Time to Make Some Noise Over the IACC Shenanigans

Last week I told you about the sabotage of the government research into vaccination as a cause of autism... today it is time for you to protest.

The federal members of the IACC cannot be allowed to get away with these tactics.

From the Autism Action Network (formerly A-CHAMP)

Take Action!
Send a Letter to Your Reps, Key Officials and The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee

Autism Action Alert:
Protest Federal Autism Committee’s Deceitful Reversal on Vaccine-Autism Research

Click HERE or "Take Action" On This Email To Send A Message Using Our System
If You Are Reading This Message On Our Web Site Scroll Down to Send a Message

The inexcusable actions of the Federal members of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) in retracting vaccine-autism studies must be stopped. Sound science must move forward, not thwarted by Federal agencies with vested interests in on-going vaccine-autism injury litigation.

The autism advocacy organizations listed below implore parents of children with autism - and all those who care about the burgeoning rate of autism and its toll on the health of our children - to take immediate action.

We are asking you to write a letter of disapproval to key government decision-makers on autism. Click here for a sample letter and instructions on sending. Your letter will be sent to President Obama, your Senators and Representatives, HHS Secretary Tom Daschle, the Senate HELP Committee, Senators Christopher Dodd, Joe Lieberman, and Edward Kennedy, and Congressmen Chris Smith and Joe Barton.

Your letters are needed NOW. The next IACC meeting is Wednesday, February 4, 2009 - less than two weeks away!

Here is what happened. Click here (http://www.safeminds.org/pressroom/iacc-blocks-vaccine-autism-research.html) here (http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/01/iacc-rescinds-vaccine-research-initiatives.html) for more details.

In a highly unusual departure from procedure, government representatives to the IACC voted on January 14th against conducting studies on vaccine-autism research despite approval of the same studies at their prior meeting on December 12, 2008. The research was supported by numerous autism organizations and requested by IACC’s scientific work groups and Congress. The maneuver to re-vote was initiated by the IACC’s representative from the CDC and pushed through by the IACC Chair, Dr. Tom Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health of NIH. Review of the studies was not listed on the committee’s official agenda, in violation of normal committee practice.

Unlike most Federal advisory committees, the IACC is dominated by government representatives occupying 12 of the 18 seats. Dr. Insel admitted at the meeting that HHS agencies (which includes NIH and CDC) have a conflict of interest in conducting vaccine-autism research due to “Vaccine Court” litigation in which HHS is the defendant. Of the 6 non-government (public) members, 5 voted to retain the vaccine research at the January meeting. The lone dissenting public member resigned from her organization, Autism Speaks, the night before the meeting. Autism Speaks has issued a statement denouncing her vote.

The Federal members of the IACC must know that the autism community objects to their manipulation of committee procedures to block unbiased research on the possible link between vaccines and autism.

They must hear that parents demand reinstatement by the IACC of the vaccine studies that were already part of the IACC’s Autism Research Strategic Plan, and to restore the funding already allocated to this research.

They must acknowledge the inherent conflict of interest of the NIH/CDC in conducting research on vaccine safety. Research initiatives MUST be coordinated by an independent committee that includes equal numbers of representatives from the autism-vaccine injured community and conducted by independent and non-biased entities.

We also urge parents to attend the February 4th IACC meeting in Washington DC if they are able to. Click here for the IACC website http://iacc.hhs.gov/events/ to register. We encourage you to sign up to make a public comment at the meeting.

Autism Action Network (AAN)
Autism One
Autism Research Institute
Generation Rescue
National Autism Association (NAA)
SafeMinds
Schafer Report
Talk About Curing Autism (TACA)
U.S. Autism & Asperger Association
Unlocking Autism

Sarah Palin's Message to Special Needs Parents

"To the families of special needs children all across this country, I have a message for you. For years you've sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters and I pledge to you that if we're elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House".

-Sarah Palin

John McCain meeting with A-Champ in November of last year:





There is still two months until the election, and there is plenty of time for Barack Obama to sit down with our community, and to use his position on the Senate Health Committee to make real CHANGE for children. If he does, he may take the poll position as the best autism candidate, but at the moment, unless things change dramatically, I will be endorsing McCain/Palin.

AFLAC Pulls Ads From Michael Savage

From A-Champ:

AFLAC JUST INFORMED US THEY ARE PULLING THEIR ADS FROM THE SAVAGE NATION PROGRAM!

Thank You AFLAC

 

The Autism Action Network Was Contacted Today By Sears to Say They Do Not Advertise On Talk Show Host Michael Savage's Show. We say thank you to Sears for letting us know. We are removing Sears from our contact list. We are advised that Home Depot informed Autism United that they do not advertise on Savage's show.

 

Some objected to our link to the Media Matters web site. We have no connection to Media Matters and have no opinion one way or another about their work. Our link was placed on our alert because Media Matters posted the audio on their web site of Savage's  offensive comments about individuals with autism.

 

One more thing: we don't care whether or not Savage stays on the air. We really do not care what he says, except we demand respect for our children with autism.

 

Respect!

 That's What We Want For Our Kids!

We Demand Respect for Our Children and All Individuals With Autism!

Action Alert From A-CHAMP

From A-CHAMP:

Talk Radio's Michael Savage Trashes Individuals With Autism –/ Act Now To Show His Conduct Is Not Acceptable!

Michael Savage Calls Children With Autism "Brats" and Autism a "Scam"

Take Action!
Use the Autism Action Network to Tell Savage's Broadcasters and Sponsors What You Think of Savage and His Offensive Remarks

OFFENSIVE!

That's What We Call The Words of Trash Radio Host Michael Savage

(t/n Michael Weiner)

Take Action Against Michael Savage's Remarks!

"Idiot" "brat" "moron"

These are just a few terms Savage used to describe children with Autism on his radio program. He went on to say autism, a lifelong debilitating disorder that leaves many children without the ability to speak and in constant pain, was a "fraud" and a "racket" perpetrated by inept parents.

Do not permit Savage's offensive statements to go unchallenged. Savage and his broadcasting syndicators must be held accountable for his hateful and ignorant tirade. Contact his sponsors and demand that they withdraw their support. Most reasonable people, and most for-profit corporations, do not want to be identified as oppressors of the disabled. Your words will have great impact and will make the choice clear for them.

To Hear Savage's offensive comments for yourself with some helpful commentary that puts him in his place, click on these links:
http://injectingsense.blogspot.com/2008/07/beyond-ignorance-beyond-offensive.html

http://mediamatters.org/items/200807170005?f=h_top

Send a message to Savage's broadcasters, syndicators and commercial sponsors:

(Use our messaging system to contact them but also fax and call them directly – where a web address email is indicated go to their web site):

Buckley Broadcasting/WOR Radio
General Phone Number: 212 642 4500
111 Broadway 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10006

Home Depot
public_relations@homedepot.com
(770) 384-4646

Sears
Sears Public Relations And Communications
(847) 286-8371
contact through their website:
http://www.searsmedia.com/tools/inquires/feedback.htm

Radioshack
Media Relations_
Riverfront Campus _Mail Stop #CF7-130_300 RadioShack Circle _Fort Worth, TX 76102-1964_
Phone: (817) 415-3300_
Fax: (817) 415-2585_
E-mail: media.relations@RadioShack.com

AFLAC
1-800-99-AFLAC (1-800-992-3522)
Laura Kane, 2nd Vice President External Relations Aflac Incorporated_1-706-596-3493
Mechell Clark_
Media Relations Manager_
1-706-243-8004
news@aflac.com

Budweiser
Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
One Busch Place
St. Louis, MO 63118
Email through their site:
http://contactus.anheuser-busch.com/contactus/email.asp
1 800 DIAL BUD
(1 800 342 5283)

Michael Savage
michaelsavage@paulreveresociety.com

Talk Radio Network
Talk Radio Network
Talk Radio Network
P.O. Box 3755
Central Point, Oregon 97502
Phone: 541-664-8827
Fax: 541-664-6250

The Savage Nation
The Savage Nation
The Paul Revere Society
150 Shoreline Hwy, Bldg E
Mill Valley, CA 94941
Fax: 415-339-9383
Here is a sample message you can use:

Dear Michael Savage Sponsor or Supporter:
We have learned that your company sponsors or supports Michael Savage's radio program.

On a recent program, he attacked children with autism, claiming that autism was a fraud and a scam. He went on to say: 

"I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is."

Savage also used offensive terms to describe autistic children, such as "idiots", "morons" and more.

We parents and family members of an individual with autism will not tolerate Savage's offensive and unacceptable conduct. We respectfully request that your company withdraws their advertising dollars from his programs and, if you broadcast or syndicate his radio show, that you dismiss him immediately.

Autism affects 1 in 150 children in the USA. Each of those children has a circle of family, friends and supporters who share the concerns of the child. We would say that there are likely 10 people for every child with autism who shares that child's concerns.

When you consider this request, please consider that as many as 1 in 15 Americans will be watching your decision and how you react will have a powerful impact on their opinion of your company.

We hope and trust that you will do the right thing.

Respectfully,

The Autism Action Network
Message Brought To You By A-CHAMP
Advocates for Children's Health Affected by Mercury Poisoning

See Our Action Alerts. Click the TAKE ACTION! button
http://capwiz.com/a-champ/home/
www.a-champ.org
BE A-CHAMP FOR CHILDREN!

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.

Head's Up. More CDC CYA/BS Commin' Our Way

The CDC truly has no shame.

They didn't even include autistic children in this study. How much you wanna bet that dispite this fact, we will be reading media headlines that say, "new CDC study proves that vaccines not linked to autism".

[Update: That didn't take long. "New Study Results: Vaccines Not Tied to Autism"]

Exclusion of low birth weight babies, 70% participant drop out rate, focusing on blood mercury levels and ignoring brain mercury, conclusions not backed up by the data, conflicts of interests with all the researchers and on and on...

It is like a greatest hits of all the bad research done in the last decade wrapped up in one convenient package.

This thing looks to be Verstraeten all over again.

Thanks to A-CHAMP for the heads up.

Dear A-CHAMP subscribers:

On September 27, 2007 the New England Journal of Medicine will publish a study entitled, "Early Thimerosal Exposure and Neuropsychological Outcomes at 7 to 10 Years." For more than two years we at A-CHAMP have been hearing rumors of a new study that "exonerates" thimerosal, despite the fact that the study results were supposed to be kept strictly confidential.

Now the rumors have been turned into hype - another government funded study that tries to spin data and clear thimerosal of any suspicion of causing neurodevelopmental disorders. The study authors claim in their "Conclusions" that "[o]ur study does not support a causal association between early exposure to mercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines and immune globulins and neuropsychological functioning at the age of 7 to 10 years."

The statement is plainly false. The study's conclusions do not reflect the study's data or the limitations of the study,

Unfortunately we have come to expect misleading statements – some might say fraudulent statements – from studies emanating from the CDC and their associates. It is not merely the fact that the authors of the study are burdened by large conflicts of interests - almost all of the 18 study authors have worked for vaccine manufacturers, received money from them, or performed research on their behalf. What is truly shocking about this study is that it does, indeed, find significant associations between thimerosal-containing vaccines and tics, speech, executive functioning and attention, but irresponsibly dismisses the associations. The study did not even look at children with autism – that is the subject of another uncompleted study – and children who might be more vulnerable to mercury, like low birth weight babies and children from families with lower incomes, were excluded or under-represented in the study sample

Fortunately, an advocate from our own community was an external consultant to the study, participated in its development from the outset, and is intimately familiar with the data and methodology. She has dissented from the study's conclusions. In addition, our colleagues and fellow parents at SafeMinds will be issuing a critique of the study in the near future. We are also told that the study data will be made publicly available so that independent researchers may examine it and draw their own conclusions.

Although detailed analysis of the study is beyond the scope of this letter, below are some key points that cause us to distrust this study as another attempt to manipulate the scientific and public debate on thimerosal to the detriment of the health and safety of America's children:

1. The Study's Claim of No Causality is Contrary to the Study's Data

The study authors claim that the data disproves causality when in fact, several findings show a negative effect on neuropsychological functioning warranting more study. At least one such adverse association was also found to be associated with low dose thimerosal exposure in other studies. As with earlier studies hyped by vaccine promoters, the study is unable to prove or disprove causality. The blanket dismissal of the troubling neuropsychological outcomes in this study is disingenuous and misleading.

2. Children with autism were excluded from this study

The early media contacts we have received suggest that this study shows no association between thimerosal and autism. In fact, the study specifically did not look at children with autism as the sample size was too small and the testing is impossible to complete for the typical child with autism. The exclusion of children with autism from the study may have undermined the power of the study to draw any conclusions about thimerosal.

3. The Study's Authors Misrepresent Previous Toxicokinetic Studies of Thimerosal

The study authors falsely claim that research by Burbacher et al. at the University of Washington (distribution of thimerosal as compared with methylmercury in infant monkeys) shows that ethylmercury is safer than methylmercury. But the authors focus only on the blood "half-life", ignoring data, showing twice as much inorganic mercury trapped in the brains of monkeys than from same dose of methylmercury.

4. The Study's Methodology has Serious Limitations Negating Any Conclusions Drawn

Major flaws that that causes a large underestimation of neurological adverse effects burden the study: 70% of the families recruited for the study failed to participate. This kind of bias in epidemiological studies is well known to distort even large studies of health effects. (See , for example, NY Times Magazine, "Do We Really Know What Makes Us Healthy" by Gary Taubes 9/16/07). It is well established that people who choose to participate in this kind of study are probably very different than those who refuse to participate (the "healthy person" or "complier" effect); especially when the ones who refused to participate said they were too busy.

Simply put: if you have a kid with ADHD or mild ASD or other neurodevelopmental disorders, you are likely to be busier, more stressed, and less available than the mother of a healthy normal child. This phenomenon serves to amplify the effect of the "complier", the "healthy families," - those who do cooperate with the study - confounding or confusing the study's results. The cooperative parents included in the study were more likely to be those with relatively trouble-free kids

5.Major Conflicts of Interest Burden Almost Every One of the 18 Study Authors

Many of the study authors have either worked for or received money from vaccine manufacturers. Others are employed by the CDC, which has been criticized by an IOM committee for its inherent conflict of interest in promoting vaccines while simultaneously monitoring safety. Many of the remaining study authors have conducted studies for vaccine manufacturers. The conflicts of interest cast doubt on the validity of the study, especially of the clearly biased final conclusions.

6. The High & Low Thimerosal Exposure Groups Too Small to Draw Conclusions

In addition to the number of children of the study being too small to draw statistically significant conclusions, the numbers of children in the high exposure group and the low exposure group were far too small to draw conclusions. Yet the study ignored this limitation and drew sweeping conclusions of no causality.

7.Vulnerable Children Were Excluded from the Study; Early Intervention Was Ignored

Children with a birth weight under 5 lbs. 8 oz. were excluded from the study further skewing the results, as these children are likely more vulnerable to thimerosal than larger babies. In addition, the fact that early intervention may have reduced deficits such as speech delay detected by neuropsychological testing of children aged 7-10 was not accounted for in the study results. There also was no analysis of combined prenatal and postnatal mercury exposures. Only 103 mothers who were exposed to mercury from prenatal immune globulins participated in the study, far too small a group for researchers to draw conclusions regarding the safety of thimerosal in these products.

8. The Study Fails to Account for the Subset of Children with "Efflux Disorder"

Only approximately 1000 children participated in the study, out of more than 3000 that were recruited. In addition to the "complier" bias discussed above, the study sample size is too small to accurately estimate the adverse effect of Thimerosal on the subset of the population who have a problem in mobilizing and excreting mercury. While the study's author's focus on the average time it takes for mercury to clear from the blood, itself misrepresented, we know that in 15% of the population this average is greatly exceeded. It is these children who are vulnerable to the effects of mercury from thimerosal. This study fails to account for the effect of mercury from vaccines on this subset of children.

These are but a few of the serious problems with the study and the way the data have been presented. We look forward to the forthcoming SAFEMINDS critique of the study and thank them for their continued close monitoring and analysis of the scientific research that affects our children.

In the meantime, if you see headlines stating that "Vaccines Cleared in New Study" or "New Study Finds Thimerosal Safe" know that we are all again being played, and that those who we should be able to trust are compromising the truth and the health of our children.

Sincerely,
Bob Krakow, for A-CHAMP

Congress Votes on Banning Mercury From Vaccines

[Update: Make sure you check the bottom to see why ECBT's stance is BS. Also my letter to Mrs. Carter calling her attention to the mercury issue]

Every Child by Two is urging their membership to call congress and oppose this amendment that would make vaccines safer. Here is everything you need to know about Every Child By Two:

Officers:

Kirsten Thistle
Treasurer
Senior Vice-President, APCO Worldwide
(APCO is the PR Agency for: Johnson & Johnson, International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Associations, Novartis Pharmaceuticals – Glivec, Immunex Corporation - Novantrone, The Vaccine Fund, STERIS Corporation and the list goes on)

Board Members:

Craig Engesser
Senior Director, Professional Affairs
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals

Paul Offit, MD
Chief, Section of Immunologic and Infectious Diseases
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Ex-Officio Members:

Anne Schuchat, MD
Director, CDC/National Center for Respiratory and Infectious Diseases

I called their offices and they said that they receive unrestricted grants from pharmaceutical companies.

It is difficult for me to believe that the former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who founded Every Child By Two, understands the dire conflict of interest here. She is a mental health advocate, and advocates for caretakers like us.

I think I will write her a letter too.

Call your Congressman and support the ban on mercury in vaccines.

From A-CHAMP:

Congressional Vote on Mercury Ban Expected

Contact Your Member of Congress ASAP!!!

Take Action!
This past Wednesday, July 11, the House Committee on Appropriations adopted by voice vote an amendment that prevents federal dollars from being used to provide flu vaccines, that contain mercury as a preservative, to children under three years of age. This amendment, offered by Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL) was based on legislation that he has introduced with Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) to completely ban mercury from all vaccines. This bill will come to the floor of the House of Representatives on July 17.

Action You Must Take Today!
You need to e-mail of fax write your member of Congress today.
You may use our automated system to send an email by Clicking Here.

If you want to call or fax your Congressman and don’t know who your Member of Congress is you can find out by Clicking Here or going to http://capwiz.com/a-champ/directory/congdir.tt Your Congressman's contact information can be found there.

E-mail your Member of the House of Representatives AND CALL their office (Congressional Switchboard 202-224-3121 can also get you to your Congressman by phone).

Here is suggested text for a letter if you wish to send a fax or a manual email. The text is also in our pre-written email if you wish to use our automated system:
I am writing you to urge that you vote against any amendment that removes from the FY 2008 House Labor/HHS Appropriation bill the provision that bans mercury (thimerosal) from childhood flu vaccines. I am very concerned that an amendment may be offered on the House floor when this bill is considered that would strip this important provision from the House bill. As my representative, I urge you to vote against any amendment that would leave babies exposed to mercury-laced flu vaccines.

There is no other way to put this - It is just a stupid practice to be injecting babies at 6, 7, 12 and 24 months with the neurotoxin mercury particularly at such a critical stage of neurodevelopment. The House Appropriations Committee agreed overwhelmingly that injecting children with mercury is a bad idea when they adopted an amendment on July 11 offered by Rep. Dave Weldon - a physician.

The developed world other than the United States has essentially banned mercury from all of their childhood vaccines, including the flu vaccine. But, the USA continues to use mercury as a preservative in millions of doses of the flu vaccine given to children. Seven years ago, in 1999, the following concensus was reached by the US's leading public health agencies: “[The] Public Health Service, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and vaccine manufacturers agree that thimerosal-containing vaccines should be removed as soon as possible. Similar conclusions were reached this year in a meeting attended by European regulatory agencies, the European vaccine manufacturers, and the US FDA which examined the use of thimerosal-containing vaccines produced or sold in European countries.”

That was in 1999. In October 2004 the House Appropriations Committee held a hearing on the need to remove mercury as a preservative from childhood flu vaccines. Now, three years later virtually no action has been taken by the CDC, AAP or vaccine makers to eliminate mercury preservative from childhood flu vaccines. The time to end this madness is long overdue.

I appreciate in advance your vote against any amendment that would weaken the Weldon provision that protects babies from exposure of babies to this dangerous neurotoxin. I will be reviewing the record vote on this issue should an amendment be offered to strip this provision.

Thank you for protecting our babies.

Message Brought To You By A-CHAMP
Advocates for Children's Health Affected by Mercury Poisoning
See Our Action Alerts. Click the TAKE ACTION! button

Update: So ECBT says they oppose removing the mercury because, "Sanofi (the only company licensed to supply [flu] vaccine to this age group) has reported that they do not have enough capacity to meet this demand".

Except that Sanofi just announced the opening of their new FLU VACCINE FACILITY! (And yes of course Paul Offit is quoted in the article. Silly of you to even ask.)

New Pa. vaccine plant poised for pandemics
By Karl Stark
Philadelphia Inquirer

SWIFTWATER, Pa. - Here in the former honeymoon capital known as the Pocono Mountains sits a near-windowless building that everyone will know about when the next pandemic flu hits.

Just down the road from a Caesars resort with its heart-shaped pools lies the country's only comprehensive flu-vaccine plant. Drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis announced yesterday that it had finished construction of a $150 million building here that would double its production of vaccine for seasonal or pandemic flu, since both are made nearly the same way.

The highly computerized plant now awaiting final government approval won't be pumping out vaccine until late next year. But the drugmaker invited Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt and the media for a rare peek yesterday at a critical facility before its life-saving balm begins flowing.

Leavitt called the plant critical to the health of the country and the world. "We do know that pandemics happen, and that we will see a pandemic, and that we need to be prepared," he said.

The plant looks like a high-tech hospital on perpetual security alert. No merely curious visitors can enter when it's working. Its 200 production workers - all vaccinated for the flu - will be gowned, gloved and masked.

A few workers went through the motions yesterday, entering rooms through special air locks that help keep the virus in and the contaminants out, and pantomiming production steps as a special filtration system purified the air.

Yet, amid the warren of stainless-steel tubes and vats, the plant will still make vaccine the old-fashioned way: with chicken eggs.

They have incubated flu vaccine reliably since 1935. And the plant will need 600,000 eggs a day at full capacity. Sanofi buys what it needs and more from dedicated egg suppliers, to assure an ample supply.

Sanofi senior vice president Wayne Pisano, who oversees vaccine sales, described the process as tried-and-true, and said the emerging cell-culture-based method has not been perfected for making the millions of doses needed.

Leavitt said the federal government was trying to change that by spending $1 billion over the next five years to improve cell-based technology and to increase U.S. vaccine production. The United States has amassed pre-pandemic vaccine for six million people, along with 50 million doses of antiviral medicines. "Obviously, that's not enough," Leavitt said.

While media attention on flu has receded, Leavitt noted that the flu virus was continuing to change and threaten people. An especially dangerous form, called H5N1, has infected 318 people worldwide and killed nearly 200 since 2003. The world has averaged three flu pandemics a century, the last striking in 1968 and 1969. Sooner or
later, another one will occur, Leavitt said.

The federal government is continuing to prepare. Last month, Sanofi announced a $77.4 million contract from the government to retrofit a second flu factory at the Swiftwater site. The firm, which will also spend $25 million of its own funds, would be able to make 150 million doses a year by 2010, tripling its current production, when all ongoing upgrades are done.

Sanofi, the world's biggest vaccine-maker, isn't the only company in the game. GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C., which has a U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia, is rehabbing a 90-acre former vaccine plant in Marietta, Lancaster County, to make flu and other vaccines. The firm has received a $274 million federal contract to develop the cell-
culture method and to ramp up manufacturing there. Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG is also building a vaccine plant in Holly Springs, N.C. But both projects are years away from production.

Kimberly Elliott, deputy director of Trust for America's Health, a public-health-advocacy group, said the U.S. effort still lags in key aras, such as how to detect the disease quickly and how to handle the large numbers of sick patients in a pandemic. "Most hospitals are already overcrowded," she said. "Hardly any state is doing well on this, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey."

Experts hope that vaccines will provide a lot of protection. And yesterday at the plant, workers were showing how they would be made.

In one room, a mechanical needle will inject virus into the eggs, which will be left to incubate for two or three days.

Workers shine special lights onto the eggs to make sure they are intact. The process is known as "candling" because it was originally done by candlelight.

A mechanical knife then cuts off the top of eggs, and a machine flips 36 at a time, pouring their fluid into a vat. The virus is killed, and then the fluid is run through a centrifuge and purified several times.

"We're still stuck with eggs," noted Paul A. Offit, the chief of the division of infectious diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and author of Vaccinated: One Man's Quest to Defeat the World's Deadliest Diseases.

"I would like to think," he added, that "the fear of the pandemic will enable us to upgrade our flu technology."

My Letter to Mrs. Carter:

Dear Ms. Carter,

I am a Johns Hopkins educated marriage and family therapist and the mother of a 5 year old boy diagnosed with autism and mercury poisoning. At only two weeks of age he was given a Hepatitis B vaccine that contained what is described at "trace" amounts of mercury, after which he developed colic and unexplained fevers that lasted for three months, and bowel problems that persisted for five years. At age two, when he was diagnosed with autism, we tested him and found that he had mercury poisoning. In researching his vaccinations to see if that could be the source, we found that the hep B vaccine that he had just after he was born, the one that is currently on the vaccine schedule, although considered to contain "low dose" or "trace" of mercury, actually exceeded the EPA's safety limits for a person of his weight.

Further research on the EPA's safety limits showed me that they were not based on any research on the safety of injected mercury, and that in fact the only safety study on the mercury containing preservative thimersoal was done in the 1920's on 22 patients who were dieing of meningitis. The study found that there were no long term side effects, because all the participants died with in days of injection. Thimerosal was then put into vaccines, and grandfathered in to the FDA at its inception, with out any further safety testing. That study remains the only safety testing on thimerosal.

For the last three years I have been reading the research on vaccine safety. I was heartbroken to find that the hep B vaccine that my son initially reacted to (eventually loosing speech and eye contact the 4th time he was given the shot at 18 months of age) was given inadequate safety testing as well. Children who got the shot were only followed for three days, a woefully inadequate amount of time to see if the vaccine resulted in immune or neurological changes.

I have also read and analyzed for myself several of the large epidemiological studies that the medical establishment puts forth as proof that thimerosal in vaccines are safe and has no relationship to autism or other developmental disorders. I find that these studies do not measure what they purport to measure and that because of their very narrow inclusion criteria, they cannot be used to determine whether or not thimerosal containing vaccines are safe for my two sons.

Because of our family's experience, I began writing (I maintain a blog at http://adventuresinautism.com) and advocating for adequate research and vaccine safety. This week the bipartisan Mercury Free Vaccines Act of 2007 will be voted on, and your organization, Every Child By Two, is opposing it. I am writing to you to ask you to change your stance and support the complete removal of mercury from vaccines.

Mercury is one of the most potent neurotoxins on the planet and there can be no justification for injecting it into full grown adults much less newborns babies. It is hundreds of times more lethal to humans than lead, yet the medical establishment, who stands firm and united in their assertion that no amount of lead is safe, maintains the nonsensical assertion that there is "no evidence of harm" in injecting a "trace amount" of mercury directly into the blood stream of a developing child, and therefore should be allowed to stay in vaccines.

As I have read the emerging research on the relationship between mercury and neurodevelopmental disorders like autism, and seen the dramatic improvements in my own son as we chelate the metal out of his body, I am convinced that there is a link between mercury in vaccines and autism. But if you are not, would it still not be prudent to remove mercury from vaccines as quickly and completely as we can?

The Every Child By Two's stance is that the effort should be struck down because, "Sanofi (the only company licensed to supply [flu] vaccine to this age group) has reported that they do not have enough capacity to meet this demand". This seems a woefully inadequate justification. Mercury should continue to be injected into small children and pregnant women so that fewer people get the flu for one season?

I read on the web site that you began your vaccination efforts after a measles outbreak killed 150 people. According to the CDC, autism now effects 1 in 150 people. The evidence that vaccines and autism are related are growing every day, as are the number of children who are making a full recovery and loosing their autism diagnosis when they are treated with emerging interventions, like chelation and diet, that are based on the vaccine/autism theory.

Because of mainstream medicine's reluctance to see the possibility that autism is an iatrogenic disorder, confidence in the vaccine program as a whole is at risk. I am one of a growing number of parents who has ceased vaccinating their children all together because I can no longer trust the medical establishment to be honest with me about the risks and benefits to my children's health. I believe complete and verifiable removal of all mercury from all vaccines will be the only thing to prevent further erosion in the program.

If I might be so bold, in my eyes, there is an irony in your work. You advocate strongly for those diagnosed with mental disabilities, like my son, and for caregivers, like me; but your stance on mercury in vaccines has unintentionally served to put us in those positions. Your love and your heart for those of us suffering and struggling with illness is so clear. Please use the better part of caution and support the immediate and complete removal of mercury from vaccines.

If I can be of any further assistance to you in examining this issue further, I would be happy to make my self available in any way I can.

Sincerely,
Ginger Taylor
Chandler's Mother

Autism United: NY Special Ed Chief Denies Autism Increase

Autism United Challenges NY State Special Ed Chief's Denial of Autism Increase

Autism United, a new organization of parents and service organizations, today (7/8/07) submitted a letter to the NY State official in charge of special education policy challenging her statement that "diagnostic shift" explains the increase in the number of children with autism. The NY official's statement, quoted in a July 8, 2007 NY Times article reporting about supposed declining rates of children in special education, is the latest troubling statement by a public official denying the reality of the autism epidemic. Denial of an autism epidemic would justify a public policy denying the expenditure of public funds on the education of children with autism....

Read the whole thing.

A-CHAMP Will Report Daily On Vaccine Hearings

A-CHAMP TO PROVIDE DAILY LEGAL REPORTING
ON CEDILLO HEARING IN VACCINE COURT

New York, New York
June 4, 2007
Contact:
Robert J. Krakow, Esq. 516-354-3300
rkrakow@earthlink.net

A-CHAMP, an organization that advocates for children with vaccine injuries and autism, is pleased to announce that it will be providing daily reporting and commentary on the proceedings in Cedillo v. The Department of Health and Human Services, the first case to be heard of the more than 4800 pending in the vaccine court’s Omnibus Autism Proceeding. The Cedillo case, which will be heard beginning June 11, 2007 by three Special Masters of the United States Court of Federal Claim will consider one theory relating to the claim that vaccines are a contributing causal factor in autism.

Mary Holland, Esq., who teaches law at New York University Law School, will be posting daily commentary on the proceedings on the A-CHAMP blog at http://achampblog.org. Ms. Holland has a child who has been diagnosed with autism but does not have a legal claim pending regarding her child’s disorder.

The goal of A-CHAMP’s reporting by Ms. Holland will be to provide incisive and accurate summaries of the proceedings. The proceedings, which are unprecedented in the history of tort litigation, have been a subject of confusion and controversy among parents. We hope that by elucidating the complexities of the proceedings parents will be placed in an improved position to understand the nature of the issues that will be decided in the vaccine court.

A-CHAMP will also be posting background articles and relevant documents on its website that will be linked to achampblog.org. As the Cedillo case proceeds A-CHAMP invites those who follow the proceedings to comment on it and on our reporting and commentary.

While it has been described as a “test” case the decision in the Cedillo case will not be binding on any other case nor is it necessarily representative of any other case. Many of the facts that likely will emerge in the Cedillo case will also very likely be unique to that case. Nevertheless, as the first legal proceeding in which the substantive claim that vaccines cause autism will be considered, the Cedillo case has historic implications.

For that reason and many others ACHAMP will be there to offer information and commentary to interested parents and others.

To register for daily audio feeds of the Cedillo proceedings go to:
http://registration.teleconferencingcenter.com/menu.php?short_name=autismphoneaudio or

http://tinyurl.com/2owrwd

To view the public documentary record of the Omnibus Autism Proceeding, obtain files containing the proceedings beginning June 11, and other relevant links go to:

http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/omnibus-austim-proceeding

A brief biography of Mary Holland, Esq. will be posted at achampblog.org.

Jonathan's Law

It was a surprise to me that parents anywhere could not have access to their children's records for anything... much less a residential treatment facility.

From A-CHAMP:

Jonathan's Law Goes To Gov. Spitzer for Signature

Tell Governor Spitzer to Sign Jonathan's Law
Protect Your Kids; Get Access to Their Records

Jonathan's Law – A. 6846–A/S. 3105

In February 13-year-old Jonathan Carey tragically died while in a residential care facility. Jonathan's parents had been fighting for years to obtain his records when the tragedy occurred. They are now campaigning to make important records available to parents so that they may better know the care being provided to their children. While most direct care workers are caring and responsible – and work under difficult circumstances – a parent needs to know what is happening to their developmentally disabled child.

The New York State Legislature passed Jonathan's law on Monday, April 23, 2007 and sent the bill to Governor Spitzer for his signature. Support for Jonathan's Law was led by Assembly Member Harvey Weisenberg, longtime advocate for the developmentally disabled.

Tell Governor Spitzer to sign Jonathan's Law.

Click Take Action if you are reading this in an email to Send a Message to Governor Spitzer. If you are reading this on our web site scroll down to send a message.

For a news account of Jonathan's law http://www.examiner.com/a-681399~Senate_approves__Jonathan_s_Law__to_protect_disabled.html.

To read the text of Jonathan's Law, A. 6846-A/S. 3105 Click HERE.

Protect Our Children
Urge the Legislature and Gov. Spitzer to Enact Jonathan's Law.

Thanks for fighting for the rights of developmentally disabled children and their families.

Message Brought To You By A-CHAMP
Advocates for Children's Health Affected by Mercury Poisoning

www.a-champ.org
BE A-CHAMP FOR CHILDREN!

A-CHAMP needs You

From A-CHAMP:

A-CHAMP needs YOU!!!

Passion and Drive alone will not get the work done!

A-CHAMP is a national, non-partisan political action committee formed by parents in support of children with neurodevelopmental and communication disorders. We are dedicated to advancing public policy issues affecting our children, protecting their human and civil rights, educating the public and media, supporting candidates sharing our goals in state and federal elections, and holding accountable those in government who do not act in the best interest of our children.

In our short history, we have successfully:

• Initiated and coordinated state legislative efforts aimed at banning thimerosal from vaccines, achieving success in California, Delaware, Iowa, Missouri, New York and Washington

• Took the lead and forged a collaboration with 50 organizations leading to the passage of an autism insurance reform law that stops discrimination against treatment for autism spectrum disorder. Effective 1/1/07

• Contributed significant background documentation to the Columbia Journalism Review that resulted in an impressive critique of the NY Times and other media coverage regarding the thimerosal/autism controversy.

• Provided information for Robert Kennedy, Jr., contributing to his article “Deadly Immunity” which appeared in Rolling Stone and Salon.com. and Huffington Post op-eds.

• Coordinated The Power of Parents Rally in Washington, DC, October, 2005, gaining support from over 70 other organizations.

• Coordinated The Mercury Generation March and Lobbying Day in Washington, DC in coordination with the DAN! Conference in April, 2006

...and much more.


NOW for us to take on the tough issues for the years to come, we need your help. Our plan includes:

• Acceptance of the biomedical treatments our children need
• Insurance reform to pay for those treatments (state and federal)
• Legislation aimed at respite services and supportive home care
• Environmental research that focuses on vaccines
• Safer mercury-free vaccines and drugs
• Obtaining access to the Vaccine Safety Datalink
• Access to justice and reform of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program

How can you help? We need donations to keep working for the children. Whether the donation is for $5 or $5,000, any donation is appreciated.

We have established a donations page on our website through Pay Pal, available at http://www.a-champ.org/donate.html .
If you would prefer to send a check to help continue the work of A-CHAMP, please make check payable to "A-CHAMP" mail it to:
A-CHAMP
c/o R. Krakow
2001 Marcus Avenue
Suite N125
Lake Success
New York 11042.

Your donations are appreciated will make a difference no matter how much or how little you contribute.
Sincerely,

A-CHAMP


A-Champ is a 501 (c)4 Political Action Organization, all donations are not tax deductible.
http://www.a-champ.org/donate.html

On behalf of all of kids thank you!

Outing the Gay Republicans of Autism?

John Gilmore of A-CHAMP asks the question, should high profile closet DAN! families be outed?

I imagine everybody knows about the problem of the gay Republican politician. There are lots gay Republican politicians, but to be a good Republican these days you have to denounce anything that smacks of homosexuality. This, of course, leads to all kinds of hypocrisy. The gay community is divided about whether these people should be outed or not.

We have a similar problem in the autism movement, and those are the leaders of large autism organizations who refuse to acknowledge that there is an epidemic, refuse to spend any of the money that they have extracted from this community on anything related to vaccine safety issues, mercury or any of the methodologies being investigated by DAN and related researchers.

But at the same time they are taking their own affected children to DAN doctors, chelating their kids, getting them scoped by Wakefield or Krigsman, and refusing vaccines for their children. Are they liars? Are they hypocrites? Are they the people who will get us to where we need to go? And what should be done by the rest of us with our own "gay Republicans." Should we ask them to explain themselves? Is the discrepancy between their public actions and statements and their private actions anybody else's business. Are we not allowed to ask them what they are doing in Arthur Krigsman's waiting room when their organizations won't even acknowledge that GI issues are part of autism. Are we being complicit in hypocrisy by remaining silent?

Update:

I have been thinkin' a little about this and here are my initial thoughts.

I am thinking there are two different ethical scenarios. Because we are talking about children's medical information, I think that we need to be sure we don't step on children's rights.

I am thinking if a parent tells someone in confidence about their child's treatment, and asks that you keep it private, regardless of their public stance, you should not break that trust, unless there is some sort of mistreatment of a specific child going on.

However,

If you see a parent in a waiting room, I think that asking the question, "Why are you not preaching what you practice", is legit. I think that question should be asked in private first to give them the chance to really do some self-examination about the impact of their decision to with hold vital information from other parents who are looking to them as leaders for some direction as to what they should do for their own child.

But if they are given that opportunity and sufficient time to really come around, then I don't think I could condemn anyone who 'outed' them.

I think about this in the context of my own blogging. Now head of a multi-million dollar autism organization I ain't, but I have put myself (and my child to some extent) out in public. I have made myself a public figure (in the legal sense) by blogging. If I am unwilling to open myself up to scrutiny on the issues that I bring to the table, then I have no integrity.

If I encourage parents to look in one direction for treatment while I am pursuing another for my child, then shame on me.

...your thoughts?

The Mercury Moms (and Dads) Head Back to Atlanta

From COMED/Mom's Against Mercury/ACHAMP/United Methodists Women:

We're Headed Back To Atlanta!

To Mark the 7 Year Anniversary of the CDC Simpsonwood Meetings, Moms Against Mercury and CoMeD, Ask You to Save the Dates of
June 7th & 8th, 2007!

On June 7th leaders of the Women's Division of the United Methodist Church, an organization a million strong, will gather the faith community at Simpsonwood, to redress the deeds done there, seven years ago. The two day event is known as, "The Truth Is Coming To Light".

In support of "The Truth Is Coming To Light" event, we will be holding the "Simpsonwood Remembered" Rally on June 8, 2007.

To read about the efforts of the United Methodists Women's Division to protect children from mercury containing vaccines, please go to
http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umw/ (scroll down)

Hang on.....more information and details will be available in February 2007 via SAR, EOH Yahoo Board, Moms Against Mercury email list and A-CHAMP email list.

Until then....just remember...save the dates June 7th and 8th!

PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO OTHER BOARDS

Offit's Vaccine Up For Approval by FDA

From John Gilmore at ACHAMP:

A vaccine for rotavirus (Rotateq) developed by Merck, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Paul Offit, America's most quoted promoter and apologist for the vaccine industry, will be considered for licensure on December 14 and by the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research of the FDA.

Offit and his partners Merck and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, first received a patent for a rotavirus vaccine in 1994. Offit later voted to add rotavirus vaccine (a variety from Wyeth not Merck) to the recommended schedule of vaccines when he was a member of the FDA's Advisory Committee of Immunization Practices. Despite his ownership of a rotavirus vaccine patent Offit saw no need to recuse himself from several votes on adding rotavirus to the schedule, which is one of the last steps to inclusion in the mandatory schedules, and a guaranteed market worth billions to a vaccine maker, and comes with complete immunity from lawsuits.

This vaccine was rushed into distribution has quickly shown to cause massive intestinal damage and death in a small but vulnerable subset of children. It was just as quickly removed form the market.

According to the FDA website three of the members of the Committee's members have applied for and received waivers dor potential conflicts of interest

Participation of the public is permitted in this meeting:

Date and Time:
The meeting will be held on December 14, 2005, 9:00 am to 4:30 pm; and on December 15, 2005, 9:00 am to 4:30 pm

Location:
Holiday Inn Select, 8120 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, MD, 20814, 301-652-2000 .

Contact Persons:
Christine Walsh, R.N. or Denise Royster, 301-827-0314, or FDA Advisory Committee Information Line, 1-800-741-8138 (301-443-0572 in the Washington, DC area), code 3014512391. Please call the Information Line for up-to-date information on this meeting.

Agenda:
On December 14, 2005, the Committee will hear presentations and make recommendations on the safety and efficacy of a Rotavirus Vaccine manufactured by Merck. On December 15, 2005, the Committee will hear presentations and make recommendations on the safety and efficacy of ZOSTAVAX (Zoster Vaccine Live [Oka/Merck] ) manufactured by Merck.

Oral Presentations:
Between approximately 1:15 and 1:45 pm, on December 14, 2005; and 1:30 and 2:00 pm on December 15, 2005, oral presentations from the public will be scheduled. Those desiring to make formal oral presentations should notify the contact person before December 7, 2005.

RotaTeq®
Paul Offit at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia developed a vaccine based on a bovine strain of rotavirus (WC-3). Merck is currently running Phase III trials of a modified version of his quadravalent reassortant vaccine.

Aiming to avoid the adverse affects that RotaShield® was associated with, the vaccine is based on a bovine strain of rotavirus. The bovine strain was chosen because it replicates less prolifically in the human gastrointestinal tract than the simian strain used for the tetravalent rhesus reassortant vaccine. [1] Each of the five reassortants consists of the genetic backbone of the bovine virus with an inserted gene coding for a different human rotavirus surface protein. The inserted genes were selected to represent a broad range of serotypes in order to elicit protection against a wide variety of strains.

Genes coding for four VP7 proteins and one VP4 protein are included in the reassortants. Human serotypes G1, G2, G3 and G4 are represented by the four VP7 proteins, and serotype P1a is represented by the VP4 protein. [2]

Initial trials of a similar live quadrivalent human-bovine reassortant vaccine demonstrated promising protection against rotavirus infection. [3] Differing from the Merck vaccine only by the exclusion of serotype G4, this vaccine's results likely mirror the protection that RotaTeq® will afford.

The quadrivalent vaccine, which was delivered to vaccinees in three oral doses at 2, 4, and 6 months of age (identical to the Merck vaccine delivery schedule), showed 74.6% efficacy against any rotavirus infection and 100% efficacy against severe rotavirus infection. No increase in diarrhea, vomiting, fever or irritability was reported as compared to the recipients of the placebo.

The immunogenicity of the quadrivalent vaccine was reflected in an increased ratio of rotavirus specific IgA to total IgA as measured in the vaccinee's stool. [3]

Licensure of RotaTeq® by the FDA is predicted for 2005 if Phase III trials are successful.

Out of the Abundance of the Heart, the Mouth Speaks

From John Gilmore of A-CHAMP:

Check out the CDC's official annual report:

The State of the CDC, Fiscal Year 2004, CDC Protecting Health for Life

http://www.cdc.gov/cdc.pdf

Do a search for "Autism".

What do you find?

Nothing.

Are we surprised?

Perhaps you might want to ask CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding, MD, MPH, what this says about CDC priorities.

Call her at 404-639-7000.