Jenny McCarthy, courtesy Playboy Enterprises
Jenny McCarthy, pictured above, is not a medical expert. After she became convinced that her son’s autism was triggered by vaccines, the actress, model, and “Playmate” associated herself with Generation Rescue, which promotes the unfounded anti-scientific belief that autism is caused by vaccines. McCarthy has appeared on Larry King Live, in 2008, Youtube here, Oprah and currently co-hosts “The View,” a talk show on daytime television on the ABC network. ABC’s decision to hire her in this role was criticized in NJ.com, PLOS, the LA Times.
The problem is one needs nothing more than notoriety to become a pundit, and “pundits” who speak convincingly while they utter nonsense can cause real harm.