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Vaxxed
Film poster
Directed by	Andrew Wakefield
Story by	Screenwriters: Andrew Wakefield & Del Bigtree
Produced by	Del Bigtree
Distributed by	Cinema Libre Studio
Release date	April 1, 2016 (2016-04-01)
Running time	91 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe is a 2016 American film which critics call an anti-vaccination film about the alleged cover up by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of a purported link between the MMR vaccine and autism. The filmmaker claims that it is a documentary "that explores the journeys of parents whose autistic children were plausibly affected by a vaccine ", however critics consider it anti-vaccine propaganda The film was directed by discredited former physician and anti-vaccine activist Andrew Wakefield and was set for premiere at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival before being removed from screening.

Background

In 1998 Wakefield published a study in The Lancet suggesting that vaccines caused autism. In 2010 the study was retracted, and Wakefield's medical license was revoked due to "ethical violations and a failure to disclose financial conflicts of interest" and for his invention of evidence linking the MMR vaccine to autism. A substantial body of subsequent research has established that there is no link between vaccines and autism.

Del Bigtree, a producer of Vaxxed, was formerly a producer of The Doctors, a daytime US talk show. The British Medical Journal conducted a study on The Doctors and The Dr Oz Show and concluded with this warning about the shows: "Consumers should be skeptical about any recommendations provided ... as details are limited and only a third to one half of recommendations are based on believable or somewhat believable evidence".

The movie was produced by Autism Media Channel, of which Wakefield is a director.

Narrative

The film features the so-called "CDC whistleblower" narrative that is based on anti-vaccination activist and associate professor Brian Hooker's paper describing claims by senior CDC scientist William Thompson that the CDC had suppressed mention of a correlation between vaccination and autism in African-American boys in a CDC paper. The film contains edited excerpts of several phone calls between Hooker and Thompson recorded without Thompson's knowledge. Hooker's 2014 paper on the narrative was subsequently retracted due to "serious concerns about the validity of its conclusions" and in 2015 the CDC had confirmed that any such initial correlation had ceased to exist once they performed a more in-depth analysis of the children in the study.

These sometimes spliced-together unauthorized phone recordings of Thompson, according to the Houston Press, form the "crux of the entire movie... And...that’s it". On the "CDC whistleblower" narrative, Dr. Philip LaRussa, a professor of paediatric medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, said of the film-makers: "They were saying, there’s this silver bullet here, and the CDC is hiding it, and no one else has looked at this issue, which is not the case".

Reception

"In his film debut, Wakefield has cast himself as the victim of a massive conspiracy to hide the truth... What drove Wakefield from being a respected researcher to a conspiracy theorist?"'

Documentary director Penny Lane stated:

Issues around truth and ethics in documentary can get thorny. But this one is easy. This film is not some sort of disinterested investigation into the 'vaccines cause autism' hoax; this film is directed by the person who perpetuated the hoax.

— Penny Lane (director)

A review by the health and science news-site Medical Daily states:

doesn’t care about convincing its audience with evidence. Instead, Wakefield, Hooker, and producer Del Bigtree run the viewer through a well-trod gauntlet of emotional pleas, context-free statistics ... and shadowy conspiracies, with Bigtree claiming that "all of television" has been bought out by the pharmaceutical industry.

— Ed Cara, the Medical Daily

Independent film news-site Indiewire concludes the film pushes an outrageous agenda, and says:

Wakefield's by-the-numbers approach to didactic storytelling relies on tons of random factoids positioned out of context to drive home his agenda. An end credit declares that "every seven minutes, a child in the U.S. is diagnosed with autism," the kind of tenuous data set that passes for hard evidence in Wakefield's bizarro universe.

— Eric Kohn, Indiewire

Dr. Philip LaRussa stated that "Wakefield’s film acts as if his research had not been revealed as fraudulent and he had not lost his medical license" and noted:

didn’t mention the fact that he lost his license in Great Britain, he didn’t mention the fact that of his co-authors withdrew their names from his paper. He didn’t mention the fact that there was a series of investigative articles by Brian Deer. None of that existed in this film.

— Vaxxed: an expert view on controversial film about vaccines and autism

The Houston Press described the film as a "tragic fraud", noting:

The Booker, Wakefield and Bigtree segments are spliced with testimonials from parents describing their own ordeals with late-onset autism, which only points to another insidious aspect of Wakefield’s fraud. These interviews are heartbreaking. There may be few tragedies as great as a parent watching a child’s future rapidly contract. But it's another tragedy altogether to give these desperate mothers and fathers this straw at which to grasp.

— Pete Vonder Haar, Houston Press

Premiere

The film had been scheduled to premiere at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival but this was the subject of public outcry and widespread criticism, particularly for allowing Wakefield to distribute his discredited theories. Actor Robert De Niro, who co-founded the festival, initially defended the decision to show the film, writing on Facebook that the film was "very personal" to him due to him having a child with autism, and saying that he hoped the film would open a dialog about the controversy. But shortly before the evening of March 26 De Niro announced that the film would not screen, stating that consultation with other film festival representatives, and members of the scientific community, had led to him to conclude that screening the film would not contribute to or further the discussion of the topic presented.

After the film was dropped, it was picked up for distribution by Cinema Libre. The film premiered at the Angelika Film Center in New York on April 1, 2016 to an audience of "a few dozen."

In reaction to Cinema Libre's decision to distribute the film, Todd Drezner, the father of an autistic son and creator of a neurodiversity-themed movie that was distributed by Cinema Libre, wrote an open letter to Cinema Libre criticizing Vaxxed and Cinema Libre's decision to distribute it, writing: "By releasing Vaxxed, Cinema Libre is actively harming thousands of autistic people. While we should be discussing ways to best support autistic people and help them lead fulfilling lives, you would instead have us follow a discredited scientist and dishonest filmmaker down a rabbit hole that leads only to long debunked conspiracy theories. I am profoundly disappointed."

See also

• Big Pharma conspiracy theory

References

1. ^ Glenza, Jessica (April 2, 2016). "Vaxxed: an expert view on controversial film about vaccines and autism". The Guardian. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
2. ^ Haelle, Tara (March 25, 2016). "Robert DeNiro Just Broke My Heart". Forbes. Retrieved March 26, 2016.
3. ^ Gorski, David (Orac) (March 25, 2016). "Mystery solved: It was Robert De Niro who got Andrew Wakefield's antivaccine propaganda film selected for screening at the Tribeca Film Festival". Respectful Insolence. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
4. ^ Hiltzik, Michael (March 25, 2016). "Column: How Robert De Niro's Tribeca Film Festival sold out to anti-vaccine crackpots [UPDATED]". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 26, 2016.
5. ^ Moody, Nekesa Mumbi (March 27, 2016). "De Niro's Tribeca festival pulls anti-vaccination film". Associated Press. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
6. ^ June, Laura (March 22, 2016). "Why Is an Anti-Vaccine Documentary by a Proven Quack Being Taken Seriously?". New York Magazine. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
7. "About Vaxxed". Vaxxed the movie - Official website. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
8. ^ Kohn, Eric (April 1, 2016). "'Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe' is Designed to Trick You (Review)". Indiewire. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
9. Senneset, Ingeborg (March 28, 2016). "Robert De Niro har gjort seg til vaksinemotstandernes nyttige idiot". Aftenposten (Norway). Retrieved April 22, 2016.
10. Senapathy, Kavin (March 28, 2016). "No Andrew Wakefield, You're Not Being Censored And You Don't Deserve Due Process". Forbes. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
11. "The Lancet's Vaccine Retraction". The Wall Street Journal. February 3, 2010. Retrieved April 4, 2016. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
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16. Demicheli V, Rivetti A, Debalini MG, Di Pietrantonj C (February 2012). "Vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella in children". Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2: CD004407. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD004407.pub3. PMID 22336803.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
17. "Vaccines are not associated with autism: an evidence-based meta-analysis of case-control and cohort studies". Vaccine. 32 (29): 3623–9. June 2014. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2014.04.085. PMID 24814559. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
18. Maglione MA, Das L, Raaen L, et al. (August 2014). "Safety of vaccines used for routine immunization of U.S. children: a systematic review". Pediatrics. 134 (2): 325–37. doi:10.1542/peds.2014-1079. PMID 25086160.
19. ^ Scheck, Frank (April 1, 2016). "'Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
20. Koronyk, C.; et al. (December 17, 2014). "Televised medical talk shows-what they recommend and the evidence to support their recommendations: a prospective observational study". The British Medical Journal. doi:10.1136/bmj.g7346. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
21. ^ McNary, Dave (March 29, 2016). "Controversial Anti-Vaccination Documentary Gets Release From Cinema Libre (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety (magazine). Retrieved April 4, 2016.
22. Hannaford, Alex (April 2, 2013). "Andrew Wakefield: autism inc". The Guardian. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
23. "Data suppressed by the CDC proved that the MMR vaccine produces a 340% increased risk of autism in African-American boys". Snopes. February 3, 2015. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
24. "Journal takes down autism-vaccine paper pending investigation". Retraction Watch. August 27, 2014. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
25. Park, Alice (August 29, 2014). "Journal Retracts Paper that Questioned CDC Autism Study". Time (magazine). Retrieved March 28, 2016.
26. ^ Cara, Ed (April 4, 2016). "Controversial Documentary 'Vaxxed' Premiered In NYC This Weekend; We Decided To See It". Medical Daily. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
27. ^ "Anti-Vaccination Doc Vaxxed, Booted From Tribeca, Is a Tragic Fraud". Houston Press. April 7, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
28. Offit, Paul (April 11, 2016). "Anti-Vaccine Doc 'Vaxxed': A Doctor's Film Review". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
29. Grinberg, Emanuella (March 27, 2016). "Robert De Niro pulls anti-vaccine film from Tribeca after controversy". CNN. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
30. Merlan, Annie (March 25, 2016). "Robert De Niro Defends Anti-Vax Film Screening at Tribeca; Says It Will Allow for 'Conversation'". Jezebel (website). Retrieved March 26, 2016.
31. Lane, Penny (March 24, 2016). "An Open Letter to the Tribeca Film Festival about Vaxxed". Filmmaker (magazine). Retrieved March 26, 2016.
32. ^ Tarkan, Laurie (March 29, 2016). "Why Robert De Niro Promoted - then Pulled - Anti-Vaccine Documentary". Fortune (magazine). Retrieved March 30, 2016.
33. Lipkin, W. Ian (April 3, 2016). "Anti-Vaccination Lunacy Won't Stop". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 4, 2016. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
34. Glenza, Jessica (April 3, 2016). "Controversial Vaxxed film premieres in New York despite scientists' outcry". The Guardian. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
35. Drezner, Todd (March 30, 2016). "Todd Drezner's Open Letter to Cinema Libre Studio Regarding "Vaxxed"". Thinking Person's Guide To Autism. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
36. Ryzik, Melena (April 1, 2016). "Anti-Vaccine Film, Pulled From Tribeca Film Festival, Draws Crowd at Showing". The New York Times. Retrieved April 4, 2016.

External links

• Official website
• Vaxxed at IMDb
• Vaxxed at Rotten Tomatoes

• 2016 films
• American films
• MMR vaccine controversy