Join in our Discussion on MMR Vaccine and the Media

[Guest guest]

Hello all,

In the light of this week's controversial TV drama on the MMR vaccine on

Britain’s Channel Five, I have opened a new Discussion forum called

" The MMR and the Media " on our website, AutismConnect (www.autismconnect.org).

As I have reported in the AutismConnect news section in recent days, many

doctors refused to take part in the live debate following the screening of the

programme because they said the film – based on Dr Wakefield’s claim of a

link between the triple jab and autism – was far too biased in favour of the

anti-MMR argument.

For those who did not see the programme – either because of the timing or

because you live in another country - the drama, called " Hear My Silence, "

starred t son as the mother of a child with autism who is convinced

that his condition was brought on by the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.

Hugh Bonneville played the British gastroenterologist, Dr Wakefield.

Before the programme was even screened, 11 top British child health experts

wrote an open letter attacking the link made by the drama between MMR and

autism. The letter complained that other doctors were portrayed as " baddies " who

appeared " positively to dislike children, " adding that " the audience is

presented with a piece of fiction that could not be further from the truth. " No

evidence had been found, the letter said, for the " new " forms of autism as

described by Dr Wakefield and the drama.

Please feel free to comment specifically if you saw this week's TV drama and the

debate after it – has it changed your mind, hardened your position, prompted you

to question your position on either side of what seems to be an increasingly

cavernous divide? If you did not see the programme, please take this

opportunity, in any case, to exchange views on how the media in your country

have been reporting the whole MMR issue. Is it objective journalism, in your

opinion? If so, has the research influenced your vaccine choices with your

children, one way or the other?

To access the discussion, simply go to the AutismConnect website

(www.autismconnect.org) and click on Discussions.

Hope to see you there.

Adam Feinstein

Editor

AutismConnect