AGE OF AUTISM

EMAILS FROM CDC AND FDA ON VACCINES AND MERCURY

By Twyla Ramos

Has Mercury Really Been Removed from Vaccines?

Last month I emailed the CDC to ask this question:

From: Twyla Ramos
Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2007 1:19 AM
To: CDC Public Inquiry
Subject: mercury in vaccines

I understand that thimerosal is no longer used as a preservative in most vaccines, except for most flu shots and vaccines shipped to other countries.

But, I believe I heard someone say that mercury is still used in the vaccine manufacturing process, but it is removed and only "trace" amounts remain in the finished vaccines.

Can you confirm whether or not there is any mercury used in the manufacture of thimerosal-free vaccines?  If the above statement is true, how much is a "trace"?

Sincerely,

Twyla Ramos
concerned parent


I received the following response:

THE ATLANTA MANIFESTO, PART 8

By Mark Blaxill and Barbara Loe Fisher

Editor's Note: This is the final installment of a "white paper" by Blaxill and Fisher that outlines a new vision of vaccine safety and children's health. Written in 2004 and addressed to CDC Director Julie Gerberding, it is being published here for the first time, many of the concerns it raises have only deepened since then. The document will be available in its entirety on our home page – a statement of principles and practices that form the philosophical foundation of Age of Autism.
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We conclude this white paper with a distress call, not because we are alarmist by natures, but because we share a concern that the default path of vaccine development and safety management will not lead us closer to the hopeful future we described at the beginning of this report. Instead, we fear that the more likely direction will turn sharply toward an even more extreme approach to childhood public health strategy.

THE ATLANTA MANIFESTO, PART 7

By Mark Blaxill and Barbara Loe Fisher

Editor's Note: This is the seventh of eight parts of a vaccine safety "white paper" written by Blaxill and Fisher in 2004 and submitted to the CDC, but published here for the first time. This installment is titled From Conflicts of Interest to True Public Accountability and shows why the most important constituency -- parents and children -- have been excluded by what the authors call the "vaccine development complex."
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Public institutions have the responsibility to carry out public affairs with governance mechanisms that keep decisions free of conflicts of interest and resultant self-dealing by interested parties. As our society has evolved, the influence of well-organized and well-funded interest groups has made avoiding such conflicts of interest progressively more difficult. In the area of vaccine safety, we see serious conflicts between the promotion and management of the childhood immunization program and the exercise of diligence and care in the safety monitoring of the program.

BRILLIANT TRUMP REVISES VACCINE SCHEDULE FOR HIS SON

By Kim Stagliano

Donald Trump and his beautiful (and obviously smart) wife have revised the AAP vaccine schedule for their son, Baron. I wonder how many peds tossed him/his wife out on their behinds when they asked for a change in the vax schedule as has happened to so many of us?

I'd hazard a guess that a large part of Trump's financial success comes from his ability to correctly assess risks and benefits, wouldn't you? Looks like he's done that for his child's health too.  Bravo!

(That's Suzanne Wright in a gorgeous suit that matches the room decor. Wow.)

THE ATLANTA MANIFESTO, PART 6

By MARK BLAXILL and BARBARA LOE FISHER

Editor's Note: Age of Autism is publishing this "white paper" on vaccine safety and children's health at a time when the issue has never been more important -- witness the mandate for flu shots just ordered in New Jersey. It was written in response to a blue-ribbon panel's unsatisfactory review of vaccine safety at the CDC -- a panel on which Blaxill and Fisher both served. In this installment -- titled From Safety Last to a Quest for Zero Vaccine Adverse Events -- they call for a Zero Defects approach to vaccine safety in the face of the thousands of adverse events reported every year, a number they point out is far lower than the actual total.

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Members of our organizations (SafeMinds and the National Vaccine Information Center) recall private conversations during which National Immunization Program officials revealed their underlying utilitarian philosophy: parents of vaccine injured children, calling for reform of the vaccination system, were described as "selfish"; adverse events were described as "acceptable losses"; while adverse events resulting in injuries and death were dismissed as either coincidences or the inevitable by-products of the pursuit of the "greater good." Dr. Robert Chen, the man most responsible for setting the tone and direction of NIP safety practices for over a decade, described the end result of a utilitarianism mindset on safety management at NIP in  1999:

"[W]e have been relatively slow in appreciating the importance the public now places on vaccines safety. In fact, much of our resource allocations still unfortunately reflect safety last rather than safety first…Furthermore…we have not been as interested in preventing vaccine-induced illnesses as we are with vaccine-preventable diseases."

TRUMP SPEAKS: "I THINK IT'S THE VACCINATIONS"

By J.B. Handley

What if you were a large national autism charity and you held a fundraiser at a billionaire’s house and the billionaire told reporters he thought autism was caused by vaccines? What if your large national autism charity was wildly dismissive of vaccines as a cause for autism, had scientists on staff who had worked to produce faulty research exonerating vaccines alongside the CDC, and had no research dollars allocated to exploring the vaccine-autism relationship?

Well, then you would be Autism Speaks holding a fundraiser at Donald Trump’s Palm Beach mansion. As THIS article from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports:

“At a news conference Thursday in a gold-trimmed Mar-A-Lago ballroom, Trump's wife, Melania, noted her 22-month-old son, Baron, and said: "I cannot imagine what the mothers [with autistic children] and mothers all around the world go through. ... Let's get rid of autism."

AUTISM SPEAKS TO TRUMP: YOU'RE FIRED!

By Kim Stagliano

(Added 12/29: I wrote a slightly different version of this for Huffington Post. More background. Please go over and add a comment there, won't you?  You can find it at http://tinyurl.com/2ozdt7.  Thanks.  Kim)

Will Autism Speaks "fire" billionaire fund raiser Donald Trump for telling the world he believes vaccinations may be at the heart of the autism epidemic like they did their own daughter, Katie? (HERE is the Sun Sentinal Story.) Do you think the Wrights showed their wealthy friend their letter to the world where they disassociated themselves from her? Mr. Trump, HERE it is. (Ooooh! I'm talking to Donald Trump!)

Remember this touching line? "Many of Katie's personal views differ from ours and do not represent or reflect the ongoing mission of Autism Speaks."  That's right, Mr. Trump, the young woman whose child launched a multi-million dollar charity, the daughter of the founders, doesn't represent the ongoing mission of said charity. (Somebody get me a sweater to ward off the chill!)  Makes you and Rosie look like a lovefest.

THE EXPERTS, THE TRUTH, AND GOLD SALTS

By DAN OLMSTED

I went to college at a time and place where, in the name of academic freedom and not riling up the students any further, one could avoid almost any unpleasant subject -- by which I mean the whole of math and science. So my understanding of the complexities of biology, neurology and statistics is seriously restricted. I tend to rely on logic and an English major's reading of scientific papers as my tools -- along with a few people whose knowledge and fair-mindedness I have learned to trust.

I'm sure it won't be long before that paragraph comes back to "haunt" me -- just like the idea of doing my own natural history of autism from scratch. Here's how one person described that: "I exchanged correspondence with Dan Olmsted when he started his autism series. In response to my citation of various materials for him to look at, he told me that he wanted instead to take a fresh look at things, and not be influenced by ideas that others had before him. In other words, he prefers to draw his conclusions in a vacuum, without doing any research."

"SCIENCE" IS NOT THE NAME OF A SECRET SOCIETY!

  By ANNE VAN RENSSALAER

The modern notion of Science as a special brand of information about the world, practiced by a distinct group and pursued through a unique method, didn't take hold until the very end of the 19th century. In the 20th, it began to blend into and be overtaken by what is more recently thought of as technology.

THE HAZELHURST CASE: AUTISM OMNIBUS PROCEEDING TEST CASE 2

By Kent Heckenlively, Esq. and Legal Editor

Mom worked as a representative for a pharmaceutical company for more than ten years.  Dad is an attorney.  Grandpa was a gastro-enterologist, who when his grandson Yates began to exhibit signs of digestive problems was able to get him seen by one of the top gastro-enterologists in the country, Dr. Tim Buie of Harvard University.

These are the people who, according to lead government attorney Vincent Matanoski, were taken in by Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s malevolent scientific fraud in which he intended to panic the world in order to create a market for the measles-only virus in which he had a patent.

Which group made a better argument?

AGE OF AUTISM AWARD: TREATMENT CENTER

Editor's Note: The centers and practitioners below, nominated by our readers, offer a glimpse into the key issues facing families trying to help their children recover, from cost to individualized attention to expertise.
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Treatment Center of the Year: Autism Solutions Center, nominated by Judy Hart

There is a facility that provides bio-medical interventions for autistic children in Cordova, Tenn., that is struggling to help these families, at no charge, The Autism Solutions Center. After speaking to Laura Corby, the Center Director, I made an appointment for my son. We were greeted by a volunteer staff that made us feel at ease, understanding what we as parents go through, having walked in our shoes themselves. It is a wonderful place where hope, encouragement, and treatment of the whole child, the entire family for that matter, come together.

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Managing Editor's Note:  Thank you to Cathy and all of our Parent Perspective team of writers for sharing their autism ups and downs, hope and dreams with our readers. 

By Cathy Jameson

This time of year is filled with lots of excitement as many families prepare for the holidays. My husband is setting up our tree as I write this.  Two of my kids are dancing at the front window like a bunch of sugarplums as they remember bits and pieces of our family tradition of setting out the Nativity scenes, decorating the tree, hanging the lights, and the inevitable pile of presents soon filling the empty space underneath the lowest branches.

I love this time of year.  I love Christmas and the giving spirit still alive in this day and age.  I love the holidays and all that they represent to me about the blessings of family and the spirit of sharing.

However, there is a part of Christmas celebrating that I don’t like. 

AGE OF AUTISM AWARD: BEST MEDIA

By Anne Dachel

AGE OF AUTISM AWARD FOR BEST REPORTING: ASHLEY REYNOLDS, KOMU-TV

BY ANNE DACHEL

Over the last six years I've spent a great deal of time writing to reporters who cover autism.  I've done this for one reason:  The truth about the damage being done by vaccines and the cover-up by officials will continue until the public is made aware of the facts.  It's that simple.  We can have endless statistics and scientific research about vaccines and autism, but unless the press tells the public, the lies will just go on.  People trust the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention when they say there is no link.  I've found the press does too.  It takes a lot of courage to stand up to the medical establishment and to the CDC, and few reporters or editors can do it. 

AGE OF AUTISM AWARD: WORST MEDIA

AND NOW, THE AOA AWARDS FOR BAD MEDIA STORIES

By ANNE DACHEL

I was asked to write on the worst autism coverage in the news over the past year.  At first, that seemed like a daunting task.  There were so many times over the last year when people in the news wrote absolutely outrageous articles on autism, especially on the cause of autism.  It was so hard to continually read articles that casually said that while autism affects one in every 150 children and one in every 94 boys, there's no need to worry.  It's always been like this, we just didn't have doctors smart enough to know autism when they saw it.  (This claim is especially ludicrous considering the American Academy of Pediatrics recently called for pediatricians to do autism checks so these kids aren't missed.  What happened to the idea that doctors were already doing a great job finding kids with autism?)

AUTISM RECOVERY: IT'S NOT JUST FOR JENNY McCARTHY

Merry Christmas from all of us at Age of Autism. Our gift to you? HOPE.

By Ronna Hochbein, OT

Tales from the Pediatric Frontlines: Once upon a time, a fantastically beautiful little girl arrived into the world. Her parents were thrilled with their firstborn child. Then, something happened. (This ain't Mary Higgins Clark. Bet you all can quote what's ahead.)

She came to the world as an emergency C-section, as the little darling was breech. She developed severe allergic colitis, had bloody stools, GERD, and everybody say it together now---:frequent sinusitis and ear infections!" With tubes!

Therapists came in droves to her aid; PT, OT and Speech and wraparound galore. Upon seeing my little friend for the first time, she wandered aimlessly, had no words. Cried to express her needs and transition tantrums were ahem, frequent. She couldn’t sit for more than ten seconds, and did not respond to her name. She responded to changes in head position with death-like fear (i.e. fight or flight response due to postural insecurity.)

Her warrior mom did not accept her daughter's fate.

AGE OF AUTISM'S PERSON OF THE YEAR: JENNY McCARTHY

By DAN OLMSTED

Poor Time Magazine -- they ended up with dour Russian President Putin staring out from the cover this week like the Grinch who stole Christmas. And a lot of people didn't even think he should be Person of the Year.

We had no such problem with our pick for the individual who did the most for the autism community this year -- no one is likely to call Jenny McCarthy dour, or disagree with our choice. A bunch of S words suit her to a T -- sunny, sexy, smart, silly in the right way at the right time, but most of all serious as a heart attack about autism and recovering her son, Evan.

AGE OF AUTISM HONOREES FOR PERSON OF THE YEAR

The Age of Autism Award nominations in this category were heartfelt, and Age of Autism is proud to recognize these day-in-and-day-out efforts. They don't capture the limelight but they do earn our admiration and gratitude.

AGE OF AUTISM AWARD: MICHELLE CEDILLO, CHILD OF THE YEAR

Editors' Note: We are pleased to announce our annual Age of Autism Awards during this holiday week of celebration -- and especially happy to begin by naming Michelle Cedillo as Child of the Year. Michelle was the center of the first test case this year in vaccine court, and she received so many nominations from readers that it became obvious she was the perfect choice for the multitude of reasons outlined below. When told of the award, her mother, Theresa, said: "We are honored and grateful for this acknowledgement of not only Michelle but the thousands of other children with autism as well." Here is a sample of nominating letters, beginning with  Mary Webster, herself the mother of an affected child: 

Michelle Cedillo is a true, honest representative of each child currently struggling with autism.  This unassuming thirteen-year-old exemplifies the now tens of thousands of injured children in this country waiting for the rest of the world to catch up and, more importantly, wake up.  The New Enlightenment has been far too slow in coming for these long-suffering children, and, yet, they continue -- enduring the most unimaginable pain and heaviest of burdens. 

AGE OF AUTISM AWARD: HONOREE CHILD OF THE YEAR

In addition to Michelle Cedillo, we received some great nominations for Child of the Year. Here's the amazing tale of a child who turned adversity to his advantage, told by his justifiably proud mom, Anmarie Kemp:

"I am mom to four kids on the spectrum and would like to nominate my son, Austin, for your award.

CDC AND AUTISM PREVENTION

By Anne Dachel

This week came another installment of the Combating Autism From Within series from KOMU-TV Columbia MO.  This one was called, "Possible Prevention."

Right away I thought that's a term you rarely hear in connection with autism.  Preventing doesn't get coverage since the claim is often made that autism is a genetic disorder. 

PEANUT ALLERGIES STRIKE EARLY. NO ONE ASKS WHY?

By Kim Stagliano

Reuters Health reports HERE that peanut allergies are striking children earlier than ever.  Doctors put the onus on PARENTS to avoid giving peanuts to "susceptible" infants and toddlers. How the heck is Mom supposed to know if Janey is allergic to nuts before the poor child's throat closes and she goes into anaphylactic shock? 

"In a study of 140 children with peanut allergies, the median age of the first allergic reaction was 14 months among those born between 2000 and 2005, compared to 22 to 24 months among allergic children born between 1988 and 1999."

Yet again, where are the pediatricians demanding to know "WHY?"  GOOD GRIEF!

Kim Stagliano is Managing Editor of Age of Autism, a writer and the mother of three daughters with autism. She blogs here.

TOTAL RECALL

By Cathy Jameson

Last weekend, two of my children ended up in the emergency room with breathing difficulties. Our three-year old Willem was a middle-of-the-night run and was whisked back to a warm bed with no delays.  Izzy our one-year-old had the unfortunate two-hour “sit and wait, let’s hope your throat doesn’t close before we get called back” visit.  Since it was now dinnertime, my husband got deli sandwiches and chips for us. The next day, I read the Frito-Lay chips were part of a major recall. Great, throat closure and now food poisoning?  Fortunately, none of us got sick from the chips. Tonight, though, I did get sick after reading about a new recall:  12.5 million doses of the Hib vaccine were found contaminated according to the Center for Disease Control.   

Hasn’t this been a banner year for recalls?

AUTISM AND SOCIAL SECURITY: PURGATORY, LIMBO OR HELL?

The New York Times reported earlier this month that there is up to a three year wait for disability cases within Social Security. Applicants are dying from disease and/or old age before their paperwork is complete. Many are living hand to mouth during the wait. The autism epidemic began in the early 1990's. That means a horde of children is approaching adulthood. THEN what happens to the system? And the Americans in need?

DEIRDRE IMUS ON HUFFINGTON POST

NAA board member Deidre Imus is on Huffington Post today with a piece on mercury in mascara versus vaccines.  Pop over to HuffPo HERE and show her your support by leaving a comment.

AUTISM TREATMENT SURVEY

Have you filled out an Autism Research Institute parent treatment survey yet?  Find it HERE.

LIBERTY, JUSTICE AND HEALTHCARE FOR ALL

By Angela Warner 

I am trying to wrap my brain around what it would be like for every child in America to  have healthcare coverage. In particular, I am trying to wrap my brain around what it would be like for every child with an autism spectrum disorders and other cognitive developmental delays to have adequate healthcare coverage, and access to effective treatments and interventions, guided by practitioners experienced with treating and recovering children our children. It is hard for me to think about because we all have been at battle for so long for our children. But I think I may see the light at the end of the tunnel, and that light is from the most unlikely place.

AUTISM SPEAKS SNEAKS INTO CLEVELAND

This letter was sent last week. It describes the dirty pool played by Autism Speaks.  For the second time that we know of this year, Autism Speaks has tried to pull money and manpower out of a local autism charity by scheduling an event to coincide with a local event.  Who has more advertising/publicity power? The local guys and gals or the monster Charity whose board member Andrew Robertson is the head of one of the worlds largest advertising agencies (BBDO) and whose founder used to run a national television network? Check that one out HERE.

Does it anger you as much as it does us to see local dollars flowing to Park Avenue, New York and never reaching a family with a real, live autistic child? Even Cleveland and Pittsburgh can set aside their rivalry when it comes to our kids. The folks at Autism Link in Pittsburgh offered to share proceeds with a NE Ohio autism group from T-shirt sales.  You can order your very own "Nobody 'speaks' for me" T-shirt right HERE. Wear it as you sit on the sidelines at the next "Walk Far so our staff can buy a shiny new car" in your city.

Of course, Pittsburgh is having the wool pulled over its eyes by AS right now too, as AS petitions to avoid parking fees at its latest and greatest event in Steel city.  It's a shame Autism Speaks prefers to stomp on the local folks than provide tangible help to local families.

Dear Friends of Northeast Ohio Autism Group,

We have recently learned that Autism Speaks has scheduled an event for
autism almost identical to ours and near the same time. We would like
to clarify some information with all of you so there is no confusion.

HOLIDAY HEARTBREAK: VACCINE INJURED BOY DIES

This editorial in a Maryland newspaper by Harry Tembenis, whose vaccine injured seven year old son died recently, will break your holiday heart. He's offering $10,000--what it cost to bury his young son--to Jock Doubleday's $110,000 offer to any doctor to ingest a vaccine cocktail.

Maryland is sending parents to jail for not vaccinating. New Jersey is adding new vaccines to the mandated list, including a vaccine known to contain mercury even in  2007.  Why the push to mass vaccinate American kids via legal channels? Who is controlling this legislation and when did we decide that the government is in charge of our kids' health care?  I think the Christian Scientists will see a bump in membership in 2008 as religious exemptions increase. Thank God.

AUTISM: WHAT DID CDC KNOW AND WHEN DID THEY KNOW IT?

Part 2 of 2

By Mark Blaxill

From the start of their activities in the Brick Township New Jersey autism study, the CDC's approach had been nothing short of diligent and competent. They responded rapidly to an expression of community concern and fielded a team that began what seemed to be all the right kind of work on the ground. The team generated a response within weeks of mobilizing. They held a press conference to express their support for community concerns about elevated autism rates. If not a virtuoso performance, it was certainly professional.

Then something changed. After their January 1999 press conference, the CDC team went underground.

DAY SIXTEEN AUTISM OMNIBUS PROCEEDING

A Few Good Questions – Day Sixteen of the Autism Omnibus Proceeding – Hazlehurst v. the Secretary of Health and Human Services

By Kent Heckenlively, Esq.

People say lawyers talk too much.

But the good ones don’t.  They ask a few good questions which make their arguments clear, understandable, and undeniable.  Then they sit down.  That’s what attorney Curtis Webb did in his cross-examination of Dr. Christine McCusker and Dr. Thomas T. MacDonald during this day of testimony.

Dr. McCusker and Dr. MacDonald were strong witnesses for the defense.  In order to undercut their credibility, Webb needed to be quick and succinct.  I believe he did as good a job as possible with these witnesses. 

I was actually surprised at some things these witnesses for the government admitted.  They were admissions which seemed to support the claims of the petitioners’ theory of autism causation. 

I’m sure the Special Master was listening as well.

AUTISM AND THE CHICAGO POLIO EPIDEMIC

by Julie Obradovic

September 13, 1952.

That's the day Polio was declared an epidemic in Chicago. According to the front page of the Chicago Sun-Times at www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org the city declared it so after it surpassed the "critical level classification" of 720 cases by 9 cases, "at which the disease is classified as having assumed epidemic proportions on the basis of 20 infections for each 100,000 of the city's 3,600,000 population."

I was prompted to dig this up after a comment made by Dr. Tom Insel of the NIH. He claimed in response to the question as to why Autism has not yet been declared epidemic, that quite simply no one has bothered to look at the incidence rates to figure it out. That stunned me. Logic dictates determining if Autism is epidemic or not will best direct research funds, as genetic disorders and diseases cannot be so. Figuring this out sooner than later is not only fiscally responsible, it is morally responsible.

DR. INSEL & THE TRICK QUESTION ABOUT AUTISM AND VACCINES

By Dan Olmsted

One of the most interesting – not to mention important – figures in the current controversy over autism is the head of the National Institute of Mental Health, Dr. Thomas Insel. Considering his central role in finding the cause, some of his recent comments should make those who say vaccines have been exonerated just a bit nervous.

I've met Dr. Insel once – at the Institute of Medicine's Workshop on Autism and the Environment last April in Washington – and he left a strong impression on me. Energetic and formidably well-spoken, his very presence at the conference (along with Dr. David Schwartz, who then headed the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences) was a cause for optimism in the biomedical/environmental community. Despite what I'm sure is a full plate of responsibilities, he sat there for the full two days, engaged in the discussions and seemingly open-minded.

ROTENBERG! STOP AVERSIVE TREATMENT OF AUTISTIC CHILDREN

By Kim Stagliano

"Advocates for the mentally disabled are lobbying the world’s largest psychologists’ group to ban the practice of electroshock therapy that is currently being used on D.C. children in a Massachusetts clinic, The Examiner has learned."  Read the full article  HERE.

Our children are human beings. No matter how violent their behavior toward themselves or others. They are human beings and do not deserve to be stunned with shock treatment. Period.

Tell us, Rotenberg Center, are your young charges (if you'll pardon the atrocious pun) on the GFCF diet or a fistful of pills? Are their foods free of dyes and chemicals or are they S.S. Pierce's cheapest victuals?  Do they breathe toxic cleaners day in and day out and sit under fluorescent lights?

The behaviors of people with autism are often the result of decimated GI tracts. Think colic times a thousand. By pounding migraines alleviated only by head banging and arm biting. By rage induced by profound chemical imbalances and even heavy metal poisoning.  Look up lead and mercury poisoning for yourselves. You think shock treatment is helping them? It's not a treatment at all. It's a war crime. STOP.

Kim Stagliano is Managing Editor of Age of Autism, a writer and the mother of three daughters with autism. She blogs here.

MERCURY OK IN VACCINES BUT NOT IN MASCARA?

By Dr. Larry Rosen

It's too crazy not to be true.  The state of Minnesota proudly announced this week it has passed legislation to ban mercury in makeup, while a bill to ban thimerosal (ethyl mercury) in children's vaccines in the same states lies in limbo.

According to THIS AP report: "The quest for thicker lashes and defined eyes should get safer in Minnesota on Jan. 1, when a state law banning mercury from mascara, eye liners and skin-lightening creams takes effect.  Minnesota apparently is the first state in the nation to ban intentionally added mercury in cosmetics, giving it a tougher standard than the federal government."

NEW JERSEY IMPOSES HEALTH CARE ON YOUR CHILD

New Jersey has allowed the mandate adding the Flu vaccine to its list of required shots for children.  Read the story HERE.  I've yet to see the state sponsored article that tells parents, "Get your child a flu shot, but make sure you demand the mercury free version."  Will they tell parents the vaccine is 17% effective in infants 6 months to 24 months of age? And no more than 80% effective in the older kids.  And that you need TWO shots for full efficacy? That's 50 micrograms of mercury, friends. FIVE. OH!.

Regardless of your thoughts on vaccines in general, do you really want the government telling you what medical care your child needs? 

SEEKING THE TRUTH ABOUT THE NEVER-VACCINATED

By Sandy Gottstein

Editor's Note: Sandy Gottstein of Vaccinations News is a pioneer in the struggle to get public health officials to study autism in never-vaccinated children. At our invitation, she describes her long and courageous effort to bring this common-sense idea to life. Sandy, who does not have an affected child, deserves a vote of thanks from the autism community for her perseverance and clarity on this fundamental issue.
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A tree fell in a forest, but no one was there to hear it.  Did it really happen?

Who doesn't know the story of the proverbial, fallen tree?  Who really cares, though?  Isn't it just a fun, arguable, almost silly riddle? 

MAX SENTENCE FOR CARETAKER KILLER OF AUTISTIC BOY

THIS story just broke in Albany. 13 year old Jonathan Carey was killed last year during an "outing" to a mall by an improper restraint from his "caregiver." Edwin Tirado will serve up to fifteen years in a New York state prison.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Carey family.

THE ATLANTA MANIFESTO PART 5

By Mark Blaxill and Barbara Loe Fisher

Editor's Note: This is the fifth of eight installments of a "white paper" on vaccine safety written by Mark Blaxill, Age of Autism's Editor at Large, and Barbara Loe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center. Titled "From Herding the Public to Informed Consent," it charts a path from the current coercive immunization mandates to a more balanced and rational approach. Given new efforts to compel vaccination in a Maryland school district, and to add four more required vaccines to the schedule in New Jersey, their alternative vision is especially timely.
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The rising complexity of vaccine risks and benefits makes the assessment of risk far more sensitive to the assessment of such complex trade-offs. But when the guardians of vaccine safety [at the CDC] play a dual role as advocates of program expansion, the potential for bias, conflict of interest and bureaucratic error in these assessments rise when there are no mechanisms in place for self-correction. When advocates of vaccine programs can also exercise the coercive power of the state to enforce their decisions through vaccine mandates, the risks of catastrophic failure multiply.

COULD AUTISM ACTUALLY BE DECLINING AFTER ALL?

By Dan Olmsted

Last evening I climbed out of my home office/nest in the burbs and had a holiday drink in Washington's swanky Georgetown district with a friend and former colleague. I think I might have caught the Christmas spirit. The lights were twinkling in the elegant town houses, spirits were bright in the crowded pub, and a hint of the first big snow was in the air. There was a hint of something else as well -- something my friend happened to volunteer.

Knowing that I now work fulltime on autism and the "epidemic," he offered the following thought: "Why is it, when I have children two and six years old, that I don't know of a single child with autism? If it's 1 in 150, I should. All I know about is one child who got some kind of autism diagnosis, but he doesn't seem very autistic to me. He had some language problems but that was about it."

DOC VS. DOC OVER FLU VACCINE IN NEW JERSEY

By Anne McElroy Dachel, Media Editor

I don't think it was the intention of the New Jersey Public Health Council to stir up the heated debate over vaccines and autism that's getting coverage everywhere in the press.  The story about mandating four new vaccines for preschoolers and children in day care in NJ is even in the New York Times.  This publicity only serves to fuel the already contentious claim that unsafe vaccines are linked to the epidemic of autism among our children.

JAR OF MERCURY SPILLS IN HOME: "NO HEALTH RISK"

You have to read this.

"When health inspectors searched the child's home, they found two peanut butter sized jars of mercury.

The family told inspectors one of those jars spilled last year.

A health department representative said none of them is at risk."

"IT'S HARD TO IGNORE THE NUMBERS" 1 in 30!

Check out this article from a newspaper in Western Massachusetts HERE. A local school district is having to hire more trained autism staff to keep up with the numbers of children enrolling. Their rate is 1 in 30 kids! But relax, there's no epidemic at all. Really. No need to worry. Think the Social Security administration will hire more staff to process this "non-epidemic" when they age out of school? (I know, more coffee just came out of your nose. Sorry.)

ALBERTA CANADA SUSPENDS MUMPS VACCINE

Can you imagine the American CDC acting so quickly to protect its children? (Sorry, did you just spew coffee out of your nose?) Gardasil has had thousands of adverse reactions and even deaths since its mega-hyped launch last Spring and it's still on the market. Of course, profit isn't the primary (care) motivator in the Canadian healthcare system.  Read Mark Blaxill's post below about the current state of the CDC.

EDMONTON -- Alberta has suspended a provincewide campaign to vaccinate young people against the mumps after five people suffered serious allergic reactions for reasons that are still unknown.

Dr. Karen Grimsrud, acting chief medical officer of health, said Tuesday about 62,800 people between the ages of 17 and 26 have been vaccinated across the province since the program began in November.

Only two to five serious reactions are expected in one million vaccinations, said Grimsrud.

Read the full article HERE.