MMR Moonbats

When examining the merits of a scientific argument, facts are vital.

That may sound like a truism, but it seems to be lost on a vast swathe of people with little scientific background or understanding, who nonetheless feel that they have the right to gob off about the merits of a vaccine they barely understand.

So let’s take a few facts:

• The principal author of the paper that accused MMR of having a link with autism has been charged with professional misconduct by the General Medical Council for his behaviour;
• Said author, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, was funded by anti-MMR campaigners to conduct his “research“;
  
• Ten of the other authors of the paper have since gone on record saying there is no causal link between MMR and Autism, and retracting the claims made in their original paper;
• There is no scientific evidence of a causative link between MMR and autism
• The bowel condition Dr. Wakefield claims causes autism is not triggered by the MMR triple vaccine, existed before MMR was even licensed and has no evidence of having any link to autism.

Nevertheless, the mainstream media felt it appropriate to continue to promote such nonsense even though it has as much validity as the Dihidrogen Monoxide Hoax.

The effects of giving these cranks a platform has potentially devastating consequences. Measles infection rates are at a thirteen-year high, herd immunity is below acceptable levels, and there are warnings of a potential epidemic. Measles is not just a few red spots on the skin; it is a serious disease with extremely unpleasant complications.

Yet for some reason the media considers it acceptable to give such charlatans and fraudsters a platform. If they were denying the Holocaust, they’d be sacked, yet when it comes to spreading lies with clearly harmful consequences, they’re seen as legitimate contributors to the debate.

Fortunately, in some instances a platform becomes a scaffold. A recent LBC show did just that. The sheer ignorance of the presenter, Jeni Barnett, is beyond parody. She admits she isn’t a scientist, yet nonetheless lacks the guts to show a bit of humility and stop mouthing off about what she knows so little about.* Worse still, she hides behind the mantle of caring, in some pseudo-postmodern obscenity that elevates her ignorance to a position of equal validity to a doctor and legions of academic research. In this mentality, having the right intentions is all that’s required, regardless of what the outcome might be.

The excellent Ben Goldacre, of the Guardian’s Bad Science fame, took Barrett’s tripe and stuck it up on his blog. This has apparently rattled her and she’s now threatening Dr. Goldacre with legal action simply for rebroadcasting her ignorance. That shows how genuine the “debate” is about MMR. If she can’t deal with a junior doctor picking apart the holes in her argument without recourse to crude legal action, then she’s not got any authority to spout such nonsense about science.

Fortunately, bloggers have rallied around Dr. Goldacre. If you fancy spending a bit of time discovering the depths to which ignorance can sink and egos can rise, you can read the transcript, or listen to the original recording HERE.

I don’t usually like to get this angry, but the MMR hoax is one with potentially fatal consequences. Arrogant bien pensants like Barnett deserve nothing less than contempt for their quackery.

* While I am no scientist either, I have spent long enough arguing with creationists to have a very good knowledge of the scientific method. Some of my best friends are scientists.

Tagged as: MMR, Moonbats, Quackery