April 28, 2016, SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle): ‘Vaxxed’: Vaccination critics take their case to film –By Mick LaSalle

“Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe” is the documentary that, amid controversy, was pulled from the lineup of the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. It asserts a link between the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella) and autism, particularly when given to children younger than 2 years old.

It is directed by Andrew Wakefield, the gastroenterologist whose findings in this area have been largely discredited by the medical community. So “Vaxxed” can be seen as Wakefield’s side of the story. But it also contains a lot of interesting new information, which is contained in surreptitiously recorded phone calls with Dr. William Thompson, a former researcher from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Thompson, a potential whistle-blower, claims that he was present for the destruction and suppression of findings that established a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism.

The vast majority of people who see this film will not have the scientific knowledge to assess the film’s veracity. But it’s fair to say that the documentary, though characterized as anti-vaccination, isn’t quite that. The point of view is more nuanced. It’s against the vaccination of children ages 2 and younger. And it’s particularly against the MMR — that is, the giving of three vaccines at once. ...

Viewers will determine for themselves how persuasive they find these anecdotal accounts. However, we live in an age in which parents tend to video-record every stage of their child’s development. And the footage of these infants and toddlers from before they received the vaccine, looking and acting normal, is haunting. Of course, it’s possible that the children would have developed autism anyway, and that one event didn’t cause the other. But the parents presented here are convinced otherwise.

“Vaxxed” is not the end of the discussion and doesn’t contain the whole story. It doesn’t counter its own points. It’s a polemic. But it’s a passionate advocate for its viewpoint, and that makes for compelling viewing.

Reporter Mick LaSalle noted that “Vaxxed” isn’t really an “anti-vaccine” film, but he still doesn’t have it right. He mentioned the name of the CDC scientist, Dr. William Thompson, who’s the center of this film, but LaSalle is still missing the point of the movie.

ATTENTION!....

First of all, William Thompson is not a “former researcher from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” He’s still there, working away.

No Mick LaSalle……this isn’t a film about not getting the MMR  at age two and under, as you seem to think.

Seriously..................

IT’S ABOUT FRAUD…CORRUPTION…COVER-UP…AT THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL, the people in charge of the vaccine schedule!

I spent three days reviewing “Vaxxed” and transcribing the statements made by the major players. How did LaSalle miss these critical words from an agency insider?

Thompson: “They don’t really want people to know that this data exists.”

Thompson: “…among the blacks, the ones that were getting vaccinated earlier, were more likely to have autism.”

Thompson: “It appears in the final publication is that race in general is downplayed. Of course it is.”

Thompson: “I actually think the most interesting results are the isolated, ones that don’t have their co morbid conditions. The effect is where you would think it would happen.”

Thompson: “I was just looking at—I was like, oh my God, I cannot believe we did what we did. But we did.”

Thompson: “The higher ups wanted to do certain things and I went along with it. In terms of change of command, I was number four out of five. “

Thompson: “…Literally, everyone else got rid of all their documents, and so the only documents that exist right now from that study are mine.”

Thompson: “There are things that I haven’t even shared with you because I can’t prove it, and that’s what I struggle with. I don’t want to share things with you that I can’t prove, that there aren’t hard records. I am worried that the other four people will collude and say no, that’s not true.”

Thompson: “That’s what I keep seeing again, and again, and again where these senior people just do completely unethical, vile things and no one holds them accountable.”

Thompson: “The reason you don’t see anything else circulating on the study, it was five of us behind closed doors for two years.”

Thompson: “It’s the lowest point in my career that I went along with that paper.”

Hooker talking to Thompson: “You and I are in agreement: vaccine safety shouldn’t be in the CDC.”

Thompson: “Absolutely. You would end up with an agency like the National Transportation Safety Board.”

Did LaSalle watch the same film that I did? Wasn’t he at all concerned about the statements made by William Thompson about what is going on at the CDC?

I have to say that LaSalle’s piece was somewhat more honest coverage than what the San Francisco Chronicle had a month ago when reporting on “Vaxxed.”

March 30, 2016, San Francisco Chronicle: Medical community is fighting a new germ: celebrities, By Jake Coyle

...The latest case happened last weekend when the Tribeca Film Festival pulled a documentary from its program by a discredited former doctor whose research into the connection between vaccines and autism has been debunked. After festival co-founder Robert De Niro initially defended the film's inclusion, Tribeca — facing an uproar from doctors and experts — pulled it….

The episode is only the latest instance of the medical community being forced to combat the influence of a celebrity promoting questionable science. It has particularly bedeviled questions over vaccinations, beginning with the anti-vaccination advocacy of TV personality Jenny McCarthy….

Michael Specter, the New Yorker staff writer and medical expert, called ["Vaxxed] "a disgrace" for the festival, and compared Wakefield's film to "Leni Riefenstahl making a movie about the Third Reich."

Jake Coyle said NOTHING about what “Vaxxed” was actually about. (If you’re going to slam a documentary, at least talk about the subject matter.) His whole piece was an attack on Andrew Wakefield. Coyle pretended that besides Andrew Wakefield, only celebrities like Jim Carrey, “former Playboy Bunny” Jenny McCarthy, and Rob Schneider believe vaccines cause autism.

Coyle compared Andrew Wakefield to Helene “Leni” Riefenstahl, a filmmaker for Nazi rallies in the 1930s in Germany.

Coyle’s story on “Vaxxed” failed to mention the name of either William Thompson or the Centers for Disease and Prevention—the heart of “Vaxxed.”

Coyle compared Wakefield to a Nazi era film producer, but maybe the real similarity here is his version of propaganda to what came out of the German regime in 1930s.