Chase The Hope

Vote starting Friday:

Charlottesville-Right Now: Coy Barefoot Asks "How Much Longer" Must These Kids Wait?

Please take a moment and listen to autism dad Coy Barefoot on his radio show "Charlottesville-Right Now".

Charlottesville-Right Now: Coy Barefoot Asks “How Much Longer” Must These Kids Wait?

Tens of Thousands of Emails to Barack Obama asking "How Much Longer?"

Have you asked him "How Much Longer" today?

From NAA:

With All Eyes On Swine Flu, Thousands of Parents Ask President Obama “How Much Longer” Until Autism Gets Similar Attention

WASHINGTON, DC - Just since midnight, over 50,000 letters have gone to President Barack Obama and others as part of a new campaign to bring attention to the rising numbers of autism cases. The National Autism Association (NAA) declared today as National “How Much Longer” Day for Autism, a day of letter-writing to the media, health agencies, Department of Education, lawmakers and the Obama Administration asking for such things as health insurance coverage, federal laws to protect special-ed students from dangerous restraint and seclusion practices in schools, safer vaccines, and for autism to be declared a nation health crisis. Seeing how much attention is being paid to the H1N1 virus, many parents are wondering why autism is the fastest growing disorder, yet has received very little aid.

In a letter to its members, NAA stated, “We've asked for [help] politely, impolitely, loudly, softly, creatively, professionally, in small numbers and in large...we’ve asked and we’ve asked again. But as it stands today, we have more cases of abuse, wandering-related deaths, seizure-related deaths, bankruptcies and divorce in our community than ever before. With the fatigue that comes from constant uphill battles, along with a gross lack of resources, we live in a permanent state of asking one question: How Much Longer?”

Eight ads have gone out over the last six weeks promoting the “How Much Longer” campaign. When asking the public to participate, NAA says, “Say yes only if you don’t mind a little controversy. This campaign isn’t warm and fuzzy and it’s far from polite. It’s edgy, sarcastic and harsh at times, but when you live day to day seeing an increasing number of children suffer from vulgar abuse, impossible challenges, even death, you tend to put graceful asks aside for a message that people might actually notice.”

The group reports that out of all the autism campaigns they’ve done, this by far has received the highest amount of response.

“We’ve had an overwhelming amount of feedback, mostly positive, but this campaign isn’t for everyone,” says Ann Brasher, Vice President of NAA. “We essentially call the CDC out for labeling us as ‘anti-vaccine’ every time we ask a question about vaccine safety. We call out the NIH for directing more dollars towards genetic research when environmental factors are playing a huge role in triggering autism, and we call out the Department of Education for their slow response in keeping more special-ed students from being abused and killed in our school systems. We’ve gone out on a limb here to say what needs to be said.”

The group’s letter to President Obama covers the daily challenges of living with autism. “Most days, we don’t know which issue to tackle first,” states Rita Shreffler, NAA Executive Director. “There are too many and we’re overwhelmed. We’ve asked President Obama to declare autism a national health crisis so that autism may receive the attention it needs and our children may receive the basic resources they deserve.”

According to a recently released survey by the National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), which is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the US Department of Health and Human Services, Autism Spectrum Disorders now affect 1 in 100 children.

“It’s time for answers,” says Brasher. “It’s long overdue.”

09.09.09 How Much Longer

Tomorrow, September 9th 2009, the National Autism Association will be holding the 09.09.09 campaign to ask those responsible for serving children how much longer we will have to wait until the disaster of the autism epidemic is admitted to, addressed, stopped and our children are given the care and protection that they are due.

The autism rate is no 1 in 100, and rising. The time has come for us all to demand that those in power stop the corrupt practices that have created this public health epidemic and undo the damage that has been done.

The canary in the coal mine has become hundreds of thousands of canaries. Our governments and medical institutions are watching our children drop like flies and their response is to commission do nothing committees to make sure lots of busy work is being done while no actual change is effected.

Please set aside a little bit of time tomorrow and participate in the 09.09.09 campaign.

Do it for Chandler and do it so that no more children have to struggle like Chandler.

How Much Longer, President Obama?

Mr. President,

Are you just going to ignore the problem while paying lip service like President Bush did?

What will the autism rate be when Sasha and Malia are having children? Mr. President, you are a Star Trek nerd and your daughter has an autoimmune disorder. You should probably know that your own family is likely on the short list to join our not so exclusive club in the future.

If you would like to know what being the grand father of a child who has slipped into autism is like, I am sure I can arrange a meeting between you and my dad so you can decide if this is worth your attention now, or if you want to risk being just like us and saying, "If only I would have....", "If only I had known...".

"If only I had spent the billions from the non-epidemic of swine flu, on the real epidemic of autism when I had the chance, then maybe my grandson could look me in the eye and call me 'grandpa'."

Sincerely Distressed that You Are Not Distressed,
Ginger Taylor, M.S.

Missing autistic teen found dead

Maine CDC Autism Conference: Intro by Dora Mills

As I have previously mentioned, in May the Maine CDC held a one day conference on Autism. The videos of the conference will be available on the Maine CDC web site, however Maine state law requires that they be ADA compliant before going up, and the process of close captioning the videos is proving to be time consuming. So in my impatience, I am uploading my copies of the videos (with permission from Maine CDC who is encouraging their free circulation.)

Conference materials available here on the Maine CDC web site.

Those who would like a set of DVD's of the conference, for yourself, your organization or to pass along to doctors and public health officials, email me.

Maine CDC Autism Conference 2009
Introduction and Overview of Autism in Maine
Dora Anne Mills, MD, MPH
Director, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, State Health Officer
with Becky Grant-Widen, Board Member of the National Autism Association



Next session:
Autism 101: First signs and symptoms, Maine’s new screening tool, how and when to refer for specialized diagnostics, how a diagnosis is made, AAP Autism Toolkit, diagnostic and therapeutic services in Maine.

Round Up: NAA's FOUND, Poling Schools Novella, Too Many Sick Kids, More Outrage at Savage, Kirby on Peet, NZ Angry Over Expensive/Usless Vaccine

• The National Autism Association (NAA) has announced the launch of a new program called Found, aimed at providing families and counties nationwide with safety tools for children with autism which will immediately fund $54,400.00 to provide at least eight counties with Project Lifesaver equipment and tracking watches. The program was made possible by a huge donation from Pixies Train Ride and the half a million visitors to her site.  God Bless you Pixie!
• Dr. Jon Poling reminds Dr. Stephen Novella about the facts in his daughters case and requests that he refrain from attacking autism moms.
• Allison Edwards is outraged over all the sick little boys in the UK.
• Kim Stagliano takes another swing at Michael Savage over at the Huffington Post.
• Also on the Huffington Post, David Kirby with observations and more observations on the Amanda Peet kaffuffle.
• New Zealanders angry that $200 million was spent on a much hyped meningococcal vaccine that only protects 30% of users, for only 7 months, and that they were not given informed consent before taking the shot.
• Mercola on avoiding mercury and other metals.
  

Mandatory Forced Vaccination for NY: The Worst Vaccine Law Yet

If you are with in driving distance, please attend. This CANNOT be allowed to pass.

From NAA:

Parents Rally in Albany Against Forced Vaccination
Forwarded from our friends at NVIC www.nvic.org

Parents will rally in Albany, NY on Tuesday, June 10, to protest a vaccine bill (AB10942) that would mandate the 69 doses of 16 vaccines the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends for all children through age 18 plus would automatically mandate all new vaccines federal officials recommend in the future. Sponsored by the NY House Rules Committee at the request of NY State Health Commissioner Richard Daines, provisions in the legislation would force all children to get annual influenza shots as well as force child use of vaccines for sexually transmitted diseases, such as hepatitis B and HPV, without obtaining permission from parents.

The legislation would make unelected physicians, who are appointed to the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) by unelected CDC officials, de facto state lawmakers because CDC recommendations for new vaccine use by all children would be automatically turned into state mandates. Duly elected New York state legislators would no longer be accountable to the people who elected them and could look the other way when federal officials recommend every new vaccine produced by industry for "universal use" by every child born in America.

If New York and other states had already passed this kind of legislation before the poorly tested and highly reactive GARDASIL vaccine was recommended by the CDC in 2006 for universal use by all 11 year old girls, Merck would not have had to spend money mounting a national advertising and lobbying campaign in a failed attempt in 2007 to ram GARDASIL vaccine mandates through state legislatures. (Public health laws, including vaccine laws, are enacted by the states and not by the federal government).

Every new vaccine that industry has created and marketed for children in the last quarter century has been recommended by the CDC for universal use by all children, tripling the numbers of doses of vaccines pediatricians give children. During this same time period, the numbers of children suffering with chronic disease and disability has also tripled with no explanation coming from U.S. public health officials about why so many highly vaccinated children are so sick.

In what appears to be a classic act of collective political cowardice, NY Assembly Bill 10942 would force nearly six dozen doses of vaccines on children and many more in the future but there are no publicly named individual sponsors attached to the bill. The only sponsor listed is the "Rules Committee" headed by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) . There is a lot of speculation about how much influence Merck and other vaccine manufacturers, as well as medical organizations and government officials pushing the forced vaccination political agenda, are bringing to bear on legislators behind the scenes.

Parents in New York claim that Assembly Speaker Silver is blocking passage of
AB 5468 for philosophical belief exemption to vaccination in the Assembly (there is a companion bill, SB 3031, in the state Senate). Current NY law only allows parents to file a medical or religious exemption to vaccination and both of these exemptions have become increasingly difficult to obtain in New York. Many parents are reporting that their religious exemptions are being denied or revoked after they have been grilled for hours by state attorneys and school officials about their spiritual beliefs. Some doctors practicing in New York are also reporting that they cannot write medical exemptions without being harassed by state health officials.

Parents protesting attempts by the pharmaceutical industry and government to force nearly six dozen vaccines on children or deny them an education, which limits their ability to hold a job and function in society, are also supporting Assembly Bill 3064 (also SB 1563) for religious exemption to vaccination that would prevent state officials from grilling parents about their religious beliefs for the purpose of denying a religious exemption to vaccination. This bill states that "this legislation is intended to protect parents from inappropriate and intrusive inquiry into their beliefs by government authorities" and already has numerous sponsors.

Parents are also supporting Assembly Bill 3180 (also SB 1575) for medical exemptions to vaccination to allow licensed physicians and certified nurse practitioners to write medical exemptions for children if they believe that "such immunization or immunizations may be detrimental to the person's health or is otherwise medically contraindicated for health reasons" without being subject to override by state health officials seeking to deny medical exemptions. This bill also already has numerous sponsors.

New York citizens, who want to attend the 11:30 a.m. June 10 rally and press conference on the steps of the Capitol Building (Swan St. side) in Albany, can get more information about bus transportation from Long Island, Rochester and suburban Albany as well as other details about the event at www.mykidsmychoice.com. After the rally, parents plan to meet with legislators and then attend a Health Committee meeting at 1 p.m. in the Legislative Office Building (Room 823).

For more information on contacting New York state legislators, go to
http://assembly.state.ny.us/. New York voters can type in their zip code and find contact information for their own Assemblyperson and Senator and voice their opinion. To find out more about contacting NY legislators on this issue, go to the website of A-Champ.

Rita Palma, a Bayport mother of three, said "Vaccines are under more scrutiny than ever. Yet some lawmakers pick right now to create a bill that actually increases vaccine mandates. This bill is a slap in the face to worried parents throughout New York. AB 10942 is being pushed by Big Pharma lobbyists. We need to show them that New Yorkers will not stand for this and make our voices heard."

Congratulations to the parents and those principled lawmakers in New York, who are standing up and being counted in support of legislation protecting the human right to informed consent to vaccination. Every American should have the right to hold sincere religious and conscientious belief convictions about whether or not to subject themselves or their children to harm from a pharmaceutical product, such as a vaccine, that carries an uncertain risk of injury or death.

Doctors are not infallible and the products drug companies create for profit are not always safe or effective for everyone. And no child in America should be subjected to vaccination or any other medical procedure without the informed consent of his or her parents. New York AB 10942 backed by Big Pharma and Big Government is a prescription for tyranny.

Stand Up! Be Counted. Your health and your freedom is on the line.

NAA: Offering Grants For Marriage Counseling For Autism Parents

If you need counseling, apply.

If you don't, Donate. 100% of your donation here will go to NAA's Family First Fund.

From The National Autism Association:

WE ARE NOW ACCEPTING GRANT APPLICATIONS FOR OUR FAMILY FIRST PROGRAM.

BASED ON QUALIFICATIONS, GRANTS CAN NOW BE USED FOR LOCAL, FACE-TO-FACE MARRIAGE COUNSELING.

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL APPLICATIONS BEFORE JUNE 15TH, 2008.


FAMILY FIRST PROGRAM
The divorce rate within the autism community has been creeping up for quite some time. With the explosion in autism cases comes many more challenges with couples in our community. Family First was launched to provide couples within our community a way to access counseling on a 24/7 basis.

GOALS:
The four goals of the Family First Program are to:

1. Provide couples with access to counseling
2. Provide couples with financial aid for counseling
3. Raise awareness about the divorce rates within our community and around the country
4. Provide a solid support system for all autism couples

By focusing on these four objectives, our primary goal is to keep autism families together, which will open the door to a slew of other benefits for families including two-person income potential, less stress on just one parent, more time dedicated to therapy and treatments for the child, and the list goes on.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

Create
There are so many ways we can help autism couples. Do you have a great idea that will work in your area? Here are some of the ways people from around the country are helping autism couples:

* Far Hills Community Church in Dayton, Ohio, offers a free “Date Nite” to autism couples. Could your church or support group do something similar in your area? See: http://farhills.org/events/datenight.html
* Free workshops are happening in places like Tennessee and North Carolina. Could you hold a free couples workshop in your area?


Donate
The National Autism Association is a non-profit, parent-run organization. The Family First Program is just one of the many projects we fund and coordinate to make a positive difference within the autism community. Through our voucher program, your donations would help us provide couples with the financial aid they need to obtain marital counseling. As always your donation is tax-deductible.

To donate, please visit: http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/proddetail.php?prod=FamilyFirstDonation

NAA: Sad News From Our Friends At BrainChild

From the National Autism Association:

Michael Lang, founder of BrainChild Nutritionals, died on Tuesday, October 16, 2007, after a brief but heroic fight with Pancreatic Cancer. Michael passed at home, surrounded by those who loved him. Michael was a brilliant, stubborn, generous, incredibly good and gentle man, who made great strides toward his great hope for curing autism.

Michael created vitamin and mineral supplements to help his own children, and then extended that gift to thousands of children, by founding BrainChild Nutritionals, to make exceptional liquid supplements for kids on the autistic spectrum. Michael used his last bit of energy to make a presentation to the DAN! Doctors' Think Tank from the hospital less than a week before he died. He was very excited about this presentation showing new information he'd recently gathered using his natural chelation program and wanted others to help carry on his work.

BrainChild Nutritionals will continue as it always has, in Michael's memory. Thank you all for being part of our extended family. We know that many of you loved Michael as well, and that he helped many of your children. Please know that Michael didn't suffer, and that his work will continue.

A fund is being set up to help Michael's children. A link with details on how to donate to this fund will be on the BrainChild website within the next couple days.

Michael Lang has been a great friend to NAA with his long time support of our Helping Hand Project, and to many of us here on a personal level. He was the ultimate "nice guy". He was genuinely caring, thoughtful and kind. We send our love and sympathy to Michael's children, family and everyone at Brainchild Nutritionals. He will be sadly missed.

NAA: Call The White House

Call The White House

ACTION ALERT

Please call the White House and tell them not to veto the House Labor HHS Bill which contains provisions to protect children from mercury in vaccines. Demand that President Bush uphold his campaign promises!

Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461

For Immediate Release

Bush Set to Veto HHS-Labor-Education Appropriations Bill Due to Provision to Remove Mercury from Infant Vaccines

SafeMinds and autism community call the White House declaration “irresponsible and dangerous.”

Washington, DC – According to the Congressional Quarterly, the White House stated on Tuesday that President Bush would veto the HHS-Labor-Education Appropriations Bill because of the cost and “objectionable provisions” such as a measure to ban the use of childhood flu vaccines that contain thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative.

Autism advocacy groups are outraged because President Bush stated in a questionnaire during his 2004 campaign: “I support the removal of Thimerosal from vaccines on the childhood national vaccine schedule. During a second term as President, I will continue to support increased funding to support a wide variety of research initiatives aimed at seeking definitive causes and/or triggers of autism. It is important to note that while there are many possible theories about causes or triggers of autism, no one material as been definitely included or excluded.”

But since 2005, President Bush has steadfastly refused to issue an Executive Order banning high amounts of mercury in vaccines that would protect children and pregnant women despite repeated requests from the autism community that he uphold his campaign promise. Under his current administration, mercury has been and will continue to be knowingly injected into the youngest of American citizens. The controversial mercury-containing preservative thimerosal has been linked by thousands of parents as being the cause of their children’s mercury poisoning and autism.

The flu vaccine which continues to be manufactured with mercury is recommended for all pregnant women, infants and children despite the fact that the Institute of Medicine in 2001 recommended against the policy of exposing these same sensitive groups to thimerosal containing vaccines. According to the EPA, one in every six women of childbearing age already has blood levels of mercury high enough to cause neurological damage to their unborn children due to environmental exposures alone. “Injecting even more mercury into the bodies of pregnant women, infants and children when it is not a necessary component of vaccines is just bad medicine,” said Lyn Redwood, president of SafeMinds and parent of a mercury-injured child. “It defies logic that a flu vaccine must be disposed of as a hazardous waste if it is not used, but somehow injecting the same mercury-containing vaccine into a baby is safe.”

Wakefield's Hearing Begins

Today began the Wakefield Trial, I don't know if there will be reporting on it, but I will post it if I come across it.

His supporters have two efforts underway:

This Petition

and

CryShame.co.uk

NAA's press release today:

Parents and advocacy groups call inquiry against Dr. Andrew Wakefield a “witch hunt”

National Autism Association Tells England’s GMC to Instead Ask: Why Are So Many Kids Sick?

Washington, DC - Parents and advocacy groups around the globe are asking England’s General Medical Council (GMC) to cancel the “fitness to practice” inquiry that begins today against Dr. Andy Wakefield, and Professors Walker-Smith and Murch. Advocates say the GMC should instead be asking why so many kids are sick, especially in light of an apparently suppressed analysis showing that autism rates in England are as high as 1 in 58. The medical establishment is being criticized for doing little to find the cause, treat the kids, or prevent new cases.

“The list of charges reveal the utter lack of any case against Dr. Wakefield and his colleagues, who are at risk of losing their licenses,” according to National Autism Association (NAA) board member and parent Scott Bono. The charges, only made known last week, relate primarily to a peer-reviewed case report published in 1998 in the “Early Reports” section of The Lancet, one of England’s leading medical journals: Ileal-lymphoid-nodular-hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive disability disorder in children. This first report of a new syndrome, never refuted or retracted, has since been repeatedly reported and studied by other researchers. Vaccine-strain measles virus has been found and sequenced from gut biopsies and cerebral spinal fluid in autistic children.

The charges originated from internet blogger Brian Deer, who many parents have suggested may be linked to the pharmaceutical industry. “This is nothing more than a witch hunt brought against scientists willing to undertake ground-breaking research challenging the assumption that autism is an inherited untreatable psychiatric disorder that cannot be prevented. Implicating the safety of vaccines such as MMR isn’t acceptable to drug companies or government officials who want to protect the vaccine program itself at the cost of the health of children,” said Mr. Bono.

The evidence will demonstrate that questioned diagnostic studies used by Dr. Wakefield, such as colonoscopies and lumbar punctures, were not only approved by ethics review but were clinically indicated. These have now been accepted as the standard of care by a group of leading pediatric gastroenterologists in the United States.

Other charges concern incomplete disclosures of what the advocacy groups consider irrelevant material that could appear to be a conflict of interest only to vaccine makers and government agencies shielding vaccines from legitimate and appropriate criticism. Dr. Wakefield had consulted with lawyers and families receiving government funding from the Legal Aid Board on an entirely separate study to determine whether measles virus could be identified in the diseased gut tissue, providing vital evidence for a possible class action. The legal aid board subsequently determined that this explanation for autism was more probable than not, but under government pressure dropped funding for the suit.

In the first of 5000 cases to be heard in a special vaccine court in the US last month, evidence presented demonstrated that 12-year old Michelle Cedillo began regressing into autism just a week after her MMR vaccination at 15 months. The plausible cause was a persistent measles infection which took hold through an immune system weakened by mercury in vaccines administered prior to the MMR.

Many have cited the major theme of the Government’s defense in vaccine court was that those who have the temerity to question vaccine safety must be censored and their research stopped rather than risk impairing public confidence in vaccines. According to a growing number of parents, the actual threats involved are:

* companies making vaccines without appropriate safety considerations because they no longer need fear accountability through litigation
* government denials of the autism epidemic that allow an avoidance of funding research into cause and treatment
* a sclerotic medical establishment with its head in the sand as a tsunami of sick children rages overhead.

“The search for truth in autism must be guided by sound science and not be led astray by fear, censorship, and the greed of the pharma-government complex,” commented NAA president Wendy Fournier. “Perhaps the greatest damage done by this GMC hearing, other than a complete waste of time and resources, is the chill wind blown over parents and scientists who dare to ask the hard questions against this and any other medical orthodoxy: why are so many of our kids sick and what can, indeed what must, we do to help them?”

No parents will testify against Wakefield and his colleagues at the GMC hearing. Instead, they have organized a protest coinciding with the start of the hearing. “NAA stands shoulder to shoulder with our British friends in their search for truth, justice, and treatments for their kids,” said Ms. Fournier. “We urge the GMC to stop this persecution and take urgent action in view of a true national health emergency to care for the children afflicted with autism.”

For more information on autism, visit www.nationalautism.org.

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.

Critique of JnJ's Rhogam Study

Earlier I had reported that Johnson and Johnson had cleared its own thimerosal containing product of any connection to autism. Now the critics are speaking:

Findings

The review found deficiencies in sample quality, including small and unmatched controls and inadequate methods for determining mercury exposure from RhIg brands. Poor sample recruitment design likely produced under-representation of mothers receiving RhIg, the key exposure variable. Alterations in sample composition during implementation, contravening accepted research standards, were detected, as were factual errors on vaccines, RhIg, and mercury. The lead author has many undisclosed conflicts of interest. These problems may underlie the negative finding on association between RhIg and autism. Additional calculations of the data, not done by Miles & Takahshi, show a 71% higher rate of Rh immune globulin exposure in children with autism relative to unaffected siblings, in contradiction to the original findings but consistent with other studies.

Conclusions

The Miles & Takahashi conclusions are questionable based on research quality issues. Recalculation of the data shows an increased risk of autism from Rh immune globulin. Definitive conclusions await higher quality studies.

Up until last month I have associated the name of Johnson & Johnson "A Family Company" with band-aids for boo-boos and gentile no tear shampoo for babies.

Now they are the big Pharma co that put mercury in my body while I was pregnant, and then paid for a deceitful study to say that injecting a neurotoxin into a pregnant women is not neurotoxic to her developing fetus.

Does the medical establishment and pharma understand that they are digging their own grave? Do they understand that people are paying attention to what they are doing?

Do they understand that people don't believe them any more?

The NAA/SafeMinds press release:

Genetics Journal Thimerosal/Autism Study the "Best Science Drug Company Money Can Buy": Critique of industry-funded immune globulin study uncovers sample manipulation, design flaws

Nixa, MO - An analysis released today critically examined a recent industry-sponsored study ruling out a link between autism and Rh immune globulin (RhIg) injections, some of which contained the mercury-based preservative thimerosal. Besides extensive design flaws, the analysis uncovered manipulation of the study sample, so that earlier data revealing a positive autism-RhIg association was concealed.

“This study is just another example of the pharmaceutical industry’s corruption of research to suit its own purposes,” according to National Autism Association president and parent Wendy Fournier. “They back the study designs that give the desired results of no harm.”

Johnson & Johnson, parent company of Ortho Clinical Diagnostics which manufactures the once mercury-sterilized RhIg shot RhoGAM, funded the study.. It was published in the May, 2007 American Journal of Medical Genetics (AJMG) by Judith H. Miles and T. Nicole Takahashi of the University of Missouri.

A University press release entitled, “Study Finds No Link Between Autism and Thimerosal in Vaccines” suggested deliberate deception as immune globulins are not vaccines. J & J’s involvement in the study was not disclosed in the press release, and J&J’s role as the parent of Ortho and the largest manufacturer of mercury-containing RhIg were not communicated in the published paper. Dr. Miles has served as a paid consultant in autism-related litigation involving RhIg, which was also not divulged.

The critical analysis, conducted by the nonprofit research organization SafeMinds, examined earlier data from a 2005 poster presentation of the Miles and Takahashi research. They found that between the 2005 and 2007 versions, the control groups changed and major portions of the original autism sample were removed. Calculations based on the original data indicate that children with autism “were 71% more likely to have been exposed to RhIg in utero than their non-ASD siblings,” according to the SafeMinds analysis.

NAA’s Fournier points out that the RhIg study fits a recurring pattern for thimerosal research with drug company/researcher ties. Manipulation of data to reach a desired conclusion was seen in CDC studies conducted in 2000 showing a relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and a range of adverse neurological effects including autism. The data was manipulated to lower the relative risk factor before publication in the journal Pediatrics in 2004. Lead investigator Dr. Thomas Verstraeten left the CDC to work for vaccine maker Glaxo-Smith-Kline in 2001 while the data alterations were ongoing, but his employment was not disclosed by the journal. Likewise, Dr. Michael Pichichero, an Eli Lilly-funded researcher and holder of numerous vaccine patents, tried to clear thimerosal as harmful by conducting a blood mercury evaluation after infant vaccination which missed peak blood levels, had a sample size too small to detect susceptible subgroups, and failed to address implications of the findings for long term mercury deposition in the brain. His industry ties were not disclosed by the journal, The Lancet.

“While this latest RhIg effort is the best science drug money can buy,” points out Ms. Fournier, “NAA feels that the public and families with autism deserve better quality studies. This is a critical product safety issue.” RhIg is given to approximately 15% of all pregnant women.

To read the entire analysis, go to www.safeminds.org. For more about autism, visit www.nationalautism.org.

NAA and the Wrights

Yesterday the National Autism Association openly challenged Bob and Suzanne Wright to account for their statement about Katie.

Today NAA sent out a notice of their conference in the fall.

Suzanne Wright is listed as one of the speakers.

I am guessing that things are not as chilly between Bob and Suzanne and the environmental/biomed camp as they seem to be on the surface.

There is not a chance that Suzanne would walk into a room full of NAA members and extol the virtues of genetic research over environmental. What would be the point?

Either way, my hat is off to the woman. She is going to be pelted with questions about what is going on at Autism Speaks. I really respect her for coming.

I will be at this conference if only to hear from Suzanne Wright.

NAA and SafeMinds to AS: "Hey... What the Hell"!?

NAA and SafeMinds want Autism Speaks to explain themselves and their decision to distance themselves from Katie and her comments. I would love to hear the answer to that as well.

Statement from the National Autism Association (NAA) and SafeMinds regarding board member Katie Wright, her recent interview with David Kirby and subsequent statement from Autism Speaks

The National Autism Association (NAA) and SafeMinds compliment Katie Wright for her thoughtful commentary in a recent video interview. We were surprised by a subsequent announcement by Autism Speaks about Katie, whose son Christian was the driving force behind the creation of Autism Speaks by her parents, Bob and Suzanne Wright. The announcement stated that Katie should not be considered a spokesperson for Autism Speaks and her views do not represent those of her parents or their organization.

In her interview with Evidence of Harm author David Kirby, Katie speaks from her heart with regard to her son's diagnosis of autism, the struggles and hardships she and her family have endured as a result and what she feels should be the direction of autism research. In the interview, Katie makes clear she is expressing her views as a parent and not as a representative of Autism Speaks. It is odd that an organization would issue a statement counteracting something that doesn’t exist. A more serious concern is that Katie's substantive points on autism research and causation, which are shared by so many families, are apparently being opposed by an organization that has stated its commitment to pursuing all reasonable avenues of science.

NAA and SafeMinds offer our support of Katie, both as a parent and as a board member of our respective organizations. When Katie spoke to David, she represented the thoughts of thousands of parents who believe they delivered their healthy infants to a doctor’s office for government mandated vaccines only to witness their lapse into sickness and regression into autism.

Parents bring a wealth of expertise to science and treatment discussions because they are the ones confronted on a daily basis with the needs of their children and as such, their opinions should be actively solicited and embraced. Parents like Katie add perspective and urgency. They play an essential role in directing precious resources towards the most promising ways that will most quickly improve the lives of those suffering with autism now and prevent its occurrence in the future.

In keeping with these principles, our organizations ask Autism Speaks to clarify the rationale for issuing their announcement on Katie. We ask them to assure the community that meaningful autism research on the role of the environment, including vaccines and their components, will assume dramatically greater and expedited prominence in its scientific and treatment agendas.

To view the interview between David Kirby and Katie Wright go to www.autismmedia.org

To view the recent statement from Autism Speaks regarding this interview see http://www.autismspeaks.org/wrights_statement.php
For information regarding the National Autism Association or SafeMinds go to www.nationalautismassociation.org or www.safeminds.org

NAA: Dr. Proffit's Conflict of Interest

VACCINE-INDUCED AUTISM VICTIMS IN THE THOUSANDS WILL FINALLY GET DAY IN COURT

Despite spin from pharma companies and their minions that these cases are threats to disease outbreaks, parents cite ongoing conflicts of interest as the real threat to vaccine safety and disease

Washington, DC – Hearings will begin on June 11th at the U.S. Federal Claims Court to determine if autism is linked to vaccines and their components, including the mercury-based preservative thimerosal. As the Autism Omnibus Proceeding approaches, parents of children diagnosed with autism are calling attention to the conflicts of interest they believe continue to threaten the safety of vaccines.

Among the concerns cited by parents are the close ties between pharmaceutical companies and government regulatory agencies. A July, 2003 UPI investigation revealed the following:

* In two cases in the past four years, vaccines endorsed by the CDC were pulled off the market after a number of infants and adults appear to have suffered devastating side effects, and some died. Critics now worry about a possible link between vaccines and autism, diabetes, asthma and sudden infant death syndrome, among other ailments.
* Members of the CDC's Vaccine Advisory Committee get money from vaccine manufacturers. Relationships have included: sharing a vaccine patent; owning stock in a vaccine company; payments for research; getting money to monitor manufacturer vaccine tests; and funding academic departments.
* The CDC is in the vaccine business. Under a 1980 law, the CDC currently has 28 licensing agreements with companies and one university for vaccines or vaccine-related products. It has eight ongoing projects to collaborate on new vaccines.

Dr. Paul Offit, MD, former chairman of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which guides vaccine policy decisions at the CDC, embodies the conflicts of interest concern of parents. Dr. Offit has been a long-time defender of injecting mercury, a known neurotoxin, into infants and pregnant women. He is also co-patent holder of the RotaTeq vaccine with pharmaceutical giant Merck, a funder of his research for over a decade. Offit is speaking against parents today in support of the vaccine program and pharmaceutical companies at a press conference sponsored by Every Child by Two, a group also funded by pharmaceutical companies and supportive of injecting mercury into infants.

“In my opinion, as glaring as Dr. Offit’s conflicts are, what’s even more disturbing is that such close ties between vaccine policy decision makers and vaccine manufacturers are routine,” said parent and National Autism Association board member Scott Bono. “The bottom line has become vaccine profit rather than vaccine safety. Children diagnosed with autism are suffering the consequences of an unprecedented greed, and their parents aren’t going away until the public knows the full details of this man-made disaster.”

For more information, visit www.nationalautism.org and www.putchildrenfirst.org/Quicksummary.html

Vaccines Hearings PR Out of The Gate Early

This seems to have started Friday. Both sides are issuing press releases and conference calls and articles and such. With two weeks to go.

AUTISM FAMILIES KEEP CLOSE WATCH AS FIRST TEST CASE GOES TO VACCINE COURT

Washington, DC – The first test case of approximately 4800 claims that vaccines caused autism goes to federal court June 11th. Cedillo v. HHS will be heard by three special masters, part of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, established under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP).

Parents filed the claims after their children regressed into a diagnosis of autism following multiple rounds of vaccines, many of which were preserved with amounts of mercury that exceeded EPA guidelines.

Thimerosal’s inclusion as a vaccine component increased in the early 90’s, its rise mirroring the alarming rise in autism. Parents note their children’s symptoms of autism mimic mercury poisoning and many autistic children are now being successfully treated for mercury poisoning and damaged immune systems.

Earlier today, Ann Brasher, Board Member of the National Autism Association (NAA) stated, “I believe that NVICP will not provide the specialized medical care necessary for autistic children despite a favorable ruling for the plaintiffs. But the overwhelming evidence needs to be explored. The public deserves to know all the facts and the truth behind them.” Parents cite fatal flaws in the NVICP including:

* Families are forced to sue the government, which has no incentive to settle and can drag out cases for years while children go untreated.
* Unlike civil court, there is no right to discovery in vaccine court and no jury trial.
* The master denied access to vaccine company documents and CDC/HMO vaccine database records that would be routinely available in civil court.
* Tax payers end up paying for pharmaceutical mistakes. No other industry is allowed unparalleled protection in a “Free Market” economy.
* The massively profitable vaccine industry is not held liable, therefore has no incentive to create safe vaccines.

Several families who have waited years for justice and are willing to share stories of their children’s regression will be available for interviews during the hearings. For contact information, please write to naa@nationalautism.org.

To learn more, visit www.nationalautism.org.

Contact: Amy Pisani For
Immediate Release
Phone: (860) 443-1166 May 31,
2007
E-mail: amyp@ecbt.org Every Child By Two and the Sabin Vaccine Institute
Will Brief Reporters on the Upcoming Omnibus Autism Proceeding
³Vaccine Court² Hearing Scheduled to Begin June 11, 2007

What: Leading experts will brief reporters on the upcoming Omnibus Autism
Proceeding, which is scheduled to begin June 11 at the U.S. Federal Claims
Court in Washington, D.C. The Court will hold evidentiary hearings to
determine whether autism should be deemed a possible vaccine-caused injury
under the U.S. National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Just over
4,800 petitioners have filed claims alleging that vaccines caused their
children's autism. The actions and decisions of the Court could have
significant legal and public health implications.

Who:
Bruce Berman, Partner, WilmerHale LLP
Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, FAAP, President, Sabin Vaccine Institute and Chair,
Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine, The George
Washington University

Paul Offit, MD, Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases and Director, Vaccine
Education Center, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Amy Pisani, MS, Executive Director, Every Child By Two

When: Monday, June 4 from 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.

Where: Sabin Vaccine Institute, 1889 F Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., 8th
Floor Conference Room

RSVP: Please E-mail Amy Pisani (amyp@ecbt.org ) by
Friday, June 1 and let her know whether you will be attending in person or
by phone. The dial-in number is 1-866-463-5401 or 212-457-9857 and
participant PIN code is 590870#.

###

Every Child By Two, the Rosalynn Carter/Betty Bumpers Campaign for Early
Childhood Immunization, works to ensure that all children receive timely
immunizations and continues to seek methods to institutionalize vaccine
delivery and insure access to vaccines for all children. For more
information, please visit www.ecbt.org .

The Sabin Vaccine Institute is a non-profit public organization dedicated to
saving lives by stimulating the development and distribution of vaccines
throughout the world. The Institute is committed to continuing the work of
Dr. Albert Sabin, developer of the oral live virus polio vaccine, who
envisioned the enormous potential of vaccines to prevent deadly diseases. To
learn more, visit www.sabin.org .

Simpsonwood Remembered

From the National Autism Association and Mom's Against Mercury:

The Simpsonwood Remembered Rally is getting close!

Join us on June 8th, at the CDC in Atlanta Georgia, in remembrance of the anniversary of the infamous CDC meetings at Simpsonwood and to celebrate and support the United Methodist Women's Division.

Also join us for a poolside meet and greet at the Emory Inn on Thursday June 7th at 7pm (straight through the front doors and outside to the courtyard). T-shirts and magnetic car ribbons will be sold there. T-shirts are $15.00 and the magnetic car ribbons $7.50. We will be raffling off some T-shirts and ribbons at 8pm. Both T-shirts and ribbons are of limited quantity.

Just a reminder that we will be meeting the morning of June 8th at 6:15am in the Emory Inn parking lot (1641 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA).

Thank you all for your continued support and hope to see you there!

For more rally information: http://www.momsagainstmercury.org/rally-simpsonwood.htm

For more information about the infamous Simpsonwood meetings held June 7-8, 2000 please go to:
www.PutChildrenFirst.org and www.NoMercury.org

Katie Wright Joins the NAA Board

HUGE news. Daughter of GE Chairman Bob Wright, mother to Christian, the child who's autism diagnosis lead to Autism Speaks, joins the boards of both the National Autism Association and Safe Minds

Today on the Oprah show Katie will state publicly that she believes that vaccines caused her son's autism.

Katie Wright-Hildebrand and Becky Grant-Widen
Join NAA's Board of Directors

The National Autism Association is pleased to announce the appointment of two new members to its Board of Directors, Katie Wright-Hildebrand and Becky Grant-Widen.

Katie is the mother of two boys, Mathias, age 3 and 5 year-old Christian. Christian regressed into autism at 2 ½ years old. Katie completed her under-graduate studies at Boston University and received a Masters in Education from Columbia University. Studying counseling psychology, she received her professional license in 2000 and was the Clinical Director of the Sexual Assault Crisis Center in Stamford, CT providing free and confidential counseling services to male and female survivors of rape and sexual assaults. Katie resigned her position when Christian became ill and now, with her husband Andreas, is dedicated to working to improve the lives of children and families affected by Autism. Watch for Katie on Thursday's episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show!

Becky comes to NAA with 13 years experience in public health non-profits, with a history in tobacco control and community health program development. She currently works as a public health consultant, focused on grantwriting for local and national autism organizations. As the parent of two boys, one of whom is on the autism spectrum, Becky is committed to using her experience to benefit children with autism. In her home state of Maine, Becky has organized local autism events, testified before the state legislature to eliminate the use of mercury in vaccines, and helps guide parents just starting out on the autism journey.

Everyone with NAA looks forward to working with these talented and dedicated parents as we carry out our mission of providing support and hope to all families affected by autism.

Together, anything’s possible.

UPDATE!:

Katie also joined the board of Safe Minds! DAMN!

SafeMinds is pleased to announce the appointment of Katie Wright-Hildebrand to the board of directors.

Katie is the mother of two boys, Mathias, age 3 and 5 year-old Christian. Christian regressed into autism at 2 ½ years old. Katie completed her under-graduate studies at Boston University and received a Masters degree in Education at Columbia University. She studied counseling psychology and received her professional license in 2000. She worked as the Clinical Director of the Sexual Assault Crisis Center in Stamford, CT providing free and confidential counseling services to male and female survivors of rape and sexual assaults. Katie resigned her position when Christian became ill and now, with her husband Andreas, is dedicated to working to improve the lives of children and families affected by autism.