Wall Street Journal
Former FDA Head Held Shares
In Regulated Firms as Late as '04
By SARAH LUECK and ANNA WILDE MATHEWS
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
October 26, 2005; Page A2
WASHINGTON – As late as 2004, former Food and Drug Administration head
Lester Crawford or his wife owned stock in companies that make or
distribute products regulated by the agency, a factor that may have led
to his abrupt departure last month.
For most of 2004, Dr. Crawford was the FDA's acting commissioner, and
prior to that he had been a deputy commissioner at the agency.
Financial disclosure forms released under the Freedom of Information
Act show that during at least part of that time, he or his wife held
stock in companies that have some of their business regulated by FDA,
including Kimberly-Clark Corp. and Teleflex Inc., which make medical
devices, food distributor Sysco Corp. and Embrex Inc., an agricultural
biotechnology company on whose board Dr. Crawford once sat
November 15, 2005
Chronicles in Autism
A documentary on treating autism seeks to destigmatize the disease
San Francisco Chronicle
by Carolyne Zinko
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Elizabeth Horn, looking back on the moment doctors diagnosed her daughter, Sophia, with autism eight years ago, described it as being "the darkest day of your life.''
Not only because she was being told her daughter had a brain disorder that would hinder her ability to communicate and behave appropriately with others for the rest of her life, or that her daughter was joining the ranks of some 26,000 people in California who receive services for autism each year, some of whom may require special, institutional care -- a concern to state officials looking at long-term expenditures for the developmentally disabled. It was also because doctors at Mills Peninsula Hospital in San Mateo, where her daughter was being seen, had few suggestions for treatment beyond hiring a speech therapist.
"The first impression you get with this diagnosis is that you're on your own,'' Horn said. "Even though there were resources, there was no sense of direction anyone could give as to how to proceed.''
Horn received a list of therapists to contact. "In 1997, that's all you got,'' she said. "It was woefully inadequate.''
Horn, a filmmaker who primarily makes films for corporations, began looking at her family's journey through an artistic lens. She decided there was a story in how difficult it is to figure out what to do to help your autistic child.
Based partly on personal experience and partly on the experiences of families whose autistic children appear to be recovering with a controversial treatment, Horn created a 60-minute film, "Finding the Words." The film's financial sponsor is KTEH San Jose. American Public Television has agreed to submit the film to PBS for a national broadcast in April, which is national Autism Awareness Month.
In her search for answers, Horn began talking with therapists, asking if they had seen any autistic children -- as she put it -- "get better.'' She learned of people around the United States who were trying behavioral therapy and biomedical cures such as supplements and a highly controversial treatment called chelation therapy -- aimed at ridding the body of heavy metals, which some parents believe are introduced by thimerosal, a mercury preservative in childhood vaccines. Mercury is known to cause brain damage. The medical establishment has countered that there is no proof that thimerosal causes autism. Thimerosal has been eliminated from most vaccines since a 1999 call by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Public Health Service for drugmakers to voluntarily stop including the substance in immunizations.
The arc of the film goes like this: Parents with so-called normal children watch something go wrong with their child's development, receive the autism diagnosis and do whatever they can to get their children "back" to a normal state.
"My question to myself as a mom was, 'If another woman can get her kid back, why can't I get mine back, and if I can't get mine back, why?' " Horn said. "That's the question I want every parent to ask. Until they do, children will get lost at a rate of one every 22 minutes in this country with profound autism.''
During the course of four years, Horn visited nine families whose autistic children appeared to be improving with chelation, and she got permission to film them both before and after treatment began. One unexpected result of her interviews, Horn said, was the discovery of similar patterns of symptoms, behavior and recovery in each child. Dishearteningly, Horn said she discovered that many of the parents of autistic children were urged by doctors to put them in institutional care at ages as young as 2.
"The doctors felt they were being kind, and because most of the families had other children, that the best thing to do was to get the child out of the house and give them 24-hour care,'' Horn said. "But something in all these parents refused to accept the diagnosis. That moment where you decide that rather than give in to despair, you're going to turn and fight, was interesting to me as a filmmaker. Each of these families had that moment, and they had the outcomes with children improving as a result.''
One of the more dramatic improvements included in the film is that of a boy who did not begin to speak until he was 15. His family attributes it to the treatment. Although her 10-year-old daughter's progress has not been dramatic, Horn believes she is "slowly but surely getting better.''
The film was financed by 70 individuals, many from Silicon Valley, Horn said. Her husband, Zach Nelson, is chief executive at NetSuite.com.
One of her goals is to push for the use of technology to build a database of information on autistic children so that patterns of symptoms could be detected more quickly and treatments could be targeted more effectively.
Not all the families Horn approached wanted to be included in the film, even those whose children were said to be doing better after treatment. Horn said there is an "underground" of recovered children because some families don't want anyone to know that their children had been diagnosed with autism in the first place.
The film is Horn's attempt to push for a medical paradigm shift, which she feels will help remove treatment obstacles such as stigmatization and isolation.
"If we can change the definition of autism from incurable brain disorder to an illness, there's no shame in getting well,'' she said. "In fact, it's a triumphant story.''
E-mail Carolyne Zinko at czinko@sfchronicle.com.
San Francisco Chronicle
by Carolyne Zinko
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Elizabeth Horn, looking back on the moment doctors diagnosed her daughter, Sophia, with autism eight years ago, described it as being "the darkest day of your life.''
Not only because she was being told her daughter had a brain disorder that would hinder her ability to communicate and behave appropriately with others for the rest of her life, or that her daughter was joining the ranks of some 26,000 people in California who receive services for autism each year, some of whom may require special, institutional care -- a concern to state officials looking at long-term expenditures for the developmentally disabled. It was also because doctors at Mills Peninsula Hospital in San Mateo, where her daughter was being seen, had few suggestions for treatment beyond hiring a speech therapist.
"The first impression you get with this diagnosis is that you're on your own,'' Horn said. "Even though there were resources, there was no sense of direction anyone could give as to how to proceed.''
Horn received a list of therapists to contact. "In 1997, that's all you got,'' she said. "It was woefully inadequate.''
Horn, a filmmaker who primarily makes films for corporations, began looking at her family's journey through an artistic lens. She decided there was a story in how difficult it is to figure out what to do to help your autistic child.
Based partly on personal experience and partly on the experiences of families whose autistic children appear to be recovering with a controversial treatment, Horn created a 60-minute film, "Finding the Words." The film's financial sponsor is KTEH San Jose. American Public Television has agreed to submit the film to PBS for a national broadcast in April, which is national Autism Awareness Month.
In her search for answers, Horn began talking with therapists, asking if they had seen any autistic children -- as she put it -- "get better.'' She learned of people around the United States who were trying behavioral therapy and biomedical cures such as supplements and a highly controversial treatment called chelation therapy -- aimed at ridding the body of heavy metals, which some parents believe are introduced by thimerosal, a mercury preservative in childhood vaccines. Mercury is known to cause brain damage. The medical establishment has countered that there is no proof that thimerosal causes autism. Thimerosal has been eliminated from most vaccines since a 1999 call by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Public Health Service for drugmakers to voluntarily stop including the substance in immunizations.
The arc of the film goes like this: Parents with so-called normal children watch something go wrong with their child's development, receive the autism diagnosis and do whatever they can to get their children "back" to a normal state.
"My question to myself as a mom was, 'If another woman can get her kid back, why can't I get mine back, and if I can't get mine back, why?' " Horn said. "That's the question I want every parent to ask. Until they do, children will get lost at a rate of one every 22 minutes in this country with profound autism.''
During the course of four years, Horn visited nine families whose autistic children appeared to be improving with chelation, and she got permission to film them both before and after treatment began. One unexpected result of her interviews, Horn said, was the discovery of similar patterns of symptoms, behavior and recovery in each child. Dishearteningly, Horn said she discovered that many of the parents of autistic children were urged by doctors to put them in institutional care at ages as young as 2.
"The doctors felt they were being kind, and because most of the families had other children, that the best thing to do was to get the child out of the house and give them 24-hour care,'' Horn said. "But something in all these parents refused to accept the diagnosis. That moment where you decide that rather than give in to despair, you're going to turn and fight, was interesting to me as a filmmaker. Each of these families had that moment, and they had the outcomes with children improving as a result.''
One of the more dramatic improvements included in the film is that of a boy who did not begin to speak until he was 15. His family attributes it to the treatment. Although her 10-year-old daughter's progress has not been dramatic, Horn believes she is "slowly but surely getting better.''
The film was financed by 70 individuals, many from Silicon Valley, Horn said. Her husband, Zach Nelson, is chief executive at NetSuite.com.
One of her goals is to push for the use of technology to build a database of information on autistic children so that patterns of symptoms could be detected more quickly and treatments could be targeted more effectively.
Not all the families Horn approached wanted to be included in the film, even those whose children were said to be doing better after treatment. Horn said there is an "underground" of recovered children because some families don't want anyone to know that their children had been diagnosed with autism in the first place.
The film is Horn's attempt to push for a medical paradigm shift, which she feels will help remove treatment obstacles such as stigmatization and isolation.
"If we can change the definition of autism from incurable brain disorder to an illness, there's no shame in getting well,'' she said. "In fact, it's a triumphant story.''
E-mail Carolyne Zinko at czinko@sfchronicle.com.
More Recovered Children
Getting Our Children Back
A documentary on treating autism seeks to destigmatize the disease
by Carolyne Zinko
San Francisco Chronicle
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Elizabeth Horn, looking back on the moment doctors diagnosed her daughter, Sophia, with autism eight years ago, described it as being "the darkest day of your life.''
Not only because she was being told her daughter had a brain disorder that would hinder her ability to communicate and behave appropriately with others for the rest of her life, or that her daughter was joining the ranks of some 26,000 people in California who receive services for autism each year, some of whom may require special, institutional care -- a concern to state officials looking at long-term expenditures for the developmentally disabled. It was also because doctors at Mills Peninsula Hospital in San Mateo, where her daughter was being seen, had few suggestions for treatment beyond hiring a speech therapist.
"The first impression you get with this diagnosis is that you're on your own,'' Horn said. "Even though there were resources, there was no sense of direction anyone could give as to how to proceed.''
Horn received a list of therapists to contact. "In 1997, that's all you got,'' she said. "It was woefully inadequate.''
Horn, a filmmaker who primarily makes films for corporations, began looking at her family's journey through an artistic lens. She decided there was a story in how difficult it is to figure out what to do to help your autistic child.
Based partly on personal experience and partly on the experiences of families whose autistic children appear to be recovering with a controversial treatment, Horn created a 60-minute film, "Finding the Words." The film's financial sponsor is KTEH San Jose. American Public Television has agreed to submit the film to PBS for a national broadcast in April, which is national Autism Awareness Month.
In her search for answers, Horn began talking with therapists, asking if they had seen any autistic children -- as she put it -- "get better.'' She learned of people around the United States who were trying behavioral therapy and biomedical cures such as supplements and a highly controversial treatment called chelation therapy -- aimed at ridding the body of heavy metals, which some parents believe are introduced by thimerosal, a mercury preservative in childhood vaccines. Mercury is known to cause brain damage. The medical establishment has countered that there is no proof that thimerosal causes autism. Thimerosal has been eliminated from most vaccines since a 1999 call by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Public Health Service for drugmakers to voluntarily stop including the substance in immunizations.
The arc of the film goes like this: Parents with so-called normal children watch something go wrong with their child's development, receive the autism diagnosis and do whatever they can to get their children "back" to a normal state.
"My question to myself as a mom was, 'If another woman can get her kid back, why can't I get mine back, and if I can't get mine back, why?' " Horn said. "That's the question I want every parent to ask. Until they do, children will get lost at a rate of one every 22 minutes in this country with profound autism.''
During the course of four years, Horn visited nine families whose autistic children appeared to be improving with chelation, and she got permission to film them both before and after treatment began. One unexpected result of her interviews, Horn said, was the discovery of similar patterns of symptoms, behavior and recovery in each child. Dishearteningly, Horn said she discovered that many of the parents of autistic children were urged by doctors to put them in institutional care at ages as young as 2.
"The doctors felt they were being kind, and because most of the families had other children, that the best thing to do was to get the child out of the house and give them 24-hour care,'' Horn said. "But something in all these parents refused to accept the diagnosis. That moment where you decide that rather than give in to despair, you're going to turn and fight, was interesting to me as a filmmaker. Each of these families had that moment, and they had the outcomes with children improving as a result.''
One of the more dramatic improvements included in the film is that of a boy who did not begin to speak until he was 15. His family attributes it to the treatment. Although her 10-year-old daughter's progress has not been dramatic, Horn believes she is "slowly but surely getting better.''
The film was financed by 70 individuals, many from Silicon Valley, Horn said. Her husband, Zach Nelson, is chief executive at NetSuite.com.
One of her goals is to push for the use of technology to build a database of information on autistic children so that patterns of symptoms could be detected more quickly and treatments could be targeted more effectively.
Not all the families Horn approached wanted to be included in the film, even those whose children were said to be doing better after treatment. Horn said there is an "underground" of recovered children because some families don't want anyone to know that their children had been diagnosed with autism in the first place.
The film is Horn's attempt to push for a medical paradigm shift, which she feels will help remove treatment obstacles such as stigmatization and isolation.
"If we can change the definition of autism from incurable brain disorder to an illness, there's no shame in getting well,'' she said. "In fact, it's a triumphant story.''
E-mail Carolyne Zinko at czinko@sfchronicle.com.
A documentary on treating autism seeks to destigmatize the disease
by Carolyne Zinko
San Francisco Chronicle
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Elizabeth Horn, looking back on the moment doctors diagnosed her daughter, Sophia, with autism eight years ago, described it as being "the darkest day of your life.''
Not only because she was being told her daughter had a brain disorder that would hinder her ability to communicate and behave appropriately with others for the rest of her life, or that her daughter was joining the ranks of some 26,000 people in California who receive services for autism each year, some of whom may require special, institutional care -- a concern to state officials looking at long-term expenditures for the developmentally disabled. It was also because doctors at Mills Peninsula Hospital in San Mateo, where her daughter was being seen, had few suggestions for treatment beyond hiring a speech therapist.
"The first impression you get with this diagnosis is that you're on your own,'' Horn said. "Even though there were resources, there was no sense of direction anyone could give as to how to proceed.''
Horn received a list of therapists to contact. "In 1997, that's all you got,'' she said. "It was woefully inadequate.''
Horn, a filmmaker who primarily makes films for corporations, began looking at her family's journey through an artistic lens. She decided there was a story in how difficult it is to figure out what to do to help your autistic child.
Based partly on personal experience and partly on the experiences of families whose autistic children appear to be recovering with a controversial treatment, Horn created a 60-minute film, "Finding the Words." The film's financial sponsor is KTEH San Jose. American Public Television has agreed to submit the film to PBS for a national broadcast in April, which is national Autism Awareness Month.
In her search for answers, Horn began talking with therapists, asking if they had seen any autistic children -- as she put it -- "get better.'' She learned of people around the United States who were trying behavioral therapy and biomedical cures such as supplements and a highly controversial treatment called chelation therapy -- aimed at ridding the body of heavy metals, which some parents believe are introduced by thimerosal, a mercury preservative in childhood vaccines. Mercury is known to cause brain damage. The medical establishment has countered that there is no proof that thimerosal causes autism. Thimerosal has been eliminated from most vaccines since a 1999 call by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Public Health Service for drugmakers to voluntarily stop including the substance in immunizations.
The arc of the film goes like this: Parents with so-called normal children watch something go wrong with their child's development, receive the autism diagnosis and do whatever they can to get their children "back" to a normal state.
"My question to myself as a mom was, 'If another woman can get her kid back, why can't I get mine back, and if I can't get mine back, why?' " Horn said. "That's the question I want every parent to ask. Until they do, children will get lost at a rate of one every 22 minutes in this country with profound autism.''
During the course of four years, Horn visited nine families whose autistic children appeared to be improving with chelation, and she got permission to film them both before and after treatment began. One unexpected result of her interviews, Horn said, was the discovery of similar patterns of symptoms, behavior and recovery in each child. Dishearteningly, Horn said she discovered that many of the parents of autistic children were urged by doctors to put them in institutional care at ages as young as 2.
"The doctors felt they were being kind, and because most of the families had other children, that the best thing to do was to get the child out of the house and give them 24-hour care,'' Horn said. "But something in all these parents refused to accept the diagnosis. That moment where you decide that rather than give in to despair, you're going to turn and fight, was interesting to me as a filmmaker. Each of these families had that moment, and they had the outcomes with children improving as a result.''
One of the more dramatic improvements included in the film is that of a boy who did not begin to speak until he was 15. His family attributes it to the treatment. Although her 10-year-old daughter's progress has not been dramatic, Horn believes she is "slowly but surely getting better.''
The film was financed by 70 individuals, many from Silicon Valley, Horn said. Her husband, Zach Nelson, is chief executive at NetSuite.com.
One of her goals is to push for the use of technology to build a database of information on autistic children so that patterns of symptoms could be detected more quickly and treatments could be targeted more effectively.
Not all the families Horn approached wanted to be included in the film, even those whose children were said to be doing better after treatment. Horn said there is an "underground" of recovered children because some families don't want anyone to know that their children had been diagnosed with autism in the first place.
The film is Horn's attempt to push for a medical paradigm shift, which she feels will help remove treatment obstacles such as stigmatization and isolation.
"If we can change the definition of autism from incurable brain disorder to an illness, there's no shame in getting well,'' she said. "In fact, it's a triumphant story.''
E-mail Carolyne Zinko at czinko@sfchronicle.com.
November 14, 2005
Southern California Asperger's Support Group
From Rodney and Kaoru Zeibol
We would like everyone to get the word out about our Asperger's support group. We have been meeting for almost 2 years now and will celebrate the 1 year anniversary at our present location in Irvine on 11/21. We have been averaging 30 adults and parents and around 12 children age 12 to 18 at every meeting.
We don't want to have any more situations like what happened to William Freund in Aliso Viejo. We don't want any adult or child with Asperger's to feel they are alone and have no one that understands them. Our Asperger's children are very understanding of differences as they deal with it everyday themselves.
We have adults with Asperger's regularly attending our meetings as well as parents bring children age 12 and older with them to the meetings. We have our Asperger's children sit at their own group of tables at the restaurant during the meeting.
This meeting isn't a formal social skills group for Asperger's children. We tell parents to have their child bring a book, gameboy or something to entertain themselves. If the child strikes up a conversation with other children then great. We don't push anything. We have had many children come back to meetings repeatedly with the parents saying their child didn't want to miss the meeting.
Come enjoy conversation, support and sharing with other Asperger's adults and parents with Asperger's children.
Rodney and Kaoru
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 11/21/2005
Event: OC Asperger's Disorder Support Group Meeting
What: Monthly OC Aspergers Support Group Meeting
Topic: Face to Face Meeting for general discussion
When: Monday, @ 7PM
Where: I-HOP , 5301 University Drive at University & Michelson near the 405, Irvine, CA 92612,
949-786-5203
Information from Sponsor:
Rodney and Kaoru will be at this meeting. If your free stop by, sit and chat with other families for a couple of hours.
Posting Provided By: Orange County Parents and Their Autistic Spectrum Kids Support Group
The Age of Autism: Showdown in Santa Fe
The AAP openly opposes laws banning thimerosal from vaccines.
The CDC will not state a preference for children and pregnant women to receive thimerosal free flu shots, although most flu shots contain the full 25 mcg of mercury. The EPA states that this is a safe level of mercury for a 550 lb person.
Please note as you read the following article, that the AAP and CDC says their reasons for this are to protect the vaccine program, not the children receiving the vaccines.
The vaccine program, which has no rights under the constitution, is given greater protection by the AAP and CDC in this case than are individual children whom, by the governments own standards, are being overdosed with mercury.
EPA allows .1 mcg of mercury per kilogram of weight. If your child gets a thimerosal containing flu shot they are receiving the following:
Some questions for you the reader:
As a parent, did you know that your child would being given that much mercury when taking a flu shot? Did your doctor tell you? Would you give your child the shot if he had told you?
Which do you believe puts your child at greater risk, the possibility of being sick with the flu for a week, or getting injected with a substance that causes brain damage at dozens of time what the government says is safe?
If parents are not told that their children are being exposed to vastly unsafe levels of a neurotoxin when getting the flu shot, then are they being given informed consent?
Do parents know that if their child ends up with brain damage as a result of the flu shot, that as a result of the Biodefense Bill being voted on in the senate this week, that they cannot sue the vaccine manufacturer for damages?
Please read this article with those thoughts in mind.
The CDC will not state a preference for children and pregnant women to receive thimerosal free flu shots, although most flu shots contain the full 25 mcg of mercury. The EPA states that this is a safe level of mercury for a 550 lb person.
Please note as you read the following article, that the AAP and CDC says their reasons for this are to protect the vaccine program, not the children receiving the vaccines.
The vaccine program, which has no rights under the constitution, is given greater protection by the AAP and CDC in this case than are individual children whom, by the governments own standards, are being overdosed with mercury.
EPA allows .1 mcg of mercury per kilogram of weight. If your child gets a thimerosal containing flu shot they are receiving the following:
- If you have a 10 lb baby, their mercury limit is .45 mcg of mercury and they are receiving 55.5 times the EPA safe standard.
- A 20 lb baby is allowed .9 mcg and is receiving 27.7 times the EPA safe standard.
- A 30 lb toddler is allowed 1.36 mcg and receiving 18.4 times the EPA safe standard.
- A 40 lb preschooler is allowed 1.81 mcg and is receiving 13.8 times the EPA safe standard.
- A 50 lb elementary school student is allowed 2.27 mcg and is receiving 11 times the EPA safe standard.
Some questions for you the reader:
As a parent, did you know that your child would being given that much mercury when taking a flu shot? Did your doctor tell you? Would you give your child the shot if he had told you?
Which do you believe puts your child at greater risk, the possibility of being sick with the flu for a week, or getting injected with a substance that causes brain damage at dozens of time what the government says is safe?
If parents are not told that their children are being exposed to vastly unsafe levels of a neurotoxin when getting the flu shot, then are they being given informed consent?
Do parents know that if their child ends up with brain damage as a result of the flu shot, that as a result of the Biodefense Bill being voted on in the senate this week, that they cannot sue the vaccine manufacturer for damages?
Please read this article with those thoughts in mind.
The Age of Autism: Showdown in Santa Fe
By Dan Olmsted
UPI Senior Editor
Nov. 14, 2005 at 1:01PM
A pediatrician had an appointment Monday with the New Mexico Board of Pharmacy to deliver a blunt message: Its members need to warn state residents that the mercury in flu shots could be harmful to children -- or risk being remembered for failing to do their job.
The request by Dr. Kenneth Stoller, an assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, opens a new front in an escalating war over the use of a mercury-based preservative in medical products. He is medical director of the Hyperbaric Medical Center of New Mexico and uses hyperbaric oxygen to treat autism.
Six states -- including heavyweights New York, California and Illinois -- have banned the preservative, called thimerosal, from vaccines intended for children and pregnant women. It has been voluntarily phased out of most childhood immunizations but remains in most flu shots.
The American Academy of Pediatrics opposes an outright ban, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declined to express a preference for the thimerosal-free version of the flu vaccine.
The dynamics are complicated, but the basic issue is whether it's reasonable to fear that thimerosal might cause autism. Stoller says it is; the AAP and the CDC say it is not.
"There is an acute public health issue that very few understand even though several states have banned or limited the use of vaccines containing thimerosal," says a copy of Stoller's speech he provided Age of Autism. "In the months and years to come this iatrogenic (doctor-induced) poisoning of Americans and New Mexicans will be fully understood and what you decide to do here today will be noted in the not too distant future.
"We have a responsibility to perform here and the Board of Pharmacy has the regulatory power to perform it," he said. "I am requesting that you issue an immediate advisory so that all New Mexicans who desire to receive the current flu vaccine receive information about what is being injected as there has been a labeling omission (violation). And lastly, I request that you prohibit the use of this flu vaccine that contains thimerosal to all pregnant woman and children under 50 pounds."
Stoller's concern is emphatically not shared by the physicians group, which has opposed such a ban in other states. Before New York Gov. George Pataki signed a thimerosal ban in August, a state chapter of the AAP urged its rejection.
"This bill, designed to protect individuals from alleged adverse effects of thimerosal which contains ethyl mercury, is completely unnecessary," said the AAP statement. "To legislate based on fear and misinformation is an anathema to those of us who work tirelessly for the health and welfare of our communities.
"To enact this legislation implies that the vaccines that have virtually eradicated many diseases, constituting one of the greatest public health accomplishments of the past century, are dangerous. This bill denigrates our informed scientific and medical communities while supporting all of the anti-vaccine factions in our society. This legislation potentially jeopardizes our most vulnerable communities."
The CDC says concerns about thimerosal have been allayed by numerous studies. "As the Institute of Medicine concluded in a recent report, the vast majority of studies, which have involved hundreds of thousands of children in a number of countries, have failed to find any association between exposure to thimerosal in vaccines and autism," according to the CDC's Web site.
Stoller said medical groups and the federal government are misguidedly trying to protect the childhood immunization program by defending mercury as a vaccine ingredient. He also said they are afraid of massive liability if a link is shown -- some quarter-million Americans have been diagnosed with autism, 80 percent of them under 18.
Careers and credibility are at stake, he added.
"Their throwing sand in everyone's face -- to protect their jobs and their reputations and status -- is interfering with getting these kids the help they need," he charged. And thimerosal-containing flu shots will create more cases, he said.
Autism diagnoses increased dramatically over the past two decades at the same time that more vaccines containing thimerosal were added to the schedule. In 1999 the U.S. Public Health Service, the AAP and family physicians recommended that manufacturers phase out thimerosal in childhood vaccines as soon as possible.
Most flu shots, however, continue to contain a full dose of thimerosal. The CDC -- which now recommends flu shots for pregnant women and infants 6 to 23 months old -- has declined to express a preference for non-thimerosal flu shots out of what it says is concern that parents might be reluctant to vaccinate their children unless they can find it.
"Most New Mexicans haven't received their flu vaccines yet," Stoller told Age of Autism. "I'm asking them to issue an urgent advisory letting them know the danger and the risk of the thimerosal flu vaccine which accounts for about 90 percent of the flu vaccine in New Mexico and the United States."
He said that while New Mexico has ordered some thimerosal-free vaccines for infants and pregnant women, private-practice physicians are likely to order the thimerosal-containing multiple-dose vials.
--
This ongoing series on the roots and rise of autism welcomes reader comment. E-mail: dolmsted@upi.com
Families Bear Burden of Proof in Special Ed Challenges
Nov. 14, 2005
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled today that parents who demand better special education programs for their children have the burden of proof in the challenges.
The 6-2 decision, written by retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, said that if parents challenge a program, they have the burden in an administrative
hearing of showing that the program is insufficient. If schools bring a complaint, the burden rests with them, O'Connor wrote.
The ruling is a loss for a Maryland family that contested the special education program designed for their son with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The case required the court to interpret the Individuals With Disabilities Act, which does not specifically say whether parents or schools have the burden of proof in disputes.
The family's attorney, William Hurd, unsuccessfully argued that when there are disagreements between schools and parents, education officials have better access to relevant facts and witnesses.
Chief Justice John Roberts had recused himself from the case, because attorneys from his old law firm represented the school district.
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer wrote separate dissents.
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled today that parents who demand better special education programs for their children have the burden of proof in the challenges.
The 6-2 decision, written by retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, said that if parents challenge a program, they have the burden in an administrative
hearing of showing that the program is insufficient. If schools bring a complaint, the burden rests with them, O'Connor wrote.
The ruling is a loss for a Maryland family that contested the special education program designed for their son with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The case required the court to interpret the Individuals With Disabilities Act, which does not specifically say whether parents or schools have the burden of proof in disputes.
The family's attorney, William Hurd, unsuccessfully argued that when there are disagreements between schools and parents, education officials have better access to relevant facts and witnesses.
Chief Justice John Roberts had recused himself from the case, because attorneys from his old law firm represented the school district.
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer wrote separate dissents.
November 13, 2005
How Drug Companies Deceive Doctors
"The editor of the British Journal of Medicine has acknowledged that medical ghostwriting has become a serious problem for his publication: “We are being hoodwinked by the drug companies. The articles come in with doctors’ names on them and we often find some of them have little or no idea about what they have written."If you, my readers, had a chance to get to know me, after a time you would figure out that I am a pretty reasonable person. I am not one easily taken to conspiracy theories, or a very suspicious person. I am the daughter of a career Naval Officer who has a great deal of respect for the traditions and missions of the military. I have been to demonstrations three times in my life, once in college at a pro-life rally in DC, and twice this year at anti-mercury rallies in DC. Both times because I believed that babies who could not advocate for themselves were being harmed. I am, in general, respectful of the establishment, and if I wanted to make a change, my style is to make it from the inside.
I am a republican and a Christian for goodness sake.
I certainly didn't go looking for this fight with the medical establishment. It came looking for me the first time my doctor lied to me about what was in my son's vaccines. In 2000 I was a new mom with a preemie just out of the hospital and had heard the year before about mercury in vaccines. I asked my doctor if the shots he was going to give my son had mercury in them and he looked at me like I had asked him if he still used leeches and said curtly, "nobody uses those any more". I believed him, and was a little ashamed that I had clearly offended him. His nurse then came into the office and injected Webster with 25mcg of mercury.
It is not until 4 years later, after Chandler regressed into autism following his 18 month vaccinations until I started looking into all of this. The facts about mercury, the crappy science that is being relied on to 'prove' it's safety and non-link to autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. The sad fact that the medical establishment is ignoring the most promising treatments for this heartbreaking disorder because it implicates their vaccines. The fact that Duke University says, flat out, that Terbutaline causes autism and OB's are still using it on pregnant women. It is not until we became victims of medical system that it ever would have occurred to me to dig this hard to find out what is really going on, nor do so much work to try to let other's know what I am learning.
If my upbringing taught me anything, it is that when you find something so out of balance, and have the means to do something about it, you have to. Bonhoffer said, "All it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing". So I can't not write about what I am learning.
Which brings me to the article I am posting today. When the editor of one of the most prestigious medical journals in the world, one of the gate keepers of medical science, freely admits that around half the material that he is putting his name on is manipulated by pharmaceutical companies, and not even written by those whose name is on the papers, and when the FDA and NIH and CDC have a revolving door policy so that those who are making public health policy are also getting checks from Pharma, then who can trust the medical community any more?
And what does it say about the media that this article with these damning quotes straight from the heads of the worlds best medical journals is being published on a tiny web site instead of the front page of the Washington Post?
...And now we want to insulate Big Pharma from being sued for their products? That is the last check we have on the pharmaceutical companies, other than just not buying medicine or seeking medical treatment any more.
In making medical decisions for my family now, I have to do my own research, and read my own medical articles because even the most well meaning doctor has been lied to by the Med/Pharma/Gov? These are not even separate entities any more. Just Medpharmgov.
My plea to Medpharmgov is this, will someone with some pull, who can't be bought with money or power, please grow a pair and do something about this disaster?
HOW DRUG COMPANIES DECEIVE DOCTORS
Shane Ellison M. Sc.
November13, 2005
NewsWithViews.com
Following doctor’s orders has become synonymous with danger. Every year, FDA approved drugs kill twice as many people as the total number of U.S. deaths from the Vietnam War.[1] Death by medicine flourishes because deceit, not science, governs a doctor’s prescribing habits. As an ex-drug chemist, I witnessed this first-hand.
This deceit comes in many forms. Medical ghostwriting and checkbook science are the most prominent.
Doctors rely on peer-reviewed medical journals to learn about prescription drugs. These journals include the Lancet, British Medical Journal, New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association. It is assumed that these professional journals offer the hard science behind any given drug. This assumption is wrong. Medical journals can’t be trusted thanks to medical ghost writing.
Medical ghostwriting is the practice of hiring PhD’s to crank out drug reports that hype benefits and hide negative side effects. Once complete, drug companies recruit doctor’s to put their name on the report as authors. These reports are then published in the above mentioned medical journals.[2] The carrot for this deceitful practice is money and prestige. Ghostwriters can receive up to $20,000 per report. Doctors receive prestige from having been published. Ultimately, patients get bad drugs disguised as good medicine.
As deplorable as medical ghostwriting sounds, it is more common than you think. The world’s most influential medical journal, the New England Journal of Medicine, has admitted that 50% of their drug articles are ghostwritten.
The editor of the British Journal of Medicine has acknowledged that medical ghostwriting has become a serious problem for his publication: “We are being hoodwinked by the drug companies. The articles come in with doctors’ names on them and we often find some of them have little or no idea about what they have written.”[3]
Consider the testimony from deputy editor of The Journal of the American Medical Association: “This [journal articles] is all about bypassing science. Medicine is becoming a sort of Cloud Cuckoo Land, where doctors don’t know what papers they can trust in the journals, and the public doesn’t want to believe.”[4]
Other weapons of mass deception exist – checkbook science. As defined by Diana Zuckerman, PhD, checkbook science is research intended not to expand knowledge or to benefit humanity, but instead to sell drugs. It has stolen the very soul of University research, scientific method, and the patients who serve as human subjects.[5]
Drug companies use checkbook science to sponsor their own drug research via the halls of academia and government institutions. Money is used to design their own studies, interpret the results, and stuff negative data under the drug-rug. The drug-rug is a behemoth rug. It has to be. A myriad of negative drug data exists.
Like medical ghostwriting, checkbook science is more common than you think. A third of academic professors have personal financial ties to drug makers.[6] Called the “Stealth Merger” by the LA Times, top scientists at the National Institutes of Health also collect paychecks and stock options from the drug industry.[7] This has been going on for over 20 years.[8] Known as the Bayh-Dole Act, U.S law was amended in 1980 to allow for these flagrant conflicts of interest.[4]
This calculated deceit is scandalous. Hopefully the line at the pharmaceutical trough gets shorter as this scandal becomes public. Though, drug makers have an insurance policy for this – Direct-to-Consumer advertising. The oft repeated “ask your doctor” ensures that the herd instinctively embraces drugs, drugs and more drugs.
Understanding medical ghost writing and checkbook science explains why medical doctors have been hypnotized into drug worship – they only see the positive. It also explains why modern medicine is more deadly and lucrative than war – the danger has been silenced with the pen and money.
Drug companies do not take responsibility for the wonton prescription drug deceit. Instead, victims have been made invisible - dehumanized. They are not recognized as children, or men with significant contribution to society. Their deaths are simply shrugged off and attributed to sickness or aging.
Those who profit from prescription drugs should hold some sort of record for the having the most reckless disregard for human life. If the deceit continues the prescription drug leviathan will silently kill more people than Napalm dropped on Vietnamese villages.
Footnotes:
1, Approximately 58,000 American's died in Vietnam. FDA approved drugs kill 106 - 125,000 people per year when used as prescribed.
2, Source: CBC's Marketplace. Aired March 25, 2003. Researcher Colman Jones.
3, Revealed: How Drug Firms 'Hoodwink' Medical Journals
4, Shannon Brownlee. Doctors Without Borders. Why you can't trust medical journals anymore. Washington Monthly. April 2003.
5, Zuckerman, D. Hype in health reporting: "checkbook science" buys distortion of medical news. International Journal of Health Services. 2003;33(2). 6, Bekelman, J.E., Li, Y. and Gross, C. P. Scope and impact of financial conflicts of interest in biomedical research. Journal of the American Medical Association. 289: 454-465.
7, Willman D. Stealth merger: drug companies and government medical research. Los Angeles Times. 2003 Dec 7;:A1, A32-3.
8, Doctors Without Borders - Shannon Brownlee
November 12, 2005
Thank You Surfer Boys
My last post on a piece written by a non-verbal autistic child has gotten a lot of hits, so I thought I would post this one too. My husband found this on the Surfers Healing site and I sobbed when he showed it to me.
My ten year old non verbal son David wrote this poem to thank you for his wonderful day of surfing in San Diego here it is:
Thank You Surfer Boys
by David Teplitz
I am a boy.
A notalker boy.
A dreaming notalker boy.
I dreamt of riding the indigo waves of the stunning sea.
You made it be surfer boys.
I was high and free and powerful and peaceful.
You made it be surfer boys.
I felt the oneness with water.
You made it be surfer boys.
You gave the gift of surfing but even more you
loved ignored people
gave flight to those who were stuck
freed those trapped in their bodies
gave peace and joy.
I am a dreaming notalker SURFER boy.
Thank you surfer boys.
November 11, 2005
Safety v. Personality Change
A few weeks ago in the comments section of my blog, the question was raised, is it worth treating autism if it changes the personality of the autistic child. I argued that it was because both children and adults with an autistic spectrum disorder are at greater risk of physical harm than the general population, and mitigating their autistic symptoms helps to keep them safe.
You can read the posts on this here, here, here and here.
I realize that the ‘cure/not to cure’ debate a much wider one, and there are lots more discussions that can and should be undertaken, but for me, in making a decision as a parent and justifying that decision to Chandler when he is an adult, it all boils down giving him the best chance of living safely in this world.
I was planning on blogging for a month or two on news stories on ASD individuals who had been harmed or been at risk for harm because of their autism to prove my point, but more proof than I wanted to see has presented itself, so I am just going to wrap up this up now. Mostly because I hate dwelling on these stories.
Last week a young man with Aspersers who was reportedly really lonely and just wanted a friend his own age, despite his parents actively trying to help him, became so despondent and disturbed that he killed two of his neighbors and committed suicide.
This week authorities learned that several autistic individuals living in a group home who had died recently were the victims of foul play.
This week a mother in England admitted to murdering her autistic son, whom by all accounts she had cared for very lovingly for 36 years, and then attempting suicide, because she could no longer take the stress.
Tuesday, police rescued a 22 year old autistic man from the roof of a group home when he refused to come down.
In the comments section of this post Ann shared these stories of autistics that have been crime victims with us:
It is one that I have glossed over a bit because primarily I believed that it went with out saying. The culture needs to be more accepting, and in truth, embracing, of those with autism and other disabilities. Period. I can’t imagine anyone who would need me to argue why would be reading this blog anyway so I am not going to bother.
I am sure another reason that I have not written much on the world’s intolerance of and victimization of autistic individuals is because it is something that I may begin to have to face firsthand in the next few years, and I am just not ready to face that yet.
Chandler is only three and a half, and we are fortunate enough to have him surrounded by very trustworthy people. As he gets older and his circle gets wider, more and more possibilities for danger creep in. This is why I want him to have the best chance possible to be able to recognize danger and avoid it.
For our family, today, the biggest danger to Chandler is Chandler.
I did want to highlight Ann’s point here, because she makes an important one. Society at large should embrace those with autism and strive to understand their differences.
I believe that is only half the equation though. There will always be really horrible, anti-social people in this world, who don’t care about what they ‘should’ do, and no amount of societal pressure to be kind to those who are vulnerable will change them. Even if we could wave a wand and make everyone love autistics, that still does not remove the danger that they pose to themselves.
This is a dangerous world and having autism makes it more dangerous, as demonstrated by this series of posts. The primary responsibility of a parent is to protect their children from danger, both now, and when their parents are no longer around to protect them.
If “curing” my son’s autism changes his personality, I believe it is worth it, if only because it will make him safer in life. Safer both from harming himself and from becoming a victim of someone else.
If anyone sees flaws in my reasoning, or a point that I may not have thought of, I am certainly open to hearing about it, but unless and until someone can make a good argument as to where I am wrong on this, I am gonna go ahead and close the books on this question.
My reasoning is that treating autism in an attempt to ‘cure’ is better than leaving the autistic individual at the mercy of their lack of a sense of danger and at the mercy of the cruel people in this world.
You can read the posts on this here, here, here and here.
I realize that the ‘cure/not to cure’ debate a much wider one, and there are lots more discussions that can and should be undertaken, but for me, in making a decision as a parent and justifying that decision to Chandler when he is an adult, it all boils down giving him the best chance of living safely in this world.
I was planning on blogging for a month or two on news stories on ASD individuals who had been harmed or been at risk for harm because of their autism to prove my point, but more proof than I wanted to see has presented itself, so I am just going to wrap up this up now. Mostly because I hate dwelling on these stories.
Last week a young man with Aspersers who was reportedly really lonely and just wanted a friend his own age, despite his parents actively trying to help him, became so despondent and disturbed that he killed two of his neighbors and committed suicide.
This week authorities learned that several autistic individuals living in a group home who had died recently were the victims of foul play.
This week a mother in England admitted to murdering her autistic son, whom by all accounts she had cared for very lovingly for 36 years, and then attempting suicide, because she could no longer take the stress.
Tuesday, police rescued a 22 year old autistic man from the roof of a group home when he refused to come down.
In the comments section of this post Ann shared these stories of autistics that have been crime victims with us:
HeraldToday.com, October 21, 2005Ann and I have come to the same place from different directions, my emphasis is on making autistics safe in this dangerous world, and her emphasis is on making this dangerous world safe for autistics. Ann's point adds balance to my initial question.
Juvenile Justice guards allegedly assigned a teen sex offender to bathe and change a severely mentally retarded boy, who police say was then raped by the offender. ...
Advocates for the developmentally disabled are also outraged by the case for two reasons: The boy was locked up in juvenile detention instead of receiving help from the state Agency for Persons with Disabilities and Juvenile Justice officers allowed a sex offender to be alone with him. ...
The family wanted the boy placed in a group home, but was told there was no room, Russ said.
"He's a good kid, he's not no bad kid. He's an autistic child and those kinds of children can get easily upset sometimes," Russ said. "He ain't no criminal and he ain't done no crime."
The Centre Daily, October 14, 2005
Harrisburg, PA - A state appeals court reinstated a third-degree murder charge against the stepmother of an autistic teen who weighed 94 pounds and was covered in sores when he died of starvation and dehydration in December 2001.
The Kalamazoo Gazette, October 10, 2005
The $25 million wrongful-death suit filed by the family of a 15-year-old Parchment High School student with autism who died there on the first day of school in August 2003 has once again moved into mediation....
The suit states that on the day Michael died, he fainted at about 12:30 p.m. and became combative after regaining consciousness. Four school and KRESA employees restrained him by grabbing his limbs and holding him on the ground.
The employees, according to the suit, ignored his need for medical attention. An emergency call was made just before 2 p.m., but Michael could not be revived and was pronounced dead at Bronson Methodist Hospital.
The Cincinnati Enquirer, October 9, 2005
Jan Naylor of Springdale went under in the deep end on Sept. 29, and shot her 27-year-old autistic daughter, Sarah, to death, then set her house on fire and shot herself.
Gainesville.com, October 6, 2005
A Lake City caregiver turned herself in to Gainesville Police Tuesday and was arrested on charges of child neglect of an 11-year-old boy who has autism and cerebral palsy.
The boy was scalded with hot water while in a bath tub.
Sun-News of the Northland, October 6, 2005
One grant benefiting Clay and Platte families is the Children's TLC Easter Seals "Empowerment Project for Families with Special Needs Children." The $35,000 grant will help provide parent support for those raising children with autism or a severe behavioral disorder.
According to Children's Trust Fund, children with autism are seven times more likely to be abused than a non-disabled child.
The Guardian, September 24, 2005
Wendolyn Markcrow, 67, of Long Crendon, Buckinghamshire, pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility after the death in March of her third son, Patrick, 36, who was autistic and also had behavioural difficulties.
Check out Amanda Baggs' account of being institutionalized, and what it feels like to hear people say she doesn't know how hard it is to be autistic:
Past, Present and Future
Also Joel Smith's page dedicated to people who were killed for being autistic:
Murder of Autistics
Kathleen Seidel has some pages on very bad stuff that has happened to autistics:
http://neurodiversity.com/murder.html
http://neurodiversity.com/abuse.html
http://neurodiversity.com/aversives.html
It is one that I have glossed over a bit because primarily I believed that it went with out saying. The culture needs to be more accepting, and in truth, embracing, of those with autism and other disabilities. Period. I can’t imagine anyone who would need me to argue why would be reading this blog anyway so I am not going to bother.
I am sure another reason that I have not written much on the world’s intolerance of and victimization of autistic individuals is because it is something that I may begin to have to face firsthand in the next few years, and I am just not ready to face that yet.
Chandler is only three and a half, and we are fortunate enough to have him surrounded by very trustworthy people. As he gets older and his circle gets wider, more and more possibilities for danger creep in. This is why I want him to have the best chance possible to be able to recognize danger and avoid it.
For our family, today, the biggest danger to Chandler is Chandler.
I did want to highlight Ann’s point here, because she makes an important one. Society at large should embrace those with autism and strive to understand their differences.
I believe that is only half the equation though. There will always be really horrible, anti-social people in this world, who don’t care about what they ‘should’ do, and no amount of societal pressure to be kind to those who are vulnerable will change them. Even if we could wave a wand and make everyone love autistics, that still does not remove the danger that they pose to themselves.
This is a dangerous world and having autism makes it more dangerous, as demonstrated by this series of posts. The primary responsibility of a parent is to protect their children from danger, both now, and when their parents are no longer around to protect them.
If “curing” my son’s autism changes his personality, I believe it is worth it, if only because it will make him safer in life. Safer both from harming himself and from becoming a victim of someone else.
If anyone sees flaws in my reasoning, or a point that I may not have thought of, I am certainly open to hearing about it, but unless and until someone can make a good argument as to where I am wrong on this, I am gonna go ahead and close the books on this question.
My reasoning is that treating autism in an attempt to ‘cure’ is better than leaving the autistic individual at the mercy of their lack of a sense of danger and at the mercy of the cruel people in this world.
November 10, 2005
Hey... Anybody Wanna Count Our Kids?
The CDC is offering a 600K grant to do a head count. Might be nice to have some people from our camp involved so that they can make sure there are no shennagens.
Title: Developing Methodologies to Determine the Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders in Early Childhood and Young Adult Populations.
Category: Funding Announcements
Issuing Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Procurement and Grants Office
Action: Cooperative Agreement
Issue Date Month/Year: November 2005
URL: http://www.cdc.gov/od/pgo/funding/DD06-001.htm
Summary: The purpose of this program is to design or enhance methodologies for identification of early childhood and young adult populations with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) as a prototype for other developmental disabilities (DDs).
Total amount to be awarded: $600,000
Anticipated number of awards: Four under this announcement. Within the competition, four awards will be made; to the two highest ranked applications in each of the two age groups (i.e., early childhood or young adult)
Eligible Applicants
1.A. Eligible Institutions
You may submit (an) application(s) if your organization has any of the following characteristics:
* Public nonprofit organizations
* Private nonprofit organizations
* For profit organizations
* Small, minority, women-owned businesses
* Universities
* Colleges
* Research institutions
* Hospitals
* Community-based organizations
* Faith-based organizations
* Federally recognized Indian tribal governments
* Indian tribes
* Indian tribal organizations
* State and local governments or their Bona Fide Agents (this includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianna Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau)
* Political subdivisions of States (in consultation with States)
A Bona Fide Agent is an agency/organization identified by the state as eligible to submit an application under the state eligibility in lieu of a state application. If you are applying as a bona fide agent of a state or local government, you must provide a letter from the state or local government as documentation of your status. Place this documentation behind the first page of your application form.
1.B. Eligible Individuals
Any individual with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research is invited to work with their institution to develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for CDC programs.
Action Dates:
Letter of Intent Receipt Date: December 5, 2005
Application Receipt Date(s): January 5, 2005
Peer Review Date: March 6, 2005
Secondary Review Date: March 27, 2005
Earliest Anticipated Start Date: August 1, 2006
Contacts:
1. Scientific/Research Contacts:
Dr. Don Lollar
Acting, Director Office of Extramural Programs
National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
1600 Clifton Road, MS E87
Atlanta, GA 30333
Tel: (404) 498-3041; Fax: (404)-498-3050
E-Mail: dcl5@cdc.gov
2. Peer Review Contacts:
Dr. M. Chris Langub
Office of Public Health Research (OPHR)
1600 Clifton Road, NE, Mailstop D-72
Atlanta, GA 30333
Tel: (404) 371-5992; Fax: (404) 371-5215
E-Mail: eeo6@cdc.gov
3. Financial or Grants Management Contacts:
LaKasa Wyatt
Grants Management Specialist
CDC Procurement and Grants Office
2920 Brandywine Road
Atlanta, GA 30341
Telephone: (770) 488-2728
E-Mail: LWyatt@cdc.gov
4. General Questions Contacts:
Technical Information Management Section
CDC Procurement and Grants Office
2920 Brandywine Road
Atlanta, GA 30341
Telephone: (770) 488-2700
Email: PGOTIM@cdc.gov
Full Text: To access the complete notice open this link or paste it into your browser. http://www.cdc.gov/od/pgo/funding/DD06-001.htm
Religious Courts?
I am not sure how a religious court is even constitutional. Seems I should be able to worship the Moon or Baby Monkeys or Organic Bok Choy, and if not vaxing is part of that faith, then no one should have to right to question that.
...And as far as the mainstream goes, I am pretty sure Jesus doesn't want parents to put things that they believe are poisonous into their children.
From A-CHAMP:
...And as far as the mainstream goes, I am pretty sure Jesus doesn't want parents to put things that they believe are poisonous into their children.
From A-CHAMP:
Religious Courts for Vaccine Exemptions Have No Place in New York Schools
New Yorkers your help is needed NOW to help protect a recently won right for religious exemptions from vaccine requirements. On September 29, with very little fanfare, the New York Board of Regents, which creates many of the rules and regulations that govern all schools in the state, changed state rules so that a religious exemption will be automatically granted upon the presentation by a parent or guardian of a letter stating religious objections to vaccinations. In effect, the rule change abolished an odious and un-American system of religious courts local school districts convened to force parents to justify their religious beliefs before issuing an exmption.
Like most states, New York has a law that allows religious exemptions form vaccine requirements, but in many school districts these exemptions were almost impossible to get.
Prior to this ruling many school districts would force parents to answer extremely long and probing questionnaires, and undergo intense questioning about their religious beliefs and medical histories, then forced parents to defend their faiths to local school district religious courts who sat in judgment of the sincerity and validity of the religious beliefs of American citizens. These school districts almost always ended up refusing exemptions.
In some schools letters from the Vatican were demanded from Roman Catholics to obtain exemptions from the vaccines made with aborted fetal tissue (rubella, varicella, hepatitis a.) Other school districts have reported parents to child protective services just for asking for an exemption.
We are talking about religious tcourts in the United States of America in 2005, not 16th century Spain or the Soviet Union. And in New York, the state that most prides itself for bring a bastion of civil liberties.
The vaccine industry isn’t taking this one lying down they have geared up to try and force the New York Regents to rescind the rule change they just approved. A hearing is scheduled for December 8 where an attempt will be made to rescind the new rules and bring back the religious courts.
We need to work together to stop this. Call the regents of the State of New York and let them know that you support the decision they made in September and tell them that there is no place for religious courts in New York schools or anywhere in the United States, the schools in a democracy have no place judging the validity of the religious beliefs of a free people.
Please call the NYS Commissioner of Health and Education and tell them that you do not want to see religious courts return to New York and the schools need to butt out of citizens religious and medical practices.
And call and write to all the New York State Regents, they have ultimate authority to make the decision. All these people are paid with our tax dollars. They work for us.
But do it NOW.
Antonia Novello, MD
New York State Department of Health
Corning Tower
Empire State Plaza,
Albany, NY 12237
518-474-2011
Richard P Mills
Commissioner of Education
(518) 474-4854
New York State Education Department
89 Washington Avenue
Albany, New York 12234
Regents Terms* and Area Represented
Sanford, Adelaide L.; Vice Chancellor; At Large
New York State Education Department, 55 Hanson Place, Brooklyn, NY 11217-1580
Phone: (718) 722-2796
Cohen, Saul B.; At Large
82 Taymil Road, New Rochelle, NY 10804
Phone: (914) 633-7889
Tisch, Merryl H.; At Large
9 East 79th Street, N.Y., N.Y. 10021
Phone: (212) 879-9414
Gardner, Arnold B.; At Large
726 Exchange Street, Suite 800, Buffalo, N.Y. 14210
Phone: (716) 845-6000
Bennett, Robert M.; Chancellor; Judicial District VIII -- Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans and Wyoming
201 Millwood Lane, Tonawanda, NY 14150
Phone: (716) 694-6783
Dawson, James C.; Judicial District IV -- Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren and Washington
2 Birchwood Drive, Peru, NY 12972
Phone: (518) 643-9289
Bottar, Anthony S.; Judicial District V -- Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Oneida, Onondaga, and Oswego
120 Madison Street, Suite 1600, MONY Tower II, Syracuse, NY 13202
Phone: (315) 422-3466
Chapey, Geraldine; Judicial District XI -- Queens
107-10 Shore Front Parkway, Apt. 9C, Belle Harbor, NY 11694
Phone: (718) 634-8471
Phillips 3rd, Harry; Judicial District IX -- Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester
71 Hawthorne Way, Hartsdale, NY 10530
Phone: (914) 948-2228 Email: hphillips@wingedkeel.com
Bowman, Jr., Joseph E.; Judicial District III -- Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster
ED 124, School of Education, University at Albany, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222
Phone: (518) 442-4987
Cortes-Vazquez, Lorraine A.; Judicial District XII - Bronx
Cablevision System, Inc., 1111 Stewart Avenue, Bethpage, NY 11714
Phone (516) 803-2133
Tallon, James R. Jr.; Judicial District VI - Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Madison, Otsego, Schuyler, Tioga, Tompkins
United Hospital Fund, Empire State Building, 350 Fifth Avenue, 23rd Floor, New York, N.Y. 10118-0110
Phone (212) 494-0777
Cofield, Milton L.; Judicial District VII - Cayuga, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, Yates
98 Hickory Ridge Road, Rochester, N.Y. 14625
Phone (585) 248-8494
Brademas, John; Judicial District I - New York
25 West 4th Street, Room 524, New York, N.Y. 10012
Phone (212) 998-2407
Bellamy, Carol; Judicial District II - Kings, Richmond
223 Wyckoff Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11217
Phone (917) 640-8394
Tilles, Roger B.; Judicial District X - Nassau, Suffolk
100 Crossways Park West, Suite 107, Woodbury, N.Y. 11797
Phone (516) 364-2533
The Age of Autism: 'The facts say maybe'
The Age of Autism: 'The facts say maybe'
By Dan Olmsted
UPI Senior Editor
Nov. 10, 2005 at 10:46AM
A small text block on the cover of the current Columbia Journalism Review may be a lot bigger than it looks:
"Drug Test. Q: Does thimerosal cause autism? A: The press says no; the facts say maybe."
Thimerosal is the mercury preservative that was used in childhood vaccines; some parents and researchers blame it for an astonishing rise in autism diagnoses in the past decade, but the media has tended to treat the idea as dangerous, discredited "junk science."
"Steeped in controversy and intrigue, the thimerosal debate has all the makings of a compelling news story, yet it has been approached with caution by the news media, which, more often than not, don't portray it as a legitimate scientific debate," writes CJR Assistant Editor Daniel Schulman in the accompanying article.
His closing line leaves no doubt that he thinks that's a bad idea. "(W)ith science left to be done and scientists eager to do it, it seems too soon for the press to shut the door on the debate."
To understand why that's a big deal, consider two stories, both running Tuesday: one on the front page of The New York Times, the other leading the Health section of The Washington Post.
"5 Cases of Polio in Amish Group Raise New Fears" was the headline on the Times article by Gardiner Harris. He reported from Long Prairie, Minn., about the discovery of polio virus in an 8-year-old Amish child.
"(T)he girl is now a wellspring for polio, a modern-day Typhoid Mary who can pass it along to others," Harris wrote. "Anyone who has not been vaccinated is vulnerable. And though vaccination rates in the United States are at historic highs, an increasing number of parents are resisting inoculations for their children, fearing that they may cause disorders like autism, a connection scientists have almost universally discounted."
The Post article, by Sandra G. Boodman, was headlined "Feuding Over Vaccines/Doctors Vexed by Parents' Refusal." It, too, mentioned the concern that vaccines are linked to autism and quotes a doctor reassuring a patient that "multiple studies by prestigious groups have found no evidence that vaccines cause autism. ... His equanimity in the face of what many pediatricians say are persistent myths that circulate on the Internet -- that mercury used as a preservative in childhood vaccines causes autism, that the dangers of immunizations far outweigh the benefits, and that there is a conspiracy by drug companies, doctors and vaccine makers to conceal the harm -- is not shared by other physicians."
These two stories exactly illustrate Schulman's point: that the media is dismissing the autism-thimerosal theory as almost universally discounted Internet mythology, right up there with conspiracy theories and anti-vaccine know-nothingism. Schulman's valuable service is simply pointing out that, inconveniently, some thoroughly legitimate scientists still say, "Maybe."
They include members of the epidemiology department at Columbia's own Mailman School of Public Health. The department chair, Dr. Ezra Susser, wrote The Times in June to complain about a front-page piece that made parents and researchers who remain concerned thimerosal has caused autism look ridiculous.
"Scientists pursuing research on mercury and autism are caricaturized as immune to the 'correct' interpretation of existing studies," Susser wrote. "Researchers rejecting a link are depicted as the sole voice of reason. ... Whether mercury in any form (or any of several factors recently introduced to our environment) has anything to do with autism can and should be resolved with rigorous studies and respectful discourse, not moral indictments and denunciations."
About that earlier Times article, Schulman writes in CJR: "Headlined 'On Autism's Cause, It's Parents Vs. Research,' the story cast the thimerosal connection as a fringe theory, without scientific merit, held aloft by angry, desperate parents. ... Readers were left with little option but to believe that the case against thimerosal was scientifically unsound."
The Times did not run Susser's letter and did not change its approach -- its ombudsman effectively told readers who complained to pound sand, and the report from Minnesota on polio and the Amish is more of the same. As is the Post's lumping of the issue with conspiracies and coverup scenarios that only the most equanimous pediatricians could reasonably be expected to tolerate.
We should point out that Schulman mentions Age of Autism in the article. His thesis -- that a careful reading of the facts suggests it's too soon to close the door on thimerosal as the possible cause of a horrendous affliction -- is one we have put forward since beginning this column at the start of the year.
But now that critique is coming not just from "angry, desperate parents" who need to calm down and stop endangering the rest of us, or the odd reporter who can be dismissed as biased or misguided, but from a respected peer and arbiter, the Columbia Journalism Review.
That's a big deal. It's the kind of thing that makes journalists stop and think -- or ought to, anyway.
--
This ongoing series on the roots and rise of autism welcomes reader comment. e-mail: dolmsted@upi.com
UPDATE: From A-CHAMP
By Dan Olmsted
UPI Senior Editor
Nov. 10, 2005 at 10:46AM
A small text block on the cover of the current Columbia Journalism Review may be a lot bigger than it looks:
"Drug Test. Q: Does thimerosal cause autism? A: The press says no; the facts say maybe."
Thimerosal is the mercury preservative that was used in childhood vaccines; some parents and researchers blame it for an astonishing rise in autism diagnoses in the past decade, but the media has tended to treat the idea as dangerous, discredited "junk science."
"Steeped in controversy and intrigue, the thimerosal debate has all the makings of a compelling news story, yet it has been approached with caution by the news media, which, more often than not, don't portray it as a legitimate scientific debate," writes CJR Assistant Editor Daniel Schulman in the accompanying article.
His closing line leaves no doubt that he thinks that's a bad idea. "(W)ith science left to be done and scientists eager to do it, it seems too soon for the press to shut the door on the debate."
To understand why that's a big deal, consider two stories, both running Tuesday: one on the front page of The New York Times, the other leading the Health section of The Washington Post.
"5 Cases of Polio in Amish Group Raise New Fears" was the headline on the Times article by Gardiner Harris. He reported from Long Prairie, Minn., about the discovery of polio virus in an 8-year-old Amish child.
"(T)he girl is now a wellspring for polio, a modern-day Typhoid Mary who can pass it along to others," Harris wrote. "Anyone who has not been vaccinated is vulnerable. And though vaccination rates in the United States are at historic highs, an increasing number of parents are resisting inoculations for their children, fearing that they may cause disorders like autism, a connection scientists have almost universally discounted."
The Post article, by Sandra G. Boodman, was headlined "Feuding Over Vaccines/Doctors Vexed by Parents' Refusal." It, too, mentioned the concern that vaccines are linked to autism and quotes a doctor reassuring a patient that "multiple studies by prestigious groups have found no evidence that vaccines cause autism. ... His equanimity in the face of what many pediatricians say are persistent myths that circulate on the Internet -- that mercury used as a preservative in childhood vaccines causes autism, that the dangers of immunizations far outweigh the benefits, and that there is a conspiracy by drug companies, doctors and vaccine makers to conceal the harm -- is not shared by other physicians."
These two stories exactly illustrate Schulman's point: that the media is dismissing the autism-thimerosal theory as almost universally discounted Internet mythology, right up there with conspiracy theories and anti-vaccine know-nothingism. Schulman's valuable service is simply pointing out that, inconveniently, some thoroughly legitimate scientists still say, "Maybe."
They include members of the epidemiology department at Columbia's own Mailman School of Public Health. The department chair, Dr. Ezra Susser, wrote The Times in June to complain about a front-page piece that made parents and researchers who remain concerned thimerosal has caused autism look ridiculous.
"Scientists pursuing research on mercury and autism are caricaturized as immune to the 'correct' interpretation of existing studies," Susser wrote. "Researchers rejecting a link are depicted as the sole voice of reason. ... Whether mercury in any form (or any of several factors recently introduced to our environment) has anything to do with autism can and should be resolved with rigorous studies and respectful discourse, not moral indictments and denunciations."
About that earlier Times article, Schulman writes in CJR: "Headlined 'On Autism's Cause, It's Parents Vs. Research,' the story cast the thimerosal connection as a fringe theory, without scientific merit, held aloft by angry, desperate parents. ... Readers were left with little option but to believe that the case against thimerosal was scientifically unsound."
The Times did not run Susser's letter and did not change its approach -- its ombudsman effectively told readers who complained to pound sand, and the report from Minnesota on polio and the Amish is more of the same. As is the Post's lumping of the issue with conspiracies and coverup scenarios that only the most equanimous pediatricians could reasonably be expected to tolerate.
We should point out that Schulman mentions Age of Autism in the article. His thesis -- that a careful reading of the facts suggests it's too soon to close the door on thimerosal as the possible cause of a horrendous affliction -- is one we have put forward since beginning this column at the start of the year.
But now that critique is coming not just from "angry, desperate parents" who need to calm down and stop endangering the rest of us, or the odd reporter who can be dismissed as biased or misguided, but from a respected peer and arbiter, the Columbia Journalism Review.
That's a big deal. It's the kind of thing that makes journalists stop and think -- or ought to, anyway.
--
This ongoing series on the roots and rise of autism welcomes reader comment. e-mail: dolmsted@upi.com
UPDATE: From A-CHAMP
Columbia Journalism Review Presents Balanced View of Vaccine-Autism Link
Last June A-CHAMP sent you an Action Alert stating: "A-CHAMP calls NY Times Mercury/Autism Article Intellectually Dishonest, Attacking Parents of Neurologically Injured Children"
In August A-CHAMP members Bobbie Manning, John Gilmore and Bob Krakow met with the New York Times ombudsman to present the basis of our criticism of the NY Times coverage of the issue. Our arguments were not well received. But it looks like someone was listening--here is UPI's report of a review of the press coverage on the issue that appears in the widely respected Columbia Review of Journalism. We are glad to see that someone in the media is interested in finding the truth and reporting about it.
To read the entire Columbia Review of Journalism article you can go to this link.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)