Dateline NBC interviewing Andrew Wakefield and talking about vaccine safety..

[Jen78fl]

This should be a good one!

http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/08/n...20a51f8507970b

[Marnica]

I am setting my DVR!

[ammiga]

When will it air? I couldn't find the air date/time.

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by ammiga

When will it air? I couldn't find the air date/time.

It says thatthere will be a segment on the today show tomorrow 8/28...also a segment on the NBCnightlynews weekend either Sat or Sunday...didn't say which and the big Matt Lauer interview will be On Dateline on Sunday 8/30.

[Jen78fl]

Right, sunday at 7 pm eastern time on NBC

[Monarchgrrl]

I watched the Today show segment this morning. They basically tried to paint Dr. Wakefield as a quack. But I think he held his own. Dateline should give him more time to speak. At least they didn't have Dr. Nancy Sneiderman on to "argue" his points. My TV was saved. Nothing was thrown at it. I'll be recording the Sunday Dateline, for sure.

[bbrandonsmom]

I won't watch the Today show with that dr because it seems "she's always right", regardless what another dr is pointing out. I was pretty mad at them one time they were discussing vaccines on there and they just brushed off the other lady as nuts.
I might watch the dateline seg-they shouldn't do such a brush off there.

[BRmama]

Hi, would anyone have a link to the segment for the Today show this morning with Dr. Wakefield? I missed it and I tried so hard to find it online and I couldn't find anything. Thanks

[amnesiac]

Please remember that the discussion should remain focused on vaccines, research etc. and not about individual people:

threads still need to remain on-topic for the forum and should not be about individuals but about the general topic.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...6#post13041426

[MamatoPeach]

Well, what did you guys think??

I was excited to see the GastroIntestinal MD's work. I think it helps mainstream parents to see that there are MD's out there that are taking steps to treat vaccination injuries(there are vaccination injuries). It makes it more real for them. I hope it opened some eyes and has more parents asking questions.

[momonthebeach]

I wish they had brought up some other reasons why people choose to not vaccinate. While autism is definately a factor, I have many reasons that I do not vaccinate. THe most important being that they do not do double blind studies to prove the safety of them. If someone could actually show me a safe, effective vaccine, I would use it. So far, the drug companies have not come anywhere close.
I was also surprised that they only talked about the MMR vaccine. Wasn't it the DTaP vaccine that has recently added autism to it's list of possible side effects?
The last thing that struck me was actually a commercial that showed about 55 minutes in. Directly after the pro-vaccine doctor spoke of the wonders of vaccines and the dangers of not vaccinating, there was a commercial for the Today show. It said (paraphrasing) 'The dangers of swine flu. What can you do to protect yourself?' One of the big pictures flashing across the screen was a needle. It made me wonder if the whole hour was just a big commercial for the swine flu vaccine...

[MamatoPeach]

Originally Posted by momonthebeach

I wish they had brought up some other reasons why people choose to not vaccinate. While autism is definately a factor, I have many reasons that I do not vaccinate. THe most important being that they do not do double blind studies to prove the safety of them. If someone could actually show me a safe, effective vaccine, I would use it. So far, the drug companies have not come anywhere close.
I was also surprised that they only talked about the MMR vaccine. Wasn't it the DTaP vaccine that has recently added autism to it's list of possible side effects?
The last thing that struck me was actually a commercial that showed about 55 minutes in. Directly after the pro-vaccine doctor spoke of the wonders of vaccines and the dangers of not vaccinating, there was a commercial for the Today show. It said (paraphrasing) 'The dangers of swine flu. What can you do to protect yourself?' One of the big pictures flashing across the screen was a needle. It made me wonder if the whole hour was just a big commercial for the swine flu vaccine...

I only caught the last half of the show, so I missed the commercial. Very Sneaky!

I did mention the same thing to my husband; that I wish they would talk about all the dangers/side effects of vaccinations. Autism seems to be the only thing that gets any air time.

[Evolvamama]

Hello-

I just watched some of it.

The truth of who is *behind* the studies on whether MMR causes Autism wasn't addressed-which is a disservice to the viewers. People need to be informed about the funding of studies, and how that effects the outcomes. Not surprised.

A famous couple with an Autistic dc, was quoted saying how it's the *way* that vaxes are made, (read: ingredients) that is the biggest problem. Not exactly how I feel, but I wish this view would've been discussed more, as I feel this is how many parents do feel!

The best thing said about vaxes, (parapharsing) is, that there are no answers to the many questions about vaxing and the consequences-but a certain doctor will not stop searching for answers-and neither should parents. Very well put, and I hope I phrased it right!

I love, love how it was stated that 30some vaxes are given to dc before the age of six. Way more than any other developed country. This alone should make the average person think....and, question!

[newmum35]

I didn't get to watch it so if anyone knows if its been posted on you tube oranything, please share link. I did read some of the comments on Age ofAutism website and it appears the show may have been one sided. I guess that shouldn't be too surprising. I loved how the comment said we need to skip media completely and take the message straight to the public! Too true!!

[eireann]

DH and I found it really annoying. However, Dr Wakefield held his ground really well which was great to see. The man is seemingly unflappable.

[Baby_Vol]

The best thing said about vaxes, (parapharsing) is, that there are no answers to the many questions about vaxing and the consequences-but a certain doctor will not stop searching for answers-and neither should parents. Very well put, and I hope I phrased it right!

I love, love how it was stated that 30some vaxes are given to dc before the age of six. Way more than any other developed country. This alone should make the average person think....and, question!

This is what I came away with as well.

I didn't find it one-sided. The pro-vax side did annoy me, but if I wasn't annoyed at some point then I don't feel it was a balanced piece. I was both cheering and yelling at my TV ...to me, that makes it fairly balanced.

The things I didn't like:
- not disclosing who was behind the MMR studies
- the swine flu commerical for Today (saw that too)
- the way it ended with the AAP statement

The things I DID like:
- Dr Wakefield held his own! He responded well to the comments from the Brittish journalist, and his resonses made perfect sense.
- Lauer going after Offitt for holding the patent on rotavirus vax
- The gastrointestinal doctor
- The way that (IMO) it showed that Wakefield and other doctors are being attacked for simply trying to answer parents questions ...while other doctors, like Offitt, are just saying "we say they are safe, so believe us, period ..we don't care if you think your child is affected, we are the doctors believe us." To me, it was clear that Wakefield was trying to help parents, and Offitt was trying to get parents to just shut up and sit down.

[Eman'smom]

Originally Posted by Baby_Vol

- Lauer going after Offitt for holding the patent on rotavirus vax

Oh what did Offitt say?

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by Eman'smom

Oh what did Offitt say?

What he always says...that not vaccinating is foolish and risky and putting children's lives in danger. He also said that Wakefield has done a great deal of "damage" and is leading parents on.

He of course says vaccines are safe and effective and talked about how WC is at epidemic levels. It's funny how he didn't mention that vaccinated kids regularly come down witrh WC and if you look at the WHO's website and take into account that WC epidemics cycle about every 4 years, that there has always been a resurrgence of WC about every 4 years.

I thought it was funny when he said He doesn't always support vaccines and then went on to say that when they wanted to do mass smallpox vaccines back in 2003, he voted against this.

[mamadelbosque]

I really, really, liked the lady who was formerly with/head of the national instite of health. She wasn't pro-vax or anti-vax - just very upfront that we just don't have enough info! And her statements that 'its not very humble' to say stop studying vaccines, their safe, period! Because we just don't know.

Overall I thought it was a pretty decent piece, especially given that it was on a very mainstream network tv station!!

[bubbles]

Does anyone have any links to either the interview w/ Wakefield or the Today show portion? I thought I was dvr'ing the interview last night but it was just Dateline NBC. I can't find anything on the Today show or NBC sites except links to additional information.