Science, politics and policy in the minefield

By Amy Wallace

Originally appeared on ReportingOnHealth.org on August 30, 2010

Around 8 p.m. on the evening of Dec. 23, 2009, my 12-year-old son and I were puttering around the house when there was a sudden, loud banging at the front door.

“I have legal papers for Amy Wallace,” a brusque woman’s voice said from the other side of the door when I asked who was there. I was startled. The voice sounded unpleasant. It was dark out. It was the night before Christmas Eve. I didn’t feel like welcoming the voice in. Can you leave the papers outside, I asked? “Are you Amy Wallace?” barked the voice. “Uh,” I said, hesitating, my head muddy. Who was sending me legal papers?

“I’m going to take that as a yes!” the voice said, and not in a friendly way. “I saw you through the window. Consider yourself served!”

A little more than two months before, the November issue of Wired magazine had hit newsstands. The cover story was “An Epidemic of Fear: One Man’s Battle Against the Anti-vaccine Movement,” and I had written it. In part, the story was a profile of Dr. Paul Offit, the co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine and a leading proponent of vaccines for children. But the story also painted a portrait of a passionate movement led by people who believe vaccines injure and kill children. And on Dec. 23, one of those people sued me, Dr. Offit and Conde Nast, the company that publishes Wired, for one million dollars. Click to continue »

I just got this from a Wired reader in Australia who read my November cover story and was following the legal action that followed. She gave me permission to reprint it here:

My name is Toni McCaffery. I live in Australia and one year ago my beautiful
baby daughter Dana died from Pertussis on 9 March 2009
(www.danamccaffery.com). We live in an area with low vaccination rates and
my family knows only two well the harrassment and lunacy that Dr Offit, Amy
and WIRED magazine would have been subjected to as a result of just telling
the facts. I read with relief today that the libel lawsuit against you all
was dismissed. From all of my family, especially Dana, thank you for your
commitment to the facts. Sincerely, Toni

Last December, two days before Christmas, I was served with a $1 million lawsuit that alleged I had libeled a woman who was mentioned in my November 2009 cover story for Wired magazine: “An Epidemic of Fear: One Man’s Battle Against the Anti-Vaccine Movement”.

Today, the lawsuit was dismissed. Read the attached ruling here: Memorandum Opinion