hopelessly conflicted construct. Not a peep to cite those mainstream advocacy groups like Autism Speaks and ASA that support continued research. Not a peep from people like Drs Gordon and Sears. Nothing from Mark Blaxill or Dan Olmstead. David Kirby? Nada. Wakefield. No way. Not a peep about autism rates skyrocketing or it's impact on our society. Not a peep about injury other than "it's very, very very small". Great investigative work, Frontline. Couldn't find the numbers?
I was a huge Frontline fan but no more. Just put a stopwatch on the facetime Offit spent lecturing the audience versus Barbara Loe Fischer. Unconscionable. This was a classic example of media supporting it's agenda rather than dispassionately examining this complex issue.
Posted by: Dadvocate | April 28, 2010 at 09:40 AM
Deb, I think Sesame Street will probably introduce "Hypo," as Elmo's best friend. Hypo the vaccine monster... "V is for vaccine, that's good enough for me! V is for vaccine, that's good enough for me! V is for vaccine, that's good enough for me, oh, Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine starts with V!"
Posted by: Erik Nanstiel | April 28, 2010 at 09:31 AM
Thank you Dr. Gordon for this calm, articulate, sensible response. The PBS show was, as expected, a disgusting misrepresentation of what's really happening. Predictable, given the way they hyped the show as "science against the parents", but very disappointing nonetheless. I can't believe our own government refuses to do the proper vaccine studies. Last nights "Vaccine Wars" will do nothing but harm the vaccine program, as parents will see right through it. Vaccine rates will drop even further, and the government has no one to blame but themselves.
Posted by: Anne | April 28, 2010 at 09:21 AM
Another fine program brought to you by the Merck Foundation.
Thanks Dr. Gordon. One of the best letters/articles I have read on the real issue in this debate -- clean up the vaccines and take a look at the schedule.
Posted by: Mike | April 28, 2010 at 09:10 AM
I didn't watch, and I'm a happier person this morning because I didn't. PBS is officially biased, bought by Pharma. Sesame Street will probably introduce a new monster next week that teaches kids how to swallow a pill.
Posted by: Deb in IL | April 28, 2010 at 08:55 AM
Thank you Dr. Gordon.
Posted by: Kelly | April 28, 2010 at 08:25 AM