Orac's fine web-log is a superb source for real good healthy fun. This is the dose of today:
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/01/an_actual_provaccine_storyline.php[*QUOTE*]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
An actual pro-vaccine storyline? On ABC?Posted on: January 10, 2009 9:46 AM, by Orac
I don't watch Private Practice. I didn't like Grey's Anatomy, which, every time I caught part of it, struck me as the cheesiest sort of medical soap opera, a General Hospital transplanted to prime time. Given that Private Practice is a spinoff of Grey's Anatomy, I never saw any reason whatsoever to watch. However, on Thursday night an episode aired that royally pissed off the antivaccine contingent, and that has to be a good thing. The episode, Contamination, featured a storyline in which an unvaccinated child shows up in the emergency room with the measles. The parents are antivaccine and totally buy into the myth that vaccines cause autism. They're even totally into a full-on Jenny McCarthy panoply of "biomedical" quackery--I mean treatments, no, I mean quackery--for their autistic child.
The cranks at Age of Autism have mentioned it, but, from a couple of forwarded e-mails I've gotten, it appears that the real mercury militia has gone absolutely bonkers about this quite reasonable storyline. Indeed, in a certain antivaccination mailing list dedicated to a certain journalist's fear mongering book, the loons are out in force. Charges of big pharma conspiracy are running rampant like:
The CDC can't prove with science that vaccines are safe so they have
their PR office use fear to scare people into believing.
As if the CDC can dictate storylines to ABC. Yeah, that worked real well with Eli Stone, which, of course, the vaccine conspiracy mongers loved.
One of the participants even went to the trouble of transcribing the scenes relating to the storyline, for which I thank her. It's rare to see such an unequivocal defense of vaccines worked into a storyline. I wonder if Jenny McCarthy's activities may be producing a backlash. We can only hope. In any case, I think our antivaccine advocate's work should see a wider audience, so here it is for your edification:
[begin of quote]
.......................................................................................
Private Practice Season 2, Episode 1
Original Air Date: Jan. 8th, 2009
"Contamination"Writer: Fred Einesman
Director: Kate Woods
Unofficial Transcript of Vaccine Storyline By Christine Heeren
Regular characters:
Addison, Pete, Naomi, Cooper, Charlotte, Dell, Sam and Violet (all doctors except Dell)
Additional Cast: Jillian Armenante as Arlene (the mother) -has a girl born in 2004
(There was more to this episode, but I'm just writing the info regarding the vaccine storyline)
SCENE ONE:
Busy waiting room in doctor's office. Kids throwing a ball around. Three boys and one girl (Betsey). The boys are all brothers, the oldest with autism, Jeffrey. The girl is the daughter of Dell, who works at the practice. The middle boy is Michael, youngest is William.
ARLENE: Oh Dr. Freedman!
COOPER: Arlene, Hi. Oh my god! Is this Michael? Dude, you're a giant. Will, do you remember me? Hi Jeffrey. That's a pretty cool plane. Hey, let's go back. Come on.
(they walk into Cooper's office)
COOPER: So, where have you been? It's been two years.
ARLENE: I moved the boys to Switzerland, for Jeffrey. I found this great experimental program there for autistic children. Nontraditional therapy, megavitamins, diet modification, along with art, music therapy.
COOPER: How's it been going?
ARLENE: Better, I think. His temper's under control, a little more. He's obsessed with airplanes. Sometimes he'll even talk to you.
COOPER: Wow.
ARLENE: As long as it's about planes.
COOPER: Planes are good. Talking about planes... even better.
(Cooper hands Jeffrey a toy airplane from his office shelf)
COOPER: How's his health otherwise?
ARLENE: Oh Jeffrey's fine. It's Michael actually. He caught a cold on the plane. Probably just some bug. But, you know. I wanted to be safe.
(Cooper lifts Michael up on the exam table)
COOPER: How'd you like Switzerland Michael?
MICHAEL: They had a cable car and there's this one place where you could take a chocolate tour.
(Cooper is feeling the boy's neck)
More joking around with the kids while Cooper does the exam.
COOPER: 102. Does your throat hurt, Michael?
MICHAEL: No.
COOPER: OK. Open up for me, big and wide. Tilt your head back.
ARLENE: (all concerned) Dr. Freedman? What is it? What's wrong? (end of scene)
SCENE TWO: Naomi & Addison are chatting it up in the break room. Cooper comes running in.
COOPER: We have to close the doors.
ADDISON: See, even Cooper realizes Pacific Wellcare is putting us out of business
COOPER: No, we have to close the doors. My patient has the measles and was in reception for half an hour running around. Everyone that was out- all our patients this morning where exposed.
ADDISON: Measles? My pregnant patients and the elderly...
COOPER: All at risk.
ADDISON: We HAVE to close the doors.
COOPER: We have to close the doors.
SCENE THREE: All the doctors in the hallway with about 20 patients.
ADDISON: I'm sorry for the inconvience, but the virus stays airborne for up to 4 hours. We need to make sure everyone who was exposed has been immunized.
PREGNANT WOMAN: Excuse me? Can I get the shot now? I have a lunch at 12:30.
ADDISON: Sorry. It contains a live virus. It's not safe to take when you're pregnant. But, if your blood comes back and your antibodies are low, then we can treat it with immunoglobulin.
WOMAN: And if that doesn't work? Doesn't measles lead to birth defects?
ADDISON: Let's not get ahead of ourselves, okay?
SAM: We need to notify LA County Health. They are going to want to do a complete survey. I know.
Addison gives annoying look
ADDISON: And they are always awful. And if we didn't have enough to do this morning.
SAM: OK. I have a light day. You have to deal with this. I'll speak to the health department. I'm in the mood for a fight.
SCENE FOUR: (back in Cooper's office)
ARLENE: Will's fine.
COOPER: But, he hasn't been vaccinated and he's at risk to get this.
ARLENE: It's the measles. When my parents were growing up everyone got it.
COOPER: And hundreds of people died from it every year. The vaccine changed-
ARLENE: Don't even think of suggesting-
COOPER: There's no proven link between vaccinations and autism.
ARLENE: It's not just me. I have talked to dozens of parents. You vaccinated Jeffrey, and it was like a light went out inside him, and he's living in some parallel world. (They show Jeffrey rocking while playing with cars)
COOPER: Arlene-
ARLENE: You don't live with him. So don't ask me to risk Will too.
Dell walks out of his office with his daughter (about 6 yrs old) and sees Cooper.
DELL: Hey, I can't get a hold of Betsey's Mom. I don't know if she's been immunized.
COOPER: Most kids have been.
DELL: You don't know her mother, okay? She forgot to pick her up. You think she remembered doctor visits? Should I just give her the shot to be sure? I mean she played with that kid for like a half- hour.
COOPER: You have 24 hours to give the vaccine. So wait for the Mom and ask, spare her the needle if you can.
SCENE FIVE (all the doctors together)
ADDISON: Grab a chart. We're checking every patient who was in here this morning for immunization.
SAM: How many of these are we looking at, Coop?
COOPER: How many what?
SAM: These little time bombs- kids coming in without their vaccinations.
COOPER: The vast majority of my practice is pro-vaccine.
NAOMI: Whether or not to vaccinate should not even be open for debate.
COOPER: It isn't. But, I agree with the Academy of American Pediatrics that we shouldn't abandon patients who chose not to vaccinate.
PETE: (holistic type doctor) Cooper's right. You can't kick a kid out just because the parents believe in a conspiracy theory about vaccines.
SAM: The CDC is clear vaccines do not CAUSE autism. They save lives. That's the end of the story.
DELL: Hey, I was just in the pediatric waiting area with Betsey. This is Michael's Mom's and she left it in the lobby.
(They go on how the family was on another floor)
SCENE SIX (Health Dept. Lady arrives)
SAM: OK. So that's it. Everyone's been immunized. Anybody that was here has been contacted. You can refile all of these immunication records.
HEALTH DEPT. LADY: Oh no you can't (to Dell).
.......................................................................................
[end of quote]
Maybe ABC is finally trying to make up for its sin of Eli Stone early last year.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
[*/QUOTE*]
much more fun:
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence[Skriptfehler umgangen, Julian]
