The Bernstein Brief: Cavallari App Spreads Dangerous Lies
By Dan Bernstein-
(CBS) Jay Cutler's wife, Kristin Cavallari, has a new iPhone app, and through it she's spreading dangerous, false information about vaccines causing autism.
Relying on the opinions of the thoroughly discredited Joseph Mercola, the new Jenny McCarthy is polluting unfortunate minds with the same kind of misinformation that got Mercola cited by the U.S. FDA for illegal claims in 2005, 2006 and twice in 2011. Mercola leans on long-debunked, falsified "studies" of Thimerosal in vaccines, and he goes so far as to allege that recent flu pandemics were hoaxes foisted by a governmental conspiracy.
Cavallari's name and app were trending Wednesday, which means too many eyes on such quackery. Dumb people listen to famous people, and we have McCarthy to thank in large part for the return of measles and mumps, now back and able to mutate into more dangerous forms.
And McCarthy dated Brian Urlacher, remember, which connects the Bears doubly to an insidious, ignorant peril that shows no signs of abating.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. Follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.