Seth Mnookin says Katie Couric is fear-mongering on HPV vaccine

Seth Mnookin, author of The Panic Virus, and blogging under that same title, writes, “Katie Couric promotes dangerous fear mongering with show on the HPV vaccine.” Excerpt:

On July 10, 2012, I received an email from a producer at Katie, Katie Couric’s daytime talk show, about a show the program was planning on vaccines. Here was the pitch:

I am interested in talking to Seth Mnookin about his book ‘The Panic Virus.’ I am researching a story about parents who opt out of immunizations for their children because of their personal beliefs. As Seth knows, parents’ fears have lead to a resurgence of diseases like measles and Pertussis and it poses a real danger to society. The goal of the hour will be to better inform the public that still questions links between vaccination and autism and need to better understand the scientific truth.

Over a period of about a month, the producer and I spoke for a period of several hours before she told me that the show was no longer interested in hearing from me on air. Still, I came away from the interaction somewhat heartened: The producer seemed to have a true grasp of the dangers of declining vaccination rates and she stressed repeatedly that her co-workers, including Couric herself, did not view this as an “on the one hand, on the other hand” issue but one in which facts and evidence clearly lined up on one side — the side that overwhelmingly supports the importance and efficacy of vaccines.

Apparently, that was all a load of crap. Here’s the teaser for tomorrow’s show on the HPV vaccine: 

The HPV vaccine is considered a life-saving cancer preventer … but is it a potentially deadly dose for girls? Meet a mom who claims her daughter died after getting the HPV vaccine, and hear all sides of the HPV vaccine controversy.

….But hey, you know, what’s years of data based on hundreds of thousands of verifiable results when you have a single “mom who claims her daughter died after getting the HPV vaccine,” right Katie?

Couric has side-stepped the evidence and journalism ethics on other occasions with other health care topics, as we’ve written about in the past.  Examples:

• Crusading for colon cancer without evidence
• Conflicting and crusading news coverage of colonoscopies
• NBC Today show hypes medical technologies

• Katie Couric cancer fundraisers violate ethics
  

Addendum on December 6:

Many other voices have joined in the criticism of Couric’s program.  Among them:

• Matthew Herper on Forbes: Four Ways Katie Couric Stacked the Deck Against Gardasil
• Slate:  Katie Couric Gives False Balance for Anti-Vaccination Message
• Daily Beast: Has Couric Lost Her Cred on HPV?
• TIME: Is Katie Couric The Next Jenny McCarthy?
• USA Today opinion piece: Did Couric put ratings above science and health?: Column
• Salon: Katie Couric gets called out for promoting bogus science on HPV …
• Tara Haelle:  More on Katie Couric, who doubles down even as critical coverage grows

Addendum on December 11: Couric blogged: “Following the show, and in fact before it even aired, there was criticism that the program was too anti-vaccine and anti-science, and in retrospect, some of that criticism was valid. We simply spent too much time on the serious adverse events that have been reported in very rare cases following the vaccine. More emphasis should have been given to the safety and efficacy of the HPV vaccines.”  But this statement drew even more criticism, as in the following:

• CBS News reported: “One bioethicist opined that presenting the anecdotal reports of extreme side effects did more negative damage to people than it positively contributed to a debate.“The problem in TV and all media, (is) the human interest drives the story,” Dr. Arthur Caplan, director of the division of medical ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, told CBS News last week. “In science and public health, it doesn’t, or it’s at risk of grave harm.” He added, “If you want to do a show every day that spotlights anecdotal claims about the health effects of cell phones or curative powers of megavitamins or dangers of airplane contrail vapors, you can certainly fill up lots of programming, but I don’t think you’re doing anyone a service.”
• An LA Times columnist wrote: “Katie Couric backs off from her anti-vaccine show – but not enough.”
• On the Respectful Insolence blog: “It’s gratifying to see that Couric and her producers are feeling the heat. It’s obvious from a rather blatant notpology that Couric posted on that wretched hive of scum and antivaccine quackery, The Huffington Post, which she entitled ‘Furthering the Conversation on the HPV Vaccine.’ I suppose that’s what Couric managed to do, but so minimally as to be virtually pointless. Basically, what Couric does is whine, justify, and (sort of) partially apologize for screwing up so royally.”

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