JULIE GERBERDING MUST RESIGN FROM CDC

From our commenter SD: I just got off the phone the White House and was told they were getting MANY phone calls and that we all seemed very passionate about this issue.  The operator told me that we should continue to call AGAIN and AGAIN.  That we should be putting our stories in writing and getting them out to the press.  By keeping it in the press will create pressure for results.  Thanks for the tip White House operator!

Today we call for the resignation of CDC leader Julie Gerberding for ignoring the health and safety of our children.  The following provides contact information for the CDC, White House and other organizations. (We can not guarantee all of these numbers will be reachable throughout the day.) Thank you to two A of A readers for these numbers.

Let's give our children the voice autism took away. Start "dialing."


Centers for Disease Control (CDC) 

julie.gerberding@cdc.hhs.gov

(404) 639-3311 (live)
(404) 498-1515 (answering service)
(800) 311-3435
http://www.cdc.gov/contact/      

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

Senator Obama  202-224-2854
Senator Clinton  202-224-4451
Senator McCain  202-224-2235

THE WHITE HOUSE

Main phone number: 202-456-1111

Switchboard: 202-456-1414

Fax: 202-456 -2461

First Lady Laura Bush's office: 202-0456-7064

Chief of Staff Josh Bolten: 202-456-6798

Presidential Scheduling: 202-456-5251

White House Counsel: 202-456-5257

Political Affairs: 202-456-5275/5277

President Bush: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
(There's a link to send message to President Bush)

Vice-President Dick Cheney: vice_president@whitehouse.gov
(Gee! There's email in the bunker?)

CONGRESS

Find your representative HERE.

National Center for Environmental Health and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry: 770-488-7100

Regional Poison Control Centers: 1-800-222-1222 

Call government officials: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml 

American Academy of Pediatrics:

847-434-4000   National Headquarters                    847-434-8000 (Fax)
202-347-8600   Washington DC office                    202-393-6137 (Fax)

http://www.aap.org  - AAP website
commun@aap.org  - for media only, woops!
childcare@aap.org – healthy child care America

Comments

[jenn]

look, i understand your outrage, but honestly, i feel the people calling for her resignation are misguided. yes, in a perfect world, she would have stated it more strongly... but i really think that by acknowledging ANY link, she was sticking her neck out. after all this, do you really think the next director will ever speak out on the subject, or do you think it will be more of the same government "plausible deniability"? she is the ONLY one i know of this high up in the government (at least in the medical field) who has said ANYTHING.

personally, i think she was trying to subtly warn people and acknowledge some of the dangers without being fired for going against the government and the corporations that fund them.... hopefully to nudge open the door for some research from the inside. do you really think she's free to tell the whole truth? i mean, the FDA's studies are funded by drug companies that they're supposed to be policing.... do you think the CDC isn't beholden to some companies with deep pockets?

but even if i'm wrong (which i may very well be) what do you think the chances are of her replacement EVER acknowledging any connection ever again after this?

[Jeanne]

Terri, I just emailed Gupta. Hopefully others will as well. I agree that I wasted precious energy commenting back to Jon. I have since put on my blinders and am singly focused on getting somebody somewhere to respond. I'm willing to keep this up as long as we need to.

[Terri Lewis]

Jeanne,

I had just started a comment directly to you, when I lost it googling something else!

Something very, very powerful is going on here. . .we are not the only two. . .there are so many of us this week, and I can feel momentum building.

We need to save our breath, and just not respond to people like Jon right now, and use all of our energy for phone calls and e-mails to our friends in high places (and those who might become our friends).

I'm putting in calls to Senator Obama and his medical advisor, Dr. Dora Hughes.

Tomorrow, I contact Dr. Sanjay Gupta at CNN and we break the story that thousands of parents are storming the White House, their Senators, the House, the CDC, all week long, and the CDC and Julie Gerberding refuse to even acknowledge our presence.

There are hundreds of thousands of us, and we are united now, and WE ARE THE NEWS.

Let that sink in.

Since the Hannah Poling case broke it open, we are the news.

We start to call the shots. We talk and we talk and we call the people who have the power to change it and we basically just don't shut up.

This is our moment. The time is now.

I'm probably done for today, because I have other work, too.

I'm back on it tomorrow.

Who's with us?

Let us know!

Post it here.

[Jeanne]

Terri, FYI, I just sent out another round of emails. I also called the White House - the operator was very friendly and mentioned that others had called (she didn't specify how many and I didn't ask). an email will also be sent to Mrs. Bush via her website comments. The next name on my list is Speaker of the House.

Have you heard anything back from anyone you've emailed? Any feedback? And are we the only two still rolling this snowball or what? :-)

[Jeanne]

Jon, with all the respect I can muster at this point (and I apologize now if it is not enough), BS! My son was born a healthy, happy baby. He developed normally - was talking, walking, counting, saying his alphabet, reading... all by the time he was a year old (as my other children did). Around 18 months I started to notice something was off - language that was there was now gone. Eye contact... diminishing daily. Need for attention... gone. Because I live in a prehistoric city (who knew?!), my son did not get his diagnosis until her was FOUR. No amount of arguing with doctors would help the process move any faster. Thankfully, with the diagnosis came the realization that I needed to get educated. And I did. In the meantime, I found a great DAN! doc. This doctor ordered something called an ION Panel on my child. When the results came back I was shocked. Not only was he deficient in most every vitamin and essential mineral, he was toxic in mercury.. guess what else.... aluminum. I did not feed my child tuna, or any other fish high in mercury. I'm pretty sure my son wasn't consuming aluminum either, so I'm left with the realization that those toxins came from his vaccines. His "autism" is really autism-like behaviors caused by toxic overload.

We immediately started treating the vit./min. deficiencies and immediately began seeing positive results. My son was improving. Over the course of the next year, we had more improvements. My son with "autism," unable to be potty trained, silent (no words whatsoever for two years), behaviorally off the charts, self injuring, gone... and you know what, let me restate... NOT my son - my son was taken from me, locked in a dark place -- all of this was triggered by his vaccinations. This much I know.

Today, my son is 6. What you call "snake-oil" has saved him. He talks up a storm. He is potty trained (just accomplished this one). He attends kindergarten in a typical classroom. He's no longer toxic in mercury or aluminum. He's doing very well. Boy, that snake-oil sure does work people!

So Jenny McCarthy DOES speak for me. She speaks for my son. She speaks for my family. She speaks for thousands and thousands of parents who have all been through this same horrific ordeal.

So Jon, explain to me (if you don't mind) how my child's story is bunk or his recovery snake-oil. Please. I'm on the edge of my seat.

[Terri Lewis]

Well, when I called the White House this morning, something kind of good happened. The operator (a woman whose voice is already sounding familiar to me) said, "Yes, I understand; the messages are being passed along." She sounded a bit weary; a bit exasperated. I told her that we really do expect to hear from the President. "Yes," she repeated, "I know."

What's the hold-up? Anybody have anything else to report about showing Ms. Gerberding the door?

Let's get busy. . .

I'll call again tomorrow.

Who's with me?

And--oh, yeah--ENOUGH RHETORIC--I second that!

[Sorsha Anderson]

I called my Senator in Washington today and the most disturbing thing happened. The aide I sopke to had NO idea who Hannah Poling was...there is a lot of work to be done.

[Terri Lewis]

We need to keep at this. This morning, I put in my daily phone call to the White House. I called Laura Bush. I left messages for Senators Obama, Clinton, and McCain. I also called the CDC directly. I merely repeated my brief message of yesterday, asking for the resignation of Julie Gerberding. It all took less than 10 minutes.

But it was easy to get through, so the momentum may be dying.

I asked one staffer, "Have you had any other calls?"

"No, I don't think so," she said. Then added, tellingly, "at least not today."

Phone calls and e-mails over the course of one day will produce as little result as a gnat buzzing in your ear. You brush it away.

Phone calls and e-mails every day, for as long as it takes, are a swarm of biting mosquitoes. We will be heard. And action will be taken.

Make your phone calls, send your e-mails, do it today, and encourage others by reporting back here.

Who's with me?

Terri

[Carole]

I was told by a nurse in our area at our local health dept. (I live in Ohio) the vaccines on the shelf as of 2007 still have thirmerasol in them, so families without insurance ect. have probably got those shots with the mercury. Question how many other Health Dept. still have old viles on their shelf.
Carole

[Barbie Hines]

Oh Jon...poor, poor Jon...who has filled your head with such garbage?

"The criticism without proactive suggestions will cause many health professionals to devote their limited time on other pursuits."

Many, many proactive suggestions have been given...a revised vaccination schedule...green vaccines...the list goes on an on...any health professional who devotes their time to other pursuits because of criticism does not belong in the health field.

"Expecting unique situations involving non-repeatable variables to generalize to all situations is a trap -- one that has repeatedly been exposed in the various "treatments" for and "causes" of autism now known to be false."

The situations are not unique...at least not to the extent that you are implying. I belong to a support group of about 15 people. All of our children have benefitted from the same practices...healing the gut, addressing mitochondrial issues (yes Jon, all of our kids have mito issues...they didn't before vaccinations...but they do now!), detoxing many metals...and the most amazing thing, Jon, is that once someone's child starts to excrete mercury...once someone has spent their retirement, college funds, maxed out their credit cards and watched their child miss years of their childhood, that is when they see the greatest gains, Jon...once the mercury comes out...some of the children in our group have actually come very, very close to recovery...and they will get all the way there.

I don't know how much you are paid to try to spread your word...but it's not worth it...you think you are just doing a job, Jon...but if one person listens to you, even just one...then you are personally responsible for some of this damage...put the kids first...that is what we are doing.

We cannot just grin and bear it Jon...these are human beings who have been needlessly injured...when I see a report on the news of a child who has been involved in a shooting it upsets me...it upsets everyone who sees that...why do you feel it is ok for our children to be victims?

[timezupforjulie]

Jon Jon Jon:
Please go back and peacefully complete your PR internship and leave parents who are healing/reversing their children alone.
Autism is underdiagnosed late and parents are left hopeless and distraught.
There is 25mcg of Thimerosal still in flu shots and a half dozen others, see your FDA website before you hand in your time card today.
May you graduate, go on and have a family.
May your babies never scream out at night with brain inflammation.
May they eat normal food with out pain and not smear the contents of their diapers on the wall.
I wish you the joy of their voice saying "Dada" and the beauty of connecting with a finger point and eye contact.
May this nightmare end before you dreams of a normal family are at risk.
Autism is reversible environmental poisoning.
End the Rhetoric before more children are harmed.

[Sean Brown]

A response to Jon's comments:

I have an eight year old son who was diagnosed at 18 months with severe autism. He is, and has always been, completely non-verbal. By preschool his brightest future, according to the "experts" in our school district, was to be able to empty garbage cans at the Opportunity Center by the time he graduated from high school. He spent his entire year of Kindergarten being continuously picked up off the floor while melting down. He couldn't even follow an instruction to stick a velcro backed penny next to his name on a roll call board.

We began seeing a DAN doctor late that same year and started acknowledging and treating what our series of pediatricians would not investigate and had told us were "ridiculous" suspicions. Every parent in this comment list knows this story. Wheat/gluten intolerence. Dairy/casein intolerence. Yeast overgrowth. Virus overgrowth in the gut. Depleted levels of glutathione. The list goes on. Then came the porphyrin urinary profile last year. Toxic levels of mercury, aluminum, lead, arsenic and PCBs are identified. It wasn't difficult to trace his vaccine history which started with 25 micrograms of mercury in his Hep B shot. Lots more mercury and aluminum followed shortly after.

My son's life changed drastically once we addressed what was hurting him. By the beginning of first grade he was reading and had a vocabulary of 15 sight words. By mid year he was up to 120 words. By the end of the year he knew all of his shapes and colors and a large number of animal names.

Second grade, accelerated learning. He began putting sentences together. He could log in to a computer and run children's programs on his own. He began using a weather chart and could count by fives and tens. During group time he could take the pointer and lead his peers while following instruction in songs. His aide could not keep up with enough words for him to learn.

Third grade, our IEP team had the school fund an assistive tech device so he has a voice while attending mainstream classes so he can answer questions. He uses a ruler to measure. He counts money. He dances with peers in their music class. He has been awarded nine times for his enthusiasm in reading and for trying his best every day at school. He has now discovered Dr. Suess. He may just eat green eggs and ham. We are now told by the experts that he will most likely make it to college.

The point is this. If we as parents had listened to Dr. Julie Gerberding, pediatricians or posts like yours, my son would still be beating his head on the carpet and screaming every day at school. While differing opinions are often helpful they can often be harmful to those who are searching for truthful answers. You will find the truth when you step into our shoes. You will not find it at the CDC. Julie Gerberding destroyed that years ago. Being misinformed is no excuse for supporting a broken system. Mercury is still in several vaccines. Look up the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg list of vaccine ingredients. And you don't recommend/mandate a flu vaccine containing 25 micrograms of mercury to six month old babies while claiming that thimerosal is no longer in childhood vaccines. No one likes being treated as if they're stupid.

So spend a few weeks living with a family whose son or daughter is on the spectrum and following biomedical treatment. Please do so before you post again. Chances are they're doing something about their child's autism which is the exact opposite of what Julie Gerberding and the CDC are doing for our kids. Six years has been way too long for Ms. Gerberding's "leadership".

http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/thi-table.htm

[Theresa]

I called this morning and spoke to a message-taker, and I also emailed Dick Cheney. Another avenue we should try is contacting the head of the department of Health and Human Services, Michael Leavitt. I believe he can initiate the removal of Julie Gerberding as well. HHS's contact information is as follows: Telephone: 202-619-0257; Toll Free: 1-877-696-6775. More information is here: http://www.hhs.gov/ContactUs.html

[Kasey Dettinger]

Here is a list of the members of the advisory commission on childhood vaccines - they might be good to contact as well! Keep it rolling!

ADVISORY COMMISSION ON CHILDHOOD VACCINES (ACCV) ROSTER

Parklawn Building, Room 11C-26
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857

ACCV MEMBERS

Jeffrey Sconyers, J.D., Chair ('08)
Children’s Hospital & Regional Medical Center
(General Attorney)

Jaime G. Deville, M.D. (’07)
Department of Pediatrics Infectious Diseases
University of California
(Health Professional, Pediatrician)

William P. Glass, Jr., J.D. (’07)
Glass Law Firm
(Petitioners’ Attorney)

Tawny L. Buck (’08)
(General Public, Legal Representative of a Vaccine Injured Child)
tawnyb@gci.net

Tamara Tempfer, RN-C, MSN, PNP (’08)
(Health Professional)
ttempfer@upa.chob.edu

Margaret Fisher, M.D., FAAP ('09)
Children's Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center
(Health Professional, Pediatrician)

Charlene Gallagher, J.D. ('09)
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals
(Vaccine Company Attorney)

Magdalena Castro Lewis ('09)
National Alliance for Hispanic Health
(General Public)

EX OFFICIO MEMBERS

Bruce Gellin, M.D.
Director, National Vaccine Program Office

Norman Baylor, Ph.D.
Associate Director for Regulatory Policy
Office of Vaccines Research and Review
Center for Biologics and Evaluation Research
Food and Drug Administration

Carole A. Heilman, Ph.D.
Director, Division of Microbiology
and Infectious Diseases, NIAID,
National Institutes of Health

John Iskander, M.D., M.P.H.
Associate Director
Immunization Safety Office
Office of the Chief Science Officer
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

DVIC STAFF

Geoffrey S. Evans, M.D.
Director, DVIC
Executive Secretary, ACCV

Michelle Herzog
Principal Staff Liaison

OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL

Elizabeth Saindon, J.D.
Attorney

[John Best]

Jon,
http://www.bolenreport.net/feature_articles/feature_article070.htm
Please be advised that those of us who have read this report are well aware of what you are trying to do. It won't work.

[Kasey Dettinger]

One thing I think we need to hammer home to these people is that although thimersol is harmful, and is probably responsible for MANY cases of autism and other illnesses, is that thimersol is probably not the only part of the vaccine that can do damage. I'm sure a long with the thimersol, the formaldehyde and aluminum (and the many other undisclosed ingredients) are responsible. It could have to do with the actual viruses and bacteria themselves (dead or alive). We do not know the long term implications of vaccines, especially as many as our kids are getting today. So, it does trouble me when we get stuck on the mercury issue - because I truly believe it is so much more than that. Again - I am not saying that thimersol is not still an issue - because it is - whether people want to believe it or not. They are misleading the public when they say it has been removed.....Just my two cents. As for Ms. Gerberding - I do hope that our officials will see that she has not done justice to vaccine safety. As Jon said there are many other health issues in the world - but I can't think of any that are more important than one that is kidnapping 1 out of every 150 children.

[Robyne Rohde, Oklahoma]

In response to Jon, there are so many who are much more knowledgable about this topic than myself, but I felt compelled to respond. I am a mother of a 10 year old child who had a perfectly heathly baby regress into the world of autism at 13 months of age. My family lives, eats, and breathes autism every day and night as do all families touched by this disease. I can speak for myself and feel confident in speaking for 1000's of others, that Jenny McCarthy's media coverage was the 'shot in the arm' (if you will excuse the pun) we needed. The mainstream media believes the lies put forth by the CDC, FDA, AAP and NIH because each of these organizations are culpulable and have contributed to the autism epidemic. These organizations are trying to protect themselves. To answer your question, Thimerosal is still in most childhood vaccines, in trace amounts, so it has NEVER been removed. If you inject a child with enough TRACE AMOUNTS, this will add up to a significant AMOUNT, however since TRACE AMOUNTS are not regulated, we simply don't know how much babies and small children are having injected into their little bodies. Since there HAS NEVER BEEN ANY MANDATES from the federal government on removing Thimerosal from vaccines when the pharmaceuticals were ASKED to remove Thimerosal, what do you think they did with all the vaccines in their warehouses? What do you think hospitals and physcian offices did with the vaccines they had on-site or had ordered and paid for? No one threw them away. There are estimates, based on the supply on-hand in 1999/2000 that babies and children have been vaccinated with the full amount of ethylmercury through 2005. We won't know the impact to children who have received the TRACE AMOUNTS that continue to be in most childhood vaccines until the children who were vaccinated in 2006 start school.

[Angela Warner]

Jon,

It is not my intention to insult you so please don't take what I am about to say as such.

Jenny McCarthy is speaking out on behalf of all children with autism. Her views ARE widely held and certainly do not amount to an advertisement of snake oil as you put it. Bio-medical interventions work. That is what Jenny is talking about.

Jenny is also talking about removing some one from an office who should not be in her position. The CDC has fallen asleep at the wheel. Yes there are many other diseases that need our attention, but we are in the middle of an epidemic. Autism has needed attention and research for years. All the CDC has done is continually refer to studies that are flawed and full of conflict of interests. Gerberding-bat-head should have been devoting more time to autism along time ago.

We have continually offered proactive suggestions for years about what needs to be looked at and she has and many others - continually ignored and denied the epidemic. They have "re-assured" us that it would be done, then say they can't do it for this reason when there are non-profits (like the Generation Rescue survey) doing on a small scale what the government claims they are not able to do! HOGWASH! BS! They don't want to because they know if they do they will prove what's causing the epidemic.

The reason that the rates haven't gone down since removing thimerosal is two fold. First they never completely removed it. Even trace amounts are toxic. Second, it is not just thimerosal... there's aluminum (not to mention all the other garbage) in vaccines too and when you add all the exposures up along with the fact that they are giving kids vaccines for up to nine different diseases at once - think about what that would do to your immune system. It's insanity! It's not just thimerosal!

What Jenny is talking about is not just diet and other bio-med interventions. Jenny is talking about - as the rest of us are - clean up the system. Clean up our vaccines. Study them when given in conjunction with each other. This has never been done. Get some people in place who really want to help not only our kids, but prevent this from getting any worse. Because it will if we don't do something about it.

Thoughtful advocates research. Thoughtful advocates question. Thoughtful advocates bring to light the truth. Thoughtful advocates take action. And that is what we all are doing.

I do hope you will make the choice to become a thoughtful advocate and do the research that we have all done, question what we have questioned, and bring the truth to light, instead of allowing yourself to be further lied to by people like Gerberding.

Off my box,
Ang
P.S. I am the mother of four beautiful children. My boys have ASD. My older daughter was harmed by vaccines. My youngest (18 months) is completely unvaccinated and is the healthiest of all my kids. So I've seen it... and I know.

[Gayle]

I wish to respond to the comment by Jon. Ms. McCarthy is one of very few people with the guts to speak out on behalf of everyone with autism, and their families. I personally salute her. As Jennie McCarthy has the famous face we need to get recognition from the media, she is most welcome and valuable in our fight to be heard. Once, again, personally, my kids have been responding to the GFGC diet, and so have the children of some of my friends. Fish oil, not snake oil is helping to remyelinate my kids brains. Some "real" science and medicine points to a gene expression affecting, hypothetically, 1% of the children with autism, not the 100% you seek. Real science is pointing to a link between thimerosal (mercury) and mitochondrial disease. In answer to your question regarding the ongoing increasing rate of autism (or as I prefer to call it, autisms) is that the disease itself is multifactorial. Some children regress into autism from the mercury that still remains in trace amounts in some vaccines (and in full amounts in the flu vaccine), and the aluminum hydroxide adjuvant (used to boost the immunogenicity of the viral antigens) also causes neuron death. Other children succumb to the live viral antigens themselves, as the antibodies they create can attack the gut and/or the brain of susceptible kids. There are many causes of brain dysfunction in our children, not only one cause, and most of them stem from the vaccines themselves. One must research all vaccine ingredients to understand why autism is on the rise. In short, it is not just the thimerosal. Vaccines continue to be added to the children's schedule at a breakneck (or should I say brain damaging?) pace.

[biomedmama7]

And by the way, Thimerosal (50% ethyl mercury) has NOT been removed from all vaccines.

http://www.fda.gov/cber/vaccine/thimerosal.htm

[biomedmama7]

And by the way, Thimerosal (50% ethyl mercury) has NOT been removed from all vaccines.

http://www.fda.gov/cber/vaccine/thimerosal.htm

[JB Handley]

Jon:

Perhaps we could find a leader doing all the important work you think Ms.Gerberding is doing who is also open-minded to the reality that we may giving too many vaccines to our kids, pushing some of them into autism.

JB

[biomedmama7]

Jenny McCarthy can and does speak for our household. (Thank you Jenny)

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0710/07/lkl.01.html

KARTZINEL: I think we have to understand that they're looking at forests. And we have trees. They're not seeing the trees. And if they start counting these broken children, which they have not really acknowledged that there is an epidemic of autism out there, and if you look at what Webster's says an epidemic is, it says there's a disproportionate amount something affecting the population that you wouldn't expect to be there, we know juvenile diabetes is 1 in 150 children. Autism has reached that. And it's even growing faster. So we have to be very careful about what we do. Actually, diabetes 1 in 500. Autism is 1 in 150.

KING: More autism than diabetes.

KARTZINEL: A lot more.

PEETE: And all childhood disease combined. When my son was diagnosed in '99 and 2000, 1 in 3,000 were diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum. Today it's 1 in every 94 boys will be diagnosed as having autism. If that ain't an epidemic, those numbers are frightening.

_______________

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/independence-of-cdc

In more than a dozen interviews, senior CDC scientists complained that Gerberding has driven away the agency’s best scientists while embittering many of its 7,000 employees. She implemented a sweeping reorganization that centralized control and boosted public relations efforts while introducing expensive, often unworkable new management techniques. The officials charge that the once-independent CDC has been brought under tighter political control from the White House.

[kim]

jeez jon, get with it. there's trace amounts of thimerosal in shots. there's the full amount in flu shots now mandated for pregnant and babies. there's shots that were on the shelf, and the children who got those shots still haven't gone to school or they haven't been diagnosed yet. if you were a real autism advocate, you would know these things. your argument does not apply.
and other than that...a real autism advocate doesn't even really believe that mercury is the ONLY problem with vaccines, but a large PART of it. there are other toxins and there are too many shots at once. pls do your research.
thanks.

[Jon]

a contrary view (which if posted means this site is open to competing views): Ms. McCarthy needs to stop pretending to speak on behalf of all families with children with autism. Her views are far from widely-held and amount to an advertisement of snake oil over real medicine and science. She seems to have lost track of the existence of many other medical issues facing the world and the fact that many well-meaning scientists and medical professionals, including Dr. Gerberding, are choosing to devote time to finding treatments for various diseases, including autism.

The criticism without proactive suggestions will cause many health professionals to devote their limited time on other pursuits. Rather than helping the cause of autism, she is likely driving away the people needed for the cause. Expecting unique situations involving non-repeatable variables to generalize to all situations is a trap -- one that has repeatedly been exposed in the various "treatments" for and "causes" of autism now known to be false. Also, one question she or this site should answer: why hasn't the incidence of autism gone down since thimerosol was removed from children's vaccines? The answer should go beyond the obvious claim that it is secretly still included -- that is what a thoughtful advocate would do.

[Kristi]

The white house comment voice mailbox is FULL...I'm on hold waiting for a live person. I hope we are flooding them with calls today!!

[Dominic Kelly]

I called the CDC, the White House, and Senator Clinotn's office. I am currently researching autism in a 3 year college scientific research course in my high school. I am going to call my local government offices as well! Keep it going!

[Angela S]

Some more cdc email addresses
cdcweb@cdc.gov
inquiry@cdc.gov
cdcinfo@cdc.gov

[Dave T]

President Bush will never lift a finger. He has been trying to protect Eli Lilly for years.

[Jacky Witherspoon]

I will definitely be making phone calls from Greenwood, SC.

So I'm with you.

Jacky

[Dan, tx]

I spoke to the CDC switchboard operator (404-639-3311) and said I would like for Dr. Julie Gerberding to step down and asked who should I speak to about this mater. They responded "We were just talking about the same thing." I responded "What else should I be doing to make this happen." The CDC operator responded "You are doing it. I will transfer you to the CDC emergency public relations response".

She must really be a piece of work if the switchboard operators what her to leave too.

[Lisa]

Did my call too. Left a message of four of the message centers.
Its interesting that folks at the White House seem a bit flustered.

[Jeanne]

I just left a loooong message for Mrs. Bush. At the end I suggested she contact Jenny McCarthy for a sit down. That's what we need, Jenny at the White House... How about a documentary titled, "Ms. McCarthy goes to Washington." ;-) I'm with you Terri, we need to keep the momentum going... every day, every week... until we get the results we want. The White House operator is right, keeping it in the press will create pressure for results. We can't just let this die now, we've all worked so hard to get where we are today. Let's do this thing!

[Dan, tx]

Independence of CDC Scientists in Question

Over the past four years, the office at the Centers for Disease Control that is responsible for vaccine safety has undergone numerous leadership changes, internal conflicts and a flight of senior scientists.

Some departing scientists and outside experts have charged that senior CDC officials are failing to give the office the independence it requires to investigate possible harm from vaccines. The accusations have come at a time when the number of routine childhood shots is swelling—preschoolers now get 10 separate types of shots in most states, double the number in 2000. New vaccines are being administered to teenagers as well. In the latest addition to the vaccine schedule, a CDC panel on Wednesday recommended that all children up to 18 years of age receive yearly flu vaccination.

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/independence-of-cdc

[CindyfromPhilly]

It took me four attempts to get through this morning -- encouraging!

[Sara DiFucci]

I just got off the phone the White House and was told they were getting MANY phone calls and that we all seemed very passionate about this issue. The operator told me that we should continue to call AGAIN and AGAIN. That we should be putting our stories in writing and getting them out to the press. By keeping it in the press will create pressure for results. Thanks for the tip White House operator!

[timezupforjulie]

Autism Biomedical Research 1989: Mitochondrial dysfunction in Autism treated at the Pfeiffer Treatment Center.
Autism Biomedical Research 2006:AMA publishes reports that Oxidative stress found in Autistic children.(McGinnis)

Oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases.
Trushina E, McMurray CT.

Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative damage are major contributors to neuronal loss. Free radicals, typically generated from mitochondrial respiration, cause oxidative damage of nucleic acids, lipids, carbohydrates and proteins. Despite enormous amount of effort, however, the mechanism by which oxidative damage causes neuronal death is not well understood. Emerging data from a number of neurodegenerative diseases suggest that there may be common features of toxicity that are related to oxidative damage.

FLASH FORWARD
2008 CDC declares 1:4000 Mito disorders, unusual. Not associated with vaccine induced Autism. Despite HHS conceding that Hannah Poling's mito disorder was aggravated by her vaccines.

Clueless squared. We deserve more for our tax dollars.

[Terri Lewis]

We may need to keep at this for a little while. I'd say, oh, until. . .somebody steps down in shame.

There will be lots of us who won't be able to call (or get through) today. What do you say we extend this campaign? What do you say we get serious about this fight? We call every day. For a week. For a month. We talk and we call and we don't shut up until somebody finally does something.

I've sent this news around, but it may take a while for it to come to everyone's attention.

Who's with me on this?

[Sue Backer]

I just got through to the White House. It took me 3 trys so I guess people are calling! We gotta keep this up guys! Tell all your friends and family to make some noise! See you in June at the CDC Rally Jenny!
Sue Backer
Mom of a recovering kid and 2...oh for lack of a better word, typical kids. (That dosen't mean they're "normal" know what I mean moms?)

[Sandy Gottstein]

I, too, got through right away. Bummer!

I sent out a group email and will be sending another, though.

However, I am not convinced that the infant mortality figures are meaningful. Perhaps this is not true, but I have heard/read? that US figures are lower because we include premies in the statistics, where other countries do not. If that is the case, we may not be as low as it looks. Guess I'd better do some research.

[Media look here]

1 in every 6 American children with some type of
early childhood
> development disorder
US number 32 out of 33 in "infant
mortality" rate when
> ranked against world.....US drops....to number 42....which means
there are some
> UNDEVELOPED countries that have a higher infant mortality rate
than we do. This is such a sad state of affairs..

[Diane Farrr]

I also called my governor and asked that they set up a special task force for autism like Governor Charlie Crist just announced for Florida. The operator said this is something you should pass on to an aid; the governor is interested in autism. The aid let me vent for over 20 minutes. I think I'll hear back from him. Let's work on our governors, too.

[Stagmom]

Just sent an email on behalf of my girls and made the call.

[JB Handley]

I was glad that comment line operators were backed up when I called!!

I finally got through and let them know that Julie Gerberding had let me and my family down, that she continues to do nothing for our kids, and that I'm asking the President to step in for the sake of future generations.

[Jeanne]

Oh yeah, they've got the voice mails going now. (When I started at 8 a.m. - central - I was able to get through to the White House and the CDC) Can't talk to a human now though... but left some really great messages! Sent many, many emails also. I hope we are heard. I hope someone, somewhere notices our cries of discontent and picks up on the story.

[Laura]

Office of the Speaker
H-232, US Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-0100

I'd add Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi to this list. Where the heck has Congress been on this issue?

[Jeanne]

I called and was put on hold for a few minutes, then was put through. I agree this means there aren't enough of us calling. Come on people!! Do this thing!

[Alison Davis]

I too, was surprised to have gotten through at 9:18 because I spoke to an actual person. You can write too- see my earlier comment.

[Terri Lewis]

Let's get busy! It only takes a minute. I called the White House this morning, and was almost displeased that I got through--it says to me there aren't enough of us taking action. . .

We need to shout it loud and clear today.

Terri Lewis,
Mom to three kids, one recovering from autism

[J&J]

We sent ours! Thanks, Jenny.

[Alison Davis]

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/userletter/?id=20004&letter_id=1800240821