Doctors group criticizes ABC

The nation’s largest pediatricians’ group says ABC should cancel the first episode of a new series because it perpetuates the myth that vaccines can cause autism.

ABC’s new drama, “Eli Stone,” debuts on Thursday.

It features British actor Jonny Lee Miller as a prophet-like lawyer who in the opening episode argues in court that a flu vaccine made a child autistic. When it is revealed in court that an executive at the fictional vaccine maker didn’t allow his own child to get the shot, jurors side with the family, giving them a huge award.

“A television show that perpetuates the myth that vaccines cause autism is the height of reckless irresponsibility on the part of ABC and its parent company, the Walt Disney Co.,” said Dr. Renee R. Jenkins, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Greg Berlanti, a co-creator of the show, said the episode was fictional but designed “to participate in what is a national conversation” about a controversial subject.

“We would be deeply upset” if parents opted against vaccination because of the episode, he said.