I think the last line in the article is the most important - such single-minded focus on vaccines has really taken away from the search for any other potential causes for autism. After all, autism exists in unvaccinated people as well. If there is some genetic susceptibility that a vaccine can trigger, let's quit arguing about the vaccine and dig into that question. Maybe there are other triggers out there we should be looking at. Meanwhile, has anyone dug deeper into historic info - is it true that kids develop autism symptoms around that age in the years BEFORE the vaccines or their ingredients were used?
And - what really upsets me is that NO ONE talks about the permanent damage that some of the diseases vaccines prevent can cause. Perhaps they don't sound as scary as autism, but sterility, brain damage, heart damage, and possibly cancer from lingering viruses are nothing to sneeze at. Not to mention that kids used to die all the time from diseases - a reason that the vaccines were developed in the first place (tho I guess you conspiracy theorists will say they were developed just so pharmaceutical cos. could make money - but tell that to Louis Pasteur). Would you rather have an autistic child, or a funeral for your child? Yes, the risk can be that real, particularly as fewer children are vaccinated and more become vulnerable.
Which brings me to my last thought, one that really gets me irritated. People who choose not to vaccinate their children only have the luxury to make that decision because most of these diseases (at the moment) are not widespread BECAUSE the rest of us vaccinate our children. You are using my child as a human shield for yours. Very nice.
SCIENCE
Anatomy of a Scare
When one study linked childhood vaccines to autism, it set off a panic. The research didn't hold up, but some wounded families can't move on.
Published Feb 21, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Mar 2, 2009
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Posted By: elizac @ 05/28/2009 6:37:22 PM
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Posted By: lookingbetween @ 03/05/2009 12:27:18 PM
Anatomy of a Scare is anatomy of cover up.
I couldn't help wondering if there is possible bias in the March 2nd Newsweek article "Anatomy of a Scare." So I thumbed to the back cover, which we all know is the most expensive advertising page and found the ad space purchased by Glaxo Smith Kline. Would anyone like to guess what Glaxo Smith Kline manufactures? You guessed it, MMR. The article on pages 43-47 may as well be a paid advertisement in support of GSK. How can one expect the March 2 edition to criticize the largest advertiser? This strategy to control the press goes beyond Newsweek. The Sunday Times of London also seems to be in bed with GSK. It was Brian Deer in the Sunday Times of London that accuses the gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield, who first reported a link between Autism and vaccines of a conflict of interest. Wakefield's paper linking Autism to MMR appeared in the Lancet in February 1998. In 2004 Brian Deer accused Wakefield of being supported by Britain???s Legal Aid Board, which supports research relating to lawsuits. According to the March 2 Newsweek article, "After meeting with Deer, Lancet editor Richard Horton told the British press, ' " If we knew then what we know now, we certainly would not have published the part of the paper that related to MMR ..." ' This is where the plot thickens. Today both Brian Deer of the Sunday Times and Richard Horton of the Lancet both sit on the board of guess who, GSK.
Deer and Horton on the board of GSK, GSK bought the back cover Newsweek that contains Sharon Begley's article. Sharon you really gave it away in your final paragraph by describing the investigation of a link between Autism and MMR as demonic. Moreover, stating that the investigation is diverting attention away from finding the true caused and treatment of a cruel disease. That's like the oak tree saying, 'An acorn fell on your head? . . . Why don't you check the apple tree?'-
Posted By: AutismNewsBeat @ 03/05/2009 12:55:07 PM
Lookingbetween, I appreciate the way you represent most anti-vaccine activists, and I hope you will continue to uncover more vast conspiracies spanning oceans and time zones. Sharon Begley needs to know how such a world view as your own is shaped, as well as its effect on parents, and the public's confidence in the nation's vaccine program. You've performed magnificently.
There is still the matter of 24-plus studies, conducted over ten years and on three continents, that have found no support for Wakefield's hypothesis. I look forward to your explanation. I hope that you will also address Prof. Bustin's testimony in the recently concluded hearing, and the fact that no credible scientist has confirmed Wakefield's findings.
If you need to alienate more influential science writers, I refer you to a list of names and emails at AgeOfAutism.com . Start with Brian Williams, I hear the guy is really connected.
Thanks again for all you've done, and I look forward to more of this.-
Posted By: hmtrmt @ 04/02/2009 11:32:02 PM
GSK doesn't make MMR. Merck does.
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Posted By: hmtrmt @ 04/02/2009 11:30:49 PM
GSK does not manufacture MMR. Merck does.
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Posted By: mk422 @ 03/30/2009 4:17:34 PM
To read one mother's response to Ms. Begley's irresponsible journalism, visit: http://tinyurl.com/d3muuc
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Posted By: dugmaze @ 03/27/2009 10:31:53 PM
Your article shows either how little you know about autism or how much your being paid by big pharma. Do your homework first before jotting down a bunch of nonsense.
If Newsweek continues this type of attack, they will surely lose my business!
We all have to face God someday, make sure your ready.-
Posted By: AutismNewsBeat @ 03/29/2009 12:57:56 PM
More thinly-veiled threats from the anti-vaccine loons. You stay classy, dugmaze.
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Posted By: I_am_reality @ 02/21/2009 6:10:12 PM
How come every time someone brings up a question on the impact of vaccines and autism - the answer from science is "it's a coincidence."
Autism rates soar in early 90s after more vaccines are added - just a coincidence, the experts say.
Autism usually shows up around the same age that many of the major vaccines are given - just a coincidence, the experts and your story says.
Thousands of parents directly see their children become autistic after getting vaccines - more than 5,000 file court case - just a coincidence, the experts say.
Why are these issues just coincidences. How come vaccine makers and science get a free pass on these three questions.
And by the way, science has not resolved this issue. And if you don't believe me, here is a quick quiz - who said the following:
"No studies have compared the incidence of autism in vaccinated, unvaccinated, or alternatively vaccinated children (i.e., schedules that spread out vaccines, avoid combination vaccines, or include only select vaccines)."
That answer is Dr. Paul Offit, who is endlessly quoted by the media regarding Autism and vaccines and has made more than $29 Million from selling a vaccine patent.
Let's do that study and let's make sure it is independent of vaccine makers or government groups. Then we can talk about science resolving this issue. I think you might find in this study that 1 in 150 develop autism. Which coincidentally, is the current rate given for autism.
And yes, my son is one of the thousands who was impacted by his vaccines. In fact, he has the measles virus in his small intestine which came from his MMR shot and has totally screwed up his immune and digestive system. And if you don't believe me, I have some nice photos taken by the doctor who stuck a camera into his body and ran tests from tissue samples.
As it is now, kids are getting devastated daily by these vaccines and the government agencies, medical establishment and now the Kangaroo Vaccine courts - which were created thanks to lobbying by big pharma - are telling parents they are full of it.
Please - I don't know who you think you are fooling with all this science jibber jabber.
-A concerned parent.-
Posted By: HolfordWatch @ 02/24/2009 7:31:31 PM
Many people call for a study of the sort that you outline. We want a study!!!
http://photoninthedarkness.com/?p=121
discusses the implications of a study of vaccinated v. unvaccinated children and offers an overview of the practical issues involved as well as addressing the ethical issue that such a study would be in breach of the Helsinki guidelines. Apart from the difficulty in obtaining matched pairs or similar for an appropriate design, there is also the wider ethical problem of allowing unvaccinated children to circulate in a population where they might act as an index case to infect very young infants who are most vulnerable to developing SSPE should they contract measles.
Related to the ethical issues, Christine Grady wrote a fine article on the Ethics of vaccine research that also addresses the issue of informed consent for parents of children.
http://www.nature.com/ni/journal/v5/n5/full/ni0504-465.htm
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Posted By: qlmmb2086 @ 03/04/2009 3:26:59 PM
I have a philosophical question for the anti-vaccine crowd. If a study is released comparing vaccinated to non-vaccinated children, and shows no difference in the prevalence of Autism between the two groups, would you believe it? It seems to me that you have discounted all other studies that refute the connection between Autism and vaccine on the grounds that they are undoubtedly doctored by the government and the pharmaceutical companies.
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Posted By: zannede @ 03/17/2009 6:29:54 PM
First off, it is best not to assume that we are all anti-vaccine. I have a vaccine injured child, but am not anti-vaccine for all kids. I want to see the known neurotoxins like mercury and aluminum entirely removed. I want to see genetically susceptible to vaccine injury persons identified.
To answer your question I would accept the results if it were truly an independent study. We have had none of those. Many, many of the researchers that have done vaccine studies so far have ties to the pharmacuetical industry, even those studies done by the govt. or foreign govts. A Freedom of Information document revelaled that the first Thimerosal study showed a connection to everyting from Autism, ADHD, Tourette's, and speech delay the more vaccinations a child received and that the data had been manipulated before publication to make it look like there was none. This came out in the Congressional Hearings but nobody cares:
http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:GoBMkl0I83IJ:www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/7395411/deadly_immunity/+rolling+stone+kennedy+deadly+immunity&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
They've locked away study data so nobody can see it. Then when they realized Freedom of Information requests can be an inconvenient problem they started handing data over to private companies.
And take a look at what the former Director of the National Institute of Health said happened when she suggested such as study as you describe. She was told that we can't do those studies because we are afraid of what we will find:
http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:ax9V_5VYzBMJ:www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/12/cbsnews_investigates/main4086809.shtml+Bernadine+Healy+autism&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
For all these reasons I am skeptical of what the govt. puts out.-
Posted By: greymont @ 03/27/2009 3:13:19 PM
Actually there have been completely independent studies. Contact kjick@bcdsp.net for their study. It was done by epidemiologists associated with Boston University with no bias involved.
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Posted By: AutismNewsBeat @ 03/27/2009 9:35:33 PM
The evidence against a vaccine-autism connection is overwhelming. Are we to believe that a million researchers, physicians, government administrators, journalists, bloggers, drug company employees, and others have joined in a grand conspiracy to poison children? This is a legitimate question.
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Posted By: greymont @ 03/28/2009 4:29:31 PM
That's not the best question to ask because it is beside the point. The studies have been done and the one I'm most familiar with I have examined closely for flaws and I have not found any. I also know the researchers involved and I know they are not biased or bought. So, I believe the results of these studies because I have applied my intellect to the question rather than my fears, beliefs, or biases.
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Posted By: AutismNewsBeat @ 03/05/2009 6:46:25 PM
No, they will not accept any study unless it proves them right. The odds of that happening are slim to none. The science is pretty clear.
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Posted By: trrll @ 02/24/2009 6:21:03 PM
Offit never had any financial interest in MMR. But Wakefield had a financial interest in a MMR alternative vaccine, and also made large sums of money consulting for people who were suing over claimed vaccine injuries.
Generation Rescue actually conducted their own survey of autism rates in vaccinated vs unvaccinated children. They found that autism spectrum disorders were about equally common in unvaccinated and vaccinated boys, and *more* common in unvaccinated than vaccinated girls.
See http://autismnaturalvariation.blogspot.com/2007/09/simple-selection-bias-model-explains.html
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Posted By: zannede @ 03/23/2009 3:39:52 PM
Autism New Beat, have you even read the Congressional transcripts of the vaccine hearings? Rep. Dr. David Welton, who went through the so called vaccine safety studies and was horrified to see how shoddy they truly were, what with all the drug company conflict of interest involvement. Here is a medical doctor and U.S. Rep with no personal connection to Autism whatsoever., whom was heavily invovled in the hearings, saw what he saw there, and came out the end of it an advocate for parents of children with Autism. Is he to be dismissed then?
There is no such thing as a "Simpsonwood Study". I would think if you were as familiar with all the contents of all the vaccine safety studies as you say you would know that. The Simpsonwood Meeting was where reps from the vaccine companies, American Academy of Pediatrics, etc. got together to figure out how to keep the results from the Vanstraten Study, whose findings initially found a greater likilhood of everything from Autism on down to speech delay, out of the wrong hands. Those findings were then manipulated until no connection was shown and then published. You talk about this study being adusted for "confounders" but do not mention what those confounders were. If this was an honest mistake in study design as you suggest then why did the government refuse to release the data on this study and did so only because of Freedom of Information Act? Here Dr. Weldon explains to the director of the CDC, in detail, the problems with the Vanstraten study. Keep in mind that this man has done a more throrough investigation of this study than the vast majority of people: http://www.autism.com/triggers/vaccine/weldonletter.htm
Here are some of the direct quotes from Freedom of Information about the Vanstrateen study as per Rep. Dr. David Weldon:
-We found a statistically significant relationship between exposures and outcomes. There is certainly an under ascertainment of adverse outcomes because some children are just simply not old enough to be diagnosed, the current incidence rates are much lower than we would expect to see (Verstraeten)
-We could exclude the lowest exposure children from our database. Also suggested was removing the children that got the highest exposure levels since they represented an unusually high percentage of the outcomes (Rhodes)
-The significant association with language delay is quite large. (Verstraeten);
This information should be kept confidential and considered embargoed
-We can push and pull this data anyway we want to get the results we want
-We can alter the exclusion criteria any way we want, give reasonable justifications for doing so, and get any result we want
-There was really no need to do this study. We could have predicted the outcomes
-I will not give TCVs to my grandson until I find out what is going on here
You are entitlted to your own opinion of this study, but not your own facts.
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Posted By: AutismNewsBeat @ 03/27/2009 9:37:47 PM
That's Rep. Weldon.
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Posted By: AutismNewsBeat @ 03/24/2009 2:49:44 PM
That's "Verstratten", not "Vanstraten". If you paid more attention to facts and less to debunked conspiracy theories you would at least know how to spell it. The Verstratten Study was discussed at the Simpsonwood meeting - hence my shorthand "Simpsonwood Study".
If thimerosal causes autism, then why haven't we seen a decline in rates among children born since 2001? Most children never receive a TCV until their third birthday or later. Children who grew up in the 90s receive far less thimerosal than kids born in the last seven years. Picherero (2008) and other studies tells us that ethyl mercury clears quickly from the body compared to methyl mercury. At least ten epidemiological studies over the last ten years have found no association between TCVs and autism.
These are not "my facts". The best available science, collected over more than a decade, finds no evidence for what you and a noisy, desperate minority want to believe is true. No amount of evidence will persuade you otherwise. That's the new narrative.
Forget Simpsonwood. Nobody's buying that.
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Posted By: AutismNewsBeat @ 03/24/2009 2:49:38 PM
That's "Verstratten", not "Vanstraten". If you paid more attention to facts and less to debunked conspiracy theories you would at least know how to spell it. The Verstratten Study was discussed at the Simpsonwood meeting - hence my shorthand "Simpsonwood Study".
If thimerosal causes autism, then why haven't we seen a decline in rates among children born since 2001? Most children never receive a TCV until their third birthday or later. Children who grew up in the 90s receive far less thimerosal than kids born in the last seven years. Picherero (2008) and other studies tells us that ethyl mercury clears quickly from the body compared to methyl mercury. At least ten epidemiological studies over the last ten years have found no association between TCVs and autism.
These are not "my facts". The best available science, collected over more than a decade, finds no evidence for what you and a noisy, desperate minority want to believe is true. No amount of evidence will persuade you otherwise. That's the new narrative.
Forget Simpsonwood. Nobody's buying that.
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Posted By: zannede @ 03/17/2009 6:11:34 PM
This article is one-sided, one dimensional travesty. The author mentions studies that showed MMR was not in the intestines of autistic kids, and failed to mention that Wake Forest University and New York University Medical Center both did studies that found live measles virus to be present:
http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:J8a60_5bGiUJ:www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news/American-Study-Shows-the-Association-between-MMR-and-Autism-10684-1/+live+measles+virus+autism+wake+forest+university+new+york+university&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
She also mentions Robert Kennedy's Rolling Stone article, but fails to mention what that article reveals: that through a Freedom of Information request provided by the U.S. goverment we now know that the original Thimerosal study's data at first showed a person was more likely to have everything from ADHD, Autism, Tourette's, and speech delay the more vaccinations he or she had with thimerosal and that the data had been MANIPULATED before publication so as to appear as if there was no connection.
Also, I love the way this reporter mentions the Hannah Poling case, where the court said vaccines has something to do with that child getting autism, and assumes that is irrelevant.
Another example of shoddy, onesided reporting on this issue.-
Posted By: AutismNewsBeat @ 03/18/2009 10:23:33 PM
zannede, you have bought into some serious anti-vaccine canards. The court never ruled on Hannah Poling's case - HHS conceded it, so it never went to court. That might not seem important to a person who's already made up her mind, so I won't go into details. We can never know if Hannah's autistic-like symptoms were a result of the vaccines or a normal childhood illness. Her family only prevailed because the standard of proof is set deliberately low in the US Federal Court of Claims.
RFK, Jr's one-sided and poorly researched Rolling Stone article looked at the Simpsonwood study. True, the preliminary report tied thimerosal to the problems you cited, but the data was confusing. When adjusted for confounders, the study found no association. At least a dozen subsequent studies came to similar conclusions for TCVs, and at least 25 studies conducted over 10 years and across three continents found no association between the MMR shot and autism. It strains credulity to imagine that a million researchers, health officials, drug makers, governments, journalists, editors, physicians and others have conspired to hide the dangers of vaccines. Extraordinary claims such as yours demand extraordinary proof. You haven't come close.
Finally, you are most decidedly anti-vaccine, whether you know it or not. When you spread damaging and false misinformation about something, you are anti. Your intentions don't matter.-
Posted By: zannede @ 03/23/2009 3:38:05 PM
Enter Your CommentAutism New Beat, have you even read the Congressional transcripts of the vaccine hearings? Rep. Dr. David Welton, who went through the so called vaccine safety studies and was horrified to see how shoddy they truly were, what with all the drug company conflict of interest involvement. Here is a medical doctor and U.S. Rep with no personal connection to Autism whatsoever., whom was heavily invovled in the hearings, saw what he saw there, and came out the end of it an advocate for parents of children with Autism. Is he to be dismissed then?
There is no such thing as a "Simpsonwood Study". I would think if you were as familiar with all the contents of all the vaccine safety studies as you say you would know that. The Simpsonwood Meeting was where reps from the vaccine companies, American Academy of Pediatrics, etc. got together to figure out how to keep the results from the Vanstraten Study, whose findings initially found a greater likilhood of everything from Autism on down to speech delay, out of the wrong hands. Those findings were then manipulated until no connection was shown and then published. You talk about this study being adusted for "confounders" but do not mention what those confounders were. If this was an honest mistake in study design as you suggest then why did the government refuse to release the data on this study and did so only because of Freedom of Information Act? Here Dr. Weldon explains to the director of the CDC, in detail, the problems with the Vanstraten study. Keep in mind that this man has done a more throrough investigation of this study than the vast majority of people: http://www.autism.com/triggers/vaccine/weldonletter.htm
Here are some of the direct quotes from Freedom of Information about the Vanstrateen study as per Rep. Dr. David Weldon:
-We found a statistically significant relationship between exposures and outcomes. There is certainly an under ascertainment of adverse outcomes because some children are just simply not old enough to be diagnosed, the current incidence rates are much lower than we would expect to see (Verstraeten)
-We could exclude the lowest exposure children from our database. Also suggested was removing the children that got the highest exposure levels since they represented an unusually high percentage of the outcomes (Rhodes)
-The significant association with language delay is quite large. (Verstraeten);
This information should be kept confidential and considered embargoed
-We can push and pull this data anyway we want to get the results we want
-We can alter the exclusion criteria any way we want, give reasonable justifications for doing so, and get any result we want
-There was really no need to do this study. We could have predicted the outcomes
-I will not give TCVs to my grandson until I find out what is going on here
You are entitlted to your own opinion of this study, but not your own facts.
You have no business telling me I am
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Posted By: frl4891 @ 02/24/2009 5:32:37 PM
Much like many of the ground-breaking scientific break-throughs that have lead us where we are today, multiple wrong paths had to be pursued in order to reach truth. The autism-vaccination link is just another path that, unfortunately, is tied to very strong emotions and feelings that make it difficult to draw reasonable conclusions. The fact of the matter is that by forfeiting vaccination, a child is being put at risk for devastating diseases that we know vaccination can prevent. When vaccination rates are low which would happen if lots of parents stopped vaccination, outbreaks occur. I cannot understand why a parent would put their child at such a risk for such diseases based on a link that has been repeatedly tested and has failed to find corraborating conclusions. I am relieved to have finally come across a news article that has resisted the sensatialism of the general public and embraced all of the credible evidence produced by the scientific community.
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Posted By: rlvdb1 @ 02/24/2009 5:53:28 PM
As a mother, I know when my baby has gas, much less a horrible disease like autism. Too many mothers link the onset of autism to their child being vaccinated. Call mothers whatever you like - you will never ever convince me or other mom's any differently.
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Posted By: kwombles @ 03/12/2009 10:19:31 AM
As a mother of three children on the spectrum, from mild to severe, I resent the notion of autism as a an affliction or a horrible disease. It is a neurological disorder/difference. Many children with autism have additional difficulties that parents lump in with autism rather than separating and distinguishing those comorbid diseases/disorders. When you see autism as an affliction, as horrible, you are seeing your child as an afflicition, as horrible.
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Posted By: Osama Bin Login @ 02/26/2009 4:46:27 PM
So...when did MOM TELEPATHY become peer-reviewed material?
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Posted By: AutismNewsBeat @ 02/25/2009 12:21:15 AM
That's obvious.
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Posted By: lookingbetween @ 03/06/2009 10:09:22 AM
Autism News Beat has No Autism News
AutismNewsBeat was so quick to respond to my last comment, that I figured I could learn something about Autism from them. I found that Autism News Beat web site has no information about the desease Autism except to say that vaccinations do not cause Autism. That is all you will learn about Autism from that website. I visited other Autism websites and they discuss the symtoms of Autism, the treatment of Autism, the rate of Autism diagonsis, types of Austim, deseases associated with Autism etc. All of Autism News Beat's content attacked the so called anti-vaccine activist and offered nothing else in the way of information about Autism. Eventhough an archive from 2007 states:
"I???ve started this site as a resource for journalists looking for accurate, evidence-based information about autism"
I found no information about Autism at the site except the proclamation that vaccines do not cause Autism. It seems that your website is not so much a resource for journalist as it is a resource for those that could be held liable if a side effect of MMR turns out to be Autism.-
Posted By: AutismNewsBeat @ 03/07/2009 1:18:39 PM
Sounds like a bad case of cognitive dissonance.
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Posted By: Jean Reilly @ 03/06/2009 4:30:57 PM
One of the things I've always wondered is why the discussion centers on the bad science regarding the link between autism and MMR vaccine - there's also lots of info regarding the possible linkage between sonograms and autism - yet, one never hears anything about that.
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Posted By: michln @ 03/05/2009 11:06:19 PM
One thing I didn???t see mentioned in the Newsweek article is that Merck has decided to stop making separate Mumps, Measles & Rubella vaccines. They???re only making the combo MMR. I???m not anti-vaccine, but I am cautious and have been spreading out the vaccines over time. I would like to continue doing this with the MMR. I???m not comfortable giving that many live viruses into such a little body all at once. I would have been willing to spread out the MMR, and probably wouldn???t give the measles portion until my son is 3. But Merck is not making this possible now??? Why? What is up with that?
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Posted By: michln @ 03/05/2009 11:04:49 PM
One thing I didn???t see mentioned in the Newsweek article is that Merck has decided to stop making separate Mumps, Measles & Rubella vaccines. They???re only making the combo MMR. I???m not anti-vaccine, but I am cautious and have been spreading out the vaccines over time. I would like to continue doing this with the MMR. I???m not comfortable giving that many live viruses into such a little body all at once. I would have been willing to spread out the MMR, and probably wouldn???t give the measles portion until my son is 3. But Merck is not making this possible now??? Why? What is up with that?
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Posted By: lookingbetween @ 03/05/2009 12:59:32 PM
Correction to Anatomy of a Scare is Anatomy of cover up.
Corrections:
the persons that were appointed to GSK board were the bosses of Brian Deer and Richard Horton not Deer and Horton.
The persons that were appointed to GSK board were The Chief Executive of the owners of ???The Lancet???, Crispin Davis, and the head of News International James Murdoch. Murdoch is also boss of The Sunday Times, London.
Please make not of the correction-
Posted By: AutismNewsBeat @ 03/05/2009 6:43:29 PM
That's a good start.
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Posted By: momtotwo @ 02/21/2009 8:15:22 PM
So we're supposed to believe that doctors like Wakefield totally made up their research, but believing that the CDC and FDA made up their research makes us crazy conspiracy theorists?
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Posted By: AutismNewsBeat @ 02/21/2009 9:14:16 PM
No, you're supposed to do your research before coming to a conclusion. Deer did his. What proof do you have that the CDC and FDA fabricated all 25 studies, conducted over 10 years on three continents, that show no association between MMR and autism?
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Posted By: I_am_reality @ 02/21/2009 9:33:30 PM
Some news for you: The FDA knew that corn syrup had mercury in it and sat on this info. See U.S. News link:
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/fresh-greens/2009/1/28/mercury-found-in-high-fructose-corn-syrup.html
Oops, your response just sank in the water, ANB. If the FDA sat on the knowledge that corn syrup contained mercury and did nothing and let food get sold on the shelves at grocery stores then they have no credibility.
Or wait, is that another coincidence or is mercury good for you. Did I miss that news story.-
Posted By: AutismNewsBeat @ 02/21/2009 11:51:52 PM
Of course there's mercury in corn syrup. I'd be surprised if there wasn't. Hg is everywhere, and has been since the first volcano erupted. Was the mercury level any higher than normal? If so, then why is the country's primary vaccine fearmonger, JB Handley, using corn syrup in the soy bars he sells?
You still haven't explained what influence the FDA has over studies conducted in Japan, Denmark, Canada, the UK and Finland.-
Posted By: Osama Bin Login @ 02/23/2009 3:59:06 PM
Corn syrup is also loaded with dihydrogen oxide! AAAAAAAH!
LOL.-
Posted By: AutismNewsBeat @ 02/23/2009 6:29:23 PM
Not di-hydrogen oxide! GGGAACCKKKK!
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Posted By: qlmmb2086 @ 03/05/2009 5:23:30 PM
Interesting facts about Dihydrogen Monoxide:
It is found in all major polluted waterways
It is a key component in acid rain
It causes more severe burns each year than open flame
It is fatal if inhaled in large quantities
It's very easy for someone to become shocked and alarmed by the surface appearance of information before taking the time to research the facts themselves.
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Posted By: lij4818 @ 02/25/2009 9:48:49 PM
I'm repeating this e-mail b/c it didn't get included in the list yesterday - deleted somehow....?
Mention was made in this article of the link of autism to mercury. In a recent Sunday newspaper I found an article (by Michael Hawthorne from McClatchy Newspapers, written in Chicago) titled: "Toxic Mercury found in corn syrup. Source of metal is from processing agent". This is an urgent matter and the offhanded manner this knowledge is being handled is disturbing. Implicated specifically is High Fructose Corn Syrup. I'd advise those dealing with autism to take their kids off anything that contains HFCS - which unfortunately is difficult - it has literally saturated our food - the article states that the average American consumes about 12 teaspoons of it DAILY! Wake up America - let's boycott High Fructose Corn Syrup and give our kids a chance to live normal lives. I'd really like to see a study comparing the rates of autism with the introduction of HFCS and it's precipitous rise in usage in the last few years.
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Posted By: momtotwo @ 02/21/2009 11:28:10 PM
Proof that you would accept? Of course I don't have that kind of proof. Just like you don't have any that I would accept. We each have what we have decided to believe, based on our own experiences and what we think is right. Each study you read that supports what you think looks legit to you, and the same happens when I read studies that support my position.
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Posted By: junkmail6 @ 02/21/2009 11:29:48 PM
Your reasoning is frightening. How many children have *not* died of Measles, mumps, or rubella since vaccinations started? When a certain percentage of children go un-vaccinated, we have small outbreaks, and children die. Vaccines have saved countless lives. Yes, there are risks. Parents should be aware of them and watch for symptoms of a reaction after vaccination. Hopefully, someone is doing research to identify risk factors, so those at risk can be treated in a safe manner. But this anti-vaccine craze is dangerous.
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Posted By: I_am_reality @ 02/22/2009 12:07:24 AM
Dr. Paul Offit thinks a small child can take 100,000 live viruses at once. Are you one of those clowns? Do you have any sons, daughters you want to volunteer for that study.
Maybe a good start would be to remove mercury, aluminum and other harmful metals from vaccines and do them in single doses as opposed to having these vaccines cocktails. Please read the Hannah Poling case if you have any questions about the concerns about overloading a small child with numerous vaccines with live viruses.
My big problem is vaccines have become a cash cow for vaccine makers and when you are in it to make money and not save lives, you use mercury as a preservative or you combine 3 viruses into one shot to save money in production costs.
And yeah, I had the chicken pox when I was a kid. Missed school for a week. Now they vaccinate for that. Not sure if that one is a must have.
You must remember the road to you know where is paved with good intentions. Somewhere along the line, vaccine makers, their advocates and profiteers (Offit) and the media who cover this issue (Newsweek) have lost their way.
Newsweek is just as guilty as the rest of the media. Consider that last summer more than 10,000 people marched on Washington DC to protest against the dangerous toxins in vaccines. Most had children who were impacted adversely by vaccines. Did Newsweek cover that or talk to any of the parents or children who were impacted by vaccines. No they didn't. They ignored 10,000 parents marching on DC. And they had advance notice of this, I know because I sent it to them.
But recently, Newsweek posted a cream puff story on Dr. Paul Offit and his new book on autism and vaccines. This book wasn't even a best seller and Offit has made $29 Million from selling a vaccine but still Newsweek did a big puff piece on him and let him kick away at parents who want more research into vaccines and autism.
Did Newsweek cover the recent concerns around Gardasil and how more than 20 teenagers died last year from taking this vaccine. No they didn't. But of course, they wrote a nice big story on an executive who left Autism Speaks because she felt the issue around vaccines and autism was settled.
I think the real story is still to be written on all this.-
Posted By: TX_Cari @ 02/27/2009 1:36:38 PM
When you have shingles in a few years, I bet you'll be wishing you had gotten a chicken pox vaccine as a child.
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Posted By: slbg1960 @ 03/01/2009 12:44:30 PM
excuse me but you must be misinformed.....you can still get shingles whether you have the vaccine or the pox, check with your pediatrician, they will tell you this!! I was against the vaccine because I think it is rediculous...I asked more questions and these were the answers I got...So remember...the vaccine does not prevent shingles.
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Posted By: slbg1960 @ 03/01/2009 12:43:47 PM
excuse me but you must be misinformed.....you can still get shingles whether you have the vaccine or the pox, check with your pediatrician, they will tell you this!! I was against the vaccine because I think it is rediculous...I asked more questions and these were the answers I got...So remember...the vaccine does not prevent shingles.
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Posted By: AutismNewsBeat @ 02/22/2009 12:58:37 AM
I was in Washington DC last June to report on the march. There were no more than 3,000 lined up by the Washington Monument. Closer to 2,500, really. It was much easier to estimate crowd size on the lawn in back of the Capitol Building - about 2,000.
Of course you don't understand why we vaccinate for chicken pox. That's obvious. Did you know, for instance, that varicella can lead to opportunistic infections? Flesh eating bacteria disease for instance.
Offit said a child can take 100,000 vaccines at once. He was talking about the antigens that provoke an immune response. His estimate was based on the best available science. If you disagree with his calculation and reasoning, then you need to write a critique that doesn't involve your caps lock key. Offit's point which was lost on you is that babies are bombarded with viruses and bacteria from early on. If you are rollling around the beach, what difference would a few extra grains of sand matter?
What evidence do you have that Gardasil is responsible for the deaths of 20 teenagers? I know you don't believe in coincidence, but given that millions of girls have been vaccinated with Gardisil, it's hardly surprising that some subjects died at some point following vaccinination. People also die after watching the NBC Nightly News. That doesn't make Brian Williams responsible.
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Posted By: sregis @ 02/26/2009 10:19:12 AM
could you elaborate on what these risks are?
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Posted By: AutismNewsBeat @ 02/26/2009 2:33:38 PM
regis, everything we do in life has risk. Statistically, it's more dangerous to drive your kid to the pediatrician's office than it is to have him/her vaccinated.
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Posted By: sregis @ 02/26/2009 3:09:33 PM
still waiting on those said risks...
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Posted By: AutismNewsBeat @ 02/26/2009 3:50:37 PM
Here's a list of vaccine table injuries:
http://www.hrsa.gov/Vaccinecompensation/table.htm
This in one way the US Court of Claims decides whether to compensate an alleged vaccine injury. The standard of proof for causality is very low (51% or more probable), and it depends in part on temporal proximity between the vaccine being administered and the onset of symptoms.-
Posted By: AutismNewsBeat @ 02/27/2009 9:35:20 AM
[crickets]
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Posted By: Jane Polz Windom MN @ 03/01/2009 8:26:56 AM
There is one problem with the onset of symptoms, if no one documents in the patient's chart then there are none, right?
My son reacted to his DPT shot 24 years ago, his first onset of symptoms was 4-6 hours later. The high pitched cry that no one told me about, the symptom I read myself after the fact. As a result, my son has spastic quad cerebral palsy, seizure disorder, developmentally delayed, cortically blind, gastrostomy fed, has a baclofen pump in his abdomen and a few years ago had a tracheostomy. He is totally dependent for all his needs. But, because his chart lacked the documentation there is no proof. Our living proof must be too difficult to see, it must be documented before any compensation is available. And iis that our fault, too? This has been a huge impact on our family, but not nearly as much as on my son. I am not against vaccinating but, would like to see more caution taken, especially if children are born premature or have suffered an illness. These too, were some of the factors involved, I know that our physician did not plan on the harsh side effects but, when mom's call to ask about postponing immunizations for what ever reason docs need to listen. Thank you.
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Posted By: Helke @ 02/21/2009 11:51:55 PM
Next to nobody is in the business of undoing vaccine damage, and if they are, they are usually not recognized for doing such. I still cannot understand why vaccines are accepted as "safe", when NONE of them have been evaluated for the potential to cause carcinogenicity, genotoxicity, and most have not been evaluated for the potential to impair fertility.
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Posted By: Osama Bin Login @ 02/23/2009 3:57:52 PM
Hahaha! This country is doomed. "Genotoxicity", indeed.
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Posted By: my_kid_is_not_a_statistic @ 02/23/2009 10:35:24 AM
"Yes, there are risks. Parents should be aware of them and watch for symptoms of a reaction after vaccination. Hopefully, someone is doing research to identify risk factors, so those at risk can be treated in a safe manner. But this anti-vaccine craze is dangerous."
hopefully, someone is doing research into risk factors?
parents should be aware of risk so they can watch for symptoms AFTER vaccination?
nice to see so much heartfelt after-the-fact concern for an otherwise disposable kid....
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Posted By: queenie @ 02/25/2009 4:30:28 PM
Scientists are interested in having their papers and studies published (which in turn brings in more grant money) and without some kind of amazing results, a lot of times that doesn't happen. CDC etc., don't have that same agenda.
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Posted By: dianadavis @ 02/21/2009 9:58:16 PM
I am the mom to two children with autism. Neither one had vaccines. How do you
explain the measles theory now?
The analogy fits perfectly.
Kind of like the "hit by a bus" theory Jenny McCarthy likes to throw around.-
Posted By: stevensdad @ 02/24/2009 6:01:01 PM
No one has ever claimed that the only way to develop autism is through the poisins in vaccines. There are many other environmental poisons that are tied to the incidence of autism. However that doesn't mean that because you didn't give your child the MMR vaccine that they didn't receive the toxins in another vacccine or through your own body in the form of your own vaccines, rhogam shots, mercury fillings or other environmental insult. Aklmost no parent involved in this debate wants to eliminate vaccines. WE DO WANT SAFE VACCINES THOUGH!!!!
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Posted By: Twyla @ 02/22/2009 2:18:11 AM
Here's an explanation: Not all autism is caused by vaccines. That doesn't mean that no autism is caused by vaccines.
Autism ia a complex disorder. Autism is a "spectrum". It is defined by behaviors and may very well be a group of disorders with different causes. It is possible that some cases of autism are purely genetic, some are caused by environmental exposures, and some are caused by various components in vaccines.
Inflammation has been found to play a role in autism. inflammation has been found in the brains, and inflammatory markiers found in the spinal fluid, of people with autism. There could be more than one cause of inflammation in the brain and nervous system.
Just like some people get sick to their stomach without eating peanuts, some eat peanuts without getting sick, and some eat peanuts from a processing plant contaminated with salmonella and get sick. The first two don't rule out the last, and don't diminish the importance of investigating and correcting the problem of salmonella contamination.
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Posted By: trrll @ 02/24/2009 5:51:44 PM
The results cited by the CDC and the FDA are derived from multiple studies carried out by independent scientists across the world. They aren't "made up," you can look them up in the scientific journals. On the other hand, Wakefield's research has been exposed as false by people who worked in his own lab, and has not been replicated by any other lab. Wakefield also turned out to have a substantial financial interest in fanning fears of the MMR vaccine.
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Posted By: Osama Bin Login @ 02/23/2009 4:37:01 PM
"So we're supposed to believe that doctors like Wakefield totally made up their research"
Believe what you please. Your beliefs do not change the fact that he is a fraud. -
Posted By: dianadavis @ 02/21/2009 9:44:21 PM
ya think???
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Posted By: DrMink @ 03/05/2009 4:30:52 PM
Actually, I think they are embarrassed by being sucked into the whole "vaccines cause autism" scare like their fellow media sources. I've followed this issue for the better part of a decade and I have rarely seen an article on autism that didn't once mention that "many believe that MMR vaccines cause autism" without clarifying that this was far from established science. As this whole theory unravels I think there is a lot of "buyers remorse" by the enablers in popular media.
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Posted By: Taylor's Mom @ 02/24/2009 2:51:15 PM
No robertk it is amazing how Americans can just be force fed information and believe everything "they" tell us. I too was one of those moms who did EVERYTHING I was supposed to including letting the hospital give my one-day-old baby a shot in the hospital and having ALL of her shots on time. Well I did not really let them...they did it and then I found out after the fact. And how can YOU say we are just "Wounded Parents?" We LIVE IT! Live a life where we have been robbed of our normal children and them taken from us. America is the only country that FORCES its parents to get all of these immunizations (so many have been added to the schedule in the last few years). And so many of them are not needed. The CDC and AMA have been on a "fear" campaign for years. Making us think we are hurting our children and endangering other lives but "making the conscience CHOICE" not to put harmful and live viruses into our fragile babies. Heck I can't even take the flu shot because everytime I do I get the flu! My doctor even told me not to..why? Because its a live virus. Just like so many immunizations. I am not some tree hugger obsessive mom who is scared of everything not natural. I am just a normal educated working mom who has lost the most precious thing..."a child who will get married, have kids, and live a normal life." Just because I did the "right thing" and listened to someone that forced or scared me into giving all that crap to my baby. Come on...are they going to die from measels, mumps, or chicken pox? NO....they are developing resistances to chicken pox at a young age so they do not get it as adults and it be so much more dangerous. But NO....we have a vaccine for that. They have a vaccine for everything. That is fine if you or NEWSWEEK does not believe this issue. But how dare you sit and judge WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW! And all we want is more research...non-bais research. So if its not all this poisenous crap (vaccines) we are putting into our tiny tiny babies....THEN LETS FIND OUT WHAT HAS CAUSED IT TO EXPLODE FOR NO REASON! If your child was affected, you would want some answers. This is my second daughter and she hit all the milestones that my first daughter did and then at 18 mos. or so went into the world of severe Autism. WHY...SHE WAS NORMAL! And im sorry but i don't believe all the half_ _ _ answers the government (who does not want to take responsibility for harming our children) has tried to feed us. So don't judge what you don't know and DON'T JUDGE PARENTS who love their special children and want answers.
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Posted By: AutismNewsBeat @ 02/24/2009 6:19:01 PM
Don't assume an autism epidemic. There's scant evidence for that.
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Posted By: Taylor's Mom @ 03/04/2009 1:23:10 PM
There is not evidence of an epidemic????? Are you stupid "AutismNewsBeat? Or just out of touch with reality. HAVE YOU LOOKED AT THE NUMBERS LATELY. How this has become an epidemic? I CANNOT BELIEVE PEOPLE LIKE YOU EXIST TO SPREAD ALL OF YOUR LIES. How can you even call yourself "AutismNewsBeat"? More like "AutismIDoNotDoAnythingforAutismParents." Why do you have to be posting on here anyway. We are sick of listening to you!
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Posted By: AutismNewsBeat @ 03/04/2009 9:29:03 PM
You might want to learn to spell before you call other people stupid. Once you've done that, try reading up on the revisions the DSM has gone through over the last 20 years. Look up "prevalence" and "incidence", and learn the difference between the two words. This isn't AgeOfAutism.com. Facts matter.
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Posted By: Alchemist65535 @ 03/04/2009 4:43:45 PM
My year old daughter developed symptoms loosing speech for three years and started hand flapping suddenly one day. The only correlation with anything was a runny nose she had developed that morning. She had a cold. It's tempting to say that if only she hadn't gotten that cold ... But there is no way of knowing if that was the case.. All my kids got chicken pox in those days, but not measles nor mumps nor diptheria nor whooping cough nor small pox nor polio, most of them common childhood diseases not that long ago. The risk of death or severe damage of those diseases was quite a real thing, with 20% of children under 5 dying from these diseases only a century ago. Some families had no surviving children. Most experienced a death or two from routine childhood illnesses. For all we know perhaps it is some of the children who would have died routinely with the weakest immune systems that develop autism instead.
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Posted By: Taylor's Mom @ 03/04/2009 1:04:30 PM
Oh my gosh...glmmb2086. You obviously do not have a severe from of Autism like my daughter. She was TOTALLY 100% normal and then went into a world of darkness and silence at about 14-16 mos old. She is 10 but acts like a two or three year old. She can not even comprehend the most simple things. She will NEVER live on her own, NEVER have children, NEVER get married....do you get that? How dare somebody say its worth the risk. It is not worth the risk to me and not to the one "normal" functioning daughter i have to have her child or future family go through this. It tears apart families. So many relationships buckle under the stress. THAT IS PLAYING RUSSIAN ROULET!!!!! You do not have a life....you can not do anything that parents with neuro typical children can do. I can't even take my BEAUTIFUL daughter on vacation because "she can not handle it!" We are the only country who practically forces parents to put all of this poisen into our tiny tiny babies. Let my child get measle mumps or ruebella. We can fight that and survive. But what are the chances she will even get it....hardly none. We have wonderful medical treatment now and they can treat these things. But they CANNOT FIX my daughter who does not have a normal brain anymore due to these poisens I put into her thinking i was doing the right thing. OH my gosh you people are so crazy and so lost. You so do not get it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Posted By: qlmmb2086 @ 03/04/2009 3:17:15 PM
I believe you have proved several of my points by your response, not the least of which is the fact that you don't seem to be examining your own arguments.
For instance, belittling the symptoms that I experience on a day to day basis is a poor way to prove that I am underestimating the symptoms of your child. I know what it's like to be unable to handle a stimulating environment. Even something as low-key as my normal workplace environment overwhelms me at times, and the most basic of social settings is usually worse. Do you enjoy gathering with a small group of acquaintances? Do you enjoy going to a movie theatre? I don't. But unlike your daughter, since I am only "mildly Autistic" I'm expected to just cope and move on like a normal human being, and am often forced into the settings that cause me the most pain as a result.
I understand that this is a very emotional topic from a parent's perspective, but that doesn't excuse you to draw purely emotional conclusions. Your response is loaded with emotional language and exaggerated punctuation. It is an emotional topic for me as well, because I have been personally affected by it.
Maybe you're right to say I "so do not get it." I "so do not get" why a parent would chose a risk of death for their child over a risk of autism. It cannot be that you think your child would be better off dead than disabled, because the diseases disable many of the victims they don't kill.
I "so do not get" why you believe a vaccine is akin to poison. Since the out-phasing of the mercury content, every part of the serum is produced in greater quantities in your child's body than what is contained in the vaccine. Even the viral RNA in a vaccine has a higher presence in the human body than it is in the vaccine. And it's a good thing too, since RNA is how your body learns to recognize and fight off infection.
The only explanation I can think of is that in your experience, the diseases are still a remote chance while autism from vaccination is a certainty. But by that logic, if your daughter had never been vaccinated and was been killed by small pox, you would be screaming at doctors for not having vaccinated your child to protect her from this disease. To you the death by small box would be certain, and autism would be a remote risk worth taking. It's a no-win line of logic, that places blame on everyone but yourself for a situation for which there is likely no one at fault to begin with.
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