Meet author Seth Mnookin at Down to a Science tonight.
Down to a Science, one of San Francisco's best monthly science events (run by our very own Kishore Hari), is back tonight to tackle the topic of vaccines and autism. Hari's events always bring together scientific experts and an engaged audience to foster an atmosphere of scientific learning.
Tonight's event features Seth Mnookin, author of The Panic Virus. From Down to a Science's website:
"In 1998 Andrew Wakefield, a British gastroenterologist with a history of self-promotion, published a paper with a shocking allegation: the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine might cause autism. The media seized hold of the story and, in the process, helped to launch one of the most devastating health scares ever. In the years to come Wakefield would be revealed as a profiteer in league with class-action lawyers, and he would eventually lose his medical license. Meanwhile one study after another failed to find any link between childhood vaccines and autism.
Yet the myth that vaccines somehow cause developmental disorders lives on. Despite the lack of corroborating evidence, it has been popularized by media personalities such as Oprah Winfrey and Jenny McCarthy.