Generation Rescue
Encyclopedia
Generation Rescue is a nonprofit organization
that advocates the view that autism
and related disorders are primarily caused by environmental factors, particularly vaccine
s. These claims are biologically implausible and lack convincing scientific evidence. The group gained widespread attention from an aggressive media campaign, including sponsoring full page ads in the New York Times and USA Today
. Today, Generation Rescue is known as a platform for Jenny McCarthy
's autism and anti-vaccine advocacy.
. More recently it has been fronted by Jenny McCarthy
, an author, television personality and former Playboy
model. Jim Carrey
, during his relationship with McCarthy, also promoted Generation Rescue.
, a mercury
-based vaccine preservative. Generation Rescue claims that biomedical intervention can help children recover. The hypotheses that vaccines, such as MMR
, or thiomersal
cause autism are not supported by scientific evidence, nor are claims that diets or drugs can cure autism. 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 and the organization has been described as anti-vaccine
.
Claims that the MMR vaccine causes autism
, promoted by Andrew Wakefield
, were declared in January 2011 to be based on manipulated data and fraudulent research. Parental concerns over vaccines have led, in turn, to decreased immunization rates and an increased incidence of whooping cough
and measles
, a highly contagious and sometimes deadly disease. Generation Rescue issued a statement that the "media circus" following the revelation of fraud and manipulation of data was "much ado about nothing". Salon.com
responded to Generation Rescue's statement with:
concerning the role that vaccines have played in recent increases in the number of reported autism cases.
process. In particular, an article Generation Rescue publishes in its website, "Autism: A Novel Form of Mercury Poisoning" appeared in Medical Hypotheses
, a journal without scientific peer review; the hypothesis has not been confirmed by credible scientific evidence.
According to the BMJ, the implication that the MMR vaccine is linked to autism "relied on parental recall and beliefs … epidemiological studies consistently found no evidence of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. By the time the paper was finally retracted 12 years later, after forensic dissection at the General Medical Council's (GMC) longest ever fitness to practise hearing, few people could deny that it was fatally flawed both scientifically and ethically."
Nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
that advocates the view that autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
and related disorders are primarily caused by environmental factors, particularly vaccine
Vaccine
A vaccine is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe or its toxins...
s. These claims are biologically implausible and lack convincing scientific evidence. The group gained widespread attention from an aggressive media campaign, including sponsoring full page ads in the New York Times and USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
. Today, Generation Rescue is known as a platform for Jenny McCarthy
Jenny McCarthy
Jennifer Ann "Jenny" McCarthy is an American model, comedian, actress, author, activist, and game show host. She began her career in 1993 as a nude model for Playboy magazine and was later named their Playmate of the Year. McCarthy then parlayed her Playboy fame into a successful television and...
's autism and anti-vaccine advocacy.
Media campaign
The organization was established in 2005 by Lisa and J.B. Handley and 150 volunteer "Rescue Angels" that included many members of the biomedical treatment movement at the time. Beginning in the spring of 2005 and running through January 2007, Generation Rescue began a national media campaign in the US, placing advertisements in such publications as USA TodayUSA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
. More recently it has been fronted by Jenny McCarthy
Jenny McCarthy
Jennifer Ann "Jenny" McCarthy is an American model, comedian, actress, author, activist, and game show host. She began her career in 1993 as a nude model for Playboy magazine and was later named their Playmate of the Year. McCarthy then parlayed her Playboy fame into a successful television and...
, an author, television personality and former Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
model. Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey
James Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario...
, during his relationship with McCarthy, also promoted Generation Rescue.
Causes of autism
Generation Rescue believes that autism and other developmental issues are caused by environmental factors. Its members primarily blame vaccines, the increase in the number of vaccines administered, and thiomersalThiomersal
Thiomersal , and commonly known in the US as thimerosal, is an organomercury compound. This compound is a well established antiseptic and antifungal agent....
, a mercury
Mercury (element)
Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum...
-based vaccine preservative. Generation Rescue claims that biomedical intervention can help children recover. The hypotheses that vaccines, such as MMR
MMR vaccine controversy
The MMR vaccine controversy was a case of scientific misconduct which triggered a health scare. It followed the publication in 1998 of a paper in the medical journal The Lancet which presented apparent evidence that autism spectrum disorders could be caused by the MMR vaccine, an immunization...
, or thiomersal
Thiomersal controversy
The thiomersal controversy describes claims that vaccines containing the mercury-based preservative thiomersal contribute to the development of autism and other brain development disorders...
cause autism are not supported by scientific evidence, nor are claims that diets or drugs can cure autism. 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 and the organization has been described as anti-vaccine
Vaccine controversy
A vaccine controversy is a dispute over the morality, ethics, effectiveness, or safety of vaccinations. Medical and scientific evidence surrounding vaccinations generally demonstrate that the benefits of preventing suffering and death from infectious diseases outweigh rare adverse effects of...
.
Claims that the MMR vaccine causes autism
MMR vaccine controversy
The MMR vaccine controversy was a case of scientific misconduct which triggered a health scare. It followed the publication in 1998 of a paper in the medical journal The Lancet which presented apparent evidence that autism spectrum disorders could be caused by the MMR vaccine, an immunization...
, promoted by Andrew Wakefield
Andrew Wakefield
Andrew Wakefield is a British former surgeon and medical researcher, known as an advocate for the discredited claim that there is a link between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, autism and bowel disease, and for his fraudulent 1998 research paper in support of that claim.Four years after...
, were declared in January 2011 to be based on manipulated data and fraudulent research. Parental concerns over vaccines have led, in turn, to decreased immunization rates and an increased incidence of whooping cough
Pertussis
Pertussis, also known as whooping cough , is a highly contagious bacterial disease caused by Bordetella pertussis. Symptoms are initially mild, and then develop into severe coughing fits, which produce the namesake high-pitched "whoop" sound in infected babies and children when they inhale air...
and measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
, a highly contagious and sometimes deadly disease. Generation Rescue issued a statement that the "media circus" following the revelation of fraud and manipulation of data was "much ado about nothing". Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
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.
Websites
It maintains three websites, Generation Rescue Fourteen Studies.org, and PutChildrenFirst. Generation Rescue details the organization’s points of view described above. PutChildrenFirst alleges a cover-up by the Centers for Disease ControlCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services headquartered in Druid Hills, unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, in Greater Atlanta...
concerning the role that vaccines have played in recent increases in the number of reported autism cases.
Lack of peer-reviewed research
Generation Rescue bases much of their case on publications that do not go through a proper peer reviewPeer review
Peer review is a process of self-regulation by a profession or a process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility...
process. In particular, an article Generation Rescue publishes in its website, "Autism: A Novel Form of Mercury Poisoning" appeared in Medical Hypotheses
Medical Hypotheses
Medical Hypotheses is a medical journal published by Elsevier. It was originally intended as a forum for unconventional ideas without the traditional filter of scientific peer review, "so long as are coherent and clearly expressed" in order to "foster the diversity and debate upon which the...
, a journal without scientific peer review; the hypothesis has not been confirmed by credible scientific evidence.
According to the BMJ, the implication that the MMR vaccine is linked to autism "relied on parental recall and beliefs … epidemiological studies consistently found no evidence of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. By the time the paper was finally retracted 12 years later, after forensic dissection at the General Medical Council's (GMC) longest ever fitness to practise hearing, few people could deny that it was fatally flawed both scientifically and ethically."
Disassociation of cited researchers
Generation Rescue's second New York Times advertisement had to undergo one alteration due to one scientist who asked to be removed from the ad. Also, after the ad ran, several of the scientists thanked in the ad wanted to disassociate their work from the mercury/autism connection. This group of scientists wrote: "we believe GenerationRescue’s advertisement, at first appearance an innocuous gesture of appreciation, may actually mislead the public into thinking that the mercury–autism hypothesis has stronger support in the scientific literature than it actually does."Misleading claims
Generation Rescue has asserted that countries that require fewer infant vaccines have lower infant mortality rates. However, this has been criticized as "rhetorical sleight of hand": in the U.S., a country that requires more vaccines than most, the infant mortality rate declined 50% from 1966 to 1981, during which the number of vaccines increased.See also
External links
- GenerationRescue.org - Organisation's Website
- Jenny McCarthy Body Count - A website critical of Jenny McCarthy's campaign
- Mothering.com - 'Is the American Academy of PediatricsAmerican Academy of PediatricsThe American Academy of Pediatrics is the major professional association of pediatricians in the United States. The AAP was founded in 1930 by 35 pediatricians to address pediatric healthcare standards. It currently has 60,000 members in primary care and sub-specialist areas...
losing credibility with parents and pediatricians?' Bobby Manning, MotheringMothering (magazine)Mothering is a magazine focused on natural mothering practices, which began publishing in 1976.-History:Mothering was founded in 1976, and in the 80's, Peggy O'Mara became editor and publisher....
(October, 2005) - ScienceDaily.com - 'The Age of Autism: Heavy metal', Dan OlmstedDan OlmstedDan Olmsted is an investigative reporter and former senior editor for United Press International , a news agency of the Unification Church company News World Communications. Olmsted wrote a series about a discredited hypothesis linking vaccination to autism...
, UPI' (May 24, 2005) - SFGate.com - 'A child's return from autism: Couple eager to share their conviction that mercury poisoning was the culprit' Leslie Fulbright, San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chroniclethumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
(May 25, 2005) - "The Vaccine War", PBS FRONTLINE documentary, April 27, 2010