A New Documentary: The Greater Good

Call your local theater, college or library and ask them to book a showing of this film.

The Greater Good




Pause the trainer at 1:48 and see my sweet husband with my beloved Chandler on his shoulders and holding my darling Webster's hand, as they walk with Ashley Brock's parents in the Green our Vaccines rally in 2008.

Seth Mnookin is Offended and Repulsed by Parents Who Want to Make Their Own Vaccine Decisions, and Thinks That They are "Total Assholes"

Additionally, he notes that 10 children died last year from pertussis, but fails to mention that 39 children died following their pertussis containing vaccines last year. (Update: CDC wonder has apparently updated their numbers since I checked last. it is up to 41 deaths according to the VAERS database. And that is the lowest death count from it since 1989. Apparently the drop in pertussis vaccine is saving lives in total. 42 in 2009, 76 in 2008, 82 in 2007... 126 in 1994, 148 in 1993... Is Mnooking weeping for the more than 1,750 children who have died from this vaccine since 1989? Thanks to Vaccination News for updating me.)



All this in a speech on How to Communicate with Anti-Vaccine Parents at American University's School of Communication.

CBS: Flu Shots and Seizures

You know that "CBS Cares" PR line. I know they are just a huge Viacom congolmco, bit I am kinda starting to believe it a little. They seem to care about vaccine safety:

Child Flu Vaccine Seizures?
Posted by Sharyl Attkisson

More confusing news for parents trying to do the best, safest things for their children when it comes to vaccination.

According to a Vaccine Safety "update" issued by the FDA on Jan. 20, there's been an increase in reports of febrile seizures among infants and children following this year's flu vaccine. Febrile seizures are seizures associated with fever.

According to the FDA:

"FDA and CDC have recently detected an increase in the number of reports to VAERS of febrile seizures following vaccination with Fluzone (trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine or TIV, manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur, Inc.). Fluzone is the only influenza vaccine recommended for use for the 2010-2011 flu season in infants and children 6-23 months of age. These reported febrile seizures have primarily been seen in children younger than 2 years of age."

Read the rest here

Matt Lauer, Anderson Cooper and George Stephanopoulos Adopt Skeptic Community/Science Media's Failing Tactics

A year and a half ago, my patience ran out with those in this debate pretending to be earnest seekers of truth, but whose words and actions revealed them to be closed and biased. I published an extensive piece detailing the problems I saw in the Skeptic movement (which I really now see as just the Contrarian movement, as they don't seem to be skeptical of some assertions that someone from Missouri would demand proof of, but merely oppose anything our community says no matter how reasonable) and in "science writers" who act as mere functionaries of Pharma and their friends/sometime employees in public health. It was entitled:

Chris Mooney, Sheril Kirshenbaum, Lori Kozlowski, Rosie Mestel, Thomas Maugh, David Gorski, Virginia Hughes, Science Journalists, The Dying of the LA Times and an Angry Autism Mom*

It details my earnest attempts to get through to these skeptics/science journalists, and an effort to point out that they are shooting themselves in the foot with their actions, and that our children are collateral damage in their efforts.  Long story short... they are some pretty myopic people and not open to self-evaluation, so their tactics continue to loose them the vaccine/autism wars.

(*After I posted the piece, Dr. David "Orac" Gorski sent me a flattering email saying he had actually always respected me and asked me to remove the piece. When I declined, he let the insults fly again. So... not the most honest and straightforward guy.

A few months later, we learned that Gorski has spent the last several years developing a drug for vaccine maker Sanofi, which he had some how forgotten to mention in his hundreds of posts about these issues, so I do feel a bit the sucker for approaching him as if he was actually a somewhat disinterested party in this debate. Had I known I would not have wasted so many hours trying to have a real discussion with him, but live and learn I guess.)

I hope you will take the time to read it, especially if you are someone who believes the media on this issue and  super especially if you are Matt Lauer, Anderson Coooper, George Stephanopolous or any other major news personality who has been handed a press release labeled "News" that was likely drafted in a Pharma conference room and told to get really angry at some guy named Andrew Wakefield.

Pharma Co and their emissaries have launched an extended (and what appears to be a) last ditch effort to bury the vaccine/autism story since the beginning of the year. Two books on how vaccine safety advocates are both ignorant and a threat to society, and an attempt to once again make Andrew Wakefield a scape goat and sacrifice him at the alter of the vaccine program.  And, of course, various and sundry supporting pieces hither and yon from the usual players.

This is, of course, just more of the same transparent "killing the messenger" tactic that has been losing them the vaccine/autism wars for the last ten years. But since their only other choice is to admit there are problems in the vaccine program and address them, no doubt costing them billions of dollars and landing a few of them in jail, they have decided to die with their boots on while taking a few doctors, lots of parents and untold thousands of innocent children down with them. It is pretty clear that the vaccine bubble is now deflating, but they are pumping with all their might, influence and dollars to keep that thing inflated. They seem to be telling themselves... "there are just two big holes in this... Wakefield and McCarthy. If we can convince the public that Wakefield is a crook and use the "Nuts and Sluts" defense against McCarthy, we can plug them and our bubble can grow with no end in site!!"

Yet they are astonished that bubble is still deflating.

Because they have incorrectly diagnosed the bubble's aliments. The hundreds of thousands of pin holes in it. The epidemic of autism, add, asthma, diabetes, allergies, developmental disability and delay... and all those other neurological and autoimmune disorders running rampant in our children. And the millions of people who are seeing it happen to children they love... seeing how it points back to the vaccine program and other toxic injuries... coming to ask all those unanswered questions and discovering all those unsupportable safety claims.... and knowing that whether or not some doctor they never heard of in the UK is or is not a big fat liar, has nothing to do with their concerns. Nor do Jenny McCarthy's boobs.

But still PharmaKorp trudges on in their ineffectiveness.

But now they are working to enlist some high profile media types to adopt their attack dog tactics, and the little backfires that they have been experiencing in the vaccine safety debate circles are now becoming big backfires on a national level.

Last year before Wakefield's book "Callous Disregard" came out, PharmaKorp launched an out of the blue attack on him, and Matt Lauer was awful to him on the Today show. Rather than having the intended result of finishing off Andrew Wakefield (because yanking his license four months earlier during his previous public execution had not quite done the job), the assault put Wakefield's book on the Amazon top ten list and Lauer's popularity took a hit. The autism and vaccine safety communities were angry at the unfairness of his interview, and the wider public saw the assault on Wakefield as unprofessional and their suspicions were raised (and they clicked on Amazon). The tongue in cheek "Land of the Lost" tribute facebook group called, "Matt Lauer Can Suck It" was even taken over by people upset with Lauer about the interview, who proceeded to tell Matt Lauer that he could actually "Suck It".






Yet despite how badly these tactics bomb... over and over and over... THEY still just up the ante? Why?

Now they have dragged Anderson Cooper and George Stephanopulos into it. I am curious as to how they pull this off. I assumed that after the Nancy Snydermand/Matt Lauer tiff where she got mad at him for insisting that vaccines were still contriversal, that she brought down heat on Lauer at NBC and he was told to put the screws to Wakefield. After all, Lauer's ex wife is the mother of a child with autism who believes that vaccines and gut issues are a factor, and it is rumored that Lauer and his current wife selectively vaccinated their own children. Add in NBC/GE ownership of large medical corporations and you can see how that happens.

But what were the conversations that had to take place with Cooper and Stephanopulos to make them behave like jerks and go hard on Wakefield? Who is the person that talked to them to get them all hyped up? That kind of aggression and "combativeness", as Stephanopoulos admitted to engaging in, doesn't just come from no where. What were they told, and by who, that would make them stick their necks out this far on a story that they don't even follow?

When Shephard Smith got pissed at the Bush administration for stranding thousands of people in a sinking New Orleans, he was not sticking his neck out or making assumptions or taking the word of someone in another country that people in need were being neglected to their detriment. He was standing in the middle of them, filming an abandoned dead body. He had all the facts and knew he had the high ground. Anger justified.

But Lauer, Cooper and Stephanopoulos? They don't actually know jack. So how exactly were they tricked into making asses of themselves and losing the trust of some of their regular viewiers?

And why? At this point, every journalist who actually has a career to care about (not talking about writers with no serious credentials like Trine Tsouderos or Seth Mnookin who are brought into to write hit pieces that elevate their profile) must know that the public is taking this issue very, very seriously. Even if they think that there is nothing to the vaccine/autism debate, don't they wonder why despite all the stories that they see coming across their desk declaring the debate over... that it only grows? Does the last guy to do it even take a look at the outcome of the previous guys to do it? Did Stephanopoulos even check reaction to Cooper's interview to see how badly it went over? And if so, did he care that his went over even worse?

So the point of this whole piece that I am writing is to, once again, with feeling, declare to the Pharma stragetists and media heads out there who are attacking our community in order to defend their over-zealous, under tested and destructive vaccine program and its profits...

IT DOESN'T WORK!

It has never worked! It didn't work when you started it in the blogesphere, it didn't work in local news, it doesn't work in the national news.


It didn't work when Skeptico did it.

It didn't work when Orac did it.

It didn't work when Chris Mooney did it.

It didn't work when Sheril Kirshenbaum did it.

It didn't work when Lori Kozlowski did it.

It didn't work when Virginia Hughes did it.

It didn't work when Thomas Maugh did it.

It didn't work when Trine Tsouderos did it.

It didn't work when Gardier Harris did it.

It didn't work when Nancy Snyderman did it.

It has never worked when Paul Offit does it, as his new book,"Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All," is currently #8,277 on Amazon's best seller list.

And it is not working as Seth Mnookin is trying his hand at the same failing tactics that all his predecessors have failed with. His book kicking the vaccine safety community didn't break the #1000 mark and continues to slide.

And you guys have been hyping the hell out of those two books!

It didn't work when Lauer did it.

It didn't work when Stephaholopoulos did it.

It didn't even work when Cooper and his "national treasure" baby blues did it.

So....

Whose up next? What media name will Pharma Co. forward scouts turn to next to expose the vicious murders that are vaccine safety advocates and parents of sick and dying children?

Or is the Old Stream Media taking note that doing Pharma Co's dirty work is only further hobbling their struggling industry by further eroding public trust in their reporting? Nah... probably not.

And what is the next story?  A few months from now when this media push falls flat, parents are purchasing even fewer vaccines and Andrew Wakefield is still booking speaking engagements and publising, will he fail to return home from work one evening only to be "discovered" three days later, unconscious in a Mexican hotel room filled with cocaine and under aged prostitutes, by a vacationing Brian Deer who is coincidently on holiday in Cancun? Exactly how far do they plan on trying to get this Wakefield story to stretch?

Pharma Co, with all their in depth market strategery has to know that this tac is not working on the public and is only losing the public trust in vaccines. So have they just decided that the masses may be lost, but at least they can keep doctors and researchers from questioning the party line publicly by creating a hostile environment through the media crush? That is not working too well either, but I think that might be the last line that Pharma Co. is trying to hold in this war. Eventually docs get pissed at being told what to do and what to think, so we will see how long that one holds out.

Pharma... Brian Deer (with your allusions to Wakefield's severed hand crawling across the floor)... the reason Wakefield won't die is that... please pay attention... that there are no real bullets in your gun. You guys are just flicking pebbles at him. The guy published a paper that says children with autism sometimes have serious GI issues and that sometimes they both come on after MMR. This is hard to discredit as it is also the active policy of the Federal Government of the United States of America. CDC tells their docs to screen for GI issues upon suspecting an autism diagnosis, because gastrointestinal distress IS associated with autism. HHS lists the symptoms of autism as a reaction to the MMR and DTaP vaccines on their web site, and they have paid many children for MMR induced autism.

So you need to understand... if tomorrow you publish video of Andrew Wakefield robbing a 7-11 with an AK-47 and taking a crippled 8 year old girl as a hostage, while Jenny McCarthy drives the get away car... it is not going to solve your vaccine sales problem. Because the vaccine program is the problem. The people talking about the problems in the vaccine program are not the problem. Trying to shut them up or shut them down is not working.

Jenny McCarthy and Andrew Wakefield did not kill Elias Tembenis. The DTaP vaccine did.

Any route Pharma Co takes ends badly for them. The vaccine bubble is over. It is not bursting all at once, but as soon as SCOTUS renders their Bruesewitz decision, bubble starts deflating in earnest. Because either the law suits will start flying fast and furious, or the public will finally understand that if they have a vaccine injury, they are on their own.

Happy pumping Pharma.


Update: See... doesn't work.

Bloomberg Businessweek:
Nearly Half of Americans Still Suspect Vaccine-Autism Link
18% don't trust measles-mumps-rubella shot, and 30% are undecided, Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll finds
By Amanda Gardner

Just a slim majority of Americans -- 52 percent -- think vaccines don't cause autism, a new Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll found.

Conversely, 18 percent are convinced that vaccines, like the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, can cause the disorder, and another 30 percent aren't sure.

The poll was conducted last week, following news reports that said the lead researcher of a controversial 1998 study linking autism to the MMR vaccine had used fraudulent research to come to his conclusion.

The poll also found that parents who have lingering doubts about the vaccine were less likely to say that their children were fully vaccinated (86 percent), compared to 98 percent of parents who believe in the safety of vaccines.

Still, the percentage of fully vaccinated children remains high, at 92 percent, the poll found.

"This sounds like a cup half-empty/cup half-full story," said Humphrey Taylor, chairman of The Harris Poll. He noted that while the number of people who believe in a connection between vaccines and autism is "only 18 percent," that nonetheless translates to "millions and millions and millions of people, and it's clear that in some cases that has led them to not vaccinate their children."

Vaccine safety has been a major concern for many parents since the publication of the 1998 study, led by now disgraced British doctor Andrew Wakefield, which concluded that the MMR vaccine caused autism. The journal that originally published the study, The Lancet, has since retracted the paper and Wakefield was recently barred from practicing medicine in Britain.

In recent weeks, another leading British medical journal, BMJ, has published a series of articles purporting to expose deliberate fraud by Wakefield in his handling of the research that served as the basis for the 1998 study.

In the new Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll, 69 percent of respondents said they had heard about the theory that some vaccinations can cause autism.

But only half (47 percent) knew that the original Lancet study by Wakefield and other researchers had been retracted, and that some of that research is now alleged to be fraudulent.

"Forty-seven percent is a huge number and this is a relatively new thing [allegations of fraud], so it's remarkable that they have heard of it. But that still means that half the population has not," Taylor said.

Still, the retraction and allegations of fraud do seem to have influenced public perception. Among those who had been following the news about Wakefield, only 35 percent believed the vaccine-autism theory, compared to 65 percent who had not kept up to date on the latest developments.

"There seems to be reasonable support for vaccination and I think this will increase with the revelation that a lot of this stuff was based on fraud or bad science," said Dr. Kenneth Bromberg, chairman of pediatrics and director of the Vaccine Research Center at the Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York City.

Overall, 69 percent of adults polled agreed that schools should require vaccinations -- including, interestingly, 52 percent of those who believe that autism might be connected to vaccinations.

Sixteen percent of all adults surveyed said they knew of at least one family whose children had not received all recommended vaccines due to concerns about autism. One-quarter of those who believed the vaccine-autism theory said they knew at least one family that had not fully vaccinated their children.

Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center, which supports more research into the safety of vaccinations, said autism is just one concern linked to vaccines.

"Parents have legitimate questions about vaccine risks and want better vaccine science to define those risks for their own child," she said. "This concern long predated the debate about vaccines and autism. The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 was passed by Congress, in part, to address those concerns but has not done the job.

"The Harris poll points out the urgent need for a renewed effort to conduct new vaccine safety studies that are methodologically sound and free from real or perceived conflicts of interest," Fisher added, "or a significant portion of the public will continue to question the conclusions."

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated one in 110 children in the United States has an autism spectrum disorder, part of a group of developmental disabilities that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges.

The Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll was conducted online within the United States from Jan. 11-13, and included 2,026 adults over the age of 18. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

More information

Read more about the poll methodology and findings at Harris Interactive.

Another Update: Seriously... not working.

Novartis Q4 profit down as vaccine demand drops
Jan 27, 2011 5:32 AM ET
By The Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — Swiss drug maker Novartis AG saw fourth quarter net profit slip 2 percent on the year to $2.32 billion amid one-off charges and a sharp drop in demand for its pandemic flu vaccine, the company said Thursday.

Profit in the October-December period was hurt by one-time charges of $789 million, including restructuring costs in the U.S. and Germany — only partially offset by a one-time gain of $392 million, the pharmaceutical company said.

Revenue in the fourth quarter grew from $12.92 billion to $14.19 billion. However, the vaccine division suffered a 74 percent decline in sales to $361 million following the end of the pandemic flu in 2010, after sales for the flu vaccine totaled $1 billion a year earlier.

The maker of hypertension drug Diovan and anticancer treatment Glivec — known as Gleevec in the United States — said its 2010 full year sales were up by 14 percent to $50.62 billion, including $2.4 billion revenue from the full consolidation of eye care specialist Alcon, Inc.

Full year 2010 net profit was up to $8.45 billion from $9.96 billion a year earlier, the company, based in Basel, said.

"Novartis achieved excellent results in 2010 as all divisions contributed to above-market growth," Chief Executive Joseph Jimenez said.

The company's results were helped by 13 key product approvals and the breakthrough of the multiple sclerosis medication, Gilenya, which has also been launched in the U.S., he said.

Analysts at Zuercher Kantonalbank said while Novartis' revenue is fully in line with market expectations, its net profit remained slightly below expectations.

In its outlook, Novartis said it expects sales to grow at constant currency rates by a "double-digit mark," and productivity gains to help improve margins while absorbing price cuts, generic competition and the loss of the pandemic flu vaccine sales.

The company's shares were trading lower on Switzerland's stock exchange Thursday morning, falling by 1.74 percent to 53.50 Swiss Francs ($56.71).

Breitbart Blog Runs My Story on The Atlantic Hijacking The Age of Autism

Check it out on Big Journalism.

Media Becoming More Alert: Becky Estepp Schools Dr. Mark Segiel on Fox

This is why parents are not usually allowed on TV to debate docs. Because they expose the ignorance of the physicians whom the networks are trusting to bring them accurate health information.

And Becky was even too polite to point out that the study was in Pediatrics, not the New England Journal of Medicine.

Which one of these two people would you turn to with your vaccine questions?

AJC: Settlement Reached in Autism-Vaccine Case

A curious thing happened in Atlanta. The AJC posted a story on the Poling case, then some sort of internet sewer alligator monster must have climbed up from the depths and eated it or somethin', because today it was gone.

Fortunately, I still had my browser open when I heard about the disappearance of the poor missing article, so I saved a copy. You are welcome AJC. Hope you catch that creature who is stealing your stories.


Update... I have taken the article down, because apparently it take of the AJC site because it contained several inaccuracies. I don't know what they were, but I don't wanna spread misinformation, so said article goes down.

Did Anyone Know that the CEO of Reuters was on the Board of Merck?

Wonder if it skews Reuters coverage of let's say... MMR or Gardasil or RotaTeq or....

Thomas H. Glocer

Chief executive officer, Thomson Reuters Corporation (information and services company for businesses and professionals). Director, Thomson Reuters Corporation, Partnership for New York City. New Merck director since November 3, 2009

No mention here that the CEO of the news agency reporting had a very vested interest in seeing MMR exonerated, now is there. And Dr. Wakefield said the charges were unjust... did they look into his claim?

British ban for doctor at heart of MMR vaccine row

By Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent

LONDON | Mon May 24, 2010 12:44pm BST

LONDON (Reuters) - A doctor whose claims of links between vaccination and autism triggered a scientific storm before being widely discredited was struck off the medical register Monday for professional misconduct.

Dr Andrew Wakefield's 1998 study led many parents to refuse to have their children vaccinated with the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) shot and has been blamed for a big rise in measles cases in the United States and parts of Europe in recent years.

A disciplinary panel of the General Medical Council (GMC) found that Wakefield had acted in a "dishonest," "misleading" and "irresponsible" way during his research.

The ruling means Wakefield, who now lives and works in the United States, can no longer practise as a doctor in Britain, but can continue to work in medicine outside the UK.

His paper, published in The Lancet medical journal but since widely discredited, caused one of the biggest medical rows in a generation.

"The panel has determined that Dr Wakefield's name should be erased from the medical register," the GMC said in a statement.

Wakefield had failed to disclose various details about the funding of the study -- a failure the GMC described as "dishonest and misleading" -- and had acted "contrary to the clinical interests" of the children involved in his research.

Striking Wakefield off the medical register was "the only sanction that is appropriate to protect patients" and was in the wider public interest. It was also "proportionate to the serious and wide-ranging findings made against him," the statement said.

Data released last February for England and Wales showed a rise in measles cases of more than 70 percent in 2008 from the previous year, mostly due to a fall in the number of children being vaccinated. Vaccination rates are now recovering.

Terence Stephenson, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said the false suggestion of a link between autism and the MMR vaccine had caused "untold damage" to vaccination programs.

"We cannot stress too strongly that all children and young people should have the MMR vaccine. Overwhelming scientific evidence shows that it is safe," he said in a statement.

Wakefield defended his work, and said the GMC had sought to deny that the case against him was related to whether the vaccine was safe, and specifically, whether it caused autism.

"Efforts to discredit and silence me through the GMC process have provided a screen to shield the government from exposure on the ... MMR vaccine scandal," he said in a statement.

The GMC said his refusal to accept that he had made mistakes meant that a temporary suspension of Wakefield's licence was not enough and he should be banned altogether.

"Dr Wakefield's continued lack of insight as to his misconduct serve only to satisfy the panel that suspension is not sufficient and that his actions are incompatible with his continued registration as a medical practitioner," it said.

(Editing by Andrew Roche)

Film: Shots in the Dark

Made a film about the vaccine injured, including our community. It was made by the Film Board of Canada, but has not been released, and it is reported that the Canadian Prime Minister does not want it released.

It was posted on You Tube last fall. I am not sure how I missed this until now.

Shots in the Dark

The Media Misrepresents Tim Buie on Dietary Intervention in Autism

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

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

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

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

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

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



Questions from the Audience



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

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

Unscientific Scientists

My letter in response to the LA Times article:  Bringing science back into America's sphere on Chris Mooney's book "Unscientific America"

Lori, Chris and Sheril,

I am an autism parent with an MS is Clinical Counseling from Johns Hopkins University and a contributor to Age of Autism.  I maintain my own blog at Adventures in Autism.

I saw Lori's piece today and would like to point out a few things that seem incredibly obvious from where I am sitting, but you genuinely don't seem to have on your radar (from what I could tell from the article), in regards to why America is not embracing "science" as you think they should.  I hope you will be open to hearing from me for a moment, because there is a problem, but the problem may not be the public.

I feel like you may have confused actual hard "Science" with "things that most scientists think", as there seems to be a denial of the fact that scientific consensus has quite often been, and most assuredly still is in many places, wrong.

Chris and Sheril wrote:  "...today this country is also home to a populace that, to an alarming extent, ignores scientific advances or outright rejects scientific principles."

I would put it to you that it may not be the "scientific principles" that are being rejected, but the principles of the scientists.

When my son regressed into autism following his 18 month shots and I spent a year trying to reconcile all of the contradictory positions of my own pediatrician, the AAP, the CDC, HHS, the "science" you say exonerates vaccines from autism causation, the whole of the research out there and the facts of my own son's case.  What I found was a ridiculous mess. 

What you keep referring to as "science" is making contradictory statements all over the place.  It resembles nothing like the thing that "Science" is actually supposed to be, the methodical study of phenomena to figure out what is ACTUALLY, TRULY happening. 

Yet the statements that scientists make claim that all the vaccine/autism questions have been answered, purport that all the possibilities have been explored and suggest that people should just kill what intellectual curiosity and concern for child safety that they have left and move on?  How is that "Science"?  How is that not laughable?

Case in point from Lori's article: "science has come in and we can't detect the correlation between a rise in autism diagnoses and use of childhood vaccines. And study after study has been done."

Yet "science" has never done a simple study that took a large group of vaccinated children and a large group of children whose parents chose not to vaccinate them, and compared them for autism incidence!  Yet you suggest that it is time to let the vaccine/autism question go?  The FIRST study that "science" should have done, still has never been done!  And it may take an act of congress to actually make "science" do something it apparently really does not want to do.  And that is only the beginning of the studies that have not been done.

Not to mention the fact that "study after study" is picked apart by other researchers, and even by lay parents, but those critiques are ignored by people like you who don't want to follow the actual scientific method.  This same bizarre conversation is carried out over and over:

Mainstream science:  "Here is a study... look no vaccine/autism connection".

Autism community:  "Hey... look here... you guys forgot to carry the 3.  Wait... half of our kids' medical histories are in the exclusion criteria!".

Mainstream science (now with their back to the autism community and facing the microphones):  "Awww.... poor desperate, scientifically illiterate parents looking for someone to blame.  At some point they really have to let go."

There are about a thousand questions on the vaccine/autism connection that neither scientists nor research has ever addressed, and the medical establishment won't even allow to be asked in their "pulpits" because "science" is the new religion and their dogma cannot be questioned.  Scientists are the priests, and those who diverge from the canon are branded heretics.  Vaccines are inherently "good" and cannot be "bad".  The research that points to vaccines causing autism is treated like the evidence that priests were molesting young boys... ignored, buried and those who dared call attention to it are bullied into silence.  And yet you have a problem with the suppression of discussion of evolution in churches?  Again.... from where I sit, the hypocrisy of your statements are stunning.

The scientific community overstates the benefits of vaccination and understates the risks.  And of course they do, vaccination is their baby.  Yet they don't seem to have the insight to understand that there is a conflict of interest there.  Last year the AAP sent a representative to a Defeat Autism Now! conference to evaluate the state of their science into autism/vaccine causation.  They sent Louis Cooper of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, one of the inventors of the Rubella vaccine.  Seriously?  Lou Cooper is the objective guy that is going to return to the AAP and declare, "You know what guys... I think the vaccine I invented and that is my greatest accomplishment in life may be playing a role in an epidemic of lifelong and deadly neurological disorders that are striking around 1 in 100 kids!  I think we may have caused an epidemic!"????

I don't think that you have fully grasped what has happened in the vaccine/autism wars.  A very large group of parents, physicians and researchers have made the accusation that mainstream medicine, the scientific community and public health authorities have created one of the largest iatrogenic epidemics of all time via an overzealous and under researched vaccine program.  A very serious charge.  Your community has responded to that charge by doing a minimal amount of shoddy research, in most cases paid for and carried out by the pharmaceutical companies that made the products in question and the agencies that made the policies that put these products into almost every tiny body in this country regardless of their risk factors, while simultaneously mocking those making the charge.

You have declared that YOU HAVE INVESTIGATED YOURSELVES AND FOUND THAT YOU ARE NOT GUILTY ON ALL CHARGES!  And the policy makers among you have made sure that no appeal can be filed in an actual court where your accusers can bring evidence against you, compel you to testify under oath, or compel you to turn over internal documents, as you have passed legislation exempting yourselves from any liability or litigation.  You claim innocence and just tell us that we have to take your word for it, as if "smart" also mean "honest", "incorruptible", "omniscient" and "looking out for the best interests of the public and all individuals".

Why in the world do you think that your reputation should be on the rise?!

What is happening is denial on a scale far grander than what transpired during the initial Semmelweiss Reflex.  You want the public to embrace science, even the science that they don't want to face?  You go first!

I started to write more on all of the corruption that is going on in the medical and scientific industries, but who has that much time.

Yes... to solve the problem that you want solved, reportedly that you want mainstream American to embrace "science", "Scientists are going to have to have a culture change."

But the change you suggest is the wrong one.  You don't need more scientists (or more nerds rapping about super colliders), you need the scientists you already have to have a come to Jesus moment.  The scientific community needs to understand that their hubris, arrogance, devaluing of the individual, ethical problems, legal problems, widespread conflicts of interest and constant denials of any evidence that is inconvenient to the advancements of their "scientific" agenda is the problem, and has to come to an end.

The scientific community needs a big dose of humility, and needs to consider the fact that their critics and those ignoring them, might have a few good points.

They need to listen to, and be able to cogently address their critics, instead of marginalizing and maligning them.  And if they don't have an answer, they have to offer informed consent to the public and admit that they don't have an answer. 

People see right through condescending BS.  People have a tendency to treat you with the same dismissal with which you have treated them.  What you are seeing may not be a "deep-seated streak of anti-intellectualism" but a deep-seated distrust of self-proclaimed "intellectuals" who openly disdain the unwashed masses, then wonder why their scientific pronouncements hold no sway with them.

Take minute and go read any autism/vaccine post on Orac's blog, as he is the rock star of the "woo" bashing 'skeptics' in your universe.  Now pretend that you are a parent who has learned that thimerosal at nanomolar amounts causes mitochondrial dysfunction so severe that it can cause the cell to self destruct, and that HHS has conceded that in the Poling case mito dysfunction + vaccination = autism symptoms.  And pretend that one of your questions are that if vaccines are known to cause Guillian-Barre, an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks the central nervous system, then why can't they cause autism, an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks the central nervous system?  And pretend that you want to understand that if one vaccine contains enough adjuvant to stimulate the immune system sufficiently to put it on a search and destroy mission for viruses, then why do docs give five shots at once and claim it couldn't possibly overstimulate the immune system in some into a search and destroy mission for its own tissues; and why can't it cause the autoimmune state and neuroinflammation found in autism?  And then pretend that you are confused by the stance of "science" that a fetus contracting Rubella is a known cause of autism, but that that a one year old being given a live virus rubella vaccine couldn't possibly cause autism; while remembering that VICP has ruled that Baily Banks would not have had ASD if not for his MMR.

And pretend you saw Julie Gerberding go on CNN and say that vaccines can cause autism and cannot cause autism.

And then pretend that you spend untold hours on pubmed and in chat rooms and on HHS/CDC/AAP web sites and you can't find any cogent answers for the questions you have.  And pretend that your own pediatrician just got annoyed with you for asking questions he couldn't answer and then just stopped returning your calls.

And then go read Orac again (or any 'skeptic' blog or even your own article in the LAT) and ask yourself... 'why would any thinking person want to listen to us when we can't answer their questions and instead treat them with contempt to cover the fact that we can't answer their questions'?

Your 'skeptic' community's message to the public and parents like me?  "You are an idiot and we have nothing but contempt for you.  Now think what we tell you to think and do what we want you to do, even if it doesn't make sense".

Treat your audience like crap, and they will leave.  Claim to be a scientist and spout completely unscientific and illogical statements (mean ones at that), and no one will care what you say.

Chris, when your own suggestion on how to fix the problem that you have defined is to lean more about the people who are resisting your message, not so that you might learn from them as to where you might have gone off the tracks, not even so that you might enter into a mutually respectful relationship with them where you are on the same level (what with you being "super smart", "highly educated" and "doing great stuff" while they are way behind you on some imaginary starting point), but so that you might condescend to where they are in order to manipulate them into believing what you want them to believe... can you see that you can't even see what the real problem is?

It is clear from this article that those you target, you do not consider your equals.

"Smart" is not the only virtue, and it may not even one of the most important virtues.  Look back at the people who have done the most damage to humanity through out history.  You will be hard pressed to find a dummy among them.

H1N1 Flu: Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes on the 1976 Swine Flu Vaccine Push

The Federal Government has begun the push of the swine flu vaccine, even before the vaccine has been completed.

It is more than a bit disconcerting to hear that the government is recommending a vaccine, and has decided to administer it in schools, before it has even been completed much less tested. The mantra of CDC on vaccines has always been, "the benefits outweigh the risks". Yet we have no vaccine or test upon which to base a risk/benefit analysis. This for a virus that appears to be less dangerous than the seasonal flu.

In 1976 CDC decided to launch a similar campaign. It was a disaster. Swine flu never came to fruition, and 4,000 people were permanently injured or killed by the shot.

In 1979, 60 Minutes did a story on the damage. It aired only once, but resurfaced last month on the internet.

It is obvious why it only aired once.

It is REMARKABLE how closely this story parallels our own. 30 years later, the CDC seems to have learned nothing about anticipating and dealing properly with vaccine injury. You could have taken these exact same quotes out of this story and put them in an autism story.

So did this exchange happen in 1979 or in 2009?:

Interviewer: "Why does this report from your own agency list neurological complications as a possibility?"

Director of CDC: "I think the consensus of the scientific community was that the evidence relating neurologic disorders to immunizations was such that they did not feel that this association was a real one."

Swine Flu 1976 & Propaganda
Uploaded by Dianequiose-4. - More video blogs and vloggers.

The ads encouraging my parents to get the swine flu shot back then were not PSA's that took seriously their right to informed consent and educated them on the risks and benifits of getting the vaccine, they were PR pieces (including scare tactics, "...but Dotty had a heart condition and she died") put together by Madison Avenue.

Not only has HHS not learned to treat the public respectfully and be straight with them on this vaccine, they have lowered the bar on their PR push... all the way. This advertising push will be brought to you not by reasoned physicians upholding their ethical obligations by offering a comprehensive overview of risks and benifits, it will not even be brought to you by the professional ad men who sell you cars and beer, it will be brought to you by you:


Create a Flu Video & Be Eligible to Win $2500

So now you can not only be entertained by Fred Figglehorn, you can also get your medical advice from him.

HHS gets around these sticky ethical delemma's of being honest with the public and not trading on emotions or fears, by letting the public scare and cajole themselves into getting the shot.

As much as CDC claims that it wants to gain back credibility on vaccine issues, moves like this say different.

Louise Rocks Fox and Friends Today

Louise Kuo Habakus and Claudine Liss from the New Jersey Coalition for Vaccine Choice were on Fox and Friends today and did a wonderful job of explaining why forced vaccination is a bad idea.

For the record, I can't remember seeing Fox News do anything on the vaccine autism connection, so props to the ladies for getting this interview!

Don't forget the Vaccine Choice Rally on October 16th.

Insensitive Jerk Makes a Good Point

Last week Nick Jameson, college smart ass, wrote a piece on his reaction to the autism awareness campaign currently under way. One currently struggling with autism might be put off by his callousness until one remembers that he is only 22 and that we were all pretty much insensitive smart asses at 22.

I would encourage all to allow Nick a chance to grow and check back with him in 10 years or so when he is expecting his first child and see if maturity has tempered his stance.

But what is useful from Nick, random college punk, is this reaction:

For example, what is the purpose of putting up a billboard that is telling me a child is born with autism every 20 minutes? What can I possibly do other than sit in my car and mutter to myself, “Well that sucks.” Maybe if there was a cure or even ways to help prevent autism, it might make more sense to have a billboard. Then it would reinforce concepts in people’s head that they could apply later like “only you could prevent forest fires” or “don’t eat cheese before noon.” But frankly, all this billboard is really saying is, “Beware, autistic people are everywhere,” and I’m sure that isn’t the message they want to get across. We already know autism exists; give us something we can work with. If the autism front wants to put us through a year of sappy ads and TV specials, than at least make it worth the time and money and headache. Teach us something. I was on my way to New York City this weekend and every toll booth was littered with autism propaganda. Did I learn anything? No. There are more intelligent ways to get out a message to the public.

Does Nick know that there are successful treatments available? Does Nick know that there are some kids who are completely recover from autism? Does Nick know that there are things that he can do to prevent his own children (should he ever become soft hearted enough for a woman to agree to marry and/or procreate with him) from slipping in to autism?

Apparently not. And that is the fault of the media who won't report the whole story.

So our young Nick has made a great point. One that parents like me have been trying to make for years now. "Autism Exists" is a message that everyone got a few years back now. But the important message, "Autism is Treatable and Preventable" is one that the media will not share with him.

What is it going to take for them to tell the whole story?

In ten years, when Nick is expecting, will he have heard this message from the media? Or, like us, will he hear it from another parent on the playground after Nick Jr. is diagnosed with autism?

Addendum: Autism Speaks had a huge chance this month to get the treatment message out and yet again, they are screwing children by with holding the important message. They certainly have the cash to do it.

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

Yesterday CNN posted an interview with Julie Gerberding, head of the CDC, whom many parents of autistic children, myself included, want removed from her post for her… well… I will be generous and call it “mismanagement” of the autism epidemic.

Dr. Gupta, who has seemed to actually want to investigate this since the Poling Case was brought to our attention, did the interview, and unfortunately, could not have made it easier on her. He lobbed softballs and challenged nothing that she said. But he did say he would “stay on this”, so I am not giving up hope on him.

Of course she stuck to the same talking points, ‘CDC cares about autism’, ‘CDC are parents too’, ‘autism rates the same, just better recognition’, ‘more needs to be done’, but failed to mention that she has been saying those same things since she took the job six years ago, but has not actually done one single thing for our kids.

I would just like to call attention to a couple of her bullshit (*) remarks:

“There have been at least 15 very good scientific studies and the Institute of Medicine that has searched this out. And they have concluded that there really is no association between vaccines and autism”

The IOM report and two of those “very good” studies are the thing that got me into this debate in the first place. (David Kirby wrote a very fat book about them, which CDC still has not responded to.) The IOM decision was a horrible one. It was not based on the research presented at the meetings, the findings contradicted themselves and we have the transcripts of one of the first meetings in which they say no matter what information comes to light, they were going to give CDC what they asked for, which was that vaccines would not be indicted.

When asked about the transcripts, Dr. Harvey Fineberg, head of the IOM, states that this is an incorrect interpretation of the comments, but will not offer any alternate interpretation of what else they could mean. (I wrote to him personally, but got no response.)

Additionally… well… if you read my blog you already know how I feel about those “very good” studies.

“33,000 children a year are saved from death associated with vaccines because of our immunization program”

There is absolutely no way for her to know this. As far as I know there is no door way into an alternate universe where everything is the same except that vaccination does not exist so that she can count how many kids there die and come back and make the report to us.

“One of the things that concerns me, while the attention is focused on vaccines, in a sense, it means that people are not looking for other causes."

Nice misdirection, but you forgot to misdirect us to something. What are these other causes that we might be examining? It can’t be genetics because pretty much ALL of the government research dollars have been going into them for decades. What is it that we have become distracted from?

And now for the biggest bullshit statement of the day:

“And we have got to keep reminding ourselves that the vaccine story is one that has been debated for many, many years now. We keep looking and looking and looking and really cannot turn up any information”.

Oh. My. God.

Really? Seriously? (Where are Amy and Seth when you need them).

Because I can. Random mom in a little town in Maine with internet access and the ability to read is finding more information than you can with your thousands of scientists and billions of dollars?

Come on Julie. (Can I call you Julie? I feel like I know you personally since your actions have had such a directly destructive impact on my son and the course of the lives of each of the members of our family) Let's set the bullshit aside. I know that you know that information too, because CDC visits this blog every day, Monday through Friday. (Half the time it is to read about what we are all saying about you personally).

Tell you what. I will give you the benefit of the doubt on this one. Perhaps all this information on causes and treatments has escaped your attention. But you are in luck!

The spring DAN! Conference is next week in Cherry Hill, NJ and they have LOADS of this missing information that you cannot seem to find. So I want to offer you a personal invitation to attend the conference with me.

I will pay all your expenses. And by that I mean I will make JB Handley pay all your expenses because I am broke from treating Chandler for his ‘autistic symptoms’. (update: JB confirmed, he's got you covered.)

Just let me know where and what time to pick you up on the evening of Wednesday, April 2. World Autism Day.


* My apologies for using this crass term for those who may not believe that it is appropriate, but after four years of hearing this junk, I have come to the conclusion that it is really the only accurate term to describe these statements any more. I will be using it from now on as a technical term to describe the form of speech described by Princeton Professor Harvey G. Frankfurt in his 2005 ethics book, “On Bullshit”.

UPDATE: Apparently I am a plagiarist. Mark Blaxill gave a talk at the 2006 Autism One conference where he invokes Frankfurt's ideas in reference to Harvey Feinberg's epidemic denial comments. It is a great talk and appropriate to the absurdity of the statements coming out of the CDC and their fellow travelers these days so I will post it. I had heard the speech from the podcast a few years ago and forgot about it. I thought John Stewart had introduced me to Frankfurt, but apparently I misremembered. ;)
HT: Carrie Elsass

Autism: The Musical

So I just finished watching it. Kirby was right.

I dare you not to fall in love with these kids.

HBO will be streaming it for free for a few more days online. Go watch it now.

Autism: The Musical - David Kirby's Review

Time to take a break from causes and cures and just appreciate our beautiful babies with autism. If you don't have HBO, you can watch it online starting tomorrow.

David Kirby: HBO and Autism: Perfect Together
Today, March 25, 2008,
Huffington Post
David Kirby

A lot of adults (myself among them) are arguing very vocally right now over the scope, cause, and impact of autism in America. Acrid debates over mercury, vaccines, special diets, alternative therapies and conceded court cases are flooding the media almost daily.

It's enough to give autism a bad name.

Then, along comes an honest little documentary like "Autism: The Musical." This all-too-real movie lifts the heart up and then slams it right back down on the pavement--and we love every minute of it.

This simply shot, beautifully conveyed portrait of life with autism premieres tonight on HBO (and will stream for free for one week at hbo.com). It serves to remind us all that, no matter what "causes autism," no matter what, if anything might "cure" it, children affected by the disorder deserve all of the honor, love and patience that we, a nation consumed by our own attention deficits, can muster.

This moving and funny film opens with the jarring data that autism in America has spiked from 1-in-10,000 kids in 1980 to 1-in-150 today.

But instead of dwelling on the cause of autism, the film focuses mostly on five wonderful kids - two boys with very high functioning autism who are brilliant, charming, and yes, "quirky;" a teenage girl who sings (and looks) like an angel; a little boy who rarely speaks, but who can express himself vividly through his cello; and one Russian adopted boy who is completely nonverbal (until he gets a computer) and who will break your heart when you see him.

Anyway, they put on a show, and it is riveting, joyous and tearful. But the real message here is that kids with autism are human beings, just like everyone else on God's green earth - with their own hopes and fears, intellects and personalities.

They deserve more than our compassion, our love and our dollars. They deserve our respect.

Meanwhile, "Autism: The Musical" unflinchingly shows just how stressful the disorder can be on families. The weight on couples is obvious: One marriage suffers through infidelity, another ends in painful divorce.

Some people might complain that the potential causes and treatments of autism are only touched upon here - though we do see clear evidence of heart-wrenching autistic "regression," and there is some talk about vaccines, environmental toxins and "damaged kids."

Others might worry that the portraits of the two high functioning boys - so bright and charismatic you want to hang out with them for hours (though their peers shun them into a lonely world of their own) - will leave the mistaken impression that most children with autism are like this. If they were, then the epidemic might be slightly less painful to bear.

Sadly, however, most kids with autism are more than just a little "quirky." And as much as we truly adore all the children in this film, few, if any parents of "typical" kids could honestly say, "I wish my child were like that."

"Autism: The Movie," then, gives us the whole unvarnished "spectrum" of autism spectrum disorder. Little Neal, the adopted boy who can neither speak nor hold a gaze, tells us what we should know: These extraordinary children (and many adults with autism, too) need and deserve our attention, and help.

Here, I hope, is a movie that everyone can watch and appreciate. From those of us who think that many autism cases were triggered by environmental toxins; to the "neuro-diversity" people, some of whom think that autism is a natural, inborn variation of human brain wiring, and should be celebrated, not treated; to the CDC, who wishes we would ALL just go away.

Please watch this film: You will be treated to an achingly accurate portrait of what autism is, isn't, and can be.

Today Show Part 1: Autism Mom and Meningitis Mom Agree

...that not every vaccine is safe for every child.

Honey Renecella, mother of twins with vaccine induced autism and Suzanne Walter, mother of a girl whom she did not vaccinate who subsequently contracted meningitis, appeared together on The Today Show yesterday to tell their stories and talk about vaccine safety.

I am not sure if the show's bookers were expecting a cat fight, but what they got was anything but...



See The Today Show Part 2 to see Honey try to hold in her anger at the statements of head of the AAP who claims that all vaccines are for every child.

Today Show Part 2: AAP President Tells Giant Easily Disprovable Mistruth

Yesterday, in a segment on autism and vaccines on the Today Show, Dr. David Tayloe, President Elect of the American Academy of Pediatrics, was asked the following question:

"Do you believe that all vaccines should be used on every child?"

His complete response:

"Yes. I think any of the vaccines we have today have been tested and proven to be safe, and the credible studies don't show any relationship between vaccines and permanent injury. So we favor this and we know that unless we have vaccination rates that are in the 90 to 95% range we are not going to prevent epidemics from coming into this country of measles, of polio, from countries where these diseases are still endemic. So its very important that we vaccinate all our children."

Repeating: No "relationship between vaccines and permanent injury".

This is probably the most glaring falsehood that I have heard in the vaccine debate yet, stated by the chief pediatrician in the US, to whom all other pediatricians look to for guidance in how to treat their patients.

Has Dr. Tayloe has never heard of the Federal Program called the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, the sole purpose of which it to compensate people for the permanent injuries that they sustain from approved vaccines?

From the VICP section of the HRSA web site that shows the vaccine injuries that are covered:

"The Vaccine Injury Table (Table) makes it easier for some people to get compensation. The Table lists and explains injuries/conditions that are presumed to be caused by vaccines. It also lists time periods in which the first symptom of these injuries/conditions must occur after receiving the vaccine. If the first symptom of these injuries/conditions occurs within the listed time periods, it is presumed that the vaccine was the cause of the injury or condition unless another cause is found. For example, if you received the tetanus vaccines and had a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) within 4 hours after receiving the vaccine, then it is presumed that the tetanus vaccine caused the injury if no other cause is found."

A quick rundown of a few of the covered reactions:

DTaP, Tdap, DTP-Hib, MMR, MR, R - Anaphylactic shock, encephalopathy, any accute complication or sequela of above events(including death).

Rubella vaccines - Chronic arthritis, any acute complication or sequela (including death) of above event.

Measles vaccines - Thrombocytopenic purpura, Mealses, any acute complication or sequela (including death) of above event.

Live Virus Polio vaccines - Polio.

Inactivated Virus Polio vaccines - Anaphylactic shock, any acute complication or sequela of above events(including death).

I am pretty sure that "Death" could be considered permanent injury.

Additionally, Dr. Tayloe has apparently never read a package insert in a box of vaccine.

Here is a random sample of insert quotes. Let's start with the one that sent my two week old Chandler into three months worth of fevers and crying and two years of constipation:

ENGERIX-B, Hepatitis B Vaccine -

"Multiple Sclerosis: Although no causal relationship has been established, rare instances of exacerbation of multiple sclerosis have been reported following administration of hepatitis B vaccines and other vaccines. In persons with multiple sclerosis, the benefit of immunization for prevention of hepatitis B infection and sequelae must be weighed against the risk of exacerbation of the disease."

"Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Impairment of Fertility: ENGERIX-B has not been evaluated for carcinogenic or mutagenic potential, or for impairment of fertility."

"Postmarketing Reports: Additional adverse experiences have been reported with the commercial use of ENGERIX-B. Those listed below are to serve as alerting information to physicians.

Hypersensitivity: Anaphylaxis; erythema multiforme including Stevens-Johnson syndrome; angioedema; arthritis. An apparent hypersensitivity syndrome (serum sickness–like) of delayed onset has been reported days to weeks after vaccination, including: arthralgia/arthritis (usually transient), fever, and dermatologic reactions such as urticaria, erythema multiforme, ecchymoses, and erythema nodosum (see CONTRAINDICATIONS).
Cardiovascular System: Tachycardia/palpitations.
Respiratory System: Bronchospasm including asthma-like symptoms.
Gastrointestinal System: Abnormal liver function tests; dyspepsia.
Nervous System: Migraine; syncope; paresis; neuropathy including hypoesthesia, paresthesia, Guillain-Barré syndrome and Bell’s palsy, transverse myelitis; optic neuritis; multiple sclerosis; seizures.
Hematologic: Thrombocytopenia.
Skin and Appendages: Eczema; purpura; herpes zoster; erythema nodosum; alopecia.
Special Senses: Conjunctivitis; keratitis; visual disturbances; vertigo; tinnitus; earache."

"CONTRAINDICATIONS - Hypersensitivity to any component of the vaccine, including yeast, is a contraindication. This vaccine is contraindicated in patients with previous hypersensitivity to any hepatitis B-containing vaccine."

(Even though my baby, in no uncertain terms, showed "hypersensitivity", his doctors continued to administer the vaccine to him until his regression at 18 months).

This is given to babies that are hours old. And remember, the head of the AAP says, even though the package insert says differently, that the vaccine is safe for every child and no permanent injury will occur.

Fluvirin, Flu Vaccine

"Controlled studies on FLUVIRIN® have not been conducted to demonstrate safety in pregnant women."

"CONTRAINDICATIONS
INFLUENZA VIRUS IS PROPAGATED IN EGGS FOR THE PREPARATION OF INFLUENZA VIRUS VACCINE. THUS, THIS VACCINE SHOULD NOT BE ADMINISTERED TO ANYONE WITH A HISTORY OF HYPERSENSITIVITY (ALLERGY) TO CHICKEN EGGS, CHICKEN, CHICKEN FEATHERS OR CHICKEN DANDER.
THE VACCINE IS ALSO CONTRAINDICATED IN INDIVIDUALS HYPERSENSITIVE TO ANY COMPONENT OF THE VACCINE INCLUDING THIMEROSAL (A MERCURY DERIVATIVE) (SEE ADVERSE REACTIONS). EPINEPHRINE INJECTION (1:1000) MUST BE IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE SHOULD AN ACUTE ANAPHYLACTIC REACTION OCCUR DUE TO ANY COMPONENT OF THE VACCINE.
IMMUNIZATION SHOULD BE DELAYED IN PERSONS WITH AN ACTIVE NEUROLOGICAL DISORDER
CHARACTERIZED BY CHANGING NEUROLOGICAL FINDINGS, BUT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED WHEN THE
DISEASE PROCESS HAS BEEN STABILIZED.
THE OCCURRENCE OF ANY NEUROLOGICAL SYMPTOMS OR SIGNS FOLLOWING ADMINISTRATION OF ANY
VACCINE IS A CONTRAINDICATION TO FURTHER USE.
THE VACCINE SHOULD NOT BE ADMINISTERED TO PERSONS WITH ACUTE FEBRILE ILLNESSES UNTIL THEIR TEMPORARY SYMPTOMS AND/OR SIGNS HAVE ABATED."

WARNINGS
Influenza Virus Vaccine should not be given to individuals with thrombocytopenia or any coagulation disorder that would contraindicate intramuscular injection unless, in the judgment of the physician, the potential benefits clearly outweigh the risk of administration.
Patients with impaired immune responsiveness, whether due to the use of immunosuppressive therapy (including irradiation, corticosteroids, antimetabolites, alkylating agents, and cytotoxic agents), a genetic defect, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, or other causes, may have a reduced antibody response in active immunization procedures.

But if Dr. Tayloe is right, the package insert should be changed to read:

"CONTRAINDICATIONS
None."

"WARNINGS
None."

P.S.:

"No studies regarding the simultaneous administration of inactivated influenza vaccine and other childhood vaccines have been conducted."

One more... Merck's MMR vaccine:

"CONTRAINDICATIONS
Hypersensitivity to any component of the vaccine, including gelatin.
Do not give M-M-R II to pregnant females; the possible effects of the vaccine on fetal development are unknown at this time. If vaccination of postpubertal females is undertaken, pregnancy should be avoided for three months following vaccination (see INDICATIONS AND USAGE, Non-Pregnant Adolescent and Adult Females and PRECAUTIONS, Pregnancy).
Anaphylactic or anaphylactoid reactions to neomycin (each dose of reconstituted vaccine contains approximately 25 mcg of neomycin).
Febrile respiratory illness or other active febrile infection. However, the ACIP has recommended that all vaccines can be administered to persons with minor illnesses such as diarrhea, mild upper respiratory infection with or without low-grade fever, or other low-grade febrile illness.
Patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy. This contraindication does not apply to patients who are receiving corticosteroids as replacement therapy, e.g., for Addison's disease.
Individuals with blood dyscrasias, leukemia, lymphomas of any type, or other alignant neoplasms affecting the bone marrow or lymphatic systems.
Primary and acquired immunodeficiency states, including patients who are immunosuppressed in association with AIDS or other clinical manifestations of infection with human immunodeficiency viruses;41-43 cellular immune deficiencies; and hypogammaglobulinemic and dysgammaglobulinemic states. Measles inclusion body encephalitis60 (MIBE), pneumonitis61 and death as a direct consequence of disseminated measles vaccine virus infection have been reported in immunocompromised individuals inadvertently vaccinated with measles-containing vaccine.
Individuals with a family history of congenital or hereditary immunodeficiency, until the immune competence of the potential vaccine recipient is emonstrated."

"WARNINGS
Due caution should be employed in administration of M-M-R II to persons with a history of cerebral injury, individual or family histories of convulsions, or any other condition in which stress due to fever should be avoided. The physician should be alert to the temperature elevation which may occur following vaccination (see ADVERSE REACTIONS).
Hypersensitivity to Eggs Live measles vaccine and live mumps vaccine are produced in chick embryo cell culture. Persons with a history of anaphylactic, anaphylactoid, or other immediate reactions (e.g., hives, swelling of the mouth and throat, difficulty breathing, hypotension, or shock) subsequent to egg ingestion may be at an enhanced risk of immediate-type hypersensitivity reactions after receiving vaccines containing traces of chick embryo antigen. The potential risk to benefit ratio should be carefully evaluated before considering vaccination in such cases. Such individuals may be vaccinated with extreme caution, having adequate treatment on hand should a reaction occur"

"The AAP states, "Persons who have experienced anaphylactic reactions to topically or systemically administered neomycin should not receive measles vaccine."

Now that Dr. Tayloe is running the AAP, will they remove that statement from the insert?

I have not even gotten to the sections on Adverse Reactions yet, but I have already made my point.

Oh, yeah... and then last week the Hannah Poling case broke.

It is factual to say that in come cases, approved vaccines DO result in permanent injury and that not all vaccines are safe for all children.

Dr. Tayloe is wrong.

Either he knows about the things which I have written above, in which case he has lied to the American public and he has no place being the head of the AAP, or he does not know the things which I have written above, in which case he is incompetent to be the head of the AAP.

... and there is not a chance in hell that he does not know about all that I have written here.

Additionally, allow me to draw your attention to the second half of Dr. Tayloe's statement:

"So we favor this and we know that unless we have vaccination rates that are in the 90 to 95% range we are not going to prevent epidemics from coming into this country of measles, of polio, from countries where these diseases are still endemic. So its very important that we vaccinate all our children."

Note the goal of his vaccination policy, not to serve the best interest of your individual child, but to protect this country of a viral epidemic.

Keep in mind, that when your are in the pediatricians office and he is looking at your child and making decisions on how to treat him, the AAP, his professional organization has taught him that your baby is not his client. That 'society' is his client. And that depending on how ethical he is or how sharp his critical thinking skills are, he may not actually be serving your child, but "the greater good".

We have been lobbying the AAP to reevaluate vaccines and move in a more cautious direction in making recommendations for their doctors.

If the election of Dr. Tayloe and his criminal pronouncements are the response to the AAP of parents increasingly loud protestations of their destructive direction, then it is time to start ignoring the AAP.

There are many, many pediatrician out there who genuinely want to work in the best interests of their patients, and as difficult as it was for me and Honey to hear Dr. Tayloe lie on tv, it must have been more difficult for them to have heard. They know that serious vaccine reactions exist, and they just watched the man that represents them tell a very stupid lie to the entire country.

(please excuse any typos, etc, as I have not had a chance to proof this. I reserve the right to make corrections)

CJR: The Wrong Debate Over Autism

IMHO: Mr. Juskalin misses the point a bit here.

Instead of "Why focusing on thimerosal misses a larger story", I think it would be more accurate to say, "Why focusing on thimerosal is the tip of a larger story"

Most autism looks to be derived from a toxic insult, of which vaccines are likely the worst offender, and of the ingredients of which mercury is most likely the worst offender.

The questions at the conclusion are important, but they have pretty much been answered. And those answers are leading to recovered children. It is hard to argue with results.

The Wrong Debate Over Autism
Why focusing on thimerosal misses a larger story

By Russ Juskalian Tue 11 Mar 2008 10:51 AM

Columbia Journalism Review

Back in 2005, CJR published a story by Daniel Schulman about media coverage of "whether a mercury-containing vaccine" preservative called thimerosal was to blame for an alarming spike in autism cases among a generation of children. Last summer, yet another study was released that showed no link between autism and vaccinations, and last week came news of a lawsuit settlement that required a girl's medical costs to be covered by the government after she was diagnosed with a rare mitchochondria disorder and autistic symptoms related to receiving nine vaccinations in one day. Clearly, the debate rages on, so we decided to take another look at the press-coverage landscape.

Schulman concluded in his piece that the media had been too quick to close the door on the potential link between thimerosal and autism. "[W]ith science left to be done and scientists eager to do it, it seems too soon for the press to shut the door on the debate," he wrote. He cited stories like a New York Times piece by Gardiner Harris and Anahad O'Connor in June of the same year, with the headline: "On Autism's Cause, It's Parents vs. Research".

Schulman, now an editor at Mother Jones, noted that while the vast majority of studies appeared to disprove a vaccine link to autism, there were serious researchers (notably Dr. Mady Hornig and Dr. Ezra Susser, both epidemiologists at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health; Richard Deth, a Northeastern University pharmacologist; and Jill James, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Arkansas) who supported the possibility that environmental factors—and perhaps thimerosal in vaccinations—could at least be triggers for autism in predisposed populations that might otherwise not have developed the disorder.

(It's a lot like the global warming debate in reverse: almost every major study said there was no credence to the autism-vaccine link, but there were, and still are, a few credible voices out there saying the case isn't closed.)

So, where are we now?

Last summer, a report on vaccinations and neurological problems in children was published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the vaccine-autism debate got a little more fuel. Depending on which side of the fence you stand, the argument can be made that coverage of this report was good or bad. Autism is a touchstone issue, so it was often mentioned in headlines and stories, even if only to note that the study itself was not focused on autism.

A sample of stories and headlines from September 27, 2007, paints a picture:

Newsday: "CDC: Vaccines are safe; Though autism was not a focus, study says mercury preservative in shots did not cause neurological problems"

Federal health officials yesterday reassured parents that childhood vaccines are safe and that kids who got routine immunizations a decade ago when shots contained a controversial mercury preservative are not at risk of neurological problems….An investigation examining autism and thimerosal, the preservative that once was added to common vaccines, is expected to be published within 12 months, scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said yesterday.

The New York Times: "Vaccine Compound Is Harmless, Study Says, as Autism Debate Rages"

Yet another study has found that a controversial vaccine preservative appears to be harmless. But the study is unlikely to end the increasingly charged debate about vaccine safety.

The Globe and Mail (Canada): "Vaccine preservative can cause tics; But according to U.S. research, thimerosal does not appear harmful to kids' learning skills or physical abilities"

"The scientific literature to date does not support a causal link between autism and thimerosal, but it's important to say this study isn't of autism," she said. "There's a separate CDC study ongoing that's going to get at that question to provide more information."

Even more recently, the issue of an autism-vaccine link came up in response to a settlement involving the government and nine-year-old Hannah Poling. Poling started showing symptoms typical of autism shortly after receiving a bundle of vaccinations when she was a toddler. The government decided that Poling's vaccinations, given on top of a rare metabolic disorder, caused her problems.

The headlines this time covered broader ground: KHBS Fort Smith, "Vaccine-Autism Link Unproven By Controversial Georgia Case"; Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Ga. girl helps link autism to childhood vaccines"; The New York Times, "Deal in an Autism Case Fuels Debate on Vaccine".

Not even John McCain could let this one go by as was noted by Benedict Carey in the Times, in a piece titled, "Into the Fray Over the Cause of Autism":

"It's indisputable that autism is on the rise among children," Senator John McCain said while campaigning recently in Texas. "The question is, What's causing it? And we go back and forth, and there's strong evidence that indicates that it's got to do with a preservative in vaccines."

With that comment, Mr. McCain marked his entry into one of the most politicized scientific issues in a generation.

It appears that Schulman was on to something when he claimed the media had taken too narrow a tack on the autism-vaccine link issue. But he, too, may have had his keyboard aimed in the wrong place.

The problem with the coverage was not that the few credible opposition voices didn't receive balanced coverage, but rather that the whole issue of whether vaccines containing thimerosal or mercury cause autism served as a distraction from the ongoing efforts to tease apart the causes of this enigmatic disorder. That's not to say the vaccine issue shouldn't be covered at all, but that there are many more important—if less emotionally driven—questions related to autism that deserve further investigation.

Is autism caused by environmental factors? Can it be triggered by these factors? How does epidemiology try to solve these riddles? Are some people genetically predisposed to respond to environmental factors (like mercury)? Can we find a way to screen for these predispositions (like Poling's metabolic condition)? What else is in our environment that poses a risk?

Lest we forget about the long list of environmental contaminants that have been pointed out going back to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, the AP just released its own investigation that found a wide array of pharmaceuticals in tap water across America. A potent reminder that while important, the vaccination story is only one part of a bigger issue.

Schulman is right about one thing: when we simplify science to "yes" or "no" questions the repercussions can be dangerous. And simply because a few scientist are in the minority does not mean their careers and their work should be dismissed with the wave of a hand.

We may never find an answer to the autism-vaccine debate that satisfies everyone—and that's okay. Science pushes on, and the myriad questions about autism will continue to be researched long after the last mercury-containing inoculation is administered.