AutismCares is a nonprofit agency committed to helping families affected by the gulf region hurricanes who have children with autism.
AutismCares has over 150 families in our database that need help after the Gulf Hurricanes. We are working to provide them with housing, clothing, food, medicines, beds, and other necessities. These families are facing an uncertain future and a holiday season that will be bare minimum, at best. We need your help to bring the holidays to these families. On our site is a list of children affected by the hurricanes and some of their needs and wishes. Please go to our site http://66.148.5.47/autismcares/adoptachild.htm and share your generosity this holiday season with a child in need.
Sincerely,
Holly Bortfeld
AutismCares Care Package Coordinator
www.autismcares.org
AutismCares is a coalition of National Autism Organizations who have come together to help families dealing with autism who are victims of the gulf region hurricanes.
November 29, 2005
November 27, 2005
Adventures in Autism Goes Commercial
Up until now I have avoided banners, ads and the like as to not sully the purity of the blog. But if I wanna keep on a’blogging as often as I would like, I need funding. I will keep an eye out for federal blogging grants to apply for, but in the mean time, I have another idea.
My Fund Razor is a new site for fundraising. I have my own little portal where you, the adoring blog reader can do your shopping on great places like Amazon, Ebay, Home Depot, Disney, Macy’s, Starbucks, Target, Wal-Mart, Family Christian Bookstores, and on and on and on, and a portion of your purchase will go to supporting my blogging habit.
I will be donating half of my take to the Autism Research Institute.
If you will be shopping online this season, please consider doing it through http://autism.myfundrazor.org
Thank you for your support.
My Fund Razor is a new site for fundraising. I have my own little portal where you, the adoring blog reader can do your shopping on great places like Amazon, Ebay, Home Depot, Disney, Macy’s, Starbucks, Target, Wal-Mart, Family Christian Bookstores, and on and on and on, and a portion of your purchase will go to supporting my blogging habit.
I will be donating half of my take to the Autism Research Institute.
If you will be shopping online this season, please consider doing it through http://autism.myfundrazor.org
Thank you for your support.
November 26, 2005
Rich Tucker Wants You To Investigate This
Investigate This
Nov 27, 2005
by Rich Tucker
Oh goody.
Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor who’s been investigating the supposed outing of a CIA operative, plans to present evidence to another federal grand jury. “The investigation is continuing,” Fitzgerald announced, just weeks after most assumed it -- almost two years old and counting -- had finally ended.
This will be the second grand jury called to investigate whether or not Joe Wilson’s wife Valerie Plame was outed. In the long run, though, few Americans will care about -- or even be aware of -- the outcome of Fitzgerald’s probe (assuming it eventually ends). But as long as we’ve got a grand jury impaneled, let’s have it ask some questions about something that actually affects countless American lives. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
There are more questions than answers about autism. But unfortunately, it’s no longer unusual. In her new book about manners, author Lynne Truss writes that we’re living in “an age of social autism, in which people just can’t see the value of imagining their impact on others.”
Imagine reading that sentence two decades ago. In 1985, an estimated 4 in 10,000 children were diagnosed autistic. Most people went through life without meeting an autistic person. Autism then was similar to schistosomiasis -- even if you had heard of it, you probably didn’t know what the symptoms were. Today the Centers for Disease Control says as many as 1 of every 166 children is on the autism spectrum. Autism today is something that afflicts a son, nephew or cousin.
Everyone knows what it means to be “autistic.”
Still, the government seems stumped. “There are no effective means to prevent the disorder, no fully effective treatment and no cure,” the National Institute of Mental Health admitted in its February 2005 annual report on autism to Congress. And on its Web page, the CDC lists three things it is “doing about ASDs.” Two are studies tracking the number of children with autism in the Atlanta area and in Brick County, New Jersey. The third is funding various state projects. “These state projects look at how common ASDs are in children. Some of the projects also study what factors make it more likely that a child will have an ASD,” the CDC says.
Well, that’s a start, but a slow one.
Let’s use the grand jury to dispell some of the fog and ask some difficult questions. For example, in his book “Evidence of Harm” author David Kirby writes that thimerosal, a preservative long used in many vaccines, “never underwent any of the rigorous safety trials now required for FDA approval.” Thimerosal is 50 percent mercury, and mercury is a known toxin.
A grand jury could subpoena records to find out if the government (which approved thimerosal) or drug companies (which included the preservative in their vaccines) ever ran any tests to determine if it really was safe to inject it into infants. And if there were no such tests, perhaps a grand jury could find out why not.
This isn’t simply an academic exercise. While it’s been removed from most childhood inoculations, thimerosal remains in one vaccine: The flu shot we’ve heard so much about.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says flu shots are critical. “Since young children are at such high risk of getting the flu, the AAP recommends the flu vaccine regardless of whether it contains thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative,” the group says on its Web site. “To date, there is no scientific proof that mercury in vaccines caused autism despite years of study.” That’s true, but it’s also true that thimerosal has never been proven safe, either. Our grand jury could ask the AAP if medical standards have changed -- is it now all right to inject a substance that may be dangerous, as long as it hasn’t been proven dangerous?
The jurists might also want to hear from some experts who question the use of thimerosal. Michael Wagnitz is a senior chemist for the state of Wisconsin. He’s urging his state to stop giving thimerosal-containing flu shots. “Liquid waste needs to go to a hazardous site if it contains more than 200 ppb mercury. Is it really safe to inject people with a level of mercury 250 times higher than hazardous waste?” he asked in a recent letter republished by the UPI wire service’s “Age of Autism” column.
It’s said that Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Today our government spends time and money investigating whether or not a CIA officer’s name was leaked to a reporter. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of children have descended into autism, with no apparent hope of a cure.
Wouldn’t it be grand if a simple grand jury investigation could help change that?
Rich Tucker is an editor in Washington D.C. and a columnist for Townhall.com. You can email him here.
Nov 27, 2005
by Rich Tucker
Oh goody.
Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor who’s been investigating the supposed outing of a CIA operative, plans to present evidence to another federal grand jury. “The investigation is continuing,” Fitzgerald announced, just weeks after most assumed it -- almost two years old and counting -- had finally ended.
This will be the second grand jury called to investigate whether or not Joe Wilson’s wife Valerie Plame was outed. In the long run, though, few Americans will care about -- or even be aware of -- the outcome of Fitzgerald’s probe (assuming it eventually ends). But as long as we’ve got a grand jury impaneled, let’s have it ask some questions about something that actually affects countless American lives. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
There are more questions than answers about autism. But unfortunately, it’s no longer unusual. In her new book about manners, author Lynne Truss writes that we’re living in “an age of social autism, in which people just can’t see the value of imagining their impact on others.”
Imagine reading that sentence two decades ago. In 1985, an estimated 4 in 10,000 children were diagnosed autistic. Most people went through life without meeting an autistic person. Autism then was similar to schistosomiasis -- even if you had heard of it, you probably didn’t know what the symptoms were. Today the Centers for Disease Control says as many as 1 of every 166 children is on the autism spectrum. Autism today is something that afflicts a son, nephew or cousin.
Everyone knows what it means to be “autistic.”
Still, the government seems stumped. “There are no effective means to prevent the disorder, no fully effective treatment and no cure,” the National Institute of Mental Health admitted in its February 2005 annual report on autism to Congress. And on its Web page, the CDC lists three things it is “doing about ASDs.” Two are studies tracking the number of children with autism in the Atlanta area and in Brick County, New Jersey. The third is funding various state projects. “These state projects look at how common ASDs are in children. Some of the projects also study what factors make it more likely that a child will have an ASD,” the CDC says.
Well, that’s a start, but a slow one.
Let’s use the grand jury to dispell some of the fog and ask some difficult questions. For example, in his book “Evidence of Harm” author David Kirby writes that thimerosal, a preservative long used in many vaccines, “never underwent any of the rigorous safety trials now required for FDA approval.” Thimerosal is 50 percent mercury, and mercury is a known toxin.
A grand jury could subpoena records to find out if the government (which approved thimerosal) or drug companies (which included the preservative in their vaccines) ever ran any tests to determine if it really was safe to inject it into infants. And if there were no such tests, perhaps a grand jury could find out why not.
This isn’t simply an academic exercise. While it’s been removed from most childhood inoculations, thimerosal remains in one vaccine: The flu shot we’ve heard so much about.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says flu shots are critical. “Since young children are at such high risk of getting the flu, the AAP recommends the flu vaccine regardless of whether it contains thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative,” the group says on its Web site. “To date, there is no scientific proof that mercury in vaccines caused autism despite years of study.” That’s true, but it’s also true that thimerosal has never been proven safe, either. Our grand jury could ask the AAP if medical standards have changed -- is it now all right to inject a substance that may be dangerous, as long as it hasn’t been proven dangerous?
The jurists might also want to hear from some experts who question the use of thimerosal. Michael Wagnitz is a senior chemist for the state of Wisconsin. He’s urging his state to stop giving thimerosal-containing flu shots. “Liquid waste needs to go to a hazardous site if it contains more than 200 ppb mercury. Is it really safe to inject people with a level of mercury 250 times higher than hazardous waste?” he asked in a recent letter republished by the UPI wire service’s “Age of Autism” column.
It’s said that Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Today our government spends time and money investigating whether or not a CIA officer’s name was leaked to a reporter. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of children have descended into autism, with no apparent hope of a cure.
Wouldn’t it be grand if a simple grand jury investigation could help change that?
Rich Tucker is an editor in Washington D.C. and a columnist for Townhall.com. You can email him here.
What Suzanne Messina is Thankful For
On this early Thanksgiving Morning, it seems right to pause and reflect on how far this effort has come. The synergistic effect of dedication, loyalty, intellect and emotion that gathers like a hurricane begins to take hold, and creates a wellspring from which truth emerges.
With truth as strong as this, a clear focus is a given. We draw on our patience, our knowledge, and our passion to sustain us, and to keep us focused and positive about achieving our goals.
Life is fleeting, passion and justice elusive. In this somewhat narrowly defined window of time we call our life, we have, collectively, found that passion as we now fight for justice; may we strive to promote truth, destroy myths, and save the bodies and souls of our children from the poison that we know as mercury.
As Evidence of Harm surrounds us, Love drives us, knowledge empowers us, unity saves us.
May each of us use our individual skills to hold the status quo accountable to that evidence, to effect change, and to free our children from the invisible ties that bind them, so that their voices and their bodies become once again...their own.
Have a blessed Thanksgiving, and find comfort in the love you have fostered, the love that surrounds you. The love of family
Suzanne Messina
With truth as strong as this, a clear focus is a given. We draw on our patience, our knowledge, and our passion to sustain us, and to keep us focused and positive about achieving our goals.
Life is fleeting, passion and justice elusive. In this somewhat narrowly defined window of time we call our life, we have, collectively, found that passion as we now fight for justice; may we strive to promote truth, destroy myths, and save the bodies and souls of our children from the poison that we know as mercury.
As Evidence of Harm surrounds us, Love drives us, knowledge empowers us, unity saves us.
May each of us use our individual skills to hold the status quo accountable to that evidence, to effect change, and to free our children from the invisible ties that bind them, so that their voices and their bodies become once again...their own.
Have a blessed Thanksgiving, and find comfort in the love you have fostered, the love that surrounds you. The love of family
Suzanne Messina
What I Am Thankful For
For my beautiful boys and that Webster has a happy little brother that will play with him. For my adorable red head that mugs for the camera. I am thankful that Chandler is halfway home to us.
What Bob Moffitt is Thankful For
From the Grandparent of an Autistic Child:
It has been three long years since my grandson (Bobby) was diagnosed autistic. While his diagnosis was a devastating experience for our entire family, we have learned we have much to be thankful for. Such as the pure joy my wife and I experience as we stand curbside with Bobby's baby sister Kristin, eagerly anticipating the moment his school bus doors will open revealing a very happy child smiling ear to ear in clear recognition he is home. The moment is even more joyful on those rare occasions when he manages to blurt out "Hi". It is amazing how much hope we derive from hearing his voice speak such a simple word. Hope for our little guy's improvement is something our entire family can be thankful for on this day of thanksgiving.
I would also like to thank God for all those who have given our family reasons to hope:
David Kirby for his talent as a journalist, writer and now accomplished speaker, whose best selling book "Evidence of Harm" dared raise troubling questions about the cause of autism, at a time when powerful interests work tirelessly to prevent those questions from being raised. David exhibits all the personal courage of a man who remained fearless even after finding he had been tossed into a pit of rampaging, hungry lions.
Dan Schulman of the Columbia Journalism Review for his extremely courageous critical examination of major media's blatant unfairness in presenting the raging debate over thimerosal and autism.
Dan Olmstead for his continuing series of columns asking the right questions and seeking the right answers. This sounds far easier than it actually is, especially after reading Mr. Schulman's review illustrating that media fairness is a rare exception. That rare exception is Dan Olmstead.
Lenny Schafer for his "Schafer Autism Report" which in my family is required reading. We have learned nothing compares with SAR if we want to maintain daily vigilance over quickly unfolding events.
Dr. David Wakefield for his dedicated, determined resolve to pursue medical research that may one day help unravel the mysteries of autism that have stymied his medical colleagues for decades. Dr. Wakefield is a battle-scarred veteran of an often dirty war being waged to shed sunlight on subjects that many would prefer remain unexamined in the light of day.
Prof Boyd E. Haley, University of Kentucky, who has offered a truly remarkable hypothesis: Thimerosal in mandated vaccines is the major etiological agent in the recent increase in autism and ADD. Prof Haley's hypothesis has not been received with enthusiasm by many in the academic or scientific communities who appear desperate the cause and cure of autism remain unexplained and incurable.
Mark and David Geier who have undertaken the thankless task of attempting to penetrate a carefully constructed wall of secrecy behind which too many public health agencies may have hidden evidence of their failure to act responsibly on the issue of thimerosal and vaccines. It is this lack of transparancy that causes a public perception, fairly or not, that public health officials are being less than truthful with the people they are sworn to protect.
DAN doctors and N.Y.S. BOCES teachers who have provided Bobby the best health and educational care our family could hope for. These extraordinary people have made little Bobby's life far better than it would be without their dedication and compassion.
I want to offer special thanks to all those moms and dads who began this lonely fight to ascertain what happened to our children in the quiet isolation of their family kitchens and living rooms. I mean those men and women who are responsible for constructing the support organizations that my family found already in place when we first learned of Bobby's autism. These grass roots organizations provided my family with the comfort and immediate access to information at a time when we thought we were all alone. There are many but here are a few that my family turned to in our time of need: CAN, NAA, Moms and Dads Against Mercury, Educate Before you Vaccinate, DAN, Safe-Minds, ASA, National Vaccine Information Center, Generation Rescue, Autism Research Institute, A-CHAMP. These organizations continue to provide our family with reasons to hope that our little guy is not lost forever. On this Thanksgiving Day, that is something to be truly thankful for.
- Bob Moffitt
It has been three long years since my grandson (Bobby) was diagnosed autistic. While his diagnosis was a devastating experience for our entire family, we have learned we have much to be thankful for. Such as the pure joy my wife and I experience as we stand curbside with Bobby's baby sister Kristin, eagerly anticipating the moment his school bus doors will open revealing a very happy child smiling ear to ear in clear recognition he is home. The moment is even more joyful on those rare occasions when he manages to blurt out "Hi". It is amazing how much hope we derive from hearing his voice speak such a simple word. Hope for our little guy's improvement is something our entire family can be thankful for on this day of thanksgiving.
I would also like to thank God for all those who have given our family reasons to hope:
David Kirby for his talent as a journalist, writer and now accomplished speaker, whose best selling book "Evidence of Harm" dared raise troubling questions about the cause of autism, at a time when powerful interests work tirelessly to prevent those questions from being raised. David exhibits all the personal courage of a man who remained fearless even after finding he had been tossed into a pit of rampaging, hungry lions.
Dan Schulman of the Columbia Journalism Review for his extremely courageous critical examination of major media's blatant unfairness in presenting the raging debate over thimerosal and autism.
Dan Olmstead for his continuing series of columns asking the right questions and seeking the right answers. This sounds far easier than it actually is, especially after reading Mr. Schulman's review illustrating that media fairness is a rare exception. That rare exception is Dan Olmstead.
Lenny Schafer for his "Schafer Autism Report" which in my family is required reading. We have learned nothing compares with SAR if we want to maintain daily vigilance over quickly unfolding events.
Dr. David Wakefield for his dedicated, determined resolve to pursue medical research that may one day help unravel the mysteries of autism that have stymied his medical colleagues for decades. Dr. Wakefield is a battle-scarred veteran of an often dirty war being waged to shed sunlight on subjects that many would prefer remain unexamined in the light of day.
Prof Boyd E. Haley, University of Kentucky, who has offered a truly remarkable hypothesis: Thimerosal in mandated vaccines is the major etiological agent in the recent increase in autism and ADD. Prof Haley's hypothesis has not been received with enthusiasm by many in the academic or scientific communities who appear desperate the cause and cure of autism remain unexplained and incurable.
Mark and David Geier who have undertaken the thankless task of attempting to penetrate a carefully constructed wall of secrecy behind which too many public health agencies may have hidden evidence of their failure to act responsibly on the issue of thimerosal and vaccines. It is this lack of transparancy that causes a public perception, fairly or not, that public health officials are being less than truthful with the people they are sworn to protect.
DAN doctors and N.Y.S. BOCES teachers who have provided Bobby the best health and educational care our family could hope for. These extraordinary people have made little Bobby's life far better than it would be without their dedication and compassion.
I want to offer special thanks to all those moms and dads who began this lonely fight to ascertain what happened to our children in the quiet isolation of their family kitchens and living rooms. I mean those men and women who are responsible for constructing the support organizations that my family found already in place when we first learned of Bobby's autism. These grass roots organizations provided my family with the comfort and immediate access to information at a time when we thought we were all alone. There are many but here are a few that my family turned to in our time of need: CAN, NAA, Moms and Dads Against Mercury, Educate Before you Vaccinate, DAN, Safe-Minds, ASA, National Vaccine Information Center, Generation Rescue, Autism Research Institute, A-CHAMP. These organizations continue to provide our family with reasons to hope that our little guy is not lost forever. On this Thanksgiving Day, that is something to be truly thankful for.
- Bob Moffitt
FDA Says Tamiflu Did Not Cause Japan Deaths
Dr. Mercola's comments:
Read the whole thing here.
Regulatory agency asserts Tamiflu safe
So, even if these drugs or vaccines wind up killing innocent children, these companies will not be held liable. But you don't have to worry as on Saturday the FDA announced that Tamiflu was safe. Of course, this is the same agency that gave Vioxx its safetly blessing before it killed 55,000 people.
Read the whole thing here.
Regulatory agency asserts Tamiflu safe
WASHINGTON (AP) — The anti-flu drug Tamiflu is safe, federal health advisers said Friday, after finding no direct link between the drug and the deaths of 12 Japanese children who had taken it.
"If we ever have a pandemic of avian flu, which is a debatable point, people want to know that they have a drug that will not cause more (harm) than the flu itself," said Dr. Robert Nelson, chairman of the Food and Drug Administration's Pediatric Advisory Committee. "There is no evidence that this will."
The committee reviewed Tamiflu as part of a routine safety check of drugs whose original uses had been extended to cover children.
Interest was raised, however, because the drug is key in the arsenal of treatments for pandemics caused by bird flu or another superflu strain.
The committee voted unanimously that no change was needed in the label to reflect the deaths of the Japanese children or other adverse affects. But it did say that information should be added to the label about serious skin reactions.
The FDA is not bound by its advisory committee recommendations, but usually follows them.
Nelson said the FDA should still be vigilant in going forward despite the finding that there was reason for concern about the drug at this point.
The committee asked the FDA staff to provide an update in about a year on any adverse reactions associated with Tamiflu. A full-report should be made in two years, the committee said.
"Influenza is a serious disease. Kids die of influenza, both in Japan and the United States, and if you give a drug to people who are at risk of dying, there will be people who die who got the drug," Nelson said. "There is no signal the drug is doing it as opposed to the disease."
There have been no reports of deaths linked to Tamiflu in the United States or Europe.
Melissa Truffa, of the FDA's Office of Drug Safety, told the panel earlier Friday that they found no direct link between the use of Tamiflu and the deaths in Japan.
The FDA staff said Tamiflu is used much more often in Japan than in the United States — 11.6 million prescriptions for children in Japan between 2001 and 2005, compared to about 872,000 during that same period in the United States.
An official with the drug maker Roche Holdings AG told the commission that there are 10 times the number of adverse reactions to the drug in Japan than in the United States and about 10 times the number of prescriptions. He said that studies show no higher mortality rates for users of Tamiflu vs. non-users.
"The absolute numbers are in the opposite direction," said Joseph Hoffman, a vice president at Roche.
In addition to the deaths, briefing material prepared by the FDA staff also includes reports of 32 "neuropsychiatric events" associated with Tamiflu, all but one experienced by Japanese patients. Those cases included delirium, hallucinations, convulsions and encephalitis.
Roche said several studies in the United States and Canada had shown that the incidence of death in influenza patients who took Tamiflu was far lower than in those who did not.
The company also has supplied the FDA with two additional studies it commissioned that evaluated the safety of Tamiflu in pediatric patients.
Complicating the issue is that many of the Japanese death and adverse reaction reports list symptoms commonly associated with the flu, Dr. Murray Lumpkin, deputy commissioner of the FDA, said prior to the meeting.
"It is very difficult, when the underlying disease causes what it is being reported, to figure out: Is it the underlying disease? Is it the drug?" he said.
The popularity of Tamiflu in Japan may explain in part the number of reports from that country: Of 32 million people treated with Tamiflu since its approval in 1999, 24 million were in Japan, according to Roche.
Japan's Health Ministry warned last week that Tamiflu may induce "strange behavior" after reporting that two teenage boys died shortly after taking the medicine.
The Japanese distributor of the Roche-patented drug told health officials it could not rule out a link between Tamiflu and the deaths.
However, Roche said earlier this week that it "carefully reviewed these events and has concluded that a causal link cannot be established."
The U.S. labeling for Tamiflu lists nausea and vomiting as its most serious side effects. Its labeling in Japan includes any adverse effects that have been reported — including impaired consciousness, abnormal behavior and hallucinations — regardless of whether they can be attributed to the drug, according to Roche.
Tamiflu is one of the few drugs believed effective in treating bird flu, which health officials fear could spark a pandemic should it mutate into a form easily passed from human to human.
Gone Fishin'/Umbilical Cord Clamping
I have been absent for the last week, fighting Chandler's schooling battles. I hope to be back at full speed after next Wed. when our mediation meeting with the school system will take place.
Until then, I may post randomly.
Like this one:
Every once in a while I will run across an autism theory that I have never heard of. Once before, as I will do today, I will just throw it out there for people to chew on. I have no idea if this has any validity or not, but thought I would mention it as a part of our continuing conversation.
Until then, I may post randomly.
Like this one:
Every once in a while I will run across an autism theory that I have never heard of. Once before, as I will do today, I will just throw it out there for people to chew on. I have no idea if this has any validity or not, but thought I would mention it as a part of our continuing conversation.
Letters to the British Medical Journal Online
George M. Morley, MB ChB FACOG,Retired
Eillen Simon, R.N. PhD
Sir:
Recent rates for autism spectral disorders are estimated to be 3-4 times higher than 30 years ago (1). This increase is partly accounted for by changes in methodological factors, but the influence of new environmental exposures cannot be discounted.
A causal association with measles-mumps-rubella immunization is discounted (2) and that with mercury-containing vaccines is weak (3). However, is an association with the dramatic increase in immediate clamping of the umbilical cord (ICC) at birth possible?
ICC is routinely applied during premature, operative and "at risk" births, and increasingly during "normal" births following the recommendation (4) that a segment of the cord should be retrieved immediately after delivery for medico-legal purposes.
The immediate effect of ICC is to deprive the neonate of placental respiration and transfusion resulting in complete asphyxia until the lungs function, and 30%-50% loss of the neonate's natural blood volume; the combined hypoxia and hypovolemia / ischemia is then conducive of hypoxic ischemic brain injury. The neonate that receives a full placental transfusion has enough iron to prevent anemia during the first year of life(5), but blood loss in a neonate subjected to ICC becomes evident in infancy as anemia.(5)
In grade school children, anemia correlates with all types of autistic disorder (6) and the degree of anemia correlates with the degree of mental deficiency; (7) correcting the anemia does not correct the defect.
Kinmond et al. (8) showed that delayed cord clamping combined with gravity assisted placental transfusion prevented anemia (the need for blood transfusion) in preemies. Hack et al. (9) found a high incidence of poor achievement in low birth weight babies.
The correlation between autism and birth complications is supported by aother sudies. Hultman (10) reports a great increase in the risk of autism in cesarean deliveries, deliveries with fetal distress and five minute Apgar scores below seven. These obstetrical situations correlate with ICC.
In extensive studies on brain damage from induced birth asphyxia (11) in primates, ICC combined with pulmonary obstruction was used routinely to produce asphyxia, brain damage and cerebral palsy. In milder cases of asphyxia, memory defects were noted without any permanent neurological defect; brain stem nuclear damage was noted at autopsy.(12)
Meyers (11) found. in monkeys, that when placental circulation was left intact by delayed cord clamping, resuscitation of the depressed fetus did not result in brain damage. In humans, Gunther (13) and Peltonen (14) demostrated continued placental function (respiration and transfusion) after birth, and concluded that "there is good reason in cases of resuscitation to keep the placental circulation intact".
I therefore conclude that ICC, especially when imposed on existitng birth asphyxia, can cause mental impairment without obvious neurological impairment, and therefore may well be a significant contributory cause of the current autism epidemic.
Erasmus Darwin predicted the autism epidemic 200 years ago, and left instructions for its prevention and its correction (15)
"Another thing very injurious to the child, is the tying and cutting of the navel string too soon; which whould always be left till the child has not only repeatedly breathed but till all pulsation in the cord ceases. As otherwise, the child is much weaker than it ought to be, a portion of the blood being left in the placenta, which ought to have been in the child."
References:
1. Fombonne E The Prevalence of autism. JAMA 2003;289:87-89
2. Taylor B. et al. Measles, mumps and rubella vaccination ... in children with autism. BMJ 2002;324:393-396
3. Pichichero ME et al. Mercury concentration and metabolism in infants receiving vaccines containing thiomersal: Lancet 2002;360:1737- 1741
4. ACOG COmmittee Opinion on Obstetric Practice. Number 138. Int J. Gyn Obs 1994:45:303-304
5. Linderkamp O. Placental transfusion: determinants and effects. Clinics in Perinatology 1982;9:559-592
6. Lozoff et al. Iron deficiency anemia and Iron therap[y effects on infant development test performance. Pediatrics 1987;79:981-995
7. HurtadoEK et al. Early childhood anemia and mild to moderate mental retardation. Am J Clin Nut 1999; 69(1): 115-9
8. Kinmond et al. Umbilical Cord Clamping and Preterm Infants: a Randomized Trial. BMJ 1993; 306: 172-175
9. Hack M, et al. Outcomes in Young adulthood for very low birth weight infants. New Eng J Med Vol. 346, NO. 3 Jan, 2002:149-157
10. Department of Medical Epidemiology, Karolinska institutet, S- 17277 Stockholm, Sweden. Christina Hultman@mep.ki.se
11. Myers,RE (1972) Two patterns of perinatal brain danmage. American J Obst and Gynec. 112:246-276
12. Windle et al. Brain Damage by Asphyxia at Birth. Scientific American 1969 Oct;221(4):76-84
13. Gunther M The transfer of blood between the baby and the placenta in the minutes after birth. Lancet 1957; I:1277-1280
14. Peltonen T. Placental transfusion, Advantage - Disadvantage. Eur J Pediatr. 1981;137:141-146
15 Darwin E. Zoonomia 1801; Vol III, p301
Further references at www.cordclamping.com
Competing interests: None declared
November 25, 2005
Orac Gets Punked
JB Handley of Generation Rescue, who has been at odds with several bloggers for their position that mercury poisoning and autism have nothing to do with one another, has punked his online adversaries.
He bought domain names similar to theirs, oracknows.com, supportvaccination.com and autismdiva.com, redirected them to his site.
Today Orac discovered the punkage.
The picture that I am getting of Handley is of a well intentioned, pissed off bull in a china shop. He is mad about what was done, and is being done, to his, and other autistic children; and he is pushing back with his full weight to fix the problem. ...and he has a lot of weight to throw around.
JB's methods are not ones I would choose, and I feel that his message is a bit narrow, but what he is doing is not wrong, so I am willing to sit by and let him cut a wide path into the debate.
I hope to use it to bring a bit more reason and grace in.
He bought domain names similar to theirs, oracknows.com, supportvaccination.com and autismdiva.com, redirected them to his site.
Today Orac discovered the punkage.
The picture that I am getting of Handley is of a well intentioned, pissed off bull in a china shop. He is mad about what was done, and is being done, to his, and other autistic children; and he is pushing back with his full weight to fix the problem. ...and he has a lot of weight to throw around.
JB's methods are not ones I would choose, and I feel that his message is a bit narrow, but what he is doing is not wrong, so I am willing to sit by and let him cut a wide path into the debate.
I hope to use it to bring a bit more reason and grace in.
November 22, 2005
The Age of Autism: Flu shot flashpoint
The Age of Autism: Flu shot flashpoint
By Dan Olmsted
UPI Senior Editor
Nov. 19, 2005 at 1:46PM
It's flu shot season, and that simple fact is sharply focusing the debate over a possible link between vaccines and autism. The reason: Most flu shots contain thimerosal, the mercury-based preservative that some suspect caused a huge rise in autism cases beginning in the 1990s.
Federal health authorities say science has ruled that out. But to be on the safe side, the U.S. Public Health Service -- along with groups representing pediatricians and family doctors -- urged manufacturers in 1999 to phase thimerosal out of childhood vaccines as soon as possible.
Most such vaccines are now thimerosal-free or contain trace amounts. An exception is the flu shot, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends for pregnant women and for infants 6 to 23 months old.
The counter-argument: Why take a risk when thimerosal-free shots are also available and cost just three or four dollars more? The CDC has declined to express a preference for those shots on the theory that there wouldn't be enough to meet demand.
On Monday, as this column reported, a New Mexico pediatrician appeared before the state Board of Pharmacy to urge it to immediately warn residents that most flu shots do have mercury. He also wants the state ultimately to ban it from vaccines for kids and pregnant women, something six states have already done -- with bans taking effect in future years. A dozen states are actively debating the issue.
The pediatrician, Dr. Ken Stoller, said the board decided to seek an advisory opinion from the New Mexico attorney general about its jurisdiction in the matter. It meets again in two months.
"The recent meeting was, I have to confess, a little disappointing from the standpoint of truth-in-labeling as set out in the New Mexico Drug Act," Stoller wrote the board in a follow-up letter.
"I presented clear, accurate and precise information on how a preservative that contains the known neurotoxin, ethylmercury, exists in the flu and other vaccines at a level that exceeds several safety limits as set forth by more than one Federal agency."
Perhaps because of the growing number of state bans -- which mean, self-evidently, that they don't want their children and pregnant women exposed to mercury in flu shots -- the issue is percolating this year in a way that it simply hasn't before.
In a Chicago Tribune piece titled, "A contradiction taints flu shots among infants," writer Julie Deardorff said that as a mom, she was concerned that health experts are now recommending a shot that in most cases contains an ingredient they suggested removing six years ago.
"It was eliminated from nearly all vaccines with one exception: the flu vaccine. Now the academy (American Academy of Pediatrics) wants us to immunize infants with a vaccine that contains an ingredient that it suggests should be removed," Deardorff wrote.
She quotes an Illinois AAP spokesman about the apparent contradiction:
"The amount (of thimerosal) in the multidose influenza vaccine (12.5 micrograms) is well below even the most conservative standards for mercury exposure. ... There's no evidence that thimerosal in vaccines is dangerous, and the benefits kids get from being protected against the flu are substantial."
Still, it needs to be noted that the immunization schedule calls for two 12.5 microgram shots a month apart for the 6-to-23-month olds. That total of is the same amount that was in vaccines some parents believe triggered their child's autism. And some of them believe in utero exposure to mercury via the pregnant mother might be the most dangerous exposure of all.
Directly to the north, a senior chemist at the University of Wisconsin has been trying to get the attention of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
"Unfortunately, in the 35 days that have passed since my original letter, thousands of Wisconsin's most vulnerable citizens have been exposedto this material (mercury in flu shots)," Michael Wagnitz wrote the department in a letter this week.
"As I explained in my original letter, liquid waste needs to go to a hazardous site if it contains more than 200 ppb mercury. Is it really safe to inject people with a level of mercury 250 times higher than hazardous waste?
"What exactly is the (department) working on that is more important than stopping the injection of mercury directly into the bloodstreams of its citizens? Could you give me some examples? Again, I ask that you issue an immediate mercury warning for pregnant women and infants who plan on getting the flu shot."
This looks to be an issue that won't go away.
--
E-mail: dolmsted@upi.com
By Dan Olmsted
UPI Senior Editor
Nov. 19, 2005 at 1:46PM
It's flu shot season, and that simple fact is sharply focusing the debate over a possible link between vaccines and autism. The reason: Most flu shots contain thimerosal, the mercury-based preservative that some suspect caused a huge rise in autism cases beginning in the 1990s.
Federal health authorities say science has ruled that out. But to be on the safe side, the U.S. Public Health Service -- along with groups representing pediatricians and family doctors -- urged manufacturers in 1999 to phase thimerosal out of childhood vaccines as soon as possible.
Most such vaccines are now thimerosal-free or contain trace amounts. An exception is the flu shot, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends for pregnant women and for infants 6 to 23 months old.
The counter-argument: Why take a risk when thimerosal-free shots are also available and cost just three or four dollars more? The CDC has declined to express a preference for those shots on the theory that there wouldn't be enough to meet demand.
On Monday, as this column reported, a New Mexico pediatrician appeared before the state Board of Pharmacy to urge it to immediately warn residents that most flu shots do have mercury. He also wants the state ultimately to ban it from vaccines for kids and pregnant women, something six states have already done -- with bans taking effect in future years. A dozen states are actively debating the issue.
The pediatrician, Dr. Ken Stoller, said the board decided to seek an advisory opinion from the New Mexico attorney general about its jurisdiction in the matter. It meets again in two months.
"The recent meeting was, I have to confess, a little disappointing from the standpoint of truth-in-labeling as set out in the New Mexico Drug Act," Stoller wrote the board in a follow-up letter.
"I presented clear, accurate and precise information on how a preservative that contains the known neurotoxin, ethylmercury, exists in the flu and other vaccines at a level that exceeds several safety limits as set forth by more than one Federal agency."
Perhaps because of the growing number of state bans -- which mean, self-evidently, that they don't want their children and pregnant women exposed to mercury in flu shots -- the issue is percolating this year in a way that it simply hasn't before.
In a Chicago Tribune piece titled, "A contradiction taints flu shots among infants," writer Julie Deardorff said that as a mom, she was concerned that health experts are now recommending a shot that in most cases contains an ingredient they suggested removing six years ago.
"It was eliminated from nearly all vaccines with one exception: the flu vaccine. Now the academy (American Academy of Pediatrics) wants us to immunize infants with a vaccine that contains an ingredient that it suggests should be removed," Deardorff wrote.
She quotes an Illinois AAP spokesman about the apparent contradiction:
"The amount (of thimerosal) in the multidose influenza vaccine (12.5 micrograms) is well below even the most conservative standards for mercury exposure. ... There's no evidence that thimerosal in vaccines is dangerous, and the benefits kids get from being protected against the flu are substantial."
Still, it needs to be noted that the immunization schedule calls for two 12.5 microgram shots a month apart for the 6-to-23-month olds. That total of is the same amount that was in vaccines some parents believe triggered their child's autism. And some of them believe in utero exposure to mercury via the pregnant mother might be the most dangerous exposure of all.
Directly to the north, a senior chemist at the University of Wisconsin has been trying to get the attention of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
"Unfortunately, in the 35 days that have passed since my original letter, thousands of Wisconsin's most vulnerable citizens have been exposedto this material (mercury in flu shots)," Michael Wagnitz wrote the department in a letter this week.
"As I explained in my original letter, liquid waste needs to go to a hazardous site if it contains more than 200 ppb mercury. Is it really safe to inject people with a level of mercury 250 times higher than hazardous waste?
"What exactly is the (department) working on that is more important than stopping the injection of mercury directly into the bloodstreams of its citizens? Could you give me some examples? Again, I ask that you issue an immediate mercury warning for pregnant women and infants who plan on getting the flu shot."
This looks to be an issue that won't go away.
--
E-mail: dolmsted@upi.com
November 18, 2005
Clinical Trials needs Autistic Kids with GI Problems
New Clinical Trial in Children With Autism Begins Enrollment
WPIC to Study the Effect of an Investigational Drug on Gastrointestinal Problems In Autistic Children
PITTSBURGH, November 18, 2005 /PRNewswire/ -- UPMC's Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (WPIC) is seeking participants for a research study to evaluate an investigational medication for treatment of persistent gastrointestinal (GI) dysfunction in autistic children. WPIC is one of 12 sites nationwide participating in this study.
Up to 50 percent of children with autism experience persistent GI problems, ranging from mild to moderate degrees of inflammation in both the upper and lower intestinal tract. This study will attempt to determine the impact of GI function through treatment as well as assess the effect of GI symptoms on physical and emotional behavior.
"With autism growing at a rate of 10 to 17 percent per year, we recognize the need to address issues directly affecting these patients," said Benjamin L. Handen, Ph.D., principal investigator of the study and professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "With such a large percentage of children with autism experiencing regular GI problems, it is important to learn the cause of these problems and investigate the appropriate treatments."
To be considered for participation in the study, a child must be between 2 and 17 years of age, be diagnosed with autism and experience some of the following symptoms: chronic diarrhea or constipation, bloating, gas and abdominal pain. Research volunteers will receive study medication and medical care at no cost to the family.
Autism is estimated to affect one in 250 births or 1.5 million Americans according to the Autism Society of America.
To find out more about the study, please contact Gretchen Wolf at 412-235-5447.
#2500255.0
Pittsburgh School of Medicine
CONTACT: Jocelyn Uhl, or Lisa Rossi, +1-412-647-3555, Fax: +1-412-624-3184, , , both of University of PittsburghSchool of Medicine uhljh@upmc.edu rossil@upmc.edu
WPIC to Study the Effect of an Investigational Drug on Gastrointestinal Problems In Autistic Children
PITTSBURGH, November 18, 2005 /PRNewswire/ -- UPMC's Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (WPIC) is seeking participants for a research study to evaluate an investigational medication for treatment of persistent gastrointestinal (GI) dysfunction in autistic children. WPIC is one of 12 sites nationwide participating in this study.
Up to 50 percent of children with autism experience persistent GI problems, ranging from mild to moderate degrees of inflammation in both the upper and lower intestinal tract. This study will attempt to determine the impact of GI function through treatment as well as assess the effect of GI symptoms on physical and emotional behavior.
"With autism growing at a rate of 10 to 17 percent per year, we recognize the need to address issues directly affecting these patients," said Benjamin L. Handen, Ph.D., principal investigator of the study and professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "With such a large percentage of children with autism experiencing regular GI problems, it is important to learn the cause of these problems and investigate the appropriate treatments."
To be considered for participation in the study, a child must be between 2 and 17 years of age, be diagnosed with autism and experience some of the following symptoms: chronic diarrhea or constipation, bloating, gas and abdominal pain. Research volunteers will receive study medication and medical care at no cost to the family.
Autism is estimated to affect one in 250 births or 1.5 million Americans according to the Autism Society of America.
To find out more about the study, please contact Gretchen Wolf at 412-235-5447.
#2500255.0
Pittsburgh School of Medicine
CONTACT: Jocelyn Uhl, or Lisa Rossi, +1-412-647-3555, Fax: +1-412-624-3184, , , both of University of PittsburghSchool of Medicine uhljh@upmc.edu rossil@upmc.edu
November 17, 2005
NIH: Adult Exposure-Assessment Fails To Predict Children's Risk
Perinatal Immunotoxicity: Why Adult Exposure-Assessment Fails To Predict
Risk?
Rodney R. Dietert and Michael S. Piepenbrink
ABSTRACT
Recent research has pointed to the developing immune system as a remarkably sensitive toxicological target for environmental chemicals and drugs. In fact, the perinatal period prior to and just after birth is replete with dynamic immune changes, many of which do not occur in adults. These include not only the basic maturation and distribution of immune cell types and selection against autoreactive lymphocytes but also changes designed specifically to protect the pregnancy against immune-mediated miscarriage. The newborn is then faced with critical immune maturational adjustments to achieve an immune balance necessary to combat the myriad of childhood and later life diseases.
All of these processes set the fetus and neonate completely apart from the adult when it comes to immunotoxicologic risk. Yet for decades, safety evaluation has relied almost exclusively upon exposure of the adult immune system to predict perinatal immune risk.
Recent workshops and forums have suggested a benefit in employing alternative exposures that include exposure throughout early life stages. However, issues remain as to when and where such applications might be required.
The present review details the reasons why immunotoxic assessment is important for current childhood diseases and why adult exposure assessment cannot predict the impact of xenobiotics on the developing immune system. It also provides examples of developmental immunotoxicants where age-based risk appears to differ. Finally, it stresses the need to replace adult exposure assessment for immune evaluation with protocols that can protect the developing immune system.
...
Table 2: Examples of Perinatal-Induced Immune Outcomes not Predicted by
Standard Adult-Exposure Assessment
....
Chemical/Drug: Mercury
Nature of Age-Based Difference: Dose sensitivity
Reference: Havarinasab et al. 2004; Hultman and Hansson-Georgiadis 1999; Silva et al. 2005"
The entire 47 page study:
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2005/8566/8566.pdf
Risk?
Rodney R. Dietert and Michael S. Piepenbrink
ABSTRACT
Recent research has pointed to the developing immune system as a remarkably sensitive toxicological target for environmental chemicals and drugs. In fact, the perinatal period prior to and just after birth is replete with dynamic immune changes, many of which do not occur in adults. These include not only the basic maturation and distribution of immune cell types and selection against autoreactive lymphocytes but also changes designed specifically to protect the pregnancy against immune-mediated miscarriage. The newborn is then faced with critical immune maturational adjustments to achieve an immune balance necessary to combat the myriad of childhood and later life diseases.
All of these processes set the fetus and neonate completely apart from the adult when it comes to immunotoxicologic risk. Yet for decades, safety evaluation has relied almost exclusively upon exposure of the adult immune system to predict perinatal immune risk.
Recent workshops and forums have suggested a benefit in employing alternative exposures that include exposure throughout early life stages. However, issues remain as to when and where such applications might be required.
The present review details the reasons why immunotoxic assessment is important for current childhood diseases and why adult exposure assessment cannot predict the impact of xenobiotics on the developing immune system. It also provides examples of developmental immunotoxicants where age-based risk appears to differ. Finally, it stresses the need to replace adult exposure assessment for immune evaluation with protocols that can protect the developing immune system.
...
Table 2: Examples of Perinatal-Induced Immune Outcomes not Predicted by
Standard Adult-Exposure Assessment
....
Chemical/Drug: Mercury
Nature of Age-Based Difference: Dose sensitivity
Reference: Havarinasab et al. 2004; Hultman and Hansson-Georgiadis 1999; Silva et al. 2005"
The entire 47 page study:
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2005/8566/8566.pdf
November 16, 2005
Brett on the Communication Problems Between 'US' and 'THEM'
Brett at 29 Marbles has a good commentary on all the good and bad commentary going back and forth between Neurodiv v. Biomed.
He referred to my discussions on the matter as 'intelligent' so hell yeah I am gonna link to him! ;)
He referred to my discussions on the matter as 'intelligent' so hell yeah I am gonna link to him! ;)
Tim Burton an Aspie?
BURTON MAY BE AUTISTIC
TIM BURTON may have a form of autism, according to his longterm partner HELENA BONHAM CARTER
Bonham Carter recently filmed a TV movie in which she plays the real life mother of four autistic children and during her research she recognised character traits the director shares with kids with Asperger's Syndrome - of which the main symptom is an above average intelligence but less developed social and communication skills
She explains, "Tim will kill me, but while making this drama I realised he actually has a bit off Asperger's in him. You start recognising the signs.
"We were watching a documentary about autism and he said that's how he felt as a child.
"They (autistic people) have application and dedication. You can say something to Tim when he's working and he doesn't hear you.
"But that quality also makes him a fantastic father; he has an amazing sense of humour and imagination. He sees things other people don't see. Billy is enchanted by him."
TIM BURTON may have a form of autism, according to his longterm partner HELENA BONHAM CARTER
Bonham Carter recently filmed a TV movie in which she plays the real life mother of four autistic children and during her research she recognised character traits the director shares with kids with Asperger's Syndrome - of which the main symptom is an above average intelligence but less developed social and communication skills
She explains, "Tim will kill me, but while making this drama I realised he actually has a bit off Asperger's in him. You start recognising the signs.
"We were watching a documentary about autism and he said that's how he felt as a child.
"They (autistic people) have application and dedication. You can say something to Tim when he's working and he doesn't hear you.
"But that quality also makes him a fantastic father; he has an amazing sense of humour and imagination. He sees things other people don't see. Billy is enchanted by him."
Millions May Have Received Contaminated Polio Vaccine
Millions May Have Received Contaminated Polio Vaccine
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2005/1115/1
A polio vaccine produced by at least one eastern European manufacturer was contaminated with a potentially cancer-causing virus as late as 1978, according to a new study. Although most early batches of the vaccine contained this virus, modern manufacturing procedures were thought to have removed it by 1962. The findings indicate that millions more people were exposed to the risky virus than previously thought.
[foto] Contaminant. The SV40 virus has shown up in the polio vaccine stocks of an eastern European company.
CREDIT: CDC
Introduced in 1954, the polio vaccine was a public health breakthrough that brought the spread of the paralytic virus to a screeching halt. To produce enough poliovirus to make vaccine, manufacturers grew the virus in the kidney cells of rhesus monkeys. Unbeknownst to researchers at the time, rhesus monkeys are often infected with SV40, a virus that may cause cancer in humans. Poliovirus stocks made using monkey cells were soon nearly universally contaminated with SV40. Once the problem was discovered
in 1959, most manufacturers eliminated SV40 from their virus stocks with an anti-SV40 antiserum. One eastern European vaccine manufacturer (EEVM) and perhaps others, however, instead heated the virus mixture to inactivate SV40. To prevent future contamination, vaccine producers switched to growing poliovirus in SV40-resistant African green monkeys instead of rhesus monkeys.
Although these measures were widely believed to have been successful, no one had done a comprehensive analysis. So pathologist Michele Carbone of Loyola University in Chicago and colleagues tested stored samples from the EEVM and manufacturers in 12 other countries for SV40 contamination. As reported in the 15 November issue of Cancer Research, all stocks were negative for the virus except for several from the EEVM. The problems with the EEVM's vaccines likely persisted for more than a decade--an EEVM virus stock produced in 1966 and used through 1978 was positive for infectious SV40 virus. The researchers also demonstrated that the EEVM's heat inactivation technique does not adequately destroy SV40 and was the likely reason behind the continued contamination.
The effect of the contaminated vaccine on cancer rates is still largely unknown. While SV40 has been found in some human tumors, it is difficult to flag it as the cause of any particular cancer, says virologist Janet Butel of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. However, she says the Loyola study is well done and believes it will make scientists rethink the assumption that the polio vaccine was no longer contaminated with SV40 after 1962.
--KAREN ROSS
Update: More articles on this:
Chicago Tribune
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2005/1115/1
A polio vaccine produced by at least one eastern European manufacturer was contaminated with a potentially cancer-causing virus as late as 1978, according to a new study. Although most early batches of the vaccine contained this virus, modern manufacturing procedures were thought to have removed it by 1962. The findings indicate that millions more people were exposed to the risky virus than previously thought.
[foto] Contaminant. The SV40 virus has shown up in the polio vaccine stocks of an eastern European company.
CREDIT: CDC
Introduced in 1954, the polio vaccine was a public health breakthrough that brought the spread of the paralytic virus to a screeching halt. To produce enough poliovirus to make vaccine, manufacturers grew the virus in the kidney cells of rhesus monkeys. Unbeknownst to researchers at the time, rhesus monkeys are often infected with SV40, a virus that may cause cancer in humans. Poliovirus stocks made using monkey cells were soon nearly universally contaminated with SV40. Once the problem was discovered
in 1959, most manufacturers eliminated SV40 from their virus stocks with an anti-SV40 antiserum. One eastern European vaccine manufacturer (EEVM) and perhaps others, however, instead heated the virus mixture to inactivate SV40. To prevent future contamination, vaccine producers switched to growing poliovirus in SV40-resistant African green monkeys instead of rhesus monkeys.
Although these measures were widely believed to have been successful, no one had done a comprehensive analysis. So pathologist Michele Carbone of Loyola University in Chicago and colleagues tested stored samples from the EEVM and manufacturers in 12 other countries for SV40 contamination. As reported in the 15 November issue of Cancer Research, all stocks were negative for the virus except for several from the EEVM. The problems with the EEVM's vaccines likely persisted for more than a decade--an EEVM virus stock produced in 1966 and used through 1978 was positive for infectious SV40 virus. The researchers also demonstrated that the EEVM's heat inactivation technique does not adequately destroy SV40 and was the likely reason behind the continued contamination.
The effect of the contaminated vaccine on cancer rates is still largely unknown. While SV40 has been found in some human tumors, it is difficult to flag it as the cause of any particular cancer, says virologist Janet Butel of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. However, she says the Loyola study is well done and believes it will make scientists rethink the assumption that the polio vaccine was no longer contaminated with SV40 after 1962.
--KAREN ROSS
Update: More articles on this:
Chicago Tribune
NYT: EPA Rules on Mercury
Groups Propose Alternative to E.P.A. Rules on Mercury
From the NY Times
WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 - Concerned that new federal standards on mercury emissions will not produce more immediate health benefits, two national groups of state and local air quality regulators have developed a plan to yield fewer emissions in less time.
The groups say at least 20 states have shown interest in the plan, which was conceived in response to complaints from environmentalists and some Democrats in Congress over federal rules to eliminate significant amounts of mercury from air and water.
Details of the plan are expected to be released Monday by the regulators' groups, the State and Territorial Air Pollution Program Administrators and the Association of Local Air Pollution Control Officials.
Coal-fired power plants in the United States emit about 48 tons of mercury a year, causing health risks that include developmental problems for fetuses and young children, largely through the consumption of fish. Currently, 45 states have fish advisories, warning their residents about mercury contamination in their waters.
In March, the Environmental Protection Agency announced the first federal rules to control mercury emissions from power plants. Until then, the plants had been exempt from federal standards for sources of toxic emissions. The rules require a 21 percent reduction in mercury emissions within five years - a level that would not require new controls - and a reduction of 70 percent by 2018.
States are allowed to adopt their own emission reduction plans provided the plans exceed federal standards. The regulators' plan is designed to achieve reductions of at least 80 percent by 2008.
"Almost everybody agrees that the federal mercury control program is severely flawed," said Bill Becker, executive director of the two groups. "This is a very powerful tool, even if states don't adopt it in toto. It's a technologically feasible and cost effective alternative to the E.P.A. plan."
The regulators' concerns echo those raised by environmental groups and Democrats after the E.P.A. rules were adopted.
But the plan drew criticism from industry groups that have defended the E.P.A. rule, saying the costs for mercury controls would be passed on to consumers at a time when energy bills have risen with record prices for oil and natural gas.
Industry groups also say that control devices for mercury are not sufficient to produce the reductions promised by the regulators' plan and would result in a switch from coal to natural gas, which is cleaner but more costly.
One industry official, Scott Segal, said the current E.P.A. standard struck a balance between controlling emissions and controlling costs.
"If you play with that balance," said Mr. Segal, director of the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, "you're not going to get a lot more environmental bang for your buck, and you'll create severe consequences for people on fixed incomes."
Industry officials say that controls for other pollutants, like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, also reduce mercury emissions, which eases the need to install devices designed solely for mercury.
But the regulators contend that the cost issue is a scare tactic. They say the industry is unwilling to pay for plant upgrades for mercury after spending $150 million or more to meet federal standards for other pollutants.
David Foerter, executive director of the Institute of Clean Air Companies, a trade group representing the makers of pollution control devices, said mercury controls cost far less than those for other pollutants, about $1 million to install and about $2 million a year to maintain.
Mr. Becker, of the regulators' groups, said the alternative plan also rejected a crucial component of the new E.P.A. rules, a provision that allowed states that were below their mercury limits to sell credits to states that were over their limits.
"That only exacerbates existing problems and contributes to new hot spots," Mr. Becker said.
The plan being released Monday proposes two options. In one, power plants would be required to reduce mercury emissions by 80 percent by 2008 and by 90 percent to 95 percent by 2012.
The second option would require plants to achieve up to 95 percent reductions by 2008, but the plants could get four more years to comply by reducing the levels of other pollutants.
"What we've done," Mr. Becker said, "is help states find a middle ground that achieves more aggressive emission reductions, and there seems to be a lot of interest."
From the NY Times
WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 - Concerned that new federal standards on mercury emissions will not produce more immediate health benefits, two national groups of state and local air quality regulators have developed a plan to yield fewer emissions in less time.
The groups say at least 20 states have shown interest in the plan, which was conceived in response to complaints from environmentalists and some Democrats in Congress over federal rules to eliminate significant amounts of mercury from air and water.
Details of the plan are expected to be released Monday by the regulators' groups, the State and Territorial Air Pollution Program Administrators and the Association of Local Air Pollution Control Officials.
Coal-fired power plants in the United States emit about 48 tons of mercury a year, causing health risks that include developmental problems for fetuses and young children, largely through the consumption of fish. Currently, 45 states have fish advisories, warning their residents about mercury contamination in their waters.
In March, the Environmental Protection Agency announced the first federal rules to control mercury emissions from power plants. Until then, the plants had been exempt from federal standards for sources of toxic emissions. The rules require a 21 percent reduction in mercury emissions within five years - a level that would not require new controls - and a reduction of 70 percent by 2018.
States are allowed to adopt their own emission reduction plans provided the plans exceed federal standards. The regulators' plan is designed to achieve reductions of at least 80 percent by 2008.
"Almost everybody agrees that the federal mercury control program is severely flawed," said Bill Becker, executive director of the two groups. "This is a very powerful tool, even if states don't adopt it in toto. It's a technologically feasible and cost effective alternative to the E.P.A. plan."
The regulators' concerns echo those raised by environmental groups and Democrats after the E.P.A. rules were adopted.
But the plan drew criticism from industry groups that have defended the E.P.A. rule, saying the costs for mercury controls would be passed on to consumers at a time when energy bills have risen with record prices for oil and natural gas.
Industry groups also say that control devices for mercury are not sufficient to produce the reductions promised by the regulators' plan and would result in a switch from coal to natural gas, which is cleaner but more costly.
One industry official, Scott Segal, said the current E.P.A. standard struck a balance between controlling emissions and controlling costs.
"If you play with that balance," said Mr. Segal, director of the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, "you're not going to get a lot more environmental bang for your buck, and you'll create severe consequences for people on fixed incomes."
Industry officials say that controls for other pollutants, like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, also reduce mercury emissions, which eases the need to install devices designed solely for mercury.
But the regulators contend that the cost issue is a scare tactic. They say the industry is unwilling to pay for plant upgrades for mercury after spending $150 million or more to meet federal standards for other pollutants.
David Foerter, executive director of the Institute of Clean Air Companies, a trade group representing the makers of pollution control devices, said mercury controls cost far less than those for other pollutants, about $1 million to install and about $2 million a year to maintain.
Mr. Becker, of the regulators' groups, said the alternative plan also rejected a crucial component of the new E.P.A. rules, a provision that allowed states that were below their mercury limits to sell credits to states that were over their limits.
"That only exacerbates existing problems and contributes to new hot spots," Mr. Becker said.
The plan being released Monday proposes two options. In one, power plants would be required to reduce mercury emissions by 80 percent by 2008 and by 90 percent to 95 percent by 2012.
The second option would require plants to achieve up to 95 percent reductions by 2008, but the plants could get four more years to comply by reducing the levels of other pollutants.
"What we've done," Mr. Becker said, "is help states find a middle ground that achieves more aggressive emission reductions, and there seems to be a lot of interest."
European Forum for Vaccine Vigilance
European Forum for Vaccine Vigilance
The EFVV (European Forum for Vaccine Vigilance) are holding a press
conference in Brussels on the 21st November 2005. This conference is open
to all interested parties.
The EFVV has completed a 6 year study and collected over 1000 cases of
vaccine reaction. A report is available in FIVE languages, as paper copy or
CD. This report has been sent to various MEPs in October and have been
invited to the conference.
JABS calls on anyone interested in this subject to contact their own MEP and
ask them to attend this conference on their behalf.
The press conference will take place at:
Place: Restaurant " Le Vieux Saint-Martin",
38, place du Grand Sablon,
1000 Bruxelles (Belgique).
Time: 2.30pm
Date: Monday 21 November 2005
Press Conference with Mr Paul Lannoye, previous deputy of the
European Parliament; Mr Giorgio Tremante, author of the book " Majeur et
vacciné ou.le droit de vivre ? ", members of the EFVV; several victims of
vaccination and/or their parents.
www.efvv.org
A Letter From Le secrétariat du EFVV
Dear Sir or Madam,
The EFVV (European Forum for Vaccine Vigilance) has pleasure in inviting
you to a press conference on the theme of:
" Are we sufficiently aware of adverse reactions to vaccinations? ".
The EFVV is a European group comprised of parents' associations, doctors and
other practitioners who are concerned about undesirable secondary effects of
vaccinations.
The EFVV will present the results of our six-year study of adverse reactions
to vaccinations (collected from Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Holland and
the UK). The EFVV is presenting their report, in five languages, to the
President of the European Parliament and also to a number of MEPs.
Invited : - Mr Paul LANNOYE (Belgium), physicist and honorary European
deputy,
- Mr Giorgio TREMANTE (Italy), father of three children
damaged by vaccination. The death of two children, and the serious
disablement of the third, is remembered in Italy as a result of compulsory
vaccination.
- Several victims of vaccine-reaction.
Date : Monday 21st November 2005 at 2.30pm
Venue : "Le Vieux Saint-Martin",
38, place du Grand Sablon,
1000 Brussels
We would like to gain substantial media coverage because of the seriousness
of this subject, until now too often ignored. We would therefore greatly
appreciate your presence and participation in this debate. We sincerely hope
you will accept our invitation.
With our best wishes,
Le secrétariat du EFVV
Association Liberté Information Santé 19 rue de l'Argentière, F63200 Riom.
Tél +33 4 73 63 02 21
Liga para la Libertad de Vacunacion, Apartado de Correos 100 E17080 Girona
Fax +34 9 35 91 27 57
*************
Document for journalists
Who we are
The EFVV is a European group comprised of the following parents'
associations, doctors and other practitioners who are concerned about the
undesirable secondary effects of vaccines, and - in countries where
vaccination is compulsory - lack of freedom to choose:
· Association Liberté Information Santé (ALIS) (France)
· Liga para la Libertad de Vacunaciones (Spain)
· The Informed Parent (United Kingdom)
· Society of Homeopaths (United Kingdom)
· The Alliance of Registered Homeopaths (United Kingdom)
· Nederlandse Vereniging Kritisch Prikken (Holland)
· Stichting Vaccinatieschade (Holland)
· Groupe Médical de Réflexion sur les Vaccins (Switzerland)
· COMILVA (Italy)
· Associazione vittime dei vaccini (Italy)
· AEGIS (Luxembourg)
· LiSa (Germany)
§ Preventie vaccinatieschade (Belgium)
· Claude BERNARD (France), doctor of Sciences,
· Nelleke BRUCH (Pays-Bas), homeopath,
· Dr Kris GAUBLOMME (Belgique), GP, author of several books on
vaccination, president of Preventie Vaccinatieschade,
· Françoise JOET (France), teacher, president of ALIS, author of
several books on vaccination, editor in chief of the periodical " Le
Courrier d'ALIS ",
· Dr Danièle JOULIN (France), GP,
· Helen KIMBALL-BROOKE (United Kingdom), homeopath, member of the
Alliance of Registered Homeopaths,
· Lesley KING (United Kingdom), homeopath, member of the Society of
Homeopaths,
· Colette LEICK-WELTER (Germany), diploma in Natural Hygiene,
author,
· Dr Walter PANSINI (Italy), herbalist, president of COMILVA,
· Dr Jean PILETTE (Belgium), MD, author of books on vaccination,
· Dr Xavier URIARTE (Spain), ND, author of books on vaccination and
Natural Hygiene, advisor of the publication: " Vacunacion Libre ",
Our work on a European Level
Over six years the EFVV conducted a study of the secondary effects of
vaccinations, using a questionnaire translated into five languages, which
was made available to health practitioners and members of the public.
The analysis of the collected data is published in a REPORT, available in
five languages (English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch), and also on a CD
which contains our complete work in all five langauages.
These documents show that, contrary to official information, secondary
effects of vaccinations are:
Much more frequent,
Much more serious,
More numerous with successive vaccinations,
Responsible for the onset of new and more complex degenerative
pathologies
(fibromyalgia, diabetes, autism, many different auto immune
illnesses .),
Usually dismissed by medical staff, remaining unreported.
Our suggestions
· Exhaustive information on the secondary effects of vaccination
should be made available to everyone,
· The setting up of a strict, independent vaccinovigilance that
collects all side effects from vaccination,
· Victims of vaccination-damage should automatically receive
compensation, irrespective of who they are,
· Laws that guarantee fundamental rights should be respected,
· Absence of discrimination between vaccinated and unvaccinated
people (school, work,
services.)
· Abolition of compulsory vaccination.
Our actions
· Contact with the European Parliament
We have sent copies of our REPORT and CDs to the President of the European
Parliament, to the committees, to the President and to the Vice-Presidents
of three commissions of the European Parliament as well as to certain
members of the following:
Commission for Civil Rights, Justice and Interior Affairs;
Commission for the Environment, Public Health and Food Security;
Commission for the Interior Market and Consumer Protection.
The EFVV (European Forum for Vaccine Vigilance) are holding a press
conference in Brussels on the 21st November 2005. This conference is open
to all interested parties.
The EFVV has completed a 6 year study and collected over 1000 cases of
vaccine reaction. A report is available in FIVE languages, as paper copy or
CD. This report has been sent to various MEPs in October and have been
invited to the conference.
JABS calls on anyone interested in this subject to contact their own MEP and
ask them to attend this conference on their behalf.
The press conference will take place at:
Place: Restaurant " Le Vieux Saint-Martin",
38, place du Grand Sablon,
1000 Bruxelles (Belgique).
Time: 2.30pm
Date: Monday 21 November 2005
Press Conference with Mr Paul Lannoye, previous deputy of the
European Parliament; Mr Giorgio Tremante, author of the book " Majeur et
vacciné ou.le droit de vivre ? ", members of the EFVV; several victims of
vaccination and/or their parents.
www.efvv.org
A Letter From Le secrétariat du EFVV
Dear Sir or Madam,
The EFVV (European Forum for Vaccine Vigilance) has pleasure in inviting
you to a press conference on the theme of:
" Are we sufficiently aware of adverse reactions to vaccinations? ".
The EFVV is a European group comprised of parents' associations, doctors and
other practitioners who are concerned about undesirable secondary effects of
vaccinations.
The EFVV will present the results of our six-year study of adverse reactions
to vaccinations (collected from Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Holland and
the UK). The EFVV is presenting their report, in five languages, to the
President of the European Parliament and also to a number of MEPs.
Invited : - Mr Paul LANNOYE (Belgium), physicist and honorary European
deputy,
- Mr Giorgio TREMANTE (Italy), father of three children
damaged by vaccination. The death of two children, and the serious
disablement of the third, is remembered in Italy as a result of compulsory
vaccination.
- Several victims of vaccine-reaction.
Date : Monday 21st November 2005 at 2.30pm
Venue : "Le Vieux Saint-Martin",
38, place du Grand Sablon,
1000 Brussels
We would like to gain substantial media coverage because of the seriousness
of this subject, until now too often ignored. We would therefore greatly
appreciate your presence and participation in this debate. We sincerely hope
you will accept our invitation.
With our best wishes,
Le secrétariat du EFVV
Association Liberté Information Santé 19 rue de l'Argentière, F63200 Riom.
Tél +33 4 73 63 02 21
Liga para la Libertad de Vacunacion, Apartado de Correos 100 E17080 Girona
Fax +34 9 35 91 27 57
*************
Document for journalists
Who we are
The EFVV is a European group comprised of the following parents'
associations, doctors and other practitioners who are concerned about the
undesirable secondary effects of vaccines, and - in countries where
vaccination is compulsory - lack of freedom to choose:
· Association Liberté Information Santé (ALIS) (France)
· Liga para la Libertad de Vacunaciones (Spain)
· The Informed Parent (United Kingdom)
· Society of Homeopaths (United Kingdom)
· The Alliance of Registered Homeopaths (United Kingdom)
· Nederlandse Vereniging Kritisch Prikken (Holland)
· Stichting Vaccinatieschade (Holland)
· Groupe Médical de Réflexion sur les Vaccins (Switzerland)
· COMILVA (Italy)
· Associazione vittime dei vaccini (Italy)
· AEGIS (Luxembourg)
· LiSa (Germany)
§ Preventie vaccinatieschade (Belgium)
· Claude BERNARD (France), doctor of Sciences,
· Nelleke BRUCH (Pays-Bas), homeopath,
· Dr Kris GAUBLOMME (Belgique), GP, author of several books on
vaccination, president of Preventie Vaccinatieschade,
· Françoise JOET (France), teacher, president of ALIS, author of
several books on vaccination, editor in chief of the periodical " Le
Courrier d'ALIS ",
· Dr Danièle JOULIN (France), GP,
· Helen KIMBALL-BROOKE (United Kingdom), homeopath, member of the
Alliance of Registered Homeopaths,
· Lesley KING (United Kingdom), homeopath, member of the Society of
Homeopaths,
· Colette LEICK-WELTER (Germany), diploma in Natural Hygiene,
author,
· Dr Walter PANSINI (Italy), herbalist, president of COMILVA,
· Dr Jean PILETTE (Belgium), MD, author of books on vaccination,
· Dr Xavier URIARTE (Spain), ND, author of books on vaccination and
Natural Hygiene, advisor of the publication: " Vacunacion Libre ",
Our work on a European Level
Over six years the EFVV conducted a study of the secondary effects of
vaccinations, using a questionnaire translated into five languages, which
was made available to health practitioners and members of the public.
The analysis of the collected data is published in a REPORT, available in
five languages (English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch), and also on a CD
which contains our complete work in all five langauages.
These documents show that, contrary to official information, secondary
effects of vaccinations are:
Much more frequent,
Much more serious,
More numerous with successive vaccinations,
Responsible for the onset of new and more complex degenerative
pathologies
(fibromyalgia, diabetes, autism, many different auto immune
illnesses .),
Usually dismissed by medical staff, remaining unreported.
Our suggestions
· Exhaustive information on the secondary effects of vaccination
should be made available to everyone,
· The setting up of a strict, independent vaccinovigilance that
collects all side effects from vaccination,
· Victims of vaccination-damage should automatically receive
compensation, irrespective of who they are,
· Laws that guarantee fundamental rights should be respected,
· Absence of discrimination between vaccinated and unvaccinated
people (school, work,
services.)
· Abolition of compulsory vaccination.
Our actions
· Contact with the European Parliament
We have sent copies of our REPORT and CDs to the President of the European
Parliament, to the committees, to the President and to the Vice-Presidents
of three commissions of the European Parliament as well as to certain
members of the following:
Commission for Civil Rights, Justice and Interior Affairs;
Commission for the Environment, Public Health and Food Security;
Commission for the Interior Market and Consumer Protection.
November 15, 2005
Alert: Protect Vaccine-Injured Children's Rights
From the National Autism Association:
EMERGENCY ALERT!
POWER OF PARENTS CALL-IN CAMPAIGN
WITH YOUR HELP, WE CAN SWARM WASHINGTON WITH PHONES CALLS TO PROTECT VACCINE-INJURED CHILDREN’S RIGHTS!!!
Ø Pharmaceutical Liability Protection Language is now EVERYWHERE in pending legislation on Capitol Hill, and it’s getting worse by the minute.
Ø We need to get on the phones today, tomorrow, and Thursday to fight the most sweeping threat so far to our children’s rights.
Ø THIS IS WORSE THAN THE FRIST LEGISLATION. OUR CHILDREN WILL GET NOTHING.
Ø Our sources in Washington tell us that Pharma-protection language will be inserted into as much legislation as possible between now and Thursday. There are already ten different bills on Capitol Hill -- S3, S975, S1437, S1828, S1873, S1880, HR650, HR3154, HR3970, HR4245 -- that contain provisions which will let drug companies off the hook for injuries resulting from vaccines and other products.
Ø Other appropriations bills are being considered for similar provisions. If the provisions are attached to an appropriations bill WE CANNOT STOP IT!!!
HERE’S WHAT WE DO:
THE POWER OF PARENTS CALL-IN CAMPAIGN.
Ø Get on the phone ASAP!!!
Ø Our ONLY defense is to prevent anything from being attached!
Ø Tell the legislators listed below plus your own senator and representative that they must not support any of the bills that take away your child’s rights and that you demand that drug companies not be rewarded for their disregard for safety.
Ø Remind them that their constituents are watching them very closely and will remember who supports the children, and who supports Big Pharma. They cannot have it both ways—they are either for our injured children, or they are against them.
Time is of the essence and it ties up their phone lines.
The results are immediate.
If you have time for faxing, below is a sample letter you can change to fit your situation, or just write your own brief note.
We need everyone possible to get involved—in-laws, neighbors, friends, and anyone else you can think of. Send this action alert to everyone in your address book. This is their best chance. WE MUST STOP THEM!
We will send out updates on the situation on Capitol Hill as we receive them.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Senator _________:
VOTE YES to helping vaccine-injured children and NO to pharmaceutical companies.
I am aware of at least ten bills that already contain language that will severely limit the rights of my injured child and understand that even more bills are being targeted for similar provisions and will be slipped in like the Homeland Security Provisions. If any one of these bills is allowed to pass, my child’s right to have his day in court will forever vanish, all in the name of corporate greed.
As a citizen, voter and parent of a vaccine-injured child, I am appalled at the overwhelming amount of legislation currently on the table that will allow complete immunity to the very industry that has caused tremendous pain to my entire family.
I urge you to place the interests of injured children above those of the pharmaceutical industry. Along with hundreds of thousands of voters across the country, I realize that an industry already known for placing profit over safety will no longer have any incentive whatsoever to be concerned about injuries from their products should any of these various bills pass.
All of us parents of vaccine-injured children will be watching the actions of our legislators very carefully regarding all the relevant bills. Either you support the interests of injured children, or you support those of the drug industry. Those in the latter category will be pointed out to the media as an enemy of our injured children, and a protector and promoter of corporate greed.
I urge you to do all in your power to see that none of the bills that take away my child’s rights are passed. I am also contacting the local and national media today.
Sincerely,
_____________
CALL ALL of these Senators (and one House Member) ASAP!!!
Senator Thad Cochran (MS) (Chairman) Phone: (202) 224-5054 Fax: (202) 224-9450
Senator Ted Stevens (AK) Phone: (202) 224-3004 Fax:(202) 224-2354
Senator Arlen Specter (PA) Phone: 202-224-4254 Fax: 202-228-1229
Senator Pete Domenici (NM) Phone: (202) 224-6621 Fax: (202) 228-3261
Senator Christopher Bond (MO) Phone: (202) 224-5721 Fax: (202) 224-8149
Senator Mitch McConnell (KY) Phone: (202) 224-2541 Fax: (202) 224-2499
Senator Richard Shelby (AL) Phone: (202) 224-5744 Fax: (202) 224-3416
Senator Judd Gregg (NH) Phone: (202) 224 – 3324 Fax: (202) 224 - 4952
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX) Phone: 202-224-5922 Fax: 202-224-0776
Senator Conrad Burns (MT) Phone: 202-224-2644 Fax: 202-224-8594
Sen. Daniel Inouye (Ranking Member) (HI) Phone: 202-224-3934 Fax: 202-224-6747
Senator Robert C. Byrd (WV) Phone: 202-224-3954 Fax: 202-228-0002
Senator Patrick Leahy (VT) Phone: 202-224-4242 Fax: 202-224-3479
Senator Tom Harkin (IA) Phone: (202) 224-3254 Fax: (202) 224-9369
Senator Byron Dorgan (ND) Phone: 202-224-2551 Fax: 202-224-1193
Senator Richard Durbin (IL) Phone: (202) 224-2152 Fax: (202) 228-0400
Senator Harry Reid (NV) Phone: 202-224-3542 Fax: 202-224-7327
Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA) Phone: (202) 224-3841 Fax: (202) 228-3954
Senator Barbara Milkulski (MD) Phone: 202-224-4654 Fax: 202-224-8858
Sen. Edward Kennedy (MA) Phone: 202-224-4543 Fax: 202-224-2417
Sen. Olympia Snowe (ME) DC Phone: 202-224-5344 Fax: 202-224-1946
Sen. Susan Collins (ME) Phone: 202-224-2523 Fax: 202-224-2693
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (MI) Phone: 202-224-4822 Fax: 202-228-0325
Sen. Lincoln Chaffee (RI) Phone: 202-224-2921 Fax: 202-228-2853
Sen. John McCain (AZ) Phone: 202-224-2235 Fax: 202-228-2862
Sen. Lindsay Graham DC Phone: 202-224-5972 Fax: 202-224-3808
Congressman Jerry Lewis (Chair, House Appropriations) Phone: 202-225-3801 Fax: 202-225-0351
EMERGENCY ALERT!
POWER OF PARENTS CALL-IN CAMPAIGN
WITH YOUR HELP, WE CAN SWARM WASHINGTON WITH PHONES CALLS TO PROTECT VACCINE-INJURED CHILDREN’S RIGHTS!!!
Ø Pharmaceutical Liability Protection Language is now EVERYWHERE in pending legislation on Capitol Hill, and it’s getting worse by the minute.
Ø We need to get on the phones today, tomorrow, and Thursday to fight the most sweeping threat so far to our children’s rights.
Ø THIS IS WORSE THAN THE FRIST LEGISLATION. OUR CHILDREN WILL GET NOTHING.
Ø Our sources in Washington tell us that Pharma-protection language will be inserted into as much legislation as possible between now and Thursday. There are already ten different bills on Capitol Hill -- S3, S975, S1437, S1828, S1873, S1880, HR650, HR3154, HR3970, HR4245 -- that contain provisions which will let drug companies off the hook for injuries resulting from vaccines and other products.
Ø Other appropriations bills are being considered for similar provisions. If the provisions are attached to an appropriations bill WE CANNOT STOP IT!!!
HERE’S WHAT WE DO:
THE POWER OF PARENTS CALL-IN CAMPAIGN.
Ø Get on the phone ASAP!!!
Ø Our ONLY defense is to prevent anything from being attached!
Ø Tell the legislators listed below plus your own senator and representative that they must not support any of the bills that take away your child’s rights and that you demand that drug companies not be rewarded for their disregard for safety.
Ø Remind them that their constituents are watching them very closely and will remember who supports the children, and who supports Big Pharma. They cannot have it both ways—they are either for our injured children, or they are against them.
Time is of the essence and it ties up their phone lines.
The results are immediate.
If you have time for faxing, below is a sample letter you can change to fit your situation, or just write your own brief note.
We need everyone possible to get involved—in-laws, neighbors, friends, and anyone else you can think of. Send this action alert to everyone in your address book. This is their best chance. WE MUST STOP THEM!
We will send out updates on the situation on Capitol Hill as we receive them.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Senator _________:
VOTE YES to helping vaccine-injured children and NO to pharmaceutical companies.
I am aware of at least ten bills that already contain language that will severely limit the rights of my injured child and understand that even more bills are being targeted for similar provisions and will be slipped in like the Homeland Security Provisions. If any one of these bills is allowed to pass, my child’s right to have his day in court will forever vanish, all in the name of corporate greed.
As a citizen, voter and parent of a vaccine-injured child, I am appalled at the overwhelming amount of legislation currently on the table that will allow complete immunity to the very industry that has caused tremendous pain to my entire family.
I urge you to place the interests of injured children above those of the pharmaceutical industry. Along with hundreds of thousands of voters across the country, I realize that an industry already known for placing profit over safety will no longer have any incentive whatsoever to be concerned about injuries from their products should any of these various bills pass.
All of us parents of vaccine-injured children will be watching the actions of our legislators very carefully regarding all the relevant bills. Either you support the interests of injured children, or you support those of the drug industry. Those in the latter category will be pointed out to the media as an enemy of our injured children, and a protector and promoter of corporate greed.
I urge you to do all in your power to see that none of the bills that take away my child’s rights are passed. I am also contacting the local and national media today.
Sincerely,
_____________
CALL ALL of these Senators (and one House Member) ASAP!!!
Senator Thad Cochran (MS) (Chairman) Phone: (202) 224-5054 Fax: (202) 224-9450
Senator Ted Stevens (AK) Phone: (202) 224-3004 Fax:(202) 224-2354
Senator Arlen Specter (PA) Phone: 202-224-4254 Fax: 202-228-1229
Senator Pete Domenici (NM) Phone: (202) 224-6621 Fax: (202) 228-3261
Senator Christopher Bond (MO) Phone: (202) 224-5721 Fax: (202) 224-8149
Senator Mitch McConnell (KY) Phone: (202) 224-2541 Fax: (202) 224-2499
Senator Richard Shelby (AL) Phone: (202) 224-5744 Fax: (202) 224-3416
Senator Judd Gregg (NH) Phone: (202) 224 – 3324 Fax: (202) 224 - 4952
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX) Phone: 202-224-5922 Fax: 202-224-0776
Senator Conrad Burns (MT) Phone: 202-224-2644 Fax: 202-224-8594
Sen. Daniel Inouye (Ranking Member) (HI) Phone: 202-224-3934 Fax: 202-224-6747
Senator Robert C. Byrd (WV) Phone: 202-224-3954 Fax: 202-228-0002
Senator Patrick Leahy (VT) Phone: 202-224-4242 Fax: 202-224-3479
Senator Tom Harkin (IA) Phone: (202) 224-3254 Fax: (202) 224-9369
Senator Byron Dorgan (ND) Phone: 202-224-2551 Fax: 202-224-1193
Senator Richard Durbin (IL) Phone: (202) 224-2152 Fax: (202) 228-0400
Senator Harry Reid (NV) Phone: 202-224-3542 Fax: 202-224-7327
Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA) Phone: (202) 224-3841 Fax: (202) 228-3954
Senator Barbara Milkulski (MD) Phone: 202-224-4654 Fax: 202-224-8858
Sen. Edward Kennedy (MA) Phone: 202-224-4543 Fax: 202-224-2417
Sen. Olympia Snowe (ME) DC Phone: 202-224-5344 Fax: 202-224-1946
Sen. Susan Collins (ME) Phone: 202-224-2523 Fax: 202-224-2693
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (MI) Phone: 202-224-4822 Fax: 202-228-0325
Sen. Lincoln Chaffee (RI) Phone: 202-224-2921 Fax: 202-228-2853
Sen. John McCain (AZ) Phone: 202-224-2235 Fax: 202-228-2862
Sen. Lindsay Graham DC Phone: 202-224-5972 Fax: 202-224-3808
Congressman Jerry Lewis (Chair, House Appropriations) Phone: 202-225-3801 Fax: 202-225-0351
Myelin. Gotta Have it.
Breakdown of myelin insulation in brain's wiring implicated in childhood developmental disorders
Evidence of myelination as neural Achilles’ heel grows
New evidence points to production of myelin, a fatty insulation coating the brain's internal wiring, as a neural Achilles' heel early in life.
An upcoming application of a novel model of human brain development and degeneration pioneered by a UCLA neuroscientist identifies disruption of myelination as a key neurobiological component behind childhood developmental disorders and addictive behaviors.
Detailed in an article in press with the upcoming annual peer-reviewed publication Adolescent Psychiatry (Hillsdale, N.J.; The Analytic Press Inc.; 2005) the analysis suggests that many factors can disrupt myelination and contribute to or worsen disorders such as autism, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and schizophrenia.
In addition, the analysis suggests that alcohol and other drugs of abuse have toxic effects on the myelination process in some adolescents, contributing to poor treatment outcomes and exacerbating co-existing psychiatric disorders.
Author Dr. George Bartzokis, a professor of neurology at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine, concludes that the high incidence of impulsive behaviors that characterize the teen years as well as many psychiatric disorders that occur in the teens and 20s are related to incomplete myelination of inhibitory "stop" brain circuits, while the "go" circuits become fully functional earlier in development. These inhibitory circuits are not on line to quickly interrupt high-risk behaviors that are so prevalent in teens and young adults.
"Myelination, a process uniquely elaborated in humans, arguably is the most important and most vulnerable process of brain development as we mature and age," said Bartzokis, who directs the UCLA Memory Disorders and Alzheimer's Disease Clinic and the Clinical Core of the UCLA Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.
"Environmental toxins, genetic predispositions and even diet appear to influence and sometimes disrupt this process," he added. "By shifting our research focus to medications that act on brain metabolism and development, as opposed to brain neurotransmitter chemistry, neuroscientists will likely find a wealth of novel opportunities for addressing the cause of brain disease rather than simply the symptoms."
Myelin is a sheet of lipid, or fat, with very high cholesterol content -- the highest of any brain tissue. The high cholesterol content allows myelin to wrap tightly around axons, speeding messages through the brain by insulating these neural "wire" connections.
Bartzokis' analysis of magnetic resonance images and post-mortem tissue data suggests that the production of myelin is a key component of brain development through childhood and well into middle age, when development peaks and deterioration begins (Neurobiology of Aging, January 2004). He also identifies the midlife breakdown of myelin as a key to onset of Alzheimer's disease later in life (Archives of Neurology, March 2003; Neurobiology of Aging, August 2004).
"This model of a lifelong trajectory of brain development and degeneration embraces the human brain as a high-speed Internet rather than a computer," Bartzokis said. "The speed, quality, and bandwidth of the connections determine the brain's ability to process information, and all these depend in large part on the insulation that coats the brain's connecting wires."
###
Funders for the research include the National Institute of Mental Health, the Research and Psychiatry Services of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Institute of Aging Alzheimer's Disease Center, and the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center of California.
The UCLA Department of Neurology encompasses more than a dozen research, clinical and teaching programs. These programs cover brain mapping and neuroimaging, movement disorders, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, neurogenetics, nerve and muscle disorders, epilepsy, neuro-oncology, neurotology, neuropsychology, headaches and migraines, neurorehabilitation, and neurovascular disorders. The department ranks No. 2 among its peers nationwide in National Institutes of Health funding.
The Alzheimer Disease Research Center (ADRC) at UCLA, directed by Dr. Jeffrey L. Cummings, was established in 1991 by a grant from the National Institute on Aging. Together with grants from the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center of California grant and the Sidell Kagan Foundation, the center provides a mechanism for integrating, coordinating and supporting new and on-going research by established investigators in Alzheimer's disease and aging. The Memory Disorders and Alzheimer's Disease Clinic of the ADRC is an evaluation clinic for individuals over the age of 45 who are experiencing mild but gradually progressing cognitive or memory declines that are not related to other brain diseases such as strokes, tumors, infection, metabolic abnormalities, psychiatric disease or trauma.
Additional online resources:
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA: http://www.medsch.ucla.edu/
UCLA Department of Neurology: http://neurology.medsch.ucla.edu/
Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at UCLA: http://www.adc.ucla.edu/
Evidence of myelination as neural Achilles’ heel grows
New evidence points to production of myelin, a fatty insulation coating the brain's internal wiring, as a neural Achilles' heel early in life.
An upcoming application of a novel model of human brain development and degeneration pioneered by a UCLA neuroscientist identifies disruption of myelination as a key neurobiological component behind childhood developmental disorders and addictive behaviors.
Detailed in an article in press with the upcoming annual peer-reviewed publication Adolescent Psychiatry (Hillsdale, N.J.; The Analytic Press Inc.; 2005) the analysis suggests that many factors can disrupt myelination and contribute to or worsen disorders such as autism, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and schizophrenia.
In addition, the analysis suggests that alcohol and other drugs of abuse have toxic effects on the myelination process in some adolescents, contributing to poor treatment outcomes and exacerbating co-existing psychiatric disorders.
Author Dr. George Bartzokis, a professor of neurology at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine, concludes that the high incidence of impulsive behaviors that characterize the teen years as well as many psychiatric disorders that occur in the teens and 20s are related to incomplete myelination of inhibitory "stop" brain circuits, while the "go" circuits become fully functional earlier in development. These inhibitory circuits are not on line to quickly interrupt high-risk behaviors that are so prevalent in teens and young adults.
"Myelination, a process uniquely elaborated in humans, arguably is the most important and most vulnerable process of brain development as we mature and age," said Bartzokis, who directs the UCLA Memory Disorders and Alzheimer's Disease Clinic and the Clinical Core of the UCLA Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.
"Environmental toxins, genetic predispositions and even diet appear to influence and sometimes disrupt this process," he added. "By shifting our research focus to medications that act on brain metabolism and development, as opposed to brain neurotransmitter chemistry, neuroscientists will likely find a wealth of novel opportunities for addressing the cause of brain disease rather than simply the symptoms."
Myelin is a sheet of lipid, or fat, with very high cholesterol content -- the highest of any brain tissue. The high cholesterol content allows myelin to wrap tightly around axons, speeding messages through the brain by insulating these neural "wire" connections.
Bartzokis' analysis of magnetic resonance images and post-mortem tissue data suggests that the production of myelin is a key component of brain development through childhood and well into middle age, when development peaks and deterioration begins (Neurobiology of Aging, January 2004). He also identifies the midlife breakdown of myelin as a key to onset of Alzheimer's disease later in life (Archives of Neurology, March 2003; Neurobiology of Aging, August 2004).
"This model of a lifelong trajectory of brain development and degeneration embraces the human brain as a high-speed Internet rather than a computer," Bartzokis said. "The speed, quality, and bandwidth of the connections determine the brain's ability to process information, and all these depend in large part on the insulation that coats the brain's connecting wires."
###
Funders for the research include the National Institute of Mental Health, the Research and Psychiatry Services of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Institute of Aging Alzheimer's Disease Center, and the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center of California.
The UCLA Department of Neurology encompasses more than a dozen research, clinical and teaching programs. These programs cover brain mapping and neuroimaging, movement disorders, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, neurogenetics, nerve and muscle disorders, epilepsy, neuro-oncology, neurotology, neuropsychology, headaches and migraines, neurorehabilitation, and neurovascular disorders. The department ranks No. 2 among its peers nationwide in National Institutes of Health funding.
The Alzheimer Disease Research Center (ADRC) at UCLA, directed by Dr. Jeffrey L. Cummings, was established in 1991 by a grant from the National Institute on Aging. Together with grants from the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center of California grant and the Sidell Kagan Foundation, the center provides a mechanism for integrating, coordinating and supporting new and on-going research by established investigators in Alzheimer's disease and aging. The Memory Disorders and Alzheimer's Disease Clinic of the ADRC is an evaluation clinic for individuals over the age of 45 who are experiencing mild but gradually progressing cognitive or memory declines that are not related to other brain diseases such as strokes, tumors, infection, metabolic abnormalities, psychiatric disease or trauma.
Additional online resources:
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA: http://www.medsch.ucla.edu/
UCLA Department of Neurology: http://neurology.medsch.ucla.edu/
Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at UCLA: http://www.adc.ucla.edu/
Price Gouging for Hg Free Flu Shots
Mercury-free flu shots more than double the price of a regular shot
BY KIMBERLY NICOLETTI
summit daily news
November 14, 2005
Comment Comments (0) Print Friendly Print Email Email
SUMMIT COUNTY - Mercury-free flu shots are hard to find in the High Country, and the closest clinic is charging more than double the price of a regular flu shot.
None of the Summit County clinics offer mercury-free shots this season, but High Country Health Care will offer them next season, said CEO Dennis Flint.
Colorado Mountain Medical in Edwards does offer the preservative-free flu shots this season. It charges $52 for a single-dose mercury-free shot, as opposed to $21 for the regular flu shot. Shots for infants age 6 to 35 months old cost $104 because they initially receive a half dose, then get the other half a month later, said April Heredia, human resources personnel for Colorado Mountain Medical.
The clinic buys the flu shots from Sanofi Pasteur, who charges about $3 more per dose for its mercury-free shot than it does its regular flu shot. A single-dose regular flu shot costs clinics $9.95, and a single-dose mercury-free shot costs clinics $13.25, said Len Lavenda, spokesperson for Sanofi Pasteur.
"What it boils down to is our administration fee," Heredia said, explaining why patients pay so much more for mercury-free flu shots than regular flu shots.
She declined to comment on why the mercury-free adult shot costs more in fees than the regular adult flu shot when it takes the same time to administer. She pointed out that the shot for infants required two visits. However, the clinic charges double the adult fee for the two half-dose shots.
Demand has increased for mercury-free flu shots, which are made without a preservative called thimerosal that contains mercury. This season, about 6 million to 8 million doses of mercury-free vaccines are available nationwide. Last season, manufacturers released 3.2 million doses.
"We didn't realize there was such a demand, but now we've got a lot of pregnant women upset with (clinics) charging so much," Flint said.
Some parents worry about mercury levels in vaccinations. A 0.5 ml dose of a vaccine such as Fluvirin, Flushield and Fluzone contains 25 micrograms of mercury, far beyond the FDA's limit of 1 microgram per gram allowed in food, according to Justin Pollack, a Frisco naturopath, and Medscape.com., a website geared toward physicians.
Mercury in vaccines is mainly a "potential concern" for infants and young children, said Lola Scott Russell, senior press officer of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC conducted a study using computerized data from three HMOs to see if there was an association between thimerosal and neurodevelopmental disorders. It published results in 2003, saying it found no consistent significant associations across the HMOs. It is funding a follow-up study and expects results by next year, according to the CDC website.
In July, 1999, the Public Health Service agencies, the American Academy of Pediatrics and vaccine manufacturers agreed thimerosal should be reduced or eliminated in vaccines as a precautionary measure, according to the website. Other vaccines for children do not contain thimerosal.
High Country Health Care charges $25 for its regular flu shots, and Flint said the mercury-free flu shots it will offer next season will cost patients the same, as long as manufacturers' prices remain constant.
Kimberly Nicoletti can be reached at (970) 668-3998, ext. 13624, or at knicoletti@summitdaily.com.
BY KIMBERLY NICOLETTI
summit daily news
November 14, 2005
Comment Comments (0) Print Friendly Print Email Email
SUMMIT COUNTY - Mercury-free flu shots are hard to find in the High Country, and the closest clinic is charging more than double the price of a regular flu shot.
None of the Summit County clinics offer mercury-free shots this season, but High Country Health Care will offer them next season, said CEO Dennis Flint.
Colorado Mountain Medical in Edwards does offer the preservative-free flu shots this season. It charges $52 for a single-dose mercury-free shot, as opposed to $21 for the regular flu shot. Shots for infants age 6 to 35 months old cost $104 because they initially receive a half dose, then get the other half a month later, said April Heredia, human resources personnel for Colorado Mountain Medical.
The clinic buys the flu shots from Sanofi Pasteur, who charges about $3 more per dose for its mercury-free shot than it does its regular flu shot. A single-dose regular flu shot costs clinics $9.95, and a single-dose mercury-free shot costs clinics $13.25, said Len Lavenda, spokesperson for Sanofi Pasteur.
"What it boils down to is our administration fee," Heredia said, explaining why patients pay so much more for mercury-free flu shots than regular flu shots.
She declined to comment on why the mercury-free adult shot costs more in fees than the regular adult flu shot when it takes the same time to administer. She pointed out that the shot for infants required two visits. However, the clinic charges double the adult fee for the two half-dose shots.
Demand has increased for mercury-free flu shots, which are made without a preservative called thimerosal that contains mercury. This season, about 6 million to 8 million doses of mercury-free vaccines are available nationwide. Last season, manufacturers released 3.2 million doses.
"We didn't realize there was such a demand, but now we've got a lot of pregnant women upset with (clinics) charging so much," Flint said.
Some parents worry about mercury levels in vaccinations. A 0.5 ml dose of a vaccine such as Fluvirin, Flushield and Fluzone contains 25 micrograms of mercury, far beyond the FDA's limit of 1 microgram per gram allowed in food, according to Justin Pollack, a Frisco naturopath, and Medscape.com., a website geared toward physicians.
Mercury in vaccines is mainly a "potential concern" for infants and young children, said Lola Scott Russell, senior press officer of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC conducted a study using computerized data from three HMOs to see if there was an association between thimerosal and neurodevelopmental disorders. It published results in 2003, saying it found no consistent significant associations across the HMOs. It is funding a follow-up study and expects results by next year, according to the CDC website.
In July, 1999, the Public Health Service agencies, the American Academy of Pediatrics and vaccine manufacturers agreed thimerosal should be reduced or eliminated in vaccines as a precautionary measure, according to the website. Other vaccines for children do not contain thimerosal.
High Country Health Care charges $25 for its regular flu shots, and Flint said the mercury-free flu shots it will offer next season will cost patients the same, as long as manufacturers' prices remain constant.
Kimberly Nicoletti can be reached at (970) 668-3998, ext. 13624, or at knicoletti@summitdaily.com.
Weldon Weighs In
Compensation and safety essential to immunization
By Rep. Dave Weldon (R-Fla.)
The Hill
The year: 1976. The last time our nation faced the serious threat of a nationwide flu epidemic.
The administration mobilized the vaccine industry, Congress provided liability protection, and more than 150 million doses of swine-flu vaccine were produced to inoculate all Americans.
Only three weeks into that vaccination campaign, the city of Pittsburgh suspended all vaccinations because of public fears that the deaths of three elderly vaccine recipients were linked to the vaccine. As nationwide reports of other adverse reactions surfaced, the nation’s vaccination campaign came to a screeching halt after only a fraction of Americans had been immunized.
Fortunately, the deadly swine-flu epidemic in 1976 never materialized. Though most Americans did not receive a swine-flu vaccination, only one death was attributed to swine flu.
For today, the question is: What lessons have we learned from history should an avian flu pandemic hit our nation in the next few years? Will we escape as easily?
The administration’s influenza-pandemic preparedness plan involves expanding vaccine manufacturing capacity and stockpiling essential medical supplies, including anti-viral drugs. As was the case in 1976, an essential component of this preparedness plan involves liability protection for vaccine manufacturers.
However, we in Congress must recognize that by indemnifying manufacturers we are assuming responsibility for problems that will undoubtedly emerge in the course of seeking to protect Americans under such extraordinary circumstances. We must accept this responsibility with integrity by (1) ensuring that the safety of pandemic countermeasures is independently researched and reviewed and (2) by providing fair compensation for individuals who experience adverse reactions to the vaccines or drugs they receive.
Liability protection for industry must be accompanied by an independent, robust vaccine-safety research program and a fair compensation program prior to an outbreak of pandemic influenza. This will help give both the manufacturers and the public the confidence they need to participate fully in our nation’s preparedness plans. Had all of these elements been in place before undertaking the swine-flu vaccination program in 1976, that program might not have been terminated.
Research later demonstrated that the 1976 deaths of the three elderly vaccine recipients from Pittsburgh were unrelated to the vaccine, but the data emerged far too late to salvage the vaccine campaign. Investing now in a robust and independent vaccine-safety infrastructure, like that contained in H.R. 4245, will provide the tools necessary for answering future public concerns more thoroughly and efficiently.
The swine-flu vaccination campaign was also undermined by nationwide reports of a rare neurological condition known as Gullian-Barré syndrome (GBS) in vaccine recipients. A scientifically credible research enterprise dedicated to understanding the varied responses to vaccines and other countermeasures may allow us to better discern genuine adverse reactions. Developing screening tools to identify those most at risk for adverse reactions will further assure the public that the federal government is taking these safety issues seriously.
Furthermore, considering the growing concerns that some Americans have about routine vaccinations, we must recognize that building public confidence requires that the countermeasure-safety research program be completely independent of those recommending and administering the countermeasures and free from conflicts of interest.
With these components in place — liability protection, fair compensation and a robust, independent safety research program — we will be appropriately recognizing the risk both industry and individuals will be taking to protect our nation from the threat of a deadly pandemic.
It would be a mistake to implement plans to combat pandemic influenza without also building public confidence. One hundred million doses of swine-flu vaccine went to waste in 1976 because public confidence disappeared. In a true pandemic, we cannot afford to have our carefully planned and coordinated response similarly stopped dead in its tracks because we took public confidence for granted.
Weldon, a doctor, is a member of the Labor, Health and Human Services and the Science, State, Justice and Commerce subcommittees on Appropriations.
By Rep. Dave Weldon (R-Fla.)
The Hill
The year: 1976. The last time our nation faced the serious threat of a nationwide flu epidemic.
The administration mobilized the vaccine industry, Congress provided liability protection, and more than 150 million doses of swine-flu vaccine were produced to inoculate all Americans.
Only three weeks into that vaccination campaign, the city of Pittsburgh suspended all vaccinations because of public fears that the deaths of three elderly vaccine recipients were linked to the vaccine. As nationwide reports of other adverse reactions surfaced, the nation’s vaccination campaign came to a screeching halt after only a fraction of Americans had been immunized.
Fortunately, the deadly swine-flu epidemic in 1976 never materialized. Though most Americans did not receive a swine-flu vaccination, only one death was attributed to swine flu.
For today, the question is: What lessons have we learned from history should an avian flu pandemic hit our nation in the next few years? Will we escape as easily?
The administration’s influenza-pandemic preparedness plan involves expanding vaccine manufacturing capacity and stockpiling essential medical supplies, including anti-viral drugs. As was the case in 1976, an essential component of this preparedness plan involves liability protection for vaccine manufacturers.
However, we in Congress must recognize that by indemnifying manufacturers we are assuming responsibility for problems that will undoubtedly emerge in the course of seeking to protect Americans under such extraordinary circumstances. We must accept this responsibility with integrity by (1) ensuring that the safety of pandemic countermeasures is independently researched and reviewed and (2) by providing fair compensation for individuals who experience adverse reactions to the vaccines or drugs they receive.
Liability protection for industry must be accompanied by an independent, robust vaccine-safety research program and a fair compensation program prior to an outbreak of pandemic influenza. This will help give both the manufacturers and the public the confidence they need to participate fully in our nation’s preparedness plans. Had all of these elements been in place before undertaking the swine-flu vaccination program in 1976, that program might not have been terminated.
Research later demonstrated that the 1976 deaths of the three elderly vaccine recipients from Pittsburgh were unrelated to the vaccine, but the data emerged far too late to salvage the vaccine campaign. Investing now in a robust and independent vaccine-safety infrastructure, like that contained in H.R. 4245, will provide the tools necessary for answering future public concerns more thoroughly and efficiently.
The swine-flu vaccination campaign was also undermined by nationwide reports of a rare neurological condition known as Gullian-Barré syndrome (GBS) in vaccine recipients. A scientifically credible research enterprise dedicated to understanding the varied responses to vaccines and other countermeasures may allow us to better discern genuine adverse reactions. Developing screening tools to identify those most at risk for adverse reactions will further assure the public that the federal government is taking these safety issues seriously.
Furthermore, considering the growing concerns that some Americans have about routine vaccinations, we must recognize that building public confidence requires that the countermeasure-safety research program be completely independent of those recommending and administering the countermeasures and free from conflicts of interest.
With these components in place — liability protection, fair compensation and a robust, independent safety research program — we will be appropriately recognizing the risk both industry and individuals will be taking to protect our nation from the threat of a deadly pandemic.
It would be a mistake to implement plans to combat pandemic influenza without also building public confidence. One hundred million doses of swine-flu vaccine went to waste in 1976 because public confidence disappeared. In a true pandemic, we cannot afford to have our carefully planned and coordinated response similarly stopped dead in its tracks because we took public confidence for granted.
Weldon, a doctor, is a member of the Labor, Health and Human Services and the Science, State, Justice and Commerce subcommittees on Appropriations.
Mad Posting
So I am way behind on all the articles that have come out in the last month, and all of the sudden there has been a flurry of relevant info coming out in the media, so I am just gonna keep posting the good stuff until I run outa good stuff to post.
G
G
More Conflict of Interest
Wall Street Journal
Former FDA Head Held Shares
In Regulated Firms as Late as '04
By SARAH LUECK and ANNA WILDE MATHEWS
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
October 26, 2005; Page A2
WASHINGTON – As late as 2004, former Food and Drug Administration head
Lester Crawford or his wife owned stock in companies that make or
distribute products regulated by the agency, a factor that may have led
to his abrupt departure last month.
For most of 2004, Dr. Crawford was the FDA's acting commissioner, and
prior to that he had been a deputy commissioner at the agency.
Financial disclosure forms released under the Freedom of Information
Act show that during at least part of that time, he or his wife held
stock in companies that have some of their business regulated by FDA,
including Kimberly-Clark Corp. and Teleflex Inc., which make medical
devices, food distributor Sysco Corp. and Embrex Inc., an agricultural
biotechnology company on whose board Dr. Crawford once sat
Former FDA Head Held Shares
In Regulated Firms as Late as '04
By SARAH LUECK and ANNA WILDE MATHEWS
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
October 26, 2005; Page A2
WASHINGTON – As late as 2004, former Food and Drug Administration head
Lester Crawford or his wife owned stock in companies that make or
distribute products regulated by the agency, a factor that may have led
to his abrupt departure last month.
For most of 2004, Dr. Crawford was the FDA's acting commissioner, and
prior to that he had been a deputy commissioner at the agency.
Financial disclosure forms released under the Freedom of Information
Act show that during at least part of that time, he or his wife held
stock in companies that have some of their business regulated by FDA,
including Kimberly-Clark Corp. and Teleflex Inc., which make medical
devices, food distributor Sysco Corp. and Embrex Inc., an agricultural
biotechnology company on whose board Dr. Crawford once sat
Chronicles in Autism
A documentary on treating autism seeks to destigmatize the disease
San Francisco Chronicle
by Carolyne Zinko
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Elizabeth Horn, looking back on the moment doctors diagnosed her daughter, Sophia, with autism eight years ago, described it as being "the darkest day of your life.''
Not only because she was being told her daughter had a brain disorder that would hinder her ability to communicate and behave appropriately with others for the rest of her life, or that her daughter was joining the ranks of some 26,000 people in California who receive services for autism each year, some of whom may require special, institutional care -- a concern to state officials looking at long-term expenditures for the developmentally disabled. It was also because doctors at Mills Peninsula Hospital in San Mateo, where her daughter was being seen, had few suggestions for treatment beyond hiring a speech therapist.
"The first impression you get with this diagnosis is that you're on your own,'' Horn said. "Even though there were resources, there was no sense of direction anyone could give as to how to proceed.''
Horn received a list of therapists to contact. "In 1997, that's all you got,'' she said. "It was woefully inadequate.''
Horn, a filmmaker who primarily makes films for corporations, began looking at her family's journey through an artistic lens. She decided there was a story in how difficult it is to figure out what to do to help your autistic child.
Based partly on personal experience and partly on the experiences of families whose autistic children appear to be recovering with a controversial treatment, Horn created a 60-minute film, "Finding the Words." The film's financial sponsor is KTEH San Jose. American Public Television has agreed to submit the film to PBS for a national broadcast in April, which is national Autism Awareness Month.
In her search for answers, Horn began talking with therapists, asking if they had seen any autistic children -- as she put it -- "get better.'' She learned of people around the United States who were trying behavioral therapy and biomedical cures such as supplements and a highly controversial treatment called chelation therapy -- aimed at ridding the body of heavy metals, which some parents believe are introduced by thimerosal, a mercury preservative in childhood vaccines. Mercury is known to cause brain damage. The medical establishment has countered that there is no proof that thimerosal causes autism. Thimerosal has been eliminated from most vaccines since a 1999 call by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Public Health Service for drugmakers to voluntarily stop including the substance in immunizations.
The arc of the film goes like this: Parents with so-called normal children watch something go wrong with their child's development, receive the autism diagnosis and do whatever they can to get their children "back" to a normal state.
"My question to myself as a mom was, 'If another woman can get her kid back, why can't I get mine back, and if I can't get mine back, why?' " Horn said. "That's the question I want every parent to ask. Until they do, children will get lost at a rate of one every 22 minutes in this country with profound autism.''
During the course of four years, Horn visited nine families whose autistic children appeared to be improving with chelation, and she got permission to film them both before and after treatment began. One unexpected result of her interviews, Horn said, was the discovery of similar patterns of symptoms, behavior and recovery in each child. Dishearteningly, Horn said she discovered that many of the parents of autistic children were urged by doctors to put them in institutional care at ages as young as 2.
"The doctors felt they were being kind, and because most of the families had other children, that the best thing to do was to get the child out of the house and give them 24-hour care,'' Horn said. "But something in all these parents refused to accept the diagnosis. That moment where you decide that rather than give in to despair, you're going to turn and fight, was interesting to me as a filmmaker. Each of these families had that moment, and they had the outcomes with children improving as a result.''
One of the more dramatic improvements included in the film is that of a boy who did not begin to speak until he was 15. His family attributes it to the treatment. Although her 10-year-old daughter's progress has not been dramatic, Horn believes she is "slowly but surely getting better.''
The film was financed by 70 individuals, many from Silicon Valley, Horn said. Her husband, Zach Nelson, is chief executive at NetSuite.com.
One of her goals is to push for the use of technology to build a database of information on autistic children so that patterns of symptoms could be detected more quickly and treatments could be targeted more effectively.
Not all the families Horn approached wanted to be included in the film, even those whose children were said to be doing better after treatment. Horn said there is an "underground" of recovered children because some families don't want anyone to know that their children had been diagnosed with autism in the first place.
The film is Horn's attempt to push for a medical paradigm shift, which she feels will help remove treatment obstacles such as stigmatization and isolation.
"If we can change the definition of autism from incurable brain disorder to an illness, there's no shame in getting well,'' she said. "In fact, it's a triumphant story.''
E-mail Carolyne Zinko at czinko@sfchronicle.com.
San Francisco Chronicle
by Carolyne Zinko
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Elizabeth Horn, looking back on the moment doctors diagnosed her daughter, Sophia, with autism eight years ago, described it as being "the darkest day of your life.''
Not only because she was being told her daughter had a brain disorder that would hinder her ability to communicate and behave appropriately with others for the rest of her life, or that her daughter was joining the ranks of some 26,000 people in California who receive services for autism each year, some of whom may require special, institutional care -- a concern to state officials looking at long-term expenditures for the developmentally disabled. It was also because doctors at Mills Peninsula Hospital in San Mateo, where her daughter was being seen, had few suggestions for treatment beyond hiring a speech therapist.
"The first impression you get with this diagnosis is that you're on your own,'' Horn said. "Even though there were resources, there was no sense of direction anyone could give as to how to proceed.''
Horn received a list of therapists to contact. "In 1997, that's all you got,'' she said. "It was woefully inadequate.''
Horn, a filmmaker who primarily makes films for corporations, began looking at her family's journey through an artistic lens. She decided there was a story in how difficult it is to figure out what to do to help your autistic child.
Based partly on personal experience and partly on the experiences of families whose autistic children appear to be recovering with a controversial treatment, Horn created a 60-minute film, "Finding the Words." The film's financial sponsor is KTEH San Jose. American Public Television has agreed to submit the film to PBS for a national broadcast in April, which is national Autism Awareness Month.
In her search for answers, Horn began talking with therapists, asking if they had seen any autistic children -- as she put it -- "get better.'' She learned of people around the United States who were trying behavioral therapy and biomedical cures such as supplements and a highly controversial treatment called chelation therapy -- aimed at ridding the body of heavy metals, which some parents believe are introduced by thimerosal, a mercury preservative in childhood vaccines. Mercury is known to cause brain damage. The medical establishment has countered that there is no proof that thimerosal causes autism. Thimerosal has been eliminated from most vaccines since a 1999 call by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Public Health Service for drugmakers to voluntarily stop including the substance in immunizations.
The arc of the film goes like this: Parents with so-called normal children watch something go wrong with their child's development, receive the autism diagnosis and do whatever they can to get their children "back" to a normal state.
"My question to myself as a mom was, 'If another woman can get her kid back, why can't I get mine back, and if I can't get mine back, why?' " Horn said. "That's the question I want every parent to ask. Until they do, children will get lost at a rate of one every 22 minutes in this country with profound autism.''
During the course of four years, Horn visited nine families whose autistic children appeared to be improving with chelation, and she got permission to film them both before and after treatment began. One unexpected result of her interviews, Horn said, was the discovery of similar patterns of symptoms, behavior and recovery in each child. Dishearteningly, Horn said she discovered that many of the parents of autistic children were urged by doctors to put them in institutional care at ages as young as 2.
"The doctors felt they were being kind, and because most of the families had other children, that the best thing to do was to get the child out of the house and give them 24-hour care,'' Horn said. "But something in all these parents refused to accept the diagnosis. That moment where you decide that rather than give in to despair, you're going to turn and fight, was interesting to me as a filmmaker. Each of these families had that moment, and they had the outcomes with children improving as a result.''
One of the more dramatic improvements included in the film is that of a boy who did not begin to speak until he was 15. His family attributes it to the treatment. Although her 10-year-old daughter's progress has not been dramatic, Horn believes she is "slowly but surely getting better.''
The film was financed by 70 individuals, many from Silicon Valley, Horn said. Her husband, Zach Nelson, is chief executive at NetSuite.com.
One of her goals is to push for the use of technology to build a database of information on autistic children so that patterns of symptoms could be detected more quickly and treatments could be targeted more effectively.
Not all the families Horn approached wanted to be included in the film, even those whose children were said to be doing better after treatment. Horn said there is an "underground" of recovered children because some families don't want anyone to know that their children had been diagnosed with autism in the first place.
The film is Horn's attempt to push for a medical paradigm shift, which she feels will help remove treatment obstacles such as stigmatization and isolation.
"If we can change the definition of autism from incurable brain disorder to an illness, there's no shame in getting well,'' she said. "In fact, it's a triumphant story.''
E-mail Carolyne Zinko at czinko@sfchronicle.com.
More Recovered Children
Getting Our Children Back
A documentary on treating autism seeks to destigmatize the disease
by Carolyne Zinko
San Francisco Chronicle
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Elizabeth Horn, looking back on the moment doctors diagnosed her daughter, Sophia, with autism eight years ago, described it as being "the darkest day of your life.''
Not only because she was being told her daughter had a brain disorder that would hinder her ability to communicate and behave appropriately with others for the rest of her life, or that her daughter was joining the ranks of some 26,000 people in California who receive services for autism each year, some of whom may require special, institutional care -- a concern to state officials looking at long-term expenditures for the developmentally disabled. It was also because doctors at Mills Peninsula Hospital in San Mateo, where her daughter was being seen, had few suggestions for treatment beyond hiring a speech therapist.
"The first impression you get with this diagnosis is that you're on your own,'' Horn said. "Even though there were resources, there was no sense of direction anyone could give as to how to proceed.''
Horn received a list of therapists to contact. "In 1997, that's all you got,'' she said. "It was woefully inadequate.''
Horn, a filmmaker who primarily makes films for corporations, began looking at her family's journey through an artistic lens. She decided there was a story in how difficult it is to figure out what to do to help your autistic child.
Based partly on personal experience and partly on the experiences of families whose autistic children appear to be recovering with a controversial treatment, Horn created a 60-minute film, "Finding the Words." The film's financial sponsor is KTEH San Jose. American Public Television has agreed to submit the film to PBS for a national broadcast in April, which is national Autism Awareness Month.
In her search for answers, Horn began talking with therapists, asking if they had seen any autistic children -- as she put it -- "get better.'' She learned of people around the United States who were trying behavioral therapy and biomedical cures such as supplements and a highly controversial treatment called chelation therapy -- aimed at ridding the body of heavy metals, which some parents believe are introduced by thimerosal, a mercury preservative in childhood vaccines. Mercury is known to cause brain damage. The medical establishment has countered that there is no proof that thimerosal causes autism. Thimerosal has been eliminated from most vaccines since a 1999 call by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Public Health Service for drugmakers to voluntarily stop including the substance in immunizations.
The arc of the film goes like this: Parents with so-called normal children watch something go wrong with their child's development, receive the autism diagnosis and do whatever they can to get their children "back" to a normal state.
"My question to myself as a mom was, 'If another woman can get her kid back, why can't I get mine back, and if I can't get mine back, why?' " Horn said. "That's the question I want every parent to ask. Until they do, children will get lost at a rate of one every 22 minutes in this country with profound autism.''
During the course of four years, Horn visited nine families whose autistic children appeared to be improving with chelation, and she got permission to film them both before and after treatment began. One unexpected result of her interviews, Horn said, was the discovery of similar patterns of symptoms, behavior and recovery in each child. Dishearteningly, Horn said she discovered that many of the parents of autistic children were urged by doctors to put them in institutional care at ages as young as 2.
"The doctors felt they were being kind, and because most of the families had other children, that the best thing to do was to get the child out of the house and give them 24-hour care,'' Horn said. "But something in all these parents refused to accept the diagnosis. That moment where you decide that rather than give in to despair, you're going to turn and fight, was interesting to me as a filmmaker. Each of these families had that moment, and they had the outcomes with children improving as a result.''
One of the more dramatic improvements included in the film is that of a boy who did not begin to speak until he was 15. His family attributes it to the treatment. Although her 10-year-old daughter's progress has not been dramatic, Horn believes she is "slowly but surely getting better.''
The film was financed by 70 individuals, many from Silicon Valley, Horn said. Her husband, Zach Nelson, is chief executive at NetSuite.com.
One of her goals is to push for the use of technology to build a database of information on autistic children so that patterns of symptoms could be detected more quickly and treatments could be targeted more effectively.
Not all the families Horn approached wanted to be included in the film, even those whose children were said to be doing better after treatment. Horn said there is an "underground" of recovered children because some families don't want anyone to know that their children had been diagnosed with autism in the first place.
The film is Horn's attempt to push for a medical paradigm shift, which she feels will help remove treatment obstacles such as stigmatization and isolation.
"If we can change the definition of autism from incurable brain disorder to an illness, there's no shame in getting well,'' she said. "In fact, it's a triumphant story.''
E-mail Carolyne Zinko at czinko@sfchronicle.com.
A documentary on treating autism seeks to destigmatize the disease
by Carolyne Zinko
San Francisco Chronicle
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Elizabeth Horn, looking back on the moment doctors diagnosed her daughter, Sophia, with autism eight years ago, described it as being "the darkest day of your life.''
Not only because she was being told her daughter had a brain disorder that would hinder her ability to communicate and behave appropriately with others for the rest of her life, or that her daughter was joining the ranks of some 26,000 people in California who receive services for autism each year, some of whom may require special, institutional care -- a concern to state officials looking at long-term expenditures for the developmentally disabled. It was also because doctors at Mills Peninsula Hospital in San Mateo, where her daughter was being seen, had few suggestions for treatment beyond hiring a speech therapist.
"The first impression you get with this diagnosis is that you're on your own,'' Horn said. "Even though there were resources, there was no sense of direction anyone could give as to how to proceed.''
Horn received a list of therapists to contact. "In 1997, that's all you got,'' she said. "It was woefully inadequate.''
Horn, a filmmaker who primarily makes films for corporations, began looking at her family's journey through an artistic lens. She decided there was a story in how difficult it is to figure out what to do to help your autistic child.
Based partly on personal experience and partly on the experiences of families whose autistic children appear to be recovering with a controversial treatment, Horn created a 60-minute film, "Finding the Words." The film's financial sponsor is KTEH San Jose. American Public Television has agreed to submit the film to PBS for a national broadcast in April, which is national Autism Awareness Month.
In her search for answers, Horn began talking with therapists, asking if they had seen any autistic children -- as she put it -- "get better.'' She learned of people around the United States who were trying behavioral therapy and biomedical cures such as supplements and a highly controversial treatment called chelation therapy -- aimed at ridding the body of heavy metals, which some parents believe are introduced by thimerosal, a mercury preservative in childhood vaccines. Mercury is known to cause brain damage. The medical establishment has countered that there is no proof that thimerosal causes autism. Thimerosal has been eliminated from most vaccines since a 1999 call by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Public Health Service for drugmakers to voluntarily stop including the substance in immunizations.
The arc of the film goes like this: Parents with so-called normal children watch something go wrong with their child's development, receive the autism diagnosis and do whatever they can to get their children "back" to a normal state.
"My question to myself as a mom was, 'If another woman can get her kid back, why can't I get mine back, and if I can't get mine back, why?' " Horn said. "That's the question I want every parent to ask. Until they do, children will get lost at a rate of one every 22 minutes in this country with profound autism.''
During the course of four years, Horn visited nine families whose autistic children appeared to be improving with chelation, and she got permission to film them both before and after treatment began. One unexpected result of her interviews, Horn said, was the discovery of similar patterns of symptoms, behavior and recovery in each child. Dishearteningly, Horn said she discovered that many of the parents of autistic children were urged by doctors to put them in institutional care at ages as young as 2.
"The doctors felt they were being kind, and because most of the families had other children, that the best thing to do was to get the child out of the house and give them 24-hour care,'' Horn said. "But something in all these parents refused to accept the diagnosis. That moment where you decide that rather than give in to despair, you're going to turn and fight, was interesting to me as a filmmaker. Each of these families had that moment, and they had the outcomes with children improving as a result.''
One of the more dramatic improvements included in the film is that of a boy who did not begin to speak until he was 15. His family attributes it to the treatment. Although her 10-year-old daughter's progress has not been dramatic, Horn believes she is "slowly but surely getting better.''
The film was financed by 70 individuals, many from Silicon Valley, Horn said. Her husband, Zach Nelson, is chief executive at NetSuite.com.
One of her goals is to push for the use of technology to build a database of information on autistic children so that patterns of symptoms could be detected more quickly and treatments could be targeted more effectively.
Not all the families Horn approached wanted to be included in the film, even those whose children were said to be doing better after treatment. Horn said there is an "underground" of recovered children because some families don't want anyone to know that their children had been diagnosed with autism in the first place.
The film is Horn's attempt to push for a medical paradigm shift, which she feels will help remove treatment obstacles such as stigmatization and isolation.
"If we can change the definition of autism from incurable brain disorder to an illness, there's no shame in getting well,'' she said. "In fact, it's a triumphant story.''
E-mail Carolyne Zinko at czinko@sfchronicle.com.
November 14, 2005
Southern California Asperger's Support Group
From Rodney and Kaoru Zeibol
We would like everyone to get the word out about our Asperger's support group. We have been meeting for almost 2 years now and will celebrate the 1 year anniversary at our present location in Irvine on 11/21. We have been averaging 30 adults and parents and around 12 children age 12 to 18 at every meeting.
We don't want to have any more situations like what happened to William Freund in Aliso Viejo. We don't want any adult or child with Asperger's to feel they are alone and have no one that understands them. Our Asperger's children are very understanding of differences as they deal with it everyday themselves.
We have adults with Asperger's regularly attending our meetings as well as parents bring children age 12 and older with them to the meetings. We have our Asperger's children sit at their own group of tables at the restaurant during the meeting.
This meeting isn't a formal social skills group for Asperger's children. We tell parents to have their child bring a book, gameboy or something to entertain themselves. If the child strikes up a conversation with other children then great. We don't push anything. We have had many children come back to meetings repeatedly with the parents saying their child didn't want to miss the meeting.
Come enjoy conversation, support and sharing with other Asperger's adults and parents with Asperger's children.
Rodney and Kaoru
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 11/21/2005
Event: OC Asperger's Disorder Support Group Meeting
What: Monthly OC Aspergers Support Group Meeting
Topic: Face to Face Meeting for general discussion
When: Monday, @ 7PM
Where: I-HOP , 5301 University Drive at University & Michelson near the 405, Irvine, CA 92612,
949-786-5203
Information from Sponsor:
Rodney and Kaoru will be at this meeting. If your free stop by, sit and chat with other families for a couple of hours.
Posting Provided By: Orange County Parents and Their Autistic Spectrum Kids Support Group
The Age of Autism: Showdown in Santa Fe
The AAP openly opposes laws banning thimerosal from vaccines.
The CDC will not state a preference for children and pregnant women to receive thimerosal free flu shots, although most flu shots contain the full 25 mcg of mercury. The EPA states that this is a safe level of mercury for a 550 lb person.
Please note as you read the following article, that the AAP and CDC says their reasons for this are to protect the vaccine program, not the children receiving the vaccines.
The vaccine program, which has no rights under the constitution, is given greater protection by the AAP and CDC in this case than are individual children whom, by the governments own standards, are being overdosed with mercury.
EPA allows .1 mcg of mercury per kilogram of weight. If your child gets a thimerosal containing flu shot they are receiving the following:
Some questions for you the reader:
As a parent, did you know that your child would being given that much mercury when taking a flu shot? Did your doctor tell you? Would you give your child the shot if he had told you?
Which do you believe puts your child at greater risk, the possibility of being sick with the flu for a week, or getting injected with a substance that causes brain damage at dozens of time what the government says is safe?
If parents are not told that their children are being exposed to vastly unsafe levels of a neurotoxin when getting the flu shot, then are they being given informed consent?
Do parents know that if their child ends up with brain damage as a result of the flu shot, that as a result of the Biodefense Bill being voted on in the senate this week, that they cannot sue the vaccine manufacturer for damages?
Please read this article with those thoughts in mind.
The CDC will not state a preference for children and pregnant women to receive thimerosal free flu shots, although most flu shots contain the full 25 mcg of mercury. The EPA states that this is a safe level of mercury for a 550 lb person.
Please note as you read the following article, that the AAP and CDC says their reasons for this are to protect the vaccine program, not the children receiving the vaccines.
The vaccine program, which has no rights under the constitution, is given greater protection by the AAP and CDC in this case than are individual children whom, by the governments own standards, are being overdosed with mercury.
EPA allows .1 mcg of mercury per kilogram of weight. If your child gets a thimerosal containing flu shot they are receiving the following:
- If you have a 10 lb baby, their mercury limit is .45 mcg of mercury and they are receiving 55.5 times the EPA safe standard.
- A 20 lb baby is allowed .9 mcg and is receiving 27.7 times the EPA safe standard.
- A 30 lb toddler is allowed 1.36 mcg and receiving 18.4 times the EPA safe standard.
- A 40 lb preschooler is allowed 1.81 mcg and is receiving 13.8 times the EPA safe standard.
- A 50 lb elementary school student is allowed 2.27 mcg and is receiving 11 times the EPA safe standard.
Some questions for you the reader:
As a parent, did you know that your child would being given that much mercury when taking a flu shot? Did your doctor tell you? Would you give your child the shot if he had told you?
Which do you believe puts your child at greater risk, the possibility of being sick with the flu for a week, or getting injected with a substance that causes brain damage at dozens of time what the government says is safe?
If parents are not told that their children are being exposed to vastly unsafe levels of a neurotoxin when getting the flu shot, then are they being given informed consent?
Do parents know that if their child ends up with brain damage as a result of the flu shot, that as a result of the Biodefense Bill being voted on in the senate this week, that they cannot sue the vaccine manufacturer for damages?
Please read this article with those thoughts in mind.
The Age of Autism: Showdown in Santa Fe
By Dan Olmsted
UPI Senior Editor
Nov. 14, 2005 at 1:01PM
A pediatrician had an appointment Monday with the New Mexico Board of Pharmacy to deliver a blunt message: Its members need to warn state residents that the mercury in flu shots could be harmful to children -- or risk being remembered for failing to do their job.
The request by Dr. Kenneth Stoller, an assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, opens a new front in an escalating war over the use of a mercury-based preservative in medical products. He is medical director of the Hyperbaric Medical Center of New Mexico and uses hyperbaric oxygen to treat autism.
Six states -- including heavyweights New York, California and Illinois -- have banned the preservative, called thimerosal, from vaccines intended for children and pregnant women. It has been voluntarily phased out of most childhood immunizations but remains in most flu shots.
The American Academy of Pediatrics opposes an outright ban, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declined to express a preference for the thimerosal-free version of the flu vaccine.
The dynamics are complicated, but the basic issue is whether it's reasonable to fear that thimerosal might cause autism. Stoller says it is; the AAP and the CDC say it is not.
"There is an acute public health issue that very few understand even though several states have banned or limited the use of vaccines containing thimerosal," says a copy of Stoller's speech he provided Age of Autism. "In the months and years to come this iatrogenic (doctor-induced) poisoning of Americans and New Mexicans will be fully understood and what you decide to do here today will be noted in the not too distant future.
"We have a responsibility to perform here and the Board of Pharmacy has the regulatory power to perform it," he said. "I am requesting that you issue an immediate advisory so that all New Mexicans who desire to receive the current flu vaccine receive information about what is being injected as there has been a labeling omission (violation). And lastly, I request that you prohibit the use of this flu vaccine that contains thimerosal to all pregnant woman and children under 50 pounds."
Stoller's concern is emphatically not shared by the physicians group, which has opposed such a ban in other states. Before New York Gov. George Pataki signed a thimerosal ban in August, a state chapter of the AAP urged its rejection.
"This bill, designed to protect individuals from alleged adverse effects of thimerosal which contains ethyl mercury, is completely unnecessary," said the AAP statement. "To legislate based on fear and misinformation is an anathema to those of us who work tirelessly for the health and welfare of our communities.
"To enact this legislation implies that the vaccines that have virtually eradicated many diseases, constituting one of the greatest public health accomplishments of the past century, are dangerous. This bill denigrates our informed scientific and medical communities while supporting all of the anti-vaccine factions in our society. This legislation potentially jeopardizes our most vulnerable communities."
The CDC says concerns about thimerosal have been allayed by numerous studies. "As the Institute of Medicine concluded in a recent report, the vast majority of studies, which have involved hundreds of thousands of children in a number of countries, have failed to find any association between exposure to thimerosal in vaccines and autism," according to the CDC's Web site.
Stoller said medical groups and the federal government are misguidedly trying to protect the childhood immunization program by defending mercury as a vaccine ingredient. He also said they are afraid of massive liability if a link is shown -- some quarter-million Americans have been diagnosed with autism, 80 percent of them under 18.
Careers and credibility are at stake, he added.
"Their throwing sand in everyone's face -- to protect their jobs and their reputations and status -- is interfering with getting these kids the help they need," he charged. And thimerosal-containing flu shots will create more cases, he said.
Autism diagnoses increased dramatically over the past two decades at the same time that more vaccines containing thimerosal were added to the schedule. In 1999 the U.S. Public Health Service, the AAP and family physicians recommended that manufacturers phase out thimerosal in childhood vaccines as soon as possible.
Most flu shots, however, continue to contain a full dose of thimerosal. The CDC -- which now recommends flu shots for pregnant women and infants 6 to 23 months old -- has declined to express a preference for non-thimerosal flu shots out of what it says is concern that parents might be reluctant to vaccinate their children unless they can find it.
"Most New Mexicans haven't received their flu vaccines yet," Stoller told Age of Autism. "I'm asking them to issue an urgent advisory letting them know the danger and the risk of the thimerosal flu vaccine which accounts for about 90 percent of the flu vaccine in New Mexico and the United States."
He said that while New Mexico has ordered some thimerosal-free vaccines for infants and pregnant women, private-practice physicians are likely to order the thimerosal-containing multiple-dose vials.
--
This ongoing series on the roots and rise of autism welcomes reader comment. E-mail: dolmsted@upi.com
Families Bear Burden of Proof in Special Ed Challenges
Nov. 14, 2005
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled today that parents who demand better special education programs for their children have the burden of proof in the challenges.
The 6-2 decision, written by retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, said that if parents challenge a program, they have the burden in an administrative
hearing of showing that the program is insufficient. If schools bring a complaint, the burden rests with them, O'Connor wrote.
The ruling is a loss for a Maryland family that contested the special education program designed for their son with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The case required the court to interpret the Individuals With Disabilities Act, which does not specifically say whether parents or schools have the burden of proof in disputes.
The family's attorney, William Hurd, unsuccessfully argued that when there are disagreements between schools and parents, education officials have better access to relevant facts and witnesses.
Chief Justice John Roberts had recused himself from the case, because attorneys from his old law firm represented the school district.
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer wrote separate dissents.
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled today that parents who demand better special education programs for their children have the burden of proof in the challenges.
The 6-2 decision, written by retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, said that if parents challenge a program, they have the burden in an administrative
hearing of showing that the program is insufficient. If schools bring a complaint, the burden rests with them, O'Connor wrote.
The ruling is a loss for a Maryland family that contested the special education program designed for their son with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The case required the court to interpret the Individuals With Disabilities Act, which does not specifically say whether parents or schools have the burden of proof in disputes.
The family's attorney, William Hurd, unsuccessfully argued that when there are disagreements between schools and parents, education officials have better access to relevant facts and witnesses.
Chief Justice John Roberts had recused himself from the case, because attorneys from his old law firm represented the school district.
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer wrote separate dissents.
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