Dear CBS News,
Imagine our surprise: in the same CBS Health Watch website section as an article that scares parents away from having their children vaccinated against preventable diseases, CBS also posted an Associated Press article urging the exact opposite course of action. What's a parent to do?
This article warns of the resurgence of whooping cough, a scourge that infant vaccinations had almost wiped out. Its comeback is due partly to waning immunity in older children who can spread it easily to unvaccinated infants, the number of whom may grow with each unfounded vaccine scare.
The disease, known medically as pertussis, can produce coughs violent enough to break ribs, and can actually kill unvaccinated newborns. Soon, the FDA and CDC will decide whether booster shots should be implemented for older children, and they are encouraging parents to have infants vaccinated as early as possible.
The presence of this article on the CBS website was surprising because on June 22, the CBS Evening News aired an alarmist segment implying that having infants vaccinated might put them at risk for developing autism. The report was aired despite the fact that, based on the overwhelming body of empirical data, a causal relationship between pediatric vaccines and autism has been soundly debunked.
After spirited dialogue between the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) and CBS, including CBS's threat to take unspecified legal action against ACSH for our criticism, CBS failed to correct the erroneous and dangerous message they sent to parents, even when vaccine experts associated with ACSH called upon them to do so. We can only conclude, therefore, that CBS News stands by its allegation that parents are putting their children at risk for developing autism if they have them properly immunized.
The juxtaposition of these two reports illustrates that CBS is either unaware of the mixed message they are sending to the public regarding the importance of pediatric vaccinations, or is not troubled by the impact these conflicting messages can have both on concerned parents and public health.
Aubrey Stimola
Research Assistant
American Council on Science and Health