The Next Chapter in the Vaccine Autism Story Begins Tomorrow

In 2008 Johns Hopkins Neurologist Jon Poling went public with the news that his daughter Hannah, who regressed into autism following her 18 month vaccines, was paid by the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.

CDC, in a public statement, claimed that the Hannah Poling case was "rare" and should not be generalized to "normal" children. Days after the Poling's announcement, the Hiatt family also went public with their VICP ruling that their autistic daughter Madison was also a vaccine injury victim. Then the Banks family went public. Finally, CBS News reported finding 7 more vaccine/autism cases that dated back to 1991, the very beginning of the autism epidemic.

So the autism community wanted to know... just how many cases of autism have been paid by the program that was established in 1986, how "rare" is this, and what did the government know about vaccine injury and autism causation that they were not telling the public and the medical community. After being questioned by a journalist, the department of HHS that oversees the VICP issued the following statement on whether this was an admission that the government was now paying children for vaccine induced autism. The "official response" from HRSA:

"From: Bowman, David (HRSA) [mailto:DBowman@hrsa.gov]
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 5:22 PM
To: 'dkirby@nyc.rr.com'
Subject: HRSA Statement

David,

In response to your most recent inquiry, HRSA has the following
statement:

The government has never compensated, nor has it ever been ordered to
compensate, any case based on a determination that autism was actually
caused by vaccines. We have compensated cases in which children
exhibited an encephalopathy, or general brain disease. Encephalopathy
may be accompanied by a medical progression of an array of symptoms
including autistic behavior, autism, or seizures.

Some children who have been compensated for vaccine injuries may have
shown signs of autism before the decision to compensate, or may
ultimately end up with autism or autistic symptoms, but we do not track
cases on this basis.

Regards,

David Bowman
Office of Communications
Health Resources and Services Administration
301-443-3376"

This admission of a link to autism, and the disturbing revelation that the government was not even planning on counting how many autism cases it had paid from the vaccine injury fund, made it clear that HHS's claims of concern for the rise in autism rates and concern for vaccine safety were less than sincere, and that it was time for an investigation into the VICP to find out how many of the cases of vaccine induced encephalopathy (brain damage) resulted in "autistic behavior, autistic symptoms or autism" as Bowman had referenced.

Tomorrow the results of this two year investigation will be revealed and we will get a better look into what the government knows about vaccine/autism causation and how long they have known it.


Live Broadcasting by Ustream

Please tune in to the press conference tomorrow (streaming live on the internet at USTREAM), Tuesday, May 10 at Noon Eastern to the announcement take place on the steps of the US Supreme Court, that ruled only two months ago that vaccine injury cases would never be heard in a court of law, but must go through the corrupt Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.

The EBCALA Press Release:


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ELIZABETH BIRT CENTER FOR AUTISM LAW AND ADVOCACY (EBCALA)

CONTACT NICOLE WILLIAMS
(301) 625-7772
OR
DANIELLE ORSINO
(480) 200-4411

Investigators and Families of Vaccine-Injured Children to Unveil Report Detailing Clear Vaccine-Autism Link Based on Government’s Own Data

Report Demands Immediate Congressional Action

Directors of the Elizabeth Birt Center for Autism Law and Advocacy (EBCALA), parents and vaccine-injured children will hold a press conference on the steps of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (717 Madison Place, NW in Washington, DC) on Tuesday, May 10 at 12:00 PM to unveil an investigation linking vaccine injury to autism. For over 20 years, the federal government has publicly denied a vaccine-autism link, while at the same time its Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) has been awarding damages for vaccine injury to children with brain damage, seizures and autism. This investigation, based on public, verifiable government data, breaks new ground in the controversial vaccine-autism debate.

The investigation found that a substantial number of children compensated for vaccine injury also have autism. The government has asserted that it “does not track” autism among the vaccine-injured. Based on this preliminary investigation, the evidence suggests that autism is at least three times more prevalent among vaccine-injured children than among children in the general population.

The federal government has called autism a “national health emergency,” conservatively affecting 1 in 110 children and costing the country billions of dollars each year.

Because almost all children in the United States are required by law to receive between 30-45 vaccines in order to attend public school, it is crucial that the VICP decide cases with justice and transparency.

EBCALA and the families of the vaccine-injured call on Congress to investigate the VICP, the only forum in which parents may bring claims of vaccine injury on behalf of their children.

WHERE: United States Court of Claims
717 Madison Place, NW
Washington, DC

WHEN: Tuesday, May 10
12:00 PM noon


--
Thank you,
EBCALA Host Committee

Vaccines Don't CAUSE Autism, They Just RESULT in Autism

(looking at my stopwatch) aaaaaaaaand time!

Hannah Poling finally gets paid for her vaccine induced resulted autism.

So if a brilliant Johns Hopkins neurologist and his super smarty nurse/lawyer wife file a vaccine injury claim for their daughter, that is such a slam dunk case that the government does not even bother to fight it but concedes the case, they can expect to wait, let see... add the four, carry the three, divide by pain and suffering and... oh, thats not bad... ONLY ten years, one month and two weeks or so after the child is injured to be paid by the government. Yep! That is one compassionate program alright!

Mind you the Polings have been dragged through the mud, personally and professionally, for daring to file in the VICP and win to get money to help their daughter. Oh... and they also had the bad taste to tell people. In public even. Bastards.

But at least we have finally gotten a straight answer from the government on whether or not vaccines cause autism. Turns out that vaccines don't "cause" autism, they just "result" in autism. From CBS News:

In acknowledging Hannah's injuries, the government said vaccines aggravated an unknown mitochondrial disorder Hannah had which didn't "cause" her autism, but "resulted" in it.

THANK GOD! Parents, you can go back to blindly trusting their government. All your questions and concerns about the safety of the vaccine program have been asked and answered with the utmost integrity and with thorough thoroughness.

Sleep in peace citizens. All is well.

Government heath care is awesome.  More government health care please.

(And I hope Hannah fully recovers and buys a Ferrari with whatever is left of her 1.5 mil)


Update:

I thought I might include this email from David Bowman at HRSA. He sent it to David Kirby last year in response to an inquiry.

From: Bowman, David (HRSA) [mailto:DBowman@hrsa.gov]
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 5:22 PM
To: 'dkirby@nyc.rr.com'
Subject: HRSA Statement

David,

In response to your most recent inquiry, HRSA has the following
statement:

The government has never compensated, nor has it ever been ordered to
compensate, any case based on a determination that autism was actually
caused by vaccines. We have compensated cases in which children
exhibited an encephalopathy, or general brain disease. Encephalopathy
may be accompanied by a medical progression of an array of symptoms
including autistic behavior, autism, or seizures.

Some children who have been compensated for vaccine injuries may have
shown signs of autism before the decision to compensate, or may
ultimately end up with autism or autistic symptoms, but we do not track
cases on this basis.

Regards,

David Bowman
Office of Communications
Health Resources and Services Administration
301-443-3376

So again... vaccines cause encephalopathy which progresses into autism, but vaccines don't cause autism. And by the way, HHS does not track whether or not vaccines cause autism, they just pay attention to cases where vaccines cause encephalopathy. Then they stick their fingers in their ears and yell "la la la, I'm not listing", when parents come back a month later and say their child has been diagnosed with autism.

Why does anyone take vaccine advice from these people? Why did I?


Nostalga Update:

Oh alright... one more time just for fun.



And for those of you who would like to reminise more about the absurdity of the governments position on the Poling decision: Spinning the Hannah Poling Case

HOLY CRAP UPDATE: Hannah is not getting 1.5 mil, she is getting around 20 million dollars!

CBS has updated their post to read:

"The first court award in a vaccine-autism claim is a big one. CBS News has learned the family of Hannah Poling will receive more than $1.5 million dollars for her life care; lost earnings; and pain and suffering for the first year alone.

In addition to the first year, the family will receive more than $500,000 per year to pay for Hannah's care. Those familiar with the case believe the compensation could easily amount to $20 million over the child's lifetime".

The government is paying Hannah Poling 20 million dollars for a vaccine injury that the same government claims does not exist.

I am speechless.

Maine CDC Autism Conference: How Do We Know What Autism IS NOT if We Do Not Know What Autism IS? by Jon Poling, MD, PhD

Maine CDC Autism Conference 2009
Looking Forward Beyond Vaccines: How Do We Know What Autism IS NOT if We Do Not Know What Autism IS? Followed by Q&A with other conference speakers.
Jon Poling, MD, PhD
Neurologist, Clinical Assistant Professor
Medical College of Georgia
Father of child with autism

Contradictory Rulings in the Vaccine Court

[An alternate version of this piece was written in response to an article in Utah Stories.]

Many have cited three cases in which The Health and Human Service's vaccine court ruled out vaccines as a cause of a child's autism, but don't mention the 10 cases (discovered by CBS News) that were won in that court by children with autism.

Three of those 10 families have gone public, The Polings, The Banks and The Hiatts.

The Poling case is the only one that received mainstream media coverage.

Only ten days after we heard that the court said MMR doesn't cause autism, we heard that the same court said that MMR caused Baily Banks autism.

"In his conclusion, Special Master Abell wrote:

The Court found that Bailey's ADEM was both caused-in-fact and proximately caused by his vaccination. It is well-understood that the vaccination at issue can cause ADEM, and the Court found, based upon a full reading and hearing of the pertinent facts in this case, that it did actually cause the ADEM. Furthermore, Bailey's ADEM was severe enough to cause lasting, residual damage, and retarded his developmental progress, which fits under the generalized heading of Pervasive Developmental Delay, or PDD. The Court found that Bailey would not have suffered this delay but for the administration of the MMR vaccine, and that this chain of causation was not too remote, but was rather a proximate sequence of cause and effect leading inexorably from vaccination to Pervasive Developmental Delay.

And he added this:

Petitioner's theory of PDD caused by vaccine-related ADEM causally connects the vaccination and the ultimate injury, and does so by explaining a logical sequence of cause and effect showing that the vaccination was the ultimate reason for the injury.

Shouldn't we be shouting a collective, "WHAT?!" to The Department of Health and Human Services for their contradictory positions?

Here is the thing, when the Department of Health and Human Services puts the Department of Health and Human Services on trial, and the Department of Health and Human Services wins, that is not news. When they put themselves on trial and loose, as in the Poling, Banks and Hiatt cases THAT IS NEWS!

THOSE are the cases we should be demanding answers from the government on.

The Poling family has requested that their daughters case files can be made public so everyone can know the reasoning behind HHS's decision, but HHS isn't sharing any of their insight into WHY Hanna deserves a million 20 million bucks for her vaccine injury.

So let's not boil this debate down to scientist v. tv stars. There are MANY in the scientific and public health community who believe that vaccines are involved in the autism epidemic.

And apparently HHS itself does too because it keeps paying claims for autistic kids.

Please take a moment and check out the VICP's vaccine injury table for yourself. You will note that "encephalopathy" is listed as a compensated injury for DTaP and MMR.

Then scroll down to the middle of the page and look at the symptoms of encephalopathy for 18 month olds:

1. Loss of eye contact
2. Unresponsive to stimuli except for loud shouts
3. Seems disconnected from the world around him

THAT is a description of a child with "autism".

THAT was a description of MY son after his DTaP shot for which he was diagnosed with "autism".

The government has ruled that vaccines do and do not cause autism. Are You ok with that solid, definitive, case closed argument?

I REALLY hope not.

It is time for HHS to make the Poling documents public, and to answer to the public for their untenable, illogical position.

David Kirby: The Growing List of Professionals Recognizing the Vaccine/Autism Connection

From David Kirby:

The List Keeps Growing
By David Kirby

It’s getting harder to keep up with the list of scientists, doctors, and public health officials who now believe that a vaccine-autism connection is at the least possible, and should be researched further.

Earlier this week, Dr. Peter Fletcher, former Chief Scientific Officer at the UK Department of Health was added. Now, eight more prominent researchers have joined the group. (See list below – they are the last eight names added).

These are the authors of the new study, “Mitochondrial Disease in Autism Spectrum Disorder Patients: A Cohort Analysis,” who did chart reviews on Hannah Poling and two dozen other young people with autism and mitochondrial dysfunction.

In my opinion, it could well prove to be one of the most significant autism studies published to date. (My Huffington Post article on this is HERE:

Mito disorders, which might affect 7-to-30 percent of all children with ASD, can predispose kids to developmental regression following a stressful trigger. Such a trigger might come from a febrile infection – or it could conceivably come from a vaccine reaction, the authors wrote.

“There might be no difference between the inflammatory or catabolic (breaking down of tissue) stress of vaccinations and that of common childhood diseases, which are known precipitants of mitochondrial regression,” they said.

And then they wrote this: “Large, population-based studies will be needed to identify a possible relationship of vaccination with autistic regression in persons with mitochondrial cytopathies (cellular disorders).”

And so, they get added to the list.

The list keeps changing in other ways. For example, late last spring it listed, “all three presidential candidates” (Obama, Clinton and McCain). Soon enough, that will be changed to US President, Secretary of State, and a pivotal and potentially filibuster-busting Senator from Arizona.

Another change: Before, the list said, “Autism researchers at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center.” Now, those people can be named, along with their colleagues: Investigators at the Cleveland Clinic and Massachusetts General Hospital. I have also listed a Harvard scientist who sits on an advisory panel of the federal Inter-Agency Autism Committee (IACC).

It makes you wonder how long the term “fringe” can seriously be applied to people who believe that this debate is not over.

Finally, keep your eye on the draft National Vaccine Plan at HHS, especially this January - right around the time the nation gets a new HHS Secretary and, reportedly, a new Director of the CDC – both of whom could potentially be added to the list, as well.

-----------------------------------------------

In 2008, the following groups and individuals have advocated, or at least considered, further study of a possible vaccine-autism connection:

1) Presidenti-Elect Barack Obama,
2) Sen. Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State Designee
3) Sen. John McCain, Senior Senator from Arizona and pivotal minority vote
4) Dr. Julie Gerberding, Director of the CDC
5) Dr. Bernadine Healy, Former Director of the NIH and President of the American Red Cross
6) Rep. Brad Miller, (D-NC), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight of the House Committee on Science and Technology
7) Members of the HHS Vaccine Safety Working Group
8) Officials at the CDC’s Immunization Safety Office who drafted the federal vaccine safety research agenda, the National Vaccine Plan
9) Medical personnel at the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program of HHS, who ordered federal compensation to Hannah Poling for her vaccine-associated autism.
10) Members of the CDC’s Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Network (CISA)
11) America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the national association representing nearly 1,300 companies covering more than 200 million Americans
12) Research grant making officials at Autism Speaks
13) Dr. Douglas Wallace, Professor of Molecular Medicine at the University of California, Irvine, Director of the UCI Center for Molecular and Mitochondrial Medicine in Genetics, and member of the Scientific & Medical Advisory Board of the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation
14) Dr. Peter Fletcher, former Chief Scientific Officer at the UK Department of Health
15) Dr. Jon Poling, prominent neurologist and father to Hannah Poling
16) Dr. Isaac Pessah, Professor and Chair, VM: Molecular Biosciences,
Director, Center for Children’s Environmental Health, University of California, Davis, and member of the Strategic Planning Workgroup for Autism Spectrum Disorders of the federal Inter-Agency Autism Committee (IACC).
17) Dr. Martha Herbert, Assistant Professor, Pediatric Neurology Director, Transcend Research Program, Harvard Medical School, and member of the Strategic Planning Workgroup for Autism Spectrum Disorders of the federal Inter-Agency Autism Committee (IACC).
18) Dr. Geraldine Dawson, Chief Science Officer, Autism Speaks, and member of the Strategic Planning Workgroup for Autism Spectrum Disorders of the federal Inter-Agency Autism Committee (IACC).
19) Dr. Jacqueline R. Weissman, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine
20) Dr. Richard I. Kelley, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University Medical Center and Division of Metabolism, Kennedy Krieger Institute
21) Dr. Margaret L. Bauman, Department of Pediatrics and Learning and Developmental Disabilities Evaluation and Rehabilitation Services (LADDERS), Massachusetts General Hospital
22) Dr. Bruce H. Cohen, Neurological Institute and Pediatrics Institute, Cleveland Clinic
23) Dr. Katherine F. Murray, Genomic Department of Pediatrics and Learning and Developmental Disabilities Evaluation and Rehabilitation Services (LADDERS), Massachusetts General Hospital
24) Dr. Rebecca L. Mitchell, Genomic Medicine Institute, Cleveland Clinic
25) Dr. Rebecca L. Kern, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University Medical Center and Division of Metabolism, Kennedy Krieger Institute
26) Dr. Marvin R. Natowicz, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine


“HONORARY MEMBER”:

HHS Secretary Designee Tom Daschel, who said in November of 2002: “Mercury-based vaccine preservatives actually have caused autism in children.”

Jon Poling Corrects Paul Offit Again, This Time in the NEJM

A few months ago, Paul Offit told some mistruths about the Poling case in the NYT, and they ran Jon Poling's correction a few days later.

Offit has not stopped lying mistruthing and now Poling is correcting him publicly for a second time, now in the New England Journal of Medicine.

One of the errors that Offit keeps repeating is that the Poling judgment was a court decision (Offit's disciple Amanda Peet repeated this untrue statement on GMA yesterday), which I have heard him state repeatedly since Poling corrected him last spring.  Offit's assertion is that these decisions don't belong in the courts, but that they should only be made by doctors, which is exactly how the Poling case was made.  So then why would Offit be complaining about something that actually worked the way that he said it should work?

At first I thought that he was just not listening, assumed that it was a court ruling and just shooting his mouth off with out thinking.  But then I realized that he is not claiming that the Poling decision was a court case and dismissing court decisions to insulate the vaccine program from the Poling decision, he was doing it to insulate Vaccine Inc. from all the forth coming decisions from the Omnibus hearings and any of the other 5,000 cases pending in vaccine court.

He knows that petitioners will be awarded judgments by the court and he is trying to use his interviews on the Poling case front load his talking points that delegitimatize the "unusual vaccine court".

This is all IMHO of course.

New England Journal of Medicine  Volume 359:655-656 August 7, 2008

Vaccines and Autism Revisited

"To the Editor: In his Perspective article on a possible connection between vaccines and autism, Offit (May 15 issue)¹ speculates about my daughter, Hannah, and repeats inaccuracies from a March New York Times opinion piece that was officially corrected by the Times and our April 5 letter. By omitting critical information from my March 6, 2008, statement, Offit misrepresents my position. I said, "Many in the autism community and their champions believe that the result in this case may well signify a landmark decision as it pertains to children developing autism following vaccinations. This still remains to be seen, but currently there are almost 5,000 other cases pending."

Offit's remarks about Hannah's case are not evidence-based. He has no access to my daughter's personal medical records, legal documents, or affidavits. In contrast, physicians from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) who studied this information recommended that the government concede Hannah's case. The clinical history Offit presents contains significant inaccuracies, and the resulting conclusions are consequently flawed.

Offit confuses issues by comparing Hannah's case with unrelated decisions in "vaccine court." The Office of the Secretary of DHHS, through the Department of Justice, conceded Hannah's case. There was no courtroom hearing and no decision from the "unusual vaccine court."

Offit is frequently cited regarding the "biologically plausible" theory that simultaneous administration of multiple vaccines is safe. His opinion is unsupported by clinical trials, much less investigations in potentially susceptible subpopulations.

Despite the high frequency of mitochondrial dysfunction in autistic children,² studies have not established primary or secondary roles. To explore this question, we need an immunization database for children with metabolic disorders to establish safety guidelines³ and improve vaccine safety for minority subgroups of children.

I agree with the statement of Bernadine Healy, former director of the National Institutes of Health, who said, "I don't think you should ever turn your back on any scientific hypothesis because you're afraid of what it might show. . . . If you know that susceptible group, you can save those children.

If you turn your back on the notion there is a susceptible group . . . what can I say?"⁴ Also commendable is the new 5-year research plan of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee, which will entail the study of minority subpopulations, including patients with mitochondrial disorders.⁵

A strong, safe vaccination program is a cornerstone of public health. Misrepresenting Hannah Poling v. HHS to the medical profession does not improve confidence in the immunization program or advance science toward an understanding of how and why regressive encephalopathy with autistic features follows vaccination in susceptible children.


Jon S. Poling, M.D., Ph.D.
Athens Neurological Associates
Athens, GA 30606
jpoling@athensneuro.com


Dr. Poling is the father of Hannah Poling and reports receiving consulting or lecture fees from Pfizer, Eisai, Ortho-McNeil, Biogen, Teva, Immunex, and Allergan. No other potential conflict of interest relevant to this letter was reported."

So now Offit has been twice publicly corrected in two of the highest profile publications in the world, and from here on out if we hear Offit repeat the "court case" misinformation, there can be no doubt that the man knows exactly what he is doing and he is just a flat out liar.

Yesterday at the "Vaccinate Your Baby" press conference Offit said that Bernadine Haley, former head of NIH who believes that the vaccine/autism link may be real and it should be the focus of study, must not have done her research, since she disagreed with him.  He continues to lie about the Poling case despite the recurrent corrections of Jon Poling a respected Neurologist with Johns Hopkins credentials.

I think Offit is so used to just saying whatever he wants about anyone that disagreed with his vaccine stance for a long time, with few consequences, because when he started years ago it was only powerless parents that he was degrading.  He does not seem to have noticed that now that respected people in main stream medicine are waking up to the problem, his blanket smearing of people who take the theory seriously, and lying about the facts is now a slap in the face of people much more respected than he is.

But I guess he has that book coming out in a month so there is no turning back for him.  He is all in and will be going out with a bang.

UPDATE:  Don't miss Anne Dachel's post on the matter over at Age of Autism. 

Hey Dr. Gerberding.. What is this "Autism-Like Syndrome"

"While we recognize, and have recognized, mitochondrial disorders are associated with... autism-like syndrome, there is nothing about this situation that should be generalized to the risks of vaccines for normal children," said Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. - The Washington Post

Hey Julie... What is this "Autism-Like Syndrome" you speak of?

How does it differ from actual "Autism"?

Does my child have "Autism" or "Autism-Like Syndrome"?

Where is my resource to find out about this "Autism-Like Syndrome" that CDC has recognized both now and in the past that is associated with mitochondrial disorders? I have checked the CDC's web site and can't find anything.

Are there some case studies you can point me to?

Is this the same as the "Symptoms of Autism" that Hannah Poling got from her Vaccines?

Is this the same thing as "Vaccine Induced Encephalopathy"? 'Cause that has the symptoms of autism too.

Is CDC going to put out an "Autism-Like Syndrome Alarm" like the Autism Alarm that you put out for pediatricians so that they can tell the difference between these syndromes, correctly diagnose their patients and get them appropriate care?

What about a "Vaccine Induced Encephalopathy Alarm"? I just talked to a soon to be pediatrician graduating from med school who said she was not taught about Vaccine Induced Encephalopathy. She had never heard of it. Pretty poor on the medical establishments part not to teach their own doctors to look for known, permanent, kinda brain damagie side effects of pharmaceuticals that they are administering DOZENS OF TIMES A DAY!

Wait... CDC lady... aren't you the one who is supposed to be setting standards for medical care in this country? Have you not made sure that medical doctors look for medical conditions like Vaccine Induced Encephalopathy that explains "Autism Like" symptoms right off the bat?

I mean shouldn't doctors rule that out first before jumping to a psychological diagnosis of Autism with 'no cause and no cure'?

And how can they rule out that diagnosis if they are never even taught of it's existence? Hmmmm....

... and what about your comment about not generalizing vaccine damage in children with mitochondrial disorders to "normal" children? Which are the "normal" children?

Hannah Poling seemed to everyone a "normal" child before her vaccine induced, mitochondrial related, regression into "encephalopathy" with "autism like" "symptoms" that was diagnosed as "autism".

My son was "normal" too. Or was he? How can I know?

If we can't see the not "normal" kids with the naked eye, then why are we not testing for not "normal"? Or should pediatricians just be checking birth certificates for any child named "Abby Normal" and assume THAT is the "rare" child who has an undiagnosed mito disorder and will get "Autism Like Syndrome" from vaccines?

Come to think of it, if Hannah didn't show any outward symptoms that she was not "normal", how can ANY parent know that their baby is "normal"?

This is all so confusing for my tiny little, desperate, emotional, non vaccine expert, parent mind. I better rest it before I give myself a headache.

So many questions... absolutely no answers.

Speaking of no answers, I have been emailing CDC since March asking for those "15 good studies" that CDC stands behind and is basing it's "no link between vaccines and autism" stance on. I just keep getting responses that CDC will get back to me.

It has been three months. If you don't have 15 good studies that prove no link, then can you just send me a note to that effect so I can stop bugging you guys every two weeks?

But seriously...

When is the media going to stop giving CDC a pass on these increasingly absurd statements? Shankar Vedantam is given the chance to actually question a 'vaccine expert' who is an autism dad and should have answered to these essential questions to his satisfaction before spiking the vaccine autism connection, and there is no sign that any of these important questions were even considered. But we did find out that Hotez is insulted at the idea that anyone would cover up a vaccine/autism connection.

Has the medical community not noticed that we don't care if anyone is insulted by this anymore? Because that concern was last seen somewhere in the spring of 2004 around the time of the IOM "don't even bother looking at vaccines" decision. And the Simpsonwood transcripts put the last nail in that coffin.


Dear Media,

DO YOUR JOB!

Autistic children have been being paid from the Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund for more than 15 years!!! How many clues do you need that there is a big fat link between vaccines and autism before you call shenanigans on the AAP, CDC and HHS!

How much easily disprovable "Bullshit" do they need to shovel for you guys to report that their story is not adding up?

... and Shankar, I feel for the thousands of African children struggling with diseases that I have never heard of before, but the reason that I have never heard of them before, is because they are not a threat to my American child. Please stop trying to change the subject of the American autism epidemic by mentioning that other diseases exist in other places. Either vaccines can cause autism or they can't. The fact that they also may or may not help with other illness does not change that. Safety and effectiveness are two different issues.

... and please stop falling for this "talking about vaccines and diet treatments distracts from genetic biomarkers" crap. Untold millions in research has been poured into genetic causes for three or four decades now with ZERO applicable results and with a comparative nothing going into treatments that are actually working for our kids. Do your research before quoting a college sophomore. You are using up valuable space in one of the world's most influential papers interviewing a 19 year old who 'might' study autism one day.

Julie Gerberding has already gone on TV and admitted that vaccines can cause autism and explained how it happens. Please get your head out of the sand.

God bless the few of you reporters that are out there doing your jobs for real. I hope you all get Pulitzers when this is done with.

Ginger... getting snarky and annoyed

Kirby on NYC Radio: The Joan Hamburg Show

Kirby on NYC Radio: The Joan Hamburg Show

Sharyl Attkisson Reports on the Governmnets "See No Evil" Behavior

CBS is catching on to the fact that the government does not ask the questions that one would naturally ask if they actually wanted to know if and how vaccines cause autism.

And she correctly points out that the question of "Do vaccines cause autism" is now off the table with the Hannah Poling case. The question now in play is "How to vaccines cause autism".

Vaccine Watch
by Sharyl Attkisson
June 19, 2008, 10:34 AM
(AP)

After a decade of denying any possible association between vaccines and autism, the government quietly settled a vaccine-autism case last fall. When news of the case leaked out to the public months later, government officials labelled the case of Hannah Poling an "anomoly." The truth is, nobody is in a position to know whether Hannah's case is an exception. Government officials have told CBS News that they have not tracked vaccine-autism claims to see how many of them might involve children with the same undetected mitochondrial disorder Hannah had... one that may have made her susceptible to side effects from vaccines, triggering her autism. Government officials have also acknowledged to CBS News that they haven't looked for common denominators in other autism-related cases which have been compensated in federal vaccine court. Yes, there are other cases that have been paid. As CBS News has reported, the government has been settling vaccine injuries that resulted in autism and/or autistic symptoms since at least the early 1990's, while at the same time telling the public there is no cause for concern. Not all of the cases are published, but some of them are and can be found by searching legal case databases. That... with the help of some well-placed sources... is how CBS News turned up at least nine more cases... and counting. Considering that only a tiny fraction of vaccine-autism claims find their way to the little-known vaccine court, these cases are just a sampling of the total that may actually exist in the population. Further, according to knowledgeable sources, vaccine injuries compensated in the past due to encephalopathy (or brain damage) "often" resulted in autism, but the autism label was not used. Again, the government does not track how many of the encephalopathy cases involved children who got autism or ADD after their vaccinations.

One important factor is often lost in the discussion of a handful of cases: the fact that the debate has shifted from whether vaccines have any relationship to some cases of autism... to what is the role of vaccines in some cases of autism. And how big is the pool of cases. If vaccines can trigger autism in any way, directly or indirectly, that contradicts all the rhetoric and dogma heard from many public and government health officials for the past decade. And it supports what many other researchers have been saying for a decade, often to deaf ears, even after they published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Which is probably why Hannah's case is resonating under the radar in the medical community. A government conference has now been scheduled for later this month to examine mitochondrial disorders like hers and autism or neurological "triggers" (i.e. vaccines). See below.

Workshop

Mitochondrial Disorders of Childhood: Testing, Potential Relationships to Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Triggers for Neurological Deterioration June 29, 2008

Workshop Goals and Objectives

"Mitochondrial Disorders of Childhood: Testing, Potential Relationships to Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Triggers for Neurological Deterioration" is a workshop to be held on Sunday June 29th after the close of the United Mitochondrial Disease Meeting in Indianapolis at the Hyatt Regency Indianapolis. The workshop will convene 11 experts in mitochondrial disorders or autism to discuss how the neurology of mitochondrial disorders might inform autism research.

The conference is sponsored by a number of Federal agencies including DHHS, CDC, FDA, NINDS and NIMH. Observers are welcome as seating allows.

Location

Hyatt Regency Indianapolis

David Kirby On The Case that Replaced Hannah Poling

The boy who replaced Hannah Poling as a test case in the Vaccine Omnibus Hearings has the same biomarkers for having the "rare" condition that Hannah has.

If the first to thimerosal test cases both just happen to have the same "rare" mitochondrial disorder, then at what point do you have to retract your claim of "rare"?

The Next Vaccine-Autism Newsmaker: Not Isolated, Not Unusual
David Kirby
Huffington Post
April 27, 2008


In February, I leaked news of the Federal government's admission that vaccines had triggered autism in a little girl named Hannah Poling. The stunning revelation, though still reverberating around the world, was roundly downplayed by US officials, who insisted that Hannah had an extremely rare, genetic case of "aggravated" mitochondrial disorder, with zero bearing on other autism cases.

Dr. Julie Gerberding, Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), rushed to the airwaves, exhorting parents to adhere to the nation's intensive and virtually mandatory immunization schedule, and brushing off their legitimate anxieties by saying: "We've got to set aside this very isolated, unusual situation."

Well, the days of setting aside are over: Hannah Poling is neither isolated nor unusual.

In fact, the boy who was selected to replace Hannah Poling as the first-ever thimerosal "test case" in so-called Vaccine Court, has just been found with many of the same unusual metabolic markers as... you guessed it, Hannah Poling.

Hannah's case was scheduled to be heard in Federal Claims Court on May 12 -- as one of three "test cases" of the theory that thimerosal (a mercury-based vaccine preservative) can cause autism.

Test cases will help address general causation issues in all 4,900 autism claims now pending in Vaccine Court. But following the government concession, Hannah was withdrawn as the first test case of the thimerosal theory, and attorneys scrambled to find a replacement: a young boy from New York.

Last week, however, the court announced that the replacement thimerosal test case was also being withdrawn, in order to "proceed to an individual hearing on a different theory of causation."

That theory, which applies to Hannah as well, maintains that children with dysfunctional mitochondria (the little batteries within each cell that convert food into energy) are susceptible to autistic regression, triggered by a vaccine-induced overtaxing of the immune system.

"We want to pursue an additional theory, not a different theory," the boy's father told me. "We are by no means abandoning the thimerosal theory of causation but, in the context of the test case, the thimerosal theory would have eclipsed our other evidence, including evidence of metabolic dysfunction," such as impaired mitchondria and low cellular energy.

Following the Poling concession, he said, "I saw right away that we needed to pursue the mitochondrial theory,"but the lead attorneys did not see it that way. "Perhaps they did not properly understand the concession, and believed the finding was of a rare, genetically caused mitochondrial disorder," as the government contends. "I think they rightly want to keep clear focus on thimerosal in the test case, and not muddy the presentation with other theories."

The court's test case process is unusual and unwieldy. "They limit the cases to one theory at a time, when the theories are not mutually exclusive," the father said. "For example, thimerosal could cause, contribute to, or aggravate mitochondrial dysfunction. These cases can't be wrapped into neat
little packages."

The unexpected withdrawal of two test cases in a row - both because of their apparent mitochondrial underpinnings - is sure to have larger ramifications in the Court of Federal Claims, as well as the much larger court of public opinion.

A new, additional theory of causation is about to be introduced in Vaccine Court: Vaccines can trigger a chain of events in children with mitochondrial dysfunction that causes autism.

But the US Government now has a major quandary to deal with. Federal officials already conceded that, far from being "theoretical," this chain of events already happened to Hannah Poling. This will make it difficult, if not impossible, to argue against compensating the boy from New York, when compensating a nearly identical case - Hannah Poling - was already deemed appropriate.

Some estimates of mitochondrial dysfunction in children with autism range as high as 20%-30%. But among the regressive subset of cases (virtually all of the claims in Vaccine Court) up to half of the children might show signs of it.

No one knows how many of those families will pursue a similar strategy of individual hearings on causation, based on the mitochondrial concession in the Poling case. But my guess is that there could be hundreds of them, following in the precedent of this case's footsteps. The legal ramifications, inside Vaccine Court and throughout the judicial system, remain incalculable at this point.

Still, when the American public finds out that the exceedingly "rare" Poling case was replaced by what is shaping up to be yet another exceedingly rare case - they will follow the lead of all three presidential candidates and finally reject the tired mantra that, "there is no link" between vaccines and autism.

Then perhaps will end, "One of the most vitriolic debates in medical history," as it is called by Dr. Bernadine Healy, former head of the NIH and the Red Cross. "At some level," she said, the Poling case "was a vindication for families," adding that, "vaccines as a trigger carry a ring of both historical and biological plausibility."

The government is currently examining the national vaccine schedule to see if we are, perhaps, immunizing children too early and too often (and with too much thimerosal from the flu shot).

I personally thought that one Hannah Poling emerging out of Vaccine Court would be enough to
change the way we vaccinate in this country. But now we have two. And there are many more Hannah's out there, waiting to be counted.

NOTE: Today, the UK's Sunday Sun writes about the controversy today, and mentions the second test case being withdrawn.

WaPo Reports on Mitochondrial Disorders and Autism

Another article on John Shoffner's presentation.

I would like to call attention to the fact that mitochondrial disorders are not purely of genetic origin, but also the result of toxic injuries from ingredients found in vaccines like thimerosal and aluminum and also pesticides and medications like AZT.

I am of the opinion that one of the reasons that HHS didn't give Jon Poling a hearing on his daughter's autism/vaccine injury claims, and just conceded that her mito disorder plus vaccines triggered her autism, was that they knew he would be able to prove the whole process was started by her vaccines. His multiple hit theory that her first round of shots gave her the mitochondrial disorder and her last interacted with them to trigger the autism is probably right, and they know it, so best to keep part one of the process underwraps and still try to get away with calling it a 'rare genetic condition' even if they had to admit to the last part.

The media is apparently not ready to report that these mitochondrial dysfunctions that interact with vaccines to cause autism as in Hannah's case, can themselves be triggered by an earlier round of shots, but I am sure that someone will get bold and report it soon.

Things are changing faster and faster as Kent Heckenlively so eloquently expressed when he compared the fall of the 'no link' party line and it's CDC proponents to the exponentially speedy fall of communism.

BRING ON THE CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS!

UPDATE: Boyd Haley, Ph.D. Chemistry Department Chair at the University of Kentucky checks in.

"The research of Dr. Jill James showing lower reduced glutathione levels in autistics is a very strong indication that these children are suffering from oxidative stress. Dr. Woody McGinnis has research that indicates this also. Low glutathione can be caused by many toxic insults , including viral, bacterial and heavy metal or organic toxicants. Old men with muscle wasting disease have low glutathione levels which can be treated with some effectiveness with melatonin according to a past publication. Melatonin reportedly (Dr. Bernie Rimland) was one item that helped many autistics. Basically, I think that treating glutathione production by appropriate (and I don’t know what that is at this time) supplementation and removing any toxicant involved would be the best approach towards improving these children." - Boyd Haley

and

"Regarding “the cause for mitochondrial disorders quest” just google or medline ‘mercury effects on mitochondria’. Researchers have made careers looking for genetic causes of mitochondrial disorders in certain patients without ever eliminating the likely possibility that these individuals are mercury toxic or toxic with some other heavy metal. Trust me, not one single genetic screen of individuals with mitochondrial disorder will have included a survey of the number of dental amalgams the individuals had---and mercury from amalgams accounts for about 80% of the total mercury body burden. Now, consider that 85% of dentists have abnormal porphyrin profiles that indicate they are mercury toxic as do a large percentage of autistic children. The site of inhibition of the porphyrin profile is on the inner mitochondrial membrane---so mercury is in the mitochondria and doing biological damage on porphyrin (or heme) synthesis and WE DON’T KNOW ALL OF WHAT ELSE IT IS DOING. But we do know that in tests both the citric acid cycle and the electron transport system (ETS) are dramatically inhibited by low levels of mercury." - Boyd Haley

Muscle Weakness Found in Some Autistic Children
By Serena Gordon
Washington Post
Sunday, April 13, 2008; 12:00 AM

SUNDAY, April 13 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that muscle weakness in a child with autism may point to an underlying genetic defect that's causing mitochondrial disease, which means the muscles don't get the energy they need.

Conversely, it's possible that the mitochondrial disease may also play a role in the development of autism, perhaps by preventing the brain from getting the energy it needs to perform properly, the researchers noted.

"In large studies of kids with autism, about 20 percent have markers of mitochondrial disease in the blood," explained Dr. John Shoffner, an associate professor of biology at Georgia State University and president of Medical Neurogenetics.

Shoffner recently completely a retrospective analysis of 37 children with autism spectrum disorders and found that 65 percent of these children -- children who had been referred to him because their doctors suspected additional problems -- had mitochondrial defects.

He was expected to present the findings April 13 at the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting, in Chicago.

Mitochondria are found in every cell of the body, with the exception of red blood cells, according to the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation (UMDF). Mitochondria are vital to survival, because they make oxygen available to cells and metabolize food into energy for cells to thrive. Defects in mitochondria can lead to cell injury, or even cell death, according to UMDF.

Symptoms of mitochondrial disease depend on which body system is affected but may include muscle weakness, loss of muscle control, poor growth, heart disease, diabetes, developmental delays, an increased risk of infection and more.

Shoffner said that the mitochondrial energy production system is the only one in the body that requires two genomes to work -- genes inherited from both the mother and the father, and genes exclusively from the mother. "To make this system work, it requires a lot of genes. Hence the opportunity for lots of problems," said Shoffner, who added that there are several hundred known mitochondrial disorders.

Twenty-four (65 percent) of the children included in this study had genetic defects in their skeletal muscles. However, that doesn't mean that 65 percent of children with autism likely have mitochondrial disease. This was a select population of kids with autism, ones that had specifically been referred, because their doctors suspected a problem.

But, Shoffner pointed out that as many as one in five youngsters with autism spectrum disorders have shown signs of mitochondrial disease.

"If you're talking about 20 percent of kids with autism, that's a whole lot of children, and may represent an important segment of the autism spectrum disorder population. And we may be getting a foothold into the underlying cause of autism spectrum disorders," he said, adding, "This is a really important step forward that lets us put effort into understanding the mechanisms of disease."

"This study is a call to action. We need to know what is the real prevalence of mitochondrial conditions in children with autism," said Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer for Autism Speaks. "The more we can identify these subgroups of kids, the more we're going to parse apart the many forms of autism. This gives us clues to etiology."

"If we find that mitochondrial disease is a prevalent condition, having a better understanding of the kinds of symptoms that children may show if they have it might be helpful for parents," she said.

Shoffner said these findings may also open up new avenues of research into potentially more effective treatments for the future.

...

SOURCES: John M. Shoffner, M.D., associate professor, biology, Georgia State University, and president, Medical Neurogenetics, Atlanta; Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D., chief science officer, Autism Speaks; April 13, 2008, presentation, American Academy of Neurology annual meeting, Chicago

Neurologist Finds that More Than 60% of His Autistic Patients Have Mitochondrial Disorders

"Shoffner wanted to see if he could identify the underlying genetic mechanisms that might explain this link.

He evaluated genetic samples and clinical information gathered on 37 children diagnosed with autism who had been evaluated at his clinic for mitochondrial disease.

They found more than 60 percent of these children had mitochondrial defects."

Now this is not a random sample and is much higher than the Portuguese study (20%), so until these numbers start to settle to a smaller ball park than 'between 20 and 60 percent' in studies with better sampling, we should not hold too closely to this number. But if they do end up settling near Shoffner's experience, it will be safe to say that CDC's claims of 'rare' are really, really wrong and probably criminal.

New autism finding hope
Date: 13/04/2008

CHICAGO, April 13 (Reuters) - U.S. researchers have found a genetic link between autism and a muscle-weakening disorder known as mitochondrial disease, they said on Sunday, in a finding that may open new avenues of research into the causes of autism.

"Recent studies have suggested that as many 20 percent of patients with autism have markers for mitochondrial disease," said Dr. John Shoffner, a neurologist and geneticist at Medical Neurogenetics in Atlanta, who presented his findings at the American Academy of Neurology meeting in Chicago.

"There has really not been much work done so far to push that issue," Shoffner said in a telephone interview.

Mitochondrial diseases are a set of genetic disorders in which energy-producing structures in cells are impaired. The disease is often triggered by an illness, such as a high fever, which can result in severe muscle weakening.

Shoffner wanted to see if he could identify the underlying genetic mechanisms that might explain this link.

He evaluated genetic samples and clinical information gathered on 37 children diagnosed with autism who had been evaluated at his clinic for mitochondrial disease.

They found more than 60 percent of these children had mitochondrial defects.

Shoffner said the finding needs to be confirmed in other studies, but it does help to validate the hypothesis of a link between the two conditions in a subset of patients.

"This is a fundamental first step," Shoffner said in a telephone interview. "This gives us a great foothold for moving forward with this population -- asking better, more precise questions."

GEORGIA CASE

No one knows what causes autism, but researchers think it is likely that several genes contribute.

Some autism advocates have seized on the case of a Georgia girl with a rare mitochondrial disease and autism-like symptoms who won federal compensation in a case arguing a vaccine led to her condition.

Government health officials say there is no scientific evidence to suggest that vaccines cause autism, which is part of a spectrum of disorders that can have relatively mild symptoms or can severely disable a child by interfering with speech and behavior.

Shoffner said most children with autism spectrum disorders do not have recognizable abnormalities in mitochondria, but a group of these children have significant defects.

"We are opening avenues of additional research into autism spectrum disorders and new ideas about what might be causing these disorders to develop," he said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about one in every 150 U.S. children has autism or a related disorder such as Asperger's syndrome, which is marked by mild social awkwardness.

Several studies have suggested that genes involved with communication pathways in the brain may contribute to autism, and Shoffner thinks it is possible that cells with impaired ability to convert food into energy may play a role.

"It certainly sits at a very important place in cellular metabolism that can significantly alter neuronal (nerve cell) development," he said.

Jon Poling: Mitochondrial Dysfunction Not Rare In Autism

Dr. Poling suggesting medically defining "Mitochondrial Autism". I have been calling it "Poling Syndrome".

No matter what it is called, "what Hannah has" has been determined by HHS to be a vaccine injury. It is time for the medical community to define it, find what the percentage of kids with it are, screen for it and catch it before it descends into the "symptoms of Autism".

And if the medical authorities won't hear it from me, hear it from Jon Poling:

"As a neurologist, I have cared for those afflicted with SSPE (a rare but dreaded neurological complication of measles), paralytic polio and tetanus. If these serious vaccine-preventable diseases again become commonplace, the fault will rest solely on the shoulders of public health leaders and policymakers who have failed to heed the writing on the wall (scribbled by my 9-year old daughter)."

Reform the vaccine schedule before everyone abandons it.

Father: Child's case shifts autism debate
By Jon S. Poling
For the Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/11/08

Autism in the U.S. has reached epidemic levels, at 1 in 150 children. Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has recently upgraded autism to "an urgent health threat." The most contentious issue of the autism debate is the link to routine childhood vaccines. My daughter's case, Hannah Poling v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has changed this debate forever. Hannah has pointed us in a new and promising direction —- the mitochondria.

On Nov. 9, 2007, HHS medical experts conceded through the Department of Justice that Hannah's autism was triggered by nine childhood vaccinations administered when she was 19 months of age. This concession was granted without any courtroom proceedings or expert testimony, effectively preventing any public hearing discussing what happened to Hannah and why. Contrary to some reports, the Special Masters, "judges" who preside over the "vaccine court," did not issue a decision.

Four months later, on March 6, with trepidation my wife, Terry, and I stepped forward to announce this news —- providing hope and awareness to other families. The HHS expert documents that led to this concession and accompanying court documents remain sealed, though our family has already permitted release of Hannah's records to those representing the almost 5, 000 other autistic children awaiting their day in vaccine court.

Mitochondria key

To understand Hannah's case, it is important to understand mitochondria, which act like batteries in our cells to produce energy critical for normal function. Because the government's concession hinged on the presence of Hannah's underlying medical condition, mitochondrial dysfunction, some claim the decision is relevant to very few other children with autism. As a neurologist, scientist and father, I disagree.

Emerging evidence suggests that mitochondrial dysfunction may not be rare at all among children with autism. In the only population-based study of its kind, Portuguese researchers confirmed that at least 7.2 percent, and perhaps as many as 20 percent, of autistic children exhibit mitochondrial dysfunction. While we do not yet know a precise U.S. rate, 7.2 percent to 20 percent of children does not qualify as "rare." In fact, mitochondrial dysfunction may be the most common medical condition associated with autism.

Biological markers

Although unlikely, if the Portuguese studies are incorrect and mitochondrial dysfunction were found to be a rarity occurring in less than 1 percent of all autism, it would still impact up to 10,000 children (250,000 worldwide), based on current estimates that 1 million people in the U.S. (25 million worldwide) have autism. If, on the other hand, the research showing that 7.2 percent to 20 percent of children with autism have mitochondrial dysfunction is correct, then the implications are both staggering and urgent.

Autism researchers do not currently understand whether mitochondrial dysfunction causes autism or is simply a secondary biological marker. Autism clearly has many different causes, and should really be separated into multiple autism(s). I propose that we clearly identify and research the subpopulation term of "mitochondrial autism," which is distinguished by its unique biological, but not genetic, markers.

Based on what we know now, it is time to follow the prestigious Institute of Medicine 2004 report regarding autism and vaccines:

"Determining a specific cause (for autism) in the individual is impossible unless the etiology is known and there is a biological marker. Determining causality with population-based methods requires either a well-defined at-risk population or a large effect in the general population."

A paradigm shift

When the IOM report was published, mitochondrial dysfunction defining an autistic subpopulation was not firmly established. Today there is no doubt that mitochondrial dysfunction represents a distinct autism subpopulation biological marker. I urge health officials and the IOM to embrace their own report and pursue this breakthrough in the science of autism. National public health leaders, including those at CDC, must now recognize the paradigm shift caused by this biological marker with regard to their current position of dispelling a vaccine-autism link.

In light of the Hannah Poling concession, science must determine more precisely how large the mitochondrial autism subpopulation is: 1 percent, 7.2 percent, 20 percent?

Based on the 2004 IOM analysis, if the mitochondrial autism subpopulation is found to be relatively uncommon, then all conclusions from prior epidemiological studies refuting an autism-vaccination link must be discarded. New studies then need to be performed exclusively with the mitochondrial subpopulation. If mitochondrial autism turns out to be common, then we could re-analyze the data from prior studies to determine if these studies were powered sufficiently based on a predicted effect size. If not powered appropriately, the conclusion refuting an autism-vaccine link would again have to be rejected. These statistical concepts are basic.

The current vaccine schedule, co-sponsored by the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics, injures a small but significant minority of children, my daughter unfortunately being one of those victims. Every day, more parents and some pediatricians reject the current vaccine schedule. In an abundance of caution, meaningful reform must be performed urgently to prevent the re-emergence of serious diseases like polio or measles.

Need for research

As a neurologist, I have cared for those afflicted with SSPE (a rare but dreaded neurological complication of measles), paralytic polio and tetanus. If these serious vaccine-preventable diseases again become commonplace, the fault will rest solely on the shoulders of public health leaders and policymakers who have failed to heed the writing on the wall (scribbled by my 9-year old daughter).

The mitochondrial autism scenario that my daughter has so eloquently painted has the CDC and public health experts logically cornered. Denial and fear tactics won't close Pandora's Box. Whether we find that mitochondrial autism is rare or common, there is urgent research left to be done to fully understand the interrelationship of vaccines, autism and mitochondria.

Reform of the vaccine schedule will be an important part of the solution, whether vaccines play a major or minor role in autism. Our public health agencies and programs need a reconstruction plan. Day one of the reconstruction hopefully starts at the Vaccine Safety Advisory Committee's Working Group, to be held at HHS headquarters today in Washington.

Dr. Jon S. Poling is a practicing neurologist in Athens and clinical assistant professor at the Medical College of Georgia.

US News and World Report Gets Reasonable

Dr. Healy ends with a great point about the IOM 'show's over, nothing to see here, move along decision'. It is almost like the IOM didn't want our advance our understanding.

UPDATE: Dan Olmsted's comments from AOA:

"More and more mainstream experts are standing up for the vaccine court and Hannah Poling and her parents -- and deserve our thanks and support. The latest is Dr. Bernadine Healy. Her bio from U.S. News & World Report, where the article we're pointing out is appearing in the current issue: "Dr. Bernadine Healy is Health Editor for U.S.News & World Report and writes the On Health column. She is a member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and has served as director of the National Institutes of Health and president and CEO of the American Red Cross."

Here's the beauty part from her column: "Pediatricians were concerned enough about mercury, which is known to cause neurological damage in developing infant and fetal brains, that they mobilized to have thimerosal removed from childhood vaccines by 2002. Their concern was not autism but the lunacy of injecting mercury into little kids through mandated vaccines that together exceeded mercury safety guidelines designed for adults."

So by definition, the former head of the NIH says people like Paul Offit -- who calls it a mistake to take mercury out -- and organizations like the CDC, the World Health Organization and their ilk who are keeping mercury in flu shots in the U.S. and in standard immunizations around the world ... the former head of the NIH says they're lunatic(s).

That's about as harsh as anything we've ever said, isn't it? -- Dan Olmsted"

Fighting the Autism-Vaccine War
US News and World Report
By Bernadine Healy M.D.
Posted April 10, 2008

One of the most vitriolic debates in medical history is just beginning to have its day in court—vaccine court, that is. Without laying blame, the independent Office of Special Masters of the Court of Federal Claims—with a 20-year record of handling vaccine matters—recently conceded that the brain damage and autistic behavior of Hannah Poling stemmed from her exposure as a toddler to five vaccinations on one day in July 2000. Two days later, she was overtaken by a high fever and an encephalopathy that deteriorated into autistic behavior. Even though autism has a strong genetic basis, and she has a coexisting rare mitochondrial disorder, I would not be too quick to dismiss Hannah as an anomaly.

At some level, the decision was a vindication for families who have been battling with the vaccine community, arguing that some poorly understood reaction to components of vaccines or their mercury-based preservative, thimerosal, could cause brain injury. Yes, vaccines are extraordinarily safe and bring huge public health benefit. (Remember the 1950s polio epidemics?) But vaccine experts tend to look at the population as a whole, not at individual patients. And population studies are not granular enough to detect individual metabolic, genetic, or immunological variation that might make some children under certain circumstances susceptible to neurological complications after vaccination.

A trigger? Families are not alone in searching for a trigger that might explain why autism and autism spectrum disorders have skyrocketed; now they reportedly affect about 1 in 150 kids. No doubt some of the increase is soft, due to broader diagnostic criteria, greater awareness, and—now that the notion of a detached "refrigerator" mom as a cause has blessedly fallen by the wayside—greater openness. But the rise of this disorder, which shows up before age 3, happens to coincide with the increased number and type of vaccine shots in the first few years of life. So as a trigger, vaccines carry a ring of both historical and biological plausibility.

Go back 40 or 50 years. The medical literature is replete with reports of neurological reactions to vaccines, such as mood changes, seizures, brain inflammation, and swelling. Several hundred cases of the paralytic illness Guillain-Barré after the swine flu vaccine were blamed on the government and gave Gerald Ford heartburn—but eventually led to the vaccine court.

Pediatricians were concerned enough about mercury, which is known to cause neurological damage in developing infant and fetal brains, that they mobilized to have thimerosal removed from childhood vaccines by 2002. Their concern was not autism but the lunacy of injecting mercury into little kids through mandated vaccines that together exceeded mercury safety guidelines designed for adults. But as in all things vaccine, this move too was contentious. Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization remain unconvinced that thimerosal puts young children at risk.

There is no evidence that removal of thimerosal from vaccines has lowered autism rates. But autism numbers are not precise, so I would say that considerably more research is still needed on some provocative findings. After all, thimerosal crosses the placenta, and pregnant women are advised to get flu shots, which often contain it. Studies in mice suggest that genetic variation influences brain sensitivity to the toxic effects of mercury. And a primate study designed to mimic vaccination in infants reported in 2005 that thimerosal may clear from the blood in a matter of days but leaves inorganic mercury behind in the brain.

The debate roils on—even about research. The Institute of Medicine in its last report on vaccines and autism in 2004 said that more research on the vaccine question is counterproductive: Finding a susceptibility to this risk in some infants would call into question the universal vaccination strategy that is a bedrock of immunization programs and could lead to widespread rejection of vaccines. The IOM concluded that efforts to find a link between vaccines and autism "must be balanced against the broader benefit of the current vaccine program for all children."

Wow. Medicine has moved ahead only because doctors, researchers, and yes, families, have openly challenged even the most sacred medical dogma. At the risk of incurring the wrath of some of my dearest colleagues, I say thank goodness for the vaccine court.

Autism Parents Need A Seat At The Vaccine Table

This week I have been complaining that the actual 'vaccine debate' only began on the Larry King show last week. This is just another example of the closed debate that health authorities have where they ignore the points that parent want to make and keep from having to answer the questions parents are asking.

Call the NVAC and tell them it is time to deal with the problems and it is time to give us a seat at the table so that the real debate can continue where it counts.

From Safeminds:

Consumer Representation Squashed at Upcoming National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) Safety Group Meeting

The National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC), Vaccine Safety Working Group (VSWG) will meet for the first time on April 11, 2008 in Washington DC. The autism community's vaccine safety concerns are not represented within this panel.

The charter for NVAC calls for participation by representatives from "parent organizations concerned with immunization." In light of the recent VICP award to the Poling family, and other similar cases being discovered, as well as the continued growing concern regarding the autism vaccine link, SafeMinds has requested of NVAC, without response, an expansion of the current consumer representation of this group to include one of SafeMinds Directors (Dr. Vicky Debold, or Mr. Mark Blaxill) to more accurately balance and diversify views essential to the task of this workgroup.

Currently, adequate consumer representation with regard to vaccines and their safety is trumped by the over-representation by those with a financial stake in increased vaccination (industry and providers) and with a bias in favor of traditional population-based immunization policy.

SafeMinds continues to advocate for the following in order to protect our children from harm.

* A comprehensive study of vaccinated vs. unvaccinated populations, or alternatively vaccinated populations is needed to accurately determine harm from mercury in vaccines and other toxicants. The Amish are one such group and there are others.
* · Vaccine studies must be conducted by individuals free from conflicts of interest with the vaccine industry and public health officials whose livelihood depends on vaccine promotion.
* The vaccine schedule must be tested for safety in terms of multiple vaccines being given during one visit and the overall number of vaccines in use for long-term adverse effects - it has never been done and should be integral to vaccine safety monitoring.
* Greater consumer representation within the work group and specific consumer representation of the autism vaccine concerns by SafeMinds Directors Dr. Vicky Debold and Mr. Mark Blaxill.

TAKE ACTION NOW - REQUEST THAT THE AUTISM-VACCINE CONCERNS HAVE A SEAT AT THE TABLE!

Concerns can be sent to the following NVAC representatives. All requests should be copied to Dan Salmon to be a part of the official record for the April meeting and must be submitted by 4pm EST on April 9th.

CONTACT

Guthrie S. Birkhead, MD MPH
Chairman, NVAC
sxc17@health.state.ny.us; fax 518 486-1455

Bruce G. Gellin, MD, MPH
Executive Secretary, NVAC
bruce.gellin@hhs.gov; fax 202-690-7560

Daniel Salmon,
Vaccine Safety Specialist
daniel.salmon@hhs.gov

UPDATE:

From Kelli Ann Davis:

Posted by: "Kelli Ann Davis" kellianndavis@hotmail.com
Wed Apr 9, 2008 10:45 am (PDT)

Just got out of a meeting this morning with Dan Salmon, Bruce Gellin and Dr. Raub (Secretary Leavitt's Science Advisor) on this issue.

As a result of on-going communications over the past 5 weeks, the Panel now consists of a section entitled "Interacting with the Public" and includes Barbara Loe Fisher, Peter Bell, Lisa Randall (Voices for Vaccines) and Catherine Morris (Keystone -- Business focused on Public Engagement strategies)

There is also an hour segment after this panel's presentations for public comment.

During my meeting today, I made know my specific desire to have Mark Blaxill be a part of the Vaccine Safety Working Group.

Dr. Gellin assured me that the composition of the committee is not "set in stone" and that they are looking for feedback during this meeting to get an overall view of the requests that come in regards to specific suggests for the addition of public members to the Working Group.

I would strongly suggest that people call and ask for Mark's addition to the Working Group.

I will be first up during public comment time and I plan on reiterating my request for Mark once again.

Bottom Line: They know this is important in the wake of the Hannah Poling case and are open to our suggestions.

Kelli

My Letter:

Dr. Gellin, Dr. Birkhead and Mr. Salmon,

I am an autism blogger and autism mom who has been harshly critical of HHS and CDC for their actions and inactions in the vaccine/autism story.

It is my understanding that you are considering adding Mark Blaxill as an addition to the Vaccine Safety Working Group.

I cannot encourage you strongly enough to take this action.

Mr. Blaxill is a bright and distinguished member of our community. His addition to the process of vaccine safety would go a long way toward rebuilding the trust that parents like me have lost in HHS.

I would love to be able to tell my readers that HHS is beginning to take vaccine safety seriously by seating someone at the table who will ask the hard questions that are needed to ensure the health and safety of American children.

Sincerely,
Ginger Taylor, M.S.
AdventuresInAutism.com

Polings Prove, Once Again, That Paul Offit Does Not Have A Clue

I am at the DAN! conference and this morning one speaker said, "Thank God for the Hannah Poling case". She was met with a big round of applause from the audience.

Vaccines, Autism and Our Daughter, Hannah
Jon Poling and Terry Poling
The New York Times
April 5, 2008

Re: “Inoculated Against Facts,” by Paul A. Offit (Op-Ed, March 31):

Our daughter, Hannah, developed normally until receiving nine vaccines at once. She immediately developed a fever and encephalopathy, deteriorating into what was diagnosed, based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or D.S.M. IV, as autism.

The federal government, not an “unusual court,” made the concession. The decision wasn’t “careless,” as your subheading called it. It was based on a thorough review of Hannah’s records by Health and Human Services doctors.

The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program does rely on a “preponderance of evidence” standard, which Hannah’s case met. It doesn’t necessarily compensate families “quickly, generously and fairly.” We filed our claim six years ago, pain and suffering are capped at $250,000, and Hannah has yet to receive compensation.

Dr. Offit’s assertion that “even five vaccines at once would not place an unusually high burden on a child’s immune system” is theory and risky practice for a toddler’s developing brain. No one knows if Hannah’s mitochondrial dysfunction existed before receiving vaccines. Dr. Offit’s claim that Hannah had “already weakened cells” is unfounded.

We support a safe vaccination program against critical infectious diseases. We need straight facts, serious science and speedy answers on these important issues.

Jon Poling
Terry Poling
Athens, Ga., April 3, 2008

David Kirby: CDC Has Lost Control of the Autism Argument

CDC Has Lost Control of the Autism Argument
David Kirby
Huffington Post
April 3, 2007

On Wednesday, CNN's Larry King hosted Jenny McCarthy, myself, and several others to discuss the growing evidence of a link between childhood vaccines and autism. The CDC refused to send someone to appear on the show. Instead, on Thursday, the agency issued a statement meant to reassure the American public that all vaccines are safe for all kids.

But the CDC statement only served to show how out of touch the Administration of George (Really? Gas costs 4 dollars?) Bush really is.

A recent government decision to award nine-year-old Hannah Poling taxpayer dollars for her multiple vaccine-induced autism, has left parents anxious and alarmed, especially when their own kid has a pending appointment to receive 5 or more vaccines in one sitting (Hannah had 9 at once).

So the CDC now issues a written statement meant to soothe jittery parents, by saying that "the recommended vaccine schedule is flexible." Such decisions, the friendly announcement said, "are best made in consultation with the child's doctor, and parents shouldn't be reluctant to have such discussions."

Of course parents shouldn't be reluctant to have this discussion, but they are. I get nasty emails from some pediatricians, and the number-one complaint I get from them is that, because of people like me, they must now "waste" (their word, not mine) precious billing hours talking to layperson parents about vaccine science.

These doctors' hostility is palpable, (and they hopefully represent a minority of pediatricians). And while I cannot imagine ever consulting anyone of such temperament for medical care in the first place, many parents are simply cowed into silence. For them, the CDC suggestion to ask vaccine safety questions at a well-baby visit is laughable, if not risible.

Interestingly, after years of being told that autism is purely genetic, and not some environmentally triggered epidemic, parents now learn that the CDC has begun a massive investigation, called the SEED study, to look at "genetic, environmental and hormonal factors, as well as selected mercury exposures," that cause autism

This is encouraging news, though one can assume that thimerosal is not among those mercury exposures that have been "selected" for study.

But the real problem here is the track record and credibility of the CDC to continue conducting any vaccine safety studies at all. This is not helped when the CDC continues to issue statements such as:

"Top scientists -- with the open-mindedness that characterizes good science -- planned and conducted the highest-quality, large-scale (vaccine safety) studies. No links to autism have been found."

Now, I have no doubt that CDC officials believe these truly were the "highest quality" studies available. But but many scientists, including some who authored the studies, disagree. They say many of the studies were flawed and/or inconclusive.

THE US STUDY

The flagship study was a four-year analysis by the CDC of a large US database called the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD). This study, published in the journal Pediatrics, was authored by Dr. Thomas Verstraeten, a visiting researcher from Belgium.

The final, published version of the study found no evidence of a link between thimerosal in vaccines and autism, though earlier analyses - discovered through the Freedom of Information Act - showed remarkable correlations.

At the time, the CDC called it one of the highest quality studies of its kind ever conducted.

But in 2006, Congress asked the National Institutes of Health to convene a special panel to investigate the quality and usefulness of the VSD database - and by extension, the Verstraeten study itself - as a means of investigating such a link.

The panel determined that there were "several serious problems" with the database and the study, including many "weaknesses" and "limitations" that could render certain analyses "uninformative and potentially misleading. "

The NIH Panel was "concerned" about how autism diagnoses were made and recorded by HMOs who take part in the database, and questioned if the HMOs had adequate services for autism families, who might seek care elsewhere. Panelists said these and other problems likely led to an "under-ascertainment" of autism cases in the HMOs.

The panel also cited many problems with the Verstraeten study design. It warned that a "large proportion, around 25%, of births were excluded from the analysis." Panelists wrote that these same children "may represent a susceptible population whose removal from the analysis might unintentionally reduce the ability to detect an effect of thimerosal."

Other "serious problems" were the facts that there was no consideration of pre-natal thimerosal exposures from immune globulin, or "other vaccinations given during pregnancy," (i.e., flu shot), and no accounting for, "the cumulative exposure to organic mercurials through diet or other environmental sources. "

The NIH panel determined that these problems, "reduce the usefulness" of the VSD to prove or disprove a link between thimerosal and autism.

Shortly thereafter, panel chair Dr. Irva Hertz-Picciotto, Professor of Public Health at U.C. Davis School of Medicine, told Dan Olmsted (formerly) of UPI that the VSD study "was not the last word... things need to be looked at again, perhaps with different methodology."

And Verstraeten himself said the study proved nothing. In a letter to Pediatrics, he wrote that, "We found no evidence against an association, as a negative study would. On the contrary, additional study is recommended, which is the conclusion to which a neutral study must come."

THE DENMARK STUDIES

Two studies conducted in Denmark are always referred to by the CDC and others when trying to defend the injection of organic mercury into the systems of newborn babies and infants. These are among the best of the "highest quality" studies, we are told, that show no link between vaccines and autism.

The main Denmark study reported that the removal of mercury from vaccines was followed by a sharp increase in reported autism cases. But the authors admitted that much of this increase was possibly due to a major change in the way Denmark counted its autism cases during the study period (switching from inpatient diagnosed cases only, or about 13% of the total, to cases diagnosed in inpatient AND outpatient settings, or 100% of the total).

The CDC touts the high quality of the study, even though the authors cautioned in the study itself that "methodological limitations" - such as the exponential expansion of patients (due to counting both inpatient AND outpatient cases) -- "may have spuriously increased the apparent number of autism cases."

Adding insult to understatement, Dr. Hertz-Piccotto said that, as bad as the VSD study was, the Denmark papers were even worse. "Some studies are stronger than others," she said. "The Verstraeten study was an improvement on other studies, including the two in Denmark, both of which had serious weaknesses in their designs."

THE IOM REPORTS

In 2004, a committee of the Institute of Medicine reviewed the US, Denmark and a few other similar studies (whose methodology have been questioned in other venues including my book, "Evidence of Harm").

The IOM committee relied almost exclusively on large population studies (epidemiology), and virtually ignored the growing body of evidence emerging from clinical, animal and test tube studies from the fields of toxicology, immunology and other scientific disciplines.

(Interestingly, the US Federal Court system has determined that epidemiology alone is "insufficient" when trying to disprove a link between exposures and outcomes in an individual).

The committee concluded that the evidence did not support a vaccine link to autism. But it added that, "We cannot rule out, based on the epidemiology, the possibility that vaccines contribute to autism in some small subset," something that parents have been saying all along.

Finally, in 2005, another panel of the IOM criticized the CDC for a "lack of transparency" in its vaccine safety programs, particularly the VSD database. The IOM panel report noted that a CDC official had testified that some of the original datasets in the Verstraeten study, "had not been archived in a standard manner," and, "may not allow all the re-analyses that one might want to do, or in fact may not be available at all."

This same IOM committee, citing the Federal Information Quality Act, which makes it a felony to intentionally lose or destroy any publicly funded records, recommended that vaccine officials at the CDC's National Immunization Program "seek legal advice."

And despite all of this (and more) the CDC wants us to believe that these studies represent the "highest quality" analyses available.

The leadership of CDC Director Julie Gerberding has been replete with crushing morale depletion, embarrassing media coverage, congressional investigations into Katrina trailers, and a general sense of an agency in decline.

Sadly, the words "CDC" and "highest quality" can rarely be used in the same sentence anymore.

Jenny McCarthy and David Kirby on Larry King

Tonight was another hallmark in the national vaccine/autism debate.

Never before has there been REAL debate.

A pissed off autism mom, a smart investigative journalist asking the hard question, an experienced pediatrician frustrated with his own profession, all face to face with hard core denial doctors like Harvey Karp and my pal David Tayloe who does not believe that vaccine injury even exists, and does not know how to read vaccine safety package inserts.

I have never seen David Kirby, usually the mellow, middle ground man, calling for more study, and 'let's see where things go', be so passionate. "The Debate Is Over"!

The very mature and measured Jon Poling could only shake his head at the AAP doctors misinformation.

Jay Gordon was clearly working hard to hold back his annoyance with his own AAP's party line and their lack of ability to reason beyond "vaccines good... make public health good...", to the varying health needs of individual children.

I have to guess that the Kirton's were booked on the show to make the 'genetics' point, and I have to wonder if they were disappointed when John Kirton said the word, "vaccines".

And then there is Jenny... shouting "Bullshit"!

And then there is my husband and me, jumping up and down in our living room!!!!

NOW the main event has started!

I want 10 more shows like this, but with fewer guest and with Larry asking questions that progress the debate a little better. ("Why do you keep having children?" Seriously Larry?)

Let me say outright, I cannot imagine for the life of me why the AAP has chosen David Tayloe as their new chief. He is a PR nightmare for them! In the current climate, when every day more and more parents quit vaccinating all together, choosing a dinosaur like Tayloe who is stuck in the 1950's polio epidemic, and who does not seem to notice that the threats to children's health have dramatically changed in the last half century, is just plain stupid.

I am going to say something here... and it will be the most harsh thing I have ever said about anyone on this blog before, but it needs to be said.

Dr. Tayloe said that in his practice that has seen 100,000 patients that he has never referred one person to the Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund. If he has never seen a serious vaccine injury, it is not because he has not come across one, it is because he has his head up his ass.

Tayloe is just dangerous.

This man has GOT to be removed from the position that he has been elected to before he takes office. I would take Karp in a second over this guy. Karp was wrong, but he wasn't crazy person saying insane things with a smile wrong.

Jay Gordon gives me hope that there are doctors out their who recognize that we have gone to far with vaccines and it is time to re-examine.

RISE UP WISE AND COMPETENT PEDIATRICIANS EVERYWHERE! RISE UP! Who do you want to take recommendations from, Jay Gordon, or David "The Dinosaur" Tayloe?

I know I am biased, way biased, but our guys won and the other guys just looked foolish.

Question of the evening goes to David Kirby who exposed the AAP docs for the close minded relics that they are:

David Kirby: "There is a bill in congress to study vaccinated v. unvaccinated populations in this country. Doctor would you support that legislation?"

David Tayloe: "Please allow me to talk around the answer by saying something politically correct but not going on record for supporting the legislation."

Jenny McCarthy: "Will you support the vaccinated v. unvaccinated study?"

David Tayloe: "We support lots of things, like flowers, and lemon drops and My Little Pony."

Yeah... they don't support that legislation.

The quote of the evening goes to David Tayloe who, when Jenny pointed to the chart of 36 vaccines and asked, "Do we really need ALL of these?", nodded his head and replied, and this is really great... listen to this:

"They're recommended!"

Well Doctor Tayloe... if 12 guys in Atlanta who tell mom's with good questions like, "Why don't you make a recommendation for pregnant women to receive only thimerosal free flu shots?", to sit down and stop asking questions in public vaccine policy meetings designed to let the public ask questions, then dammit... that is good enough for me! Bring on the vaccines!

36 Vaccines! It's Recommended!



(Check this space for more footage when I get around to it.)

[UPDATE: OMG! Turns out the Vaccine Injury Compensation Court exists in part due to the 3.5 million dollar malpractice suit that Dr. David Tayloe lost in 1985 when a child he gave the DPT shot to magically got permanent brain injury!! That Asshole just got on TV and implied that he had never SEEN a vaccine injury in his practice!!!

Here is what he said:

Tayloe: "I have yet to see a patient who I sent to the compensation program because I thought they had a permanent injury. Extremely rare."

He lost 3.5 million dollar lawsuit, apparently one of the biggest awards ever, the year before the vaccine court was created!

And then BRAGGS about not sending any other children to the injury program?!

And having a court force him for giving a shot to a kid who could not handle it was still not enough to teach him the lesson that not all vaccines are safe for every child, because he went on the Today show and said that ALL VACCINES ARE SAFE FOR EVERY CHILD!!!!

AAP you have lost your collective mind putting this man in charge!? Are you kidding me!!!! I think I am gonna have an aneurysm.

[More UPDATES: Gotten more information that this may have been Tayloe's father David Tayloe Sr. Which would make David Tayloe Jr. a little less evil, but sill evil. I am trying to confirm details but I am traveling today and only have like 10 more minutes of wifi.]

[YET MORE UPDATES: Thanks for your patience as I got reconnected after a day of travel. I got an email from someone Tayloe went to med school with that says this was his father. In thinking about where to adjust my judgmentalism meter, I think that I will retract my declaration that he is an asshole, and say that he is a dangerous, foolish man.

A jury told his own father that he was more than three million dollars worth of wrong for administering a shot that plunged a boy into brain damage, and he learned nothing from it, continuing to claim that 'all vaccines are safe for every child', and that there is no such thing as serious vaccine injury. (or maybe, but barely ever, as his statement last week was that there was not "any relationship between vaccines and permanent injury", and this week he has downgraded his stance to "extremely rare".) Even though it was not directly his, he should still know better because of his father's legacy.]

Info on David Tayloe's Malpractice Suit [HT: Kevin Barry]:

Medical Malpractice/Negligent Administration of the DPT Vaccine
$3,500,000 Jury Verdict, May 1, 1985


The Minor Plaintiff, Bernard Forehand, Jr., was seriously injured when the Defendant Pediatrician's Nurse failed to communicate to the Defendant Pediatrician, David Tayloe that the Minor Plaintiff had an adverse reaction to the first vaccination shot. The administration of the second shot left the Minor Plaintiff with a significant brain injury. The Defendant Pediatrician, David Tayloe, who at that time was the President of the National Pediatric Association, strenuously fought this case all the way to a jury verdict. On May 1, 1985, the jury handed down what was at that time the largest jury verdict in a medical malpractice case in the State of North Carolina, in the sum of 3.5 million dollars.

***********

Following is a newsletter article that I (Barbara Loe Fisher) wrote in the summer of 1985 on the Forehand lawsuit:

"In May, a North Carolina jury in the Wilmington U.S. District Court decided that David Tayloe, M.D. and T. Frank Stallings, M.D., of Washington Pediatrics, P.A., were guilty of medical malpractice in the pertussis vaccine-induced brain damage suffered by Beau Forehand, Jr. The child was awarded $3.5 million in compensatory damages by the jury but the judge overturned the verdict and it was appealed.

It was the highest medical malpractice award in North Carolina history. Beau was represented by attorneys Anne Werum Lambright and Richard Polling of the Charleston West Virginia firm of Preiser and Wilson. The defense claimed that the two doctors were following the vaccination guidelines contained in the American Academy of Pediatrics 1970's "Red Book" which was in effect at the time Beau Forehand received his first DPT shot in January of 1974.

Beau reacted to his first short with a 103 degree fever and inconsolable crying, which his mother reported to the doctors. Six weeks later, Beau had a febrile seizure and was hospitalized. However, despite the reaction to his first shot and the subsequent seizure, he was given another DPT shot even though he had a cold and a slight fever at the time of the second vaccination. Within three hours of his second DPT shot he went into a major seizure and has had an uncontrolled seizure disorder ever since. He was left with severe mental retardation.

The 1970 RedBook did not list inconsolable crying, a fever of 103 degrees, a history of convulsions or a cold at the time of vaccination as contraindications to the pertussis vaccine. Attorney Lambright stated that the jury's verdict in the case sent a clear message to physicians that "The American Academy of Pediatrics Red Book should not be used as the sole guide to contraindications or adverse reactions to vaccines. The basic premise in the Forehand case is that doctors have to use their common sense, medical training, skill, knowledge and experience to make appropriate determinations for vaccination on a case by case basis."

If the jury's verdict is upheld on appeal, the Forehand case will be an important precedent-setting case. It would mean that individual physicians are responsible for obtaining knowledge and making decisions about the advisability of vaccination in individual cases which go beyond automatic reliance on the recommendations listed by the AAP or the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Examples of additional information available to physicians are the vaccine manufacturer's product inserts included in vaccine packages. which historically have listed more contraindications than those listed by either the AAP or ACIP, and the more than 40 years of scientific literature on the subject."

In a Winter 1986 newsletter, I wrote:

"On September 18, 1986, Forehand V. Tayloe and Stallings was settled for $1.1 million in North Carolina. A North Carolina jury had concluded that two pediatricians were negligent in the pertussis vaccine induced brain damage of Beau Forehand, Jr. and had awarded the boy and his parents $3.3 million. The judge overturned the verdict and the case was appealed on behalf of Beau by the law firm of Preiser and Wilson, of Charleston, West Virginia, before the Sept. 18 settlement ended the lawsuit."

BRIEF VACCINE INJURY COMPENSATION SYSTEM (VICP) BACKGROUND:

The Forehand settlement was one of a series of DPT vaccine malpractice cases against negligent physicians, as well as a few high profile punitive damage awards for DPT vaccine brain damage that went against vaccine manufacturers between 1981-1985 which persuaded Congress that both drug companies making vaccines and doctors giving vaccines should be protected from liability for vaccine injuries and deaths. The vaccine manufacturers threatened to leave the country with no vaccine if they did not get protection. Doctors threatened to stop giving vaccines if they weren't protected. Both doctors and the companies wanted a federal compensation system that banned all vaccine injury lawsuits for all time. We fought for protection of the right to access the civil justice system to sue companies or doctors if the child was turned down for federal compensation or offered too little or if it could be proved the vaccine manufacturer engaged in criminal fraud or gross negligence in the manufacture the vaccine or the doctor did the same in administering the vaccine.

I hope this is helpful.

Best,
Barbara Loe Fisher