Robert De Niro Defends Screening of Anti-Vaccine Film

[auntie]

By PAM BELLUCK and MELENA RYZIK MARCH 25, 2016













Robert De Niro and his wife, Grace Hightower De Niro, in January. Mr. De Niro, one of the festival’s founders, said in a statement that “we believe it is critical that all of the issues surrounding the causes of autism be openly discussed and examined.” Credit Mike Coppola/FilmMagic



In a decision that has dredged up the widely debunked link between vaccines and autism, the Tribeca Film Festival plans to screen a film by a discredited former doctor whose research caused widespread alarm about the issue.







The film, “Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe,” is directed and co-written by Andrew Wakefield, an anti-vaccination activist and an author of a study — published in the British medical journal The Lancet, in 1998 — that was retracted in 2010. In addition to the retraction of the study, which involved 12 children, Britain’s General Medical Council, citing ethical violations and a failure to disclose financial conflicts of interest, revoked Mr. Wakefield’s medical license.







On the festival’s website, the biographical material about Mr. Wakefield does not mention that he was stripped of his license or that his Lancet study was retracted. Rather, it says that the Lancet study “would catapult Wakefield into becoming one of the most controversial figures in the history of medicine.”











Retracted Scientific Studies: A Growing List



On Friday, Robert De Niro, one of the festival’s founders, said in a statement issued through the festival’s publicists that he supported the plan to show the movie next month, although he said he was “not personally endorsing the film,” nor was he against vaccination.







Mr. De Niro’s statement seemed to suggest that this was the first time he has expressed a preference that a particular film be shown at the festival.







“Grace and I have a child with autism,” he wrote, referring to his wife, Grace Hightower De Niro, “and we believe it is critical that all of the issues surrounding the causes of autism be openly discussed and examined. In the 15 years since the Tribeca Film Festival was founded, I have never asked for a film to be screened or gotten involved in the programming. However this is very personal to me and my family and I want there to be a discussion, which is why we will be screening VAXXED.”







Within hours his statement, posted on Facebook, generated hundreds of comments.







The trailer for the film, filled with dramatic music, opens with the words “Are Our Children Safe?” on a black screen with billowing smoke that appears to be coming from a syringe. The trailer includes the suggestion that a “whistle-blower” from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would say that the organization “had committed fraud” and “that they knew that vaccines were actually causing autism.” Mr. Wakefield appears in the trailer saying, “Wow, the C.D.C. had known all along there was this M.M.R. autism risk.”







Photo







Andrew Wakefield, the director and a vocal anti-vaccination activist, in an image from the film. His medical license was revoked by Britain’s General Medical Council.



M.M.R. stands for the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella that children 12 to 15 months old are supposed to receive. Scientific evidence has repeatedly shown the vaccine to be safe, highly effective and having no connection to autism. In recent years, serious outbreaks of measles have erupted, including one at Disneyland, partly because many parents have refused to vaccinate their children.







The plan to show the film has unnerved and angered doctors, infectious disease experts and even other filmmakers.







“Unless the Tribeca Film Festival plans to definitively unmask Andrew Wakefield, it will be yet another disheartening chapter where a scientific fraud continues to occupy a spotlight and overshadows the damage he has left behind in the important story of vaccine safety and success,” Dr. Mary Anne Jackson, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, said in an email.







The documentary filmmaker Penny Lane (“Our Nixon”) published on Thursday an open letter to the festival’s organizers in Filmmaker Magazine, suggesting that including “Vaxxed” in the documentary section “threatens the credibility of not just the other filmmakers in your doc slate, but the field in general.”







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She added that while the subject of ethics and truthfulness in a documentary can be uncomfortable, “this film is not some sort of disinterested investigation into the ‘vaccines cause autism’ hoax; this film is directed by the person who perpetuated the hoax.”







Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical School, called the decision to show the film “particularly sad” because the Tribeca festival receives attention far beyond New York.







“The people who put on the Tribeca Film Festival are very prestigious and they draw a very thoughtful audience, and it’s implicit that if they have suggested this film they think that there’s some merit in it, and more importantly, merit to Wakefield’s message,” Dr. Schaffner said. “All of us are out talking about it reassuring parents, children, anyone who wants to pay attention to this issue that vaccines are safe and effective, and they certainly do not cause autism, and that Dr. Wakefield was a fraud and had his license removed over this very event.”







According to the festival’s website, “Vaxxed” will be screened only once, on April 24, the festival’s closing day. A talk with the director and the film’s subjects will follow.



www.nytimes.com/2016/03/26/health/vaccines-autism-robert-de-niro-tribeca-film-festival-andrew-wakefield-vaxxed.html?ref=health

[sushi]

Andrew Fucking Wakefield. I wish the Secret really worked because I send out all sorts of negative vibes to the universe about that murderer.

www.antivaccinebodycount.com/Anti-Vaccine_Body_Count/Home.html

[mrsukyankee]

WTF?!? So irresponsible.

[isabel]

Jesus Christ. What a fucking moron.

[elleblue]

Oh well that's just fabulous. *sigh*

[auntie]

Maybe there needs to be a film about the risks of autism when a man has a baby at age of 55.

[bears]

My husband watched the trailer last weekend on his phone.

It's really interesting to see someone's blood pressure skyrocket at record speed.

[nursewife]

 My blood is boiling after reading this. Effing anti vaxers.

[open24hours]

I agree that it is important to look at all the possible causes of autism, but vaccines are NOT one of them.

[nursewife]

I'm so glad that this was pulled and won't be seen I'm glad there are some people out there that want to stop this nonsense.

[Deleted]

There is one screening with Q and A with the idiot afterwards
Please someone go and ask all the questions.
1) how did you feel when your study was completely discredited?
2) how do you feel knowing you have perpetuated a myth that leads to outbreaks of measles and deaths of children in countries that haven't had outbreaks in decades ?
3) is Jenny McCarthy smarter than you? Or do you just share a brain?
4) how did you cheat in medical school? Did you pay off a professor?
5) how do you sleep at night?

[sushi]

Mar 26, 2016 20:32:02 GMT -5 @hannymarren said:

There is one screening with Q and A with the idiot afterwards
Please someone go and ask all the questions.
1) how did you feel when your study was completely discredited?
2) how do you feel knowing you have perpetuated a myth that leads to outbreaks of measles and deaths of children in countries that haven't had outbreaks in decades ?
3) is Jenny McCarthy smarter than you? Or do you just share a brain?
4) how did you cheat in medical school? Did you pay off a professor?
5) how do you sleep at night?

I saw him lecture at the Boulder public library. Thankfully, I was with my science based medicine meetup group. He pre-empted a fair number of those questions by addressing them with his own spin from the beginning. It was sickening. 

A few people did ask challenging questions at the end and, not only did he slimily weasel out of them, he did it while mocking the questioner and making it seem like he and the like-minded nutjobs shared inside jokes about the cro-magnons that just were too stupid to get the "truth" of his "research."

[Deleted]

Mar 26, 2016 20:57:01 GMT -5 sushi said:

Mar 26, 2016 20:32:02 GMT -5 @hannymarren said:

There is one screening with Q and A with the idiot afterwards
Please someone go and ask all the questions.
1) how did you feel when your study was completely discredited?
2) how do you feel knowing you have perpetuated a myth that leads to outbreaks of measles and deaths of children in countries that haven't had outbreaks in decades ?
3) is Jenny McCarthy smarter than you? Or do you just share a brain?
4) how did you cheat in medical school? Did you pay off a professor?
5) how do you sleep at night?

I saw him lecture at the Boulder public library. Thankfully, I was with my science based medicine meetup group. He pre-empted a fair number of those questions by addressing them with his own spin from the beginning. It was sickening. 

A few people did ask challenging questions at the end and, not only did he slimily weasel out of them, he did it while mocking the questioner and making it seem like he and the like-minded nutjobs shared inside jokes about the cro-magnons that just were too stupid to get the "truth" of his "research."

He is probably friends with Trump

[auntie]

Mar 26, 2016 20:57:01 GMT -5 sushi said:

Mar 26, 2016 20:32:02 GMT -5 @hannymarren said:

I saw him lecture at the Boulder public library. Thankfully, I was with my science based medicine meetup group. He pre-empted a fair number of those questions by addressing them with his own spin from the beginning. It was sickening. 

A few people did ask challenging questions at the end and, not only did he slimily weasel out of them, he did it while mocking the questioner and making it seem like he and the like-minded nutjobs shared inside jokes about the cro-magnons that just were too stupid to get the "truth" of his "research."

Did anyone ask him about the unauthorized blood draws at the birthday party? In my circle, we just do goodie bags.


news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6289166.stm

[laterbloomer]

I get confused by the fear of mumps and measles. I had both as a child, as did pretty near every kid I knew. I don't remember anyone ever dying of them. What changed?

[junieolive]

Lurker chiming in. You may not know of kids dying from measles(I haven't looked at mumps) but it can be deadly. You are citing anecdotal evidence, which is not evidence at all.
www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs286/en/

[laurack]

Mar 26, 2016 22:03:33 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

I get confused by the fear of mumps and measles. I had both as a child, as did pretty near every kid I knew. I don't remember anyone ever dying of them. What changed?

Really? A quick google search might help you understand

[junieolive]

Also:
www.snopes.com/politics/medical/mmrdeaths.asp

[gretchenindisguise]

Mar 26, 2016 22:15:00 GMT -5 junieolive said:

Lurker chiming in. You may not know of kids dying from measles(I haven't looked at mumps) but it can be deadly. You are citing anecdotal evidence, which is not evidence at all.
www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs286/en/

It's kind of like seat belts. No one used to wear them and all of your friends and their parents survived, right? And yet everyone wears seat belts and has fancy car seats for their kids. Not everyone dies from mumps, measles or rubella, but there are enough deaths and other side effects that warrant vaccinations.

[laurack]

Mar 26, 2016 22:19:07 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

Mar 26, 2016 22:15:00 GMT -5 junieolive said:

Lurker chiming in. You may not know of kids dying from measles(I haven't looked at mumps) but it can be deadly. You are citing anecdotal evidence, which is not evidence at all.
www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs286/en/

It's kind of like seat belts. No one used to wear them and all of your friends and their parents survived, right? And yet everyone wears seat belts and has fancy car seats for their kids. Not everyone dies from mumps, measles or rubella, but there are enough deaths and other side effects that warrant vaccinations.

Yes we all used to just pile in the back of my dads Ford Fiesta sitting on each other's laps. And we are all FINE. This is why I eschew car seats when it comes to my own children. I just don't see what all the fuss is about

[junieolive]

Mar 26, 2016 22:21:47 GMT -5 laurack said:

Mar 26, 2016 22:19:07 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

It's kind of like seat belts. No one used to wear them and all of your friends and their parents survived, right? And yet everyone wears seat belts and has fancy car seats for their kids. Not everyone dies from mumps, measles or rubella, but there are enough deaths and other side effects that warrant vaccinations.

Yes we all used to just pile in the back of my dads Ford Fiesta sitting on each other's laps. And we are all FINE. This is why I eschew car seats when it comes to my own children. I just don't see what all the fuss is about

I personally just don't wear my seatbelt, and drive my car while reading the newspaper. I've never heard of anyone dying this way.

[laterbloomer]

I don't have anything against vaccinations. I've had all the vaccines that were recommended when I was younger. It's the fear that confuses me. According to the WHO article

Measles is still common in many developing countries – particularly in parts of Africa and Asia. The overwhelming majority (more than 95%) of measles deaths occur in countries with low per capita incomes and weak health infrastructures.



Measles outbreaks can be particularly deadly in countries experiencing or recovering from a natural disaster or conflict. Damage to health infrastructure and health services interrupts routine immunization, and overcrowding in residential camps greatly increases the risk of infection.

Those are not the circumstances in North America. But lately I've been reading articles that almost accuse non vaccinators of attempted murder. It seems extreme.

[laterbloomer]

Mocking a sincere question is not helpful ladies. It's kind of childish actually.

[laterbloomer]

Mar 26, 2016 22:19:07 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

Mar 26, 2016 22:15:00 GMT -5 junieolive said:

Lurker chiming in. You may not know of kids dying from measles(I haven't looked at mumps) but it can be deadly. You are citing anecdotal evidence, which is not evidence at all.
www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs286/en/

It's kind of like seat belts. No one used to wear them and all of your friends and their parents survived, right? And yet everyone wears seat belts and has fancy car seats for their kids. Not everyone dies from mumps, measles or rubella, but there are enough deaths and other side effects that warrant vaccinations.

No, I actually knew people that died in car accidents. Or got hurt in them. On the other hand according to WHO in 2010 only 2 people in the US died of measles and they had complicating health issues.

[laterbloomer]

Mar 26, 2016 22:15:00 GMT -5 junieolive said:

Lurker chiming in. You may not know of kids dying from measles(I haven't looked at mumps) but it can be deadly. You are citing anecdotal evidence, which is not evidence at all.
www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs286/en/

I wasn't trying to prove anything. I was asking a question.

[junieolive]

laterbloomer
The reason it occurs in countries with weak health infrastructure is probably because of the lack of vaccines. When people in 1st world countries do not vaccinate, even though they have access to the vaccines, it creates a situation that mimics the lack of vaccines in countries that have weak health infrastructures. I agree it might seem childish to mock questions about vaccinations, I don't understand people who don't "get" why vaccinations are important. You have access to the internet. Go to legitimate sources such as the CDC and WHO and pubmed and get actual scientific information about why vaccinations are important.

[junieolive]

Mar 26, 2016 22:45:17 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

Mar 26, 2016 22:19:07 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

It's kind of like seat belts. No one used to wear them and all of your friends and their parents survived, right? And yet everyone wears seat belts and has fancy car seats for their kids. Not everyone dies from mumps, measles or rubella, but there are enough deaths and other side effects that warrant vaccinations.

No, I actually knew people that died in car accidents. Or got hurt in them. On the other hand according to WHO in 2010 only 2 people in the US died of measles and they had complicating health issues.

That's not the point. Just because you do not know someone who died from something doesn't mean it doesn't happen. See anecdotal evidence. I don't know someone who died from a stroke, it doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

[auntie]

Mar 26, 2016 22:03:33 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

I get confused by the fear of mumps and measles. I had both as a child, as did pretty near every kid I knew. I don't remember anyone ever dying of them. What changed?

Lucky you.

I lost my vision for almost a week from measles. I recovered, not everyone does. 

My FIL had measles as an adult. It limited his family size as a result of the damage to his testicles which swelled to the size of grapefruit. 

[laterbloomer]

junieolive , you are speculating about why it happens in countries with weak health infrastructure. It could be that people have overall weaker health and a lot of things that wouldn't kill us kill them. I have gone to the WHO site and while they recommend vaccinations the statistics for US deaths don't back up the hysteria being promoted.

I'm not promoting not getting vaccinated. But I am sceptical of they hysteria that has come up around this issue. Having a captive consumer base of over 300,000,000 for their vaccinations seems like a good incentive for pharmaceutical companies to strongly promote this.

[laterbloomer]

Mar 26, 2016 22:55:56 GMT -5 auntie said:

Mar 26, 2016 22:03:33 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

I get confused by the fear of mumps and measles. I had both as a child, as did pretty near every kid I knew. I don't remember anyone ever dying of them. What changed?

Lucky you.

I lost my vision for almost a week from measles. I recovered, not everyone does. 

My FIL had measles as an adult. It limited his family size as a result of the damage to his testicles which swelled to the size of grapefruit. 

The dangers of adults getting the childhood diseases we were aware of. My Dad darn near moved out of the house when I had measles, he had never had them as a kid.