Wade Rankin Speaks Wisdom to the Trib

I wonder if Wade and I have ever disagreed on anything.

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE TRIB

I wish he would write more so I didn't have to as much.

Scott Brown for Senate in MA, He Supports Those with Autism

UPDATE: Scott Brown has won in MA. He has put himself out there in support of our kids... all you in Mass... get to know his staff, hold his feet to the fire and make sure he supports our kids with autism!

A bit late to the game, however...



Autism dad Doug Flutie is endorsing Scott Brown for Senate and so am I.



Scott Brown, a tax cutter and one who advocates cuts in government spending, wrote publicly to ask his governor NOT to cut from Autism spending. From last May:

Brown: cut to autism funding hurts the deepest
Posted May 13, 2009 10:06 AM
By: State Senator Scott Brown
Guest Columnist

Governor Patrick may be under a lot of pressure working out a budget for FY10, as it is one of the worst fiscal periods in decades, but that is no excuse for recklessly cutting funding for some of the most important programs in our State Government.

The Governor is adamantly advocating state spending reductions for the FY10 budget. He is proposing that the state implement a deep local aid cut which will reduce public safety jobs and seriously hinder progress in our communities. He is also proposing cuts to public higher education which will minimize the chances of many to attain a useful and valid education, as well as an even bigger decrease for human services and health care.

The latter is of particular interest. This decrease in human services and health care is going to harm a significant portion of the population. Many of these people I know on a personal level and are constituents of mine who have rallied for support. Those who could possibly take the biggest blow from these difficult cuts are the families of children with autism. Autism is the fastest growing developmental disability and is presently it occurs in 1 and 150 child births, with an annual growth of 10-17%.

Families of children with autism struggle daily. For some, the lives of their other children are put on the back burner because caring for a child with autism is a full-time, consuming responsibility.

According to the ARC of Massachusetts, whose mission statement is to enhance the lives of individuals who have intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families, if the Governor’s plan passes 11,000 disabled children and adults will lose support services. In addition, more than 1,000 people will lose their jobs, and 200 children will lose part or all of their services due to the $85 million in cuts or proposed reductions to local aid, autism/human services, and employment services.

Regardless of whatever agenda the Governor claims to have for these individuals and their families, these actions could have dire consequences. Health care is an issue to which I am proactively involved, having co-sponsored over 35 different health care bills directly impacting the Commonwealth and most recently signing on to three pieces of legislation that help and support individuals with autism and their families.

One bill would establish a tax credit for employers who hire individuals on the autism spectrum. The tax credit will be 50% of the employee’s gross wage earned in the first year and would decrease in years following. Another bill would create a special commission to investigate and study services and supports for individuals on the autism spectrum. Lastly, I have co-sponsored a bill to require health insurers in Massachusetts to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder. It includes habilitative or rehabilitative care, pharmacy care, psychiatric care, psychological care, and therapeutic care.

I hope that we can find a way around cutting aid to those that are in need and that Autism Awareness will continue to create attention so that individuals in the future will attain the help and support that they deserve.

State Senator Scott Brown (R-Wrentham) represents Needham as part of the Norfolk, Bristol, and Middlesex District.

Got any friends in Mass? Let them know that Brown supports our kids, even when they cost lots of money!

Our kids need all the support in Washington that they can get.

Chase The Hope

Vote starting Friday:

Barbara Loe Fisher Sues Paul Offit, Amy Wallace and Conde Nast for Defamation in the Wired Article

Last year Paul Offit was sued by JB Handley for lying about him in his book, "Autism's False Profits". Offit wrote an apology letter and had to donate money to Jenny McCarthy's favorite charity.

This represents the second such suit in about a year, and stems from the claim that Offit made in the atrociously biased November 2009 Wired Magazine article, "An Epidemic of Fear: One man's battle against the anti-vaccine movement" in which Dr. Offit claimed that Barbara Loe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center "lies".

"Kaflooey theories' make him (Offit)crazy, especially if they catch on. Fisher, who has long been the media's go-to interview for what some in the autism arena call 'parents [sic] rights,' makes him particularly nuts, as in 'You just want to scream.'The reason? 'She lies/ he says flatly.' "

Now if Dr. Offit truly believes that Fisher is lying to the public and passing on "Kafloey theories" that are catching on, then certainly it is his duty to list them and correct the record. But that is not what he does here. He calls her a liar, fails to tell us what bad vaccine info she is passing on, and then retreats back into the St. Paul the Oppressed martyer stance that we have come to see so often now.

"Barbara Loe Fisher inflames people against me. And wrongly. I’m in this for the same reason she is. I care about kids. Does she think Merck is paying me to speak about vaccines? Is that the logic?” he asks, exasperated. (Merck is doing no such thing). But when it comes to mandating vaccinations, Offit says, Fisher is right about him: He is an adamant supporter."

Ms. Fisher's opinions and research are among those that I have listened to over the years. If there is something that she is lying to me about, then Offit should be telling me, right? So if she is lying, why isn't he telling me where?

This may be to be a repeat of the episode wherin Offit claimed that CBS news correspondent Sharyl Attkisson lied in a piece about him in this story:



Offit's response to the story:

“Did (reporter Sharyl Attkisson) lie about whether or not we provided materials? Of course,”

...but when the Orange County Register spoke to him and...

"Asked whether any specific facts in the story were wrong, he said it was primarily the tone he objected to."

Is the same thing happening with Fisher? I guess we will find out.

Amy Wallace and Conde Nast are also named in the suit for publishing the information. Wallace interviewed Fisher, and had every opportunity to both require Offit to provide proof of his charge, and allow Fisher to defend her self against specific charges of lying. But if this happened as it should have if it was being properly researched and written by a responsible journalist, none of that seems to have made its way into Wired. Fisher charges it never happened at all. From the suit:

"Before publishing the article, Wallace engaged in a lengthy interview with Plaintiff Fisher by phone and in communications with her via electronic mail. She never questioned in that interview Plaintiff Fisher's honesty or integrity and did not thereafter confront her with the Offit charge that she was a liar and invite her to respond."

Merely a charge of telling lies, with out even mentioning what lies she is telling.

On this blog I called the head of the AAP a liar mitruther, and then I spent a significant amount of time detailing the lie and the documentation showing that he was full of bologna. Certainly Dr. Offit should at least be required to do what a little blogger like me must do when attacking public figures.

Personally, I am no fan of law suits, but at this point, I want people under oath when talking about things, because the BS is so thick in this debate, and the accountability for flat out lying so thin, that something has got to put the breaks on the corruption.

Down With the Bullies in Britain

Polly Tommy sees no reason to bow to the threats being made by the establishment that she not only ignore Andrew Wakefield as a source of help for our children, but that she throw him under the bus along with the rest of the cowards that are carrying the establishments' handbags to save their place at the table. She has called out the bullies and the cowards who are bending to the bullies over at Age of Autism.

They even threatened to shut her magazine down. Now how can they do that if the free market wants to buy it because they know that the Editor in Chief has bigger balls than most UK docs and better ethics than all of the UK medical establishment,and will print pieces that are in the best interests of children and not in the best interests of her getting invited to cocktail parties?

Hats off to the British jack asses who are making medical decisions and giving struggling families advice based on political pressure. I am sure that is exactly what inspired them to go to med school in the first place. "If only I can become a doctor who is wise and brave enough to stand for the health and safety of the vulnerable and voiceless no matter what turn my back on suffering children in chronic pain and get my nose as far up the posteriors of the ambitious, profiteering, elitist power brokers as I can in order to become a more prominent cog in the corrupt system, then I will die knowing that I have fulfilled my destiny in this world".

I already have my subscription to Autism File Magazine, do you? Maybe next week I will get a second.

And start buying from the advertisers that stand by Polly. Write them and let them know that you support their support of Polly.

And to highlight the travesty that is going on against our kids in the UK, I am reposting "Selective Hearing". If you have not seen it, watch it. And thank God your child got sick in the US and not 'over there'.

What the hell has happened to Churchill's England?

Selective Hearing, Brian Deer and the GMC



Down with Bullies.

The Media Misrepresents Tim Buie on Dietary Intervention in Autism

Today there is a slew of stories in the media about a study by headed by Tim Buie of Harvard that claim that dietary interventions doesn't work for autism.

Except that I sat through Dr. Buie's lecture at the Maine CDC Autism conference last year while he talked about how dietary interventions do work for some with autism.

He emphasized that at least 30% of those with autism have GI issues, the GFCF diet was NOT appropriate for all people with autism, but was for some, that the SCD diet showed good promise for a small subset of those with autism, and that the principles of the Fiengold diet should be adopted by the society as a whole.

He belives that dietary intervention is appropriate in people with autism who are showing food sensitivities. But you wouldn't know that by reading the media reports.

So instead of taking the biased media's word for it, take an hour and find out what Dr. Buie really thinks about dietary intervention in autism:

Maine CDC Autism Conference 2009
Gastrointestinal and Nutritional Co-Morbidities in Autism, followed by Q&A
Tim Buie, MD
Pediatric Gastroenterologist
LADDERS Program, MassGeneral Hospital for Children
Harvard Medical School



Questions from the Audience



I strongly encourage you to also watch the two lectures that followed Dr. Buie's at the Maine CDC Conference:

Dr. Martha Herbert's lecture on the gene environment interaction in autism
and
Dr. Jon Poling's lecture on vaccines and autism.

Julie Gerberding Named Head of Merck Vaccines

Wow... Congratulations Julie! Who would have guessed that you would be the one person in the whole world  that Merck would want to head their vaccine division?

Oh... that is right... we did.

Me, January 10, 2009:

"Anyone wanna start bets on where our friend Julie will land? Eli Lilly? Merck perhaps? "

Julie's years of "looking and looking" for a vaccine/autism connection with the firm resolve of OJ Simpson looking for the real killers, asinine statements on autism in the press and denialism of an epidemic happening in front of everyone's eyes has finally paid off big for her.

Here is what we do know now... that the head of vaccines for Merck is a liar.  And one who tells absurd lies and thinks that people will swallow them.  In the age of vaccine skepticism, Merck was so concerned with winning the public trust that they hired the woman who was the at the helm of the autism epidemic for the last eight years.

Brilliant.

But I am guessing that deal with the devil was made long ago.

There is no one whose actions I have had more contempt for in this health disaster than Julie Gerberding. My son regressed into autism following his vaccines on her watch. I became increasingly incensed by her actions, non-actions and thinly veiled vaccine salesmanship as the years rolled on; but I don't think down deep that even I actually believed that out of all the positions in the world she would take THE job with THE company that would truly prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was working for PHARMA at the expense of our kids since Bush appointed her as CDC head. If for no other reason out of embarrassment for what it would betray about her.

The woman has no shame.

The position is announced Christmas week, I guess hoping that mom's like me will be too busy trying to keep their kids with autism from eating the glass balls off the yule tree to notice.  And it may be that she was legally prevented from taking the job any sooner.  Email from someone who travels in these circles:

"...but based on a conversation I recently had with a friend who is a former Bush Administration official, this is pretty close to the minimum interval for how former feds can go to work with a company they regulated after leaving government. January 25th: a year and three business days after Obama’s inauguration (January 20th, 2009). January 25th 2010 is the first Monday she could start".

So as Julie ascends to this esteemed position, lets take a walk down memory lane of her disastrous reign as the chief of our nations public health services at all the bull shit she has had to offer us.

First, a critical review of the only thimerosal/autism study done under Julie's tenure:

Here's Why the Disdain...

And Julie's eventual secret disavowal of the research as junk to Congress while CDC still listing it publicly as research that disproves a vaccine autism connection:

Julie Gerberding Tells Congress That The Verstraeten Study is Junk!

Next, as sampling of her brilliant track record and descent into mockable absurdity:

The Age of Autism: CDC Probes Vaccines

AJC: Autism Controversy Eats at Credibility of CDC

Time: Troubles at the CDC

Julie Gerberding: Getting out the BIG shovel

Another Call for Julie Gerberding's Resignation

CDC: Out of Excuses on the Autism Study that "Should be Done"

Julie Gerberding is Doing an Awsome Job

It Is Time for Julie Gerberding to Step Down

Jenny McCarthy Calls For Julie Gerberding's Resignation

An Invitation to Julie Gerberding to Help Her Find the Missing Information on Autism

Wait! Did Julie Gerberding Just Admit that Vaccines Trigger Autism!?

Our Julie in her Finest Hour trying to convince us that vaccines do and do not cause autism:

Julie Gerberding Admits on CNN that Vaccines can Trigger Autism







Julie digging the hole deeper:

Hey Dr. Gerberding.. What is this "Autism-Like Syndrome"

Gerberding Axes 9/11 Health Official

This is one of my favorites... a video of Julie NOT lying.  I was so used to her rehearsed, condescending autism denials that when I saw her talking normally about something that was actually true, that smoking is bad for you, I was a little shocked at the stark difference in her demeanor.

Watch Julie Gerberding Not Lie

The relief when she finally went away:

Julie Gerberding Has Resigned

Julie's sly return while working for PHARMA but pretending that she was still a public health official:

Julie Gerberding Now Officially a Paid Pharma Shill Withholding her Conflicts of Interest

Confirmation that she was acting as a swine flu salesman as a part of the "Edelman Global Task Force on H1N1 Influenza":

Of vaccines, mercury, autism and Julie Gerberding

And finally, her assention to the fruit of her labor selling out the children of the world:

WSJ: Merck Appoints Former CDC Chief As Head Of Vaccines

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Merck & Co. (MRK) named former public-health authority Julie Gerberding as the head of the company's $5 billion vaccines business, starting Jan. 25.

Gerberding was the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through most of President George W. Bush's administration, from 2002 until earlier this year.

Vaccines, along with emerging markets and biologics, are an area Merck is eyeing for growth as it digests its recent acquisition of Schering-Plough Corp. The takeover was designed to help bolster Merck's research pipeline and diversify its product lineup in the face of challenges such as generic competition and setbacks in bringing new drugs to market.

Merck's previous head of vaccines, Margaret McGlynn, recently retired.

The appointment of Gerberding brings Merck a step closer to rounding out its post-Schering senior leadership team, most of which had been announced in late August but which still had a few holes. Last week, the company named a chief medical officer, Michael Rosenblatt, who had been dean of Tufts University's medical school.

Also, Merck earlier this month named Michael Kamarck as president of Merck BioVentures and senior vice president of vaccines and biologics manufacturing, said spokeswoman Amy Rose. Merck BioVentures is the unit Merck created last year to develop so-called follow-on biologics, or new versions of drugs derived from living cells.

Kamarck was previously head of technical operations and product supply at Wyeth, which was acquired by Pfizer Inc. (PFE). Frank Clyburn, who previously led Merck BioVentures, has been named senior vice president of global pharmaceuticals franchises.

Merck continues to search for a permanent head of its consumer health-care unit, a business largely inherited via the Schering deal, and which sells Coppertone sunscreen among other products. Stanley Barshay is interim leader of the business.

Merck Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Clark on Monday called Gerberding a "preeminent authority in public health, infectious diseases and vaccines."

As president of the vaccines business, she will be responsible for the sale of the company's current portfolio of vaccines, the introduction of vaccines from the company's pipeline and the acceleration of Merck's efforts to broaden vaccinations in developing countries. Gerberding will also collaborate with Merck's manufacturing division and Merck Research Laboratories to manage links between basic research, late-stage development and manufacturing.

Merck shares were recently up 2.25% at $38.24 amid a broad market rally.

-By Joan E. Solsman, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2291; joan.solsman@dowjones.com

(Peter Loftus in Philadelphia contributed to this article.)

Again... Congratulations Julie. With your nightmare of a record and history of now confirmed corruption, I can only imagine the destruction that any product under your supervision will be able to do to the children of the world.

Un-frickin-believable... the hubris of these people.

Are there no whistle blowers that will tell the truth about what has happened from the inside? Is no one at CDC disgusted enough with this to speak up?

UPDATE:

Just got this email from Louise Kuo Habakus at Life Health Choices:

"It’ll be old home week when she joins… Eddy Bresnitz, NJ’s former state epidemiologist and deputy commissioner of health, was responsible for mandating seasonal flu and Hib vaccines before he skipped off to Merck to head up adult vaccines".

Another Update:

Someone sent me this bit of info:

Julie G. also landed on this board. With Accordia, she'll be able to get the UN and Gates Foundation to pay for Merck's products for distribution in the third world.

Of course, she will continue to tap the US Treasury to transfer American tax dollars to Merck.