Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search For a Cure.

New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. Hardback octavo, dustjacket, very good condition (in very good dustjacket), minimal edgewear. 298 pp. An American expert on vaccines challenges the modern-day false prophets who have so egregiously misled the public and exposes the opportunism of the lawyers, journalists, celebrities, and politicians who support them. Offit recounts the history of autism research and the exploitation of this tragic condition by advocates and zealots. A London researcher asserted that the combination measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (MMR) caused autism in children (later debunked). Some parents then declared that a mercury-containing preservative in several vaccines was responsible for the disease. Children with autism have also been placed on stringent diets, subjected to high-temperature saunas, bathed in magnetic clay, asked to swallow digestive enzymes and activated charcoal, and injected with various combinations of vitamins, minerals, and acids. He considers the manipulation of science in the popular media and the courtroom, and he explores why society is susceptible to the bad science and risky therapies put forward by many anti-vaccination activists.