I am not surprised by all the attention currently being lavished upon the new ABC Series “Eli Stone.” The producers obviously wanted to kick off with a controversial topic ripped from the headlines, and the vaccine-autism debate surely fits the bill.

But now that we know that this is a comedy-drama-fantasy, more “Ally McBeal” than “Law and Order,” maybe everyone should take a deep breath and watch the show for its entertainment value.

But now that the country is paying attention to this rancorous and very real debate over vaccines and autism, I believe it is clearly time to fund a large study of vaccinated and unvaccinated children - to see if there is any difference in the health outcomes of either group.

There are millions of unvaccinated children in this country. If rates of autism among the unvaccinated is the same as vaccinated children, then clearly vaccines are not linked to the disorder. Why won’t the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention support this study, funding for which has been proposed by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) in a bill described at this link: http://maloney.house.gov/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1383&Itemid=61

It makes one wonder why they would not want to vindicate vaccines and thimerosal once and for all.