Let me begin here by acknowledging that I am big fan of Matthew Herper‘s medical reporting at Forbes, enough so that any day now I may charter a Madison, Wisconsin based fan club and start passing out leaflets and lapel pins.
His work on the business of big pharma and how it works, his insights into the actual pharmaceutical products are clear, rational, and always leave me with the feeling that I am joining a civilized discussion of issues that matter. In fact, civility and rationality are hallmarks of the typical Herper piece.
He’s also a reporter who has been willing to stand up for the public health importance of vaccines in story after story. To mention just a few examples: from last November, With Vaccines, Bill Gates Changes the World Again; from February, Who Would Ever Have Thought That A Vaccine to Protect Babies Brains Would Be A Hard Sell; and from early April, The Gardasil Problem: How the U.S. Lost Faith in A Promising Vaccine.
And just last week: “Why Bill Gates is a Hero and Donald Trump is a Zero”.
The last post picked up on Trump’s recent appearance on CNBC, part of a series of pronouncements from the celebrity real estate developer that he believes that (loud sigh here from Deborah) vaccines cause autism. This, as Herper tartly notes, went entirely unchallenged by the network host, despite the fact that any such connection has been debunked by numerous sources possessing actual scientific knowledge. He continues: “Luckily for me, someone smarter and richer than Trump – twenty times richer – has already done the bulk of the job of correcting this statement. On national television no less,” Herper writes. He’s talking about an earlier interview, on CNN, with Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
In that 2011 interview, Gates didn’t mince words. He called the so-called connection between vaccines and autism “an absolute lie” responsible for the deaths of thousands of children. And Herper doesn’t mince words either: “Trump’s statement that we have nothing to lose by trying out giving fewer vaccines or even changing the vaccine schedule, which makes it more likely that kids will miss shots, is simply wrong.”
Herper then backs up his case by reviewing the solid evidence behind vaccination as well as reviewing the reasons why a certain segment of society refuses to accept that evidence. He provides links to the studies that support his comments and he concludes by reminding us that we shouldn’t blindly follow where politics and celebrity lead us: “We should at least admit that medicine is more complicated than an episode of ‘The Apprentice’.”
Did Herper’s readers then admit that point, you ask? The post got 160, 807 views (at least according to Forbes when I wrote this piece). It logged 441 comments; 257 were called out. Some agree – “I have my “issues” with Bill Gates on several items, but on vaccines he is spot-on 100% correct. Donald Trump is a chump.” But the majority are firmly, and often furiously, anti-vaccine: “What a ridiculous statement. Vaccinating kids causes many illnesses far and above what the vaccine is designed to do.” And many are less, um, polite on that point than the one I quoted.
In other words, this is actually the kind of comment thread any of us expect when we dive into an issue that has drawn a very organized, very passionate opposition. But the predictable storm-and-fury is not what makes this such an interesting comment thread. It’s worth reading because you can find Herper patiently answering even the crankiest comments, carefully offering up evidence that supports his points. And however cranky the readers, his tone remains respectful and rational throughout.
So here’s what I end up wondering. Can a good journalist taking this much time and trouble help turn an issue around? Can a multitude? Do we have a multitude trying this hard? I’d like to think so but even if so – again if we take a lesson from this particular comment thread – it isn’t obvious that rational argument is actually effective here. Still without it, and without this kind of determination to tackle the problem, we face the risk of going even further backwards in the matter of public health.
And that’s why I wanted to offer up this shout-out to Herper’s work. And it’s why you’ll find me, this weekend, working on my leaflet and lapel pin designs.
— Deborah Blum
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