Actor Jim Carrey has issued a public apology to the family of an autistic teenager after he posted a picture of the youngster online during a rant about California's vaccination policies.
The Hollywood funnyman shared a series of angry tweets rallying against a new law that makes vaccinations mandatory for school children in the state.
He accused authorities of using immunisations that contain traces of mercury, which is believed by some to be linked to autism.
Carrey also posted on Twitter pictures of three autistic children, including an image of 14-year-old Alex Echols. The move infuriated the teenager's mother, who said the star did not have permission to publish the picture.
Carrey later removed the picture and issued an apology to the Echols family.
He wrote: "I'd like to apologise to the Echols family and others for posting a pic of their kids w/o (without) permission. I didn't mean to cause them distress."
Alex's mother Karen replied: "Jim Carrey we appreciate the apology."
Carrey became an opponent of mandatory vaccinations while dating his now ex-girlfriend Jenny McCarthy, who has a son with autism.
Australian Medical Association Vice President Stephen Parnis told SBS earlier this year that the evidence in favour of immunisation was “absolutely incontrovertible”, but sometimes ignored by well-meaning parents.
Dr Parnis urged families to “for goodness sake, talk to experts”.
“These parents, often with the best of intentions, think that they know better than the overwhelming weight of evidence from the scientific profession,” he said.
“Sometimes they are susceptible to misinformation… In a world where social media means that anyone has a platform, it does not mean that they have the ability to understand what is truth and what is absolutely misinformation.”
