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Tribeca Film Festival, Robert De Niro Pull Anti-Vaccination Film

theodp writes: USA Today reports that one day after defending the scheduled screening of a controversial documentary linking vaccinations to autism, Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Robert De Niro announced that the film is being pulled from the event. The film, Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe, was scheduled to debut April 24. It is directed by Andrew Wakefield, known to many as the father of the anti-vaccine movement. Wakefield authored a 1998 report on vaccinations and autism that was later retracted, He also had his medical license revoked. The decision to include the film in the festival resulted in outrage from many who are upset that the film's inclusion could offer legitimacy to a study debunked by leading scientists. "My intent in screening this film was to provide an opportunity for conversation around an issue that is deeply personal to me and my family," said De Niro, who has a child with autism. "But after reviewing it over the past few days with the Tribeca Film Festival team and others from the scientific community, we do not believe it contributes to or furthers the discussion I had hoped for."

4 of 279 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Doing the ecological epidemiology by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 1, Troll

    More recent studies point to older fathers (those who have a kid after age 50) as a contributor to risk of ASD. This is not a new theory, but still not completely validated as many factors complicate things. But, it sounds plausible and can also explain the statistical rise in ASD as more and more children are born to older parents.

  2. Re:Doing the ecological epidemiology by Baldrson · · Score: 1, Troll

    JBMcB writes: "Because doing a wide-ranging statistical analysis on something as wide-ranging as "Autism," which is a diagnosis and not a particular disorder, usually results ..." spurious correlations.

    It is the job of epidemiologists to do wide-ranging ecological correlations and use standard statistical techniques to discount spurious correlations.

    If an "epidemiologist" says they aren't going to so such ecological correlations because they give rise to spurious correlations (aka "ecological fallacy", "correlation doesn't imply causation", etc.) they should immediately be fired.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  3. Re:what happened to /. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Well... the insulin issue ISN'T cut and dried. The entire treatment of diabetes is highly questionable given that it's a disease born of dietary abuse.

    It's no surprise that diabetes (like obesity) was exceedingly rare until refined sugars entered the mainstream diet.

  4. Re: Health care advice from movie actors? by MightyMartian · · Score: 1, Troll

    Jesus fucking Christ. The guy was caught with a faked study that he was using to try to promote his own alternative to MMR. Let's be clear. MMR does not cause autism. There never was a link, just a faked study that Wakefield and some equally disgusting lawyers promoted.

    And no vaccine is given to an infant, you fucking retard, and the rest is just ignorant blather literally made up.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.