Vaxxed

Last updated

Vaxxed
Vaxxed poster.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Andrew Wakefield
Written byAndrew Wakefield
Del Bigtree
Produced byDel Bigtree
Distributed byCinema Libre Studio
Release date
  • April 1, 2016 (2016-04-01)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe is a 2016 American pseudoscience propaganda film [1] [2] [3] alleging a cover-up by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of a purported link between the MMR vaccine and autism. [4] [5] [6] According to Variety, the film "purports to investigate the claims of a senior scientist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who revealed that the CDC had allegedly manipulated and destroyed data on an important study about autism and the MMR vaccine"; [7] critics derided Vaxxed as an anti-vaccine propaganda film. [8] [9] [10] [11]

Contents

The film received overwhelmingly negative reviews from academics and critics. The film was directed by discredited anti-vaccine activist Andrew Wakefield, who was struck off the medical register in the United Kingdom in 2010 due to ethical violations related to his fraudulent research into the role of vaccines in autism. [4] [12] [13] [14] It was scheduled to premiere at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival but was withdrawn by the festival. [15] In reviewing the film, Indiewire said that "Wakefield doesn't just have a dog in this fight; he is the dog". [16] In November 2019, a sequel, Vaxxed II: The People's Truth, was released.

Background

In 1998 Wakefield and 12 other authors published a fraudulent study in The Lancet in which he falsely claimed that the MMR vaccine caused autism. In 2010 the study was retracted, and Wakefield was struck off the medical register in the United Kingdom due to "ethical violations and a failure to disclose financial conflicts of interest" and for his invention of evidence linking the MMR vaccine to autism. [4] [17] [18] [19] A substantial body of subsequent research has established that there is no link between the MMR vaccine and autism. [20] [21] [22] Wakefield went on to become a leader in the anti-vaccination movement that his discredited study helped create. [23]

Del Bigtree, a producer of Vaxxed, was formerly a producer of The Doctors , an American medical advice talk show. [24] The British Medical Journal conducted a study on The Doctors and The Dr. Oz Show and concluded with this warning about the shows: "Consumers should be skeptical about any recommendations provided ... as details are limited and only a third to one half of recommendations are based on believable or somewhat believable evidence". [25] [26] As with all American medical programmes and medical teleshopping shows, the two programmes carry Food and Drug Administration-required mandatory disclaimers at the end of each episode which state their advice is not a medical endorsement and viewers should consult with a physician based on the advice given.[ citation needed ]

The film was produced by Autism Media Channel, [7] of which Wakefield is a director. [27]

Narrative

CDC Info Statement for MMR Vaccine, 2012 - Challenged in film. CDC Vaccine Information Statement for MMR Vaccine.pdf
CDC Info Statement for MMR Vaccine, 2012 - Challenged in film.

According to Variety, the film "purports to investigate the claims of a senior scientist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who revealed that the CDC had allegedly manipulated and destroyed data on an important study about autism and the MMR vaccine." [7] The film features the so-called "CDC whistleblower" narrative that is based on anti-vaccination activist [24] and associate professor Brian Hooker's paper describing claims by senior CDC scientist William Thompson that he and his co-authors had omitted mention of a correlation they found between vaccination and autism in African-American boys in a CDC study. However a 2011 IOM report showed that evidence favors rejection of a relationship between the MMR vaccine and autism. [28] [29] The film contains edited excerpts of several phone calls between Hooker and Thompson recorded without Thompson's knowledge. [24] [30] Hooker's 2014 paper on the narrative was subsequently retracted due to "serious concerns about the validity of its conclusions" [31] [32] and in 2015 the CDC had confirmed that any such initial correlation had ceased to exist once they performed a more in-depth analysis of the children in the study. [33]

These sometimes spliced-together [33] unauthorized phone recordings of Thompson, according to the Houston Press , form the "crux of the entire movie ... And ... that's it". [34] On the "CDC whistleblower" narrative, Philip LaRussa, a professor of paediatric medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, said the film-makers "were saying, there's this silver bullet here, and the CDC is hiding it, and no one else has looked at this issue, which is not the case". [35] Thompson does not appear in the film and did not see it before it was released. [23] Thompson had released a statement on the controversy in 2014 which the New York Times discussed in its coverage of Vaxxed; the Times described it as "saying that while he questioned the 2004 study's presentation of some data, he would never advise people not to get vaccinated." [23] [36]

Premiere and distribution

The film had been scheduled to premiere at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival but this was the subject of public outcry and widespread criticism, particularly for allowing Wakefield to distribute his discredited theories. [37] [38] [39] [40] Actor Robert De Niro, who co-founded the festival, initially defended the decision to show the film, writing on Facebook that the film was "very personal" to him due to him having a child with autism, [41] and saying that he hoped the film would open a dialog about the controversy. [41] But shortly before the evening of March 26 De Niro announced that the film would not screen, stating that consultation with other film festival representatives, and members of the scientific community, had led him to conclude that screening the film would not contribute to or further the discussion of the topic presented. [15] [42]

After the film was dropped from the Tribeca Film Festival, it was picked up for distribution by Cinema Libre. [7] The film premiered at the Angelika Film Center in New York City on April 1, 2016 [43] to an audience of "a few dozen". [44]

In reaction to Cinema Libre's decision to distribute the film, Todd Drezner, the father of an autistic son and creator of a neurodiversity-themed movie that was distributed by Cinema Libre, wrote an open letter to Cinema Libre criticizing Vaxxed and Cinema Libre's decision to distribute it, writing: "By releasing Vaxxed, Cinema Libre is actively harming thousands of autistic people. While we should be discussing ways to best support autistic people and help them lead fulfilling lives, you would instead have us follow a discredited scientist and dishonest filmmaker down a rabbit hole that leads only to long-debunked conspiracy theories. I am profoundly disappointed." [45] [46]

The film was given a private screening in Cannes in 2017 while the Cannes Film Festival was underway, [47] and at that time Cinema Libre said that it had earned $1.2 million and that they had signed distribution deals in Italy, Germany, Poland, and China. [48]

Reception

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 38% based on 13 reviews, and an average rating of 4.3/10. [49]

In his film debut, Wakefield has cast himself as the victim of a massive conspiracy to hide the truth ... What drove Wakefield from being a respected researcher to a conspiracy theorist?

Paul Offit in The Hollywood Reporter . [50]

Documentary director Penny Lane stated, "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." [1]

A review by Ed Cara from the health and science news-site Medical Daily states that "[Vaxxed] doesn't care about convincing its audience with evidence. Instead, Wakefield, Hooker, and producer Del Bigtree run the viewer through a well-trod gauntlet of emotional pleas, context-free statistics ... and shadowy conspiracies." [33] Eric Kohn from an independent film news-site Indiewire says: "Wakefield's by-the-numbers approach to didactic storytelling relies on tons of random factoids positioned out of context to drive home his agenda." [8]

Joe Leydon, a film critic from Variety magazine. describes the film as a "slickly produced but scientifically dubious hodgepodge of free-floating paranoia" and warns of its "anti-Big Pharma conspiracy mongering." [51] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote:

The vast majority of people who see this film will not have the scientific knowledge to assess the film's veracity. But it's fair to say that the documentary, though characterized as antivaccination, isn't quite that. The point of view is more nuanced. It's against the vaccination of children ages 2 and younger. And it's particularly against the MMR — that is, the giving of three vaccines at once ... it's a passionate advocate for its viewpoint, and that makes for compelling viewing. ... Of course, it's possible that the children would have developed autism anyway, and that one event didn't cause the other. But the parents presented here are convinced otherwise. [52]

Pete Vonder Haar of Houston Press described the film as a "tragic fraud." [34] Sarah Gill of The Age called the film "another desperate attempt to hoodwink the public for no greater purpose than making money." [12]

Sequels

Vaxxed bus - Monterey, CA 2020 Vaxxed bus, Monterey CA.jpg
Vaxxed bus - Monterey, CA 2020

In November 2019, Vaxxed II: The People's Truth, produced by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was released in the US. [53] The core of the film is video of individuals telling their stories to those who drove the Vaxxed promotional bus across the US in 2016. [2] Of the film, Newsweek stated that it "touts the myth that there is a "vaccine injury epidemic."" and that the "trailer features distressing footage of parents making anecdotal and unfounded claims that vaccines caused their children to have developmental problems, including autism." [54] The Guardian stated that "The film makes no effort to address the scientific evidence that the parents’ experiences of autism in their children have nothing to do with vaccines, or the coincidence that symptoms of autism often appear between 12 and 24 months of age, exactly when the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is given." [2]

A 2024 video production named Vaxxed III: Authorized To Kill was released in September 2024, produced not by Kennedy himself, but the video production arm of his organization Children's Health Defense. It presents testimonies of people who were allegedly injured following being vaccinated during the COVID-19 pandemic. [55] [56]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaccination</span> Administration of a vaccine to protect against disease

Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating the body's adaptive immunity, they help prevent sickness from an infectious disease. When a sufficiently large percentage of a population has been vaccinated, herd immunity results. Herd immunity protects those who may be immunocompromised and cannot get a vaccine because even a weakened version would harm them. The effectiveness of vaccination has been widely studied and verified. Vaccination is the most effective method of preventing infectious diseases; widespread immunity due to vaccination is largely responsible for the worldwide eradication of smallpox and the elimination of diseases such as polio and tetanus from much of the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), vaccination prevents 3.5–5 million deaths per year. A WHO-funded study by The Lancet estimates that, during the 50-year period starting in 1974, vaccination prevented 154 million deaths, including 146 million among children under age 5. However, some diseases have seen rising cases due to relatively low vaccination rates attributable partly to vaccine hesitancy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MMR vaccine</span> Combined vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella

The MMR vaccine is a vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella, abbreviated as MMR. The first dose is generally given to children around 9 months to 15 months of age, with a second dose at 15 months to 6 years of age, with at least four weeks between the doses. After two doses, 97% of people are protected against measles, 88% against mumps, and at least 97% against rubella. The vaccine is also recommended for those who do not have evidence of immunity, those with well-controlled HIV/AIDS, and within 72 hours of exposure to measles among those who are incompletely immunized. It is given by injection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Deer</span> British investigative journalist

Brian Deer is a British investigative journalist, best known for inquiries into the drug industry, medicine, and social issues for The Sunday Times. Deer's investigative nonfiction book The Doctor Who Fooled the World, an exposé on disgraced former doctor Andrew Wakefield and the 1998 Lancet MMR autism fraud, was published in September 2020 by Johns Hopkins University Press.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaccine hesitancy</span> Reluctance or refusal to be vaccinated or have ones children vaccinated

Vaccine hesitancy is a delay in acceptance, or refusal, of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services and supporting evidence. The term covers refusals to vaccinate, delaying vaccines, accepting vaccines but remaining uncertain about their use, or using certain vaccines but not others. Although adverse effects associated with vaccines are occasionally observed, the scientific consensus that vaccines are generally safe and effective is overwhelming. Vaccine hesitancy often results in disease outbreaks and deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases. Therefore, the World Health Organization characterizes vaccine hesitancy as one of the top ten global health threats.

The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), founded under the name Dissatisfied Parents Together (DPT) in 1982, is an American 501(c)(3) organization that has been widely criticized as a leading source of fearmongering and misinformation about vaccines. While NVIC describes itself as the "oldest and largest consumer-led organization advocating for the institution of vaccine safety and informed consent protections", it promotes false and misleading information including the discredited claim that vaccines cause autism, and its campaigns portray vaccination as risky, encouraging people to consider "alternatives." In April 2020, the organization was identified as one of the greatest disseminators of COVID-19 misinformation on Facebook.

Brian S. Hooker a biologist and chemist who was department chair and Professor Emeritus of Biology at Simpson University. He is known for promoting the false claim that vaccines cause autism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenny McCarthy</span> American actress and model (born 1972)

Jennifer Ann McCarthy-Wahlberg is an American actress, model, and television personality. She began her career in 1993 as a nude model for Playboy magazine and was later named their Playmate of the Year. McCarthy then had a television and film acting career, beginning as a co-host on the MTV game show Singled Out (1995–1997) and afterwards starring in the eponymous sitcom Jenny (1997–1998), as well as films including BASEketball (1998), Scream 3 (2000), Dirty Love (2005), John Tucker Must Die (2006), and Santa Baby (2006). In 2013, she hosted her own television talk show The Jenny McCarthy Show, and became a co-host of the ABC talk show The View, appearing on the program until 2014. Since 2019, McCarthy has been a judge on the Fox musical competition show The Masked Singer.

Claims of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism have been extensively investigated and found to be false. The link was first suggested in the early 1990s and came to public notice largely as a result of the 1998 Lancet MMR autism fraud, characterised as "perhaps the most damaging medical hoax of the last 100 years". The fraudulent research paper, authored by Andrew Wakefield and published in The Lancet, falsely claimed the vaccine was linked to colitis and autism spectrum disorders. The paper was retracted in 2010 but is still cited by anti-vaccine activists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Wakefield</span> British former doctor (born 1956)

Andrew Jeremy Wakefield is a British fraudster, discredited academic, anti-vaccine activist, and former physician.

Doreen Granpeesheh is an Iranian-American psychologist and board certified behavior analyst who works with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) or autism spectrum conditions (ASCs) describe a range of conditions classified as neurodevelopmental disorders in the DSM-5, used by the American Psychiatric Association. As with many neurodivergent people and conditions, the popular image of autistic people and autism itself is often based on inaccurate media representations. Additionally, media about autism may promote pseudoscience such as vaccine denial or facilitated communication.

Warnings About Vaccination Expectations NZ (WAVESnz), formerly the Immunisation Awareness Society (IAS), is a New Zealand anti-vaccination lobby group.

Texans for Vaccine Choice (TFVC) is an anti-vaccine Facebook group turned political action committee in Texas which advocates for personal belief exemptions to vaccination requirements, based on "a collection of fake news, half- truths, and conspiracy theories". Andrew Wakefield, the disgraced former medical researcher and originator of the MMR autism hoax, and infectious disease specialist Peter Hotez, both describe TFVC's lobbying as very effective, with the rate of Texas students opting out of at least one vaccine at least doubling in around five years and over 50,000 Texas schoolchildren not being vaccinated.

In early months of 2019, a measles outbreak occurred in the Portland metropolitan area, including the Clark County, Washington suburbs, in the United States. At the time, the outbreak was the largest outbreak in more than two decades; outbreaks in 2019 in areas including Brooklyn and Rockland County, New York have since seen far greater numbers of cases.

The Lancet MMR autism fraud centered on the publication in February 1998 of a fraudulent research paper titled "Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children" in the Lancet. The paper, authored by now discredited and deregistered Andrew Wakefield, and twelve coauthors, falsely claimed causative links between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and colitis and between colitis and autism. The fraud involved data selection, data manipulation, and two undisclosed conflicts of interest. It was exposed in a lengthy Sunday Times investigation by reporter Brian Deer, resulting in the paper's retraction in February 2010 and Wakefield being struck off the UK medical register three months later. Wakefield reportedly stood to earn up to US$43 million per year selling diagnostic kits for a non-existent syndrome he claimed to have discovered. He also held a patent to a rival vaccine at the time, and he had been employed by a lawyer representing parents in lawsuits against vaccine producers.

Extensive investigation into vaccines and autism spectrum disorder has shown that there is no relationship between the two, causal or otherwise, and that vaccine ingredients do not cause autism. The American scientist Peter Hotez researched the growth of the false claim and concluded that its spread originated with Andrew Wakefield's fraudulent 1998 paper, and that no prior paper supports a link.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Del Bigtree</span> American television producer and anti-vaccination activist

Del Matthew Bigtree is an American television and film producer who is the CEO of the anti-vaccination group Informed Consent Action Network. He produced the film Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe, based on the discredited opinions of Andrew Wakefield, and alleges an unsubstantiated connection between vaccines and autism. His frequent public speaking engagements and an influx of funding in 2017 have made Bigtree, who has no medical training, one of the most prominent voices in the anti-vaccination movement.

Medical Racism: The New Apartheid is a 2021 video production that promotes conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines. Distributed by the anti-vaccination group Children's Health Defense, it alleges the COVID-19 vaccination efforts are a cover to conduct experiments on the African American and Latin communities. Public health communication experts say the video presents past injustices committed against African Americans in order to make debunked anti-vaccination claims more believable.

The Doctor Who Fooled the World: Science, Deception, and the War on Vaccines is a 2020 non-fiction book by Brian Deer, published by Johns Hopkins University Press. Weritten in narrative style, it sets out Deer's investigation of Andrew Wakefield and the Lancet MMR autism fraud.

JABS is a British pressure group launched in Wigan in January 1994. Beginning as a support group for the parents of children they claim became ill after the MMR vaccine, the group is currently against all forms of vaccination.

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