Generation Rescue

Last updated

Generation Rescue Inc
FoundedMay 13, 2005;18 years ago (2005-05-13) [1]
FoundersLisa Handley,
J.B. Handley
20-2063267 [2]
Legal status 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
Headquarters Sherman Oaks, California, United States [2]
Jenny McCarthy [2]
J.B. Handley, Lisa Handley, Deidre Imus, Samir Patel, Rowena Salas, Donnie Wahlberg, Katie Wright
Candace McDonald [2]
Revenue (2013)
$1,160,252 [2]
Expenses (2013)$1,002,311 [2]
Employees (2013)
4 [2]
Volunteers (2013)
1,594 [2]
Website www.generationrescue.org

Generation Rescue is a nonprofit organization that advocates the scientifically disproven [3] view that autism and related disorders are primarily caused by environmental factors, particularly vaccines. [4] [5] [6] [7] The organization was established in 2005 by Lisa and J.B. Handley. Today, Generation Rescue is known as a platform for Jenny McCarthy's autism related anti-vaccine advocacy. [6] [8]

Contents

Media campaign

The organization was established in 2005 by Lisa and J.B. Handley and 150 volunteer "Rescue Angels". More recently it has been led by Jenny McCarthy, an author, television personality and former Playboy model. [8] Since McCarthy has become president, the organization has been rebranded variously as "Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey's Autism Organization", "Jenny McCarthy's Generation Rescue" and "Jenny McCarthy's Autism Organization". [9] Bonnie Rochman wrote in Time , "...McCarthy's celebrity status has meant that her affiliation with Generation Rescue, an organization that links autism with immunization, has spooked thousands of parents, encouraging them to reject vaccines for their children — the same vaccines that are responsible for saving lives around the world." [10]

Causes of autism

Generation Rescue has proposed a number of possible causes for developmental-related issues, such as vaccines, the increase in the number of vaccines administered, and thiomersal, [11] a mercury-based vaccine preservative. [12] Generation Rescue claims that biomedical intervention can help children recover. [13] The hypotheses that vaccines, such as MMR, or thiomersal cause autism have been refuted by scientific research, [3] as have claims that diets, drugs or chelation can cure autism. [14] Because of Generation Rescue's public profile through national advertising and because its point of view is not shared by the mainstream medical community, its message has been controversial, [15] and the organization has been described as anti-vaccine. [4] [16] [17]

Promotion of products sold by board members

Several products and treatments recommended by Generation rescue to their members are sold by members of their Board of Director or their medical advisory board. A $20,000 hyperbaric chamber sold by a firm whose President is then-board member Samir Patel was promoted by the group. Generation rescue also encourages its members to seek hyperbaric treatments from Dan Rossignol, who is a member of their Science Advisory Board. Another member of that board, Anjum Usman Singh, also offers such treatments and received a reprimand by the Medical Board of the California Department of Consumer Affairs for failing to disclose she held a financial interest in the company selling the chambers she used with her patients. [6]

It recommends lollipops enriched with vitamins sold by a company co-founded by Stan Kurtz and owned by Candace McDonald, who have been respectively a President of Generation Rescue and its executive director for ten years. For a time, the lollipops were sold directly through the group's website. A $2,000 foot bath that was promoted by Generation Rescue is sold by a sponsor of the group who contributes a minimum of $25,000 to its operating budget. [6]

Each of these featured products are not recognized by the medical community as effective against autism. Until March, 2019, the organization also offered grants to some families, with which they would buy products offered by companies sponsoring Generation Rescue. [6] [7]

Failed clinic

On June 19, 2017, Generation Rescue held a fundraising event in St. Charles, Illinois with Jenny McCarthy and husband Donnie Wahlberg, with part of the proceeds to be put aside for the construction of an integrative health clinic. Construction of the clinic begun in July, under a company managed by Candace McDonald, who was then executive director of Generation Rescue. Jenny McCarthy herself was on hand for the ground-breaking ceremony. The clinic was to open in January, 2018. [6] [18] [19]

Construction was stopped in 2017 and the construction contractor filed a lawsuit for non-payment of invoices amounting to $500,000. Generation Rescue now denies it has any links to the construction of the clinic. [6] [20] However, Generation Rescue, Candace McDonald and Jenny McCarthy were named in the suit as Respondents in Discovery. [21] The lawsuit was settled; while the terms of the settlement are confidential, title to the site of the proposed clinic was relinquished to the contractor, who had intended to redraw the building's floor plans and finish individual suites. [22] The property was subsequently developed as Fiore Salon Suites. [23]

Reception

Generation Rescue previously co-sponsored an annual conference in Chicago along with another controversial charity, Autism One. The choice of speakers at these conferences led critics to accuse both organizations of promoting unproven therapies, such as the Miracle Mineral Solution, as a purported cure for autism. [24] These conferences have also been criticized because Andrew Wakefield has spoken at them. [25] They have also been criticized because many of the speakers presenting "so-called treatments" have a financial interest in them. [26]

J.B. Handley said of Andrew Wakefield, originator of the claim that the MMR vaccine causes autism: "To our community, Andrew Wakefield is Nelson Mandela and Jesus Christ rolled up into one. He's a symbol of how all of us feel." [27] [28] However, Wakefield's work has been characterized as "an elaborate fraud", [29] and parental fears over vaccines sparked by the controversy, and by continued advocacy of the disproven theory by groups such as Generation Rescue despite, have led, in turn, to decreased immunization rates and an increased incidence of whooping cough and measles, a highly contagious and sometimes deadly disease. [30]

Generation Rescue issued a statement that the "media circus" following the revelation of Wakefield's fraud and manipulation of data was "much ado about nothing". Salon responded to Generation Rescue's statement with:

But any organization using a celebrity to mislead parents with claims of "new" data that rely on decade-old vaccine formulas and schedules is more than disingenuous, it's flat-out dangerous.

— Mary Elizabeth Williams [31]

Much of Generation Rescue's case is based on publications that do not go through a proper peer review process. [13] [32] Writing for Forbes , Emily Willingham characterized Generation Rescue as "an organization devoted to the debunked notion that vaccines cause autism and that autistic people can be 'recovered' from their autism by way of various unproven and sometimes dangerous interventions, including chelation." [13] [33]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MMR vaccine</span> Any of several combined vaccines 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 Laurence 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. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Rimland</span> American psychologist (1928–2006)

Bernard Rimland was an American research psychologist, writer, lecturer, and influential person in the field of developmental disorders. Rimland's first book, Infantile Autism, sparked by the birth of a son who had autism, was instrumental in changing attitudes toward the disorder. Rimland founded and directed two advocacy groups: the Autism Society of America (ASA) and the Autism Research Institute. He promoted several since disproven theories about the causes and treatment of autism, including vaccine denial, facilitated communication, chelation therapy, and false claims of a link between secretin and autism. He also supported the ethically controversial practice of using aversives on autistic children.

Thiomersal is a mercury compound which is used as a preservative in some vaccines. Anti-vaccination activists promoting the incorrect claim that vaccination causes autism have asserted that the mercury in thiomersal is the cause. There is no scientific evidence to support this claim. The idea that thiomersal in vaccines might have detrimental effects originated with anti-vaccination activists and was sustained by them and especially through the action of plaintiffs' lawyers.

Arthur Krigsman is a pediatrician and gastroenterologist best known for his controversial research in which he attempted to prove that the MMR vaccine caused diseases, especially autism. He specializes in the evaluation and treatment of gastrointestinal pathology in children with autism spectrum disorders, and has written in support of the diagnosis he calls autistic enterocolitis. The original study that tied the MMR vaccine to autism and GI complaints conducted by one of Krigsman's associates has been found to be fraudulent, and the diagnosis of "autistic enterocolitis" has not been accepted by the medical community.

<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 discredited former doctor 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.

<i>Mother Warriors</i> Book by Jenny McCarthy

Mother Warriors: A Nation of Parents Healing Autism Against All Odds is the fifth book published by New York Times bestselling author, activist and television personality Jenny McCarthy. Her previous book, Louder Than Words, reached #3 on the New York Times bestseller list, and has more than 200,000 hardcovers in print after five printings. Many of McCarthy's assertions within the book, such as that she cured her son's autism and the benefits of chelation are highly disputed within the medical and scientific community, as chelation therapy has been fatal in at least one instance. The foreword was written by her son's pediatrician, Jay Gordon.

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

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

<i>Autisms False Prophets</i> 2008 book by Paul Offit

Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure is a 2008 book by Paul Offit, a vaccine expert and chief of infectious diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The book focuses on the controversy surrounding the now discredited link between vaccines and autism. The scientific consensus is that no convincing scientific evidence supports these claims, and a 2011 journal article described the vaccine-autism connection as "the most damaging medical hoax of the last 100 years".

The Autism Science Foundation (ASF) is a non-profit organization that funds evidence-based autism research and supports autism families. The organization was founded in April 2009 by Alison Tepper Singer, a former senior executive of Autism Speaks and the longest-serving public member of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), and Karen Margulis London, co-founder of the National Alliance for Autism Research. Both Singer and London are parents of autistic children.

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.

The 2012–2013 Swansea measles epidemic began in November 2012 and was declared over on 3 July 2013. There were a total of 1,219 measles notifications in Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Powys, with 1,455 measles notifications for the whole of Wales, 664 of which were in Swansea alone. A total of 88 people were hospitalised for measles infection during the epidemic. One death was reported: a 25-year-old man with giant cell pneumonia brought on by measles infection died on 18 April 2013. The cost associated with treating the sick and controlling the outbreak exceeded £470,000 ($701,898).

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<i>Vaxxed</i> 2016 anti-vaccination documentary film

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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 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 has shown that there is no relationship between the two, causal or otherwise, and that vaccine ingredients do not cause autism. Vaccinologist Peter Hotez researched the growth of the false claim and concluded that its spread originated with Andrew Wakefield's fraudulent 1998 paper, with no prior paper supporting a link.

References

  1. ↑ "Generation Rescue, Inc." Corporation Division. Oregon Secretary of State. Accessed on February 25, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Form 990: Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax". Generation Rescue Inc. Guidestar. December 31, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Vaccines and autism:
    • Doja, A; Roberts, W (2006). "Immunizations and autism: A review of the literature". Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences . 33 (4): 341–6. doi: 10.1017/s031716710000528x . PMID   17168158.
    • Gerber, JS; Offit, Paul A. (2009). "Vaccines and autism: A tale of shifting hypotheses". Clinical Infectious Diseases . 48 (4): 456–61. doi:10.1086/596476. PMC   2908388 . PMID   19128068.
    • Gross, L (2009). "A broken trust: Lessons from the vaccine–autism wars". PLOS Biology . 7 (5): e1000114. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000114 . PMC   2682483 . PMID   19478850.
    • Offit, Paul A. (2007). "Thimerosal and vaccines—a cautionary tale". The New England Journal of Medicine . 357 (13): 1278–9. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp078187 . PMID   17898096. S2CID   36318722.
    • Paul, R (2009). "Parents ask: Am I risking autism if I vaccinate my children?". Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders . 39 (6): 962–3. doi:10.1007/s10803-009-0739-y. PMID   19363650. S2CID   34467853.
  4. 1 2 Salzberg, Steven (31 December 2010). "Why do we need to 'recontrol' Whooping Cough?". Forbes . Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  5. ↑ Herper, Matthew; Langreth, Robert (27 September 2007). "Fear factor". Forbes . Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Merlan, Anna (20 March 2019). "Jenny McCarthy's Autism Charity Has Helped Its Board Members Make Money Off Dangerous, Discredited Ideas". Jezebel. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  7. 1 2 Yasmin, Seema (September 2016). "Anti-vaxxer Jenny McCarthy's autism summit peddles dangerous treatments, features discredited doctors". Dallas News. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  8. 1 2 Coombes, R (2009). "Vaccine disputes" (PDF). BMJ . 338: b2435. doi:10.1136/bmj.b2435. PMID   19546136. S2CID   37280530. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2011.
  9. ↑ Mnookin, Seth (2012). The Panic Virus: The True Story Behind the Vaccine-Autism Controversy. New York: Simon & Schuster. p.  258. ISBN   978-1-4391-5865-4.
  10. ↑ Rochman, Bonnie (23 May 2012). "Why Jenny McCarthy doesn't matter". Family Matters. Time . Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  11. ↑ Offit, Paul A. (2010). Autism's false prophets: bad science, risky medicine, and the search for a cure (Paperback ed.). New York: Columbia University Press. p. 116. ISBN   978-0-231-51796-6. OCLC   694142893.
  12. ↑ Willingham, Emily (20 February 2014). "On autism, environmental toxicants, and bias". Forbes . Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  13. 1 2 3 Willingham, Emily (5 November 2012). "We can now add forced sweating to the faux autism treatment list". Forbes . Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  14. ↑ Claims of autism cures:
  15. ↑ Miller, Nick (4 February 2010). "Debunking the link between autism and vaccination". The Age . Melbourne.
  16. ↑ Begley, Sharon (21 February 2009). "Anatomy of a scare". Newsweek .
  17. ↑ Steinhauer, Jennifer (15 October 2009). "Swine flu shots revive a debate about vaccines". The New York Times .
  18. ↑ Schory, Brenda (16 January 2019). "Setback for contractor suing over unfinished clinic with ties to Jenny McCarthy". Kane County Chronicle. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  19. ↑ "Ground breaking takes place in St. Charles for integrative health clinic". Kane County Chronicle. 4 July 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  20. ↑ "Jenny McCarthy's Charity Tied to Lawsuits Over Multi-Million Project". Radar Online. 7 December 2017. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  21. ↑ "Generation Rescue project with ties to Jenny McCarthy subject of lawsuit". Kane County Chronicle. 13 November 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  22. ↑ "Unfinished clinic with ties to Jenny McCarthy's autism charity transferred to contractor". Kane County Chronicle. 8 May 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  23. ↑ "Fiore Salon Suites". St. Charles Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  24. ↑ On conferences:
  25. ↑ Perry, David M. (17 July 2013). "Jenny McCarthy and fear-based parenting". CNN . Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  26. ↑ Salzberg 2012.
  27. ↑ Dominus, Susan (20 April 2011). "Crash and burn of an autism guru". The New York Times .
  28. ↑ McNamee, David (26 March 2014). "Evidence supports it, so why are parents still reluctant to vaccinate their children?". Medical News Today . MediLexicon. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  29. ↑ On Wakefield's fraudulent study:
  30. ↑ Lin, RG II (2 May 2008). "Rise in measles prompts concern". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 4 November 2008.
  31. ↑ Williams, Mary Elizabeth (6 January 2011). "Jenny McCarthy's autism fight grows more misguided". Salon . Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  32. ↑ Barrett, Alan D.T.; Stanberry, Lawrence R. (2009). Vaccines for Biodefense and Emerging and Neglected Diseases. Academic Press. p.  264. ISBN   978-0-08-091902-7.
  33. ↑ Willingham, Emily (22 October 2012). "Jenny McCarthy is a newspaper columnist". Forbes . Retrieved 3 October 2014.
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