War, Death, Murder and Suicide

Last night I returned home, planning on watching Frontline's "The Vaccine War", which we already knew would be a hit piece on parents, as we saw the website that only offered the perspective of dismissive doctors, heard that they had cut famous UCLA pediatrician Jay Gordon out of the show (even though he was interviewed sitting next to Jenny McCarthy), and we had seen the preview which basically told vaccine resistant mothers they were bad citizens and condemning other children to death by vaccine preventable illness.

But I never got to watch the show.

Because as soon as I came in the door, the phone rang. It was a reporter from the Portland Press Harold who had interviewed me after Ashley's death looking for comment on a story. Another murder suicide of someone with autism by their parent. But this time it was just a few towns away from me.

GRAY - A father shot and killed his autistic son Tuesday at their home on Yarmouth Road before turning the rifle on himself, Maine State Police said.

Cumberland County sheriff's deputies found the bodies of Daniel McLatchie, 44, and his son, Benjamin McLatchie, 22, in the family's driveway at 227 Yarmouth Road around 2:30 p.m.

The driveway, which is several hundred feet long, slopes down from Yarmouth Road -- part of Route 115 -- before ending at a white, two-story, Cape-style home surrounded by woods.

State police Sgt. Chris Harriman said the sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call. He did not say who made the call.

He said it appeared that Daniel McLatchie was upset about what would happen to his autistic son after he and his wife died. He was a stay-at-home father, Harriman said...

It was a punch in the gut.

I didn't know the family. It is tempting to speculate on what exactly was going on and what drove him to it, but that wouldn't be fair. It is fair to assume that he was despondent and lost all hope. It is horrible, tragic, evil, a total disaster... there aren't words strong enough for how bad it is that this happened, and keeps happening. I wish I could be more eloquent, but honestly I am at a loss. It is just grievous.

And this is the third premature death of someone with autism that we have heard about during autism month, following the drownings of two wandering children. (correction, this is the fifth premature death this month). But is PBS running documentaries on how many of our children are dying from seizures and from drowning or from being abused by caregivers or shot by police or even murdered by the people who might even love them most? Are there stories on how children with autism cannot get life insurance until they turn ten because the insurance companies know damn well how likely our kids are to die young and don't want to pay out that kind of cash? No. Frontline is worried that children might get chicken pox and measles again.

But of course Frontline thinks that science has spoken and vaccines are good and never bad, and that the vaccine/autism connection belief is the fault of the internet and thinks that vaccine preventable illness is the greater risk and that it is the duty of every parent to enlist their child in the war on it, sacrificing them as needed. And of course they do, because:

The Vaccine War is a FRONTLINE co-production with the Palfreman Film Group. Major funding for FRONTLINE is provided by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a major grant-making private foundation based in Chicago that has awarded more than US$4 billion since its inception in 1978.


Jamie S. Gorelick

John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation - director
Central Intelligence Agency National Security Advisory Panel - member
Council on Foreign Relations - member
Fannie Mae - vice chair
Sallie Mae - lobbyist

http://www.muckety.com/Jamie-S-Gorelick/2302.muckety

Robert L Gallucci

John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation - president
Georgetown University School of Foreign Service - dean
Intelligence and National Security Alliance - director
Council on Foreign Relations - member

http://www.muckety.com/Robert-L-Gallucci/152184.muckety

Donald R. Hopkins

John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation - director
CDC Foundation - board member

http://www.muckety.com/Donald-R-Hopkins/30160.muckety

John M Deutch

Central Intelligence Agency - director
Citibank, N.A. - director
U.S. Department of Defense - deputy secretary

http://www.muckety.com/John-M-Deutch/4562.muckety

Schlumberger Limited

John M Deutch - director
Jamie S. Gorelick - director

Ruth J Katz

CDC Foundation - honorary board member
George Washington University School of Public Health - dean

http://www.muckety.com/Ruth-J-Katz/86637.muckety

J. Veronica Biggins

CDC Foundation - honorary board member
Kaiser Permanente - director

David Satcher

CDC Foundation - board member
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - director
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation - trustee
Johnson & Johnson - director

As was pointed out by an autism dad posting on The Age of Autism.

And another astute observation posted by another dad of a vaccine injured child points out that:

If anyone thinks PBS can be fair with their underwriters as potential litigates in court...

So yes... PBS is right about one thing. People believe that vaccines cause autism because they can go on to the internet, find that all of the supposedly objective research clearing vaccines of widespread damage is bought and paid for by people with very special interests, financial and otherwise, in seeing the vaccine program flourish. They can, like I did, go to the government's own research database and find that the vaccines their child got just before they regressed have never even been studied to see if they are associated with autism. No Hep B vax autism studies. No DTaP vax autism studies. No Pnumo vax autism studies. No Polio vax autism studies. No HIB vax autism studies. And no studies to see if giving a child Hep B, DTaP, Pnumo, Polio and HIB simultaneously will increase their chance of autism. Not even any studies comparing fully vaccinated children to unvaccinated children to see who has more autism.

And they can go the web site of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, look at the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program's table of recognized injuries and see that the vaccine induced "encephalopathy" that is caused by DTaP and MMR is just an alternate description of a child with autism:

(1) Decreased or absent response to environment (responds, if at all, only to loud voice or painful stimuli);
(2) Decreased or absent eye contact (does not fix gaze upon family members or other individuals); or
(3) Inconsistent or absent responses to external stimuli (does not recognize familiar people or things).

And they see the government pay Hannah Poling, and Baily Banks and Madison Hiatt for their vaccine induced autism, while claiming that they are not paying them for vaccine induced autism.

And they can watch Julie Gerberding claim that vaccines both do and do not cause autism, then leave her job as CDC chief to become the head of vaccines for Merck.

And they can see that "autism" can be so hard it can even lead a parent to spiral down so low that they would do the ultimate evil to a child they love. (And then condemn them self to the ultimate judgment).

And they see pleadings of the pharma paid media to vaccinate and their indifference to what happens after vaccination. And they can see that the main stream media is not even reporting the truly important and dramatic parts of this story.

For example, MSNBC is very concerned with the two children that have died following pertussis infection this year, but has not commented on the 11 who died following pertussis containing vaccines this year, and no big stories on how our children are dying early and demanding actual progress on autism be made.

Yep... it is clearly the internet's fault. Not the MSM for their embarrassingly transparent bias and constantly being caught withholding vital information, not CDC's for telling stupid lies about vaccine injury, not the AAP's for pushing inadequately tested vaccines in untested combinations on untested populations, Not public heath's for yawning at the autism epidemic while spending billions and screaming "EMERGENCY!" over a mild flu, not mainstream medicine's for not even researching regressive autism or GI problems or any of the treatments that make our childrens' lives better, not Pharm'a fault for constantly getting caught knowingly poisoning people while trying to cover their tracks and kneecap docs who point it out and not FDA's fault for approving vaccines when makers openly admit that they don't even know how some of them work.

It is the internet's fault for letting you find out about it all. BAD INTERNET! If only there was a way to prevent parents from discovering all the immoral, unethical and illegal activities of the MSM, HHS, CDC, FDA, Pharma, AAP and Public Health. Clearly we need to turn off the internet for the sake of the children.

And the shocking thing is that MSM and PBS and MSNBC and AAP and CDC and VCIP and Public Health and all the usual suspects who are bemoaning the falling vaccine uptake rate seem to see no correlation between it, and their own "parents are stupid and we don't give a shit about vaccine injury or the struggle of autism families or the suffering and dying children (and young adults) with autism enough to actually do anything that would actually put us out in any little way" attitude.

Let's see... I can swallow the clearly BS story that vaccines are in no way associated with autism and risk a vaccine injury where I will spend my life trying to keep my child alive, fight with the school system to get him educated, fight with doctors and insurance companies to meet his medical needs, not sleep for the next thirty years, become alienated from family and friends, cease participating in society, be told that I am a crazy person for thinking vaccines cause my child's autism, be called a baby killer for warning others about my child's vaccine injury, cry every day while wiping poop off of every surface of my home and possibly attend my child's funeral when he elopes and drowns in elementary school...

OR

I can feed my child lots of organic veggies and vitamin D, educate myself on how to spot disease early and treat it effectively in my child.

Clearly parents who choose the later are deluded and dangerous!

Risk of dying from polio at the height of the polio epidemic - 1 in 30,000.
Risk of having a child with autism today - at least 1 in 100, probably higher.

I am sad and disgusted and angry and horrified.

And I will ask the question again... the same one I have been asking for years...

What is your plan? CDC, AAP, MSM and the rest of "The Empire"... The more bullshit you pump out, the faster the trust levels of the public fall, the more people come to believe that vaccines cause autism and widespread damage. And vaccine rates continue to fall and vaccine preventable illness are coming back, but they are not causing the mass death that you try to keep scaring people into believing will happen if they don't adhere to the CDC recommendations, so you are looking a bit foolish there too. How long are you going to keep this facade up? Till autism is 1 in 20, hundreds of our kids are dying per year and half the population decides to quit vaccinating all together? Have you marked out the point at which you will abandon this garbage and issue a mia culpa?

How long will you say, "Let them eat cake?"


Addendum: Dr. Jay Gordon posted the following comment on Facebook:

I attempted to post on PBS' website and they refused my post.

"PBS documentary omitted every single word of the two hour interview they did with me and their interviews with Dr. Robert Sears and all other doctors who supported the idea of questioning the current vaccine schedule and supporting parents who do so. Read my response."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-gordon/pbs-frontline-show-about_b_554691.html
Jay N. Gordon, MD,
FAAPAssistant Professor of Pediatrics, UCLA Medical School
Former Senior Fellow in Pediatric Nutrition, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Institute

Update 4/30/10

How long will they say, "Let them eat cake"? Apparently for a long time to come.

HHS Sec Kathleen Sebelius, who openly admits that she asks the media for favorable coverage on the autism debate (did she ask PBS to make this propaganda piece?) has appointed new members to the IACC, the government group that coordinates research into the causes and treatments of autism. All of them are people who have a long history of not making any progress in making progress for our kids, drugging them, looking for genetic causes that never materialize; except for one, who believes that autism is a natural variation, and that causes and treatments should not be researched, nor 'cures' given... Appointed to THE government committee tasked with finding a cure for autism.

This is the biggest middle finger yet that the Obama administration has given to our community. This may be the biggest that any administration has given us.

Clearly we are on our own.

Words, Beautiful Words

Have not updated on Chandler's progress in a long time and it is long overdue.

So recently we started doing hard tank hyperbaric oxygen therapy with Harold Grams and we have been seeing some pretty big wows.

Chandler's progress had been really flat since last summer, kind of disheartening after all the gains he had made in previous years, and so we decided to give it a shot. We had tried soft tank HBOT a few years back, thought we saw some small gains, but it was the same month he had a huge lead exposure (did you know dirt is yummy) so if it was helping him, it may have been canceled out.

This has been quite a different experience. After the forth session, we started to see some really cool language. More words, more flowing language, less scripting, more jokes, more engagement... just more Chandler.

The first fun little wow happened on the way home. If we are out and he wants to go home, he says one of two things, "Mommy, do you want to go home now?" or "Go to 34 Maple Street?" He has done that for years. Imagine my happiness to hear, "Mom, how long until we get to Brunswick?" I didn't even know that he knew we lived in Brunswick!

Two days later when I went to pick him up from school, I get an email in the middle of the morning from his teacher at school. She has never emailed me in the middle of the day to tell me things, much less after school:

Ginger,

Something amazing happened with Chandler this morning. We were having morning meeting and the greeting was Buenos Dias. We usually just say good morning or hello to him. I don’t remember if we assumed another language would confuse him or if he was not responding. That’s what we have been doing all year. Anyway this morning when we came to Chandler he very appropriately said "Buenos Dias Holly" before Amy could even greet him. We were all so shocked, it was the coolest thing. James said, “He’s becoming more normal.” It was precious! He had also asked me earlier this morning, “Mrs. Williams, how do you spell Mrs. Williams? Thought you would want to know.

Jane

Gotta love James! When mom's crow about their children making big gains with biomedical intervention, sometimes they are written off as seeing what they want to see, teachers might just want to have high hopes for the child, but second grade boys are immune to treatment bias, especially when they don't know there is any treatment going on!

That afternoon his aid met me in the lobby of the school for the hand off and with tears in her eyes she gushed about Chandler's day.

"In music class he was perfect, he did everything he was instructed to do, was completely attentive and I didn't even have to repeat an instruction for him!" I've got to look up this... what is it called... hyperbaric?

We just met with his school team and everyone was telling stories about his new skills. They decided they wanted to hold off making plans for him for the summer and fall until the end of the year to see how far he goes with this.

It has only been upward from there. And have not seen any significant down side. He was a little hyperactive for the first two days, but that went away and it has been all good since. His great in the tank and the pressure has never bothered him.

We have had to take a bunch of breaks due to illness and broken cars and unfaxed prescriptions and life, but have started up again this week and hope to do another six sessions in a row and will see what happens. It is a thrill to see him making gains again.

Amazing that just giving the brain more oxygen can do this kind of healing. I will keep ya posted on how this goes.

I Will Be On Autism One Radio Today

Correction! It will be on Voice America - http://www.voiceamerica.com/voiceamerica/vportal.aspx

At noon today Louise Habakus and I will be interviewed by Terri Arranga, about the upcoming American Rally for Personal Rights.

Combined Diphtheria and Tetanus Increase Asthma Risk - GI Link

Early-Life Infections, Immunizations Alter Childhood Asthma Risk
From Reuters Health Information CME
http://cme.medscape.com/viewarticle/719682

News Author: Megan Brooks
CME Author: Laurie Barclay, MD
CME Released: 04/02/2010; Valid for credit through 04/02/2011

April 2, 2010 — Recurrent bouts of gastroenteritis in the first two years of life increase the risk of asthma by age 6 years, a study in allergy-prone children suggests.

Combined diphtheria and tetanus (DT) immunization in the first year of life also increased the risk of childhood asthma in the prospective study.

"There are a range of possible explanations for the finding of an association between CDT in the first year and asthma," lead author Dr. Jennifer A. Thomson from the University of Melbourne, Australia told Reuters Health by email.

"CDT is only used for those children who meet specific indications such as a reaction to triple antigen (DTP)," she said. "The requirement for combined DT may reflect (or) be a marker for those children with delayed or altered development of their immune systems and consequent inherent allergic tendency."

The role of early childhood infections and immunizations in the development of allergic diseases "remains controversial," Dr. Thomson and colleagues noted in a March 23rd online paper in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology.

To investigate associations between gastroenteritis, otitis media, and lower respiratory tract infections before age 2, immunizations, and asthma, the researchers enrolled 620 infants who had first-degree relatives with allergies. The children all belonged to the Melbourne Atopy Cohort Study. By age 6, 488 (79%) were still in the study.

Each of the three types of infection was associated with a modest increase in risk of asthma by age 6, the investigators report. The average increased risk per infection episode ranged from 7% to 58%. The relative risks (RR) with gastroenteritis, otitis media, and lower respiratory tract infection (including bronchitis) were 1.07, 1.30, and 1.58, respectively.

Children with at least three bouts of gastroenteritis in the first two years of life had a greater than twofold increased relative risk of having asthma by age 6 (crude RR, 2.36; adjusted RR, 2.03).

"Children with recurrent gastroenteritis in infancy/early childhood may be at increased risk of asthma in later childhood and therefore a higher level of clinical suspicion and monitoring for asthma is appropriate," Dr. Thomson told Reuters Health.

By age 1, approximately 98% of the children had received at least one immunization with diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis (DTP) and 99% received at least one Sabin oral polio immunization. Less than 5% received at least one combined DT immunization in each of the first or second years.

According to the researchers, combined DT immunization in the first year yielded crude and adjusted relative risks of asthma at age 6 years of 1.76 and 1.88, respectively.

Dr. Thomson said she was not aware of other studies that reported an association between combined DT vaccination and asthma. She emphasized, however, that the study does not suggest a "causal link." Rather, it shows a statistical association "for which a range of explanations (some noted above) may apply."

"While chance is an unlikely explanation for the finding, it can not be eliminated completely; nor can unknown or recognized confounders for which we lacked data be definitively excluded," Dr. Thomson said.

Importantly, she added, the association between combined DT and the later development of asthma "should not deter parents from immunizing their children when weighted against the benefits."

The study also found that oral polio immunization in the second year of life was associated with a decreased risk of asthma at 6 years (crude RR, 0.60; adjusted RR, 0.63).

"Early childhood immunizations that are administered orally such as Sabin and/or more recently introduced immunizations such as the rotavirus vaccine may offer benefit in preventing the development of childhood asthma and other allergic diseases," Dr. Thomson said.

Pediatr Allergy Immunol. Published online March 23, 2010. Abstract
Reuters Health Information 2010. © 2010 Reuters Ltd.

Clinical Context
The impact of early childhood infections and immunization on subsequently developing allergic diseases is still unclear. Results have been inconsistent from epidemiologic studies assessing immunization and allergic disease, with different findings based on which vaccines were given and in which settings.

One theory suggests that immunization may contribute to the development of allergic diseases by preventing natural infection, by providing a different microbial exposure, or by affecting the natural microbial flora. On the other hand, an alternate theory proposes that by providing some microbial exposure, immunization may help prevent the development of allergic disease.

Study Highlights
• This prospective study examined the association between early childhood infections and immunization and the development of allergic disease, particularly asthma, in a high-risk cohort of allergy-prone children from birth to age 6 years.
• The study cohort consisted of 620 infants who had first-degree relatives with allergic diseases and who were recruited into the Melbourne Atopy Cohort Study.
• A questionnaire administered by an interviewer gathered data on risk factors and outcomes, which were based on parental report and/or clinician diagnosis.
• Potential risk factors were gastroenteritis; otitis media; lower respiratory tract infections; and other early childhood infections, as well as immunizations from birth to age 2 years.
• Outcomes were current asthma, allergic rhinitis, and eczema reported at age 6 years.
• RR and confounding were determined with univariate and multivariate regression analysis.
• Study retention was 79% of the original cohort at 6 years.
• All of the early childhood infections studied, including otitis media and lower respiratory tract infections, were associated with an increased risk for asthma at age 6 years, but the most consistent increased risk was with multiple episodes of gastroenteritis.
• Participants with at least 3 episodes of gastroenteritis were at increased risk for the development of asthma at age 6 years (crude RR, 2.36; 95% CI, 1.41 - 3.95; adjusted RR, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.50 - 2.75).
• For scheduled immunizations, Sabin immunization in the second year was associated with a lower risk for asthma at age 6 years (crude RR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.37 - 0.98; adjusted RR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.39 - 1.02).
• Combined DT immunization in the first year was associated with a greater risk for asthma at age 6 years (RR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.11 - 2.78; adjusted RR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.28 - 2.77).
• A similar pattern was not seen with combined DT immunization in the second year.
• The investigators concluded that recurrent gastroenteritis in early childhood is associated with a later risk for asthma, which could reflect a cause-and-effect relationship or exposure to common risk factors.
• They also noted that Sabin immunization in the second year is associated with a lower risk for asthma in later childhood.
• Although combined DT immunization in the first year may be a risk factor for asthma, the need for combined DT immunization could also be a marker of greater risk for asthma in later childhood.
• The investigators recommend that clinicians have a higher level of clinical suspicion and monitoring for asthma among those children with recurrent gastroenteritis.
• Limitations of this study include possible overestimation of risk for the general population of children, possible unknown confounders, limited statistical power, lack of data on perinatal risk factors or child care, reliance on parental or clinician reporting, and some loss to follow-up.
Clinical Implications
• In the prospective Melbourne Atopy Cohort Study, recurrent gastroenteritis in early childhood was associated with a later risk for asthma, which could reflect a cause-and-effect relationship or exposure to common risk factors.
• In this cohort, Sabin immunization in the second year was associated with a lower risk for asthma in later childhood. Although combined DT immunization in the first year may be a risk factor for asthma, the need for combined DT immunization could also be a marker of greater risk for asthma in later childhood.

Authors and Disclosures
As an organization accredited by the ACCME, Medscape, LLC, requires everyone who is in a position to control the content of an education activity to disclose all relevant financial relationships with any commercial interest. The ACCME defines "relevant financial relationships" as financial relationships in any amount, occurring within the past 12 months, including financial relationships of a spouse or life partner, that could create a conflict of interest.
Medscape, LLC, encourages Authors to identify investigational products or off-label uses of products regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration, at first mention and where appropriate in the content.
Author(s)
Megan Brooks
Megan Brooks is a freelance writer for Reuters Health Information.

Disclosure: Megan Brooks has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
Editor(s)
Brande Nicole Martin
CME Clinical Editor, Medscape, LLC

Disclosure: Brande Nicole Martin has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
CME Author(s)
Laurie Barclay, MD
Freelance writer and reviewer, Medscape, LLC

Disclosure: Laurie Barclay, MD, has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

Good Friday and World Autism Awareness Day

Today is "World Autism Awareness Day", which you might think that I would like, except that, as I have pointed out previously, everyone is aware already. Almost everyone has it already.

So what many in my community are advocating is "World Autism ACTION Day". Now that we are all aware, it is time to do something, so I am going to offer you five things to do today to improve the lives of people with autism (and if you don't get them all done today, you have all of April as it is autism awareness month, so no excuses:

1. Contact your officials about the "Restraint and Seclusion Act". Children with autism are being abused and even killed, in their own schools. The GAO has now issued a report on it. The stories that are now coming out of the school systems are horrifying and disgusting and are like something out of a history book, but they are happening right now, today, in your state. I will not burden you with them in this piece. Suffice it to say, we now actually need laws to tell schools that they can't slap children across the face, they can't punch them, they can't lock them in a dark closet, they can't handcuff them to their desks, and they can't sit on them until they suffocate and die.

The National Autism Association has detailed instructions on what you can do. And contact John McCain, because the man has lost his mind and is opposing this measure.

2. Take one minute and vote for Generation Rescue to win $250,000 from Pepsi to give medical grants to children with autism. And then go there every day to vote again until this contest closes.



3. Since World Autism Awareness Action Day falls on Good Friday this year, I will post links to my series on "Autism in God's Economy". If you love or know someone with autism, I think that it is important that you consider the issues that arise from this series. It it in six parts, and they build on one another, so please take some time this week to read them all.

Christ said, "what you have done to the least of these, you have done unto Me". Those with autism are the 'least of these' in our modern society. So what does that mean for you?

Autism in God’s Economy: The Least of These
Autism in God’s Economy: Those with Autism
Autism in God’s Economy: Parents of Autistic Children
Autism in God’s Economy: Friends and Family
Autism in God’s Economy: Those in Power over Those with Autism
Autism in God’s Economy: For All of Us Who Have Failed in Our Duty

4. Act Locally! Your school, your church, your neighborhood, your street... if there is not a family dealing with autism in your world, I would be shocked. Life with autism is hard. Show up. Help them. Do it.

5. Finally, as you are in church today and on Sunday, pray for my son. Pray for his health and his safety and his soul and his functioning and his friendships and his support system and please, please pray for his wisdom. Pray that with whatever neurological or biological obstacle he faces, that Chandler will grow to be a wise man.

Revenues from Global Vaccine Market 27 Billion Dollars for 2009

Twenty Seven Billion Dollars.

But I am sure that Pharma would be happy to cut that in half to avoid over vaccinating. Right?

Well... probably not.

For only $1,861.00 you can buy this report and get in on the uber lucrative vaccine market.

Revenues from global vaccine market register UD$27 Billion
companiesandmarkets.com
2010-03-25 14:43:50 - Global Vaccine Market Forecast
to 2012 - a new market research report on companiesandmarkets.com

Vaccine has emerged as one of the most profitable business segments in the healthcare industry. The segment registered revenues of around US$ 27 Billion in 2009. The growth has been driven by the emergence of some new chronic diseases and increasing demand for seasonal flu vaccines. Besides, the future growth of the vaccine market is anticipated to be driven by launch of several new vaccines, increasing trend of routine immunization and increasing support from the governments of various countries.

Our new research report ´Global Vaccine Market Forecast to 2012´ says that the vaccine industry is anticipated to enjoy a double digit growth in future. In future, it is expected that growth in demand for adult vaccines will outpace the growth in demand for pediatric vaccines. At present, the adult vaccine segment is characterised by increasing demand in the section like influenza and Hib.

Our report has found that M&A activity in the vaccine segment is likely to occur at a rapid pace than before. We have seen the recent activities have been led by pharma majors like Pfizer, Novartis and others and these companies are looking to expand their reach in emerging markets

So, most of the mergers and acquisitions are likely to occur at regional level markets. Besides, the report also provides information on various industry trends and their impact on the growth of the industry, which will give a clear industry insight to our clients.

The report also provides extensive information and rational analysis on the global vaccine market as well as on the facts like increasing investments in research and development of new products. Thus, it provides valuable information to pharmaceutical & healthcare companies and investors looking to enter into this segment. Analysis and statistics regarding market size, growth, share, regulatory environment and trends in technology development have been thoroughly analyzed in the report to present a comprehensive overview of the market to clients.

Click for report details: www.companiesandmarkets.com/Summary-Market-Report/global-vaccine ..

Doctocracy: Paul Offit, Vaccine Millionaire, Wants Coerced Vaccination and Re-education Camps, I Mean, Vaccine Classes

“Offit suggests one way to raise vaccination rates is to make it harder for people not to get themselves or their children vaccinated. This could mean, for example, attending educational classes that teach the public what the safety profiles of different vaccines are, before they are allowed to opt out of vaccination. “You have to convince people that a choice not to get a vaccine is not a risk-free choice; it’s just a choice to take a different risk.” ”
- The Lancet

Vaccination is down. For Offit, that means a loss in future profits on his vaccine patents. The solution? Make people sit though vaccine propaganda lectures (complete with pictures of children with horrible rashes and in polio wards, I am sure) before they are ALLOWED not to vaccinate.

Because, you see, your body belongs to the government and you need their permission NOT to put mercury, aluminum, foreign DNA and viruses it in. After all, having a body, is like driving a car, you should have to take classes and pass an exam in order to use it... it is a privilege.

OH WAIT.... NO IT'S NOT.... YOUR BODY BELONGS TO YOU!!!!

A few months ago I heard a very accomplished physician, bemoaning the bias and pressure tactics at work in his own profession, refer to the public health power grab that is happening as a growing "Doctocracy". That immediately popped to mind when I read Offit's new ideas.

"Public Health" has gotten way out of hand. Doctors have always been accused of having a God complex, but few would actually go as far as suggesting that you legally need permission from them to exercise informed consent on whether or not you should take a pharmaceutical.

So if the health care bill passes, will they try to make full vaccination mandatory before you can access your health care coverage? Will only AAP member doctors be covered, and will AAP only allow docs that make their patients vaccinate according to the CDC schedule? Maryland already sent out letters to parents saying that they may be subject to imprisonment and child protective services intervention if they didn't vaccinate (and conveniently left out that Maryland is a philosophical exemption state and all they had to do what sign a form to be 'legal').

Now Offit has said, and Lancet has printed, that vaccines uptake should be coerced, so if this idea is accepted, what other methods of coercion will they come up with?

Say no to forced and coerced vaccination at the The American Rally for Personal Rights. Enough is enough.

The Lancet, Volume 375, Issue 9719, Pages 970 – 971, 20 March 2010

Experts concerned about vaccination backlash
Priya Shetty

Public health professionals are worried about the increasingly vocal anti-vaccination lobby in the USA and other western countries and their effect on immunisations globally. Priya Shetty reports.

Vaccination was one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. Its success might now be its undoing, however. Around the world, vaccination rates are dropping, and the unthinkable is happening: children are dying from childhood diseases like measles and pertussis.

This fall in immunisation has coincided with an increasingly vocal anti-vaccination movement. Public health now seems more at threat than ever by anti-vaccination messages, and the reluctance to vaccinate has been affecting rates of uptake for other vaccines such as that for influenza A H1N1. Health experts are now faced with the daunting challenge of fighting these groups.

Anti-vaccination groups have been around for as long as the practice of vaccination has. Arguably, health watchdogs and critics are a vital part of checks and balances on the medical industry. But scientists are starting to become increasingly concerned about the medical misinformation that some groups are spreading.

Organisations such as the US National Vaccine Information Centre (NVIC), the Coalition for SafeMinds, and Know Vaccines, either oppose universal vaccination (on the basis that “all children are different”) or emphasise the parents’ right to choose whether their children are vaccinated. In a statement on the website of the NVIC, one of the biggest groups in the USA, its co-founder Barbara Loe Fisher says: “If the State can tag, track down and force citizens against their will to be injected with biologicals of unknown toxicity today, there will be no limit on which individual freedoms the State can take away in the name of the greater good tomorrow.”

Many groups use as ammunition alleged links between vaccines and diseases such as autism, diabetes, or multiple sclerosis. “At the heart of the anti-vaccine movement is the notion that we are merely substituting infectious diseases with chronic diseases”, says Paul Offit, chief of infectious diseases at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, PA, USA, and co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine.

Offit is one of several scientists who told The Lancet that anti-vaccination groups are unequivocally threatening public health, the evidence of which is the re-emergence of diseases that medical science had once beaten. “In 2008, we had a measles epidemic in the USA that was bigger than anything we had had in a decade, and that epidemic owed directly to the fact that some children had not been vaccinated. The parents were more afraid of the vaccine than they were of the disease, as a direct result of misinformation by anti-vaccine websites”, says Offit. Recent outbreaks of pertussis and haemophilus influenza B in undervaccinated communities in parts of the USA have resembled outbreaks from the prevaccine era, he says.

The geographical spread of people who refuse to vaccinate is important, says Saad Omer, assistant professor of global health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA. If these people are uniformly spread out across an area, then the herd immunity stays intact. “However, our group and others have shown that vaccine refusal clusters geographically (and perhaps in social networks). Anti-vaccination groups often ‘think globally but act locally.’ Therefore, even if only ten of 100 people refuse vaccines but most of them live in the same neighbourhood, the likelihood of outbreaks increases due to local breakdown of herd immunity”, says Omer.

The movement has tended to be most active against childhood vaccines, with the most forceful rhetoric coming from parents who say that they do not want to expose their children to “unnecessary toxins”. One in eight American parents has refused at least one vaccine recommended for their children by their family doctor, according to a study published in Pediatrics this month, which surveyed more than 1500 parents of children aged 17 years or younger. But the reluctance to vaccinate is now permeating other areas of health.

According to the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID), anti-vaccination messages have partly been responsible for the poor uptake of the H1N1 vaccine. As each influenza season progresses, “we don’t know whether the virus will stay the same”, says Giuseppe Cornaglia, former president of ESCMID, now at the Department of Pathology, University of Verona, Italy. “Because many people who could have been immunised haven’t had the vaccine, we are going to be starting from scratch”, he says.

Anti-vaccination groups have also affected the way governments responded to the pandemic, says Tevi Troy, the previous Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services. “The US decision not to use adjuvants, which effectively expands the supply of the vaccines, stemmed in part from concerns about how the anti-vaccine groups would have reacted to adjuvants. This could have been a problem had the H1N1 outbreak been more severe”, he says.

However ludicrous some of the anti-vaccination messages might seem to scientists, it is hard to deny that they do hold some traction with the public. Complacency about infectious diseases in the developed world, born out of the enormous success of vaccination, might be one explanation. “As the rate of illness goes down, and people mostly encounter real or perceived vaccine associated adverse events (instead of disease), there is a change in mental calculus in terms of benefit versus risk of vaccines”, says Omer.

The internet, and the forums and social networking sites it has spawned, has allowed anti-vaccination advocacy and influence to permeate deeper than ever. For example, says Omer, “a few years ago, vaccine-related rumours would be restricted to certain (mostly developed) countries. However, now a viral video made by a vaccine opponent in California can end up being discussed in an Indian web forum.”

The increase in anti-vaccination advocacy dovetails with a growing public mistrust of science that in recent years has manifested against genetically modified food, stem cells, and, most recently, climate change.

At last month’s yearly meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Ralph Cicerone, president of the US National Academy of Sciences, told delegates that recent controversies over climate change had damaged public faith in science. “There has been a widespread deterioration in the public’s attitude to science not only in the US but in many other countries in the past 3 months”, said Cicerone.

Against this background, global health experts are trying to ensure that people in developing countries can access life-saving vaccines.

Does anti-vaccination advocacy exist in these countries? “Unfortunately yes”, says Omer. “However, they are relatively less organised. Often there are entities that are organised for a different reason but end up providing a platform for opposing vaccines eg, religious and political groups in Nigeria.”

ESCMID’s Cornaglia says he is “seriously scared” about the prospect that anti-vaccination groups will take hold in the developing world. “Vaccines are the best weapon we have for the future.”

Not everyone shares this view. Offit still believes that there is much more public appreciation of vaccines in the developing world. Offit remembers taking the rotavirus vaccine to Nicaragua, and says “it was remarkable how happy people were to get a vaccine to prevent a common cause of diarrhoea and dehydration, and, at least in the developing world, death.”

Cornaglia was ESCMID’s communication officer at one time, and he believes that health agencies such as ESCMID and WHO “have to change their communication style”. “They have to address public health professionals like physicians and nurses, because if we don’t convince them, then we cannot convince the lay public at all”, he says.

“Public-health messages should be simple, honest and straightforward.” Sending a clear message, however scientifically erroneous it might be, is how the anti-vaccination movement scored big with H1N1, he says. Their message was simply: “vaccines are the devil”.

The anti-vaccination lobby has become so highly organised, says Adam Finn, professor of paediatrics at the University of Bristol, UK, that “they do pose a threat and need to be taken seriously. NVIC in the USA now has a yearly conference and is becoming a kind of institution…They are not amateurs—they are making careers out of this.”

Like Cornaglia, Finn says that the anti-vaccination lobby’s communication skills have a lot to do with their influence. “They, unlike most doctors and scientists, are always willing to talk to the media and are good at doing it.”

Offit suggests one way to raise vaccination rates is to make it harder for people not to get themselves or their children vaccinated. This could mean, for example, attending educational classes that teach the public what the safety profiles of different vaccines are, before they are allowed to opt out of vaccination. “You have to convince people that a choice not to get a vaccine is not a risk-free choice; it’s just a choice to take a different risk.”

HT:AVN

Thorsen Leaves The DSM V Team, Still Has Not Been "Found"

On Tuesday, Poul Thorsen "requested leave" from the DSM V committee that he was working on to redefine autism for the next iteration of the diagnostic bible of the psychology world.

"Home / Meet Us / Thorsen, Poul, M.D., Ph.D.
Thorsen, Poul, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Thorsen has requested work group leave of absence effective 3-16-10. For biosketch and disclosure information, please click here.
"

He resigned as an unpaid adjunct professor (just there to be an advisor to one student on his thesis) at Drexel last week. He resigned from Emory last month. He resigned from Aarhaus last year. Thorsen now has no professional ties that we know of.

But we know he has had contact with that world, if only to resign, since the story broke in Denmark more than a month ago.

The question is now, since yes, Thorsen is clearly running from facing the charges against him, is anyone chasing him?

He is being investigated in Denmark, and reportedly the police want to talk to him, but it does not seem that the police here are pursuing him. Has Denmark asked for our help in finding him and extraditing him? Have charges been filed against him in Denmark? It has been a full years since he left, and I am sure there investigation must have enough info to make an arrest at this point, or they would not be making allegations in the news papers.

So... Will anyone ACTUALLY pursue Thorsen, arrest him and put him on trial? CDC has got to hate that idea with the white hot heat of a thousand suns. Because all sorts of ugly things spill out in trials (gosh, I wonder what would come out of SCOTUS says we can sue Pharma for vaccine injury and DISCLOSURE starts opening long locked closets and basements).

Or will the US government have as much trouble putting their hands on Thorsen as they do the cause of autism, "We keep looking, and looking, and looking, and we really cannot turn up any information" - Julie Gerberding on the vaccine/autism connection.

We can find Saddam in a spider hole in the desert, but we can't find a professor who owns two homes, was attached to two universities and the DSM V panel?

My prediction? Thorsen will continue to be 'missing' and live his life, unpursued on a beach a beach somewhere with the two million dollars he procured. I will be shocked if he is ever held accountable in any measure.

Because really, to be blunt, he has CDC by the balls. He carried out a big hit for them, and if they don't cover his tracks, they go down with him.

Which proves that the old adage works in business as it does in love...

...If they will cheat with ya, then they will cheat on ya.

Lesson to Offit, Gorski, ECBT, AAP, Gerberding, Singer, Fombonne, Wiznitzer et. al. and all potential whistle blowers at Government and Pharma everywhere Feel free to rob CDC and affiliated institutions BLIND. They can't fight back, they can't send you to jail, they can't even Wakefield you.

Update: Got an email that he had been “sighted” in London on Feb 21-22.

Call for Congressional Hearings into CDC/HHS/VICP and Vaccine Shenanigans

From the Autism Action Network:

Vaccine “Court” Denies Justice to Vaccine-Injured Children

Take Action!

Mercury-Autism Link Not Found Because of Government Policy, not Science

Click on the Take Action link to send emails to your Representatives calling for Congressional hearings

In a decision released last Friday afternoon, the Autism Action Network, a founding member organization of the Coalition for Vaccine Safety (CVS), believes that the Special Masters of the Court of Federal Claims (the Vaccine Court) wrongly decided that mercury-containing vaccines do not cause autism. The decision was the last of three test cases selected to

"The government is completely inconsistent, we know from the Hannah Poling and the Bailey Banks cases that vaccines can cause autism," said John Gilmore, executive director of the Autism Action Network. "It is as if they are saying, 'Vaccines never cause autism, except when they do.'"

The Special Masters appear to have based their decisions on the government policy to protect the vaccine program rather than to fulfill their role to do justice by vaccine-injured children. In these three 'test case' decisions in the Omnibus Autism Proceeding, petitioners William Mead, Jordan King and Colin Dwyer developed normally through the first year of life and then regressed into autism. They presented thousands of pages of scientific documentation and testimony. Their evidence showed that thimerosal, a mercury-laden vaccine preservative, more likely than not contributed to their autism.

"The deck is stacked against families in Vaccine Court. Government attorneys defend a government program, using government-funded science, before government judges. Where's the justice in that?" asked Rebecca Estepp, a CVS steering committee member and mother of a petitioner in the Omnibus Autism Proceeding.

"This has been a huge, but legally necessary, waste of time for the injured kids and their families," said Gilmore, "At least now we will have a chance in a real court where we have the basics rights denied in the Vaccine court."

Mercury is a known neurotoxin and that damages the developing brain and the immune system. All three boys' health improved through medical interventions to reduce mercury toxicity and immune dysfunction. Nonetheless, the Special Masters concluded that petitioners failed to meet their burden of proof, even though Health and Human Services (HHS), the respondent in the proceeding, offered no alternative explanation other than genetic predisposition.

The Coalition for Vaccine Safety (CVS) is an alliance of organizations dedicated to vaccine safety representing over 75,000 families. In recent letters to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of House and Senate Committees charged with oversight of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Coalition called for hearings to investigate HHS, the CDC and other government agencies. Those federal agencies have failed to comply with the terms of the 1986 Vaccine Injury Compensation Act (VICA). Specifically they have failed to provide critical vaccine safety science, including from the taxpayer-funded Vaccine Safety Datalink, on thimerosal, autism and other neurodevelopmental disabilities.

Vaccine court decisions and revelations about Dr. Thorsen's actions only strengthen the Coalition's resolve in calling for immediate Congressional action to investigate vaccine safety - an issue that potentially affects every person in the country.

"We are confident that the truth will win out. We hope that Congress will intervene in what is clearly a miscarriage of justice to vaccine-injured children," said Jim Moody, an attorney and CVS steering committee member.

Please join the Autism Action Network and the Coalition for Vaccine Safety in calling for Congressional hearings in to the may failures of the federal vaccine program. To send an email to your Representative in the House and your to Senators please click on the Take Action

The VICP Autism Omnibus: How The Government is Killing the Vaccine Program

... and their credibility right along with it.

Today, yet again, the Kangaroo Court Vaccine Injury Compensation Program found that, surprise, surprise, vaccines don't cause autism. Exactly what we expected that their propaganda finding would be. (See the statements by the Coalition for Vaccine Safety, TACA, SafeMinds and the National Autism Association at the end of this post).

A few weeks back, after I posted my chart of the 20 billion dollar vaccine industry and their Wakefield Witch Hunt, Steve Kette, an autism dad, sent me a flow chart that he had done illustrating just how the public/private partnership (Government/Pharma/MSM entity here to for referred to as "The Empire") that is the US vaccine machine program is running itself into the ground.

We have had story after story illustrating the revolving doors between CDC and Pharma/vaccine industry, painful experiences on just how biased the media is, and now an admission straight from the horses mouth that the Secretary of Health, Kathleen Sebelius, is asking for the media for favorable coverage on the vaccine issue. The role of the MSM is to do critical analysis of the government, not hold Kathleen's purse.

And another thing that MSM outlets are supposed to do is compete with one another, right? Not so if you are all a part of one giant conglomco like the Tribune Company Corporation Incorporated. Here is an email exchange that took place today between the two notorious "reporters" Trine Tsouderos from the Chicago Tribune who has spent the last few months trashing our community, and Thomas Maugh from the LA Times who has spend the last few years trashing our community, (and who once responded to an earnest inquiry from me with the oh so respectful, "Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!") collaborating on VCIP Ruling story today:

From: Tsouderos, Trine
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 12:39 PM
To: Dennis, Tami
Subject: Vaccine court story

Hi Tami,

Kaarin said you guys were going to write the vaccine court story – she said to let you know if you need anything, I’m happy to help. My autism sources have been contacting me all day wanting to talk about it, so it would be easy to get quotes.

Anyway, let me know! Best wishes,

Trine

Trine Tsouderos
Chicago Tribune
Science and Medical Reporter
312 222 5648 (w)
312 927 7986 (cell)
ttsouderos@tribune.com



From: Dennis, Tami
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 12:43 PM
To: Maugh, Thomas
Subject: FW: Vaccine court story

They did good stuff. Don’t hesitate to use them if you need comment.



From: Maugh, Thomas
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 2:47 PM
To: Tsouderos, Trine
Subject: FW: Vaccine court story

Please. Anything you can send me would be helpful. I'm gong to be listening in to the Every Child by 2 Press conference.

Thomas H. Maugh II
Science/Medical Writer
Los Angeles Times
202 West First Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
310 649-1300



From: Tsouderos, Trine
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 1:02 PM
To: Maugh, Thomas
Subject: RE: Vaccine court story

Do you want me to get JB Handley at Generation Rescue? I have his email.



From: Maugh, Thomas
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 3:02 PM
To: Tsouderos, Trine
Subject: RE: Vaccine court story

Whoever you think would give a good, rational quote. Some of the responses on the PR newswire seem rather irrational.

Thomas H. Maugh II
Science/Medical Writer
Los Angeles Times
202 West First Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
310 649-1300

FYI... For the "irrational" response on the newswire... see below. He means the responses from our community. So sweet how Trine and Maugh are there for each other in their battle against the forces of darkness vaccine injured children.

The whole circle is corrupt. Because there is no way to sue Pharma or the Government for vaccine damage, and certainly no way to sue biased media sources, the public is penned in and once vaccine injury takes place... well... to bad... you're screwed. You are also evil and want children to die from polio because you said out loud that a vaccine injured your child. You are also anti-vaccine, even if you continue to vaccinate your other children. (Did I mention desperate and scientifically illiterate? Also you probably have mental health issues. Oh... and Thomas Maugh thinks you are irrational.)

And the public is starting to get that this whole thing is bullshit. There has been speculation today as to why these VICP rulings were dropped on a Friday afternoon, burial ground for media pieces. Is it that the government gets that people think they are full of crappola and don't want these rulings to feed another cycle of vaccine program bashing? That is my guess. (Or are they trying to prevent more stories on Thorsen?)

Because, as Mr. Kette has illustrated below, the Government/Pharma/MSM shenanigans like the rulings today only serve to discredit themselves in the public's eyes, and add fresh, stinky fertilizer to the growing suspicion and distrust of the vaccine program.


The Life Cycle of a Failed Public Vaccination Program
(click to enlarge as pdf)



Kette is quite insightful in placing "Empire Paternalism" at the head of this death spiral, because it begins when the public forgets the profound axiom that "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". The warm feeling of security that comes from allowing yourself to believe that governments and billion dollar multinational corporations are earnest, righteous and working in your personal best interest is seductive. But Big Brother does not love you... he doesn't even know you. History ONLY illustrates the cycle of powerful governmental/corporate entities falling into corruption and either destroying society OR eventually being held accountable by the people either by the vote or by pitchfork. Powerful entities like these are only held in check when people turn their brains on, stop pretending that the government, or the corporation can fix our problems and heal the world.

Be clear, the corporation exists to make money, the government is not doing its job to hold the corporation accountable, and the media is not doing its job of holding them both accountable. They are all becoming very powerful and very rich by working together. The ONLY accountability for vaccine damage will come directly from the public saying "NO MORE!".

In vaccination, the government is not your friend.

Ronald Reagan's words were never truer than in the case of the story of American Vaccine Injury:

"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'We're from the government and we're here to help.'"

UPDATE:

I, along with most of the people who have been writing about the VICP decisions, have been corrected by one of my readers who makes a good poing:

"...Anyone looking closely at the accumulative decision(s) of MEAD, KING and DWYER (plus, 595 Pages) will be hard pressed to find the Special Master(s) (Patricia Campbell-Smith, George L. Hastings, Jr., and Denise K. Vowell) saying, Thimerosal Does Not Cause Autism,  It's Official: Vaccines Don't Cause Autism or Vaccines Could Not Have Caused Autism, U.S. Court Says, and yet, incredibly, that's exactly what being broadcast and reported across the nation by the media.

What the Special Master(s) did say was the Petitioner(s) respectively failed to satisfy the burden of proof , CAUSE AND EFFECT, or by a PREPONDERANCE OF 'CAUSATION-IN-FACT" EVIDENCE under the articulated legal standards. Consequentially, all three petitioners failed to establish their clear entitlements to compensation.

In other words, it appears the full weight and burden of proof to establish a "link" between Autism and vaccines (including the preservative, Thimerosal) was entirely placed on the families of WILLIAM P. MEAD, JORDAN KING and COLIN R. DWYER.

Not an easy task for the family struggling with a sick kid at home, even the family was armed with equal resources and a league of brilliant litigators with law degrees from the Harvard School of Law.

These families faced lawyers hired by the vaccine makers with unlimited resources and truckloads of paper. No reasonable person would call that a fair fight.

There is a huge difference in saying Vaccines Could Not Have Caused Autism, and in saying, by the Preponderance of Evidence the families failed to prove a "link" to the satisfaction of the court, a story broadcasters and media unjustly prejudiced, be it out of ignorance or by intent..."
-Larry

Read the press released from:

The Coalition for Vaccine Safety:

Special Masters Protect Vaccine Program and Deny Justice to Vaccine-Injured Children

Mercury-Autism Link Not Found Because of Government Policy, not Science

Washington, DC - The Coalition for Vaccine Safety (CVS) believes that the Special Masters of the Court of Federal Claims wrongly decided that thimerosal-containing vaccines (TCVs) do not cause autism. The Special Masters appear to have based their decisions on the government policy to protect the vaccine program rather than to fulfill their role to do justice by vaccine-injured children. In these three 'test case' decisions in the Omnibus Autism Proceeding, petitioners William Mead, Jordan King and Colin Dwyer developed normally through the first year of life and then regressed into autism. They presented thousands of pages of scientific documentation and testimony. Their evidence showed that thimerosal, a mercury-laden vaccine preservative, more likely than not contributed to their autism.

"The deck is stacked against families in Vaccine Court. Government attorneys defend a government program, using government-funded science, before government judges. Where's the justice in that?" asked Rebecca Estepp, a CVS steering committee member and mother of a petitioner in the Omnibus Autism Proceeding.

It is universally accepted that mercury is a neurotoxin and can damage the developing brain and the immune system. All three boys' health improved through medical interventions to reduce mercury toxicity and immune dysfunction. Nonetheless, the Special Masters concluded that petitioners failed to meet their burden of proof, even though Health and Human Services (HHS), the respondent in the proceeding, offered no alternative explanation other than genetic predisposition. The Special Masters appear to be following a misguided government policy that if they acknowledge a mercury-autism link, parents will stop vaccinating their children.

The breaking story of fraud at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) involving Dr. Poul Thorsen, a leading member of a Danish research group that wrote studies supporting the CDC's claims that there is no mercury-autism link, casts further doubt on the Special Masters' decisions. The emerging evidence of Dr. Thorsen's embezzlement of $2 million, falsehoods about his employment, and serious questions about his research throw into question the validity of the science at the heart of HHS's claim of no mercury-autism link.

The Coalition for Vaccine Safety (CVS) is an alliance of organizations dedicated to vaccine safety representing over 75,000 families. In recent letters to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of House and Senate Committees charged with oversight of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Coalition called for hearings to investigate HHS, the CDC and other government agencies. Those federal agencies have failed to comply with the terms of the 1986 Vaccine Injury Compensation Act (VICA). Specifically they have failed to provide critical vaccine safety science, including from the taxpayer-funded Vaccine Safety Datalink, on thimerosal, autism and other neurodevelopmental disabilities.

The Special Masters' Omnibus Autism Proceeding decisions and revelations about Dr. Thorsen's actions only strengthen the Coalition's resolve in calling for immediate Congressional action to investigate vaccine safety - an issue that potentially affects every person in the country.

"We are confident that the truth will win out. We hope that Congress will intervene in what is clearly a miscarriage of justice to vaccine-injured children," said Jim Moody, an attorney and CVS steering committee member.

For more information on the Omnibus Autism Proceeding and vaccine safety, visit www.coalitionforvaccinesafety.org.

SafeMinds:

Government's Refusal to Fund Sound Science Stacks Deck Against Vaccine-Injured Children and Casts Doubt on the Integrity of the National Immunization Program says SafeMinds.


Washington, D.C. - March 12, 2010 - Autism and mercury advocacy organization SafeMinds regrets today's ruling by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims against three families who argued that vaccines which contained the mercury based preservative thimerosal contributed to their child's autism. The denial of reasonable compensation to families was based on inadequate vaccine safety science and poorly designed and highly controversial epidemiology studies supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the defendant in vaccine injury cases and is also responsible for carrying out the very vaccine safety research that should be integral to court decisions. This conflict of interest means the deck is stacked against families when they enter "vaccine court" and is yet one more reason for parents to doubt the integrity of the National Immunization Program.

"The government has its thumb on the scales of justice," said Laura Bono, parent of a vaccine injured child whose case was dismissed. "The Vaccine Injury Compensation Act passed by Congress in 1986 gave immunity to vaccine manufacturers and diminished the incentive to create safer products. Meanwhile, the law only gives the illusion that parents will have their day in court. The process is dysfunctional and many families will not see justice done."

Two HHS agencies, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), are responsible for conducting vaccine safety research. Calling into question the scientific integrity of this research, a top CDC funded vaccine researcher, Poul Thorsen, responsible for the oversight of some of the most influential and controversial studies that have been claimed as evidence for no link between autism and thimerosal, is alleged to be under investigation when funding documents were found to be forgeries and millions of dollars were missing.

The director of the NIH institute in charge of autism studies has admitted that HHS has a conflict of interest in conducting autism-vaccine research due to the court cases. Last year, the government dominated Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee blocked critical vaccine-autism research studies from moving forward. "The government must fund an extensive vaccine safety program, including studies of the health outcomes of vaccinated and unvaccinated children," stated Lyn Redwood, Vice President of SafeMinds. "Trust in the immunization program will continue to deteriorate without adequate and unbiased safety science."

Over 5,000 petitions have been filed in the vaccine court alleging that vaccines caused a variety of damage to the developing brain, immune system, and other metabolic pathways ultimately giving rise to a diagnosis of autism. Already, the court has awarded approximately $5 million in compensation for such cases, of which the Hannah Poling case is the most well-known. Many of these cases were quietly settled by the government so the public is not aware of them. Thus the court has already decided that vaccine injury is linked to autism.

Today's ruling against families demonstrates that the process is arbitrary. The question is not whether some cases of autism have a vaccine etiology. The government has admitted that. The only remaining question is how many kids have been injured - and what must be done now to treat these kids and prevent further injury.

SafeMinds wishes to recognize the bravery and perseverance of the families who now may face a lifetime of inadequate support for their disabled children.

The Coalition for SafeMinds (Sensible Action for Ending Mercury-Induced Neurological Disorders) is a nonprofit organization founded to investigate and raise awareness of the risks to infants and children of exposure to mercury from medical products, including thimerosal in vaccines. Further information about SafeMinds and the harmful effects from mercury exposure may be found at www.safeminds.org

Talk About Curing Autism:

Second Round of Autism Omnibus Court Cases Decided

Legal update By Rebecca Estepp, TACA.

March 12, 2010

Today in Washington DC, the Special Masters of the Court of Federal Claims released their decisions in the second round of Omnibus Autism Proceeding (OAP) claims. Once again, the OAP has failed children with autism that exhibited regression after their routine childhood vaccinations. All three cases: Mead, King and Dwyer were denied compensation.

First off, what is the OAP?

The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-660) created the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) in 1988. The VICP was created to ensure there was an adequate supply of vaccines and stabilize vaccine costs. Prior to this Act, there were only a handful of drug companies that producing vaccines. These companies faced lawsuits in civil court when their vaccines caused injuries. The drug companies lobbied for liability protection and the Act was passed.

A responsibility of the VICP was to establish and maintain an accessible and timely venue for individuals found to be injured by vaccines. The VICP was developed to be a no-fault alternative to the traditional tort system for resolving vaccine injury claims that provides compensation to people found to be injured by certain vaccines. The U. S. Court of Federal Claims that decides these claims in court is commonly referred to as vaccine court. Damages are paid to individuals from a government-maintained fund. Drug companies can no longer be sued in a civil court of law until the claim has gone through the VICP. For more information go to: HRSA Vaccine Compensation.

The VICP was set up for individuals who suffered an “on-the-table” vaccine injury. That is an injury that happened within minutes or hours after receiving a vaccine.

In 2001, parents of children with autism started filing claims with VICP. These claims were considered “off-the-table,” meaning the vaccine injury did not occur “on-the-table” or at the time of injection. In July of 2002, the Special Masters (the term used for “judges” in vaccine court) established the procedure for addressing these claims and the Omnibus Autism Proceeding (OAP) was born. It was at that time that parents started flooding OAP with claims. More than 5500 claims have been filed in the program to date.
For more information on the Omnibus cases & decision click HERE.

Who are the Mead, King and Dwyer families?

The Mead, King and Dwyer are families with many similarities. All three families have boys with autism. All of the boys in these cases are the same age, 12 years old. Each family reported that their sons developed typically during the first year of their lives and then suffered a regression after their routine pediatric vaccines were administered. William Mead and Jordan King are both from Portland, Oregon while Colin Dwyer is from Queens, New York. Interestingly, William Mead was developing so typically that he was a model for Pottery Barn.

TACA would like to take this time to recognize the extraordinary efforts of the Mead, King and Dwyer families along with their attorneys. These brave families put their children on the line for more than 5500 children in the OAP. Their attorneys fought a brilliant battle in a very rigid court. These courageous families and their attorneys are truly our heroes.

When were these cases heard? What was the causation theory behind these cases?

These cases were heard in May and July of 2008. These three families were chosen as test cases number four, five and six in the OAP under the causation theory number two. Theory number two states that the thimerosal contained in the vaccines these boys were administered was the sole reason for their injuries.

Weren’t there decisions in the OAP last year? What was the causation theory in those OAP Cases?

Last February the same court denied compensation to the first three OAP cases (Cedillo, Hazlehurst and Snyder) which had a different theory of causation. Those cases theorized that the first three children had suffered an injury due to the combination of thimerosal containing vaccines and damage done from the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

Read more information on the first OAP cases at TACA HERE.

Analysis of all OAP decisions

Hindsight is always 20/20. The analysis I wrote for the first round of OAP decisions was far too optimistic. I mistakenly theorized that the reason the first verdicts took 19 months to conclude was due to a close call the Special Masters must have had when coming to their decisions. I no longer hold that opinion.

While I recognize that the Special Masters had the herculean task of sifting through thousands upon thousands of pages of evidence, I believe it took over a year for the Special Masters to carefully choose the language in their verdicts to send the message that the OAP will not award compensation to children with autism. The Vaccine Court seems to be more concerned about protecting the perception of safety in the current vaccine schedule than compensating the children who were harmed in the immunization program.

This opinion change was confirmed today when the Special Masters concluded that Mead, King and Dwyer families did not meet their burden of proof. I’d like to point out that the government did not offer any other explanation for these boys’ regressions, other than to claim that it was a vague, nonspecific genetic cause for which there was not a shred of evidence.

I attended the OAP hearings in 2007 and 2008. I was full of hope this was the venue that would finally lead to justice for vaccine-injured children. I was optimistic as I watched the parents testify and watched their dedicated attorneys fight for their clients. Unfortunately, I now view the OAP as a program where government attorneys defend a government program using government-funded science before government judges. This is hardly fair and I am afraid we never had a chance for justice for these children.

Is there any hope?

I know this all sounds very bleak. However, there are many reasons why there is still hope for children with autism who suffered vaccine reactions.

1. These three decisions will be appealed. The appeal process begins immediately in the OAP.

2. Bruesewitz v. Wyeth—On March 8, the Supreme Court voted in favor of hearing this vaccine injury case. The issue in this case is not whether or not the child was harmed by a vaccine, rather the Supreme Court will decide on whether or not parents have the right to sue a drug company outside of the VICP. Mary Holland, Esq. and Jim Moody, Esq. wrote a wonderful article on this upcoming case for the Age of Autism. Read more HERE.

3. Theresa Cedillo and Michael Cedillo v. Secretary of Health and Human Services—This amicus curae brief was filed in February backed by twenty-three autism organizations in the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Read more HERE.

4. The above legal cases will take many months to move forward which allows more time for science to develop. This could possibly help our side of the argument.

5. The Dr. Poul Thorsen situation is still evolving. Dr. Thorsen was a lead scientist in the Danish studies conducted in 2003 that showed that vaccines and autism were unrelated. Dr. Thorsen is now missing with $2 million of Danish Universities’ money. Read more of this explosive story HERE.

6. The Hannah Poling and Bailey Banks cases. These two children with autism were awarded compensation for damage done to them during their routine childhood vaccinations. The difference for these two children was their cases were heard outside of the OAP and were compensated for conditions like seizure disorder and encephalopathy. Read more about Hannah Poling and Bailey Banks: Poling HERE and Bailey-Banks HERE.

7. One in four parents now believes in the autism/vaccination connection! And no wonder. There is substantial evidence that a susceptible set of children have reacted to their vaccines. The number of children with autism has been skyrocketing for years and there is still no explanation from the government or the medical establishment for the increase. Read more at CBS News HERE.

8. The newly formed Coalition for Vaccine Safety is spear heading many new vaccine safety initiatives including the call for Congressional Hearings on this topic. For more information on this coalition click HERE.

I ended last year’s decision analysis with “this fight is not over.” I feel even more devoted to that statement this year. While I do think the OAP is broken, needs reform and provides very little chance that any child will receive compensation from it, I don’t think the vaccine and autism connection issue is dead. This fight is far from over.

Rebecca Estepp is Media Relations Director for TACA.

NAA:

Justice Once Again Denied to Vaccine Injured Children

The National Autism Association is disappointed but not surprised by the decisions made public March 12, 2010 in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in three thimerosal test cases. These decisions reflect the corruption of a broken system that is rooted in protecting the country’s vaccine program at all costs, and not in compensating children who have been injured by vaccines.

Ironically, it is the government’s negligence in maintaining proper oversight of vaccine safety issues, and then refusing to compensate those injured by vaccines, that is eroding public confidence in the vaccine program. Our government health agencies continue to demonstrate complete loyalty to a vaccine program known to have caused autism and other serious injuries to children.

Because these latest decisions in vaccine court are the end result of a corrupt legal process and a blatant disregard for vaccine safety, we are asking Congress to investigate the Department of Health and Human Services and its subordinate agencies for their role in overseeing vaccine safety issues. These agencies are charged by both federal law and ethical responsibility to ensure that vaccines are as safe as possible. To become a part of this crucial effort to hold federal health agencies accountable for vaccine safety, please visit NAA's Autism Action Center at http://naa.kintera.org/actioncenter.

Low level Hg and Autism: Mercury induces inflammatory mediator release from human mast cells

Mercury induces inflammatory mediator release from human mast cells

Duraisamy Kempuraj, Shahrzad Asadi, Bodi Zhang, Akrivi Manola, Jennifer Hogan,
Erika Peterson, Theoharis C Theoharides

Journal of Neuroinflammation 2010, 7:20 doi:10.1186/1742-2094-7-20

Abstract
Background: Mercury is known to be neurotoxic, but its effects on the immune system are less well known. Mast cells are involved in allergic reactions, but also in innate and acquired immunity, as well as in inflammation. Many patients with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have “allergic” symptoms; moreover, the prevalence of ASD in patients with mastocytosis, characterized by numerous hyperactive mast cells in most tissues, is 10-fold higher than the general population suggesting mast cell involvement. We, therefore, investigated the effect of mercuric chloride (HgCl2) on human mast cell activation.

Methods: Human leukemic cultured LAD2 mast cells and normal human umbilical cord bloodderived cultured mast cells (hCBMCs) were stimulated by HgCl2 (0.1-10 μM) for either 10 min for beta-hexosaminidase release or 24 hr for measuring vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and IL-6 release by ELISA.

Results: HgCl2 induced a 2-fold increase in β-hexosaminidase release, and also significant VEGF release at 0.1 and 1 μM (311±32 pg/106 cells and 443±143 pg/106 cells, respectively) from LAD2 mast cells compared to control cells (227±17 pg/106 cells, n=5, p<0.05). Addition of HgCl2 (0.1 μM) to the proinflammatory neuropeptide substance P (SP, 0.1 μM) had synergestic action in inducing VEGF from LAD2 mast cells. HgCl2 also stimulated significant VEGF release (360 ± 100 pg/106 cells at 1 μM, n=5, p<0.05) from hCBMCs compared to control cells (182 ±57 pg/106 cells), and IL-6 release (466±57 pg/106 cells at 0.1 μM) compared to untreated cells (13±25 pg/106 cells, n=5, p<0.05). Addition of HgCl2 (0.1 μM) to SP (5 μM) further increased IL-6 release.

Conclusions: HgCl2 stimulates VEGF and IL-6 release from human mast cells. This
phenomenon could disrupt the blood-brain-barrier and permit brain inflammation. As a result, the findings of the present study provide a biological mechanism for how low levels of mercury may contribute to ASD pathogenesis.

Happy Birthday to my Beautiful Boy!

Happy 8th Birthday to my sweet, happy boy Chandler!




I love you forever!

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