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The following video from the University of Calgary highlights how
From the Huffington Post: After years of insisting there is no evidence to link vaccines with the onset of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the US government has quietly conceded a vaccine-autism case in the Court of Federal Claims. The unprecedented concession was filed on November 9, and sealed to protect the plaintiff’s identify. It was obtained through individuals unrelated to the case. The claim, one of 4,900 autism cases currently pending in Federal “Vaccine Court,” was conceded by US Assistant Attorney General Peter Keisler and other Justice Department officials, on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services, the “defendant” in all Vaccine Court cases. The child’s claim against the government — that mercury-containing vaccines were the cause of her autism — was supposed to be one of three “test cases” for the thimerosal-autism theory currently under consideration by a three-member panel of Special Masters, the presiding justices in Federal Claims Court. Keisler wrote that medical personnel at the HHS Division of Vaccine Injury Compensation (DVIC) had reviewed the case and “concluded that compensation is appropriate.” The doctors conceded that the child was healthy and developing normally until her 18-month well-baby visit, when she received vaccinations against nine different diseases all at once (two contained thimerosal). Days later, the girl began spiraling downward into a cascade of illnesses and setbacks that, within months, presented as symptoms of autism, including: No response to verbal direction; loss of language skills; no eye contact; loss of “relatedness;” insomnia; incessant screaming; arching; and “watching the florescent lights repeatedly during examination.” Seven months after vaccination, the patient was diagnosed by Dr. Andrew Zimmerman, a leading neurologist at the Kennedy Krieger Children’s Hospital Neurology Clinic, with “regressive encephalopathy (brain disease) with features consistent with autistic spectrum disorder, following normal development.” The girl also met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) official criteria for autism. In its written concession, the government said the child had a pre-existing mitochondrial disorder that was “aggravated” by her shots, and which ultimately resulted in an ASD diagnosis. “The vaccinations received on July 19, 2000, significantly aggravated an underlying mitochondrial disorder,” the concession says, “which predisposed her to deficits in cellular energy metabolism, and manifested as a regressive encephalopathy with features of ASD.” This statement is good news for the girl and her family, who will now be compensated for the lifetime of care she will require. But its implications for the larger vaccine-autism debate, and for public health policy in general, are not as certain. In fact, the government’s concession seems to raise more questions than it answers. 1) Is there a connection between vaccines, mitochondrial disorders and a diagnosis of autism, at least in some cases? Mitochondria, you may recall from biology class, are the little powerhouses within cells that convert food into electrical energy, partly through a complex process called “oxidative phosphorylation.” If this process is impaired, mitochondrial disorder will ensue. The child in this case had several markers for Mt disease, which was confirmed by muscle biopsy. Mt disease is often marked by lethargy, poor muscle tone, poor food digestion and bowel problems, something found in many children diagnosed with autism. But mitochondrial disorders are rare in the general population, affecting some 2-per-10,000 people (or just 0.2%). So with 4,900 cases filed in Vaccine Court, this case should be the one and only, extremely rare instance of Mt disease in all the autism proceedings. But it is not. Mitochondrial disorders are now thought to be the most common disease associated with ASD. Some journal articles and other analyses have estimated that 10% to 20% of all autism cases may involve mitochondrial disorders, which would make them one thousand times more common among people with ASD than the general population. Another article, published in the Journal of Child Neurology and co-authored by Dr. Zimmerman, showed that 38% of Kennedy Krieger Institute autism patients studied had one marker for impaired oxidative phosphorylation, and 47% had a second marker. The authors — who reported on a case-study of the same autism claim conceded in Vaccine Court — noted that “children who have (mitochondrial-related) dysfunctional cellular energy metabolism might be more prone to undergo autistic regression between 18 and 30 months of age if they also have infections or immunizations at the same time.” An interesting aspect of Mt disease in autism is that, with ASD, the mitochondrial disease seems to be milder than in “classic” cases of Mt disorder. In fact, classic Mt disease is almost always inherited, either passed down by the mother through mitochondrial DNA, or by both parents through nuclear DNA. In autism-related Mt disease, however, the disorder is not typically found in other family members, and instead appears to be largely of the sporadic variety, which may now account for 75% of all mitochondrial disorders. Meanwhile, an informal survey of seven families of children with cases currently pending in Vaccine Court revealed that all seven showed markers for mitochondrial dysfunction, dating back to their earliest medical tests. The facts in all seven claims mirror the case just conceded by the government: Normal development followed by vaccination, immediate illness, and rapid decline culminating in an autism diagnosis. 2) With 4,900 cases pending, and more coming, will the government concede those with underlying Mt disease — and if it not, will the Court award compensation? The Court will soon begin processing the 4900 cases pending before it. What if 10% to 20% of them can demonstrate the same Mt disease and same set of facts as those in the conceded case? Would the government be obliged to concede 500, or even 1,000 cases? What impact would that have on public opinion? And is there enough money currently in the vaccine injury fund to cover so many settlements? When asked for a comment last week about the court settlement, a spokesman for HHS furnished the following written statement:
3) If the government is claiming that vaccines did not “cause” autism, but instead aggravated a condition to “manifest” as autism, isn’t that a very fine distinction? For most affected families, such linguistic gymnastics is not so important. And even if a vaccine injury “manifested” as autism in only one case, isn’t that still a significant development worthy of informing the public? On the other hand, perhaps what the government is claiming is that vaccination resulted in the symptoms of autism, but not in an actual, factually correct diagnosis of autism itself. 4) If the government is claiming that this child does NOT have autism, then how many other children might also have something else that merely “mimics” autism? Is it possible that 10%-20% of the cases that we now label as “autism,” are not autism at all, but rather some previously undefined “look-alike” syndrome that merely presents as “features” of autism? This question gets to the heart of what autism actually is. The disorder is defined solely as a collection of features, nothing more. If you have the features (and the diagnosis), you have the disorder. The underlying biology is the great unknown. But let’s say the government does determine that these kids don’t have actual “autism” (something I speculated on HuffPost a year ago). Then shouldn’t the Feds go back and test all people with ASD for impaired oxidative phosphorylation, perhaps reclassifying many of them? If so, will we then see “autism” cases drop by tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people? Will there be a corresponding ascension of a newly described disorder, perhaps something like “Vaccine Aggravated Mitochondrial Disease with Features of ASD?” And if this child was technically “misdiagnosed” with DSM-IV autism by Dr Zimmerman, how does he feel about HHS doctors issuing a second opinion re-diagnosis of his patient, whom they presumably had neither met nor examined? (Zimmerman declined an interview). And along those lines, aren’t Bush administration officials somewhat wary of making long-distance, retroactive diagnoses from Washington, given that the Terry Schiavo incident has not yet faded from national memory? 5) Was this child’s Mt disease caused by a genetic mutation, as the government implies, and wouldn’t that have manifested as “ASD features” anyway? In the concession, the government notes that the patient had a “single nucleotide change” in the mitochondrial DNA gene T2387C, implying that this was the underlying cause of her manifested “features” of autism. While it’s true that some inherited forms of Mt disease can manifest as developmental delays, (and even ASD in the form of Rhett Syndrome) these forms are linked to identified genetic mutations, of which T2387C is not involved. In fact little, if anything, is known about the function of this particular gene. What’s more, there is no evidence that this girl, prior to vaccination, suffered from any kind of “disorder” at all- genetic, mitochondrial or otherwise. Some forms of Mt disease are so mild that the person is unaware of being affected. This perfectly developing girl may have had Mt disorder at the time of vaccination, but nobody detected, or even suspected it. And, there is no evidence to suggest that this girl would have regressed into symptoms consistent with a DSM-IV autism diagnosis without her vaccinations. If there was such evidence, then why on earth would these extremely well-funded government attorneys compensate this alleged injury in Vaccine Court? Why wouldn’t they move to dismiss, or at least fight the case at trial? 6) What are the implications for research? The concession raises at least two critical research questions: What are the causes of Mt dysfunction; and how could vaccines aggravate that dysfunction to the point of “autistic features?” While some Mt disorders are clearly inherited, the “sporadic” form is thought to account for 75% of all cases, according to the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation. So what causes sporadic Mt disease? “Medicines or other toxins,” says the Cleveland Clinic, a leading authority on the subject. Use of the AIDS drug AZT, for example, can cause Mt disorders by deleting large segments of mitochondrial DNA. If that is the case, might other exposures to drugs or toxins (i.e., thimerosal, mercury in fish, air pollution, pesticides, live viruses) also cause sporadic Mt disease in certain subsets of children, through similar genotoxic mechanisms? Among the prime cellular targets of mercury are mitochondria, and thimerosal-induced cell death has been associated with the depolarization of mitochondrial membrane, according to the International Journal of Molecular Medicine among several others. (Coincidently, the first case of Mt disease was diagnosed in 1959, just 15 years after the first autism case was named, and two decades after thimerosal’s introduction as a vaccine preservative.) Regardless of its cause, shouldn’t HHS sponsor research into Mt disease and the biological mechanisms by which vaccines could aggravate the disorder? We still do not know what it was, exactly, about this girl’s vaccines that aggravated her condition. Was it the thimerosal? The three live viruses? The two attenuated viruses? Other ingredients like aluminum? A combination of the above? And of course, if vaccine injuries can aggravate Mt disease to the point of manifesting as autism features, then what other underlying disorders or conditions (genetic, autoimmune, allergic, etc.) might also be aggravated to the same extent? 7) What are the implications for medicine and public health? Should the government develop and approve new treatments for “aggravated mitochondrial disease with ASD features?” Interestingly, many of the treatments currently deployed in Mt disease (i.e., coenzyme Q10, vitamin B-12, lipoic acid, biotin, dietary changes, etc.) are part of the alternative treatment regimen that many parents use on their children with ASD. And, if a significant minority of autism cases can be linked to Mt disease and vaccines, shouldn’t these products one day carry an FDA Black Box warning label, and shouldn’t children with Mt disorders be exempt from mandatory immunization? 8 ) What are the implications for the vaccine-autism debate? It’s too early to tell. But this concession could conceivably make it more difficult for some officials to continue insisting there is “absolutely no link” between vaccines and autism. It also puts the Federal Government’s Vaccine Court defense strategy somewhat into jeopardy. DOJ lawyers and witnesses have argued that autism is genetic, with no evidence to support an environmental component. And, they insist, it’s simply impossible to construct a chain of events linking immunizations to the disorder. Government officials may need to rethink their legal strategy, as well as their public relations campaigns, given their own slightly contradictory concession in this case. 9) What is the bottom line here? The public, (including world leaders) will demand to know what is going on inside the US Federal health establishment. Yes, as of now, n=1, a solitary vaccine-autism concession. But what if n=10% or 20%? Who will pay to clean up that mess? The significance of this concession will unfortunately be fought over in the usual, vitriolic way — and I fully expect to be slammed for even raising these questions. Despite that, the language of this concession cannot be changed, or swept away. Its key words are “aggravated” and “manifested.” Without the aggravation of the vaccines, it is uncertain that the manifestation would have occurred at all. When a kid with peanut allergy eats a peanut and dies, we don’t say “his underlying metabolic condition was significantly aggravated to the extent of manifesting as an anaphylactic shock with features of death.” No, we say the peanut killed the poor boy. Remove the peanut from the equation, and he would still be with us today. Many people look forward to hearing more from HHS officials about why they are settling this claim. But whatever their explanation, they cannot change the fundamental facts of this extraordinary case: The United State government is compensating at least one child for vaccine injuries that resulted in a diagnosis of autism. And that is big news, no matter how you want to say it. NOTE: Full text of the government’s statement is posted here. David Kirby is the author of “Evidence of Harm - Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic, A Medical Controversy” (St. Martins Press 2005).
Source: Infowars The White House stated on Tuesday that President Bush would veto the FY 2008 HHS-Labor-Education Appropriations Bill because of the cost and “objectionable provisions” such as a measure to ban the use of childhood flu vaccines that contain thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, a press release from Autism advocacy group Safe Minds on the PRNewswire-USNewswire states. Bush is calling for an amendment that would remove the children’s safety provision from the bill. Safe Minds warns:
The flu vaccine, which continues to be manufactured with mercury, is recommended for all pregnant women, infants and children despite the fact that the Institute of Medicine in 2001 recommended against the policy of exposing these same sensitive groups to thimerosal containing vaccines. Mercury is the second most toxic metal known to man behind Uranium. Thimerosal is used in vaccines not because it is good for you, but purely because it prevents vaccine contamination. Yet some have questioned why thimerosal is even considered for vaccines because there are obviously safer alternatives to preventing contamination. Questions also remain about how pharmaceutical companies conduct vaccine research and how the government regulates those companies. Despite these facts, sickening reports such as the one below continue to make out that injecting the second most poisonous substance in the world into babies is actually GOOD for their health: During Bush’s reelection campaign in 2004 he stated:
Despite this he now plans to veto a bill that would remove Thimerosal because of “costs”. What costs would these be? Do the costs of big pharmaceutical companies and fat government kickbacks outweigh the costs of the healthy brains of every child in America? Seemingly so. Furthermore, though Bush stated that the evidence for links between mercury laden vaccines and autism are not concrete, there are scores of studies and testimony from credible figures asserting the exact opposite. Starting in the early nineties, government regulators dramatically increased the amount of Thimerosal exposure to babies by adding two new vaccines to the roster of mandatory immunizations children must have before enrolling in school. The combination of the Hepatitis B vaccine and the HiB vaccine more than doubled the amount of mercury children. Mercury expert Dr. Boyd Haley of the University of Kentucky has testified before Congress and the Pentagon as well as the FDA as one of the nation’s leading experts on Thimerosal and mercury poisoning, revealing that his research leads him to believe that some children are genetically predisposed to storing mercury in their brains, leading to neurological disorders, including autism. The combination of the Hepatitis B vaccine and the HiB vaccine more than doubled the amount of mercury children in the 90s. “If you take a ten-pound baby in, and it gets four shots on that one day, which is a common practice - that’s equivalent to giving a 100-pound person forty shots in one day,” said Haley. Haley has also proposed that Thimerosal in infant vaccines was also the most likely toxic agent involved in Gulf War syndrome and autistic spectrum disorders. Think about this, they are injecting into babies something that is breaking down the bodies of full grown combat veterans. While the FDA questioned thimerosal’s safety in the 80s, noting that it was “not safe for ‘over-the-counter’ topical use because of its potential for cell damage”, and while it was removed from animal vaccines for the same reason, the government regulatory committees did nothing to question its use in childhood vaccines. It’s too dangerous for cats and dogs but the government is happy for our babies to be pumped full of the stuff on a regular basis. Dr Haley has also pointed out that it is also well known by any good biochemist that thimerosal and aluminum react dangerously when combined together. Given that Aluminum is a compound added to many vaccines as a catalyst you would think the government would have heeded this warning, yet it has still done nothing. Despite the continued reports doubting the link between Thimerosal and autism, more studies have continued to verify the link. As reported in the Capitol Times recently:
In other words thimerosal, inorganic mercury, leads to neuroinflammatory disease which is proven to be the underlying medical condition of autism. Furthermore In a study done at the University of Arkansas last year, autistic children were found to have significantly lower levels of the antioxidant glutathione. Glutathione is the major antioxidant needed for the elimination of mercury at the cellular level. Moreover, Professor Philippe Grandjean, from Harvard University and the University of Southern Denmark, considered the foremost scientific authority on the development of children’s brains, has recently claimed that the average human IQ is plummeting primarily due to IQ points in the population being chemically destroyed via low level mercury exposure in children. The links between the ingestion of mercury and neurological breakdown are clear and proven. Professors all over the world are telling us outright that it is literally destroying people’s brains. Even if you choose to believe, in the face of all the evidence, that the links are still somewhat questionable, the solution is still obvious. GET IT OUT OF THE VACCINES NOW. Safe Minds also point out that according to the EPA, one in every six women of childbearing age already has blood levels of mercury high enough to cause neurological damage to their unborn children due to environmental exposures alone. “Injecting even more mercury into the bodies of pregnant women, infants and children when it is not a necessary component of vaccines is just bad medicine,” said Lyn Redwood, president of Safe Minds and parent of a mercury-injured child. “It defies logic that a flu vaccine must be disposed of as a hazardous waste if it is not used, but somehow injecting the same mercury-containing vaccine into a baby is safe.” Yes it defies logic to someone who believes in the unabated progression of the entirety of the human race, however, to an elite devoid of all morality and interested only in the endgame pursuit of their own biological, spiritual and financial monopoly over the whole planet, it makes perfect sense.
Source: Mercola.com The additives will be the same as those contained in the vaccines recommended for a 6-year-old according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, and the dose will be body-weight calibrated. It will include, but not be limited to:
On August 1, 2007, if no one has taken the challenge, the offer will be increased to $90,000 and will increase at a rate of $5,000 per month until someone accepts. Not surprisingly, this offer has been on the table since 2001, but no one has been willing to take in that toxic chemical cocktail — except for the children who innocently go in for their routine vaccinations.
Source: Michelle O’neil The undersigned organizations are writing to you regarding the concerns among families of vaccine-injured children across the country over NBC’s recent coverage of the Autism Omnibus proceedings. In particular, we take issue with the comments Dr. Nancy Snyderman made during yesterday’s Today show. While one would hope a “First do no harm” philosophy would have some bearing on the information Dr. Snyderman provides to viewers, clearly it does not. Dr. Snyderman’s ties to Johnson & Johnson, defendants in vaccine injury litigation, are obviously dictating the agenda in her appearances on your network at the risk of the safety of our children. This conflict of interest calls into serious question your journalistic integrity and credibility. NBC’s viewers were exposed to a blatant falsehood yesterday as Dr. Snyderman claimed that vaccines no longer contain mercury. This is not the case, and this misinformation has unfortunately given NBC’s parents a false sense of security that vaccines are now mercury-free. This false claim puts viewer’s children and the unborn at risk of great harm. The mercury-based preservative thimerosal has never been fully removed from childhood vaccines as Dr. Snyderman vehemently claimed. A simple check on the FDA’s website would have confirmed this: (click link). Mercury is still in most flu, tetanus, and diphtheria/tetanus vaccines–and an array of vaccines still contain “trace” amounts. (The term “trace” must be used loosely as this aspect of vaccine production is not being regulated and there is some variation on what constitutes a trace amount. As children often receive multiple “trace” amounts of mercury in one sitting, cumulative amounts and potential adverse effects are as yet unknown.) While no reputable medical practitioner in this country would allow even “trace” amounts of lead to be injected through vaccines given its known neurotoxicity, physicians continue to allow mercury, which exceeds the toxicity of lead by more than 100-fold, to be routinely injected into humans. As a physician representing NBC, Dr. Snyderman has failed to tell the truth about mercury-containing vaccines and the known dangers associated with them. There is simply no excuse for such careless and false reporting while this country is in the throes of a childhood epidemic of neurological disorders. During Monday’s NBC Nightly News Dr. Snyderman stated, “There really is no science behind the autism/mercury link. Vaccines and the mercury-based preservative thimerosal have not been ruled out as a cause of autism.” To the contrary, there are literally thousands of scientific, peer-reviewed studies supporting the extreme neurotoxicity of mercury and the relationship between mercury exposure and neurological injury. The following link provides a copious amount of research which contradicts what Dr. Snyderman told the American public: (see link) Many European countries have banned the use of thimerosal/mercury in vaccines for many years. Seven states have passed legislation banning the use of thimerosal/mercury in vaccines and similar legislation is pending in over 30 additional states. If there was no science to back up the dangers of using mercury in vaccines, we wouldn’t be seeing such legislative efforts to ban its use. In her most recent NBC appearance, Dr. Snyderman was asked why parents were filing claims on behalf of their vaccine-injured children, to which she answered matter-of-factly, “money.” This cavalier statement alone goes far beyond contempt and displays an appalling ignorance of the emotional and financial devastation faced by families of vaccine-injured children. This must be addressed by an immediate apology from NBC to all the parents of children suffering from vaccine-induced illnesses. We urge you to speak with the growing number of scientists who have published research supporting a causal link between mercury in vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders, and can provide you contact information for these researchers. Reporting false information is a disservice to the American people. When it comes to the children and the unborn in this country, we should err on the side of safety, regardless of personal belief, conviction, or backing from the pharmaceutical industry. Based on the misinformation presented by Dr. Snyderman, and the potential for harm this has brought to bear upon children, we ask for her resignation. We will accept nothing less than a full and public retraction of her false statements, along with an apology from your network. We expect an immediate response to our request. Respectfully, Advocates for Children’s Health Affected by Mercury Poisoning (ACHAMP) Think Autism. Think Cure. Click here to visit our website
Source: WRDW From her North Augusta home, Maurine Meleck can listen daily to the landmark autism case being argued in a Washington, D.C. courtroom. The Arizona-based Cedillo family is the first of nearly five thousand families to have their case heard in a federal courtroom. They allege their daughter Michelle’s severe autism was caused by the mercury preservative thimerosal found in an MMR vaccine she got has a baby. Meleck’s nine-year-old grandson Joshua has a milder form of autism, but she too believes his autism was caused by a vaccine containing thimerosal that Joshua received as a baby. “There’s been no question in my mind for years,” she said. Meleck first began researching the connection back in 1999 when Joshua was diagnosed with autism as a two-year-old. That’s when she says she found what she believes to be the problem. “There’s one thing they have in common, all of these children,” she said. “The increase has just gone up, up, up, and it began with the increase of childhood vaccines.” While there is no scientific proof to date linking thimerosal and autism, Meleck and thousands of activists across the country believe they know the culprit. “Mercury. Thimerisol has never been proven to be safe. It’s the second most toxic element on this earth and we’re injecting it into babies,” Meleck said. Meleck has spent close to half a million dollars on Joshua’s care and vows she will keep fighting for him and children in future generations to come. “These children deserve a chance. Families deserve a chance in court to prove their side,” she said. That first lawsuit now being heard in Washington could take several weeks to decide.
Source: Adventures in Autism
Source: Huffington Post I, for one, am not placing any bets. But several thimerosal defenders are now dispatching dire warnings about the looming decline of the nation’s public health — and the pharmaceutical industry’s corporate health — should any of the 4,800 families win their vaccine/autism case in federal court. “Massive litigation could force companies to leave the vaccine business, threatening the future of one of medicine’s greatest achievements,” Dr. Paul Offit, chief of infectious diseases at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, wrote in the Boston Globe on June 3rd. If the claims are successful, Dr. Offit wrote, they “could exhaust the pool of money currently set aside to compensate children who have been hurt by vaccines,” and would open the floodgates for private litigation directly against the drug companies, threatening their financial viability and compelling them to abandon the vaccine business. [more]
Source: Boston.com
Source: Scoop The one in 150 rate came out in February and the numbers should have gotten everyone’s attention. We should be moving mountains to figure out what’s happening to our children, but that just isn’t the case. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the rate with no sense of alarm. The Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post both had brief items about new autism numbers in which we were told not to worry, “the new data do not mean that autism is on the rise because the criteria and definitions used were not the same as those used in the past.” Dr. Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp, chief of the developmental disabilities branch at the CDC said only that the new rate shows that autism is an “urgent public health issue” and a “major public health concern.” Neither of those terms indicates that autism is anything to worry about and news reporters writing on the subject take their cue from the CDC.
Source: WJB Radio
Source: PR Newswire
Source: American Chronicle by Michael Wagnitz In late 2002 Arthur wrote an article for the New York Times Magazine entitled “The Not-So-Crackpot Autism Theory”. The article centered around an interview with John Hopkins Institute for Vaccine Safety Director Neal Halsey. In the article Halsey describes how devastated he was when he realized how much mercury was in childhood vaccines. He says if mercury had been listed in micrograms rather than per-cent, this would have been discovered long ago. He goes on to state, “but the fact is, no one did the calculation”. Why all of a sudden are all of us now considered crackpots? Arthur, a free lance writer, knew an opportunity when he saw one. Unfortunately for him, a book came out soon after this entitled, “Evidence of Harm: Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic”. This book was written by another New York free lancer by the name of David Kirby. Mr. Kirby’s book quickly ascended up the New York Times best seller list. He was a regular guest on “Imus in the Morning” and was invited on to “Meet the Press”. Quite an accomplishment for an author. In the meantime, Mr. Allen had lost his chance to become the spokesman for this hot issue. One thing he did notice was that the other side needed a spokesman. So Mr. Allen did a one-eighty and started work on his book, “Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine’s Greatest Lifesaver”. This book trumpets the opinion that vaccines have saved more lives than any other modern day invention and no one should question their safety. As of today, Mr. Allen’s 2007 published book was rated number 41,058 on Amazon.com sales list. One has to wonder why none of the vaccine manufacturers stepped up to buy/distribute 10,000 copies of this book like they did for Dr. Paul Offit’s similar vaccine book. In a 2007 debate Mr. Kirby and Mr. Allen squared off on thimerosal. This was the mismatch of the century. At least Mr. Allen could have done a little bit of homework on this subject. He seemed to lack any knowledge of relevant facts. Mr. Allen wonders why he and employee’s of the CDC are being attacked personally. Well Arthur, my little girl has been seriously harmed. I get very angry when some know-nothing whore is making money off of our nightmare. Yes Arthur, I know the definition of whore, “a person considered as having compromised principles for personal gain”. About the Author: Michael Wagnitz has over 20 years experience evaluating materials for toxic metals. He currently works as a chemist in the toxicology section of a public health lab evaluating biological samples for lead and mercury.
You will have probably already heard of this study but in case you haven’t, the abstract of this study is this (in a nutshell, attempting to show there is no link between mercury and autism);
And over at LogiPundit you will find some very perceptive comments on this study which sure makes us question the purpose and nature of the study;
Source: American Chronicle Please explain why there are 8600 food additives with some being unstudied? Please explain why now you admit Global Warming, but just won’t admit that our people are getting just as sick as the planet? It all goes hand in hand. Add it up and you have to see this. Come clean and start to correct these mistakes. Stop the lies and quit creating one of the biggest crimes against humanity. Our food is not safe when it contains even tiny traces of pesticides. These pesticides are not only killing the destructive insects but the needed ones for plant development also. Do we really need 1000 different pesticides? [more]
Source: WebMD The Rh protein shot is routinely given to pregnant women who are Rh-negative. These women lack the Rh protein on the surface of their red blood cells. The injection prevents Rh disease, which can cause the fetus to be stillborn or lead to fatal illnesses in the newborn. It has been suggested that children born to mothers who are given injections of Rh protein during pregnancy may be at increased risk for autism because thimerosal was used in the Rh protein injection until 2001. [more]
Source: Opednews Who are “the best and the brightest”? The studies by “some of the best and brightest scientists across the world” conjure up images of white-coated experts in state-of-the-art laboratories researching all the possible side effects that could result from using mercury in vaccines. Despite exhausting research, they just came up empty. Notice the often-repeated phrase is “studies show no link” not, “research shows no link.” That’s an important distinction. The scientists in this case are statisticians sitting at computers running the numbers on children and vaccinations instead of in a laboratory doing testing on the toxicity of the mercury-based vaccine preservative Thimerosal, or in the field actually examining affected children. The figures these researchers come up with are the proof used to disprove any connection between vaccines and autism. [more]
Source: Slate
Source: Charlottesville Podcasting Network Fournier also reports on a recent workshop on autism and the environment held by the Institute of Medicine. She reports that a representative of the CDC appeared at the meeting and listed Thimerosal, an ethyl mercury-based vaccine preservative, as one of possible key triggers of autism. This is a welcome line of research for many parents, scientists, and doctors who have advocated for many years now that there is a connection between mercury poisoning and autism. Listen to the podcast on Charlottesville Podcasting Network.
Source: France 24 The research team examined mercury levels in hair and blood samples provided by autistic children and their mothers and concluded that the levels observed did not differ largely from those taken from children without autism. The study also “demonstrated that there was no correlation between the mercury level and the severity of symptoms and level of functioning of autistic children.” Children with autism, a growing developmental concern which appears before age three, often avoid physical contact and communicate with gestures rather than speech. A February study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested that autism is more common in the United States than previously believed, affecting one child in 150. The Canadian study was performed on 71 autistic children and 75 children without the disorder. Fombonne said the study’s findings also implied that “chelation therapies, whereby heavy metals are removed from the body using specific compounds, are not useful in the treatment of autism.” Now, if you have read all that, you should also read this and read about what the study doesn’t tell you. Like the fact that blood tests are not helpful in detecting mercury poisoning, except acute exposure. And that hair tests are often misinterpreted and that the lack of finding a significant difference says very little.
Source: Seattle PI “We’re certainly identifying more children with autism,” said Geraldine Dawson, co-chairwoman of the conference and director of the University of Washington’s Autism Center. This disorder, largely diagnosed by behavioral patterns and generally described as a developmental disability impairing an individual’s ability to communicate or fully engage in social activities, is now thought to occur in one of every 150 births. [more]
Source: Caroline Newswire Although state health officials say that there is no documented connection between mercury and Autism, Dr. Pittman said that he has seen many patients-both adults and children-who have had their health harmed by heavy metal exposure. In DeRoy’s interview, Dr. Kevin Ryan, the Chief of the State Health Department’s Women’s and Children’s section, stated that replacing Thimerosal with a substitute in vaccines would be costly and unnecessary-resulting in over one million dollars to the State. Dr. Pittman is one of the area’s most outspoken advocates pushing for the removal of Thimerosal in children’s vaccines and has personally treated children who have suffered neurological injury due to Thimerosal exposure. Says Dr. Pittman, “If you consider the enormous costs involved in caring for an autistic child, especially if you look over that individual’s lifetime, this cost can far exceed a million dollars, which in many cases is paid for by the State.” Dr. Pittman and the Carolina Center treat patients diagnosed with mercury toxicity through Chelation Therapy, the administering of chelating agents to remove heavy metals from the body. These agents, like EDTA, are injected into the bloodstream where they attach to heavy metals (such as lead, mercury, and cadmium), bind them, and then remove them from the body through the kidneys. Dr. Pittman also uses Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) as an adjunct in treating Autism and all forms of brain injury. When used in the treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder, HBOT has been shown to increase verbalization, promote calmness and a feeling of well being, increase oxygen to areas of the brain that are ischemic, improve sleep patterns disturbed by oxygen deficiency, and promote new blood vessel growth into areas of poor blood flow in the brain. Dr. Pittman is the only local physician fully certified in chelation therapy for the treatment of heavy metal toxicity and only one of six medical practitioners in the state of North Carolina who is a Diplomate through the American Board of Clinical Metal Toxicology. He has testified at the Environmental Defense public hearing to discuss the current health crisis caused by mercury toxicity and was one of several professionals who spoke at the State Capitol Building last year to support legislation to ensure safer vaccines and flu shots for North Carolina’s children and pregnant women. “The symptoms experienced by children exposed to mercury are real and can be directly linked to the vaccines they were given as infants,” said Dr. Pittman. “It’s ironic that the vaccines given to these young people are meant to protect them, when in fact they are adversely affecting their neurological development. Hopefully, the more pressure that citizen groups like Moms Against Mercury can put on our State health officials, we may eventually see a change in the way vaccines are manufactured.” About the Carolina Center for Integrative Medicine:Since 1994, the Carolina Center for Integrative Medicine has been the Triangle’s leading provider of integrative medical treatments and therapies. Practice founder, Dr. John Pittman, is the only local physician fully certified in chelation therapy for the treatment of heavy metal toxicity and only one of six medical practitioners in the state of North Carolina who is a Diplomate through the American Board of Clinical Metal Toxicology. The Carolina Center utilizes a combination of the most progressive alternative and conventional therapies, along with dietary and lifestyle modifications, to treat a wide variety of chronic illnesses and immune system dysfunctions. Conditions treated include Atherosclerosis & Disorders of Circulation, Chronic Digestive Disturbances, Chronic Infections & Immune Dysfunction, Degenerative Neurological Disorders, Fibromyalgia, Lyme Disease, Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity/Environmental Allergies, and Pediatric Program for Autism. The Carolina Center also provides Chemical Detoxification and support for patients injured through exposure to mold, pesticides, hydraulic fluid, mercury, and sick building syndrome. For more information, visit www.carolinacenter.com
Source: American Chronicle Despite claims that all but the flu vaccine are thimerosal free is also misleading as thimerosal is still used in the production of some vaccines and trace amounts can still remain. This is noted but with a disclaimer that these vaccines should be regarded as Thimerosal free. Not that they really are. [more]
Source: Medical News Today Thimerosal (49.55% mercury by weight) is a highly toxic mercury compound used as a preservative in some OTC and prescription drugs, including most flu shots given to pregnant women, infants, children, adults, and the elderly. On April 19, 2007, Dr. Larry L. Needham, Chief, Organic Analytical Toxicology Branch, CDC, announced to the US National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine that Thimerosal was among the “Chemicals Linked to ASD.” Thus, Geier and Geier (2007) provide the first clinical case-series of ASD patients that confirmed this causal role for Thimerosal-preserved drugs in patients having a regressive ASD diagnosis. The Geiers describe a case-series of eight patients who had:
This clinical study also found a significant dose-response relationship between the severity of the ASD symptoms and the total mercury dose these children received from Thimerosal-preserved drugs. Based on differential diagnosis, these patients were exposed to significant mercury amounts from Thimerosal-preserved biologic drugs during their fetal and neonatal development as well as between 12 and 24 months of age. Thus, these initially normally developing children suffered mercury toxic encephalopathies that manifested with clinical symptoms consistent with their regressive ASD diagnosis. Hence, mercury poisoning should be considered as a cause for those children exhibiting the symptoms of an ASD in any differential diagnosis designed to assess underlying causes. Today, any parent or other healthcare provider can easily confirm whether, or not, a non-chelated autistic child is mercury poisoned by having urinary porphyrin profile analysis (UPPA) testing run at LabCorp (Test#120980) or Laboratoire Philippe Auguste (Urine Porphyrin Profile).
Source: Adventures in Autism
Source: Lourdes Salvador
Source: Lexis
Source: EZine The Mercury Vaccine Facts: A 0.1% solution of thimerosal is used. A 0.5 cc dose contains 25 mcg of mercury Water Contamination = 2 Parts per billion. Vaccines have 250 times more concentrated deadly mercury than pure toxic waste, and since it is injected straight into the body rather than cleaned out through the body’s protection mechanisms in the digestive tract, we’re talking about beyond mercury poisoning. According to many expert medical witnesses & court findings it is beyond negligence. After countless lawsuits against vaccine makers, tying them to a long list of diseases such as Autism, all but one manufacturer (the largest one) has been put out of business. Last year Bush Executive Order 10789 was put into place that protects this vaccine producer from being sued for any well proven injury injecting this poison has caused. Yet according to the FDA’s report in Nov. 30th 2006 on Thimerosal in vaccines, America still needlessly uses Thimerosal in 6 major vaccines.
Source: adrugrecall.com The basis for thimerosal lawsuits lies in the connections drawn between exposure to high amounts of mercury and development of autism. A Center for Disease Control (CDC) report cited by some parents filing thimerosal lawsuits shows that originally, a study conducted by the CDC found that children exposed to 62.5 mcgs of mercury through vaccines in the first three months of life were 2.48 times more likely to develop autism. In a move that angered many plaintiffs in thimerosal lawsuits, researcher Thomas Verstraeten added more children to the epidemiological study, bringing the correlation down to 1.69 times. Verstraeten was subsequently hired as a consultant by vaccine manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline. The first of the thimerosal lawsuits was filed following an FDA report in 1999 that stated “infants who received thimerosal-containing vaccines at several visits may be exposed to more mercury than recommended by federal guidelines for total mercury exposure.” Many thimerosal lawsuits point out the shocking results of a 1997 FDA order for the drug companies to reveal the amount of thimerosal included in their vaccines-the levels of mercury found in many pediatric vaccines exceeded the amounts considered safe for adults. To date, numerous individual thimerosal lawsuits have been filed, in addition to a class action thimerosal lawsuit designed to force pharmaceutical companies to investigate whether thimerosal indeed causes autism and other forms of brain damage in children. The media attention generated by the rising number of thimerosal lawsuits has helped parents learn of the potential risks of childhood vaccines. Although the FDA ordered manufacturers of childhood vaccines to stop including thimerosal in 1999, there has as yet been no recall of vaccines containing mercury, and those stocks are still available to doctors.
Source: Counterpunch The argument swirls around what causes autism. Officials who still haven’t figured out if there are actually more kids with autism or if they’re just counting better, are sure of one thing: Vaccines, especially ones with mercury, have nothing to do with the disorder. No matter how many times parents describe their child’s regression after vaccinations, it’s only a coincidence. No matter how many children are found to be carrying high levels of mercury in their bodies, it has nothing to do with the vaccines they received that contained mercury. The latest news that autism has been shown to be connected to genetic mutations stops short of admitting that there are environmental triggers to these mutations and that one of the triggers might be the use of a known neurotoxin in vaccines. Stories about the autism controversy endlessly repeat the reassuring phrase, “Studies show no link.” Recent news reports about autism give us statements like, “A link between autism and vaccines has never been proven,” “Several well-designed studies indicate that childhood vaccines are not associated with autism,” and “Large studies have not shown an association between vaccines and autism.” It sounds like all the research clearly shows there is no scientific evidence that the mercury used in vaccines has harmed anyone. No one seems at all disturbed that officials can’t show us the results of the rigorous testing that was done on thimerosal before it was ever allowed in our children’s vaccines. The only test on thimerosal was done by the manufacturer, Eli Lilly Pharmaceutical Co., back in 1930. Eli Lilly tried it on 22 adult patients who were already dying of meningitis and by the end of the experiment, all the participants were dead. Eli Lilly said it was safe and the medical community just accepted it. After the creation of the FDA, its use was simply continued. [more]
Source: Pulse At first glance, the proposal is disarmingly sensible and noncontroversial: It would simply establish a preference for mercury-free vaccines, when such an alternative is available. Mercury is found in “trace” amounts in most vaccines and currently about 90 percent of the flu shots given in Minnesota have a substantial amount of mercury—25 micrograms—in them; yet the Minnesota Department of Health promotes flu shots to pregnant women, the elderly, people with weakened immune systems and now even children, without a warning to anyone about the mercury lurking in the shots. Leading scientific researchers are appalled at the continued use of the thimerosal in vaccines and there is a consensus among leading independent mercury researchers that mercury in medicine (e.g. thimerosal) and in dentistry (e.g. the dental amalgam fillings) should be banned. Many of them have testified before Congress. But their statements have not been fully conveyed to the public by national or local media. Therefore the public and the Legislature remain ignorant of the menace posed by mercury in medicine and have been all too easily soothed by the reassurances of the Department of Health regarding the vaccine safety issues. Like the departments of health in every other state, the Minnesota Department of Health is tethered to its federal funding source, which is primarily the Center for Disease Control (CDC), based in Atlanta, Ga. As a result, state health department priorities (and thinking) closely follows that of the CDC. And that is a big problem because, as a number of exposés reveal, the CDC has been found to have an overly cozy relationship with the pharmaceutical industry. In particular, transcripts of secret meetings held between CDC officials, a vaccine safety researcher under contract with the CDC, and a drug company representative reveal that all of these players fully understood that it was the grand escalation of mandated childhood vaccinations that started in 1990 that gave rise to the explosive (ten-fold) increase of childhood autism during the 1990s. The entire public health establishment seems to be scripted to deny what the CDC clearly, but secretly, knew about the American autism scandal. [more]
Source: American Chronicle We watched as the CDC paid for a study then held meetings about it then changed the study to remove the answer. It is like asking if the earth is round and being told that the earth is not a square.
Source: Star Tribune “It’s a wonderful way to give flu vaccine to kids,” said Dr. James King Jr., of the University of Maryland, who has studied school-based flu clinics in Minnesota and other states. “They’re a captive audience.” But finally, all the way down, tucked away in the last paragraphs of the article it says; “Parents also may balk at the idea. Some refuse to vaccinate their children because flu shots can contain thimerosal, a preservative that is half mercury.”
Source: FDA Law Blog Read here how the FDA’s Response to a Petition Does Not Constitute Final Agency Action When the Petitioner Requests FDA’s Reconsideration.
Source: APP Autism is a developmental disorder characterized by impairment of the ability to form normal social relationships, ability to communicate with others, and by stereotyped behavior patterns. The bills look to establish a statewide autism registry to collect data as autism cases grow across the state, require specified autism training for teachers, police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians, extend funding for autism medical research and establish a task force to look at adults with autism. “This broad sponsorship, Democrats and Republicans in both houses, reflects the universal resolve we have to help families touched with autism,” said Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr., D-Camden, who sponsored seven of the package’s bills. A study released last month by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found one in 152 8-year olds had autism in 2002. New Jersey ranked first of 14 states surveyed — one in 94 reportedly had autism, including one in 60 among boys and one in every 250 among girls. A resolution urging the state Department of Health and Senior Services to look into ultrasounds as a potential cause for autism also was passed, though another resolution — asking DHSS to also look at a potential link between autism and vaccines containing the mercury-based preservative thimerosal — was held because the sponsor, Assemblyman Pete Biondi, R-Somerset, said he wants to add a mandatory toxicology report in the study, something not included in the original resolution.
Source: American Chronicle As GlaxoSmithKline PLc. (GSK) attempts to combine the MMR vaccine into a 4 in 1 vaccine that includes Chicken pox. This study was to compare the MMR and a separate Chicken Pox vaccine with this new 4 in 1 combination. |