Tag: celebrities

Six Degrees of Anti-Vaccine Separation

You know about the Kevin Bacon thing, right?

Six degrees of separation? The idea that most people are connected by six or fewer degrees of separation.

Six Degrees of Anti-Vaccine Separation

Not surprisingly, you don’t have to beyond a few degrees to see the connection between many anti-vaccine folks.

“Parents from around Southern California choose Gordon for his outspoken and controversial stance on vaccinations, driving from as far away as Santa Barbara and Long Beach.
They know he will lend a sympathetic ear to their concerns about the possible adverse side effects of childhood vaccinations — even though several large scientific studies have failed to find a connection.
His openness to alternative approaches has earned him an avid following. With thousands of patients, his practice is so busy that he no longer accepts new patients.”
Los Angeles Times on Doctor Contrarian

Especially the vocal anti-vaccine folks.

Few folks likely remember, but in 2000, just after Andrew Wakefield released his now retracted study, Dr. Jay Gordon and Cindy Crawford appeared on Good Morning America to discuss vaccines and how she had decided to delay vaccinating her baby.

After the segment, Dr. Gordon stated:

They edited the segment to make me sound like a vaccination proponent. We also have to understand the impact of a person as well-known as Cindy Crawford delaying vaccines for over six months.

March 1997 article in the LA Times describing how media savvy “skeptics” were attacking vaccines.

So while a lot of folks like to give credit to Bob Sears and Jenny McCarthy for starting the modern anti-vaccine movement, Dr. Jay and Cindy Crawford were on the scene far earlier.

Dr. Jay had even been featured in the LA Times before Wakefield published his paper!

Speaking of Jenny McCarthy, it is interesting to note that Jay Gordon was her pediatrician!

“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 on autism.” And he swore at me. . . . And not soon thereafter, I noticed that change in the pictures: Boom! Soul, gone from his eyes.”
Jenny McCarthy

Well, Dr. Jay is almost certainly not the pediatrician that swore at her after giving her child an MMR vaccine.

“Yes, there have been cases of Disney spread from Measlesland. I will give MMRs to kids 3 yrs+ if parents are worried.”
Jay Gordon

But it’s not hard to guess where she got some of her ideas about vaccines.

“Would any scientist give SIX vaccines at once to a baby? Asking for trouble. One at a time makes so much more sense.”
Jay Gordon

It probably makes even more sense if it is your pediatrician saying it…

“My name is Brittney Kara and my husband and I are parents who have chosen not to continue vaccinating our children. After thoroughly investigating and carefully weighing the risks and benefits of each vaccine, we have concluded that the current vaccines are not safe for our children and that they are not required for the optimum health of our children.”
Brittney Kara

Especially when you have a pediatrician who has said “I think that the public health benefits to vaccinating are grossly overstated” and who recommends that parents “Wait until a child is clearly developmentally “solid” before vaccinating because we just don’t know which children will react badly to immunizations.”

Is that where Brittney “Why Aren’t Vaccines Mentioned in the Bible?” Kara got her ideas about vaccines?

“I began researching vaccines in 2007 when I was pregnant with our first child. Dr. Jay Gordon was my pediatrician growing up and since I have always held him in a high regard he was the first person I turned to. He was very cautious about the current CDC schedule and his research inspired me to start my own. I began following the work of Dr. Russell Blaylock, Dr. Joseph Mercola, Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, and Dr. Suzanne Humphries, among others.”
Brittney Kara

What about Alicia Silverstone and Mayim Bialik?

How many celebrities got their ideas about vaccines from Jay Gordon?

Suspicions about the DPT were not confirmed. In fact, it was found that the DPT vaccine did not cause any of the neurological problems that folks claimed, something that seemed to trigger the anti-vaccine feelings in some pediatricians.

How many other people have been influenced by the anti-vaccine celebrities that Jay Gordon has inspired?

But Did Anyone Die?

Anti-vaccine folks don’t seem to like that they are getting more attention these days.

Why are they getting more attention?

More unvaccinated folks are getting sick.

But Did Anyone Die?

Is that really such a big deal though?

Hillary Simpson doesn't think measles outbreaks are a big deal because she doesn't think that anyone has died.... — Hillary Simpson doesn’t think measles outbreaks are a big deal because she doesn’t think that anyone has died….

It’s not like anyone has died in all of these outbreaks, is it?

Actually, they have…

Most anti-vaccine folks conveniently seem to not be aware of her, but an immunocompromised woman died after she was exposed to measles during a 2015 outbreak in Clallam County, Washington.

“New details about the first confirmed measles death in the U.S. since 2003 show that the victim, a 28-year-old woman with underlying health problems, was likely exposed to the virus at a Port Angeles tribal health clinic.
Nearly three dozen other people also were potentially exposed to the highly contagious germ on Jan. 29, 2015, at the Lower Elwha Health Clinic by a 52-year-old man who became the first case of measles confirmed in Clallam County in two decades.”
Fatal measles case linked to exposure at tribal clinic, records show

So yes, someone did die during the recent measles outbreaks.

A 28-year-old woman died in Clallam County, Washington.

Not everyone is all better.

And during the 2013 measles outbreak in Brooklyn, a pregnant woman with measles was hospitalized and had a miscarriage.

But it isn’t just measles…

There are also deadly outbreaks of hepatitis A and as everyone knows, pediatric flu deaths are mostly in kids who are unvaccinated.

So, did anyone die?

Yes, tragically people have died because of the anti-vaccine movement.

And tragically, unless folks stop believing this kind of anti-vaccine propaganda and start vaccinating and protecting their kids, even more people will die unnecessarily.

Ellen Degeneres on Vaccines

Is Ellen Degeneres anti-vaccine?

Ellen Degeneres paid tribute to her dad, who recently died. — Ellen and her dad.

No, but in paying tribute to her father, who died in 2018, some folks may have gotten that idea.

“He was 92 years old. He had a good, long life. And he lived his life exactly how he wanted. He was Christian Science his entire life. He never had medicine his whole life. He never went to a doctor. I never had a vaccination. We never had medicine growing up and he lived to be 92. He was very proud of me.”
Ellen

Although Ellen did not get vaccines growing up, she is no longer a Christian Scientist and she is not anti-vaccine.

Ellen helps make sure all of her staff get flu shots each year!

She even encourages folks to get a flu vaccine each year!

I want to make sure everyone stays healthy, so I put together a little message:
Flu season is here and it’s not to late to get a flu shot. They’re safe, easy, and they’re not scary at all.
Ellen

That doesn’t sound like someone who is anti-vaccine, does it?

Ellen Degeneres on Vaccines

Is a Crooked Face a Sign of a Vaccine Injury?

Have you heard of the Crooked theory?

Is something really wrong with these Hollywood stars? — Does Zach Braff really have a crooked face?

If you haven’t, when you get done learning about it, the name is going to seem very ironic…

“Why do babies have lopsided smiles? Why are so many people’s eyes misaligned? What started as a simple search to understand this phenomenon turned into a two-year quest that uncovered hidden links between our crooked faces and some of the most puzzling diseases of our time.

From autism to Alzheimer’s and from chronic fatigue syndrome to Crohn’s disease, Crooked methodically goes through the most recent scientific research and connects the dots from the outbreak of metallic medicine in 1800s England to the eruption of neurological and autoimmune disorders so many are suffering from today.

If the theories put forth in this book are true, the convergence of metals, microbes and medicine that started two hundred years ago may have set humanity on a path of suffering that could make the deadliest epidemics in history pale in comparison. Thankfully, for the millions who are afflicted, who may have found nothing to explain the cause of their suffering — these same theories could also illuminate the path to healing and recovery.”

Forrest Maready on Crooked: Man-Made Disease Explained

Spoiler Alert – The “theories” put forth in his book are not true.

Are you crooked?

Forrest Maready might get asked that a lot these days for actually trying to sell a self-published book pushing the idea that he knows what causes everything “from autism to Alzheimer’s and from chronic fatigue syndrome to Crohn’s disease.”

Of course, he thinks that it is vaccines and aluminum.

“And that’s what makes this even worse. Not only is the theory completely false, it’s not even original!.”

Were We Crooked?

It isn’t.

This “theory” of “his” has been well debunked, ironically, by Maready himself!

Doesn't it look like many of these football players from 1899 had crooked faces? — Doesn’t it look like many of these football players from 1899 had crooked faces?

As others have pointed out, Forrest Maready debunked his own book when he posted old photographs of football players, claiming it proved that vaccines caused chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

Not only did many of the football players from the late 18th and early 19th century who played without helmets go on to develop chronic traumatic encephalopathy, if they didn’t die on the field, as you can see, many also had crooked faces!

Crooked faces, brain damage because they didn't wear helmets, and death from now vaccine preventable diseases - life was tough in the old days. — Crooked faces, brain damage because they didn’t wear helmets, and death from now vaccine preventable diseases – life was tough in the old days.

As early as the 1920s, after first being noticed in boxers, it was quickly discovered that CTE could also occur in football players. And again, many of the folks in these pics have crooked faces!

“All people have asymmetric faces. When one looks closely, these differences become more apparent.”

AAP on Children with Facial Asymmetry

It is hopefully obvious that the crooked face theory is all about cherry picking and confirmation bias. And that some folks think that everything and anything is a vaccine injury.

That this appears to be a credible theory by anti-vaccine folks says a lot about the modern anti-vaccine movement and why some folks don’t vaccinate their kids.

Don’t believe it.

Vaccines are safe and necessary and won’t make your child’s face look crooked.

Vaccine Tweets to Remember

Are you on Twitter?

Have you seen these tweets about vaccines?

Vaccines work to keep us from getting polio.

If you aren’t hip to the latest lingo – lit is good.

A clear message - vaccinate and protect your kids. — A clear message – vaccinate and protect your kids.

There is no debate.

Vaccines work.

They are also safe and necessary.

Let’s all protect our kids.

Who's to blame for low immunization rates and continuing outbreaks? — Who’s to blame for low immunization rates and continuing outbreaks?

We all know who to blame for the outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases we are seeing.

Did Jake Tapper know that RFK, Jr and Trump were planning a vaccine safety commission? — Did Jake Tapper already know that RFK, Jr and Trump were planning a vaccine safety commission?

What did Bill Gates really say about Trump? Wasn’t this the meeting when Trump confused HIV with HPV?

Why do celebrities get so much more attention when they say that they aren't going to vaccinate and protect their kids? — Why do celebrities get so much more attention when they say that they aren’t going to vaccinate and protect their kids?

This is a nice reminder that many celebrities advocate for vaccines.

What do vaccines cause? Adults. They cause adults.

Again, vaccines work.

Don't make a bad decision about vaccines. — Not vaccinating?

Still on the fence and need some help making a decision about vaccinating your kids? Do your research, but just keep in mind that every anti-vaccine argument has been refuted a thousand times already.

senior-paper-tweet — Need some facts about vaccines?

Don’t make a bad decision about vaccines.

Having a smallpox vaccine scar makes you a part of history.

Vaccine Movies and Videos

All of the attention that Robert De Niro gave the movie Vaxxed has many people realizing that there are anti-vaccine movies out there.

Promoted as documentaries, they mostly include the same anti-vaccine ‘experts’ that scare parents away from vaccinating their kids on the Internet.

These types of movies include:

~~Vaxxed~~
~~The Greater Good~~
~~Trace Amounts~~
~~Who Killed Alex Spourdalakis?~~
~~Bought~~
~~Man Made Epidemic~~
~~Sacrificial Virgins~~
~~The Truth About Vaccines~~

Most are propaganda, without even a trace amount of truth in them, and should not be used as a research tool to help you make a decision about vaccines.

Vaccine Movies and Documentaries

What about movies to actually help you get educated about vaccines?

Every Last Child takes a look at the fight to end polio in Pakistan.

Watch these movies and documentaries:

Invisible Threat – explores the science of disease and the risks facing a society that is under-vaccinated.
HILLEMAN – A Perilous Quest to Save the World’s Children
Someone You Love: The HPV Epidemic
Vaccines – Calling the Shots – Examine the science behind vaccinations, the return of preventable diseases, and the risks of opting out.
Breathe – a movie about Robin Cavendish, a respirator dependent polio survivor.
A Paralyzing Fear – 1998 documentar about polio
Every Last Child
The Vaccine War
Vaccines: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Ewan McGregor: Cold Chain Mission
Edward Jenner – Vaccine Clerk to the world. A tribute programme.

Have you seen or heard about any of these movies about vaccines?

Vaccine Videos

Just as bad as so-called vaccine documentaries, many of the vaccine videos that you find on You-Tube are also filled with misinformation and propaganda, including many vaccine scare videos.

Where are you Jon Stewart? Measles is still around... — Where are you Jon Stewart? Measles is still around…

Watch the following vaccines videos instead:

Still have questions?

Kat Von D Just Took Away Your Vaccine Choice

Even as most of us understand that vaccines are safe and necessary, we are all free to make our own choices about vaccines and most other things in life. No one is forced to vaccinate their kids, despite what folks try to tell you.

Kat Von D has decided that she will be raising a vegan child, without vaccinations.

Also, despite what many folks think, parents who choose to skip or delay vaccines have a lot of different reasons for doing so.

Kat Von D Just Took Away Your Vaccine Choice

Why has Kat Von D, a celebrity tattoo artist, decided to skip her child’s vaccines?

It seems that she wants to “raise a vegan child, without vaccinations,” even though many other vegans do indeed vaccinate their kids.

Why do we care what celebrities do with their kids? Well, for one thing, with 6.7 million followers on Instagram, she has the potential to influence a lot of people, not that anyone should really be taking health advice from a celebrity.

“My point being: I already know what it’s like to make life choices that are not the same as the majority. So your negative comments are not going influence my choices – actual research and educating myself will – which i am diligently doing.
This is my body. This is our child. And this is our pregnancy journey.”

Kat Von D

Just consider her comments about choices.

Kat Von D is all about making her own life choices, but in reality, she is taking away the choice for anyone who gets sick if they are exposed to her intentionally unvaccinated kid, if her child ever gets sick.

But how would her unvaccinated child get anyone else sick? While vaccine-preventable diseases don’t magically appear inside our bodies, we catch them from other people, if you have skipped or delayed a vaccine, then you have a much higher chance of getting one than someone who is vaccinated and protected. And since you can be contagious before you even have symptoms, you can expose others before you even know that you are sick.

Sure, most other people are vaccinated, but many are at risk because some are too young to be vaccinated, have true medical exemptions to getting vaccinated, including kids with immune system problems and cancer, and sometimes, vaccines don’t work.

Unlike parents who used to take their kids to chicken pox parties, you don’t have a choice if your child gets measles because they were exposed to an intentionally unvaccinated child at daycare, school, or the grocery store. In fact, that’s a reason that many pediatricians now dismiss unvaccinated families.

Hopefully Kat Von D and her husband will really continue doing “actual research” about vaccines and she will understand that the best choice we can all make is to get our kids and ourselves vaccinated and protected. At least she should understand that her choice about vaccines shouldn’t put the rest of us at risk.

What to Know About Kat Von D and Her Vaccine Choice

Kat Von D choice to raise an unvaccinated child and tell her 6.7 million followers on Instagram affects us all.

VAXOPEDIA

Six Degrees of Anti-Vaccine Separation