Donahue, hosted by Phil Donahue, was a hit daytime talk show that ran from 1970 to 1996.
Much like Oprah, Donahue provided an outlet for those with anti-vaccine ideas to push their views.
In 1983, Donahue had a segment on the side effects of vaccines, in which a pediatrician said that the risks of vaccines weren’t worth the benefits.
And in addition to Robert Mendelsohn, Donahue is famous for hosting Lisa Bonet of The Cosby Show fame, back in 1990, when she said that vaccines could:
introduce alien microorganisms into our children’s blood and the long-term effects which could be trivial or they could be quite hazardous – and they could just be allergies or asthma or sleep disorders or they could be cancer, leukemia, multiple sclerosis, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
It’s very scary and it’s very serious and I think because I felt wrong doing it… that’s why I didn’t do it.
You know we have to think twice.
You know why are our kids getting these diseases?
We know that vaccines don’t cause allergies, asthma, cancer, leukemia, multiple sclerosis, or SIDS, and it is worrisome that she would scare people like that on a national TV show.
We also know why our kids are getting vaccine-preventable diseases – it is because they aren’t fully vaccinated.
In the 1980s, Phil Donahue “used his powerful position on television to publicize the theory that DPT vaccine (for dipththeria, pertussis, and tetanus) induced seizures and neurological damage in children who received it.”
It didn’t.
For more information:
- A Few Notes on Robert Mendelsohn, M.D.
- The Vanishing Victims
- A Shot in the Dark Revisited
- Alleged Cases of Vaccine Encephalopathy Rediagnosed Years Later as Dravet Syndrome
- A Family Struggles to Understand Seizures Following Vaccination
- The whole cell pertussis vaccine, media malpractice, and the long-term effects of avoiding difficult conversations
- Deadly Choices about vaccination
- Book – Child Health in America: Making a Difference Through Advocacy
Last Updated on October 6, 2016