You won't believe what this Playboy model is suing for.

Riddle me this. Why do two reality TV stars have more influence than all the scientists of the world combined when it comes to the benefits of vaccination?

Because morons have bigger megaphones, that’s why.

Jenny McCarthy, 41, panellist on The View, has been campaigning against vaccination; therefore SCIENCE, for years now.

She’s been telling her TV audience of millions that vaccinations gave her son autism. She does so despite the fact that: a) The link between autism and vaccination has been categorically disproved by scientists; b) Her son’s original autism diagnosis has been questioned; and c) Jenny is not a doctor, scientist, or medical expert of any kind.

Jenny wilfully and biliously spreads lies with the same speed a deadly illness might infect – oh, I don’t know – an entire city, and beyond. Sadly, however, she is not alone. She joins a growing and increasingly vocal movement of people in the developed world who reject the science of vaccines and the validity of these medicines.

And in the same week as there was an outbreak of measles in New York City (a disease that was eradicated in the Big Apple more than 15 years ago thanks to VACCINES), Jenny has got herself an equally vacuous, celebrity side-kick.

Kristin Cavallari, a woman famous for being “the bitchy one” on reality TV shows Laguna Beach and The Hills, has joined the anti-vax movement; the groups who wilfully spread this misinformation about vaccines and prey on scared, nervous new parents.

Kristin, 27, is pregnant with her second child to sports-playing husband Jay Cutler and she’s just announced that she will not be vaccinating her kids. *Face palm*. Kristin’s reason for not protecting her children from curable contagious disease? She has read too many books. Too. Many. Books.

In a recent HuffPo interview, the professional bikini-wearer spewed forth a series of statistics so recklessly false, they don’t warrant republication here. By not vaccinating her family, Kristen puts into danger not only her own kids, but anyone who comes into contact with them because that’s how diseases like measles spread: one unvaccinated child at a time. Her incorrect belief that vaccinations cause autism (which has been disproven by countless scientists) is now putting countless lives at risk.

This is what Kristin had to say on the matter: “There’s really scary statistics out there, and to each their own. Autism wasn’t prevalent — like it is now — years ago, so something is going on, whether it’s the chemicals in our food or the vaccines… Something is happening, and we can’t really ignore that.”

Kristen continues: “I choose to believe that I think it’s in the vaccines but, again, to each their own and that’s where I stand on it.”

And therein lies the big, shiny, whopper of a problem: Kristin chooses to believe a scientifically proven un-truth. Jenny McCarthy, too, makes a deliberate choice to believe in scientifically proven un-truths.

It would be one thing if these women were ordinary people holding private ‘opinions’. But we’re talking about high-profile women with television shows, media columns, paparazzi and entertainment news sites at their disposal to disseminate their views. Their influence is both vast and undeniable.

In an era where we pay disproportionate attention to reality TV stars, the attractive wives of athletes and former Playboy models (Jenny McCarthy, 1993), these people become our social commentators by default. And sadly, viewers of these shows often take the beliefs or positions of the stars as gospel.

Jenny and Kristin both got to where they are – stuck in a vortex of being famous for the sake of it – by being attractive and loud. Now, that’s fine. That’s how it goes in a world of celebrity and in the era of reality TV. But when it does matter is when they start using their significant influence to peddle falsehoods that put lives in danger.

Usually I wouldn’t comment on the IQ of female celebrities, but these two are getting more media mileage than any scientist when it comes to a medical issue.

It’s not right. They’re morons with megaphones, and that needs to change.