Jim Carrey Goes Solo Against Vaccines

Jim Carrey wrote an article for the Huffington Post about vaccines.  He’s an actor known for his parts in Dumb and Dumber and Cable Guy. I’m sure he’s also a really nice guy.  Here are my answers to some of his comments.  Feel free to add more in my own comments section.

a ruling against causation in three cases out of more than 5000 hardly proves that other children won’t be adversely affected by the MMR, let alone that all vaccines are safe.

The special masters in the vaccine court went over a lot of evidence from both sides of the argument and decided that there is no evidence that vaccines cause autism.  The families who signed up to be a part of the omnibus knew that the three test cases represented everybody.  Jim Carrey seems to suggest that this isn’t fair, but how would he suggest the courts fairly judge thousands of cases with an untrue major premise (vaccines cause autism). Carrey is really careful about his wording, but his argument dances around having to admit that the special court executed his sacred cow.  He struggles with grasping at a new goal post to widen – completely safe vaccines and less of them.

If we are to believe that the ruling of the ‘vaccine court’ in these cases mean that all vaccines are safe, then we must also consider the rulings of that same court in the Hannah Polling and Bailey Banks cases, which ruled vaccines were the cause of autism and therefore assume that all vaccines are unsafe.

The ruling of the vaccine court was not that “all vaccines are safe” nor was it meant to be.  It was that they don’t cause autism.  Hannah Poling and Bailey Banks had other conditions that manifested some features of autism.  These are children with unique, rare conditions who shouldn’t be used as ‘hasty generalizations’ to prop up Jim Carrey’s crusade against vaccines.

cannot be dissuaded by a show of sympathy and a friendly invitation to look for the ‘real’ cause of autism anywhere but within the lucrative vaccine program.

Carrey suggests that there have not been official investigations into the hypothesis that vaccines cause autism.  He is wrong.  The issue has been studied and found to be untrue.  If Carrey would like to continue studying the issue on his own dime because of his distrust of pharmaceutical companies, he is welcome to fund those studies.  As it stands now, he won’t trust anyone but himself and those who believe in his pet sacred cow.

With vaccines being the fastest growing division of the pharmaceutical industry, isn’t it possible that profits may play a part in the decision-making?

This is coming from a man who makes millions of dollars per movie.  It’s been suggested that TV and film causes autism too.  Should we not question his motives for continuing to make movies when there is speculation that they cause autism?

Paul Offit, the vaccine advocate and profiteer, who helped invent a Rotavirus vaccine is said to have paved the way for his own multi-million dollar windfall while serving on the very council that eventually voted his Rotavirus vaccine onto our children’s schedule.

He wrote a book called ‘Autism’s False Prophets’, and all the profits went to autism research.  Some “profiteer” he is!  I wonder whether Jim Carrey has donated all his profits from a movie to autism research.

I’ve also heard it said that no evidence of a link between vaccines and autism has ever been found.

He makes a good point here. No credible evidence of a link between vaccines and autism has ever been found.

These forward thinking vets also decided to remove thimerosal from animal vaccines in 1992, and yet this substance, which is 49% mercury, is still in human vaccines.

He fails to mention that this substance is no longer in mandatory child vaccines because it was removed seven years ago with no reduction in autism.

While ingredients like aluminum, mercury, ether, formaldehyde and anti-freeze may help preserve and enhance vaccines, they can be toxic as well.

Jim Carrey is not a chemist. Maybe he doesn’t know that anti-freeze is not a vaccine ingredient. He probably doesn’t understand that ethylmercury is not the same as methylmercury. He doesn’t mention that aluminum is found in far higher quantities in breast milk and formula.

We don’t know enough to announce that all vaccines are safe!

Well, nearly our entire population is vaccinated. People die from accidents even when wearing seat belts. Should we say they are unsafe too?

we need more independent vaccine research not done by the drug companies selling the vaccines or by organizations under their influence. Studies that cannot be internally suppressed.

Perhaps we should, but then again, independent studies have not been the best example of untainted perfection (Geier & Geier, Wakefield), so perhaps we should be skeptical of making sweeping claims of conspiracy when responding to evidence that doesn’t fit your unwavering belief in a vaccine-autism connection.

*UPDATE* – Go to LBRB autism blog for more great arguments against Jim Carrey.

**UPDATE** – Go HERE for accurate vaccine information!