Mainstream Medicine Does It The Max Power Way

Max Power: Kids, there’s three ways to do things. The right way, the wrong way, and the Max Power way!

Bart: Isn’t that the wrong way?

Max Power: Yeah, but faster!

The theme of the day is the outing of the efforts by Mainstream Medicine to deal with the problem of parents turning on their brains and doing their own research in to vaccines.

Medicine is quite upset that parents are no longer ignoring MainMed's conflicts of interest, swallowing their unsatisfactory answers to important vaccine questions, failing to notice pediatricians collective yawn at the autism epidemic (and the ADD epidemic and the diabetes epidemic and the asthma epidemic etc.) and deciding to go to other sources of information.  The solution they propose?

They have decided to take autism seriously, engage the parent community a dialog that holds them to account in their vaccine statements, throw out bad research, acknowledge the truckload of evidence that backs the vaccine/autism theory, design studies in partnership with parents that will answer the important questions and enforce ethics guidelines to attack all the credibility and conflict of interest problems they have.

NO OF COURSE THEY AREN'T, SILLY!

They are doing it the Max Power way.  They are going to take the failing tactics of the passed decade but this time do more of it with more famous people, better graphics and an interactive experience.  New and Improved Dismissal of Parent Questions and Concerns.  Now with more Patronizing!  Apparently since giving inadequate answers to parents in the exam room has yielded such a poor result in maintaining high rates of vaccine uptake, they are going to up the ante and take their bad shtick to You Tube.


On Age of Autism Katie Wright has a piece on the CDC's recent conference call to figure out how to get parents to just stop asking questions, and stop doing their own research and just vaccinate like they are told.

Docs are encouraged by Nurse Patricia Stinchfield to act compassionate and humor parents, but never encouraged to actually consider the idea that have a point.  And right on cue she points us back to Dr. Paul, "100,000 vaccines at once" Offit:

"I like Dr. Paul Offit’s analogy of the ocean analogy. So describe to parents that the immune system’s like an ocean. And that at that first two month visit for example, they’re going to have eight antigens added to that immune ocean.

Think of it like eight cups of water being added to an ocean. It’s far from overload and far from being too weak to accept those."

Since when has eight cups of water managed to change the behavior of the entire ocean, put it on high alert, and get it to seek out and kill every shark contained in it across the surface of the planet and occasionally overstep its banks and incapacitate New York City?

And how about this gloss over in teaching docs how to asses were the parent is coming from in order to talk them into vaccinating:

"Sometimes we’ll find parents that say well I came in at two months and they got a bunch of shots. I thought that was all that they needed.

What’s their experience? Maybe they have a person in their family who has had a significant side effect to a vaccine. What are their emotions? What are their beliefs? Try to determine that."

Note that a family history of vaccine injuries is something to talk a parent down from, not something that the doctor should take into account and USE MORE CAUTION IN VACCINATING!

Nurse Stinchfield boils down the point of the conversation with parents in this telling statement:

"You want to keep the conversation focused. You want to control without being controlling...

...But we need to help parents be guided to the answer together.

We wouldn’t say to a parent, well your child needs open heart surgery, but that’s up to you. You can choose if you want to do that or not.

So I’m not sure why we say that when we’re talking about vaccines.

So the need for vaccination is the same as the need for open heart surgery, and parents should be "guided" to believe that they ultimately cannot say no to either.

So this is not an earnest conversation by any stretch.  It is a manipulation with a predetermined outcome.  "To control" the parent in to vaccinating.

When my husband read this, he hearkened back to the four months he once spent selling cars.  "You know what that is?  That is text book, day one lesson in how to sell.  They are not giving medical advice, they are selling vaccines exactly like I was taught to sell cars".

And she also asks doctors to keep in mind that:

"...there is not a physiologic reason to design an alternative immunization schedule. And there’s no biological rationale for splitting up a dose, giving an (M) and an (R.) (instead of MMR)."

And that is pretty much all the evidence we need to know that MainMed is not only not taking our concerns seriously but they are not even listening to our vaccine safety arguments.

Did I mention that the conference call was entitled , "Why Science Is Not Enough".  Because, of course, CDC believes that Science has spoken and there is no evidence of any link between vaccines and autism.

The most mockable part of this conference call?  The fact that they didn't actually bring in mothers who are not vaccinating to actual hear their concerns, they brought mothers who were "in the vaccine business".

Katie was right, you need to read this thing for yourself.  I could go on, but I think I have made enough points here.


Natural News has a story on a JAMA study on You Tube videos with the focus on countering the messages that urge caution in vaccinating.

"[YouTube is] the perfect venue for an anecdote, both positive or negative," Jennifer Keelan said. Wilson said that vaccine advocates can no longer ignore or marginalize anti-vaccine advocates.

"In the past that could work, but it's not going to work anymore. Now there are ways for people with these viewpoints to communicate with each other," he said. "These sites are now providing people with a mechanism by which they can bypass the conventional filters and get their messages out. It can be dangerous."

Some observations on this quote by this University of Toronto researcher.

First, it acknowledges that the plan of mainstream medicine for dealing with people who question the safety and efficacy of vaccines was to "ignore and marginalize" them.

Second, it acknowledges that there have been "filters" in place to keep any voice that critizes vaccination from being heard by the general public.

Of course we have been living this for years, so it is no surprise to us.  But it is interesting to see docs finally admitting it.

Bottom line, The Semmelweis Reflex is still in full effect.  Decades passed and untold numbers of people died between the time Semmelweis discovered that doctors were making their patients sick by not washing their hands, and the time when germ theory was accepted by MainMed and docs actually started washing their hands.  How long will it take before they realize that they are harming their patients with their hubris and actually investigate and address the vaccine problem correctly?

The truly shameful thing?  MainMed has the Semmelweis story to learn from, yet it does not learn.

Can I Get The Flu Shot While Pregnant?

(I have noticed a lot of people coming to my blog from the "Can I get the flu shot while pregnant" search term. They have been referred to another post of mine, "Did You Get The Flu Shot While Pregnant". Feel free to visit that post, which is on mom's reports of long term damage done to their kids from getting the flu shot, but I thought I should write something that more directly speaks to this question:)

The CDC and it's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends the flu shot for pregnant women.

However, I believe that this is an irresponsible recommendation as the flu shot has not been safety tested on pregnant women.

And despite the fact that some of these flu vaccines are not for use in children, the CDC and ACIP have not issued a warning for pregnant women not to have them.

Additionally, despite repeated requests from parents of vaccine injured children, the CDC and ACIP will not state a preference for pregnant women to receive only Thimerosal free flu shots.

From the vaccine package inserts:

Fluarix (Thimerosal free):
Pregnancy: Pregnancy Category C. Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with FLUARIX. It is not known whether FLUARIX can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. FLUARIX should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed. The ACIP has issued recommendations regarding the use of the influenza virus vaccine in pregnant women.

Nursing Mothers: It is not known whether FLUARIX is excreted in human milk. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk, caution should be exercised when FLUARIX is administered to a nursing woman. The ACIP has issued recommendations regarding the use of the influenza virus vaccine in nursing mothers.

Pediatric Use: FLUARIX IS NOT INDICATED FOR USE IN CHILDREN.

Flulaval (Contains Thimerosal):
Pregnancy: Pregnancy Category C. Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with FLULAVAL. It is also not known whether FLULAVAL can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. FLULAVAL should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed.

Nursing Mothers: It is not known whether FLULAVAL is excreted in human milk. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk, caution should be exercised when FLULAVAL is administered to a nursing woman.

Pediatric Use: Safety and effectiveness of FLULAVAL in pediatric patients have not been established.

Flumist (Thimerosal Free):
Pregnancy: Pregnancy Category C Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with FluMist. It is not known whether FluMist can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. FluMist should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed.
The effect of the vaccine on embryo-fetal and pre-weaning development was evaluated in a developmental toxicity study using pregnant rats receiving the frozen formulation. Groups of animals were administered the vaccine either once (during the period of organogenesis on gestation day 6) or twice (prior to gestation and during the period of organogenesis on gestation day 6), 250mcL/rat/occasion (approximately 110-140 human dose equivalents based on TCID50), by intranasal instillation. No adverse effects on pregnancy, parturition, lactation, embryo-fetal or preweaning development were observed. There were no vaccine related fetal malformations or other
evidence of teratogenesis noted in this study.

Nursing Mothers: It is not known whether FluMist is excreted in human milk. Therefore, as some viruses are excreted in human milk and additionally, because of the possibility of shedding of vaccine virus and the close proximity of a nursing infant and mother, caution should be exercised if FluMist is administered to nursing mothers.

Pediatric Use: FluMist is not indicated for use in children <24 months of age. FluMist use in children <24 months has been associated with increased risk of hospitalization and wheezing in clinical trials [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1) and Adverse Reactions (6.1)].

Fluvirin (Contains Thimerosal)
Pregnancy: Pregnancy Category C
Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with Influenza Virus Vaccine (FLUVIRIN®). It is also not known whether Influenza Virus Vaccine (FLUVIRIN®) can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. Influenza Virus Vaccine (FLUVIRIN®) should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed.
The clinical judgment of the attending physician should prevail at all times in determining whether to administer Influenza Virus Vaccine to a pregnant woman.

Pediatric Use: The safety and immunogenicity of FLUVIRIN® have been established in the age group 4 years to 16 years. The use of FLUVIRIN® in these age groups is supported by evidence from adequate and well-controlled studies of FLUVIRIN® in adults that demonstrate the immunogenicity of FLUVIRIN®. The safety and immunogenicity of FLUVIRIN® have not been established in children <4 years of age.

Fluzone (Comes in both Thimerosal Containing and Thimerosal Free):
PREGNANCY CATEGORY C
Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with Influenza Virus Vaccine. It is not known whether Influenza Virus Vaccine can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. Influenza Virus Vaccine should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed. For guidance regarding use in pregnant women, see INDICATIONS AND USAGE section.

PEDIATRIC USE: SAFETY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF FLUZONE VACCINE (SUBVIRION) IN INFANTS BELOW THE AGE OF 6 MONTHS HAVE NOT BEEN ESTABLISHED.

CDC Schedule: 43 vaccines in the first 18 months

For those of you keeping track, Hep A and Rotovirus have been added to the CDC schedule for 2007 and we are now up to 43 vaccines in the first 18 months of life.

Would you want 43 vaccines over the course of the next 18 months?

UPDATE: I forgot the flu shot! So with the prenatal and yearly flu shots that are recommended, the total is actually at 46.

NAA: No on California AB 16

California legislators need to hear from ALL of us on AB 16 BEFORE July 11!

California’s AB 16, approved last week by the Senate Education Committee, would remove all public input and legislative review on childhood vaccines added to the mandatory immunization schedule, automatically adding every new vaccine approved by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

• Passage of this bill will set a dangerous precedent for all of us, whether or not we live in California.
• We’ve seen what public input has done to prevent Gardasil from becoming mandated in some states, as even many in the mainstream medical community opposed forcing the HPV shot on young girls.
• Merck, the drug company behind AB 16 and Gardasil, wants to ensure that public opinion, scientific debate, and common sense will never again stand in the way of profit.
• If this bill passes in California, similar legislation will most likely find its way to every other state.

PLEASE ACT NOW!

The California Senate Health Committee meets this Wednesday, July 11.

PLEASE CALL, FAX, OR EMAIL EACH MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE LISTED BELOW WITH LINKS TO CONTACT INFORMATION, AND TELL THEM TO VOTE NO ON AB 16:

Senator Sheila Kuehl (Chair)
Senator Samuel Aanestad (Vice Chair)
Senator Elaine Alquist
Senator Gilbert Cedillo
Senator Dave Cox
Senator Abel Maldonado
Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod
Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas
Senator Darrell Steinberg
Senator Mark Wyland
Senator Leland Yee

Last week’s testimony from parent Rick Rollens is below. Please read this powerful statement, contact the California Senate Health Committee members now, and pass this message along to family members and friends. We can’t let Merck get away with stealing our civil rights, gaining even more power to foist poorly tested and potentially harmful products on our children.

Mr. Chairman and Members:

My name is Rick Rollens. This is my 33 year of being in and around the Capitol. For 24 years I served in the State Senate in numerous positions including a chief of staff to a Senator, chief consultant to the Senate Rules Committee, creator and director of the Office of Senate Floor Analyses, and finally as Secretary of the Senate. In 1996 I resigned my post ion as Secretary of the Senate in order to dedicate my life to finding effective treatments and a cure for my beloved son Russell who suffers from vaccine induced regressive autism.

Since leaving the Senate, I have been extremely active in the autism world. I am a co-founder of FEAT...Families for Early Autism Treatment, a co-founder of the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute, a Speaker's appointee to the Legislative Blue Ribbon Commission on Autism, Superintendent O'Connell's appointee to his Autism Advisory Committee, I have served as a national board member of ASA, the NIH Autism Advisory Committee, and currently serve on numerous autism organizations throughout California, the nation, and the world. My family and I have been featured in dozens of local, state, national and international media stories about autism and the autism epidemic, the crown jewel of them all is this (SHOW NEWSWEEK) cover story in Newsweek magazine that featured my son Russell on the cover and a feature on Russell's story of his decent into autism at 6 months old after receiving numerous shots at his well baby check up and immediately suffering a classic adverse vaccine reaction leading to his acquired full syndrome autism. That day changed his life and the lives of ALL who know and love him. Russell is not alone.

Today, California is adding 10 new children a day, seven days a week, like Russell to our DD system. In 1980 when California first enacted it's mandatory immunization law, autism accounted for 3% of all the intakes into our DD system. Today, autism only the fastest growing condition entering the system but now accounts for 64% of all the new intakes. In 1980 the incidence of autism was 1 in 10,000, today it is 1-150, and in some areas high as 1-84 children. Twenty years ago there were 2700 persons with autism in our system, today there are 34,000. In the past 9 months alone, we added more children with autism to our system then we did over the 16 YEAR period from 1971-1987! 886 new children in the past 3 months alone.

The most telling fact is that over 91%, or 9 out of 10 persons currently in our system were born after 1980, the year that California's mandatory immunization law was enacted. There is a tsunami of young children aged 3 to 17 years old accounting for nearly 80% of the autism population moving through the system.

I am here today to vehemently oppose AB 16. AB 16 represents an outrageous and arrogant attempt by the makers of the HPV vaccine and Vioxx, as well as those who front for them in the public health community, to strip away from the Legislature and the Governor the responsibility that has been in statute for nearly 30 years to review and approve or reject the addition of new vaccines to the mandatory childhood immunization schedule; and instead, turn over that responsibility to one and a group of their own, a non-accountable bureaucrat, the state Director of Public Health and a Committee 3,000 miles away of vaccine promoters who have yet to reject an application for adding a new vaccine to the schedule, and numerous members of which are personally and professionally conflicted for accepting research and professional funding and career opportunities from the same vaccine manufactures that are suppose to be regulating. Their behavior and actions have become subject to Congressional investigation and review.

AB 16 as introduced would have added Merck's HPV vaccine to the mandatory schedule. After extensive public hearing and debate in the Assembly Health Committee, it was clear that there was little support to approve the bill and the author refused to even let the bill come up for a vote. This was the second new vaccine that has been rejected by the Legislature in the past five years. I guess enough was enough in the minds of the vaccine manufacturers and their followers. The bill was subsequently gutted and amended the bill to include the provisions before you today.

Keep in mind, that today in California children receive up to 30 doses of vaccines by the age of 6 years old, most of which are administered starting moments after birth through the first two years of life when healthy brain development is most important. If the provisions of AB 16 had been in effect during this current decade, the number of doses of vaccines our children would have been subjected to would have increased to 40 doses. Throughout the country, including right here at the M.I.N.D. Institute, dozens of research projects are currently underway examining the connection between the immune system, vaccines, and autism.

And lastly, be aware that there are over 300 new vaccines currently in development and in the pipeline, including vaccines for such things as nicotine addiction, diarrhea, mononucleosis, cocaine, methamphetamine, and stomach ulcers. These vaccines, as well as vaccines currently in use today contain such potent toxic and poisonous agents as mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde, aborted fetal tissue, MSG, live viruses, and killed bacteria.

Mr. Chairman and Members, the system we have in place today has served us well for nearly three decades. You and your constituents and future members of the legislature and their constituents have a real say in the very serious issue of what new vaccines are added to MANDATORY childhood immunization schedule. There is sunshine in the current process, this bill takes away the sunshine away and replaces it with a wink and a nod by unaccountable bureaucrats and members of a Committee that have not seen a vaccine they can say no to.

On behalf of the children and their families of today, and the children yet to be born, please reject this horrific proposal. Keep this process in the hands of the people's representatives, do not hand over the future of our children's very health to those who would profit both personally and professionally by approving this bill. Please vote no. Thank you.

CDC To Have Open Meeting On Thimerosal

Go.

Seriously. Go to the meeting.

From NAA:

CONTROVERSIAL VACCINE PRESERVATIVE TO BE DISCUSSED AT UPCOMING CDC MEETING, SAYS NATIONAL AUTISM ASSOCIATION

Parents and Advocacy Groups request flu shots recommended for pregnant women, infants and children be mercury-free

Nixa, MO – The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) will meet in two weeks at the CDC in Atlanta. Thimerosal, a controversial mercury-based vaccine preservative still used in flu shots, is scheduled to be discussed on the morning of February 21st.

While thimerosal has been phased out of some vaccines, it is still present in flu shots recommended for pregnant women, infants and young children. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines indicate that the 25 micrograms of mercury contained in flu shots is unsafe for anyone weighing less than 550 pounds.

Earlier this week, the CDC released a report citing 1 in 150 children are now diagnosed with autism—up from 1 in 166 just two years prior. Many parents and scientists believe the increased use of mercury-containing vaccines starting in the late 1980’s has led to the rise in cases.

“Children and fetuses are still being exposed unnecessarily to this neurotoxin,” says father Christian McIlwain of Cary, North Carolina. “With the recently added recommendations that influenza vaccines be given to women during any stage of pregnancy and children from age six months and up, the amount of early-age thimerosal exposure through recommended vaccines has increased drastically in the last two years—it’s simply time for the committee to advise that only thimerosal-free vaccines be used for pregnant women and young children.”

Despite multiple requests by the research group SafeMinds and the National Autism Association, this is the first time ACIP has put thimerosal on the agenda in several years. Advocacy groups were told by the CDC that thimerosal would be discussed at the October 2006 ACIP meeting, but it was never officially assigned.

ACIP consists of 15 experts in fields associated with immunization that have been selected by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide advice on immunizations. It develops written recommendations for the routine administration of vaccines to the pediatric and adult populations, and is the only entity in the federal government that makes such recommendations.

Parents are urged to attend the ACIP meeting, or send letters to the committee via e-mail to naa@nationalautism.org

Parents can also register to attend the meeting by visiting www.cdc.gov/nip/acip/dates.htm.

To learn more about autism, visit www.nationalautism.org.

Pringle on Ayoub on Thimerosal

David Ayoub MD - Thimerosal Definite Cause Of Autism
By Evelyn Pringle

To what degree of scientific certainty can we prove that current
epidemic of autism was caused by the mercury-based preservative,
thimerosal, in childhood vaccines?

In response to this question, David Ayoub, MD, told Independent
Media TV, ''I can state that the certainty of the science
supporting mercury as a major cause of autism is probably more
overpowering than the science behind any other disease process that
I studied dating back to medical school.''

"I think a disease that effects more individuals than AIDS or
cancer, in previously normal infants and children," he states, "has
created a sense of urgency amongst researchers."

According to Ayoub, "A growing number of experimental,
epidemiological and biochemical research, has unequivocally shown
that mercury is directly linked to the development of autism
spectrum disorders and is significantly toxic to the
gastrointestinal, immunological, metabolic and neurobiological
systems in children."

"The science of causality is known and understood down to the
manner in which mercury impairs the neural pathways of attention,"
he adds, "I really don't see the need for more research to prove
causality." He believes the focus should be "directed towards
methods to remove mercury from the body and repairing those
biochemical systems that are injured by mercury."

Ayoub is the Director of the Prairie Collaborative for
Immunization, an organization that is self-funded, which aids
organizations, journalists, and legislators obtain accurate
information to assist their work. He is also the author of the
report, "Pregnancy and the Myth of Influenza Vaccination-Is it
safe, is it effective, is it necessary? What the CDC documents
reveal."

Vaccines With Thimerosal

When asked what vaccines still contain the mercury-based,
thimerosal, Ayoub said, "The major culprit today is the influenza
vaccine." About 80% of flu vaccines contain as much as 25
micrograms of mercury per dose. Since the EPA has set a limit of
0.1 mcg/kg (1 kg =2.2 lbs), Ayoub warns, everyone who receives the
vaccine will be overdosed.

He explained that in 1999, "the Public Health Service (including
the CDC and FDA), the American Academy of Pediatrics, and vaccine
manufacturers agreed that thimerosal levels in vaccines should be
reduced or eliminated."

However, he adds, "Contradicting its own policy, the CDC then
increased mercury exposure to the fetus and infant by allowing the
inoculation of pregnant women and young infants with the
mercury-containing influenza vaccine."

On May 28, 2004, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice of
the CDC released its annual report with recommendations for the
prevention of influenza. The report included pregnant women amongst
those who should receive the flu vaccine, even though the report
noted only a minimal benefit from the vaccine in pregnant women:

"Researchers estimate that an average of 1-2 hospitalizations can
be prevented for every 1,000 pregnant women vaccinated" (1, page 10)

In fact, for the 2003-04 flu season, the CDC reported "only 3 to
14% of those who got vaccinated were protected against the flu." It
seems overly aggressive, Ayoub maintains, for the CDC to recommend
that all pregnant women be vaccinated when, in fact, scientific
data to date shows only marginal benefits and the only documented
benefit seems to be fewer hospitalizations, not fewer morbidities
or mortalities.

The benefit of influenza vaccination during pregnancy becomes even
more questionable when considering the resulting risks to unborn
infants. According to the ACIP, the safety of influenza vaccination
is established by the following research:

One study of influenza vaccination of 2,000 pregnant women
demonstrated no adverse fetal effects associated with influenza
vaccine."

However, according to Ayoub, "In the April 12, 2002 MMWR, this same
statement was followed by the caveat "additional data are needed to
confirm the safety of vaccination during pregnancy." The comment
was then dropped from the CDC's 2004 version of the report, but no
new safety data was cited.

This solitary reference cited to establish influenza vaccine safety
was co-authored by researchers at Boston University in 1973, but
Ayoub advises that, "Upon closer inspection ... the study appears
to have very little to do with influenza vaccine safety, but rather
that of polio vaccination safety during pregnancy."

It is inexplicable, Ayoub says, that the ACIP would cite a paper in
support of its conclusion of influenza vaccine safety while the
Institute of Medicine rejected the same paper on the basis of the
flawed analysis of polio vaccine safety.

Few doctors realize that most flu vaccines contain 25 micrograms of
mercury per dose. Both the EPA and FDA's allowable daily exposure
limits are 0.1 microgram per kg, meaning that recipients of a flu
vaccine must weigh at least 550 pounds to meet federal exposure
guidelines.

Therefore, by injecting the mother, the fetus would receive a dose
of mercury that exceeds the federal limits by several hundred-fold.
Furthermore, Ayoub adds, all federal guidelines are based upon
studies of exposure tolerances in adults, not a fetus.

He questions why the CDC is so certain that ethylmercury can be
safely injected into children or pregnant women, when the FDA and
EPA have stated that ingestion of methylmercury can have harmful
effects on the fetus, with warnings such as:

"some fish and shellfish contain higher levels of mercury that may
harm an unborn baby or young child's developing nervous system. . .
. Therefore, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are advising women who may
become pregnant, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and young
children to avoid some types of fish and eat fish and shellfish
that are lower in mercury. . . While it is true that the primary
danger from methylmercury in fish is to the developing nervous
system of the unborn child, it is prudent for nursing mothers and
young children not to eat these fish as well."

More recent studies have detailed the life-long damage of mercury
to the brains of unborn children. For instance, on Feb 28, 2005,
the Associated Press reported, "Lower IQ levels linked to mercury
exposure in the womb costs the United States $8.7 billion a year in
lost earnings potential, according to a study released Monday by
researchers at a New York hospital."

The Mount Sinai Center for Children's Health and the Environment
combined a number of previous studies to determine hundreds of
thousands of babies are born every year with lower IQ associated
with mercury exposure, according to AP.

Lead researcher and pediatician, Leonard Trasande, reports that
annually, between 316,588 and 637,233 infants are born with
umbilical cord blood mecury levels linked to IQ loss.

As an example, Trasande said each year, about 4% of babies are with
blood mercury levels between 7.13 and 15 micrograms per liter. That
level of mercury causes an IQ loss of 1.6 points, the researchers
concluded.

A 1.6 point drop in IQ could cost a person more than $31,000
over a lifetime, the study calculated, due to missed educational
opportunities or jobs.

Manufacturers of the flu vaccine themselves, include package
inserts that admit adequate studies have not been conducted on this
vaccine. For example, the Fluzone insert stated:

"Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with Influenza
Virus Vaccine. It is not known whether Influenza Virus Vaccine can
cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can
affect reproduction capacity."

Considering the rapid growth of autism, and other related
neurodevelopmental disorders, and the number of reports documenting
the causal relationship to mercury-based preservatives, Ayoub
advises, "influenza vaccines should not be administered to pregnant
women, and perhaps other high-risk groups, especially young
children."

Why Would FDA & CDC Approve Mercury-Based Vaccines?

Ayoub believes that the CDC and FDA embrace marginal research and
unsupported policies because of conflicts of interests. It may come
as a surprise to most physicians, he explains, "that the CDC has a
built-in conflict of interest with regards to its dual role in
vaccine policy." One limb of the CDC that oversees vaccine safety
has a budget of approximately $30 million, while the limb that
promotes vaccine usage (ACIP and NIP) has a $1 billion budget, he
says.

The CDC and FDA policy decisions are made through physician
advisory panels whose members often have financial relationships
with the very same pharmaceutical companies that they are supposed
to regulate.

For example, during a congressional hearing on potential conflicts
of interests at the FDA, it was revealed that 60% of the advisory
members who voted to approve the poisonous rotavirus vaccine had
financial ties to the drug companies manufacturing the vaccine. The
committee also found that 50% of the CDC members were tied to the
rotavirus makers.

However, according to Ayoub, the CDC and FDA do not have exclusive
rights in coddling the industry. An investigation of doctors
involved in co-authoring forty-four different Clinical Practice
Guidelines for drug companies found:

85% of guideline authors have some sort of relationships with drug
companies, and they are often not disclosed

38% of respondents said they had served as employees or consultants
for drug companies; 58% received research money

59% had links with drug companies whose medications were considered
in the particular guidelines they authored, almost all cases
predating the guideline creation process

These numbers may be even greater, as only 52% of authors responded

"Most clinicians would be surprised by these revelations which
challenge the blanket trust of a healthcare governance with
uncomfortably close ties to the pharmaceutical industry," Ayoub
says.

Available Treatment For Autism

When asked what treatments are available for autism, Ayoub said
"The buzz these days is chelation," but there is no short answer to
this. Suffice it to say, there are 2 ways to get mercury out of the
body - one is pull it out directly by chelation agents."

The 2 top chelation people in the world are Gary Gordon, MD, and
Rashid Buttar, MD, he adds.

Chelation agents such as DMPS and DTPA, are given orally, by IV,
and recently with transdermal as a cream. According to Ayoub, the
agents essentially bind free blood or loosely bound heavy metal
agents, and eliminate them through stool and urine. They lower the
total body burden and allow for natural redistribution from brain
to blood for further removal. Ayoub claims side effects are
uncommon, and the process is far safer than a vaccine.

The other method of removing mercury from the body is through a
variety of biomedical therapies, all dietary or supplemental, "most
of which act to jumps start the bodies own internal mercury
detoxification pathways," Ayoub explains, but "the science here is
very sophisticated," he added.

However, unfortunately, "many parents read about a diet or
supplement, try one or two therapies on their own and fail," he
says, and that "treatment is very dependent upon the experience of
the health care provider, critically so," he advises.

Why The Constant Denial?

Ayoub was asked why government agencies and the pharmaceutical
industry, are working so hard to keep the truth about the
mercury-autism link hidden. He says it is a long story, but the
main reason is because if they admitted guilt, it would mean the
government agencies, drug companies and medical organizations,
"have taken part in the largest iatrogenic epidemic known to man."

The fallout over admission of causality would be unprecedented,
Ayoub adds. The lost confidence in American medicine would likely
cause people to turn to alternative methods of medicine, and a rise
in deeper investigation might reveal the truth about other
suppressions related to cancer therapy, hypertension Rx, or
Atherosclerosis.

Ayoub told Independent Media, "This is really the tip of the
iceberg and I see a waterfall effect."