***UPDATE: Ms. Broussard has a blog! But sadly, she doesn't have the cojones enough to have the comments enabled. You can e-mail her though. She seems to have a real "thing" for Dr. Sampson. Failed relationship perhaps? Professionally speaking, of course. Oh and after perusing her blog I see she also wrote an article on Dog Reiki. Seems she's an expert on a lot of things. You can check out her blog here: The Blog Of Failed Relationships. I'm stopping now. Or I may start to say some mean things.


In an article (Everyone's Gone Nuts)written by Meredith Broussard and published in Harper's Magazine, Ms. Broussard downplays the threat of food allergies as it relates to our children. In her opinion, people today over inflate the threat of food allergies. She blasts FAAN and Dr. Hugh Sampson for over inflating the threat, the statistics, and the rate of which children have food allergies today. Ms. Broussard, who is not an expert in Food Allergies, is wrong on some of her data. I'd like to get personal with my feeling on Ms. Broussard, but I'll refrain (for the time being). As someone who claims to have food allergies (she's allergic to vermouth'?'), I would think that Ms. Broussard would want to advocate for food allergies and not give fodder to the nay sayers. It's a shame that this woman would write such an article. As a parent of a food allergic child, whose had to administer an EPI pen to her child as he's laying in her arms swollen, and wheezing, and oozing from every part of his body, I don't need someone to tell me in a magazine article whether food allergies are real or not or whether they are a real threat to my child or not. I've seen it with my own eyes and I live it every day. Lucky is she who does not have to live this threat to her child but can go on radio shows and open her mouth and spew misinformation. Shame on Ms. Broussard. Where's your accountability? Yes, the first amendment grants you the right to write whatever garbage you want, but it's a shame that magazines or newspapers will print an opinion piece as fact. It's also a shame that responsible journalism is a thing of the past.

You can listen to an interview here:



Here is FAAN's response:Harper’s Magazine Article Response
Dear FAAN Members,

I am personally troubled by recent magazine and radio reports indicating that the danger presented by food allergies is exaggerated and that we are making much ado about nothing.

Contrary to what these media reports indicate, FAAN’s advice and education programs are based upon peer-reviewed medical studies showing that food allergy is increasing, that children and adults die from reactions to food, and that vigilance to avoid eating an allergy-causing food is the only way to prevent a reaction. These medical studies are the source of the facts and statistics listed in the Media section. Additionally, we know that in spite of everyone’s best efforts, reactions will occur.

I know it sounds unimaginable that a perfectly safe food can cause a catastrophic reaction within minutes. But you know better than anyone else that this is a reality for someone with a food allergy.

My concern is that those who don’t believe that food allergies should be taken seriously will believe these reports and feel justified in not taking action to protect a child with food allergies from having a reaction.

We need you, as parents, concerned relatives, school staff, and caregivers, to double your efforts to educate your community so that no one relaxes their efforts to keep our children safe. Let FAAN know if these erroneous media reports contribute to any incidents or attempts by schools or organizations to relax effective controls.

The FAAN staff and I will continue to work with our Medical Advisory Board and our Board of Directors to educate the media on your behalf.

The only way we can keep our children safe is to use the science to educate others. Let the science speak for us; it will be here long after the sensational news reports. If you read the article in Harper’s Magazine, feel free to send a letter to the editor at letters@harpers.org or Letters, Harper’s Magazine, 666 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

Sincerely,

Anne Muñoz-Furlong
Founder and CEO

***Another update:
A response from Scott Sicherer, MD to the radio segment (on their website):
My name is Scott Sicherer. I am a pediatric allergist and researcher (government and private funded) specializing in food allergy. I am co-author on most of the studies that Ms. Broussard "quotes" in her Harpers article where she implies conspiracy and trivializes this significant medical problem. I am also a volunteer medical advisor to FAAN, an organization that she mocks but is, in my view, a non-profit that has clearly increased safety for those who suffer from this medical illness. I mention these points because by Ms. Broussard's reasoning these personal involvements would probably disqualify me from discussing food allergy (e.g., conspiracy to exagerate). Apparently, NPR also sees some odd virtue in having a non-medical expert journalist be a spokesperson for health issues. I have never "posted" to sites like this and I am a bit reluctant to draw any additional attention to Ms. Broussard's hurtful, confused and potentially dangerous comments, but I was obviously compelled to do so...It is easy to play "debate team" with any topic but here it has become irresponsible and, indeed, potentially dangerous. I am glad to see so many listeners have spoken up on their disappointment and made important points that I will not reiterate. I would be pleased to provide actual evidence-based educational information about food allergy on this "show"--but maybe that is too uninteresting for the media? I hope that is not the case.

A response from the Leonard Lopate Show:

Thank you all for your comments. In order to provide another perspective on this important health issue, we are planning an interview with Dr. Hugh Sampson from Mount Sinai's Department of Allergy and Immunology.
The segment will be scheduled for later in January, and we hope that you tune in and contribute to that segment.

I think the major problem with all of this is that the woman is not an expert, that she threw around erroneous facts and that she made unsubstantiated claims that FAAN and DEY have fueled the food allergy frenzy because of money. She also took on 2 very respected Doctors in the medical community. The straw that broke the food allergy camels back was when she made reference to food allergy parents being in a frenzy over their childrens allergies. Maybe some parents are. I'm not denying that. But lady, if you witnessed what we witnessed our children go through, you'd be in a frenzy too. And if you weren't, you wouldn't be much of a parent.


If you doubt the seriousness of food allergies, take a look at this page In Memory - Peanut Allergy.com

Labels: Bad Journalism, Food Allergies