Professor worries Stephan case could turn them into anti-vaccination “martyrs”
CALGARY — Some experts worry the continuing legal saga of a southern Alberta couple convicted of failing to get proper medical treatment for their son who died of bacterial meningitis could turn them into martyrs for the alternative medicine and anti-vaccination movement.
Tim Caulfield, the research director of the University of Alberta’s Health Law and Science Policy Group, said he worries about David Stephan’s continued public statements he and his wife were targeted because they didn’t vaccinate their children.
“I hope we don’t have that incredible polarization but that could be one of the downsides of this whole event — this couple being viewed almost as a martyr for the alternative practitioner side of the story,” said Caulfield.
“It almost doesn’t matter if we think David is a credible source of information. It almost doesn’t matter if he has something insightful to say. The problem is he keeps the narrative alive. He helps to keep the myth alive.”