by David Kirby and published by Age of Autism - Here
It is not accurate for members of the media to report that the link between vaccines has been “disproven.” This is especially true in light of recent news from the National Vaccine Advisory Committee, and a series of news items from the Federal Court of Claims, Federal health agencies, leading universities and top autism researchers around the country. There are now many reasons why the media should continue its coverage of this serious and ongoing debate:
THE NATIONAL VACCINE ADVISORY COMMITTEE (NVAC)
On Friday, February 27, a special group convened by The Keystone Center on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services’ National Vaccine Advisory Committee Vaccine Safety Working Group (NVAC VSWG) recommended appointing a panel of experts to explore the strengths and weaknesses of conducting studies on health outcomes in vaccinated vs. unvaccinated populations. The group, known as the “Salt Lake City Writing Group,” said it was “desirable” to include autism as one such health outcome.
As they stated in a draft “consensus statement”:
“(There is) a strong desire to study the health impact of the immunization schedule, potentially through a ‘vaccinated vs. unvaccinated study’. Outcomes to assess include biomarkers of immunity and metabolism, and outcomes including but not limited to neurodevelopmental outcomes, allergies, asthma, immune-mediated diseases, and learning disabilities. The inclusion of autism as an outcome is desired”
The Writing Group supported a recommendation to “charge an expert panel with evaluating study designs for research on the impact of the standard schedule of vaccination on an array of health outcomes of significant public interest. This draft charge is responsive to issues raised at community meetings in Alabama, Oregon, and Indiana as well as the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee request for collaboration with the National Vaccine Program Office.”
Writing Group members who drafted the statement included Federal and State health officials, Federal vaccine officials, CDC officials, and leaders of autism and vaccine safety advocacy groups. They included the following individuals:
Federal Health Agencies and Panels
CDC:
Roger Bernier, Ph.D., MPH, Senior Advisor, CDC
Elizabeth Skillen, PhD, MS, Policy Analyst, Immunization Safety Office, CDC
HHS:
Bruce Gellin, M.D., MPH, Director, HHS National Vaccine Program Office (NVPO) and Executive Secretary of NVAC
Dan Salmon, Ph.D., Vaccine Safety Specialist, HHS - NVPO
Ben Schwartz, M.D., former Associate Director for Science, HHS and Medical Director for CARE
NVAC:
Guthrie Birkhead, M.D., MPH Chair, HHS National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) and member of NVAC Vaccine Safety Working Group, also Deputy Commissioner, Office of Public Health, NY State Dept. of Health
Andrew Pavia, M.D., NVAC Member & Chair, NVAC Vaccine Safety Working Group and with Dept. of Pediatrics, Utah School of Medicine
Chris Carlson, Ph.D., NVAC Vaccine Safety Working Group Member, and with Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center, Seattle
Lance Gordon, Ph.D., NVAC and member of NVAC Vaccine Safety Working Group
James Mason, M.D., DrPH, NVAC Member and member of NVAC Vaccine Safety Working Group, former CDC Director and former Assistant Secretary of Health
Tawny Buck, member of NVAC Vaccine Safety Working Group, parent of DPT brain injured daughter
State & Local Public Health Agencies and Organizations
Anna Buchannan, MPH, Senior Director, Immunization & Infectious Disease, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO)
Jim Shames, M.D., Medical Director, Jackson County Health Department, OR
David Sundwall, M.D., Executive Director, Utah Department of Health
Collette Young; Ph.D., MS, Surveillance & Training Manager, Oregon Public Health Division, Immunization Program, OR Public Health Division
Robert Bednarczyk, NVAC Research Analyst, NY Department of Health
University/Academic
Joseph A. Bocchini, Jr., M.D., Professor & Chairman, Department of Pediatrics, Louisiana State University
Margaret Dunkle, Senior Fellow, Center for Health Policy Research, George Washington University and Director, Early Identification and Intervention Collaborative, LA County
Alan Greene, M.D., Clinical Profession, Division of General Pediatrics, Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford University School of Medicine;
Heather Zwickey, Ph.D., Dean of Research and Associate Professor of Immunology, National College of Natural Medicine, Oregon
Autism or Vaccine Organizations
Peter Bell, Executive Vice President, Programs and Services, Autism Speaks
Sallie Bernard, Executive Director, Safe Minds
Vicky Debold, PhD, RN, Director of Patient Safety, National Vaccine Information Center;
Barbara Loe Fisher, Co-founder & President, National Vaccine Information Center
Members of Public or Other Child Health Groups
Tracy Cron, RN and mother who attended the Birmingham public engagement workshop
Dennis Johnson, MS, Executive VP, Policy & Advocacy, Children's Health Fund, NYC
Debbie McCune Davis, Program Director, Arizona Partnership for Immunization, Arizona State Senator
(*PLEASE SEE THE DRAFT CONSENSUS STATEMENT at Age of Autism, link above)
Showing posts with label IACC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IACC. Show all posts
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Regarding the IACC actions - Autism, Vaccines and the CDC: The Wrong Side of History
by; R.F.K. Jr and David Kirby
Read the full article here
Even as the evidence connecting America's autism epidemic to vaccines mounts, dead-enders at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) -- many of whom promoted the current vaccine schedule and others with strong ties to the vaccine industry -- are trying to delay the day of reckoning by creating questionable studies designed to discredit any potential vaccine-autism link and by derailing authentic studies.
On January 12, a cadre of mid-level health bureaucrats left over from the Bush administration ignored Federal requirements for advance notice in order to vote to quietly strip vaccine research studies from funding allocated by Congress in the Combating Autism Act (CAA) of 2006. Members of Congress had said that this money should be used to study the vaccine-autism connection.
These rogue bureaucrats -- members of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee -- held an unannounced vote to remove previously approved vaccine studies from funding under the CAA. Nearly all of the "Federal" members of the panel voted to remove the two studies, whose estimated cost was $16 million - or 1.6% of the billion dollars authorized by Congress for autism. The panel's civilian members, in contrast, voted nearly unanimously to retain the funding.
IACC's action to halt vaccine-autism research flies in the face of congressional intent. The bill's authors clearly stated that vaccine research should be funded. Even the esteemed Institute of Medicine has condemned CDC's methods. In 2005, an IOM panel condemned CDC for its "lack of transparency" in vaccine-autism research.
Read the full article here
Even as the evidence connecting America's autism epidemic to vaccines mounts, dead-enders at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) -- many of whom promoted the current vaccine schedule and others with strong ties to the vaccine industry -- are trying to delay the day of reckoning by creating questionable studies designed to discredit any potential vaccine-autism link and by derailing authentic studies.
On January 12, a cadre of mid-level health bureaucrats left over from the Bush administration ignored Federal requirements for advance notice in order to vote to quietly strip vaccine research studies from funding allocated by Congress in the Combating Autism Act (CAA) of 2006. Members of Congress had said that this money should be used to study the vaccine-autism connection.
These rogue bureaucrats -- members of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee -- held an unannounced vote to remove previously approved vaccine studies from funding under the CAA. Nearly all of the "Federal" members of the panel voted to remove the two studies, whose estimated cost was $16 million - or 1.6% of the billion dollars authorized by Congress for autism. The panel's civilian members, in contrast, voted nearly unanimously to retain the funding.
IACC's action to halt vaccine-autism research flies in the face of congressional intent. The bill's authors clearly stated that vaccine research should be funded. Even the esteemed Institute of Medicine has condemned CDC's methods. In 2005, an IOM panel condemned CDC for its "lack of transparency" in vaccine-autism research.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Autism Action Alert: Protest Federal Autism Committee’s Deceitful Reversal on Vaccine-Autism Research
Autism Action Alert:
Protest Federal Autism Committee’s Deceitful Reversal on Vaccine-Autism Research
Click HERE to participate in the Autism Action Network, Action Alert
The inexcusable actions of the Federal members of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) in retracting vaccine-autism studies must be stopped. Sound science must move forward, not thwarted by Federal agencies with vested interests in on-going vaccine-autism injury litigation.
The autism advocacy organizations listed below implore parents of children with autism - and all those who care about the burgeoning rate of autism and its toll on the health of our children - to take immediate action.
We are asking you to write a letter of disapproval to key government decision-makers on autism. Click here to go to our web site. Once on our web site or, if you are reading this on our site, scroll down the web site page for a sample letter and instructions on sending messages to our Federal officials responsible for autism research. Your letter will be sent to President Obama, your Senators and Representatives, HHS Secretary Tom Daschle, the Senate HELP Committee, Senators Christopher Dodd, Joe Lieberman, and Edward Kennedy, and Congressmen Chris Smith and Joe Barton.
Your letters are needed NOW. The next IACC meeting is Wednesday, February 4, 2009 - less than two weeks away!
Here is what happened. Click here (http://www.safeminds.org/pressroom/iacc-blocks-vaccine-au...) here (http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/01/iacc-rescinds-vaccine-...) for more details.
In a highly unusual departure from procedure, government representatives to the IACC voted on January 14th against conducting studies on vaccine-autism research despite approval of the same studies at their prior meeting on December 12, 2008. The research was supported by numerous autism organizations and requested by IACC’s scientific work groups and Congress. The maneuver to re-vote was initiated by the IACC’s representative from the CDC and pushed through by the IACC Chair, Dr. Tom Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health of NIH. Review of the studies was not listed on the committee’s official agenda, in violation of normal committee practice.
Unlike most Federal advisory committees, the IACC is dominated by government representatives occupying 12 of the 18 seats. Dr. Insel admitted at the meeting that HHS agencies (which includes NIH and CDC) have a conflict of interest in conducting vaccine-autism research due to “Vaccine Court” litigation in which HHS is the defendant. Of the 6 non-government (public) members, 5 voted to retain the vaccine research at the January meeting. The lone dissenting public member resigned from her organization, Autism Speaks, the night before the meeting. Autism Speaks has issued a statement denouncing her vote.
The Federal members of the IACC must know that the autism community objects to their manipulation of committee procedures to block unbiased research on the possible link between vaccines and autism.
They must hear that parents demand reinstatement by the IACC of the vaccine studies that were already part of the IACC’s Autism Research Strategic Plan, and to restore the funding already allocated to this research.
They must acknowledge the inherent conflict of interest of the NIH/CDC in conducting research on vaccine safety. Research initiatives MUST be coordinated by an independent committee that includes equal numbers of representatives from the autism-vaccine injured community and conducted by independent and non-biased entities.
We also urge parents to attend the February 4th IACC meeting in Washington DC if they are able to. Click here for the IACC website http://iacc.hhs.gov/events/ to register. We encourage you to sign up to make a public comment at the meeting.
Autism Action Network (AAN)
Autism One
Autism Research Institute
Generation Rescue
National Autism Association (NAA)
SafeMinds
Schafer Report
Talk About Curing Autism (TACA)
U.S. Autism & Asperger Association
Unlocking Autism
Protest Federal Autism Committee’s Deceitful Reversal on Vaccine-Autism Research
Click HERE to participate in the Autism Action Network, Action Alert
The inexcusable actions of the Federal members of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) in retracting vaccine-autism studies must be stopped. Sound science must move forward, not thwarted by Federal agencies with vested interests in on-going vaccine-autism injury litigation.
The autism advocacy organizations listed below implore parents of children with autism - and all those who care about the burgeoning rate of autism and its toll on the health of our children - to take immediate action.
We are asking you to write a letter of disapproval to key government decision-makers on autism. Click here to go to our web site. Once on our web site or, if you are reading this on our site, scroll down the web site page for a sample letter and instructions on sending messages to our Federal officials responsible for autism research. Your letter will be sent to President Obama, your Senators and Representatives, HHS Secretary Tom Daschle, the Senate HELP Committee, Senators Christopher Dodd, Joe Lieberman, and Edward Kennedy, and Congressmen Chris Smith and Joe Barton.
Your letters are needed NOW. The next IACC meeting is Wednesday, February 4, 2009 - less than two weeks away!
Here is what happened. Click here (http://www.safeminds.org/pressroom/iacc-blocks-vaccine-au...) here (http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/01/iacc-rescinds-vaccine-...) for more details.
In a highly unusual departure from procedure, government representatives to the IACC voted on January 14th against conducting studies on vaccine-autism research despite approval of the same studies at their prior meeting on December 12, 2008. The research was supported by numerous autism organizations and requested by IACC’s scientific work groups and Congress. The maneuver to re-vote was initiated by the IACC’s representative from the CDC and pushed through by the IACC Chair, Dr. Tom Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health of NIH. Review of the studies was not listed on the committee’s official agenda, in violation of normal committee practice.
Unlike most Federal advisory committees, the IACC is dominated by government representatives occupying 12 of the 18 seats. Dr. Insel admitted at the meeting that HHS agencies (which includes NIH and CDC) have a conflict of interest in conducting vaccine-autism research due to “Vaccine Court” litigation in which HHS is the defendant. Of the 6 non-government (public) members, 5 voted to retain the vaccine research at the January meeting. The lone dissenting public member resigned from her organization, Autism Speaks, the night before the meeting. Autism Speaks has issued a statement denouncing her vote.
The Federal members of the IACC must know that the autism community objects to their manipulation of committee procedures to block unbiased research on the possible link between vaccines and autism.
They must hear that parents demand reinstatement by the IACC of the vaccine studies that were already part of the IACC’s Autism Research Strategic Plan, and to restore the funding already allocated to this research.
They must acknowledge the inherent conflict of interest of the NIH/CDC in conducting research on vaccine safety. Research initiatives MUST be coordinated by an independent committee that includes equal numbers of representatives from the autism-vaccine injured community and conducted by independent and non-biased entities.
We also urge parents to attend the February 4th IACC meeting in Washington DC if they are able to. Click here for the IACC website http://iacc.hhs.gov/events/ to register. We encourage you to sign up to make a public comment at the meeting.
Autism Action Network (AAN)
Autism One
Autism Research Institute
Generation Rescue
National Autism Association (NAA)
SafeMinds
Schafer Report
Talk About Curing Autism (TACA)
U.S. Autism & Asperger Association
Unlocking Autism
TACA: IACC Rescinds Vaccine Research Initiatives
The Inter-Agency Autism Coordinating Committee Meeting Rescinds Vaccine Research Initiatives from the Strategic Plan of Combating Autism Act
Statement prepared by TACA's Rebecca Estepp
January 16, 2009
What happened Wednesday January 14, 2009 in Bethesda, Maryland?
In a dramatic turn of events, the National Institute of Mental Health Director Thomas Insel, MD Chairman of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) called for a vote on a previously voted-on and approved decision to the Strategic Plan of the Combating Autism Act of 2006. December 2008, IACC approved two studies to address vaccine safety as it pertains to autism. The vote to reverse this previous decision was a surprise to the public members of IACC. It was not listed on the meeting’s agenda.
Who is IACC and what do they do?
IACC is made up of eighteen seats. Twelve members are government representatives and six members are from the general public. IACC is responsible for developing and updating the Strategic Plan for Autism Research under the mandate of the Combating Autism Act. They decide which studies get funding from the $940 million that was allocated to autism research under the Act. The two vaccine research studies in question totaled $16 million, less than two percent of the available funds.
What is the reason for the re-vote?
Ed Trevathan from the Centers of Disease Control (the government agency who promote the vaccine program) brought up the idea of removing the vaccine studies from the Strategic Plan. Dr. Insel agreed under the auspices of conflicts of interest since the Department of Health and Human Services is the defendant in Vaccine Court. Dr. Insel also felt that the National Institute of Health was poorly equipped to do vaccine research.
How did the vote go?
It was decided to reject the previously approved vaccine research studies by a vote of 11 to 7. Five out of six public committee members voted against rejecting the approved studies. The one lone public voice that voted with most of the government representatives was Alison Singer, former Executive Vice President of Autism Speaks.
What has been the fall out?
There has been plenty of fall out and this situation is only hours old. Autism Speaks has withdrawn its support of the Strategic Plan. They have issued a very good press release detailing the events of the meeting. Read it HERE.
Alison Singer no longer works for Autism Speaks. It gets even more interesting. The Autism Speaks’ Press Release was issued early in the afternoon on January 15th. A few hours later a new press release came out by Every Child by Two about Alison Singer’s departure from Autism Speaks. Read about it HERE.
Does this mean that Alison Singer will be working at Every Child by Two? That is not clear.
The Strategic Plan has lost support from Safe Minds (Sensible Action For Ending Mercury-Induced Neurological Disorders). Safe Minds is also asking incoming Health and Human Services Secretary Daschle to remove the National Institute of Mental Health as the lead agency for autism research. They have another request to Congress to get the repealed studies reinstated.
TACA supports both Safe Minds & Autism Speaks press release and response to the recent IACC actions. In light of the recent Mind Institute Study (Reference HERE) environmental research including vaccines must be completed as part of the Combating Autism Act funding.
Silver Lining?
There may be a silver lining to these actions. Dr. Insel brought up a good point, although, it may not have been his intent. Our country does need truly independent vaccine research. The department of Health and Human Services is the defendant of Autism Omnibus Cases; it is a conflict of interest in having them research vaccine safety. Independent studies are something the autism community must demand.
Alison Singer left her position at Autism Speaks. Alison was not friendly to the bio-med and environmental research community. With her departure, there could be an easing of the relationships between Autism Speaks and the bio-med / environmental research community.
There is also a feeling that the repeal of this IACC vote is tantamount to the 2002 Homeland Security Rider which briefly gave exoneration (it was later repealed) to the drug companies for injuries that occur because of vaccination. That rider was so egregious that it got the attention of a journalist named David Kirby. Look how that turned out. Hopefully we have the same situation here.
What to do?
The response plan is still being hammered out by many of the Autism Organizations. In the next weeks, we may have call to actions for parents, friends and family to take part in as this situation evolves. Please check the TACA website and E-news for more information.
See original press release here
Statement prepared by TACA's Rebecca Estepp
January 16, 2009
What happened Wednesday January 14, 2009 in Bethesda, Maryland?
In a dramatic turn of events, the National Institute of Mental Health Director Thomas Insel, MD Chairman of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) called for a vote on a previously voted-on and approved decision to the Strategic Plan of the Combating Autism Act of 2006. December 2008, IACC approved two studies to address vaccine safety as it pertains to autism. The vote to reverse this previous decision was a surprise to the public members of IACC. It was not listed on the meeting’s agenda.
Who is IACC and what do they do?
IACC is made up of eighteen seats. Twelve members are government representatives and six members are from the general public. IACC is responsible for developing and updating the Strategic Plan for Autism Research under the mandate of the Combating Autism Act. They decide which studies get funding from the $940 million that was allocated to autism research under the Act. The two vaccine research studies in question totaled $16 million, less than two percent of the available funds.
What is the reason for the re-vote?
Ed Trevathan from the Centers of Disease Control (the government agency who promote the vaccine program) brought up the idea of removing the vaccine studies from the Strategic Plan. Dr. Insel agreed under the auspices of conflicts of interest since the Department of Health and Human Services is the defendant in Vaccine Court. Dr. Insel also felt that the National Institute of Health was poorly equipped to do vaccine research.
How did the vote go?
It was decided to reject the previously approved vaccine research studies by a vote of 11 to 7. Five out of six public committee members voted against rejecting the approved studies. The one lone public voice that voted with most of the government representatives was Alison Singer, former Executive Vice President of Autism Speaks.
What has been the fall out?
There has been plenty of fall out and this situation is only hours old. Autism Speaks has withdrawn its support of the Strategic Plan. They have issued a very good press release detailing the events of the meeting. Read it HERE.
Alison Singer no longer works for Autism Speaks. It gets even more interesting. The Autism Speaks’ Press Release was issued early in the afternoon on January 15th. A few hours later a new press release came out by Every Child by Two about Alison Singer’s departure from Autism Speaks. Read about it HERE.
Does this mean that Alison Singer will be working at Every Child by Two? That is not clear.
The Strategic Plan has lost support from Safe Minds (Sensible Action For Ending Mercury-Induced Neurological Disorders). Safe Minds is also asking incoming Health and Human Services Secretary Daschle to remove the National Institute of Mental Health as the lead agency for autism research. They have another request to Congress to get the repealed studies reinstated.
TACA supports both Safe Minds & Autism Speaks press release and response to the recent IACC actions. In light of the recent Mind Institute Study (Reference HERE) environmental research including vaccines must be completed as part of the Combating Autism Act funding.
Silver Lining?
There may be a silver lining to these actions. Dr. Insel brought up a good point, although, it may not have been his intent. Our country does need truly independent vaccine research. The department of Health and Human Services is the defendant of Autism Omnibus Cases; it is a conflict of interest in having them research vaccine safety. Independent studies are something the autism community must demand.
Alison Singer left her position at Autism Speaks. Alison was not friendly to the bio-med and environmental research community. With her departure, there could be an easing of the relationships between Autism Speaks and the bio-med / environmental research community.
There is also a feeling that the repeal of this IACC vote is tantamount to the 2002 Homeland Security Rider which briefly gave exoneration (it was later repealed) to the drug companies for injuries that occur because of vaccination. That rider was so egregious that it got the attention of a journalist named David Kirby. Look how that turned out. Hopefully we have the same situation here.
What to do?
The response plan is still being hammered out by many of the Autism Organizations. In the next weeks, we may have call to actions for parents, friends and family to take part in as this situation evolves. Please check the TACA website and E-news for more information.
See original press release here
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