ABC: We’re Not Rollin’ Stone
By Glinda
According to this article from Reuters, the American Academy of Pediatrics is crying foul over the pilot episode of ABC’s Eli Stone. It centers on a case in which Eli, a lawyer, wins a large settlement for his client to the tune of five mil or so.
The case is a fictional one that finds the makers of a vaccine for children, which apparently contains trace amounts of thimoseral, (a mercury-based preservative) liable for a child’s autism. Various studies, including those conducted by the Centers for Disease Control, have failed to find a conclusive link between thimoseral and autism.
The AAP sent ABC a letter (strongly worded, no doubt) asking them to cancel the show’s premiere. Riiiight, like that was going to happen.
Have they not heard of a litle thing called the writer’s strike? Did they actually think they were going to stop ABC from airing one of the only fresh, scripted shows on televsion?
After the uproarious laughter died down in the ABC headquarters, they apparently conceded to place a disclaimer at the beginning of the show that the story is you know, made up, as well as something at the end about the CDC and their website.
I don’t know what scares me more, that the AAP thought they had enough power to ask ABC to cancel it, or that they thought people would actually pay attention to a fictional case and make their health decisions based on a series with a really unfortunate name. Because we all know that a man who envisions George Michael singing in his living room is the expert on childhood vaccinations. Don’t we?
ABC could only dream of having such power.
At least, let’s hope they could only dream of having such power.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:53 am
What’s unfortunate about the name? I used to love Eli and the Family Stone!
January 31st, 2008 at 10:56 am
I wish it weren’t true, but some people would watch the show and think that, YES, vaccinations do cause autism. There are already a lot of people who’ve stopped vaccinating their kids because of a rumoured link. We all know the show’s fiction, but it still lends credence to the idea.
January 31st, 2008 at 1:40 pm
I’ll admit I’m a little torn about the whole vaccination and autism issue. I practiced delayed vaccination with my first and will do it again with this one.
As for the show, I bet there will be people crazy enough to believe something seen on a show.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Oh, there is no betting that there will be people crazy and/or stupid enough to believe it. There most certainly are people of just that ilk – I’m related to a few of them. Being the unlucky one with the science degree, I spend a lot of time disabusing certain of my cousins of the notions they get from tv.
February 1st, 2008 at 2:50 am
Can I hope that the people who are swayed by a tv show constitute a very small percentage of the population?
February 2nd, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Well…geez. I hope you all dont think that people who decide to delay and/or exempt from vaccinations are crazy and/or stupid. Assuming, of course, that these people have made their decisions based on valid research and have examined both sides of the issue and not just watched a show a freaked out.
I think anything done with a child’s best interests in mind is stupid.
February 2nd, 2008 at 11:04 pm
@Jen- I can understand delayed vaccinations, but I cannot understand a decision to forgo them.
And yes, I’m not talking about people who have researched the issue, but those who would make such a potentially life-affecting decision from something a fictional televsion show portrays.
But, those that have resarched the issue, I’m not sure how they could conclude that non-vaccination was the answer.