Mercury induces inflammatory mediator release from human mast cells
Duraisamy Kempuraj, Shahrzad Asadi, Bodi Zhang, Akrivi Manola, Jennifer Hogan,
Erika Peterson, Theoharis C Theoharides
Journal of Neuroinflammation 2010, 7:20 doi:10.1186/1742-2094-7-20
Abstract
Background: Mercury is known to be neurotoxic, but its effects on the immune system are less well known. Mast cells are involved in allergic reactions, but also in innate and acquired immunity, as well as in inflammation. Many patients with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have “allergic” symptoms; moreover, the prevalence of ASD in patients with mastocytosis, characterized by numerous hyperactive mast cells in most tissues, is 10-fold higher than the general population suggesting mast cell involvement. We, therefore, investigated the effect of mercuric chloride (HgCl2) on human mast cell activation.
Methods: Human leukemic cultured LAD2 mast cells and normal human umbilical cord bloodderived cultured mast cells (hCBMCs) were stimulated by HgCl2 (0.1-10 μM) for either 10 min for beta-hexosaminidase release or 24 hr for measuring vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and IL-6 release by ELISA.
Results: HgCl2 induced a 2-fold increase in β-hexosaminidase release, and also significant VEGF release at 0.1 and 1 μM (311±32 pg/106 cells and 443±143 pg/106 cells, respectively) from LAD2 mast cells compared to control cells (227±17 pg/106 cells, n=5, p<0.05). Addition of HgCl2 (0.1 μM) to the proinflammatory neuropeptide substance P (SP, 0.1 μM) had synergestic action in inducing VEGF from LAD2 mast cells. HgCl2 also stimulated significant VEGF release (360 ± 100 pg/106 cells at 1 μM, n=5, p<0.05) from hCBMCs compared to control cells (182 ±57 pg/106 cells), and IL-6 release (466±57 pg/106 cells at 0.1 μM) compared to untreated cells (13±25 pg/106 cells, n=5, p<0.05). Addition of HgCl2 (0.1 μM) to SP (5 μM) further increased IL-6 release.
Conclusions: HgCl2 stimulates VEGF and IL-6 release from human mast cells. This
phenomenon could disrupt the blood-brain-barrier and permit brain inflammation. As a result, the findings of the present study provide a biological mechanism for how low levels of mercury may contribute to ASD pathogenesis.
Showing posts with label Vaccine Injury. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vaccine Injury. Show all posts
March 12, 2010
October 14, 2009
Redskins Cheerleader Ambassador Suffers Neurological Damage from Flu Shot
So if this injury happened when she was 18 months old, before she had learned to talk or learned social norms, would she not be diagnosed with "autism"?
Woman Disabled by Flu Shot Reaction
Updated: Wednesday, 14 Oct 2009, 1:30 PM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 13 Oct 2009, 11:27 PM EDT
* Claudia Coffey Claudia Coffey
* Video By CLAUDIA COFFEY/myfoxdc
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A few weeks ago, Desiree Jennings was training for a half marathon. Now, she's struggling to walk, talk and even eat.
According to the Loudoun Times-Mirror , Jennings, who has been working with the Washington Redskins as an ambassador in hopes of becoming a cheerleader since April, developed severe and possibly life-threatening side effects from getting a seasonal flu vaccine seven weeks ago at a Safeway in Reston.
Twenty-five-year-old Jennings says she was healthy and active and was not in a high-risk group at the time of her shot.
She says she received the vaccine to earn points for her work health plan that gives perks for each level of ‘wellness’ that is attained. It was not until ten days after she received the shot that she began to experience flu-like symptoms.
Her physical therapist at Johns Hopkins Hospital say she is suffering from dystonia, a neurological movement disorder where sustained muscle contractions cause body jerks, and abnormal or repetitive movements.
People who suffer from dystonia often are required to re-learn even the most basic routines.
It is a rare disease and is not completely understood.
“You realize your life is never going to come back the way it was,” Desiree told the Times-Mirror. “My goal in life was to one day be a CEO. Now, I don’t know if I can ever return back to work”.
October 4, 2009
September 2, 2009
Swine Flu Vaccination: An Injured Subject Speaks Out as Researchers Deny Link
A participant in the german H1N1 vaccine trials reports serious adverse reactions, including coughing up blood, but the lead researcher blows it off. Yet another story of problems in vaccine safety studies that are ignored.
Why test a vaccine exactly, if you already have decided what the outcomes can or cannot be? Apparently Heir Doctor will only accept 'redness and swelling at the injection site' as a side effect.
The article does not say which version of the vaccine he got. Wish there was more information on this case.
Why test a vaccine exactly, if you already have decided what the outcomes can or cannot be? Apparently Heir Doctor will only accept 'redness and swelling at the injection site' as a side effect.
The article does not say which version of the vaccine he got. Wish there was more information on this case.
A swine flu vaccine test subject from Munich complains about horror side-effects – researchers deny allegations
Swine flu vaccination: A test subject speaks out.
Original German article
21.08.09|Munich iFacebook
Translation into English by Erwin Alber
Munich – A harmless prick – and thereby possibly save thousands of people. This is what several hundreds of volunteers thought, who each collected a payment of 250 Euro for their participation in the study of the swine flu vaccine trial at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University.
One of them has now quit the trial: The Diploma-businessman Axel Sch. (40). He claims : "The vaccination has made me ill! – the test is irresponsible.” He says that within a few hours after the vaccination, on August 10, he had sweat on his forehead. "I felt totally beat. On the third day, my kidneys and head were aching and I got a fever. I then had a coughing fit - and the wash basin was suddenly red - it was blood!“
LMU-medical researcher Frank von Sonnenburg, who is in charge of the country-wide study, doesn’t consider these accounts credible. He says that such side-effects cannot be related to the vaccine. He does not deny that, as with other flu-vaccinations, flu-like symptoms may occur as a reaction to the vaccination. "Additionally, there may be light pain, redness or swelling at the injection site."
"Obviously many of the test subjects would have side-effects. We do such a study precisely because we want to find out any possible side-effects. If flu cases were to become more severe and we had not done any tests, – there would be a big outcry by everyone."
Was the vaccine admitted too quickly to the study? The fact is that in this composition, the vaccine has not yet been applied to humans. The Federal Health Minister Ulla Schmidt explained on Wednesday that she had felt put under pressure by the pharmaceutical industry from the beginning. Criticism is being voiced with increasing frequency. The Paul-Ehrlich-Institute points out that side-effects to this vaccine are to be more expected than in connection with a normal flu-vaccine. The Paediatric Association points to a possibly increased number of unknown side-effects.
British researchers even warn about a neurological disorder known as the Guillain-Barré-Syndrome. They point to a vaccination campaign with a similar swine flu vaccine carried out in the USA in 1976, which resulted in the deaths of 25 people.
Probably because of this, the USA only test vaccines without so-called adjuvants. These lead to greater side-effects, explains study leader Frank von Sonnenburg. "The adjuvants produce more anti-bodies, which is why the body’s defensive reaction is also greater." Kidney pains and bloody cough of the kind Axel Sch. Experienced were however not to be expected, even with this adjuvant. "We conduct a clean study."
Axel Sch. however insists that his complaints were a result of the vaccination. "Surely it is no coincidence that they occurred directly after the vaccination." He criticizes the university, saying that he was not properly informed prior to the study. He said that for three days he was flat on his back during this heat. "When I phoned the LMU, they simply asked me the question needed to fill in their form and told me to see my doctor." He now wants the medical costs and loss of earnings compensated by the medical insurance covering the trial.
Axel Sch. has participated in medical trials even when he was a student. He had also had good experiences with an LMU flu-vaccine study. "This is the reason why I immediately consented when they asked me if I would test the new vaccine."
Now his trust in research is gone, he is quitting the vaccine trial. In October he will fly to Latin America for professional reasons. He had looked forward to traveling unconcerned – by then he would have received the second of three vaccinations. "I’m not fearful just the same – I don’t belong to an at risk group. Also, the swine flu can’t possibly be as bad as the side-effects of the vaccine."
July 22, 2009
Swine Flu Vaccine Should Not Be Given to Children in Schools
by Barbara Loe Fisher
On April 26, a national public health emergency was declared by officials in the U.S. Departments of Health and Homeland Security. 1,2 We were told it was necessary to declare a national emergency because people were getting sick from a new swine flu virus that began in Mexico and might cause a deadly influenza pandemic.
So far, the vast majority of people who get sick with swine flu have symptoms that are no worse than the regular flu and recover completely. 3,4,5, 6
Three Week Testing of Swine Flu Vaccines
The declaration of a national public health emergency last spring set a chain of events in motion: some schools were closed, 7 some people were quarantined 8, 9 and drug companies were given billons of tax dollars to create experimental swine flu vaccines. 10 These new vaccines are being fast tracked by the FDA. We are being told they will only be tested for a few weeks on a few hundred children and adults 11 before being given to children in schools in October.
Liability Protection for Vaccine Injuries & Deaths
Under federal legislation passed by Congress since 2001, an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) 12,13,14 allows drug companies, health officials and anyone who gives experimental vaccines to Americans during a declared public health emergency, to be protected from liability if people get hurt.
Safety and Informed Consent At Risk in Schools
The National Vaccine Information Center has been a vaccine safety watchdog since 1982. We are questioning the need to turn schools into medical clinics this fall where swine flu vaccines being rushed to market will be given to children first. We are calling on the Obama Administration and state Governors to provide solid evidence to parents that it is necessary to give children experimental swine flu vaccines in schools.
Are the states prepared to obey vaccine safety provisions in the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act,15 which include:
1. Giving parents written information about vaccine benefits and risks before children are vaccinated; 16
2. Keeping a record of which vaccines the children get, including the manufacturer’s name and lot number;
3. Recording which vaccines were given in the child’s medical record;
4. Recording serious health problems that develop after vaccination in the child’s medical record and immediately making a report to the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) 17
Will States Compensate Vaccine Injured Children?
And there are more questions that need to be answered: Are the states prepared to provide financial compensation to children harmed by swine flu vaccines given in schools? Are parents going to be given complete, truthful information about swine flu vaccine risks and have the right to say “YES” or “NO” before their children are lined up and vaccinated in the school setting?
Vaccines are pharmaceutical products that carry a risk of injury or death and those risks are greater for some than others. 1 in 6 children in America is learning disabled18. 1 in 9 has asthma 1 in 150 develops autism. 1 in 450 has diabetes and millions more suffer with allergies and autoimmune disorders. Will the swine flu vaccine be safe for them?
Although it is a good idea for health officials to prepare for a worst case scenario and stockpile vaccines, it is a bad idea to turn schools into medical clinics and basically test experimental swine flu vaccines on children first. Especially when nobody has any liability. That has the potential to hurt children instead of keeping them well.
NVIC Oct. 2-4 Conference Addresses Vaccine Risks
This Oct. 2-4, 2009 in Washington, D.C., parents concerned about the lack of vaccine safety and informed consent protections in the vaccination system will gather with doctors, scientists, bioethicists, legal experts, journalists, and consumer advocates at the Fourth International Public Conference on Vaccination to talk about the science, policy, law and ethics of vaccination.
Register now
– Special Early Bird registration ends on July 31.
Click here for more information about swine flu, swine flu vaccines, public health laws that govern you and you family, and how you can be better prepared to make well informed decisions during the declared national public health emergency.
Endnotes:
1 U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Press Briefing on Swine Influenza with Dept. of Homeland Security, Centers for Disease Control and White House. April 26, 2009.
2 U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Determination That A Public Health Emergency Exists. April 26, 2009.
3 Gale J. Bloomberg News. Swine Flu May Be Less Lethal Than Earlier Estimated, Study Says. July 6, 2009.
4 Schmid RE. The Seattle Times. Study: New flu inefficient in attacking people. July 2, 2009.
5 Centers for Disease Control. FluView. 2008-2009 Influenza Season Week 27 Ending July 11, 2009.
6 Food and Drug Administration, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Office of Vaccine Research and Review. Regulatory Considerations Regarding the Use of Novel Influenza A (H1N1) Virus Vaccines. July 23, 2009.
7 US Department of Education. H1N1 Flu & U.S. Schools: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions. May 5, 2009.
8 NBC. Marine Tests Positive for Swine Flu. April 29, 2009.
9 CBS. DHS Sets Guidelines for Possible Swine Flu Quarantines. April 28, 2009.
10 The Independent. Obama earmarks emergency funding to fight swine flu. July 16, 2009.
11 Food and Drug Administration, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Office of Vaccine Research and Review. Regulatory Considerations Regarding the Use of Novel Influenza A (H1N1) Virus Vaccines. July 23, 2009.
12 Project Bioshield Act of 2004 (PL 108-276)
13 The Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act of 2006 (PL 109-417).
14 Nightingale SL, Prasher JM, Simonson S. Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to Enable Use of Needed Products in Civilian and Military Emergencies, United States. Emerging Infectious Diseases Vo. 13, No.7: July 2007.
15 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 (PL99-660)
16 CDC. Fact Sheet for Vaccine Information Statements.
17 MedAlerts. Online Access to the U.S. VAERS Database.
18 Fisher BL. Vaccine Safety Research Priorities: Engaging the Public. National Vaccine Advisory Committee. April 11, 2008.
April 30, 2009
Adversomics: The Emerging Field of Vaccine Adverse Event Immunogenetics
We are emerging from the dark frozen winter of the vaccine extremists. This warm sunbeam on our faces brought to you by the wise and reasonable folks at the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Journal:
It is like a breath of fresh air.
Ahhhh.... I hear birds chirping and can smell the new flowers of spring.
"We believe that adversomics (the immunogenetics and immunogenomics of vaccine adverse events at the individual and population level, respectively) is critical to understanding and preventing serious adverse vaccine-related events, developing the next generation of vaccines, and to improving public confidence in vaccine safety."
It is like a breath of fresh air.
"Nonetheless, the field of adversomics is growing due to scientific interest in understanding the basis for vaccine reactions, “push” from the growing field of individualized medicine, and consumer demand for safer vaccines."
Ahhhh.... I hear birds chirping and can smell the new flowers of spring.
Adversomics: The Emerging Field of Vaccine Adverse Event Immunogenetics
Gregory A. Poland, MD,* Inna G. Ovsyannikova, PhD,† and Robert M. Jacobson, MD‡
Key Words: genetic association, immunogenetics, vaccine adverse events
(Pediatr Infect Dis J 2009;28: 431–432)
Vaccines have enabled tremendous decreases in infectious diseases, eradication of smallpox, saved lives, and remain among the most effective and cost-effective of our public health initiatives.1 At the same time, as an ever larger number of vaccines are administered globally, increasing concerns about adverse events and reactions have been raised and threaten the public health successes attributable to vaccines. For example, the controversy surrounding measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and thimerosal are emblematic of public concerns and perceptions regarding vaccine safety and vaccine adverse reactions (AEs). With current and future technologic advances such as high throughput whole-genome scanning, transcriptomics, epigenetics, proteomics, and new biostatistical approaches to understanding huge databases of information, we can better understand associations and mechanisms by which genetically- mediated individual variations in vaccine response and reactivity occur. Armed with such knowledge, the ability to predict such AEs, or to design new vaccine approaches that minimize or eliminate serious vaccine-related reactions could be devised, consistent with a more personalized or individual approach to vaccine practice which we have called adversomics (the immunogenetics and immunogenomics of vaccine adverse events at the individual and population level, respectively).
CURRENT KNOWLEDGE
Immune, inflammatory, idiosyncratic, and other responses to a vaccine are determined by a host of known and unknown factors, including individual characteristics (age, gender, race, medical condition, etc.), the quality and quantity of vaccine antigen(s), the number of doses administered, route of immunization, and host genetics. Although tremendous work has gone into understanding genetic susceptibility to infectious diseases,2 attention now needs to turn toward understanding genetic susceptibility to vaccine-related AEs. Indeed in the case of live vaccines, one might simplistically envision administration of such vaccines as an “infection” and conceptually study the susceptibility to such reactions in the same manner. To further develop this construct, we have hypothesized that adverse reactions and events may not be random, but may in fact be, in part, genetically predetermined. For example, early studies demonstrated that certain populations are unusually susceptible to measles vaccine reactions with post-vaccine febrile reactions among 11 different Amerind populations 0.4°C higher than in Caucasian populations.3 It was speculated that genetic differences in Amerinds were associated with intensified reactions to measles vaccine. Studies of Native American children revealed higher risks for invasive Haemophilus influenzae type b infection than white children. Decreased IgG2 and IgG4 antibody responses to H. influenzae type b polysaccharide vaccine were observed in healthy Apache children, compared with white children, potentially explaining the higher incidence of H. influenza type b infections in Apache populations. 4 Later studies revealed specific Km and
Gm genetic allotypes associated with poorer immune response.5
More recent studies have investigated the role of cytokines in the pathogenesis of AEs associated with live viral vaccines. A large study of AEs, including fever, lymphadenopathy, and localized or generalized rash, after smallpox immunization was associated with increased levels of IFN-!, TNF-", IL-2, IL-5, and IL-10, whereas individuals who did not report an AE demonstrated increased IFN-! levels only during the acute phase compared with baseline levels after immunization.6 Concerns regarding myopericarditis after smallpox vaccine has resulted in studies which are examining possible genetic associations.7,8
Additional insights into identification of genetic markers that affect immune and physiological responses to viral vaccines emerged from a study which examined the genetic basis for adverse events after smallpox vaccination.9 The hypothesis was that subjects experiencing AEs exhibited unique genetic polymorphisms associated with AE reactions in response to smallpox vaccination. To test the hypothesis 346 smallpox (Dryvax) immunized individuals were genotyped for single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 19 candidate genes and assessed for the development of fever associated with the receipt of vaccine. This study showed that fever following smallpox vaccination was associated with specific haplotypes on the IL1 gene complex, and in the IL18 and IL4 genes. Importantly, these findings raise the possibility that the same genetic polymorphisms linked to fever after smallpox vaccine may also influence fever risk after other live virus vaccines, including MMR.9,10 For example, a small percentage of children who get vaccine-induced fever after MMR will develop febrile seizures. Knowledge of a genetic association could allow the development of predictive tests or preventive therapies that could be administered with vaccine to prevent such AEs.
In another study 131 healthy volunteers from 2 independent smallpox vaccine studies were genotyped across 386 genes and assessed for local and systemic AEs.11 The authors reported that genetic polymorphisms in genes expressing an enzyme previously associated with adverse reactions to a variey of pharmacologic agents (ie, the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, MTHFR, gene) and an immunologic transcription factor (ie, the interferon regulatory factor-1, IRF1, gene) were associated with local and systemic AEs (an oral temperature !38.3°C, generalized skin eruptions, or enlarged or tender regional lymph nodes) after smallpox vaccination.
Our own laboratory has done extensive work in identifying genetic associations with HLA, cytokine, cytokine receptor, innate receptors, innate immune response genes, and signaling molecules and both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses.12,13 This work has been fundamental to identifying and understanding associations between genetic polymorphisms and variations in immune responses. Such methods must now be turned toward understanding adverse events associated with vaccination. An example is that epidemiologic studies have quantified the risk of immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) and anaphylaxis, attributable to the MMR vaccine in the second year of life as 1 case per 40,000 vaccinated children.14,15 Recently France et al demonstrated that 76% of ITP cases in children ages 12 to 23 months were related to MMR vaccination.15 Identification of a genetic association between MMR vaccine and ITP would be important and would inform attempts at developing preventive strategies or improved vaccines. A further example is the expanding recommendations for the use of seasonal influenza vaccine and the potential use of pandemic vaccines globally; studies of the genetic susceptibility to Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) would be important.16
SUMMARY
We believe that adversomics (the immunogenetics and immunogenomics of vaccine adverse events at the individual and population level, respectively) is critical to understanding and preventing serious adverse vaccine-related events, developing the next generation of vaccines, and to improving public confidence in vaccine safety. Significant difficulties in the growth of the field of vaccine immunogenetics include the difficulty of studying large enough numbers of subjects (rare AEs are, by definition, rare), lack of research funding, the complexity and extensive polymorphic nature of immune response genes, statistical issues of multiple comparisons and statistical power, issues of multigenic and other gene interactions such as complementation and epigenetic DNA modifications, and gender, racial, and ethnic differences. Nonetheless, the field of adversomics is growing due to scientific interest in understanding the basis for vaccine reactions, “push” from the growing field of individualized medicine, and consumer demand for safer vaccines. The capability to reproduce statistical associations in independent population-based studies remains essential to assessing the generalization of such studies. Clearly more comprehensive studies are needed to determine if there are
associations between genetic variations among individuals and susceptibility to serious adverse events in response to vaccination. These factors combined with technologic ability will lead to a new era in vaccinology and better, safer vaccines.
REFERENCES
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ten
Great Public Health Achievements—United States,
1900–1999. MMWR. 1999;48:241–243.
2. Kaslow R, et al. eds. Genetic Susceptibility to
Infectious Diseases. New York, NY: Oxford University
Press; 2008:1– 447.
3. Black FL, et al. Intensified reactions to measles
vaccine … J Infect Dis. 1971;124:306 –317.
4. Siber GR, et al. Impaired antibody response to
Haemophilus influenzae type b polysaccharide…
N Engl J Med. 1990;323:1387–1392.
5. Goldblatt D, et al. Association of Gm allotypes
with the antibody response … J Immunol. 1994;
153:5316 –5320.
6. Rock MT, et al. Adverse events after smallpox
immunizations … J Infect Dis. 2004;189:1401–
1410.
7. Halsell JS, et al. Myopericarditis following smallpox
vaccination … JAMA. 2003;289:3283–3289.
8. Wilson CB, et al. Vaccine safety–vaccine benefits
… Nat Rev Immunol. 2001;1:160 –165.
9. Stanley SL, et al. The immunogenetics of smallpox
vaccination. J Infect Dis. 2007;196:212–219.
10. Usonis V, et al. Reactogenicity and immunogenicity
of a new live …. Pediatr Infect Dis J.
1999;18:42– 48.
11. Reif DM, et al. Genetic basis for adverse events
after smallpox vaccination. J Infect Dis. 2008;
198:16 –22.
12. Poland GA, et al. Heterogeneity in vaccine immune
response … Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2007;
82:653– 664.
13. Poland GA, et al. Vaccine immunogenetics ….
Vaccine. 2008;26:6183– 6188.
14. Stratton KR, et al. Adverse events associated with
childhood vaccines other than pertussis and rubella
… JAMA. 1994;271:1602–1605.
15. France EK, et al. Risk of immune thrombocytopenic
purpura … Pediatrics. 2008;121:e687–
e692.
16. Juurlink DN, et al. Guillain-Barre syndrome after
influenza vaccination in adults … Arch Intern
Med. 2006;166:2217–2221.
Concise Reviews The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal • Volume 28, Number 5, May 2009
432 ©
April 2, 2009
Peete vs. Peet
Amanda Peet has chosen to mark Autism Awareness Month by telling moms they have to vaccinate their children and that vaccines don't cause autism. She is doing it with her usual lack of subtlety and with out offering any details that might suggest that she actually has done any research and understands the arguments being made.
Holly Robinson Peete has heard enough from Ms. Peet and has made her boldest statement yet about her sons vaccine reaction and regressed into autism:
Holly Robinson Peete has heard enough from Ms. Peet and has made her boldest statement yet about her sons vaccine reaction and regressed into autism:
PEETE VS. PEET ON VACCINES AND AUTISM: Holly Robinson writes open letter to fellow actress Amanda regarding differing opinions.
(April 1, 2009)
Essence.com is featuring an open letter from Holly Robinson Peete to actress Amanda Peet regarding her comments about autism, a disease she believes struck her 11-year-old son after he received vaccinations when he was just 2-and-a-half.
Peete is the first African-American to sit on the board of Autism Speaks, an organization dedicated to increasing awareness and prevention of the disease. She shares her thoughts with the Web site about comments made by Peet, the spokesperson for vaccinateyourkid.org, who recently said that vaccinations don't cause autism.
I'm really disappointed to hear people like Amanda Peet—who have never been affected by autism—make public allegations like vaccinations don't cause autism. It makes me angry because it's so disingenuous to have this kind of public discussion, especially when World Autism Awareness Day is coming up on April 2.
But I know exactly what she is trying to do and that's to instill fear: if your child doesn't get vaccinations, you're going to make every other child sick. Believe me, I understand both sides of the argument because I have four children. Although I have total respect for what any mother feels is best for her child, you can't tell me what is right, because it's not necessarily going to work for my kid. I know because I've experienced it with my eldest son.
When my son was 2-and-a-half, he was just recovering from an ear infection and had been on antibiotics, therefore his immune system was suppressed. He had already missed several appointments for his vaccination so his pediatrician wanted to catch him up on all of them in the same day.
Although I asked if he'd consider waiting or breaking up the cocktail, which contains three viruses, he laughed me out of the office and belittled me. I firmly believe that it took my son to a place of no return and his body could not handle it. He had a violent reaction with convulsions and then he stopped talking and slipped into a silence. He no longer said, "Hi, Mommy," he no longer responded to his name and he no longer made eye contact. And to think that today there are more than 30 vaccines that children are required to receive is scary. I don't know why boys are five times more likely to become autistic, but they are.
I respect Amanda Peet for advocating for her children by trying to keep them safe with vaccines. If I could talk to Amanda Peet, I would say that, I'm glad your child was able to tolerate that level of toxicity, but don't expect me—after witnessing what vaccinations did to my son—to inoculate my other children under the same circumstances.
So who's to blame? Is there some pre-genetic predisposition? Do genetic and environmental factors load the proverbial gun and the vaccines pull the trigger? Since you claim all the studies and conclusions have been drawn, how do you explain the thousands of families that have received millions of dollars from the Vaccine Injury Court? So clearly, the jury is not in and the independent studies on susceptibility and genetic predisposition have not been done.
Knowing all this do you think it's okay to make a judgment about me based on what I know about my son and the rest of my children physiologically? If your mission is to gain the public's trust, then you're not going to get parents to do it by fearmongering. Until you've experienced the physical, emotional and financial toll you simply can't make such public statements.
Despite what happened to my son, I'm not anti-vaccine. However, if the government wants to make me and other parents who have autistic children feel comfortable with vaccinations then there needs to be some independent studies done regarding these treatments. Not only would it make me feel comfortable, but it'd make me feel like I'm being listened to and heard.
Lastly, to Amanda Peet: I would never ever wish what we've gone through in our family on her and her family or anybody. I would just ask her to give the respect she has on her position to mine. It's not about reading so-called studies online; it's about living and learning. My study is my son.
December 11, 2008
Round Up: DOD, State Health Rankings, HPV Vaccine Related Injury, Mercury in Tuna
So much happening... but my husband just got back from two months away and he is way cuter than you guys, so you get the short end of the stick.
Here are a few things that you should be keeping up with:
MORE UPDATE: Just go read everything on AOA today. It all kicks ass.
Here are a few things that you should be keeping up with:
- Updates on the DOD Story - DOD yanks up the welcome mat and puts out a "gone fishin" sign. Anderson Cooper ditches the story, then unditches it. Army dad says high ranking military officials believe vaccines cause autism.
- Vermont - number one in health but coming in last in vaccinations... hmmmmm.
- Another girl paralyzed after HPV shot.
- Find out why so much mercury is still in tuna.
- EPA starts environmental fugitives list.
- This is on the front page of US News and World Report's web site:
"Vaccines Get New Scrutiny - Vaccinations are supersafe, but maybe not all at once, or for certain children.
A Parents' Guide to Managing Vaccinations - What to do if you don't want your child to get 8 vaccines at once."
MORE UPDATE: Just go read everything on AOA today. It all kicks ass.
November 30, 2008
They Gave Him 12 Shots at One Time
I am not sure what this woman is complaining about. According to Paul Offit her kid still could have gotten another 99,988 shots and still have been fine.
HT: Anne Dachel
UPDATE: Jessica dropped by and left this comment:
"Hey :) this is Jessica Glover Cades mom (the one in the article.)
Hindsight is always 20/20.
The silver lining is that Cade is doing very well and he is a jewel. My personal mission is to create a concept learning environment for these kids. My ultimate goal is to see the vaccine companies and government pay for it.... that is a dream. Until then we are fund raising and grant seeking. Bio-med intervention has helped Cade so much. He will grow to be a great Man who changes the way the World perceives these Children. Much like your precious Son. I refuse to label Cade. Thanks for all you do! "
Taking on autism
Jessica Glover hopes to be a champion for children on the autism spectrum, like her son Cade
By Christina Lent
The Beaverton Valley Times, Nov 27, 2008
Cade Glover has regained his engaging personality after a switch in diet. His mother Jessica is on a mission to share the lessons she’s learned with Cade to help other children with autism.
Jessica Glover is on a personal quest to change opinions about autism on a local and national level.
She and her family moved to Beaverton from Bend eight weeks ago to launch Autism Resources of Beaverton, a non-profit resource agency dedicated to autism and advocacy, and to work with the Beaverton School District to open its first K-12 charter school for autism spectrum children.
The 27-year-old mother of four children also opened an in-home Sun Drops Child Care and Preschool for children on the autism spectrum.
Her focus on autism awareness and advocacy is one from the heart.
Glover’s son Cade was diagnosed with autism when he was 22 months old after going in two months before for vaccinations.
“When I went to the health department in Central Oregon, they told me they wanted to ‘catch him up’ on his vaccinations,” Glover recalled. “They gave him 12 at one time.
“When I took him home, his fever spiked to 102, 103, 104 and 105. I took him to the emergency room four times in six days. In two weeks, he stopped walking and talking and regressed to an infant. Before that, he was a very typical, very healthy baby.”
Over the next couple months, Glover began to notice other changes in her once “very loving, adorable, cuddle bug.”
Cade had been really excited about the coming birth of his baby sister Maycie, often asking questions and feeling his mom’s expanding tummy. But when Maycie was born, his previous interest was nonexistent.
“For two months he never kissed or touched her,” Glover said as she fought back tears. “I knew then that something was wrong because by that point he had stopped looking at us.
“All of a sudden he wanted nothing to do with us. He didn’t want to be held or kissed and we’d find him buried in his room under blankets. He also started to fixate on things like lining up all his toys or playing with his trains for eight hours at a time.”
At that point, Glover began seeking answers for the differences in his personality and behavior.
“Something inside me started this personal quest,” Glover recalled.
After extensive research and reading, “Unraveling the Mystery of Autism,” the business woman’s life focus shifted.
She began using holistic methods she found in her research to help her son.
“I took him off of dairy and within a week he started walking,” Glover said. “It was like a veil had lifted.
“A week into his new diet, he said, ‘Mama,’ and I about died. From there I cut out gluten and the words just started flowing. Within that week he also stopped obsessing over things. He would drink out of different cups. He wanted to interact with the family again and started loving on his baby sister.”
Glover cherished each new development.
“It was like he had been in a cave for 18 months,” she recalled. “Now he is the most loving child – it’s like he’s making up for lost time.”
It became Glover’s mission to start Autism Resources in Bend and help other families convert autism children’s diets over to gluten- and dairy-free.
“I needed to share this with as many people as possible,” she said.
That thought led her to dreaming of opening a school that would not follow the common Applied Behavioral Analysis model used in many public schools.
Her dream school for children like Cade would have a natural setting, where teachers and specialists would work one-on-one with students, figure out their allergies and focus on their abilities rather than their disabilities.
“By sitting with them one-on-one you can help them with their social skills by getting them to use their words to say how they are feeling or having them draw a picture to express their emotions,” she said.
The school would also offer all organic food, not require immunizations, follow a pattern of daily routines rather than a strict schedule and expose students to art, music and outdoor activities like gardening.
That vision became so clear that Glover looked for the ideal place to open a charter school.
Beaverton is that place, she said, “because it has one of the highest autism rates in the nation.”
“There is an entire lost generation of kids that are lost in public school systems across the nation because they were mainstreamed and there is no funding for supporting these kids,” Glover said. “There is a big group of teenagers who are hurting.
“It’s important to work with autistic children when they are young and focus on their abilities. These children are gifted in their own ways.”
Glover is in the process of laying the ground work for opening a charter school tailored for autism spectrum children in Beaverton.
The idea to offer an alternative option for students has gained the interest of both the Educational Service District and Beaverton School District.
“They are both helping me so much because they want a different option for these kids,” Glover said. “The responses I’ve had so far have been wonderful. Families have really welcomed me with open arms.
“We all want these kids to feel like there is a group of people here who love and support them.”
Ideally, she’d like to open a charter school near Beaver Acres Elementary School in August 2009, just as Cade enters kindergarten.
But there is a lot to accomplish between now and then, including an extensive review process by the Beaverton School District.
“There are a lot of people in Beaverton that need another option for their children, so this will be very good for the community,” Glover said.
As for Cade, he’s doing very well, she said as the young man bounced from one inflatable activity to the next at Pump It Up Jr.! in Beaverton.
“My biggest goal is to find what he likes and is passionate about,” Glover said. “I want him to be able to one day be able to make a living doing what he loves, be able to live on his own and ultimately be able to relay his feelings with others.”
HT: Anne Dachel
UPDATE: Jessica dropped by and left this comment:
"Hey :) this is Jessica Glover Cades mom (the one in the article.)
Hindsight is always 20/20.
The silver lining is that Cade is doing very well and he is a jewel. My personal mission is to create a concept learning environment for these kids. My ultimate goal is to see the vaccine companies and government pay for it.... that is a dream. Until then we are fund raising and grant seeking. Bio-med intervention has helped Cade so much. He will grow to be a great Man who changes the way the World perceives these Children. Much like your precious Son. I refuse to label Cade. Thanks for all you do! "
November 23, 2008
Hep B Vaccine is Associated with a 9 Fold Developmental Disability Rate
Boys getting the recommended 3 Hep B shots, while the vaccines still contained Thimerosal, were NINE TIMES more likely to have a developmental disability than unvaccinated boys.
Finally... someone actually did a vaccinated v. unvaccinated study.
After Chandler was diagnosed, I printed out the Engerix B vaccine package insert, which I believed to be most significantly responsible for his autistic regression at 18 months and took it into my pediatrician. My main question, "If the vaccine is known to cause Gilliam-Barre, a disorder in which the immune system attacks the central nervous system, then why couldn't it cause autism, a disorder in which the immune system attacks the central nervous system?"
He wouldn't take the highlighted print out from me and he didn't answer the question. He did remind me that vaccines were not associated with autism.
I will be sending this to him this week, as I am sure theAmerican Academy of Pediatrics International Pediatricians Union won't be bringing this to his attention:
Even though he was born in 2002, His first Hep B Shot contained thimerosal, which is known to cause mitochondrial dysfunction, which HHS has conceded become autism when multiple vaccines are later administered.
I would like to see this study repeated with children born since 2003 who received, "Thimerosal Free" Hep B shots. Was it the thimerosal or the aluminum or the shot itself.
Finally... someone actually did a vaccinated v. unvaccinated study.
After Chandler was diagnosed, I printed out the Engerix B vaccine package insert, which I believed to be most significantly responsible for his autistic regression at 18 months and took it into my pediatrician. My main question, "If the vaccine is known to cause Gilliam-Barre, a disorder in which the immune system attacks the central nervous system, then why couldn't it cause autism, a disorder in which the immune system attacks the central nervous system?"
He wouldn't take the highlighted print out from me and he didn't answer the question. He did remind me that vaccines were not associated with autism.
I will be sending this to him this week, as I am sure the
Hepatitis B triple series vaccine and developmental disability in US children aged 1-9 years
Authors: Carolyn Gallagher a; Melody Goodman a
Affiliation: a Graduate Program in Public Health, Stony Brook University Medical Center, Health Sciences Center, New York, USA DOI: 10.1080/02772240701806501Publication Frequency: 8 issues per yearPublished in:Toxicological & Environmental Chemistry, Volume 90, Issue 5 September 2008 , pages 997 - 1008
Abstract
This study investigated the association between vaccination with the Hepatitis B triple series vaccine prior to 2000 and developmental disability in children aged 1-9 years (n = 1824), proxied by parental report that their child receives early intervention or special education services (EIS). National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2000 data were analyzed and adjusted for survey design by Taylor Linearization using SAS version 9.1 software, with SAS callable SUDAAN version 9.0.1. The odds of receiving EIS were approximately nine times as great for vaccinated boys (n = 46) as for unvaccinated boys (n = 7), after adjustment for confounders. This study found statistically significant evidence to suggest that boys in United States who were vaccinated with the triple series Hepatitis B vaccine, during the time period in which vaccines were manufactured with thimerosal, were more susceptible to developmental disability than were unvaccinated boys.
Keywords: early intervention; special education services; developmental disability; Hepatitis B vaccine triple series
Even though he was born in 2002, His first Hep B Shot contained thimerosal, which is known to cause mitochondrial dysfunction, which HHS has conceded become autism when multiple vaccines are later administered.
I would like to see this study repeated with children born since 2003 who received, "Thimerosal Free" Hep B shots. Was it the thimerosal or the aluminum or the shot itself.
October 21, 2008
Pneumococcal Doubles Asthema Incidence
From One Click:
One Click Note: The World Health Organization states that for every 1000 children vaccinated with the pneumococcal vaccine, 1.3 children will develop asthma on account of the vaccine. At the same time only 3.6 cases of pneumonia are prevented by vaccinating 1000 children. Pneumonia is an easily treated condition. Asthma on the other hand may be a lifelong disability:
Publication: Bulletin of the World Health Organization;
Type: Letters
Article DOI: 10.2471/BLT.08.054692
Incidence of pneumonia
is not reduced by pneumococcal conjugate vaccine
Sona Chowdhary & Jacob Puliyel
Department of Pediatrics,
St Stephens Hospital,
Tis Hazari,
Delhi 110054,
India.
Correspondence to Jacob Puliyel (e-mail: puliyel@gmail.com).
(Published online: 1 September 2008)
Madhi et al.1 write that the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) is an effective instrument for pneumonia prevention in children. This is not strictly true. WHO data2 suggest that there are 450 million cases of pneumonia each year and that it causes 3.9 million deaths. In the sub-Saharan region of Africa, 1 022 000 die and 702 000 die in south Asia.1 The pneumonia referred to is “clinical pneumonia” – a diagnostic syndrome within the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness – WHO and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) system for triage and clinical management in developing countries.3 The Cochrane database4 states that PCV does not reduce the incidence of clinical pneumonia, although it has been shown to reduce vaccine-serotype bacteraemic pneumonia and radiological pneumonia. The benefit of reducing bacteraemic pneumonia and radiological pneumonia is so minimal that it has no effect on “clinical pneumonia”. Poor nations will need to assess its cost utility carefully.
A study from the Gambia showed that mortality was 16% lower in a PCV immunized group compared to placebo recipients (25.2/1000 children years versus 30.1/1000 children years).5 Data are also provided on adverse effects and deaths within 1 week of receiving any dose of the vaccine or placebo. The mortality benefit was seen in the first week after injection, well before vaccine efficacy could have been established. There were 12 deaths in the vaccine group and 15 among controls (23.8/1000 children years versus 29.8/1000 children years). This suggests that factors other than vaccine efficacy are responsible for the difference in mortality between the groups compared.
There is also another issue that we hope to raise here. The paper states that the vaccine programme would exceed the WHO threshold in 69 eligible countries. The authors assert that these findings are conservative in the sense that they did not assume any herd protection and did not assume protection beyond the age of 2.5 years. Beutels6 has cautioned against this trend of noting the “positive” uncertainties (herd immunity, protection beyond 2.5 years) without reporting the “negative” ones (serotype replacement,7 increased incidence of asthma),8 which could dampen enthusiasm for the intervention.
References
1. Madhi SA, Levine OS, Hajjeh R, Mansoor OD, Cherian T. Vaccines to prevent pneumonia and improve child survival. Bull World Health Organ 2008;86:365-372. PMID:18545739 doi:10.2471/BLT.07.044503
2. Revised global burden of disease 2002 estimates. Geneva: WHO. Available here [accessed 5 August 2008].
3. Integrated Management of Childhood Illness. Geneva: WHO; 2000.
4. Lucero MG, Dulalia VE, Parreno RN, Lim-Quianzon DM, Nohynek H, Makela H, et al. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines for preventing vaccinetype invasive pneumococcal disease and pneumonia with consolidation on x-ray in children under two years of age. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2004;CD004977. PMID:15495133
5. Cutts FT, Zaman SM, Enwere G, Jaffar S, Levine OS, Okoko JB, et al.; Gambian Pneumococcal Vaccine Trial Group. Efficacy of nine-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine against pneumonia and invasive pneumococcal disease in The Gambia: randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet 2005;365:1139-46. PMID:15794968 doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)71876-6
6. Beutels P. Potential conflicts of interest in vaccine economics research: a commentary with a case study of pneumococcal conjugate vaccination. Vaccine 2004;22:3312-22. PMID:15308354
doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2004.03.001
7. Eskola J, Kilpi T, Palmu A, Jokinen J, Haapakoski J, Herva E, et al.; Finnish Otitis Media Study Group. Efficacy of a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine against acute otitis media. N Engl J Med 2001;344:403-9. PMID:11172176 doi:10.1056/NEJM200102083440602
8. Klugman KP, Madhi SA, Huebner RE, Kohberger R, Mbelle N, Pierce N; Vaccine Trialists Group. A trial of a 9-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in children with and those without HIV infection. N Engl J Med 2003;349:1341-8. PMID:14523142 doi:10.1056/NEJMoa035060
October 9, 2008
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.
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.
October 7, 2008
Court Rules That Atlanta Family Can Sue Wyeth for Vaccine Damage
And this is good.
Not just because this family will be able to exercise their rights, but more significantly for our community, that such a suit will include a beautiful thing called:
Discovery.
A large portion of what we learn about harmful products comes into the public forum, not because the companies immediately shared what they knew about the potential harm to the public from their product, as such disclosures tend to effect profits, but when they get sued and are forced to be honest under penalty of law.
One would like to believe that when it comes to the health and functioning of children, corporations would set aside market goals and fully disclose, but sadly history has not always born that out.
We already know that Wyeth's response to the SIDS outbreak caused by a hot lot of their vaccine in TN in 1979 was to change their policies so that no full lot went to one area so cases of damage or death would not be traced back to them. So I think we might learn some new things about Wyeth via the Ferrari’s suit.
Stay tuned to see what comes out of this next big case. It is probably going to the Supreme Court.
From the AJC:
HT: AOA
More at Law.com:
Ga. Supreme Court Backs Vaccine Suit in Autism Case
Pharmalot:
Wyeth Can Be Sued For Thimerosal In A Vaccine
Not just because this family will be able to exercise their rights, but more significantly for our community, that such a suit will include a beautiful thing called:
Discovery.
A large portion of what we learn about harmful products comes into the public forum, not because the companies immediately shared what they knew about the potential harm to the public from their product, as such disclosures tend to effect profits, but when they get sued and are forced to be honest under penalty of law.
One would like to believe that when it comes to the health and functioning of children, corporations would set aside market goals and fully disclose, but sadly history has not always born that out.
We already know that Wyeth's response to the SIDS outbreak caused by a hot lot of their vaccine in TN in 1979 was to change their policies so that no full lot went to one area so cases of damage or death would not be traced back to them. So I think we might learn some new things about Wyeth via the Ferrari’s suit.
Stay tuned to see what comes out of this next big case. It is probably going to the Supreme Court.
From the AJC:
High court: Atlanta couple can sue over vaccination
Marcelo and Carolyn Ferrari can take case to court over son’s disabilities
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday, October 06, 2008
An Atlanta couple’s lawsuit against vaccine manufacturers can go to trial on claims a childhood vaccine caused neurological damage to their young son, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled Monday.
In a landmark decision, the state high court unanimously ruled that Marcelo and Carolyn Ferrari’s lawsuit is not barred by the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Act. The court upheld a prior decision by the Georgia Court of Appeals, which was the first appellate court in the nation to make such a ruling.
Related links:
When the Ferraris’ 18-month-old son, Stefan, received his vaccines, he was a healthy verbal boy. Now 10, Stefan has not spoken since, according to court records.
A year after Stefan received his vaccines, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that thimerosal, a preservative used for multi-dose vaccine vials, be removed from childhood vaccines. The Ferraris filed suit, contending that the manufacturers should have made vaccines without the preservative before Stefan was vaccinated.
The companies argued that the 1986 vaccine act shields manufacturers from liability in civil lawsuits for damages caused by vaccines given after Oct. 1, 1988.
In Monday’s ruling, written by Justice George Carley, the state Supreme Court said the vaccine act “clearly does not preempt all design defect claims against vaccine manufacturers.”
Instead, it provides “that a vaccine manufacturer cannot be held liable for defective design if it is determined, on a case-by-case basis, that the injurious side effects of the particular vaccine were unavoidable,” the ruling said.
HT: AOA
More at Law.com:
Ga. Supreme Court Backs Vaccine Suit in Autism Case
Pharmalot:
Wyeth Can Be Sued For Thimerosal In A Vaccine
September 9, 2008
Judge Rules Product Liability Suit Pre-empted by Federal Vaccine Act
From Law.com:
Judge Rules Product Liability Suit Pre-empted by Federal Vaccine Act
Amaris Elliott-Engel
The Legal Intelligencer
September 9, 2008
A Philadelphia judge has ruled that a federal law governing the liability of pharmaceutical companies for drug vaccines pre-empts state tort claims of design defect and failure to warn in the products liability case of an 11-year-old boy who has autism.
In an apparent case of first impression, Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Arnold L. New wrote an Aug. 27 opinion required under Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 1925 to affirm his decision to grant summary judgment in favor of pharmaceutical defendants Aventis Pasteur Inc., Merck & Co. Inc. and Wyeth in Wright v. Aventis Pasteur.
New said both the plaintiffs' design defect and failure to warn claims were expressly pre-empted by the federal National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. New also found that the failure to warn claim failed to raise any genuine issues of material fact that can overcome the protection the Vaccine Act provides to pharmaceutical manufacturers.
New said in his opinion that it appears no Pennsylvania state court has addressed whether §22(b) of the Vaccine Act expressly pre-empts claims of design defects against vaccine manufacturers, or whether each case has to be examined individually to determine "whether a vaccine is unavoidably safe before they gain the protection of Section 22(b)."
"Congress clearly intended when it enacted the Vaccine Act to exercise its constitutionally delegated authority to preempt all state design defect claims without case-by-case determination that the side effects are unavoidable," New wrote.
The 1986 Vaccine Act was created to provide recovery of damages to injured vaccine recipients without the requirement that the recipients prove the manufacturer was negligent and that a vaccine was defective, New said. The Vaccine Act was also aimed at preventing the undermining of national vaccine supply by expensive litigation, New said.
New noted that other courts' decisions -- including the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania's 2006 ruling in Sykes v. Glaxo-SmithKline and its 2007 ruling in Bruesewitz v. Wyeth -- have been similar.
"This court was guided by their opinions and concluded Section 22(b)(1) preempts, without there first being a case-by-case determination as to whether a vaccine is unavoidably unsafe, all state law claims that an FDA-approved vaccine was defectively designed, " New wrote.
The only contrary ruling was a 2007 Georgia state court ruling in Ferrari v. American Home Products Corp., New said.
In Wright, Jared Wright, 11, of Texas, was administered five vaccines in the first year-and-a-half of his life that contained thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative once used in vaccines to deter bacterial growth, as well as one other vaccine, New wrote. Jared's parents, Howard and Jacqueline Wright, claimed that the mercury in those six vaccines manufactured by the pharmaceutical defendants caused Jared's autism.
Plaintiffs' attorney Marc P. Weingarten of Locks Law Firm said the case is "an extremely important issue to be heard by the courts of Pennsylvania" because of the federal pre-emption issues arising in pharmaceutical and medical device litigation in both state and federal jurisdictions.
The plaintiffs argued that the defendants were negligent because the public and the medical profession were not warned about the alleged hazards of mercury in the vaccines, New said. The plaintiffs also argued that the pharmaceutical defendants failed to use ordinary cases in designing the vaccines containing thimerosal because of the risks the plaintiffs say toxic mercury poses to infants and children.
The plaintiffs said the Vaccine Act didn't automatically pre-empt the design defect claim because the vaccine defendants have the burden of proof to show on a case-by-case basis that the use of thimerosal is "‘unavoidably safe,'" New said.
Courts can interpret the Vaccine Act two ways, the plaintiffs argued, and should only interpret the Vaccine Act to pre-empt design defect claims "only if first the side effects are determined to be unavoidable on a case-by-case basis," New said.
New said Congress intended the Vaccine Act to pre-empt all state design defect claims without a case-by-case assessment if the vaccines' side effects were unavoidable because Congress didn't want instability in the vaccine market to be caused by numerous torts over vaccine injuries. That's why Congress set up its National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, the judge said.
If the plaintiffs' argument is given credence, New said, then the protection provided by the Vaccine Act will no longer extend to vaccine manufacturers and, in turn, to the stability of the supply of child vaccines.
Manufacturers can obtain a presumption of proper warning under the Vaccine Act by providing evidence showing compliance with federal Food and Drug Administration vaccine regulations, New said. Plaintiffs can only overcome this presumption, New said, by showing the vaccine manufacturer engaged in fraud or wrongful withholding of information from the FDA regarding the vaccine prior to approval; wrongfully withheld information related to the vaccine's safety after its approval; or failed to exercise due care even though the manufacturer complied with federal laws and regulations.
Every major public health organization -- as well as the Food and Drug Administration -- that has examined the alleged link between the use of thimerosal in vaccines and neurological injury has not found a causal link, New said.
Merck defense attorney Madeline M. Sherry of Gibbons, Aventis Pasteur defense attorney Jonathan Dryer of Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker and Wyeth defense attorney Reetu Dandora of Reed Smith could not be reached for comment.
August 11, 2008
GMA Confirms Jenkins Comments Were About Autism
Last week GMA ran a piece on vaccines and autism that included a quote by Rene Jenkins of the AAP.
Andrea Keller called GMA to see if they would release the rest of the interview. They said their policy is not to release unused footage, but that the context of the conversation was Autism.
Daivd Kirby called AAP and asked for comment, and they said that Jenkins 'misspoke' and she was talking about minor vaccine reactions like "localized pain and swelling, and/or fever."
I spoke with the producer of the GMA piece this morning who interviewed Jenkins. She reiterated that they don't release unused interviews, but she was nice enough to read me the question that was asked and Jenkins full response.
The discussion was about autism and not minor vaccine reactions. The question was a version of 'can you rule out an association between vaccines and autism', and Jenkins answer was something to the effect of 'you can never rule out an association between anything and anything else, but we don't see an association.... but in the case of Hannah Poling...', (the interviewer had not mentioned Hannah). And that lead into her quote, "Ninty Seven plus percent of children don't have these defects, so, when you look at what the risk and the benefits to children are, and, you really weigh the risks, then the benefits far outweigh the risks that occur."
So ABC DID use the quote correctly and in context.
David Kirby reports:
If Jenkins was misspeaking then that was a pretty out there misstatement. If someone was asked about about the percentage of people who get brain damage from boxing, how would one rationally include bloody noses in the answer?
I encouraged ABC to follow up on this and help us get a real statement from AAP (or CDC) on what they believe the percentage is for kids who are at risk serious vaccine reaction and autism.
"Ninty Seven plus percent of children don't have these defects, so, when you look at what the risk and the benefits to children are, and, you really weigh the risks, then the benefits far outweigh the risks that occur."I wrote a piece heavily criticizing AAP for throwing away three percent of the population to serious vaccine injury.
Andrea Keller called GMA to see if they would release the rest of the interview. They said their policy is not to release unused footage, but that the context of the conversation was Autism.
Daivd Kirby called AAP and asked for comment, and they said that Jenkins 'misspoke' and she was talking about minor vaccine reactions like "localized pain and swelling, and/or fever."
I spoke with the producer of the GMA piece this morning who interviewed Jenkins. She reiterated that they don't release unused interviews, but she was nice enough to read me the question that was asked and Jenkins full response.
The discussion was about autism and not minor vaccine reactions. The question was a version of 'can you rule out an association between vaccines and autism', and Jenkins answer was something to the effect of 'you can never rule out an association between anything and anything else, but we don't see an association.... but in the case of Hannah Poling...', (the interviewer had not mentioned Hannah). And that lead into her quote, "Ninty Seven plus percent of children don't have these defects, so, when you look at what the risk and the benefits to children are, and, you really weigh the risks, then the benefits far outweigh the risks that occur."
So ABC DID use the quote correctly and in context.
David Kirby reports:
"I was told [by AAP] that Dr. Jenkins misspoke when she referred to children with “defects.” What she was talking about is the subset of children who have adverse vaccine reactions such as localized pain and swelling, and/or fever."Jenkins was NOT talking about minor reactions and autism was the subject Autism and Hanna Poling WAS Jenkins reference point.
If Jenkins was misspeaking then that was a pretty out there misstatement. If someone was asked about about the percentage of people who get brain damage from boxing, how would one rationally include bloody noses in the answer?
I encouraged ABC to follow up on this and help us get a real statement from AAP (or CDC) on what they believe the percentage is for kids who are at risk serious vaccine reaction and autism.
August 7, 2008
August 4, 2008
AAP, ECBT, Offit and Peet Hold A Press Conference to Tell You To Vaccinate
You have to admit, they have balls.
A week after having CBS hold the spot light on their conflict of interest and all the cash they get from vaccine manufacturers, AAP, Every Child By Two and Paul Offit will hold a press conference together, along with Amanda "Parasites" Peet, to tell everyone "The Facts About Vaccination®" and to kick off their "Vaccinate your Baby" campaign.
I guess they have decided that the best defense is a good offense, rather than simply responding to CBS and addressing their credibility problems.
I am reminded of Ken Lay's assertions that Enron was just dandy when the press started asking questions after Jeff Skilling took his money and ran. August 24th 2001, two months before the stock hit the fan:
Jenny McCarthy has sent a shout out to all available hands that can get into NYC tomorrow to picket and get our mesage out.
I will go ahead and repost the CBS piece from last week to remind us that what is on tap for tomorrow is merely a commercial brought to you by the good folks who sell vaccines:
And a blast from the past so that you may remember the bravado and seduction that was Enron, when in their last days they promised that they could protect you from the weather:
The lesson? If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
If someone promises you that your child can be free of all diseases, down to the common flu, with no side effects... buyer beware.
UPDATE:
The press release mentions that the mother of a child with autism will be there. Apparently it will be Ann Hotez whose husband Peter Hotez is a vaccine researcher and President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute. So it looks like Amanda Peet will be the only one there not getting a check from Vaccine Inc.
A week after having CBS hold the spot light on their conflict of interest and all the cash they get from vaccine manufacturers, AAP, Every Child By Two and Paul Offit will hold a press conference together, along with Amanda "Parasites" Peet, to tell everyone "The Facts About Vaccination®" and to kick off their "Vaccinate your Baby" campaign.
I guess they have decided that the best defense is a good offense, rather than simply responding to CBS and addressing their credibility problems.
I am reminded of Ken Lay's assertions that Enron was just dandy when the press started asking questions after Jeff Skilling took his money and ran. August 24th 2001, two months before the stock hit the fan:
Business Week: "There has been some concern among investors that perhaps there is more to his resignation than meets the eye, perhaps accounting or other issues that have yet to come to light. Is there anything more?"JB Handley has unearthed more info on Every Child By Two, turns out half their income is from Pharma.
Ken Lay: "There are absolutely no problems that had anything to do with Jeff's departure. There are no accounting issues, no trading issues, no reserve issues, no previously unknown problem issues. The company is probably in the strongest and best shape that it has ever been in."
Jenny McCarthy has sent a shout out to all available hands that can get into NYC tomorrow to picket and get our mesage out.
I will go ahead and repost the CBS piece from last week to remind us that what is on tap for tomorrow is merely a commercial brought to you by the good folks who sell vaccines:
And a blast from the past so that you may remember the bravado and seduction that was Enron, when in their last days they promised that they could protect you from the weather:
The lesson? If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
If someone promises you that your child can be free of all diseases, down to the common flu, with no side effects... buyer beware.
UPDATE:
The press release mentions that the mother of a child with autism will be there. Apparently it will be Ann Hotez whose husband Peter Hotez is a vaccine researcher and President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute. So it looks like Amanda Peet will be the only one there not getting a check from Vaccine Inc.
July 27, 2008
Mainstream Medicine Does It The Max Power Way
The theme of the day is the outing of the efforts by Mainstream Medicine to deal with the problem of parents turning on their brains and doing their own research in to vaccines.
Max Power: Kids, there’s three ways to do things. The right way, the wrong way, and the Max Power way!
Bart: Isn’t that the wrong way?
Max Power: Yeah, but faster!
Medicine is quite upset that parents are no longer ignoring MainMed's conflicts of interest, swallowing their unsatisfactory answers to important vaccine questions, failing to notice pediatricians collective yawn at the autism epidemic (and the ADD epidemic and the diabetes epidemic and the asthma epidemic etc.) and deciding to go to other sources of information. The solution they propose?
They have decided to take autism seriously, engage the parent community a dialog that holds them to account in their vaccine statements, throw out bad research, acknowledge the truckload of evidence that backs the vaccine/autism theory, design studies in partnership with parents that will answer the important questions and enforce ethics guidelines to attack all the credibility and conflict of interest problems they have.
NO OF COURSE THEY AREN'T, SILLY!
They are doing it the Max Power way. They are going to take the failing tactics of the passed decade but this time do more of it with more famous people, better graphics and an interactive experience. New and Improved Dismissal of Parent Questions and Concerns. Now with more Patronizing! Apparently since giving inadequate answers to parents in the exam room has yielded such a poor result in maintaining high rates of vaccine uptake, they are going to up the ante and take their bad shtick to You Tube.
On Age of Autism Katie Wright has a piece on the CDC's recent conference call to figure out how to get parents to just stop asking questions, and stop doing their own research and just vaccinate like they are told.
Docs are encouraged by Nurse Patricia Stinchfield to act compassionate and humor parents, but never encouraged to actually consider the idea that have a point. And right on cue she points us back to Dr. Paul, "100,000 vaccines at once" Offit:
"I like Dr. Paul Offit’s analogy of the ocean analogy. So describe to parents that the immune system’s like an ocean. And that at that first two month visit for example, they’re going to have eight antigens added to that immune ocean.Since when has eight cups of water managed to change the behavior of the entire ocean, put it on high alert, and get it to seek out and kill every shark contained in it across the surface of the planet and occasionally overstep its banks and incapacitate New York City?
Think of it like eight cups of water being added to an ocean. It’s far from overload and far from being too weak to accept those."
And how about this gloss over in teaching docs how to asses were the parent is coming from in order to talk them into vaccinating:
"Sometimes we’ll find parents that say well I came in at two months and they got a bunch of shots. I thought that was all that they needed.Note that a family history of vaccine injuries is something to talk a parent down from, not something that the doctor should take into account and USE MORE CAUTION IN VACCINATING!
What’s their experience? Maybe they have a person in their family who has had a significant side effect to a vaccine. What are their emotions? What are their beliefs? Try to determine that."
Nurse Stinchfield boils down the point of the conversation with parents in this telling statement:
"You want to keep the conversation focused. You want to control without being controlling...
...But we need to help parents be guided to the answer together.
We wouldn’t say to a parent, well your child needs open heart surgery, but that’s up to you. You can choose if you want to do that or not.
So I’m not sure why we say that when we’re talking about vaccines.
So the need for vaccination is the same as the need for open heart surgery, and parents should be "guided" to believe that they ultimately cannot say no to either.
So this is not an earnest conversation by any stretch. It is a manipulation with a predetermined outcome. "To control" the parent in to vaccinating.
When my husband read this, he hearkened back to the four months he once spent selling cars. "You know what that is? That is text book, day one lesson in how to sell. They are not giving medical advice, they are selling vaccines exactly like I was taught to sell cars".
And she also asks doctors to keep in mind that:
"...there is not a physiologic reason to design an alternative immunization schedule. And there’s no biological rationale for splitting up a dose, giving an (M) and an (R.) (instead of MMR)."And that is pretty much all the evidence we need to know that MainMed is not only not taking our concerns seriously but they are not even listening to our vaccine safety arguments.
Did I mention that the conference call was entitled , "Why Science Is Not Enough". Because, of course, CDC believes that Science has spoken and there is no evidence of any link between vaccines and autism.
The most mockable part of this conference call? The fact that they didn't actually bring in mothers who are not vaccinating to actual hear their concerns, they brought mothers who were "in the vaccine business".
Katie was right, you need to read this thing for yourself. I could go on, but I think I have made enough points here.
Natural News has a story on a JAMA study on You Tube videos with the focus on countering the messages that urge caution in vaccinating.
"[YouTube is] the perfect venue for an anecdote, both positive or negative," Jennifer Keelan said. Wilson said that vaccine advocates can no longer ignore or marginalize anti-vaccine advocates.
"In the past that could work, but it's not going to work anymore. Now there are ways for people with these viewpoints to communicate with each other," he said. "These sites are now providing people with a mechanism by which they can bypass the conventional filters and get their messages out. It can be dangerous."
Some observations on this quote by this University of Toronto researcher.
First, it acknowledges that the plan of mainstream medicine for dealing with people who question the safety and efficacy of vaccines was to "ignore and marginalize" them.
Second, it acknowledges that there have been "filters" in place to keep any voice that critizes vaccination from being heard by the general public.
Of course we have been living this for years, so it is no surprise to us. But it is interesting to see docs finally admitting it.
Bottom line, The Semmelweis Reflex is still in full effect. Decades passed and untold numbers of people died between the time Semmelweis discovered that doctors were making their patients sick by not washing their hands, and the time when germ theory was accepted by MainMed and docs actually started washing their hands. How long will it take before they realize that they are harming their patients with their hubris and actually investigate and address the vaccine problem correctly?
The truly shameful thing? MainMed has the Semmelweis story to learn from, yet it does not learn.
July 25, 2008
CBS News on AAP, Every Child by Two and Paul Offit's Conflicts of Interest in Vaccine Promotion
Finally.
AAP, Every Child by Two and Paul Offit have begun to get the public scrutiny from a mainstream medial outlet on the huge sums of money they get from pharmaceutical companies and how those conflicts of interest (both disclosed and undisclosed) should call into question their claims of 'independence' and their claims of vaccine safety. These three sources are almost always portrayed in the media as reliable sources for vaccine safety information that are only working in the interests of children that parents should turn to for advice. Their Pharma ties are almost never mentioned.
Sharyl Attkisson was generous to these three vaccine promoters in her piece. She didn't even mention Offit's scolding by congress for his serious ethics breaches and conflicts of interest during his time on the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Nor did she mention the absurd safety statements that the incoming head of the AAP, David Tayloe, has been making, as he did on Good Morning America. Really there is enough here for hours of in depth news magazine coverage or even a book or two.
I hope that this story will lead to some more in depth coverage of the shenanigans that are going on in the relationships between Pharma, health authorities, professional organizations and the medical industry and get the media to examine with new eyes the evidence for the vaccine/autism connection. I hope that parents will consider these huge cash payouts before taking the word of these people as gospel.
And I ESPECIALLY hope that wise pediatricians who do want to make balanced, informed vaccine recommendations for their patients will stop listening to these very questionable sources and begin to do their own research into vaccine safety, rather than taking the AAP's word. We are never going to bring balance to the vaccine program or transparency to the vaccine/autism relationship until those who are making bank off shots stop calling the shots and influencing the process.
Someone email this to Amanda Peet before she does those ads for Every Child by Two. She has already sullied her self by considering calling Paul Offit as "doing her research", and she needs to know who she is getting into bed with.
My Dear Husband's comments: "That is the first interview Paul Offit has ever turned down."
AAP, Every Child by Two and Paul Offit have begun to get the public scrutiny from a mainstream medial outlet on the huge sums of money they get from pharmaceutical companies and how those conflicts of interest (both disclosed and undisclosed) should call into question their claims of 'independence' and their claims of vaccine safety. These three sources are almost always portrayed in the media as reliable sources for vaccine safety information that are only working in the interests of children that parents should turn to for advice. Their Pharma ties are almost never mentioned.
Sharyl Attkisson was generous to these three vaccine promoters in her piece. She didn't even mention Offit's scolding by congress for his serious ethics breaches and conflicts of interest during his time on the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Nor did she mention the absurd safety statements that the incoming head of the AAP, David Tayloe, has been making, as he did on Good Morning America. Really there is enough here for hours of in depth news magazine coverage or even a book or two.
I hope that this story will lead to some more in depth coverage of the shenanigans that are going on in the relationships between Pharma, health authorities, professional organizations and the medical industry and get the media to examine with new eyes the evidence for the vaccine/autism connection. I hope that parents will consider these huge cash payouts before taking the word of these people as gospel.
And I ESPECIALLY hope that wise pediatricians who do want to make balanced, informed vaccine recommendations for their patients will stop listening to these very questionable sources and begin to do their own research into vaccine safety, rather than taking the AAP's word. We are never going to bring balance to the vaccine program or transparency to the vaccine/autism relationship until those who are making bank off shots stop calling the shots and influencing the process.
Someone email this to Amanda Peet before she does those ads for Every Child by Two. She has already sullied her self by considering calling Paul Offit as "doing her research", and she needs to know who she is getting into bed with.
My Dear Husband's comments: "That is the first interview Paul Offit has ever turned down."
July 14, 2008
Watch Julie Gerberding Not Lie
I was doing a search on Julie Gerberding when I came across some surprising video. Julie Gerberding talking candidly about smoking.
What was surprising to me was hearing her talk like a normal person. She spoke off the cuff about her thoughts on smoking and health policy, and she was not the least bit full of crap when she did it.
Now I have only heard her talk about vaccines and autism, and the person that she is when she talks about these two topics is not at all the person I see in the above video. When she talks about autism and vaccines she is rehearsed and condescending and carefully threads the needle with very specific, very qualified, very evasive language. (Watch the CNN video again, both the questions and her answers are pretty clearly from a script) Not in a million years would I expect to hear Julie speak extemporaneously on vaccine safety.
If there was ever any doubt that Julie was spouting bullshit when talking about vaccines and autism, it is dealt a death blow by hearing her talk about something else.
Nothing like hearing some one tell the truth to figure out when they are lying.
...also it is kinda funny to hear her talk about the stupidity of knowingly giving toxins to kids via cigarettes.
What was surprising to me was hearing her talk like a normal person. She spoke off the cuff about her thoughts on smoking and health policy, and she was not the least bit full of crap when she did it.
Now I have only heard her talk about vaccines and autism, and the person that she is when she talks about these two topics is not at all the person I see in the above video. When she talks about autism and vaccines she is rehearsed and condescending and carefully threads the needle with very specific, very qualified, very evasive language. (Watch the CNN video again, both the questions and her answers are pretty clearly from a script) Not in a million years would I expect to hear Julie speak extemporaneously on vaccine safety.
If there was ever any doubt that Julie was spouting bullshit when talking about vaccines and autism, it is dealt a death blow by hearing her talk about something else.
Nothing like hearing some one tell the truth to figure out when they are lying.
...also it is kinda funny to hear her talk about the stupidity of knowingly giving toxins to kids via cigarettes.
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