How many of you have read Peter Pan? Do you remember Tinker Bell? Do you remember her saying that every time someone says that they do not believe in fairies, a fairy dies? It is the same with immunisations. Every time someone says they don't believe in immunisations, a child will die. And if that "someone" is on the radio or the television, it may be more than one child. A statement made on the radio or on TV has spurious gravitas. Ben Goldacre is furious with LBC's Jeni Barnett because someone, somewhere will, as a result of that broadcast, decide not to give their child the MMR immunisation.
So says Dr Crippen. It's the nub of why Jeni Barnett and the resulting attempts to silence well meaning bloggers worry us so much.