Long Shot? Autism And Vaccines Trial Begins

Ed Silverman,

Please recheck your facts: thimerosal has not been completely removed from standard child vaccinations, even discluding the flu shot. This is coupled with the fact that "old full-hg stock" was still found on the shelves as late as 2007. There still remains so-called "trace" amounts of e-hg within the routine schedule, aside from the whopping 25 micrograms of thimerosal in the typical flu shot. It all adds up to considerably more than zero by the time a child is 18 months old. Furthermore, levels of aluminum have been increased in the shots which typically contain it, I suppose as a compensation for the lost micrograms of another neurotoxin.

Dr. Bernadine Healy, former head of the NIH and member of the IOM, seems to believe it's not such a "long shot" that a link between tot shots and the epidemic of cognitive injuries will be found: http://tinyurl.com/59wns7

As for the concept of diagnostic substitution explaining the rise in rates-- just to preempt the moldy standard argument on these forums-- there weren't enough mentally disabled people in the United States one hundred years ago for the current 1/150 rate to have hidden in (see tables on pp. 24-25): http://tinyurl.com/4xy9xq

Consider also that the grossly lower rates of mental disability circa 1955 and 1850 had to account for the supposedly constant rates of other mental disabilities, like "bipolar disorder", "major depression", etc., rates which have also risen enormously in recent years. Each skyrocketing catagory of mental illness is vying for that scant 3.38 in 1000 from 1955 and 2 in 10,000 from that free-lovin', easy-to-hide-your-head-bashing-autistic-tantrums-in-the-crowd year of 1850.

Whitaker could be referring to pharmaceutical products other than psychotropes and another form of disability when he states: "As with any epidemic, one would suspect that an outside agent of some type-a virus, a bacterial infection, or an environmental toxin was causing this rise in illness . That is indeed the case here".

I sent this to another journalist I thought it fit here

How can you not act as a journalist with information this damming the children suffer from the lack of integrity in journalist and researchers on this very important issue I will not apologize for writing this to you because you have a duty to the American children and my son deserves respect and burying your head in the sand on this issue is not going to get the job done. sencerly Joe Harris Dad of a very severely mercury poisoned child with labs to prove it. The problem that exist with mercury will not go away until mercury is no longer used in the manufacturing process, machine cleaning and in some vaccines at the full 25 micrograms including the flu shot which over half of pregnant women and children 6 months and over receive. This is the man and his credentials who we are supposed to ignore It was mentioned earlier that Dr. Frank Engley studied thimerosal as far back as 1942. Dr. Engley is responsible for the 4 year School of Medicine at the University of Missouri. He has consulted for the CDC, IOM, NASA, FDA, EPA, CIA, AAMI, USP, Armed Forces Epidemiological boards, Army, Navy, Air Force as well as Director of research grants and training grants for NIH. Engley Served on the Council of the NIH Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease and a consultant on many Epidemiological Boards too many to list. Dr. Engley has been a visiting Professor in over 40 foreign countries medical schools. He has produced films, written text books, Laboratory Manuals, over 100 publications, served on editorial boards for numerous scientific journals and periodicals, including four American, two British and one German. Engley is certified by the American Board of Micro Biology and served as the Chair of the Laboratory of American Public Health Association. He has been listed in American Men and Women of Science, Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Education, Who’s Who among Consultants and Who’s Who in the World. His toxicity studies of mercurials in human tissue culture revealed the mercurials were extremely toxic for human cells and the Thimerosal -- the most active, toxic down to the nanogram. The amounts of mercury have gone down but vaccines still have 100 times that amount when they are in preservative free and reduced thimerosal vaccines. Something I wrote responding to an article below They knew that Thimerosal was neither efficacious nor safe in 1948 Dr. Morton of the Department of Bacteriology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Dr. North of the Philadelphia General Hospital, and Mr. Engley of Camp Detrick under a grant from the Council of Pharmacy and Chemistry, American Medical Association have published an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association. This was when drugs came in little white boxes, no hype no pay offs and Dr's, Scientist, senators and Congressman's, journalist had impeccable integrity. See today's headlines on Merck ! and ghost written research signed off by crooked well known physicians. Seems every month we hear of a drug that's killing or maiming Americans that was OK ed ! by the FDA. and we are worried about our financial agency's, Senators and Congressman calling for their dismantling. Where are they in this important issue Oh! I know most are in the pockets of pharma. you see if it's a campaign contribution it can't be a bribe, so they think. Remember the flu shots that were bad, thimerosal did not work then and that was the easiest bacterial contaminant to kill, it could not even do the job. And looking at this, we now know why ,as there research was showing us it was worthless and dangerous It is clear from this research supported by a grant from the American Medical Association that Thimerosal is neither efficacious nor safe, and should be removed as a preservative in prescription biologics and pharmaceutical products, as well as from topical over-the-counter products such as Butt-Balm that have Thimerosal present in their formulations as an active ingredient. There was an interim plan in the 80's to get rid of thimerosal this came out at Congressman Burtons hearing on thimerosal. Dr. Engley was reported as saying on an KOMU article that "if they had followed through on our 82 report the vaccines would have been freed of thimerosal and all this autism they tell me would not have occurred" THEY DESTROYED OUR CHILDREN FOR NO BENEFIT NOT TO MENTION BEING WARNED BY Dr. Engley and other Scientist with integrity, this is their findings of toxicity "We found thimerosal is toxic down to a level that is almost unbelievable. Down to 1.10, maybe 100 nanograms...a millionth of a gram and that is about as toxic as you can get," he said." But the FDA, and the CDC did not listen 200 PPB is liquid toxic waste the chidren from the 90's some received 32,500 Parts Per Billion at one setting on one day. And you wonder what happened to the kids. "Dr. Frank Engley is a retired chairman and professor of Microbiology at the University of Missouri. He served on various committees and panels and has consulted for the CDC, NASA, the FDA, and EPA. He did some of the first research on the toxicity of thimerosal. ** It should be noted that this article was published in the January 1948 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association ## It should be noted that this article was published in 1950 in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

Russell being quoted as saying we would put mercury in vaccines, and other compounds to produce a partial lobotomized state this was done to controll the masses. my thought is they did not anticipate the mercury from other sources AKA as cole fired plants and mothers body burdon

Russell who advocated the use of vaccines to induce partial chemical lobotomies and create a servile zombie population, "Diet, injections, and injunctions will combine, from a very early age, to produce the sort of character and the sort of beliefs that the authorities consider desirable, and any serious criticism of the powers that be will become psychologically impossible." - Bertrand Russell, “The Impact of Science on Society”, 1953, pg 49-50 1953. Bertrand Russell, The Impact of Science on Society: "...the subject which will be of most importance politically is Mass Psychology.... The populace will not be allowed to know how its convictions were generated. When the technique has been perfected, every government that has been in charge of education for a generation will be able to control its subjects securely without the need of armies or policemen. As yet there is only one country which has succeeded in creating this politician’s paradise.”11

Dear ATG and Joe,

I understand that this is a very difficult issue for you. This particular post is a straightforward item from the Associated Press, which is credited liberally throughout, about the upcoming cases.

As far as I can tell, the AP material that I chose to post doesn't attempt to take sides or dismiss the concerns of parents who are pressing these cases or the more than 4,800 queued up.

I'm happy to discuss the issue(s) further, but shouting or throwing arrows isn't really going to accomplish very much. So if there's something you want to see covered or pursued, try to convey the essential points in concise way that will help me understand as best as possible.

I hope this helps, ed s

My understanding is that thimerosal has not been used for years in the MMR vaccines originally implicated - and, apparently, nothing has changed in terms of autism rates.

Not denying that autism is prevalent, or that we should feel for those children afflicted; however, staying on this same old bandwagon may be blinding us to other possible causes and fixes.

Paul-- thimerosal was never believed to be in the MMR. Also, the MMR theory came after revelations on thimerosal's potential role in autism. Regardless, the theories are not mutually exclusive but may turn out to be quite complimentary.

In order for the vaccine causal theory to have "blinded" anyone, research into the link would have had to have been definitively exhausted by independent research. Nothing close to this has ever happened. To the contrary, theorists have nearly run out of every possible anything-but-vaccines hypotheses.

Dear Ed,

I should have been more clear that by "forum", I meant the discussions following your article, not the articles themselves.

In the past, you've inserted your own asides into stories picked up from other press sources. I don't find this particular story from AP that straightforward and believe it could have used a bit of balancing. For instance, the AP may remind us that "In 2004, a committee with the Institute of Medicine concluded there was no credible evidence that vaccines containing thimerosal caused autism", but I think there's something here that the AP itself needs to be reminded of.

The above is the only "expert" judgement cited in your recap which can't be counter-weighted just by the stated opinions of the plaintiff lawyers, not in a journalistic, qualitative way. There are other "worthy expert" opinions on the other side of the coin, most recently that of Bernadine Healy, though she's by no means alone in questioning the government's out-of-hand rejection of the link. I know you're aware of some the research which puts the question to the IOM's findings. Also, that members of this particular IOM panel were riddled with considerable conflicts of interest is really notable here. I wish that it had been noted, not to mention that I would have liked to see investigation of the statement that thimerosal has been removed from all pediatric vaccines save for the flu shot.

I've followed your coverage of the vaccine-autism debate for some time and appreciate that you were one of the first people to point out Paul Offit's conflicts of interest when he criticized Omnibus parents in a well-publicized piece. To this day, few publications will cite Offit's and other's true COIs. I appreciated your mention of Dr. Pichichero's COIs in a story covering the thimerosal debate as well as the polls you've thrown, allowing readers' opinions to be heard on the matter. Compared to most coverage on this, you've been exemplary.

But there are some matters of disinformation which I think are worthy of the microscope. Some of us do require a very, very fine filter of the facts and consistent listing of COI on this issue, not only because this topic is "hard" for effected families but because it could be harder still for those yet to be initiated by the epidemic, the percentage who won't dodge the (possible) bullets. They need the clarity a hell of a lot more than some of us do.

-- A

Hi ATG,

You make some good points, and I agree there could have been more info - to and fro - about the issues surrounding the IOM report in the AP story. And I appreciate that you took the trouble to get my attention. I will be mindful of this going forward. Thanks for writing.

Regards ed

Let's face it. The media didn't do it's job right the first time. They never bothered to check "the facts" before telling the public that thimerosal is not linked to Autism (there hasn't been any valid studies as of yet). They also didn't bother to check "the facts" before telling people that vaccines are mercury free - which they are not. Apparently, there is NO WAY to remove thimerosal 100% because it binds to other agents in the manufacturing process. Also, the only way someone can excrete mercury from the body is by way of bile - something that infants are not capable of producing until 6 mo. of age. So, where does it go? Straight to the brain. That is probably where all of the other neurotoxins go too. SHAME ON YOU JOURNALISTS FOR NOT DOING YOUR HOMEWORK AND FOR GIVING THE PUBLIC INACCURATE INFORMATION!!

Dear Ed,

Thank you.

Sincerely-- A

Is this one of the claims they're talking about? http://www.wddty.com/03363800370817441035/mmr-and-autism-us-court-says-there-s-a-link-and-awards-compensation.html

"MMR and Autism: US court says there’s a link, and awards compensation

06 March 2008 The MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine can cause autism, a US court has concluded.

In a secret ruling that has only just come to light, the US Court of Federal Claims has conceded that the mercury-based preservative thimerosal, which was in vaccines until 2002, caused autism in the case of one child.

The ruling is one of 4,900 cases currently being considered for compensation payments, and it is feared by health officials that it could open the floodgates for even more claims. It also appears to support the controversial findings of Dr Andrew Wakefield, who, in 1998, suggested a link between the vaccine and autism.

The ruling, made by US Assistant Attorney General Peter Keisler, was made last November, and was one of three test cases into the MMR-autism link that was being considered by a three-member panel, which Keisler chaired..."

Hey Dawn,

That was really an interesting revelation about mercury used in manufacturing binding to other vaccine ingredients. That should bring about some really interesting research-- whenever it's allowed.

By the way, Pharmalot isn't Fumato or the "Inconstant Gardiner". Go to Pharmalot's search window, type in "thimerosal" and check out the articles. It's not an apologist free-for-all, which should be good news in today's media climate.

Is that ruling re “MMR and Autism: US court says there’s a link, and awards compensation" (May 6th article in comment above) classed as a 'test case'? If so why have AP not mentioned it?

Also, why is it described as a "secret ruling"?

Hi PG,

Perhaps that is referring to this:

http://www.pharmalot.com/2008/03/sticking-point-government-concedes-vaccine-case/

ed

Ed, thanks. That certainly explains some of of it, not sure why it was said to be a 'secret' ruling though unless it was a figure of speech by the author in the link I used.

any and all info. would greatly be appreciated regarding shots and autism thanks mike