U.S. News & World Report - Flexible Approach to Vaccinations Comes Under Fire

The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued it's new immunization schedule published in The journal Pediatrics. The journal also includes a series of articles, one of which that criticizes vaccination through an alternative schedule.

Journalist, Deborah Kotz says the following in yesterday's US News and World Report article,

Along with this policy statement and numerous research papers, the journal contains a "special article" that quite frankly shocked me for its one-sided treatment of a very important issue with regard to vaccinations. The article is an attack on doctors who take a flexible approach to vaccinations, working with parents who, say, don't want their 2-month-old to get vaccinated against eight different diseases at once, which is what's recommended on the AAP schedule.

It targets one particular pediatrician, Robert Sears, who described several alternative approaches to vaccination in a popular consumer book called The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Y our Child. Sears calls for spacing out some vaccinations by adding office visits and delaying some shots until a child is older. More controversially, he also has a plan for those who may want to skip some immunizations, such as the chickenpox vaccine. I spoke with Sears for this parents' guide to managing vaccinations.

Unfortunately, instead of allowing a pro-and-con debate about the benefits and drawbacks of pediatricians working with parents who wish to have some flexibility, the Pediatrics journal editors chose to feature just one side of this debate. The authors of the special article take a firm stand against allowing any deviation from the current vaccine schedule, arguing that in offering a middle ground, Sears is sending "antivaccine messages."

What's worse, the lead author, Paul Offit, who heads the vaccine education center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, clearly has a conflict of interest. He's one of the patent holders of RotaTeq, a vaccine against rotavirus that's on the AAP's vaccine schedule. That means he stands to lose money if parents shun RotaTeq.

Read the full text here

Dr. Bernadine Healy, former Dir. of the NIH and American Red Cross is currently the Health Editor for US News & World Report. Here's what she said earlier this year about the research that supposedly disproves any link between vaccines and autism. Click to see the interview

The DoD/CDC Saga Continues...Autism “Under Revision”:

DTaP = Autism “Under Revision”: Something is Rotten at the DoD and CDC

by: Angela Warner

The Vaccine Healthcare Center’s Network (VHCN), a collaboration of the Department of Defense (DoD) and Center’s for Disease Control (CDC), decided on December 5, 2008 between 5:35pm and 6:21pm (EST), that the original VHCN webpage (now a cached version) HERE listing autism as an adverse event associated with the DTaP vaccine needed some revision (HERE). Following is the continuation of “Evidence of Harm”.

Read the full story HERE at Autism Salutes

Angela Warner is an Air Force spouse, and mom to four beautiful children (two with autism), and an advocate for children with autism to help our children and stop the autism epidemic.

The Pentagon -- A Voice of Reason on Vaccines and Autism? by: David Kirby

David writes, "Meanwhile, regardless of the Pentagon's positions on the above questions, we know for certain that DOD is concerned about the risk of injury from multiple vaccines."

Read the full story HERE.

DOD and CDC: Studies Suggest a Possible Link Between Multiple Vaccines and Injury - by:David Kirby

Dr. J.M. Engler, Director of the Vaccine Healthcare Centers Network (VHCN), a collaboration between the Department of Defense and the CDC, says “We have preliminary findings from one of our many on-going research studies that suggest a relationship between adverse events and multiple vaccinations exist. These findings will require validation, but heighten our concern for the current clinical practice of multiple vaccinations.”

Read the story HERE.

The VHCN, again a collaboration between the DOD and the CDC, lists autism as an adverse event of the DTaP vaccine. This vaccine is given at 2, 4 and 6 months, between 15 & 18 months and again between 4 and 6 years. HERE's the link to the table. Scroll down the list of events and you will see "autism".

From NPR - The Human Gut is a Real Melting Pot - How antibiotics can harm the gut

You've probably heard a lot over the past couple years about taking Probiotics following a round of antibiotics to restore a healthy balance in your digestive tract. This NPR interview, of Dr. David Relman of Stamford University, discusses fascinating new research regarding the role healthy bacteria plays in supporting our overall health (to include digestion and our immune system)and how antibiotics can negatively impact the balance of good and bad flora in the gut.

Listen here

Two of the most well researched Probiotics include:

1) Read about Culturelle (available at WalGreens and WalMart)
2) Read about Saccaromyces boulardi(available at many health food stores and online)

Read what The Mayo Clinic says regarding Probiotics


David Relman, M.D., is associate professor of medicine, and of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University. He is also chief, infectious diseases section, at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System in Palo Alto, California.

Deidra Imus - A Forum on Vaccines - View the Webcast

View the Webcast by scrolling down to "Replay Webcast"

This webcast took place on October 23, 2008. It was the first time that two representatives from the American Academy of Pediatrics appeared to debate concerns regarding our current vaccination program.

My overview: The AAP representatives came to the table showing very little sign that they understand the basis for the concern shared by so many parents and at very minimum they certainly had no real answers addressing the concerns that were so very well defined by author David Kirby, Dr.Lawrence Rosen and Environmental Activist Deidra Imus.

I was particularly disappointed with the Dr. Margaret Fisher, chair, Section of Infectious Diseases, American Academy of Pediatrics, and medical director, The Children’s Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center. It seemed that she truly believed that we didn't understand that all vaccines go through a standard protocol of research and trial before licensing and that we don't understand the need for public health policy concerning infectious disease.

I look forward to a day when most pediatric physicians do understand that we want true studies in causation, not just for autism and increased chronic disease, but also for the widely accepted injuries that vaccines can cause some children, like encephalitis and seizures. Also, to a day when physicians understand the concerns we have regarding the ingredients in vaccines and the lack of safety studies around those ingredients. Even if physicians don't agree with us it would be nice to see them come to the table understanding what the actual concerns are and able to have a discussion based on those specific concerns.

Dr. Fisher is obviously a physician who is very passionate about her desire to protect children from dangerous and occasionally deadly disease. It would be nice if she, and the medical community, were as passionate about learning how to identify children who might be susceptible to injury for the sake of protecting them from that injury and vaccinating them in an individually appropriate way.

I wish that we could understand what mechanism's caused Amelia's injury and that we knew how to test Joseph for the same. If I had that answer, I could probably vaccinate Joseph in some modified way to protect him from harm and protect him from infectious disease at the same time...but unfortunately that is not possible right now. I've certainly read too many stories exactly like ours for there to be any convincing me that vaccines do not play a role in the increase rate of autism and chronic immune related disease that we see in today's children.

"Vaccines : It's Your Child, Your Choice"

From Age of Autism - June 1, 2008

This is an excellent article about vaccine choice.

CNN - Should I Vaccinate My Baby

Update: After watching this CNN segment, you may want to visit my newer post "Should I Vaccinate My Baby - Vaccine Safety - Why the Controversy?" This new post includes a list of articles and research references, including a link to the CNN segment below. To see the updated post go here.

Yesterday, CNN ran two Segments called "Should I Vaccinate My Baby" and "The Empowered Parent."

Great job CNN! They got a couple points wrong about Hannah Polling but great job none the less. Hannah Neurologist father says the vaccines caused/triggered her mitochondrial disorder which led to her autism and the genetics support this.

Watch - Should I Vaccinate My Baby.

Read - For more information, from CNN, about how to work with your Pediatrician to take precaution's.

As CNN recommends in their report, you may follow Dr. Robert Sears modified vaccine schedule to keep your child up to date yet "be on the safe side". His book is called The Vaccine Book.

Keep in mind that even Dr. Sears recommendations can not grantee that your baby will not suffer a vaccine reaction.

A - Reactions to individual vaccines, for a small subset of kids, are well know and documented. Thus the government compensation program called the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System.

B - Because the government followed the recommendation of the 2004 IOM Vaccine Safety Report, no research has been conducted to look for a link between autism and vaccines. Therefore, if there is a link we do not know what it is about the vaccines that might be causing it. As the former head of the NIH, Dr. Bernadine Healy has said, "The question simply has not been answer." (Watch her interview)So until the question has been answered the recommendations of Dr.s like Robert Sears are the best we can do to, hopeful, diminish any possible risk of adverse reaction.

The American Academy of Pediatrics in an Awkward Position after CDC Takes Thimerosal Safety Studies Off the Table

This afternoon I sent the following letter to the AAP and Dr. Bradley Dyer, in light of the newly released position by the AAP regarding parents who have vaccination concerns and the report submitted to Congress by Julie Gerberding, Director of the CDC reporting that the VSD data, by which the CDC based their studies claiming Thimerosal in childhood vaccines does not cause Autism, was "Uninformative and Potentially Misleading."

I really think the American Academy of Pediatrics might want to reconsider the gross disrespect they've shown parents interested in making the best decision for their child.

David Kirby, of the huffington POst, on the Julie Gerberding report
Barbars Lowe Fisher, of the National Vaccine Safety Center on the AAP Guidelines



To: Renee R. Jenkins., AAP President

Considering that the CDC, in an official report to Congress, has just taken every study they had to offer regarding the safety of thimerosal in vaccines off the table I am wondering if you shouldn’t reconsidered the vaccine policy written by Dr. Bradley Dyer and recommended to all other pediatricians in your May ’08 newsletter.

The CDC says vaccination saves 33,000 lives per year, that’s 1 in 10,000. Autism is currently at a rate of 1 in 150 and Julie Gerberding says in her report to Congress "CDC concurs," Dr. Gerberding wrote again, "that conducting an ecologic analysis using VSD administrative data to address potential associations between thimerosal exposure and risk of ASD is not useful."

Read that sentence one more time. The head of the CDC is saying that its most powerful and convincing piece of exonerating evidence for thimerosal is, in effect, "useless.". This is in reference to the Verstraeten study. Full text of David Kirby’s article here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/cdc-vaccine-study-design_b_108398.html

1 in 150 only accounts for autism and does not include the shocking increase in autoimmune diseases we have seen over the past 2 decades. In absence of sound scientific safety studies, we have no idea what the true risk/benefit of the current vaccine program is. A sound vaccination program is critical to public health. The problem is that the CDC is not offering us a sound, scientifically validated program. We may well have traded rare devastating outcomes in acute illness for common chronic disease and neurological disorders.

Parents who are concerned about vaccination are neither selfish nor emotional. They are well informed and have logical and reasonable concerns; and they know they may be playing Russian Roulette with their child’s health with either decision, to vaccinate or not.

You should be ashamed of yourself for ridiculing parents for doing the thing that is most instinctual…protecting their own. As a parent, it is my responsibility to put my child first. And your responsibility to “do no harm”

With due disrespect,


Pamela Felice

The Center Will Not Hold As Parents & Doctors Question Vaccine Policy, by Barbara Lowe Fisher

The Center Will Not Hold As Parents & Docs Question Vaccine Policy

by Barbara Loe Fisher

It was only a matter of time. For 26 years parents of vaccine injured children and a few brave doctors have challenged the one-size-fits-all approach to mandated use of multiple vaccines in the absence of sound scientific evidence that policy is safe for all children. Now, when 1 in 6 child in America is learning disabled and 1 in 150 develops autism, more rank and file pediatricians are speaking out about the need to provide pediatric care for unvaccinated children and respect parental choices to use fewer vaccines.

Last week in a CBS-TV interview, HPV vaccine researcher Dr. Diane Harper supported more scientific research as well as the ethical principle of informed consent to vaccination when asked whether HPV vaccine should be mandated. She said "We don't know yet what's going to happen when millions of doses of the vaccine have been given and to put in process a place that says you must have this vaccine, it means you must be part of a big public experiment....... There isn't enough information to have a mandate that you can't go to school until you have this vaccine. It does not make any sense."

This week in another CBS-TV interview, former NIH Director Bernadine Healy, M.D., stood up and spoke out about the need to scientifically investigate the causal association between vaccines and autism, especially the potential for certain individuals to be genetically susceptible to being harmed by vaccines. She said "I think that the public health officials have been too quick to dismiss the hypothesis as irrational.... there may be this susceptible group. The fact that there is concern, that you don't want to know that susceptible group is a real disappointment to me. If you know that susceptible group, you can save those children. If you turn your back on the notion that there is a susceptible group.....what can I say?"

At the same time that enlightened pediatricians, researchers, and former health officials are calling for a re-examination of scientifically questionable vaccine policies that have failed to identify and screen out high risk children and respect parental rights to make informed, voluntary vaccine choices, some British health authorities and politicians are calling for MMR vaccine mandates for British children. The leading proponent for mandates in Britain said "The MMR vaccination rate is at 85% and the target figure is 95%, so it's about catching children who may have moved or lost contact with their health visitor but also saying to parents your child has a right to live free from vaccine preventable diseases." The head of Britain's Medical Association called the proposal "morally and ethically dubious" and added "A Stalinist approach like this would be likely to backfire on an unprecedented scale and increase opposition to vaccinations."

After 26 years, U.S. health officials are also wrestling with how to prove to parents and doctors that current vaccine policies have adequately addressed evidence that more and more children are regressing after vaccination and suffering brain and immune dysfunction. A transcript of the April 11, 2008 National Vaccine Advisory Committee workshop at which parents and doctors expressed their concerns about vaccine safety is now available at http://www.hhs.gov/nvpo/nvac/transcript_apr08.ht ml

In the meantime, 19 parent organizations are endorsing a call for Presidential candidates to pledge to issue two executive orders within 100 days of taking office which would (1) remove mercury from all vaccines by Jan 1. 2010 and (2) require a moratorium on the addition of new vaccines to the recommended list for children until the current vaccine schedule can be proven safe. Supporting organizations include A- CHAMP, Autism One, Autism Research Institute, Autism United, Deirdre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology, Environment of Harm Yahoo Group, Generation Rescue, HEAL Foundation, Moms Against Mercury, National Autism Association, National Vaccine Information Center, No Mercury, Safeminds, Schafer Autism Report, Spectrum Magazine, TACA -- Talk About Curing Autism, Treating Autism (UK), Unlocking Autism, and World Mercury Project.

On Wednesday, June 4, 2008 a "Green Our Vaccines" rally will be held in Washington, D.C. questioning the safety of vaccine components and the government's current vaccine schedule.

Also by Dr. Bernadine Healy, Fighting the Autism Vaccine War

Dr. Bernadine Healy is the former head of the National Institutes of Health, an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the current Health Editor for U.S. News and World Report. Read Fighting the Autism Vaccine War here.

Former Head of the NIH Explains Why the Government is Acitvely Avoiding Research that Might Prove a Link Between Vaccines and Autism

Dr. Bernadine Healy, the former head of the National Institutes of Health and a member of the Institute of Medicine breaks with her colleagues in this exclusive CBS News interview: Dr. Healy says the government has been too quick to dismiss the possibility of a vaccine-autism link, and that it should be explored with renewed vigor.

Here is the CBS video of the interview.

The NIH is an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC reports to the NIIH. Dr. Healy gives some interesting insight as to why the government has actively avoided research that might prove a link between vaccines and autism

Here is an excellent article written by David Kirby, author of Evidence of Harm.

Vaccines: Defining the Concerns and How to Get Educated

First let me say, we are not anti vaccine. We just don't feel that the proper research exists and that the FDA guidelines on toxins in vaccines should at least meet the standard of other drugs.

Here are a few of the concerns shared by those of us who support vaccine reform.

1. The excessive amount of aluminum. I say excessive because the FDA recommends no more the 25mcg injected per day in preemies and those with impaired kidney function. However, on day one of life a newborn receives 250 mcg in the Hep B Vaccine and at each of the 2, 4 and 6 months visits and infant may receive 295 mcg to 1225 mcg , depending on the combination of brands. And guess what...there has never been a study evaluating the the tolerable amount of aluminum in infants. Want to verify? http://www.mothering.com/articles/growing_child/vaccines/aluminum-new-thimerosal.html

2. There has never been a study evaluating vaccinated vs. non vaccinated populations. There is a bill currently in front of congress to accomplish just this. Please support it, if it makes the senate floor. Read more http://theeducatedparent.blogspot.com/2008/02/dr-boyd-haley-response-to-study.html

3.There has never been a study evaluating the long term impact of 26 to 32 vaccines by age 2.

4.The study so often referenced, as proof of no harm, is the Denmark study. That population is in no way comparable to the US because they have a much less aggressive vaccine schedule. Google this study. You will find it referenced by many experts and critisized by many more.

5. There has never been a study conducted evaluating the safety of combined shots in one visit.

To educate yourself, I would highly recommend

1. the book by Aviva Jill Romm, Vaccination; A Thoughtful Parents Guide. She talks in depth about vaccines and each disease and the risks associated with the disease vs. the possible risk of the vaccine.

2. Also, I hear Dr. Robert Sears book, The Vaccine Book is very good and he gives an alternate schedule

3. This is an excellent article by Dr. Sears, about the high content of aluminum in vaccines http://theeducatedparent.blogspot.com/2008/03/in-recognition-of-autism-awareness.html

4.Here is a superb explanation of the research concerns from Dr. Boyd Haley, the head of the Chemistry Dept at Kentucky State University. http://theeducatedparent.blogspot.com/2008/02/dr-boyd-haley-response-to-study.html.

5. The National Vaccine Information Center is another good source http://www.909shot.com/.

6.And here's information on obtaining a waivers in all 50 states http://www.vaclib.org/exemption.htm . Don't believe that you MUST vaccinate to enter your child in school or daycare. All states provide a right to waiver...they just don't make that right common knowledge.

National Vaccine Advisory Comittee Shutting Out Parent Organizations Concerned with Vaccines

On April 11, the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) will hold their first Safety Group Meeting in Washington.

Their own charter calls for participation by representatives from "parent organizations concerned with immunization." This representation has not been granted. SafeMinds has submitted several requests for participation in the meeting with no response.

The deadline to request attendance was up at 4:00 p.m. today, April 9. I sent a request on behalf of SafeMinds this evening any way. I also sent a copy to my congressman and senators. They should be aware that the government is shutting us out once again.

I ask any one with any level of concern over vaccine safety to do the same. SafeMinds goals are defined below and they are very reasonable.
The following is a copy of my letter to my congressman and senators. It also contains a copy of the email that I sent to NVAC.

Consumer Representation Squashed at Upcoming National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) Safety Group Meeting

Senator Chambliss,
The National Vaccine Advisory Committee has violated their own charter by denying parent advocacy groups a seat at the table for their first meeting in Washington on April 11.

Following you will find a copy of the email that I have sent to them, requesting that SafeMinds be given a seat at this meeting. I thought you should be aware of this situation and the very reasonable and direct goals of SafeMinds.
Copy of email to NVAC
The charter for NVAC calls for participation by representatives from "parent organizations concerned with immunization." In light of this parents and advocacy groups with autism/vaccine safety concerns should have a seat at the table.

SafeMinds has requested of NVAC, without response, an expansion of the current consumer representation of this group to include one of SafeMinds Directors (Dr. Vicky Debold, or Mr. Mark Blaxill) to more accurately balance and diversify views essential to the task of this workgroup.

Currently, adequate consumer representation with regard to vaccines and their safety is trumped by the over-representation by those with a financial stake in increased vaccination (industry and providers) and with a bias in favor of traditional population-based immunization policy.

SafeMinds continues to advocate for the following in order to protect our children from harm.
* A comprehensive study of vaccinated vs. unvaccinated populations, or alternatively vaccinated populations is needed to accurately determine harm from mercury in vaccines and other toxicants. The Amish are one such group and there are others.
* • Vaccine studies must be conducted by individuals free from conflicts of interest with the vaccine industry and public health officials whose livelihood depends on vaccine promotion.
* The vaccine schedule must be tested for safety in terms of multiple vaccines being given during one visit and the overall number of vaccines in use for long-term adverse effects - it has never been done and should be integral to vaccine safety monitoring.
* Greater consumer representation within the work group and specific consumer representation of the autism vaccine concerns by SafeMinds Directors Dr. Vicky Debold and Mr. Mark Blaxill.

I have forwarded a copy of this letter to Congressman Tom Price and Senators Saxby Chambliss and John Isakson.

Regards,
Pamela Felice
concerned parent

Update

Yesterday the NVAC did agree to give Barbara Lowe Fisher from the National Vaccine Information Center and Peter Bell of Autism Speaks a seat on the Panel. However, a seat has also been given to Lisa Randall from Voices 4 Vaccines. As stated by Andventures in Autism, "Lisa Randall is a an attorney and "policy consultant" for Immunization Action Coalition, or Immunize.org, a group that is funded in part by the CDC and by pharmaceutical companies Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Wyeth, Sanofi Pasteur, Novartis, CSL iotherapies, MedImmune, and Baxter Healthcare Corp."

Voices 4 Vaccines has refused to disclose who sits on their board or where they get thier funding. So the question is, who does Lisa Randall really represent? There is certainly a transparency issue here. For the full story see the post titled "Lisa Randall, Vaccine Safety Working Group , Voices 4 Vaccines, The Task Force for Child Survival, Pharma Dollars and The World Bank"
on Adventures in Autism blog.

Jenny McCarthy and the Autism Dilemma

Excellent article. Allison Rose Levy well understands where many parents are coming from.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alison-rose-levy/jenny-mccarthy-and-the-au_b_95366.html

Bill O'Reilly Takes a Bite of the Vaccine Story. Maybe with encouragement he will sink his teeth in.

This evening Bill O'Reilly did a body language segment of Jenny McCarthy and her appearance on the Larry King Live vaccine debate of last week.

He was very respectful of McCarthy. He said is obviously very upset about what happened to her son, educated about the issue, unwilling to back down and the doctors were certainly afraid of her. His words with regard to the doctors were scared and uncomfortable.

I am hoping some of you might help me encourage O'Reilly to give this story more coverage.

Here's my email to him;

Mr. O'Reilly

Thank you so much for doing the body language segment of Jenny McCarthy from the Larry King Live show.

I think you where spot on with your analysis and you were quite respectful of Ms. McCarthy.

I am hoping you will cover the vaccine safety issue in greater depth. It is a very complex issue but one need not pick a side to realize something is wrong in terms of the evasiveness and "spin" of the CDC and AAP during the press coverage since the Hannah Polling concession.

They CDC flat refuses to appear on interviews that also host a vaccine reform advocate and their statements along with the AAP, are nonspecific as to how we are to know vaccines are safe, they often evade direct responses to questions and refer to studies that are steeped in criticism and controversy, not to mention special interest.

CNN, unlike Fox News, has dedicated themselves to this story but you are the only person I know with the audacity and agressiveness to truly expose the spin and evasiveness of the CDC and AAP.

Go get 'em
Pamela Felice

My show request to Bill O'Reilly; The CDC, The AAP, massive spin, misrepresentation of fact and unsupported accusations

I sent the following email to Bill O'Reilly last Thursday. 4/3, after the Larry King Vaccine Debate. I also called the show and asked them to run a "Body Language" segment based on this debate.

This evening I just heard the commercial for his Monday show and he is running a segment on the debate. At this point I don't know which angle he is taking but I can't wait to see it. He is billing it as, "Jenny McCarthy looses it on air over son's illness."

I am beginning to understand that one person can make a difference. I am sure that I am not the only person who emailed O'Reilly following the Larry King debate or that I am the only one who sent a request to Larry King to host a the vaccine debate. I also know he has been contacted by others for years. The point is...the efforts of all of us who share these concerns can make a difference with a collective voice.

I do hope he does the issue justice but, on the other hand, I think this is one of those issues where there is no such thing as bad press...I hope.

Bill

I know you love a good exposé. I’ve been watching the vaccine news and interviews very closely since the Hannah Polling case and I have been amazed by the spin, blow off, misrepresentation of fact and inconsistency of the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics.

I would love to see you expose them for their spin and evasiveness. It matters not whether you believe vaccines are safe or if you are neutral on the topic.
The most important point here is this…if you are a parent looking for real, solid information to help you feel good about this countries vaccine program, it is not being provided and the officials have had plenty opportunity this past month to do so.
Some examples;

From Julie Gerberding, Director of the CDC
Julie Gerberding, Director of the CDC was interviewed on CNN by Dr. Sanjay Gupta. She admitted that mitochondrial disease + vaccine induces fever or other vaccine reaction could stress the body and lead to autism (Mito dysfunction +vaccine reaction = autism) This was an ENORMOUS admission on her part. Dr. Gupta makes no response. Later in the same interview she says we know vaccines are safe. Double Talk.
She also stated in this interview that they take any possible link between vaccines and autism very seriously but then stated that she has not even read the Polling case which found that nine vaccines in one day lead to her autism.. This case was conceded in November and hit the press three weeks before the CNN interview yet she hasn’t even taken the time to read it. For video see Adventures in Autism Blog post March 31 titled Julie Gerberding Admits on CNN that Vaccines Trigger Autism


Dr. David Tayloe, President Elect of the American Academy of Pediatrics
Last night on CNN Larry King hosted a vaccine debate. One of the participants was Dr. David Tayloe, President Elect of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Tayloe stated that he had never reported a vaccine injury to VARS (vaccine adverse reaction reporting system) in all his years as a pediatrician. This was in the context of stating that vaccines are safe and he had never seen an injury .Interestingly the largest judgment against a doctor as result of a DPT vaccine injury was levied against Dr. Tayloe’s father in 1985 in the amount of $3.5 million. April 3 on Adventures in Autism. This is verified by Barbara Lowe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center who covered the story at the time.You should be able to find the video there or on You Tube this weekend.

On March 11 Dr. Tayloe was asked on The Today Show, "Do you believe that all vaccines should be used on every child?" His response, “Yes. I think any of the vaccines we have today have been tested and proven to be safe, and the credible studies don't show any relationship between vaccines and permanent injury. So we favor this and we know that unless we have vaccination rates that are in the 90 to 95% range we are not going to prevent epidemics from coming into this country of measles, of polio, from countries where these diseases are still endemic. So it’s very important that we vaccinate all our children."

Dr. Tayloe is lying (or at least grossly exaggerating) and he is admitting that his over riding concern is not that of any individual child. He knows that the very insert in every pharmaceutical package lists known possible permanent injuries that could occur. He knows that the governments Vaccine Adverse Reactions Reporting System exists to compensate people who ARE injured from vaccines and he makes it clear in his statement that the true concern is not your specific child but rather full compliance by all in order to maintain herd immunity. This man should not be allowed to take his post as President of the AAP. To view the video see youtube youtube.com/watch?v=3e5PH1YzhKY

Rear Admiral Anne Shuchat, Director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases

By ANNE SCHUCHATPublished on: 03/26/08 Atlanta Journal Constitution
She says
“David Kirby's March 20 opinion column, "Give Us Answers on Vaccines," misinterpreted available information about a case before the National Vaccine Injury Compensation program and may have parents wondering what is best for their child when it comes to immunizations.” She also says, "Kirby's column included many inaccuracies related to childhood vaccines."

But she does not tell us in the article where or how he is wrong specifically.

She goes on to say
"That is unfortunate, given that our nation's childhood vaccines are very safe and are proven to protect and save lives." And "Parents should know that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with other agencies in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the wide range of scientists and health professionals involved in the nation's immunization programs take seriously questions and concerns related to vaccine safety."

She however does not say anywhere in her article how we are to know they are safe or what actions they have taken to make them safe.

She does at least admit that;
"Vaccines are often given early in life in order to protect against diseases that can seriously harm infants and young children. The joint immunization recommendations of CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics and American Academy of Family Physicians do recognize there are instances when a child should not receive a recommended vaccine or when a recommended vaccination should be delayed."
That’s interesting. The head of the AAP, Dr. Taylor, said on the Today show on March 11 that all vaccines are safe for all children. You may verify this directly from the Atlanta Journal Constitution or read the excellent break down on Adventures in Autism post dated March 26, CDC Offers another Non Response on Autism and Vaccines in the AJC

As you can see these officials are offering no more than “just trust us” because we say so. They are offering no references to support their promises and in some cases are completely misrepresenting the facts. While at the same time auto immune diseases such as type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma and severe allergies, all auto immune, have sky rocketed and thousands of parents report that their normally developing children have been lost to autism after vaccination.

If you are interested in running this, I could give you more specifics regarding the research that “has not” been done. The research that has not been done would be required to prove they are safe. I can also provide reference to the scandal surrounding many of the studies that the CDC stands firmly on.*

A follow-up to my previous email; The CDC, The AAP, massive spin, misrepresentation of fact and unsupported accusations

1. Dr Tayloe, President Elect of the AAP, refused to say he would support the bill before congress that fund a study of the vaccinated vs. the unvaccinated population, on Larry King's debate (4/2/08). Why, what are they afraid of?

2. The CDC would not send someone to participate in the Larry King Live, vaccine debate. They refuse face the questions of concerned parents and doctors in an open forum. Why?

I also emailed David Kirby's article CDC Has Lost Control of the Autism Argument, Huffington Post, April 4

High Lights from the Larry King Debate

Ginger Taylor has written a great review of the Vaccine Debate which aired on the Larry King Live show last night.

http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.com/2008/04/jenny-mccarthy-and-david-kirby-on-larry.html

If you missed it she will be posting the video over the weekend.

The American Academy of Pediatrics to Work With Defeat Autism Now in Treating Autistic Children!

This is amazing...huge...unbelievable news! Thank you Ginger Taylor at Adventures in Autism for breaking this. For those of you who don't know Defeat Autism Now! is the group we have worked with in recovering Amelia and it is finally being recognized by the main stream. Praise the Lord! Now other children will more readily get the amazing help that Amelia has received.

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS RECOGNIZES WORLD AUTISM DAY , http://aap.org/advocacy/releases/apr08autismday.htm

Larry King Hosts Vaccine Debate - A few questions I would love to hear answered

Tomorrow evening Larry King will be hosting a vaccine debate at 9:00 p.m.

I can’t wait to see if anyone of significance shows up from the CDC or the American Academy of Pediatrics, i.e. Julie Gerberding, Paul Offit, Anne Schuchat, David Tayloe Jr. etc. as they have little to gain given they are standing on a house of cards.

Larry King is asking for questions (see Wednesday on his schedule) http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/larry.king.live/

Here are the questions that I would love to see answered;

How does the CDC and the AAP expect anyone to trust that vaccines have been proven safe when;

1. no study has been done that evaluates the long term impact of the schedule, from birth to two years, totaling 28 to 32 vaccines? Children have not been tracked long term in any study.

2. there has never been a study comparing the vaccinated vs. unvaccinated populations?

3. the most referenced study in the media, by those advocating vaccine safety, is the Denmark study. Why do the experts in this country reference a study from Denmark which evaluates safety against a population that does not compare to ours? They have a much less aggressive vaccine schedule in Denmark. Is there no similar study that holds up to scrutiny in the U.S?

Also,
"The FDA recommends that premature babies and those with impaired kidney function, receive no more than 10 to 25 mcg of injected aluminum at any one time," per Dr. Robert Sears in his article Is Aluminum the Next Thimerosal?, Mothering Magazine Jan/Feb 2008. Yet, also according to Dr. Sears, a two month old will receive between 295 mcg to 1225 mcg in their first round of vaccines, with these doses being repeated at 4 and 6 months. Again, that's 25 mcg vs. up to 1225 mcg three times by 6 months. The FDA states that excess levels of aluminum could result in nervous system damage and bone toxicity. Yet no study has been done to determine the maximum tolerable load of aluminum in healthy infants. Therefore how can we possibly trust that a vaccine program with this level of toxin can be safe?

There has been a lot of media coverage regarding vaccine safety since the Hannah Polling case broke last month. To track these developments go to http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.com.and view the March posts.

Is Aluminum the New Thimerosal? How can the FDA be so inconsistent in their guidelines?

In recognition of Autism Awareness Month, I want to share an article written by Dr. Robert Sears that I found very well referenced and concerning. The Drs. Sears are the Spock of our generation and are very well respected.

The article is titled Is Aluminum the New Thimerosal? and was published in the Jan/Feb '08 issue of Mothering Magazine. http://www.mothering.com/articles/growing_child/vaccines/aluminum-new-thimerosal.html

He discusses the inconsistency in FDA regulation as it pertains to the amount of aluminum allowed in all injectable drugs with the exception of vaccines, where there are no guidelines in place and the amounts present far exceed the limits set on other drugs.

If you have children please read this. This article exemplifies the many unanswered questions surrounding the safety of ingredients in vaccines and the effect they may have on immaturely developed infants. We all deserve informed consent with regard to the vaccines that are administered to our children and they should at least be held to the same standard as other drugs.

If you find this article the least bit concerning please forward the article to every parent you know.

Adventures in Autism: Pamela Felice on Actually Having a Vaccine Debate#links

Adventures in Autism: Pamela on Actually Having a Vaccine Debate#links

Vaccine Debate on the Oprah Show

Today I sent the following email to the Oprah Show, asking her to host a vaccine safety debate in recognition of Autism Awareness Month. I was also honored that Ginger at the Adventures in Autism ran my idea on her blog. In addition I emailed Jenny McCarthy at Talk About Curing Autism and asked her to encourage Oprah to run with this, http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.org/jenny/askjenny/ask-jenny-mccarthy-about-autism.htm.

If you like this suggestion, please email Oprah as well, http://www2.oprah.com/email/email_landing.jhtml

My Email to the Oprah Show:

With autism awareness month approaching in April and in light of the recent court ruling regarding Hannah Polling's vaccine related autism, I thought it might be interesting for Oprah to host a debate on the topic of vaccine safety.

Some suggested guests might include; David Kirby, author of Evidence of Harm, Dr. Robert Sears, Author of The Vaccine Book , Dr. Boyd Haley, head of the Chemistry Dept at Kentucky State University, Dr. Jerry Kertzinel, the DAN! Dr. treating Jenny McCarthy's son and Barbara Lowe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Ctr. on the Critic side.

Possible panelists who support the current vaccine program might include, Dr. Paul Offit, Dr. Julie Gerberding, Director of the CDC, a representative of the AmericanAcademy of Pediatrics and/or a representative of Every Child By Two.

I bet I can guess which side of that panel would decline the invitation. If they do all agree...it would certainly make for great television.

Another Great Jenny McCarthy Interview

Yet again, Jenny McCarthy does a great job speaking about vaccines and treating Autism.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7698061497812533517&hl=en-CA

Today Show Interview - Should You Vaccinate Your Kids?

March 11, 2008

Today Show Interview; Should You Vaccinate Your Kids?

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/

Why I Started This Blog

It is my strong belief that we, as parents, must take great care with the decisions we make on behalf of our children. It is our responsibility to make educated decisions rather than allowing the medical community and the state to mandate these decisions on us.

I think the philosophy of owning the responsibility of proactively making educated decisions on our children’s behalf and giving "informed consent" for their medical treatment applies both when deciding;

1. which vaccines, if any, you will allow your children to receive.

If Joe & I "choose" to allow our children to receive any vaccine, in the future, we will understand exactly what the disease risk is (or is not), what the likelihood is that it will provide full immunity, what the disease risks are if the vaccine does not provide immunity or if it "wears off" in the future and what are the potential injuries that our child could suffer from the vaccine. Autism concerns aside, the pharmaceutical insert inside every vaccine package will explain what the known risks are, as well as the injury table http://vaers.hhs.gov/pdf/ReportableEventsTable.pdf provided by the governments Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. This "system" exists because the government knows that some people do suffer injury from vaccination and this table provides a list of known reportable injuries. Injuries must be reported for the injured person to qualify for compensation resulting from the injury.

2. what treatments you should consider if you have a child who is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Sensory Processing Disorder, AD(H)D, Allergies or Asthma. Clinical experience and scientific research are showing children with any of the above have similar root cause, medical etiology. Medical treatment is available and recovery is possible.

It is our responsibility to advocate for our children and make informed decisions on their behalf rather than blindly turn them over to a doctor or the government and hope for the best.

Joe and I have learned this lesson the hard way and have watched other parents in our close inner circle learn the same at our children’s expense. Joe strongly encouraged me to start this blog and has cheered me on as it has slowly developed. It is our goal to share information that we wish we had before our first child was born.

CDC Rally Regarding Vaccine Safety

Update: This rally has been relocated to Washington D.C. due to permit issues

Please see the following link announcing a rally scheduled for June in front of the CDC regarding concerns over vaccine safety. This rally is sponsored by Talk About Curing Autism and Jenny McCarthy. I'll be there!

Also, please pass this along to any one you know is concerned about the safety of childhood vaccinations.

http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.org/jenny/cdc-rally/index.htm

My Letter to the President, My Congressman & Senators

This letter was sent in response to the Autism Communities grassroots campaign calling for the resignation of the CDC Director, Julie Gerberding. For more information Google "Julie Gerberding, resignation"

Monday, March 10, 2008

Dear Mr. President,

I am respectfully writing this morning to call for the resignation of Julie Gerberding, Director of the CDC in light of her very defensive and defiant comments resulting from the government ruling that vaccines played a role in the development of Hannah Polling’s Autism.

During Ms. Gerberdings six year tenure very little has been in done in terms of taking seriously the insistence of so many parents that their children regressed into autism immediately after receiving vaccinations. The CDC and others are trying to claim that Hannah’s case is unique. It is not. Up to 30% of autistic children have mitochondrial disorders and the story of how and when she regressed is extremely common among the parents of autistic children. By the way, news is breaking today that the court has actually conceded a number of similar cases prior to the Polling case.

It has always puzzled me why our own pediatrician and the media “experts” always reference the Denmark study as our steadfast evidence that thimerosal (mercury preservative) does not cause autism. Why do we in the U.S. need to refer to a study done in Denmark as our definitive proof. This study is riddled with questions regarding the appropriateness of comparing it to the U.S. population. And the mere fact that we have to look to Denmark for the best study is evidence of Ms. Gerberdings negligence in taking this issue seriously.

Oh yes, I certainly don’t want to forget the CDC’s Verstraten study on the effect of Thimerosal in vaccines. That one is steeped in controversy and ethical charges for manipulation of the data and conflict of interest. Yet it’s just about as good as we’ve got in this country. Pathetic.

One more point on vaccine research. Where’s the study that says 32 cumulative vaccines by the age of two is safe? Oh, that’s right no study exists. How can Ms. Gerberding stand before the American people and tell us to trust them on vaccine safety when there has been no study conducted to determine whether or not this sheer number of vaccines might have a negative immune or neurological effect. This number of vaccines alone might overwhelm the immune system not the mention the negative impact that aluminum, mercury, formaldehyde, etc. may have on the brain and body.

While autism diagnosis has jumped to one every 20 minutes, Ms. Gerberding has spent the last six years on the defensive regarding the role vaccines may play while little to nothing has been done to prove or disprove the role of vaccination in this epidemic.

It’s high time that the powers that be start listening to parents who have watched their healthy children slip away. Thousands of parents reporting the same observation of vaccination then decline need to be taken seriously and Ms. Gerberding has simply thumbed her nose at us all and for this she needs to go before she further erodes general confidence in the CDC.

Respectfully,

Pamela Felice

The Poling Case - Federal Gov't finds in favor of the parents that vaccines caused their daughter's autism

The following link will take you to Adventures in Autism and press coverage related to the Poling Case. The Good Morning America interview was very well done and further down the page you will find the Poling press conference held on March 6. http://feeds.feedburner.com/AdventuresInAutism

Dr. Boyd Haley Response to Study Claiming Vaccines Play No Role In Autism

In January of 2008, researchers at the California Department of Public Health published a paper in the Archives of General Psychiatry that was widely reported to show that vaccines play no role in autism. Noted researcher Boyd Haley has graciously given ARRI permission to publish his response to this study.-

RESPONSE TO 2008 R. SCHECHTER AND J. GRETHER PUBLCIATION “CONTINUING INCREASES IN AUTISM REPORTED TO CALIFORNIA 'S DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES SYSTEM” WHICH ADDRESSES CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DATA ON EVALUATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THIMEROSAL AND AUTISM

8 January 2008

by Boyd Haley, Professor of Chemistry, University of Kentucky , Lexington , KY

We should all consider that there are two top priorities in the vaccine/autism issue every American should be concerned with. We need to develop a safe vaccination program, and we need to find the cause of autism and eliminate it if possible. I have been a strong proponent of investigating thimerosal as the casual agent for autism spectrum disorders based on the biological science that shows thimerosal to be incredibly toxic, especially to infants. I know of nothing remotely as toxic as thimerosal that numerous infants would be exposed to before 3 to 4 years of age. Below I present several comments regarding this issue and the 2008 Schechter-Grether study that I think are relevant. Mainly, while the Schechter-Grether study appears to be a well done study it suffers from the fatal flaw of assuming that thimerosal was removed to safe levels in vaccines by 2002. They also cut a fine edge as to time when a significant drop in autism rates would be expected. Further, no study exists that proves our vaccine schedule alone is safe, let alone the current one that still exposes infants to thimerosal, a concern they do not address. The alarming concern is that these authors seem more involved at providing material saying thimerosal is safe than they are concerned with the obvious fact, openly presented in their own data on autism rates, which strongly indicated that increased rates of autism started with the CDC mandated vaccine program. References to support the comments are readily available in many recent publications.

1. Autism was not a known, described illness until about 1941-3, 8 to 10 years after the introduction of thimerosal and similar organic thiol-mercury compounds in biological mixtures used in medicine and other areas. This argues against autism being a genetic illness.

2. In 1977, 10 of 13 infants treated in a single hospital by topical application of thimerosal for umbilical cord infections died of mercury toxicity. This same topical was used on adolescents without obvious ill effects which strongly supports the concept that infants are very susceptible to thimerosal toxicity

.3. The recent increase (starting about 1990) of autism spectrum disorders correlated well with the advent of the CDC mandated vaccine program which increased thimerosal exposures with increased vaccinations. Due to its toxicity, thimerosal would have to be suspect for causing autism.

4. As expected by science, extensive searching for a genetic cause of autism has not turned up a significant find that would explain the recent increased rate in autism. The latest genetic find, at best, might explain 0.5% of autism causation. Most agree that a genetic predisposition is likely (like those that lead to low glutathione levels), but that a toxic exposure is absolutely needed. Consider also, that this increased toxic exposure would have had to occur in all 50 states at about the same time as all states have reported similar increases in autism rates. Only something like the government recommended vaccine program fits this need for a time dependent, uniform exposure of a toxin throughout all the states.

5. In the Schechter-Grether study it is implied or assumed that all thimerosal containing vaccines were gone by the end of 2002 due to their expiration dates. I don't think this is a valid assumption. I have talked to mothers who asked to see the vaccine inserts as late as 2004 and found thimerosal present as a preservative in infant vaccines being used in certain clinics. Also, in 2004 the influenza vaccine was recommended by the CDC for infants 6 months of age and older. It would appear as if a thimerosal free vaccine time-frame would be very hard to identify, if one ever existed. I have read that the average age of autism diagnosis is near 44 months of age. Therefore, while it does seem reasonable to expect a decrease in autism after 4 to 5 years of complete thimerosal removal, assuming a consistent diagnostic protocol was used, it appears this has not been accomplished. This means the Schechter-Grether study is likely somewhat premature in reaching the conclusions reported in that enough time has not passed for the expected decrease to occur and that they were quite optimistic in identifying the dates of thimerosal reduction and underestimate exposures occurring between 2002-4.

6. If, indeed, the complete removal of thimerosal from vaccines was not followed in an appropriate time by a decrease in autism then this would be solid proof that thimerosal was not causal for autism. However, thimerosal has not been completely removed from vaccines and thimerosal used at the original levels in the manufacturing of these vaccines with “trace” amounts left in the vaccines when bottled. I don't know what level “trace” is since it is not a term used in science to describe an actual amount. Some called the 12.5 micrograms mercury in the older vaccines a “trace” amount. Bottom line, the infants are still getting some level of thimerosal, a “trace” amount that is free and an amount of ethylmercury that is bound to the proteins that induce the immune response. If vaccines are causing autism and it appears this is a strong possibility based on the California data and, if removing thimerosal added as a preservative really does not reduce the autism rate then the causation is much more complex.Consider the possibilities that:

A. Autism may be caused by a thimerosal modified protein that sets off an immune response or causes some other biological reaction that can cascade with injurious effects. Since the vaccines are manufactured with thimerosal present in abundance it is quite likely that any cysteine containing proteins would be modified with ethylmercury. Removal of most of the free thimerosal (or just not adding it) would not decrease the level of any toxic modified protein produced during the vaccines production that might be causal. Removing the thimerosal added as a preservative would not decrease the amount of this ethylmercury modified protein in those vaccines with “trace” thimerosal levels.

B. That autism could be caused in susceptible individuals by very low thimerosal or ethylmercury modified protein exposures due to their genetic susceptibility or other factors (general health, gender). In this scenario the higher thimerosal exposures are not required and the induction of autism is not thimerosal concentration dependent at the old and new thimerosal vaccine levels, but just requires a significant exposure level that is met by the vaccines containing the lower “trace” amounts of thimerosal and past thimerosal levels in vaccine production processes. Bottom line, if genetic susceptibility is involved then causation of autism may not increase linearly with increased thimerosal exposure. Causation may only require low thimerosal exposure or exposure to modified proteins. It is possible that the reduction of thimerosal as in the “trace” was just not enough to produce a safe vaccine.

Not all toxins work like alcohol and the old “dose makes the toxin” is not always correct. As long as they are used, the mere use of “trace” thimerosal in vaccines along with higher levels in the flu vaccine will always prevent a conclusive answer to thimerosal's involvement in autism causation. What should be studied is the “no exposure” versus the “exposed” populations with regard to autism rates.

7. If indeed autism is rare among the non-vaccinated Amish populations, as reported by Dan Olmstead, I find it an amazingly oversight that the CDC and others responsible for infant health do not fund a study in this area. This study could go both ways, if the Amish have autism rates identical with the rest of the population the argument would be over---neither vaccines nor thimerosal would be causal for autism, and I personally would argue in this direction.

If, however, the autism rates in the Amish are exceptionally low then vaccines would have to be considered as a prime suspect in causation with the presence of the highly toxic thimerosal the main suspect. If the results in the 2008 Schechter-Grether study hold up with time, and complete removal of thimerosal does not cause a drop in autism rates and the autism rates in non-vaccinated populations are low then something else in the vaccines would have to be considered the major causation factor for autism. However, without doing the non-vaccinated population studies there cannot be a conclusive statement either way about either vaccines or thimerosal as being causal for autism. The steadfast refusal of the CDC and others to support such studies being done is part of the reason that many parents, scientists and physicians have severe doubts about the sincerity of their efforts to resolve this issue. This is how I think, when I review a paper submitted for publication I always ask why an obvious experiment wasn't done. The study of non-vaccinated populations is a very obvious experiment that the CDC and its supporters appear to refuse to consider. This makes me suspicious that this knowledge exists and is being suppressed because knowledge of the rate among the non-vaccinated population would answer many questions.

Finally, the Schechter-Grether study may be good news to the vaccine manufacturers and those who recommended and use the mandated vaccine program as it serves as manufactured uncertainty about the thimerosal involvement in autism causation. However, it presents a major concern to the parents and families of infants since it implies that our vaccines, even with most of the free thimerosal removed, may not be safe and that our CDC does not have a clue about what to do make them safe. Common sense would lead most to attack finding the cause of autism instead of trying to prove something besides thimerosal is causal. The major question is “are our vaccines causing autism”---only comparing the non-vaccinated to the vaccinated will answer this question. Common sense would have lead to this comparison being done first and being done 10-15 years ago. In the recent past I have recommended that parents vaccinate their children with thimerosal free vaccines as I considered them safe. If Schechter-Grether are correct, and vaccines, but not thimerosal, correlate with increased autism rates, then I am in error assuming vaccines are now safer with regards to autism risk than they were 2000.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------All information provided or published by Unlocking Autism is for information purposes only. Under Unlocking Autism Option Policy you are responsible for the choice of any treatment or therapy option or service provider. Specific treatment, therapy or services should be provided to an individual only at the direction of the individual's doctor, caregiver, or other qualified professional. References to any treatment or therapy option, program, service or treatment provider are not an endorsement by Unlocking Autism. References of treatments, therapies, programs, services, and/or providers are not intended to be comprehensive statements. You should investigate alternatives that may be more appropriate for a specific individual. Unlocking Autism assumes no responsibility for the use made of any information published or provided by Unlocking Autism. www.unlockingautismstore.org