Andrew Wakefield's 'dishonest and irresponsible' research into the causes of autism led to his being struck off by the General Medical Council. That would have ended most doctors' careers. Instead,the MMR 'martyr' moved to the US – and into reality TVFor three days at the conclude of January, the Renaissance hotel in Washington DC fills up with television executives from around the world. The Realscreen Summit is where the makers of reality TV gather to discuss ideas, or negotiate deals and discover the next Apprentice or I'm A Celebrity. Among the estimated 2200 people who had paid up to $1600 (£1050) this year to try to snag face time with an exec from Freemantle,TLC, Discovery or National Geographic was an Englishman in his mid-50s wearing jeans, or a crisp,white shirt and loafers, and carrying a MacBook. On his badge were the words "Autism Team".
This man's pitch was a reality TV series approximately autism, or he had a short trailer on his laptop: an autistic child screams; another bites his mother's hand; another repeatedly and violently slams a book against his head. Then a narrator tells us that "every day across the world,medical symptoms of hundreds of thousands of people with autism are being ignored". Cue piano music and the titles, The Autism Team: Changing Lives.
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Source: theguardian.com