Pamela Felice on Actually Having a Vaccine Debate

I got an email today from Pamela at The Educated Parent who proposes that Oprah actually hold a real live vaccine debate to address the vaccine debate.

Because that is one thing that is missing from this debate, the experts on both sides actually getting in the same room and debating one another.

From her email:

With autism awareness month approaching in April and in light of the recent court ruling regarding Hannah Polling's vaccine related autism, I thought it might be interesting for Oprah to host a debate on the topic of vaccine safety.

Some suggested guests might include; David Kirby, author of Evidence of Harm, Dr. Robert Sears, Author of The Vaccine Book , Dr. Boyd Haley, head of the Chemistry Dept at Kentucky State University, Dr. Jerry Kertzinel, the DAN! Dr. treating Jenny McCarthy's son and Barbbra Lowe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Ctr. on the Critic side.

Possible panelists who support the current vaccine program might include, Dr. Paul Offit, Dr. Julie Gerberding, Director of the CDC, a representative of the American
Academy of Pediatrics and/or a representative of Every Child By Two.

I bet I can guess which side of that panel would decline the invitation. If they do all agree...it would certainly make for great television.

Pamela is right on two counts. 1. This would be really interesting and 2. There is no way in hell Gerberding et. al. would ever do it. They have everything to loose and nothing to gain.

Right now the only thing that is working to their advantage any more is marginalizing advocates of the vaccine/autism link. Debating them would not only give them credibility, they would expose their own lie that there is no evidence to support the relationship between vaccines and autism.

The only way they can with this battle is by getting people to ignore it and go back to sleep.

But I think that the invitation should be extended none the less.

CFL Mercury Light Bulbs or Landfills Full of Mercury

To quote Will Ferrell from Zoolander... I feel like I am taking crazy pills.

So we are protecting the environment by loading it up with the most toxic non-radioactive substance on earth while telling pregnant women not to eat fish because of all the mercury in them.

And what is this, "we will all have to use CFL's by 2016"? Over my dead body will one of those things come into my home (where stuff gets broken every day because I have an autistic son who is full of mercury.)

Horton Hears An "Ow", And Swats It Down Right Quick

Props again to Jim and Jenny for putting the kibosh on New Mexico's plan to vaccinate kids at the movies.

Again... vaccinations=medications, not popcorn. Our lives stand as a living testament that they are not one size fits all. Vaccines should be given only after a full review of a child's medical history and a checkup on the current state of their health.

I don't know any parents who go to the movies with their kids medical records in tow.

Today Was A Very Good Day

On this journey, there are milestones that we wait a long time for and that are huge deals for us when they happen.

The first time Chandler made eye contact, the first time he answered to his name, when he started calling us 'mommy' and 'daddy' (again), the first time he said 'I love you', the day he started potty training and the day (yet to come) when he will be completely potty trained).

Today was one of those days. Chandler learned to swallow pills!

For four years I have been trying every which way to get into his little body all the supplements that he needs, hiding this in a spoonful of that and putting these in those drinks, and longing for the day that I could actually just hand him the darn zinc capsule and a glass of water and know that it will all go into his little belly.

I have tried a couple of times a year for the last few years, and he has not been on board. For the first couple of years he just thought it was funny and didn't get it. For the last year or so he just said a firm, "No." and ran away.

Tonight we tired again, and the credit goes to his big brother Webster who showed him over and over how cool it was and convinced him to give it a real try. Chandler tried three times and couldn't get it down, but kept trying! And on the fourth try, he did it! Then he took two more!

Then he exclaimed, "Excellent!"

I don't know if there has ever been a day that I have actually be able to get all of the supplements down that he needed, but now a new day is dawning! I am gonna try to get some better probiotics in him now that he can swallow pills.

Praise the Lord! This is a very good day!

UPDATE: Well day two did not go so well, but he did try several times and the precedent has been set. Pray for my little guy that he would get to be a champ at this. Just pray for him in general. He is such a great kid.

Happy Easter Mainers!

A welcome to my fellow statesmen who are visiting for the first time after reading their local news paper! Come on in and take a look around. Drop me an email and say hi!

While you are here, let me invite you to join me and lots of other autism families on April 18th at the Falmouth Memorial Library at 5 Lunt Road in Falmouth, Maine from 7:00-9:00PM for the World Premier Screening of "Autism Yesterday". See the stories of children who have recovered from autism via the biomedical intervention that is working so well for my son Chandler (he has not recovered yet, but he is halfway home to us!).

I understand that four autism doctors will be on hand, so if you ever wanted to investigate ways to improve your autistic child's health and functioning, (or just meet other families that are) this is the chance. For more information contact: Laura Plourde: 829-3474 or mlplourde@verizon.net

Check out the trailer:

This week, check back in, I will be posting lots of recovery stories and updating everyone on how Chandler is progressing during chelation (hint: great!)

Thanks for visiting!

Web Gives Autism a Global Stage

Thanks to Josie Huang at the Portland Press Herald:

Web Gives Autism a Global Stage
by Josie Huang
Portland Press Herald

Earlier this month, major news broke in the autism world when the federal government conceded that vaccines worsened a health condition in a Georgia girl named Hannah Poling and triggered autism-like symptoms.

Federal officials, while agreeing to pay for her care, maintained that vaccines do not cause autism, a developmental disorder. Still, the case was seen as a victory by a subset of parents certain of a direct link. And they could learn everything they wanted to know about it from Ginger Taylor, a Brunswick woman with an autistic son.

Search for "Hannah Poling" on the Internet, and Taylor's blog www. AdventuresinAutism.com will pop up as the first or second search result. In the days after the case became public, readers from around the world converged on the site, with daily visits climbing from about 350 to 1,700, she said. Her lengthy posts prompted some readers to comment online. Even more e-mailed her.

"The Internet is a great tool for all the debate you can have," said Taylor, who also blogs about medical studies and treatments for her 6-year-old son, Chandler. "I don't know what they did before it."

Taylor is part of a group of Maine parents who are using the Internet to share information on an international stage and create a community around a disorder that is as isolating as it is mysterious in its cause.

The thirst for knowledge is growing as more children are diagnosed with autism. About 1 in 150 children have autism or a closely related disorder such as Asperger's syndrome, estimated the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hallmark symptoms include repetitive behaviors and problems socializing, speaking and reasoning. The degree of severity varies, as does the need for educational and social services.

Answers and support

In Maine, diagnoses among school-age children have more than tripled annually since 2000. Cases among people ages 3 to 21 rose from 594 that year to 1,990 in 2007, according to state education officials.

Similar rate increases have been posted nationally. It's not clear whether autism is becoming more prevalent or whether awareness has grown.

Looking for answers and support, dozens of Maine parents are using blogs, Yahoo! groups, YouTube, listservs and social networking sites such as MySpace to share their experiences with other families in their state and beyond.

At least 15 of them are members on FoggyRock.com, a site founded by Shannon and Steve Johnson of Harpswell, whose older child, Wynn, is autistic.

FoggyRock -- a reference to the uphill climb autism poses -- acts like a FaceBook for members of the autism community. Each member has a home page for posting blog entries, photos, videos and "wit and wisdom." They also can add "contacts" and join groups such as The Autism Sibs and Military Families with Autism.

Shannon Johnson, FoggyRock's editor-in-chief, has her own page, where she writes about the joys of raising 13-year-old Wynn -- like "seeing a genuine smile on his face"-- and the heartbreak of separation. Wynn spent about a year in the hospital, returning in December.

The site has attracted nearly 700 members, some from places as distant as England and Australia, Johnson said. She wants it to be a comforting place for families whose lives change dramatically the moment their child is diagnosed with autism.

Often, one spouse will leave a career to care for the child, as Johnson, a former teacher, did. Many will throw themselves into researching and trying different behavioral therapies, diets and supplements.

For some, family outings, never mind vacations, become a thing of the past.

"I hear from members all the time that they're so isolated," Johnson said. "You can't participate in life the same way you did. When the kids are younger, and they're having behavioral issues, it looks typical. When they're older like my son, and he's having a meltdown, people are afraid."

A Lifeline

For families in more remote areas, where they know of no other people in their situation, the Internet can serve as a lifeline, said Cathy Dionne, program director of the Autism Society of Maine. She said this is especially true in a lightly populated state like Maine.

"A lot of families especially in rural Maine -- we're talking Aroostook County, Washington County -- their connection is their computer," Dionne said.

Dionne, who has an autistic teenager, regularly visits the sites and feels uplifted after reading posts. Though her child does not speak, she is still hopeful for the day she will hear an "I love you."

"The one thing I like about these sites is the 'Guess what my child did today?'" Dionne said. "They share of lot of those type of stories, and I think parents need that inspiration."

Some of the parents say that they feed off one another's advice and encouragement because they feel the medical establishment has abandoned them.

Unlike a condition such as juvenile diabetes, autism comes with less defined guidelines for treatment, parents say.

"When you go to the pediatrician, they say 'there is no cure. Put him in speech therapy. Bye,'" said Taylor, a family therapist before she switched to Web design so she could stay at home with her son. "You're not left with a lot of options."

Taylor belongs to the group of parents who believe autism can be cured in some children. Many blame the mercury-containing preservative in vaccines given to children through the 1990s for causing the disorder, as well as environmental toxins.

On the other end of the spectrum are parents who believe that autism is largely, if not entirely, genetic. Some of them consider the view that autism can be "fixed" as a direct affront to their children.

The Maine-based Web sites and online groups reflect the range of views. Rebecca Waddell of Waldoboro said she falls somewhere in the middle of the pack.

For her blog, www.mainely musings.blogspot.com, Waddell said, she stays away from controversies and topical issues, except for the occasional mention of actress Jenny McCarthy, the parent-turned-activist who's acquired hero status on many autism sites.

Waddell prefers to document her day-to-day experiences with her two sons, the younger of whom, 4-year-old Thane, is autistic. Her site is plastered with close-ups of her sons mugging for the camera and videos of them goofing off with their father and the family husky.

Waddell, who regularly reads four other Maine-based sites, said it is therapeutic to have an online journal and receive feedback from readers.

"I sort of would like people to realize that it's not all horrible," she said. "Yes, there are some challenges. He'll go into a store and scream the whole time. But he can be also incredibly cute and charming and smart."

The rest of the world can see for themselves. Just the other week, she said, another mother in Sweden let her know how adorable Thane is.

Drunk Moms Cause Autism

Or so says this reporter who wants us to just take her word for it as the study that would support this claim is unpublished and the researchers won't talk to her about what it actually says. But she feels just taking their word for it is investigation enough to for publication in a major newspaper?

This really bothers me.

My letter to Sarah-Kate Templeton:

Wow.. what a horribly irresponsible piece of journalism.

"Guess what everyone... drinking causes autism, and we have a study to prove it, but we are not going to tell you what is in the study, and no one can check our work but we want you to print it in the newspaper and tell everyone anyway. Trust us... we have presented it in "scientific meetings".

Ms. Templeton, women have been drinking while pregnant for thousands of years. (tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands? When was fermentation discovered?) It seems reasonable to assume that if it caused something like autism, people would have discovered, labeled and described autism in the literature long before Kanner did it in the 1930's.

When there is a published study for people to read for them selves and see if there is any merit to the theory, then write about it.

But publishing the headline, "Drinking while pregnant risks autism in babies", when you have no data to actually back up the claim is just wrong.

An equally salient point from Clifford G. Miller of Beckenham, England:

If drinking alcohol whilst pregnant causes autism, why is the autism rate so high in teetotal Utah, USA?

- 1 in 133 Utah children has autism's 3rd highest rate in 14 US states (according to US Centers for Disease Control 9/2/07 - http://unews.utah.edu/p/?r=020807-2)

- Utah 2.5 million population - (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/49000.html)

- approx 75% of Utah is Mormon (http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/contact-us/usa-utah)

- approx 49% regular church attenders (http://www.sltrib.com/ci_2886596).

"Latter-day Saints generally adhere strictly to their health code which prohibits the use of tobacco and alcohol. These practices have always shown up in national health data, which consistently rate Utah as having the lowest rates of smoking, alcohol use, lung cancer, etc. The National Institute of Mental Health ranked Utah as the second-lowest U.S" (http://www.adherents.com/largecom/lds_dem.html)

March 23, 2008
Drinking while pregnant risks autism in babies
Sarah-Kate Templeton, Health Editor

Women who drink alcohol during pregnancy may be putting their babies at risk of developing autism, according to new research.

The consultant psychiatrist who alerted the medical profession to the finding that drinking while pregnant can give babies a condition called foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) has now found that the consumption of alcohol by expecting mothers can also cause autism.

The research is the first to suggest that autism may be triggered by the child’s mother drinking alcohol during pregnancy.

The findings will heighten concern about the increase in alcohol consumption among women of childbearing age.

More than half of all mothers drink alcohol while pregnant, according to the Department of Health. This week the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence will issue a new warning about the dangers.

A recent survey showed 8% of women aged 18 to 24 had consumed at least 35 units of alcohol, the equivalent of about 15 glasses of wine, during the previous week. Binge drinking among young women has resulted in the number of alcohol-related deaths in women aged 35 to 54 doubling between 1991 and 2005.

Earlier this year, the British Medical Association warned that the increase in alcohol consumption by young women will be reflected in a rise in drinking during pregnancy and, subsequently, will put more babies at risk of being damaged by alcohol while in the womb.

Raja Mukherjee, consultant psychiatrist at Surrey Borders Partnership NHS trust, has spent the past 18 months examining children who have been damaged by their mother’s drinking during pregnancy and found that a high proportion of them have autism. The research has been presented at scientific meetings.

Mukherjee, who has presented his findings to medical colleagues, declined to discuss them in detail before their publication in a medical journal but said: “Genetic conditions are by far the most common cause of autism but that is not to say that other things cannot cause it, and prenatal alcohol appears, possibly, to be [a cause].

“Unlike genetic conditions, this is 100% preventable.”

Mukherjee has previously warned against any drinking during pregnancy and believes that even low levels of alcohol may endanger babies.

Drinking during pregnancy can cause foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, the umbrella term for a range of disorders — from minor anomalies such as low birth weight to severe FAS, the symptoms of which include mental retardation and facial abnormalities such as a short nose.

The number of cases of FAS in Britain has increased in recent years. So far the government and medical bodies have given out conflicting messages about how much alcohol it is safe to drink during pregnancy.

Cases rising

One per cent of British children suffer from autism, according to the Office for National Statistics. Some academics argue that the percentage of children suffering from the disorder is increasing but others say that numbers are up because of better diagnosis.

Although the cause of autism is unknown, many doctors believe some people have a genetic predisposition towards it.

Dr Andrew Wakefield linked autism to the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella, but the research was discredited. It led to a fall in immunisation.

David Kirby on Ring of Fire

http://www.adventuresinautism.com/images/AirAmericaKirby032208.mp3

The Spectator: Another Piece in the Jigsaw

They are catching on to Hannah's story in the UK.

Another piece in the jigsaw?
22 March 2008
Melanie Phillips
The Spectator


A propos the Wakefield affair discussed in my post below, a recent case in America should not pass without comment. In a landmark ruling, the US Court of Federal Claims, Office of the Special Master, under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Programme, conceded a vaccine injury to a child from Georgia who, having been developing normally until she received multiple vaccinations, subsequently developed serious brain and body disorders.

Nine year-old Hannah Poling, who at 18 months was recorded by paediatricians as meeting all her developmental milestones, was then given no fewer than five vaccinations in one day — DTaP, Hib, MMR, Varivax, and IPV. Id — following which she suffered a catastrophic breakdown in brain and bodily functions, regressing in language and social development and with persistent gut problems. The court ruled that

the vaccinations CHILD received on July 19, 2000 significantly aggravated an underlying mitochondrial disorder, which predisposed her to deficits in cellular energy metabolism, and manifested as a regressive encephalopathy with features of autism spectrum disorder.

Writing in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, journalist David Kirby goes further and says:

The November report said Hannah's vaccine reaction had ‘manifested’ as early-onset brain disease, with ‘features of autism spectrum disorder.’ But the February report is more blunt. It says that Hannah's vaccines ‘caused’ her ‘autistic’ brain disease.

This ruling is the first time a causal link has been established between childhood vaccines and autistic spectrum disorder. It is important to note straightaway an important point of difference from the MMR controversy in the UK. This child’s immune system collapsed not as a result of MMR alone but because she received multiple vaccinations in one day, including the MMR triple jab.

Precisely what caused Hannah Poling’s catastrophic reaction, therefore, cannot be established. We don't know whether it was one of these vaccines or the fact that they were in combination. Nevertheless, this case should not be dismissed as having no relevance. These vaccines did include MMR, and the symptoms she displayed bear remarkable similarities to those reported by countless parents in the MMR controversy. Despite the differences, the significance for the MMR controversy is that this ruling established for the first time that a hitherto unknown problem with a child’s cellular system caused a catastrophic reaction in that child to a vaccination schedule, including delivery of the already multiple MMR, that has produced no ill-effects in other children. This suggests that, in some children, multiple vaccines overload immune systems that are particularly vulnerable.

In America, the health authorities are dismissing this ruling as a one-off with no further significance. But surely it suggests instead that urgent questions now demonstrably need to be asked about both the safety of these these childhood vaccines in themselves and the policy, so dear to the medical establishment on both sides of the Atlantic, of multiplying the number of vaccines delivered simultaneously to small children?

The Wakefield Witch-Hunt

The Wakefield witch-hunt
Friday, 21st March 2008
The Spectator

A couple of days ago, yet another story appeared claiming that fresh research had shown that there was no link between the MMR vaccination and autism. This new research was said to have shown that, contrary to the claims made by Dr Andrew Wakefield, the surgeon at the centre of the MMR scare, there was no relationship between gut problems and autism, the core of his concerns. It also claimed that the discovery furthermore damaged the related theory that a gluten-free diet could help children with autism.

Dr Hilary Cass, from Great Ormond Street, said: ‘It is very distressing to have a diagnosis of autism, a lifelong condition.Many families are driven to try out interventions which currently have no scientific basis. For example, advocates of the leaky gut hypothesis offer children a casein and gluten-free diet which as yet lacks an evidence base.’

This particular observation is a telling indication that this study bears little relation to reality. For there are countless families whose autistic children’s suffering from gut problems has only been eased, and their autistic symptoms improved, by the introduction of precisely such a diet. ‘No evidence base’? Tell that to those families. It is their lived experience.

Second, despite the way this was presented in the media this is not a new piece of research at all. It is instead a recycled version of a study by Baird G. et al, published in the Archive of Diseases in Childhood on February 5 and reported in the press around that time. The study drew the following response from Andrew Wakefield:

…The study is severely limited by case definition in the context of the crucial ‘possible enterocolitis’ group. For inclusion in this group they required the presence of two or more of the following five current gastrointestinal symptoms:

* current persistent diarrhea (defined as watery/loose stools three or more times per day >14 days),
* current persistent vomiting (occurring at least once per day, or more than five times per week),
* current weight loss,
* current persistent abdominal pain (3 or more episodes [frequency not specified by authors] severe enough to interfere with activity);
* current blood in stool;


plus:

* past persistent diarrhea >14 days’ duration, and excluding current constipation.


We have over the last 10 years evaluated several thousand children on the autistic spectrum who have significant gastrointestinal symptoms. Upper and lower endoscopy and surgical histology have identified mucosal inflammation in excess of 80% of these children. Almost none of these children with biopsy-proven enterocolitis would fit the criteria set out above. Firstly, these children rarely have vomiting, current weight loss (as opposed to failure to gain weight in an age-appropriate manner), or passage of blood per rectum. The requirement is thus narrowed to a child having two of two relevant symptoms – current persistent diarrhea and current abdominal pain according to their criteria, plus a past history of persistent diarrhea excluding current constipation.

The requirement for the current presence of these symptoms, for 14 or more days continuously, shows a singular lack of understanding of the episodic, fluctuating, and alternating (e.g. diarrhea/constipation) symptom profile experienced by these children. In our experience, ASD children with histologic enterocolitis typically have 1 to 2 unformed stools per day that are very malodorous and usually contain a variety of undigested foodstuffs. This pattern alternates with that of “constipation” in which the unformed stool is passed after many days of no bowel movements at all, and with excessive straining. This group is entirely overlooked by the arbitrary criteria set forth in their paper. With respect to diarrhea and constipation, a detailed discussion of stool pattern in these children is available1 which further highlights the shortcomings of the above criteria. Moreover, the interpretation of pain as a symptom in non-verbal children, as it often manifests as self injury, aggressive outbursts, sleep disturbances, and abnormal posturing, is notoriously difficult. This interpretation requires an insight based upon the correlation of symptoms, histological findings, and response of symptoms to anti-inflammatory treatment. There is no evidence in the Baird et al. paper that these crucial factors were taken into account. This study’s inappropriate symptom criteria would explain the discordance with other reports that have revealed a high prevalence of significant gastrointestinal symptoms in general autism populations2,3.

It is surprising that Dr Peter Sullivan, a co-author on the paper, who presumably provided the above gastroenterological criteria, was not aware of the aforementioned limitations. In his role as a Defendant’s expert in the UK MMR litigation, he will have had access to the clinical records of autistic children with the relevant intestinal symptoms and biopsy-proven intestinal inflammation.

We suggest that the authors might wish to reflect on the ethical implications of setting the bar too high for the investigation of such children by ileo-colonoscopy, with the attendant risk of missing symptomatic, treatable inflammation.

Since the relevant MMR/autism children are considered to be those with regression and significant gastrointestinal symptoms, the appropriate stratification for between-group analyses of measles virus antibody levels has not been conducted; therefore the paper is difficult to interpret, adding little if anything to the issue of causation. Moreover, it is a major error to have presumed that peripheral blood mononuclear cells are a valid ‘proxy’ for gut mucosal lymphoid tissues when searching for persistent viral genetic material.

A further major problem in this study is the number of children who dropped out or who were unable to provide adequate blood samples. We know nothing about either the 735 children who were lost at stage two, or the 100 children for whom blood samples were not available. At the very least, we should be told whether the children who dropped out were likely to be representative of those who stayed in, with regard to the key issues of interest.

For reasons that will emerge in the near future, it would be of interest to know whether siblings of autistic children were included in either of the two control groups. This information is not provided.

As a general observation, this paper contributes nothing to the issue of causation, one way or another. Case definition alone is likely to have obscured the relevant group of autistic children. The study tells us nothing about what actually happened to the children at the time of exposure. We are increasingly persuaded that measuring things in blood many years down the line tells us very little about the initiating events in what is, in effect, a static (non-progressive) encephalopathy unlike, for example, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, which is a progressive measles encephalopathy. The gut is a different matter, and analysis of mucosal tissues has been very informative, since here, in the relevant children, active ongoing, possibly progressive [AV1]4, inflammation has been identified.

None of Wakefield’s pointers to the irrelevance of or inadequacies in the Baird research was included in the news stories. Nor do these stories refer to other research studies which show a higher rate of gastro-intestinal problems among children with autistic-spectrum symptoms. The recycling of the Baird study was but the latest in a steady drip-feed of such items which appear to be part of a concerted campaign to ensure that the General Medical Council hearing into the conduct of Wakefield’s research, which is shortly due to resume, takes place in as prejudiced an atmosphere as possible. No stone is being left unturned by the medico-political establishment and its creatures in the media to ensure that this doctor is destroyed.

As I have repeatedly said, I have no idea whether Wakefield is correct or not in his concerns about the possible adverse effects of the MMR vaccine on a small sub-set of vaccinated children. Nor do I know whether any of the charges being levelled against him at the GMC has any legs. But I do believe — as I wrote in my series of articles on the subject for the Daily Mail in 2003 here, here and here — that many of the statements made by the Department of Health and medical establishment about the ‘proof’ of the vaccine’s unchallengeable safety are deeply misleading. And I also believe, having spoken to many parents of such children, that their experiences simply cannot be dismissed as they have been by the medical establishment. No-one has ever suggested that the MMR vaccine causes all or most of the incidence of autism. If Wakefield is correct, it is only a small proportion of children whose immune systems may be unable to cope, for whatever reason, which makes them particularly vulnerable to such ill-effects. And contrary to the message being pumped out by the medical establishment that the vaccine has been proved to be safe — by studies which are all either flawed, inadequate or irrelevant — the fairest and most accurate thing to say is that the jury is still out.

One of the most reprehensible weapons being wielded in the witch-hunt against Wakefield is the claim that anyone who gives any credence whatever to his concerns is responsible for the incidence of measles amongst children whose parents are as a result too frightened to give them the MMR vaccination. There are two obvious points to make in response to this piece of moral blackmail: 1) the whole panic could have been avoided by offering single measles, mumps and rubella jabs rather than the triple MMR, and 2) it is surely just as important as avoiding cases of measles mumps and rubella to avoid causing the kind of catastrophic damage to the brain and gut displayed by the children at the heart of this controversy.

And there is a further and quite appalling point to note. This whole saga started because parents of such children found that their family doctors were dismissing out of hand their children’s gut and brain problems, accordingly refusing to alleviate their suffering. Now, as a direct result of the animosity towards Wakefield that has been whipped up — and the fear that any doctor who suggests he might be right will similarly find him or herself at the receiving end of the medical establishment’s fist — children exhibiting this combination of gut and brain damage are finding it difficult to obtain treatment.

Another letter to the Archive of Diseases in Childhood from John Stone, the parent of an autistic child, makes terrifying and distressing reading:

In this regard it is worth noting the recent warning of the National Autistic Society (NAS):

‘The National Autistic Society is keenly aware of the concerns of parents surrounding suggested links between autism and the MMR vaccine. The charity is concerned that the GMC hearing, and surrounding media coverage, will create further confusion and make it even more difficult for parents to access appropriate medical advice for their children. It is particularly important that this case is not allowed to increase the lack of sympathy that some parents of children with autism have encountered from health professionals, particularly on suspected gut and bowel problems. Parents have reported to the NAS that in some cases their concerns have been dismissed as hysteria following previous publicity around the MMR vaccine. It is crucial that health professionals listen to parents' concerns and respect their views as the experts on their individual children…’

The NAS warning relates to the GMC hearing involving doctors Wakefield, Walker-Smith and Murch which is set to resume on 25 March approaching. I do not think it is being unduly cynical to query the publication of this study at the present time as a media event, bearing in mind that it seems to have been carried out five or six years ago. Moreover, the study has once again been promoted as refuting the Wakefield hypothesis when it in fact tests for a possibility that had not been proposed. Meanwhile, the plight of autistic children with gastro- intestinal symptoms is excluded both from the study and public attention, as if they did not exist. The NAS statement warned of ‘creating further confusion’ and this is precisely what this study and its media exposure has done.

As the resumption of the GMC hearing draws nearer, one has to ask whether this will serve the cause of truth and justice and the relief of suffering — or is it instead merely a show trial which will bring about the precise opposite?

Serious Concerns Over Hepatitis B Vaccine

Today is one of those days that I read things like this and it just makes me cry.

If I knew this in March of 2002, would I have allowed Chandler to have that first Hep B shot that sent him on his journey down the rabbit hole?

All this information was out there. My doctor told me none of it.

Serious Concerns Over Hepatitis B Vaccine
Friday, March 21, 2008 7:05 AM
Michael Arnold Glueck and Robert J. Cihak, The Medicine Men


As some readers know, we have expressed our concerns about childhood vaccinations a number of times. (See Newsmax,com Medicine Men Archives.)

We are not saying that all vaccines are bad, but we ask that parents, physicians, and health authorities proceed with care and caution and sometimes resist some of the "automatic" childhood vaccinations.

Today the issue is that of the hepatitis B vaccine.

From 1994 to 1998, almost two-thirds of the French population and almost all newborn babies were vaccinated against hepatitis B, but the campaign was temporarily suspended because of concerns about side effects.

In what was called a "thunderclap in the vaccine industry," French authorities have opened a formal investigation regarding a hepatitis B vaccination campaign by GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur in the 1990s. It is alleged that the companies failed to fully disclose neurologic side effects.

Another investigation opened by Judge Marie-Odile Bertella-Geffroy concerns the death ("manslaughter") of a 28-year-old woman from multiple sclerosis, allegedly connected to the vaccine (Le Figaro 1/31/08).

Some 30 plaintiffs, including the families of five patients who died after the vaccination, have launched civil actions (Reuters 1/1/08).

A British case-controlled analysis showed an odds ratio of 3-to-1 (95 percent) for the first symptoms of multiple sclerosis in recipients of recombinant hepatitis B vaccine compared to controls. Two previous French studies had shown a ratio of about 1-to-5. Other studies showed a non-significant increase (or null findings) especially when date of diagnosis rather than date of first symptoms was used (Neurology 2004; 63: 838-842).

According to attorney Clifford Miller, "British doctors administering hepatitis B vaccine to infants could face criminal prosecution if fully informed consent is not obtained. Civil prosecution for damages is possible over 21 years later if the injured survive as adults" (UK Press Association Newswire/Romeike, September 2005).

The hepatitis B vaccine has been considered "one of the safest vaccines ever produced" (Neurology, 2004; 63: 838-842). On the other hand, French medical expert Marc Girard has said that "for a preventive measure, hepatitis B is remarkable for the frequency, variety and severity of complications from its use" (Romeike, September 2005).

In the past, individual concerns over vaccination have often been transgressed because of the platitude that the public good takes precedence over the individual.

We suggest that when it comes to the routine childhood hepatitis B vaccination those affected and involved should think a little harder before they shoot.

We think that the French authorities finally got something right.

* * *

Michael Arnold Glueck, M.D., comments on medical-legal issues and is a visiting fellow in Economics and Citizenship at the International Trade Education Foundation of the Washington International Trade Council.

Robert J. Cihak, M.D., is a senior fellow and board member of the Discovery Institute and a past president of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.

A-CHAMP Action Alert - Call Congress

From A-CHAMP:

Read David Kirby's Editorial,"Give Us Answers on Vaccines" in the Atlanta Journal Constitution Today - and then call Congress!


Tell Your Congressional Representatives that You Want Answers!

Today's Atlanta-Journal Constitution contains an editorial by David Kirby entitled

We have recently had a glimpse of the truth about the link between vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders like autism. When the news was revealed by the Poling family that the government conceded that vaccines caused their daughter, Hannah's, autism, we had a window into the truth about vaccine safety and what has happened to a generation of children.

But the Poling documents and the truth remain sealed!

We want to parents and family members to call Congress...call...call...and keep calling, and demand the

Truth about vaccine safety,

Truth about whether vaccines have harmed our kids and

JUSTICE for our children!

Talking points suggestions:


We need the truth about vaccine safety.

For years the government has denied any association between vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism. In private, public officials have conceded that vaccines have caused autism, such as in the government's recent concessions in the Poling case. Vaccines have been found to have caused autism in at least nine other cases considered by our public officials.

Our kids were damaged because because of the vaccine program, but the government told us vaccines were safe. Our children missed the statute of limitations because we trusted the CDC when they told us repeatedly there was no association between vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders.

We want the Poling documents released.

We want access to the VSD, the publicly financed Vaccine Safety Datalink database that may answer important questions about vaccines and their relationship to neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism.

We want the statute of limitations extended with a look back so that hundreds of thousands children harmed by vaccines are allowed access to justice. Right now they have no right to make claims and obtain justice.

If Congress can hold hearings on Roger Clemens's steroid use, our elected representatives can hold hearings on why hundreds of thousands of children are suffering with neurodevelopmental disorders in an unprecedented epidemic.

We want the CDC and the FDA held accountable.

"Millions of parents are anxiously waiting for their government to tell them what the hell is going on."

CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES, AND KEEP CALLING UNTIL THEY ANSWER YOU AND AGREE TO SUPPORT OUR KIDS .
"We are everywhere and we are not going away!"

...and we are coming to Washington in June.

Jenny McCarthy on The Hour

So apparently The White House called Jenny and asked her to tell people to stop calling.

Apparently Jenny didn't feel like passing on the message because I have not heard her to tell us to stop calling.

When George Bush fires Julie Gerberding and shows up at a DAN conference with the new head of the CDC, then we can stop calling.

202-456-1414