AGE OF AUTISM

Connie Howard of Vue Weekly Interviews Dr. Andrew Wakefield

Read and comment at Edmonton's Vue Weekly online. Thank you to VL for the link.

By Connie Howard (health@vueweekly.com)

It turns out I didn't get an inch past the shoreline when I dipped my toes into the Andrew Wakefield Lancet paper retraction story a few weeks ago, so I decided to revisit it. To give the man at the centre of the controversy the opportunity to respond to media statements being made about his ethics and integrity, I contacted him.

To recap, The Lancet retracted Wakefield's 1998 paper suggesting a potential link between the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and the bowel disorders he was seeing in his autistic patients. Journalists and medical professionals alike have been cheering ever since: the so-called hoax and vaccine conspiracy theory has been exposed, and we can now apparently relax in the safety of the MMR vaccine.

I asked Wakefield if it was true that he'd been paid over 400 000 pounds by trial lawyers working to prove the vaccine unsafe. "I worked as a medical expert for nine years on the MMR litigation," he wrote in an email. "When the case folded because Legal Aid was withdrawn, the lawyers refused to pay what was owed and the costs judge took a lot of the fees back from the various experts. What I did earn was donated to an initiative to build a new centre for gastroenterology care and research at the Royal Free [in London]. Unfortunately I was forced out and it never got built."

Not a single penny of Legal Aid Board (LAB) money was spent on the Lancet paper. A LAB grant was provided for a separate viral detection study, but the Lancet paper had been submitted for publication before the LAB grant was even available.

What about allegations that Wakefield had been working for a company making a rival vaccine? He was involved in developing a nutritional immune stimulant they hoped would clear up chronic vaccine-induced measles infection. But this, he says, "could in no way have competed with a live viral vaccine and was not intended for that purpose. The patent was owned by the medical school and not by me. It was never progressed."

The charge that Wakefield is responsible for new outbreaks of measles, mumps and rubella is, to my mind, absurd. Parents have become wary of vaccines, true, but this, it seems to me, is the doing of vaccines, not of Dr Wakefield.

DAN! Conference Baltimore, MD Offers Financial Aid to Families Seeking Autism Treatments

We are pleased to announce that the Spring Conference in Baltimore April 8-11 will offer a variety of financial support options for families, including:

EARLY BIRD RATE:
$69/day or buy all 3 days for $179

ANGEL DISCOUNT
Thanks to generous support from our conference exhibitors, families in need are invited to register at a reduced "Angel" rate - select this rate if you are truly unable to pay the regular rate - no questions asked. Funds are limited and available on a first-come/first-served basis.
You must pre-register online to receive this rate while funds last - Angel discounts are not available at on site registration.

VOLUNTEERS
Free admission for volunteers on the days worked - slots are limited - first-come/first served. Volunteers are able to attend General, Science or Friday Nutrition Seminar sessions in exchange for volunteering to help with registration or serve as a badge checker at the doors of the lecture halls. (Volunteers may not attend clinician seminars)
You must preregister online to volunteer while slots are available - volunteering opportunities are not available at on site registration.

STUDENT & MILITARY DISCOUNT
We also continue to offer 15% discounts for students and active members of the military. (ID required at check-in)

Click HERE to learn more and to register.

The treatment category is sponsored by Lee Silsby, the leader in quality compounded medications for autism.

Autism Speaks Undercuts NY Autism Health Insurance Reform

The following is an action alert from The Autism Action Network. There is an automatic email action alert below the jump including phone numbers to Autism Speaks to ask them to support the broadly embraced S6123 "Autism Speaks' bill contains vague language that doesn't compel insurance companies to cover any specific treatments, services or therapies. And would require any treatments to be approved by three separate state agencies. There is no time line for the agencies to act and no money to pay for staff. It is a recipe for inaction.:

Autism Speaks gravely jeopardized the chances of real autism health insurance reform in New York State last Friday by undercutting a bill supported by every national and statewide autism advocacy organization in the state by introducing into the legislature their own watered down bill written by a lobbying firm who represent both major health insurance companies and Autism Speaks.
 
Autism Speaks unilateral action undercuts Senate Bill S6123, the bill the autism community in New York has been working to pass for 15 months to get real autism health insurance reform.
 
The Community Bill This has no annual spending caps; no age limits, and requires coverage of medical specialists, and therapies including applied behavior analysis, occupational, physical and speech. In short the same kind of coverage that is provided for disorders other than autism.
 
In an unprecedented show of support, the Community Bill has been endorsed by groups as diverse as the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics along with SAFEMINDS and Generation Rescue as well as the Autism Society of America and the Global and Regional Asperger Syndrome Project. And it has significant bipartisan support.
 
Autism Speaks has been approached dozens of times since the fall of 2008 about working with a statewide coalition. But they have steadfastly refused to work with anyone. And coming in at this late hour with a competing bill provides the legislators a perfect excuse to do nothing.
 
Here are some of the groups backing S6123, the Community Bill:
 
The Medical Societies of the State of New York (the AMA)
American Academy of Pediatrics, Chapter 2
NYS School Board Association
NYS Speech, Hearing and Language Association
NYS Occupational Therapy Association
Autism Action Network
Autism Action NY
Autism One
Autism United
Autism Society of America (National)
ASA, Albany Chapter
ASA, The Bronx
ASA, Hudson Valley
ASA, Nassau/Suffolk
ASA, Western New York
Foundation for Autism Information and Research
Generation Rescue
Global and Regional Asperger Syndrome Project
National Autism Association, New York Metro Chapter,
New York Families for Autistic Children
Project Link
SAFEMINDS
Schafer Autism Report
Talking About Curing Autism
Upstate New York Families For Effective Autism Treatment
Upstate New York Autism Awareness
United State Autism and Asperger Association
YAI
 
No groups other than Autism Speaks are supporting their bill.

Best of AoA: JB Handley on Henry Waxman "Father of the Autism Epidemic"

Managing Editor's Note: We ran this post in October of 2008. We're running it today as background about the 1986 law that is being challenged in the Supreme Court (see HERE.)
 
By J.B. Handley

Almost 22 years ago, on October 20, 1986, the Los Angeles Times ran a story regarding a controversial bill making its way through Congress, the headline shouted:

REAGAN LIKELY TO VETO VACCINE COMPENSATION BILL

The story went on to explain the highly divisive nature of the bill, intended to shield vaccine makers from liability, and the Reagan administration was speaking out to express their opposition:

In a strongly worded letter to House Speaker Tip O'Neil, the then secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Otis R. Bowen said, "The bill is likely to do little to assure the vaccine supply or to improve our childhood immunization efforts."

Assistant Attorney General John R. Bolton, writing to the Head of the House Judiciary Committee on behalf of the Department of Justice, said the White House opposed the legislation because it was creating, "a major new entitlement program for which no legitimate need has been demonstrated."

Ronald Reagan himself was troubled by the vaccine compensation bill and was quoted as saying, "Although the goal of compensating those persons is a worthy one, the program has…serious deficiencies."

The Reagan administration seemed to be particularly concerned with two issues: who was going to pay for the compensation required for vaccine injury, and the precedent of the federal government indemnifying private companies from liability.

A Special Announcement from the National Autism Association

All of us at the National Autism Association would like to extend our thoughts and prayers to our Founder, Joanne Pike, and her family. This week, Jo was diagnosed with stage IV cancer.

Jo is a wife and mother of four children. Her youngest son, Hunter, became the inspiration for Jos advocacy work after he was diagnosed with autism. She founded NAA in 2003 based on extraordinary hope for Hunter and all those affected by autism. Since that time, thousands of families in the autism community have received financial assistance, support, helpful information, and most of all the encouragement to never give up on finding answers for their children. Her strength, faith and ambition have made NAA one of the largest autism nonprofits in the country today and a leader in advocating for childrens rights, resources, research, therapy and treatments. Its this same extraordinary strength, faith and ambition we believe will help Jo win her battle against cancer.

We ask for your support, prayers, and well wishes for Jo. Please pray for her swift and strong recovery and add her to your prayer groups and lists.

If anyone can beat this, it's Jo.

With the hope NAA was founded upon,

The NAA Team

Listen to Sandy Gottstein of Vaccination News on the Sam Bushman Program

Listen to Sandy Gottstein of Vaccination News on Liberty News Radio here.

Vaccination News is published in order to provide a wide range of news and views on vaccinations and vaccination policy. By providing all sides of the vaccination controversy, it is believed the public/consumer will be best equipped to make reasoned decisions regarding vaccination use, decisions which will have profound implications for them and their family’s health. By providing all sides of the vaccination controversy, it is also believed that readers will recognize both the complexity of the controversy and the dearth of good information available to them. You can subscribe HERE.

RFK Jr on HuffPo: "Central Figure in CDC Vaccine Cover-Up Absconds With $2M"

Click HERE to read the full post and comment over at HuffPo. Thank you, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. 

A central figure behind the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) claims disputing the link between vaccines and autism and other neurological disorders has disappeared after officials discovered massive fraud involving the theft of millions in taxpayer dollars. Danish police are investigating Dr. Poul Thorsen, who has vanished along with almost $2 million that he had supposedly spent on research.

Thorsen was a leading member of a Danish research group that wrote several key studies supporting CDC's claims that the MMR vaccine and mercury-laden vaccines were safe for children. Thorsen's 2003 Danish study reported a 20-fold increase in autism in Denmark after that country banned mercury based preservatives in its vaccines. His study concluded that mercury could therefore not be the culprit behind the autism epidemic.

His study has long been criticized as fraudulent since it failed to disclose that the increase was an artifact of new mandates requiring, for the first time, that autism cases be reported on the national registry. This new law and the opening of a clinic dedicated to autism treatment in Copenhagen accounted for the sudden rise in reported cases rather than, as Thorsen seemed to suggest, the removal of mercury from vaccines. Despite this obvious chicanery, CDC has long touted the study as the principal proof that mercury-laced vaccines are safe for infants and young children. Mainstream media, particularly the New York Times, has relied on this study as the basis for its public assurances that it is safe to inject young children with mercury -- a potent neurotoxin -- at concentrations hundreds of times over the U.S. safety limits.

Thorsen, who was a psychiatrist and not a research scientist or toxicologist, parlayed that study into a long-term relationship with CDC. He built a research empire called the North Atlantic Epidemiology Alliances (NANEA) that advertised its close association with the CDC autism team, a relationship that had the agency paying Thorsen and his research staff millions of dollars to churn out research papers, many of them assuring the public on the issue of vaccine safety.

The discovery of Thorsen's fraud came as the result of an investigation by Aarhus University and CDC which discovered that Thorsen had falsified documents and, in violation of university rules, was accepting salaries from both the Danish university and Emory University in Atlanta -- near CDC headquarters -- where he led research efforts to defend the role of vaccines in causing autism and other brain disorders. Thorsen's center has received $14.6 million from CDC since 2002...  Click HERE to read the full post and comment over at HuffPo. Thank you, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. 

NBC 11 Atlanta Reports: Vaccine Researcher Flees with $2M

Age of Autism has been covering the story of Dr. Poul Thorsen, architect of the "Danish study" that exonerated vaccines as a cause of autism, see: Poul Thorsen's Mutating Resume and First Fraud: Dr. Poul Thorsen and the original “Danish Study” and Danish Scientist Absconds with $2 million, Poul Thorsen "Proved" Vaccines Don't Cause Autism 

Jayne Watson of 11alive.com Atlanta had this story last night.

ATLANTA -- A Danish scientist who was a lead researcher in two studies that purport to show that mercury used in vaccines do not cause autism is believed to have used forged documents to steal $2 million from Aarhus University in Denmark.

Dr. Poul Thorsen was also a research professor at Emory University from 2003 until June of 2009. Emory University officials gave no reason for Thorsen's departure.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded research conducted by Thorsen and his colleagues at Aarhus University.

The CDC asked the researchers to conduct studies to determine whether thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative and adjuvant used in vaccines, played ay role in causing autism.

The results of the studies, that there was no link between vaccines containing mercury and autism, formed the foundation for the conclusions of several Institute of Medicine reports.

In a statement Aarhus University officials said Thorsen forged documents supposedly from the CDC to obtain the release of $2 million from the university.

Autism advocacy groups are demanding his studies be given a closer look. Those same groups have long claimed that the results of the studies were suspect. (We've linked the video below, but it appears to be unavailable. URL is HERE.) More copy from the report is below the jump. Please scroll down.

Poul Thorsen's Mutating Resume

By Dan Olmsted and Mark Blaxill
 
In bits and pieces, in Danish and English, from three universities in two hemispheres and the CDC in Atlanta, a picture has begun forming in the past few days that is already startling in its outline: Paul Thorsen, one of the key scientists involved in CDC-backed studies exonerating vaccines as a cause of autism, is under investigation for collecting millions of dollars in bogus “grant” money, misrepresenting himself to his employers and the world and possibly forging the documents that enabled the scam.
 
Even more astonishing, it appears the CDC and several other major autism research centers have known about this for months and stayed publicly silent, even as the debate over autism and vaccines has reached several decisive moments -- and a new decision is expected any day from U.S. vaccine court. The CDC in particular would have a hard time claiming ignorance about the suspected crime -- at least three of the forged documents were in the agency’s name, and it helped uncover the fraud last year.
 
In addition, several current CDC employees including Drs. Diana Schendel, Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp and Catherine Rice were affiliated with Thorsen’s now-defunct research group. Age of Autism has obtained Internet-archived pages from the Web site of the North Atlantic Neuro-Epidemiology Alliances (NANEA) that list the members of the “Atlanta autism team” including Schendel, Yeargin-Allsopp and Rice, all of whom have been in leadership positions in the CDC’s autism epidemiology projects. Schendel is described as NANEA’s “coordinator at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, USA.” (The CDC did not respond to phone and e-mail requests for comment.)
 
Meanwhile, Thorsen apparently continues his involvement on an American Psychiatric Association committee that is revising the classification of autism for the next Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – a change that could affect how the prevalence of the disorder is calculated and its victims compensated and treated. (The APA did not respond to phone and e-mail requests for comment.)
 
Thorsen’s resume, dated Jan. 22, 2010, remains on the DSM 5 Working Group members page. (View HERE.) He lists himself as “Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.” (Calls and e-mails to Drexel seeking confirmation of his status there have gone unanswered.)
 
There is also an earlier Thorsen resume still available on an APA directory dated Jan. 12, just 10 days earlier, (View HERE) that differs substantially from the Jan. 22 update.  On that earlier resume, Thorsen calls himself “Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health, University of Aarhus, Denmark, & Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, USA.”
 
What happened in 10 days to change Thorsen’s bona fides so substantially – going from apparently tenured positions at two leading autism research universities to a part-time adjunct professorship at another school?
 
Follow the chronology: On Jan. 22 – the day the new resume is dated – the University of Aarhus issued a statement "to whom it may concern" (View HERE) contradicting key parts of that first resume: “In March 2009, Dr. Thorsen resigned his faculty position at Aarhus University,” the statement said, meaning, obviously, he could not have been an associate professor of epidemiology as he was claiming as late as Jan. 12, 2010. “In the meantime, it has come to the attention of Aarhus University that Dr Thomsen [sic] has continued to act in such a manner as to create the impression that he still retains a connection to Aarhus University after the termination of his employment by the university.” Of course, one way this could have come to its attention was through a resume posted at the American Psychiatric Association in which Thorsen still stated exactly that.
 
“Furthermore,” the statement said, “it has come to the attention of Aarhus University that Dr Poul Thorsen has held full-time positions at both Emory University and Aarhus University simultaneously. Dr Thorsens [sic] double Full-time employment was unauthorised by Aarhus University, and he engaged in this employment situation despite the express prohibition of Aar- hus University.”

The Supreme Court Takes Bruesewitz v. Wyeth: Is There Justice for Vaccine Injury Victims?

By Mary Holland, Esq. and Jim Moody, Esq.

On March 8, the Supreme Court voted to hear Bruesewitz v. Wyeth, an appeal from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.  The Supreme Court will decide whether a vaccine-injured child has the right to pursue a traditional "design defect" claim under state tort law when "Vaccine Court" refuses compensation.  The Supreme Court must interpret the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act and decide whether Congress intended to "preempt" all industry tort liability when it wrote, “No vaccine manufacturer shall be liable…if the injury or death resulted from side effects that were unavoidable even though the vaccine was properly prepared and was accompanied by proper directions and warnings.”

Did Congress intend to extinguish the right to sue for all defective vaccine designs in civil court?  While the statutory language is awkward and thus somewhat opaque, Congress’s legislative intent was not – the statute as a whole shows clearly that Congress intended to leave civil courthouse doors open for petitioners who elect to leave Vaccine Court to sue for design defects.  Lower courts, nonetheless, have decided the question both ways.  So the Supreme Court must step in and resolve the conflict.  The stakes are high: whether a person injured by a vaccine can challenge the safety of the design in any court in the United States.

A three judge panel of the Third Circuit unanimously decided in March 2009 that petitioner Hannah Bruesewitz did not have the right to sue vaccine manufacturer Wyeth, Inc. to assert that its vaccine design was unsafe.  [See Bruesewitz-Decision]  Hannah was born in October, 1991, and received her third DPT shot on schedule on April 1, 1992.  Shortly thereafter she developed "residual seizure disorder," recognized as a Table Injury at the time, meaning that causation was presumed.  "Residual seizure disorder" was deleted from the Table just one month before she filed her case.  Finally, on December 20, 2002, more than ten years later, Vaccine Court categorically rejected her claim.  This hardly complies with Congress’ promise in the 1986 NCVIA that awards be “made to vaccine-injured persons quickly, easily, and with certainty and generosity.”  The Bruesewitz family argues that the safer acellular DTaP vaccine was long available by the time Hannah received the DPT and suffered seizures, and that her vaccine injury was avoidable had the manufacturer used this demonstrably safer vaccine design.

Before Bruesewitz, in October 2008, the Supreme Court of Georgia came out in the exact opposite way in Ferrari v. American Home Products, Inc.  That nine member court decided unanimously that petitioners could pursue their claim for a vaccine design defect in state civil court.  [See Ferrari decision]  The Ferrari family alleged that the mercury-containing preservative in his childhood vaccines, thimerosal, contributed to his autism.  AoA discussed the Ferrari decision HERE. 

In a recent development, the Ferrari family decided to voluntarily withdraw their claim at the trial court level without prejudice – in other words, the family decided that now is not the most auspicious time to continue the lawsuit, for whatever reason.  Most commentators, although not all, believe that the Ferraris could reopen their lawsuit later, if they chose to, while the child is still a minor.  So, while Bruesewitz and Ferrari interpret the 1986 statute in diametrically opposite ways, the Supreme Court has decided to hear the Bruesewitz case as the vehicle to resolve the conflict.

Did Kathleen Sebelius Pressure Media to Deny Vaccine Safety Voices?

By Jake Crosby

"There are groups out there that insist that vaccines are responsible for a variety of problems despite all scientific evidence to the contrary. We have reached out to media outlets to try to get them to not give the views of these people equal weight in their reporting to what science has shown and continues to show about the safety of vaccines,” (HERE) according to HHS Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, in her interview with Arthur Allen for The Reader’s Digest, on February 5th of this year. Sebelius basically admitted to pressuring media outlets to report disinformation to the public in place of information that does not support the safety of the government’s most heavily promoted drug. As shocking as this statement was the first time I read it, I honestly could have predicted such a scenario.

One year ago, I wrote a short post for Age of Autism entitled “History Suggests HHS Candidate Not Unbiased on Thimerosal-Vaccine Issue,” amidst the Brian Deer-concocted hysteria and the flurry over autism cases in vaccine court. It was written in response to a number of disturbing things I read at the time about members of her staff dismissing concerns about thimerosal when she was Governor of Kansas. I was disappointed with the lack of mobilization in response to my post, though the timing of her nomination was very unfortunate. What was especially disappointing was that she replaced Senator Tom Daschle, who helped kill the Homeland Security Rider that would have protected thimerosal manufacturers such as Eli Lilly from litigation.

Worst of all, I was right. When I first saw her interviewed for CBS by Katie Couric last year, Sebelius confirmed that she was biased when she insisted thimerosal was safe. I was disappointed, but not shocked. Now as it turns out, she not only believes thimerosal is safe, but is getting the media outlets to say so for her. The New York Times, The LA Times, The Chicago Tribune, USA Today, The Washington Post, TIME, Wired…I can only guess!

It goes without saying that the government is no more entitled to its share of media coverage than consumer groups are. That news reporters are even following through on the government’s demands is unacceptable and in violation of journalism ethics.

Government officials like Sebelius have also launched a very successful two-pronged campaign so far. The first is one of positive publicity and self-promotion, selling themselves as the “experts” in autism. In reality, public health officials are not experts in autism at all, and Sebelius’ specialty is in insurance, which means her background does not even give her the most vague knowledge about autism. Meanwhile, Paul Offit feigns authority in a favorite argumentative technique claiming, “Science is best left to scientists.” Yet the real scope of his knowledge is made clear on posts he had written for “Science”Blogs, in which he said he learned about autism primarily through newspapers and lay people with personal connections to the disorder.

South Carolina Faces Huge Disabilities Budget Cuts: Please Call Your Legislator!

The South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs(DDSN) is facing huge budget cuts unless the SC House and Senate provide more funds than were recommended by the House Ways and Means Committee.  There is a shortfall of over $25M in state dollars  and this will result in many more federal dollars being lost.  The cuts will threaten the health and safety of many people in SC including hundreds on the autism spectrum. Waivers for many disabilities  such as spinal cord injury and pervasive developmental disorder will end.  Services can be withdrawn from children in school and many parents will be forced to leave jobs to take care of their children. See the Autism Society of South Carolina for more info HERE.

The only services guaranteed are for those in residential homes with no place else to go.
This is happening in SC now, but it could follow in any other state.  We need to fight together NOW and preserve the rights and needs for our disabled, the most vulnerable in our society.

If you live in SC, please contact your own representatives See List Here and gave them your personal stories and how the cuts will affect you.

If you are out of state, please phone or e-mail any of the legislators you choose.  I know the list is long and nobody can do all of them.  Let them know(politely as possibly) that this is an outrageous act if these cuts pass.  Special thanks to Craig Stoxen, director of SC Autism Society and Ralph Courtney, Executive Director of the Aiken County Board of Disabilities for their help.  Debate begins Monday, March 15 so we need to act NOW. A vote is expected shortly after.
 
Thank you for your help.
Maurine Meleck

 

Cutting Edge Science and Treatment Info at the Autism One Generation Rescue 2010 Conference

COMPREHENSIVE INFORMATION IN ONE LOCATION:
AUTISM ONE/GENERATION RESCUE 2010 CONFERENCE
MAY 24-30, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
www.autismone.org

OVER 150 SPEAKERS:  NEW FACES, TRUSTED VOICES:

Sym Rankin, RN, CRNA, and Suruchi Chandra, MD, present:
The Impact of Psychotropic and Anesthetic Agents on Underlying Biomedical Conditions in Patients with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Many of the psychotropic and anesthetic pharmaceutical agents used in the pediatric population influence and may even aggravate the underlying biomedical conditions seen in autism spectrum disorders. An understanding of these interactions will allow parents and clinicians to make better decisions regarding the use of these drugs for children with ASD. In addition to reviewing the science and research supporting the use of psychotropic medications in ASD patients, this session will focus on the impact of SSRI and atypical antipsychotic medications on neurologic functions, metabolic systems, and liver detoxification. Also discussed will be special concerns related to anesthesia for the various surgical, radiological or dental procedures so many of our children are undergoing. Topics will include the various drugs typically used in anesthesia and how you can educate your anesthesiologist about the medical concerns of your child.

Laura Hewitson, PhD, presents:
Primate Models for Testing Vaccine Safety

With the number of pediatric vaccines being recommended for infants increasing dramatically over the last decade, there remain concerns over cumulative and/or synergistic adverse effects. This presentation will describe the development of a non-human primate model to assess CNS, gastrointestinal, and immunologic consequences of the pediatric vaccine regimen. Vaccines containing a standardized, weight-adjusted dose of thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, were administered to infant male macaques following the recommended pediatric vaccine regimen in place in the 1990s but adjusted for the faster development of macaques; unvaccinated animals received a saline placebo or no injections. Non-human primate infants underwent daily testing for the acquisition of neonatal reflexes, and subsequent behavioral and developmental assessments, including non-invasive imaging by PET and MRI. Neurodevelopmental outcomes in infant rhesus macaques receiving thimerosal (Th)-containing pediatric vaccines will be presented. The study findings will be discussed in relation to other animal and clinical studies of vaccine safety.

Andrew Wakefield, MB, BS, FRCS, FRCPath, presents:
Autism and the vagrant in the brainstem

This talk examines the possibility that brainstem injury plays a central role in autism. In light of recent observations of brainstem injury in a primate model of vaccine-associated effects on early neurodevelopment, and an analysis of the scientific literature, it is proposed that, as an epicentric event, damage to the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) of the brainstem may be necessary and sufficient to initiate the central and systemic features of autism, including the many that fall outside the behavioral definition of this condition. Mechanisms by which primary systemic inflammation can cause brainstem damage are presented with reference to the published literature. The talk discusses the anatomical predeliction of the DVC for injury resulting from a variety of mechanisms including disruption to the blood supply in the developing brain, environmental toxicity and, via retrograde vagal pathways, intestinal inflammation. Ways of examining this theory are discussed.

AOL Health: Mark Blaxill Discusses Jenny McCarthy Time Article

Mark Blaxill was on AOL Health this week talking about the TIME magazine article on Jenny McCarthy. Click HERE to see the full post with links.
 
By Mark Blaxill Mar 8th 2010 12:58PM

Categories: Family Health, News

Following a story in Time magazine about Jenny McCarthy's role as an autism activist, AOL Health contributor Mark Blaxill responds, saying that "Time" magazine is feeding what he calls "the hungry lie."

More than most other media outlets, you can count on "Time" magazine for the worst in autism coverage. In the pages of Time, rising autism rates are always due to better diagnosing; causes are always genetic, orthodox scientists are always heroic and parent advocates always sadly misguided. What's more, any and all vaccines in any combination are always safe and certainly have nothing to do with autism. A friend of mine calls this the big hungry lie. Why hungry? Because it's so wrong, it requires frequent feeding and thanks to a largely compliant media, feedings take place with regularity. Always at the front of the pack, "Time," in a February 25 article, fed the hungry lie again in a fascinatingly passive-aggressive essay titled, "Who's Afraid of Jenny McCarthy."

In case, you missed it (who reads "Time" anymore?), the Time piece focused on celebrity mom Jenny McCarthy, who has become one of the most prominent and formidable autism parent advocates. In a successful entertainment career, she has shown the world that she is beautiful, sexy, earthy, smart, articulate and determined (and in roughly that order). She also happens to have a son who received an autism diagnosis in 2005 when he was not quite three. To her lasting credit, McCarthy didn't meekly follow the advice of incompetent experts, most of them in thrall to the hungry lie, but has instead given voice to a large community of autism parents, channeling the mojo of a generation of "warrior moms" in a series of books, taking her audience's cause to a new level in the process...

Jenny McCarthy on HuffPo: Who's Afraid of the Truth About Autism?

Please read the full post and comment over at Huffington Post HERE.  Jenny will welcome your support and you know the "machine" has gone into overdrive to beat her up - and our kids. Don't let them. Go comment at HuffPo. KS

Parents of recovered children, and I've met hundreds, all share the same experience of doubters and deniers telling us our child must have never even had autism or that the recovery was simply nature's course. We all know better, and frankly we're too busy helping other parents to really care.

Corner one of the hundreds of doctors who specialize in autism recovery, and they'll tell you stories of dozens of kids in their practice who no longer have autism. Ask them to speak to the press and they'll run for the door. They know better.

Most doctors in our community share a common trait: their own child regressed into autism. They fixed their kid first and knew they'd have to spend their lives helping parents do the same, accepting the loss of "mainstream" status in their field.

Who's afraid of autism recovery? Perhaps it's the diagnosticians and pediatricians who have made a career out of telling parents autism is a hopeless condition.

When I first went public with my son Evan's story, I just planned to talk about the "R" word -- Recovery. But soon I was spending most my time talking about the "V" word -- vaccines.

It's hard to address one without the other because so many of the parents of recovered children I know, myself included, blame vaccines for their child's regression into autism and use vaccine injury as the roadmap to treat their child.

The idea that vaccines are a primary cause of autism is not as crackpot as some might wish. Autism's 60-fold rise in 30 years matches a tripling of the US vaccine schedule.

With so many kids with autism, the environment has to be to blame, and vaccines are an obvious culprit. Almost all kids get vaccines -- injected toxins -- very early in life, and our own government clearly acknowledges vaccines cause brain damage in certain vulnerable kids.

Take those simple facts, along with tens of thousands of parental reports of regression after vaccination, not to mention a growing list of court cases where our government paid claims to children with autism acknowledging vaccines as the trigger, and the case we Moms are making makes sense...

 

Chicago Tribune Trumpets Another Anti-Treatment Autism Lawsuit. Why?

By Teresa Conrick

For those of you who are new to the autism-vaccine saga, the Chicago Tribune keeps sinking to new lows with its coverage.  In November, they had an article that described an ugly divorce in which a disgruntled father was fighting for custody of his autistic child.  Now this past March 4th, they came out with part 2 in that family's personal drama.  This time the father is suing the Defeat Autism Now! doctors, "family-practice physicians Dr. Anjum Usman of Naperville and Dr. Daniel Rossignol of Melbourne, Fla. — are prominent in the Defeat Autism Now! movement.....Both have spoken to groups of parents at autism conferences and trained other physicians in their methods." HERE

Being prominent in the DAN! movement, speaking at autism conferences and training other doctors has the potential for making you a prime target for possible trumped up lawsuits.  The child is reported to be "a playful, funny and outgoing 7-year-old" per his father in November 2009 yet the Tribune reports the father "alleging they harmed the child with "dangerous and unnecessary experimental treatments."  I need to insert here that my daughter is also a patient of Dr. Usman so I consider myself very fortunate for that as well as more than a casual observer in this story. Both of these doctors, Usman and Rossignol. are passionate and tremendous in their care to our children and commitment as medical doctors.  I find myself suspicious of this lawsuit on many levels.

While googling to find the Tribune article, I instead found Orac's site.  Who is Orac?  Well, suffice to say that he has some mysterious desire to want autism to be only a genetic disorder.  He gets upset if you discuss vaccines or the environment as causative factors.  The usual suspects of the neurodiverse world and the assorted anonymous Wackosphere characters were hanging out at his site with their typical sarcasm and "blood-thirsty" DAN! comments.  Orac though was beyond his usual histrionic self as his comments were pointed at the exact wording of the lawsuit.  He actually had the lawsuit in a pdf file for the taking on his site!  Now how, within hours of the Trib posting and to be exact, the Trib article by Patricia Callahan was posted online at 5:19 p.m. CST, March 4, 2010 and Orac had his pdf and blog up at March 5, 2010 3:00 AM. Appears to be quite bizarre and a bit suspicious?   

AoA Contest: "Cutting Edge Therapies For Autism" by Ken Siri and Tony Lyons

Leave a comment to enter the contest to win a signed copy of "Cutting Edge Therapies for Autism" by Ken Siri and Tony Lyons, published by Skyhorse Publishing with an afterword by Teri Arranga of Autism One. The authors are both Autism dads. This book features a compendium of treatments, described by experts in that area, from behavioral therapy to psychiatric drugs to chelation. It's a real A-Z explanation of choices and something I think has been missing from our libraries for some time. I'm glad to see so many options between the covers. The list of the therapies is below. 

Purchase Cutting Edge Therapies for Autism today!

1.
Allergies, Their Role and Treatment in Autism
by Dr. Marvin Boris 6

2.
Animal-Assisted Interventions and Persons with Autism Spectrum
Disorders by Dr. Aubrey Fine 10

3.
Anthroposophical Curative Education and Social Therapy
by Dr. Marga Hogenboom and Paula Moraine 17

4.
Antiepileptic Medications by Dr. Richard E. Frye 22

Winner: Signed Copy of David Kirby's Animal Factory

Congrats to Jaclyn Sands! The contest is closed.

Visit the website HERE. Order your copy at Amazon HERE.


"A propulsive chronicle. Thanks to Kirby’s extraordinary journalism, we have the most relatable, irrefutable, and unforgettable testimony yet to the hazards of industrial animal farming." BOOKLIST

"Immensely readable, should be required reading for anybody concerned with how CAFOs are changing the nature of livestock farming." LIBRARY JOURNAL

Swine flu. MRSA. Unusual concentrations of cancer and other diseases. Massive fish kills from algal blooms and flesh-eating parasites. Recalls of meats, vegetables, and fruits because of deadly E-coli bacteria contamination.  Recent public health crises raise urgent questions about how our animal-derived food is raised and brought to market.  In Animal Factory, bestselling investigative journalist David Kirby exposes the powerful business and political interests behind large-scale factory farms, and tracks the far-reaching fallout that can contaminate our air, land, and water supply. 

First Fraud: Dr. Poul Thorsen and the original “Danish Study”

By J.B. Handley
 
In my last post Frantic: CDC’s Dr. Diane Simpson Travels the World to Find Dr. Poul Thorsen, I detailed the desperate world travel of Dr. Diane Simpson, a CDC employee tasked with proving, at all costs, that thimerosal in vaccines was not causing autism.
 
If desperate times call for desperate acts, than there is no desperate act more extreme than the study ultimately published due to Dr. Simpson’s world travel, Thimerosal and the Occurrence of Autism: Negative Ecological Evidence From Danish Population-Based Data .
 
More than any other, this study has been used to club our community over the head that thimerosal couldn’t possibly cause autism. Of course, it was published in Pediatrics, a journal that appears to have no standards whatsoever if a paper written by anyone anywhere exonerates vaccines.
 
A few years ago I took the time to read every published study that “proved” vaccines don’t cause item. Knowing this “Danish study” was the biggie, I started here.
 
It’s hard to put into words how dishonest and outrageous a study this is, and I knew after reading it that we were in for a long fight: if scientists will lie this explicitly and call it a study and if Pediatrics will publish something this dishonest, they are playing to win at all costs.
 
Herewith, an analysis of the original Danish study, prepare to be disgusted and outraged:
 
Thimerosal was removed from Danish vaccines in 1992, and the original Danish study published in Pediatrics in 2003, Thimerosal and the Occurrence of Autism: Negative Ecological Evidence From Danish Population-Based Data  (with co-author Dr. Poul Thorsen) proclaimed that not only did autism rates not go down after its removal, they actually went up! The study's lead other, Kristeen Madsen, had been one of the Danish researchers Dr. Diane Simpson reached out to early on in her world travel of 2001. This study was highly fraudulent for the following reasons:
 
The data as it was captured was blatantly obscured.
 
The study looked at data between 1970-2000. In 1995, the Danish registry added "Outpatient Clinics" to their count of autism cases. It turns out that Outpatient Clinics are where 93% of Danish children are diagnosed with autism, so the number of autism cases before 1995 did not include the clinics. More surprising, the authors even note this in the study: "since 1995 outpatient activities were registered as well...the proportion of outpatient to inpatient activities was about 4 to 6 times as many outpatients as inpatients...this may exaggerate the incidence rates."
 
Exaggerate the incidence rates? It is the equivalent of doing a study on "Divorce Rates in North America" and counting Mexico and Canada only for the first few years, then adding in the United States, and noting that divorce rates went up.

The “Idiot Moment” in Autism (The New York Times & Dr. Poul Thorsen)

By Kent Heckenlively, Esq.

(Author note - No offense is intended to actual idiots who are really nice people and would never do any of the foolish things mentioned in this article.)

I keep wondering when the “moment” will come.  I’m talking about the moment when the average person who isn’t really interested in the vaccine-autism question will go “Hey, that doesn’t make sense!”  You might call it something else.  Perhaps the “bull***” moment, or even the “what the f*** moment!”  For me, I prefer the “idiot moment.”

Maybe the idiot moment came a few weeks ago on February 25, 2010 when Nicholas Kristof, op-ed columnist for The New York Times wrote an article entitled, “Do Toxins Cause Autism?” Click HERE  (Strangely, the national media employs a great number of idiots when it comes to autism, and I don’t mean the ones who are really nice and wouldn’t do any of the foolish things I’m getting ready to talk about.)

According to Mr. Kristof’s account, Dr. Phillip Landigran, professor of pediatrics at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York told him he is “increasingly confident that autism and other ailments are, in part, the result of the impact of environmental chemicals on the brain as it is being formed.”

The article may have actually captured an idiot moment in real time with Dr. Landrigan who said to the reporter (one idiot to another), “The crux of this is brain development.  If babies are exposed in the womb or shortly after birth to chemicals that interfere with brain development, the consequences last a lifetime.”  For those who haven’t been tuned into this debate, this is a major shift from medical professionals who have long argued that autism is a genetic condition, and the rise is nothing more than better detection of autism.

So let me think here for a moment.  Pregnant women are advised not to drink or smoke during pregnancy, not to eat too much seafood because of the mercury it contains (remember, that’s the bad kind, not the kind in vaccines which is really good and will cause an increase in mental functions, just like it did to the Mad Hatter in the new Alice in Wonderland movie), so I’m trying to think where they might be getting these bad chemicals? 

Bloomington Alternative on Autism, Vaccines and Mercury

Managing Editor's Note: J.B. Handley is quoted in this post at The Bloomington Alternatice. The American experience with mercury-containing vaccines parallels the autism epidemic to the letter.

In 1930, the pharmaceutical manufacturer Eli Lilly & Co. patented a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal for use in childhood vaccines. According to a 2003 congressional report, despite repeated requests through the years, Lilly never tested thimerosal for its human health impacts.For 70 years, Lilly relied on a "woefully inadequate" and "uncontrolled study" from the 1920s as proof thimerosal was safe, the report said.
. . . Starting in the 1940s, American children were vaccinated for diptheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP). A polio shot was added in 1955, and measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) joined the list in 1971.

In 1989, a fully vaccinated child of 5 had received a total of 11 injections of these three vaccines. In 1990 and 1991, two more were added to the schedule with seven more shots, including hepatitis B at birth. And in 1995 and 1998, an additional two vaccines with five more shots were added, bringing the total number of injections to 23.

Four more vaccines were added in 2000, 2004 and 2006. The CDC and AAP's recommended vaccination scheduletoday says American children should receive 36 shots before they enter first grade, the most aggressive vaccination schedule in the world.

Canada is a distant second with 28, according to a 2009 study published by Generation Rescue titled "Autism and vaccines around the world." The average number of vaccinations among 30 industrialized countries is 18.

Meanwhile, between 1980 and 1994, the incidence of California children with autism jumped 373 percent, from 1 in every 2,272 live births to 1 in 480, according to a 2001 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association...

Read the full article and comment HERE.

Danish Scientist Absconds with $2 million, Poul Thorsen "Proved" Vaccines Don't Cause Autism

This startling story, as yet unseen in the mainstream media, is from our friends at The Autism Action Network.

A Danish scientist who was a key researcher in two studies that purport to show that mercury used in vaccines and the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine do not cause autism is believed to have used forged documents to steal $2 million from Aarhus University in Denmark according to reports in the Copenenhagen Post Online and a statement from Aarhus University.
 
Poul Thorsen, MD PhD, headed up a research unit at Aarhus University that was hired by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prepare a series of studies that would exonerate thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative and adjuvant used in vaccines, and the MMR vaccine from any role in causing autism. The veracity of the two studies he co-authored is now in doubt.
 
These studies formed the foundation for the conclusions of several Institute of Medicine reports that claimed that it was highly unlikely that thimerosal or MMR were implicated in autism.
 
In a statement Aarhus University officials said that believe Thorsen forged documents supposedly from the CDC to obtain the release of $2 million from the University. Thorsen resigned abruptly in March 2009 and left Denmark. Since then Thorsen has held several jobs in the US, first at Emory University in Atlanta and then at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Documents show that as late as January 22, 2009. Thorsen was employed at Drexel. Any reference to Poulsen has now been deleted from the Drexel website.
 
Investigations also revealed that while employed full-time for the University of Aarhus in Denmark, Thorsen simultaneously held a fulltime position at Emory University in Atlanta, and drew salaries from both Universities despite a contract with Aarhus forbidding outside employment. According to the statement from Aarhus University.
 
Autism advocacy groups have published extensive analyses on Thorsen's studies and found many problems in methods, assumptions and conclusions that are supported by the data. And Thorsen is the lynchpin in the series of studies used to dismiss concerns about thimerosal and MMR causing autism.
 
See SAFEMINDS analysis of Thorsen's role in the discredited studies HERE.

See the Copenhagen Post Online article HERE.
 
See the statement from Aarhus University HERE.

Read more at: Age of Autism this week.
 
The two studies now in doubt include:
 
Thimerosal and the occurrence of autism: negative ecological evidence from Danish population-based data.

Madsen KM, Lauritsen MB, Pedersen CB, Thorsen P, Plesner AM, Andersen PH, Mortensen PB, Pediatrics. 2003 Sep;112(3 Pt 1):604-6.
 
A population-based study of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination and autism.

Madsen KM, Hviid A, Vestergaard M, Schendel D, Wohlfahrt J, Thorsen P, Olsen J, Melbye M., N Engl J Med. 2002 Nov 7;347(19):1477-82.
 
 

Excerpt from David Kirby's Animal Factory on HuffPo

Read the full post, ANIMAL FACTORY Book Excerpt - Is Manure a Hazardous Substance? Blanche Lincoln Says "No" at Huffington Post. We have a contest running for a signed copy of David's book, enter HERE.

In my new book, "Animal Factory - The Threat of Industrial Pig, Dairy and Poultry Farms to Humans and the Environment," I describe the efforts of Pro-Agribusiness members of Congress who are working hard to make sure that spilled animal waste from industrial farms is exempted from federal Superfund clean-up rules.

The now-endangered Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), along with House Agriculture Committee Chair Collin Petersen (D-MN), are among several outspoken congressional champions of a rather obscure piece of legislation on a topic that few Americans spend much time pondering: Who should pay for manure spills at animal factories?

Ever since 2007, their efforts to undermine the Superfund law by permanently exempting manure as a hazardous waste has been "ruffling feathers on Capitol Hill," according to Politco.com.

Their bill did not pass, and has not yet been reintroduced in the current Congress. But it does beg the question: Is manure an organic fertilizer, or it is a dangerous pollutant with potentially devastating consequences for human health, the environment, and even local economies? It can, in fact, can be both...

AOL Health Talks to Kim Stagliano About Raising Three Girls with Autism and Treatment

Those are my "crapisode" gloves from the Autism One dinner and auction  last Spring. Pretty fancy, huh? Ms. van der Leun did a terrific job with this interview and I thank her. I particularly appreciated her questions about the criticism I (we) face for using biomed treatments and and seeking a cure.

The Mother of Three Autistic Children Shares Her Story: From AOL Health HERE. 
 
By Justine van der Leun Mar 4th 2010 5:00PM

Connecticut-based stay-at-home mom and autism advocate Kim Stagliano chronicles her trying and illuminating daily experiences raising her three daughters with autism on her eponymous blog. In her other venues -- she's the managing editor of the Web site Age of Autism and blogs at The Huffington Post -- Stagliano argues alternately for research for a cure, government funding for children with autism and their families, alternative therapies and biomedical interventions. She is also the author of a forthcoming memoir. AOL Health asked Stagliano for her take on the joys and challenges of being a parent to children with autism and what she says to her critics.

AOL Health: You have three daughters, all of whom fall on the autism spectrum. What do you believe caused or contributed to their autism?

KS: The million-dollar question. I think we have a genetic predisposition to environmental insults, which could include vaccines, toxins, my husband and my heavy metal load, the quality of my breast milk and unknowns.

AOL Health: Over the past 15 years, what treatments have you tried with your girls, and how have they responded to them?

KS: The GFCF [Gluten Free Casein Free] diet has been our best treatment. The diet has helped with stomach problems, which, in turn, has greatly cut down behavior issues. It also helps the girls sleep through the night. Imagine taking a test on a day when you have terrible cramps or a headache. How well would you do? We've also used a number of biomedical treatments -- supplements, vitamins, other natural products -- that have helped the girls function and feel better.

AOL Health: On your blog, you contend that autism is curable and that your role as the mother to children with autism is to "get rid of it." Can you explain your perspective?

KS: Every mom wants to make her child's path easier to travel -- whether it's tutoring to get better grades for college admission or weight-loss camp to address health issues or trying to ameliorate the undesirable behaviors and pain associated with autism. Autism affects every aspect of my children's lives. I'd be remiss if I didn't try to help them.

The Onion Reeks In Attempt to Use Autism as Part of Marriage Joke

Managing Editor's Note: I usually love the satirical news site, The Onion. This piece just made my stomach churn though. I know too many families who've headed into divorce or who are struggling to remain intact following an autism diagnosis. Would they have run this using cancer or leukemia? Maybe. You be the judge and let us now what you think in the comments. Read the full article HERE or below.

HOUSTON—With the challenges accompanying his developmental disorder widening the already vast gulf between his parents, autistic child Evan Thomas, 3, continued this week to destroy the failing marriage he was brought into this world to save.

Evan, who through the very act of being born was entrusted with the task of resolving lingering conflicts, soothing deep-seated contempt, and restoring intimacy to Mark and Sharon Thomas' long-strained relationship, has thus far utterly failed in his assigned duties, sources reported Monday.

"It's so much work taking care of Evan, and Mark just refuses to help out as much as he should," said Sharon Thomas, who endured a long, agonizing childbirth to put an end to the couple's constant bitter arguments. "It's so frustrating. I don't get any time to myself because Evan needs attention like 24 hours a day."

"I never asked for this," Sharon added.

New Yorkers To Strike Against Autism in NAA Fundraiser

On 3/21 NY'ers Strike Against Autism

NAA New York Metro is having a Bowl-a-thon, its first fundraiser.  Help this important organization reach more families affected by autism. 

The NAA NY Metro Chapter provides direct support to families and people affected by autism in the NYC Metro area since March 2008. They are having their first fundraiser, a Bowl-a-Thon on March 21st at Bowlmor Lanes in NYC.  Donations in any amount are appreciated at http://www.firstgiving.com/naanyc.  Information about bowling and corporate sponsorships is also available at that web location.  Or contact Peggy Becker at peggybecker1@nyc.rr.com
 
 

Frantic: CDC’s Dr. Diane Simpson Travels the World to Find Dr. Poul Thorsen

By J.B. Handley
 
Without Dr. Diane Simpson, a CDC employee, Dr. Poul Thorsen would likely be a person none of us would have ever heard of. I’m looking forward to following the case of Dr. Thorsen and the implications it may have for the withdrawl of some of the most important documents used to shut the door on the possible link between thimerosal and autism. For AoA readers, I provide some background on Dr. Simpson’s critical and “frantic” role in locating data.
 
This story below is an excerpt from the website, PutChildrenFirst a Generation Rescue initiative, an excellent resource to see this dark tale spelled out in detail:
 
CDC's effort, beginning in the summer of 2001, was in anticipation of the IOM's report coming out in the October 2001. They knew what it was going to say and they knew it was going to be trouble.
 
The CDC's subsequent worldwide effort was an attempt to find corroborative data showing no link between autism and thimerosal and get it to the IOM or release it at the same time as the IOM report was released. As Dr. Diane Simpson says in this August 7, 2001 email :
 
"I don't have any new data at the moment and am frantically trying to see what is available and how best to get it in time for the expected IOM report release (we have given up trying to submit it in time for the report as they are in the process of writing it)."
 
Dr. Simpson's actions beginning in June of 2001, require some context. The Deputy Director of the NIP, Dr. Simpson, was given the task of finding data on autism and thimerosal in other countries. And not just any data, she was looking for data that would support the idea that there was no relationship between mercury and autism, despite the fact that she had seen the Generation Zero data and attended Simpsonwood.
 
Further, you have the division of the CDC that is responsible for keeping vaccination rates high, the division that would be held most responsible for creating the autism epidemic, and one of the leaders of that division, Dr. Robert Chen, who had the most to lose, directly involved in a process to find data about the relationship between thimerosal and autism.

Would CDC be "frantic" to find data that would corroborate the conclusion coming from IOM, that the thimerosal-autism relationship was "biologically plausible"? No, she was frantic to find data to disprove it. 
 

AoA Contest: Win a Signed Copy of David Kirby's Animal Factory

Leave a comment to enter our contest to win a signed copy of David Kirby's book, Animal Factory.

Visit the website HERE. Order your copy at Amazon HERE.


"A propulsive chronicle. Thanks to Kirby’s extraordinary journalism, we have the most relatable, irrefutable, and unforgettable testimony yet to the hazards of industrial animal farming." BOOKLIST

"Immensely readable, should be required reading for anybody concerned with how CAFOs are changing the nature of livestock farming." LIBRARY JOURNAL

Swine flu. MRSA. Unusual concentrations of cancer and other diseases. Massive fish kills from algal blooms and flesh-eating parasites. Recalls of meats, vegetables, and fruits because of deadly E-coli bacteria contamination.  Recent public health crises raise urgent questions about how our animal-derived food is raised and brought to market.  In Animal Factory, bestselling investigative journalist David Kirby exposes the powerful business and political interests behind large-scale factory farms, and tracks the far-reaching fallout that can contaminate our air, land, and water supply. 

Age of Autism Comment of the Week: 3/6

Our commenter of the week is "Jack's Dad" on the post: Fox Atlanta on Autism Treatment. When our sons were getting early-intervention ABA, one of their therapists acknowledged that EVERY SINGLE ONE of her "clients" was on the diet. Funny how what's clearly the mainstream for autism families is still considered "alternative" and "out of the box" by the medical community. It just shows that families have taken treatment into their own hands. How sad.

Didn't win but still want a T-shirt? Taking a page from public television, we'll happily send you one as our thank you for making a donation to A of A via our PayPal donate button.  You choose the donation amount. OK? Please tell us on the PayPal form if you want an adult M, L, XL or 2XL and include your mailing  address in the comments box at PayPal. Click below to  to see the back of the shirt.

Scandal Looms Over Key Scientist In Danish Mercury Autism Study

By Dan Olmsted and Mark Blaxill

A website focused on flu vaccines, citing Danish news accounts and a statement from an official of Aarhus University, is reporting that "A Danish scientist who was the author of a key study that undermined the scientific basis for believing that mercury in vaccines caused autism was employed full time by Emory University in the USA without his university knowing, it has emerged. ... Aarhaus University said in a statement today that they had "expressly prohibited" Dr Poul Thorsen from working for a second university, Emory. ... The revelation that Thorsen had a second secret job will raise fears of a hidden bias in the studies and undermine the scientific case for thiomersal." (HERE)

Poul Thorsen was a co-author on two influential papers on the link between autism and vaccines, one on MMR published in 2002 by the New England Journal of Medicine and another published in 2003 by Pediatrics on thimerosal. SafeMinds performed an extensive analysis (see HERE) of the close network of collaboration the included Aarhus University researchers, employees of the Staten Serum Institut (a vaccine manufacturer) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Thorsen was a central figure in that network, with close ties to CDC (Thorsen is 4th from left in photo, click to enlarge), and now stands accused of forgery and fraud. According to a statement from Aarhus University (see HERE for full text):

“The Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation (DASTI) has been a grant recipient as part of a cooperative agreement with the US National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, CDC, since 2001. The grant has been administered by Odense University Hospital and Aarhus University (AU) under the direction of Dr. Poul Thorsen. The grant has multiple components and involves collaborators at other institutions in Denmark, including the University of Copenhagen and SSI (Statens Serum Institut). This successful collaboration has resulted in numerous valuable scientific results, and many more are forthcoming.

“Unfortunately, a considerable shortfall in funding at Aarhus University associated with the CDC grant was discovered. In investigating the shortfalls associated with the grant, DASTI and Aarhus University became aware of two alleged CDC funding documents as well as a letter regarding funding commitments allegedly written by Randolph B. Williams of CDC's Procurement Grants Office which was used to secure advances from Aarhus University. Upon investigation by CDC, a suspicion arose that the documents are forgeries.”

According to the university, “a police investigation is ongoing.”

Thorsen made important contributions to some of the most influential studies that have been claimed as evidence for no link between autism and vaccines. The Pediatrics paper is one of five major epidemiology studies cited by the Institute of Medicine in their 2004 report on thimerosal and autism. Based on these studies, three of which included the Aarhus team, the IOM concluded that “the evidence now favors rejection of a relationship between thimerosal and autism.”

Stay tuned for updates on this story as more details emerge.

Dan Olmsted is Editor and Mark Blaxill is Editor-At-Large for Age of Autism.