California governor Jerry Brown recently signed into law a vaccination bill eliminating the personal belief exemption for childhood vaccines. His actions have stirred up controversy amongst people who believe this violates a constitutional cornerstone and parents who feel this bill takes away their right to choose what is in the best interest of their child. Actor and comedian Jim Carrey was among the protestors, going as far as to call Governor Brown a "corporate fascist" on Twitter.
This tweet was only one of many. Carrey has a history of being "anti-vaccine," although he refutes this label and calls himself "anti-mercury" and "anti-thimerosal," referring to toxic ingredients found in vaccinations.
However, on their website, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that thimerosal and mercury are no longer used in vaccinations, with the exception of a few influenza related vaccines. They also found that there isn't strong evidence that thimerosal causes harm or is linked to autism. The organization Autism Speaks agrees there doesn't appear to be a link and urges parents to get their children vaccinated.
The danger of ignorant celebrities like Carrey spouting false science is that they can have a large impact on public opinion. Carrey has 14.7 million followers on Twitter and a strong fan base, and Carrey was once in a relationship with actress, model and activist Jenny McCarthy, who has 1.33 million followers of her own on Twitter.
McCarthy has long been the face of the anti-vaccine movement and her activism has led to the creation of the "Jenny McCarthy Body Count" website which tracks reports by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccine preventable deaths.
As far as I know, neither Carrey nor McCarthy are reputable scholars in the field of medicine. However, they have started a new anti-vaccine movement in the United States that is gaining momentum. More and more parents are choosing not to vaccinate their children and this choice endangers the greater population. Consider the recent measles outbreak in California which has now spread to six states, Mexico and Canada, affecting almost 150 people. And the United States just had its first measles death since 2003.
Carrey's outburst on Twitter and the anti-vaccine movement in general is part of the larger problem of anti-intellectualism and anti-science going on in our country. We shouldn't be taking celebrities so seriously about issues that they know very little about. The scientific report that Carrey and McCarthy base their claims on has long since been debunked, and the World Health Organization and Center for Disease Control and Prevention both believe that there is no strong link between autism and vaccinations.
People shouldn't take the claims of a celebrity more seriously than statements made by national and international public health organizations. Measles was once under control, and now we've had our first measles death in over a decade. And in that time, there has been no further evidence that autism is caused by vaccines. The number of people that are sick or dying due to vaccine preventable illnesses is growing, and part of the blame lies with ignorant celebrities like Carrey.
