Actor Jim Carrey holds Evan McCarthy, son of actress Jenny McCarthy (second left) during a march calling for healthier vaccines June 4, 2008 in Washington, DC.
Since her son Evan was diagnosed with autism in 2005, former Playboy Playmate Jenny McCarthy has become an activist for the disease. She’s written books on her family’s experience, and is president of the autism research center Generation Rescue.
McCarthy has come under fire for continuing to link vaccines with autism and advising parents to follow alternative vaccine schedules — she argues that children are given too many vaccines at birth — even though the link between vaccines and autism has long been debunked. A recent study found that most kids whose parents follow “alternate” vaccination schedules don’t end up fully immunized.