AGE OF AUTISM

Vaccine Industry Group Calls on Couric and Attkisson for CBS Retraction

By Kim Stagliano

"We call upon CBS to issue a retraction of Sharyl Attkisson's report...."

Lisa Randall of Voices For Vaccines has sent a letter to Katie Couric about Sharyl Attkisson's piece last week that questioned the financial ties of the AAP, Dr. Paul Offit and "Every Child by Two" to the vaccine industry. Even The Wall Street Journal picked up the report in its blog, (we wrote about it HERE.)

Here's the letter:

Voices For Vaccines
325 Swanton Way
Decatur, GA 30030

July 31, 2008

Katie Couric, Managing Editor CBS Television Network
524 West 57th Street
6th Floor
New York, NY 10019-2902

Via Facsimile

Dear Ms, Couric:

Voices For Vaccines objects to the defamatory allegations made by the CBS Evening News on Friday, July 25, against the American Academy of Pediatrics, Every Child By Two, and the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, with our colleague Dr Paul Offit singled out for baseless criticism.

Let Us Praise Good Doctors

By Kent Heckenlively, Esq.

“Have you had a tetanus shot in the last 10 years?” my doctor asked during my annual physical the other day.

This is the second year I’ve been with my new medical plan and the second time I’ve seen this doctor.  I’ll call her Dr. N* (pseudonym).  She’s Indian, studied and worked at Harvard, but likes working for my medical plan because they advertise that “we let doctors be doctors”, and that’s actually a pretty accurate description.

“No, I haven’t,” I replied.

She stopped writing on her pad, looked up at me, and I could tell that the next words out of her mouth were going to be something along the lines of, “We’ll get that ordered for you.”  I decided to stop her forward motion.

“And I won’t.”

She looked at me curiously.  “Why not?”

Heroes With Handicaps Assists Military Families Facing Autism

Click HERE to read a post from Angela Warner's blog, "Autism Salutes" and learn about a non-profit organization helping military familes pay for autism treatments. It's called Heroes with Handicaps.

Heroes With Handicaps, Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded with the purpose of providing financial assistance to active duty, and retired military members who have a child(ren) with autism.

Please send your link - your video, news clip or story can make a difference for families living with autism today.

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

Heckenlively on the Omnibus Autism Proceeding 7/21-23

Going for the Knock-Out Punch! – The Omnibus Autism Proceeding – Second Set of Hearings (Thimerosal & Autism) – Days Fifteen through Eighteen – July 21-23, 2008

By Kent Heckenlively, Esq.

It’s the kind of knock-out punch every attorney dreams of delivering in an important case. Turning the opposing side’s expert witnesses to your side.

While I’m sure some may quibble with whether that actually happened with the withdrawal of the expert testimony of thimerosal experts Drs. Magos and Clarkson, it is certainly what attorneys for the families argued.  Even more damning was that fact that Dr. Clarkson was one of the co-authors on the Burbacher monkey study which showed thimerosal-containing vaccines delivered high levels of mercury to the brain which in turn caused neuro-inflammation.

Many of the arguments and counter-arguments in the third of this group of hearings, and sixth in the entire proceeding, have been made before, but the withdrawal of the expert reports of Drs. Magos and Clarkson makes it very difficult (in my opinion) for the government to prevail.  And it was a point which family attorney Tom Powers made sure stuck out like a sore thumb.

Holland on the Omnibus Autism Hearings: 7/21-22

By Mary Holland, Esq.

Omnibus Autism Hearings,
July 21-22, 2008
Thimerosal-Autism General Causation Theory
Test Case 3:  Dwyer v. HHS
Monday, July 21

Petitioners’ Opening Remarks [Mr. Powers]
Colin Dwyer had developed normally until 20 months.  Then, the thimerosal in Colin’s vaccines led to a neuroinflammatory process causing autism.  Dr. Mumper will connect the general causation evidence to Colin’s case, showing the logical sequence of cause and effect leading to Colin’s injury.

Respondent’s Opening Remarks [Ms. Ricciardella]
This hearing is about specific causation only; general causation evidence is closed.    I want to express my respect and admiration on behalf of the government for the Dwyer family.  (Mr. and Mrs. Dwyer are present at Petitioners’ table.)  But, this case must be based on science, and good science, “reliable, credible science is the bedrock of the vaccine program.”  Daubert [Supreme Court case on scientific evidence] and its progeny should carry weight and be the paradigm for science here.   “Unproven hypotheses based on unproven data” should have no place.  Dr. Mumper will discuss oxidative stress, mercury efflux disorder, neuroinflammation, methylation abnormalities and a “plethora of hypotheses;” “you’ve heard information that disproves these.”  Dr. Bennett Leventhal, an autism expert of 30 years, will testify for the government and show that there’s “nothing unusual” about Colin’s case.

Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation "Rock 'N Ride"

Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism and Pitching in for Kids Team up to Host 1st Annual Rock ‘N Ride, Sunday, August 3

Boston, Mass.— July, 2008: Start your engines!  The Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism and Pitching in for Kids will host the 1st Annual Rock ‘N Ride on Sunday, August 3 to benefit children and families affected by autism. The event will kick off with a motorcycle ride from Bruce Rossmeyer's Harley Davidson of Everett to the Hard Rock Café in Faneuil Hall outside Mr. Rossmeyer's  new Harley-Davidson of Boston store. Riders and event participants are then invited to attend a post ride celebration at the Hard Rock Café in Faneuil Hall, where the raffle drawing for a brand new 2008 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy motorcycle will take place.  For more information on any of the below events, visit www.pitchinginforkids.org or call (617) 367-3322, or 1-866-3Autism. 

RIDE DETAILS: 
Where:  Harley Davidson Store- 1760 Revere Beach Parkway- Everett  (police escorted ride)
When:  Staging time 1:pm-3:30pm,  Ride begins at 4pm SHARP- Rain or Shine
What:  $25 Entry Fee (per bike)- includes ride, wristband, food and beverage at after party at Hard Rock Café in Boston

David Kirby Free Lecture: "The Autism-Vaccine Debate: Why Won't It Go Away?

David Kirby, the New York based investigative journalist and author of the NY Times Bestseller, “Evidence of Harm,” will speak and take questions from the public during a free event at the Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library.

LECTURE AND Q&A
Thursday, July 31, 2008
6:30 – 9:00 PM

PLAINVIEW-OLD BETHPAGE PUBLIC LIBRARY
999 Old Country Road, Plainview, New York 11803

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
RSVP REQUIRED: kirbylecture@gmail.com

Among the subjects Kirby will address and take questions on:

■ A recent case in the US Vaccine Court in which the government conceded that vaccines induced autism in one little girl, and updates on other cases.

■ Autism among Somali children in Minnesota.

Olmsted on Autism: Roy Grinker's Unright Facts

Managing Editor's Note: To learn more about Dr. Grinker, click HERE to read JB Handley's piece called, "Grinker's Stinker: His Wife runs the IACC."

By Dan Olmsted

In some parts of the far-flung autism universe Roy Richard Grinker is a big deal -- professor of anthropology and director of the George Washington University Institute for Ethnographic Research and the author of five books including Unstrange Minds, which makes the case that autism is not new, just better identified. His credentials and credibility help “mainstream” this malignant notion: Time magazine says his book “persuasively argues” that there’s no autism epidemic at all.

Big deal. You’ve still got to get your facts right.

Lately, I’ve been reading the autobiography of Leo Kanner, the child psychiatrist who first described autism in 1943, which is unpublished but available at the American Psychiatric Association. I remembered that Grinker had cited the autobiography in Unstrange Minds and, out of curiosity, decided to review those references.

Oh, dear. I’m afraid Grinker’s gotten some things quite thoroughly wrong. And because the facts matter so much to solving the autism puzzle, that IS a big deal. Some mistakes don’t bear directly on the debate, but they make you wonder how many do.

Here’s one:

Thoreau-FDA.com Exposes FDA Risks To Americans

There is a website devoted to telling the American public about the problems within the FDA. Please click HERE to visit Thoreau-FDA. From their site:

Welcome to Thoreau-FDA.com, a website launched and operated by current and former US Food and Drug Administration staff who believe public health is being put at unnecessary risk. These concerned civil servants and ex-civil servants have either experienced or are aware of wrongful directives by US FDA upper management – directives that put public health at avoidable risk. 

Thoreau-FDA stands for Thorough – High – Objectivity – Review – Ends – Are – Us – FDA.

Dr. Paul Offit Outed in Wall Street Journal Blog Too

By Kim Stagliano

The Wall Street Journal (HERE) health blog writes about Sharyl Attkisson's piece on CBS last week, again pointing a finger of criticism at the AAP, Every Child by Two and Dr. Paul Offit, infectious disease specialist at Children's Hospital of Philadephia, who is taking aim at autism, autism treatments and, in our opinion, children with autism, at every opportunity.

Please go to the WSJ blog to add your comments. Most people do not know the truth about these conflicts of interest.

This negative publicity, on the heels of his Amanda Peet disaster, doesn't bode well for the book he has coming out titled, "Autism's False Prophets." More on that later this Fall.  Here's the CBS piece about the conflicts of interest of Dr. Offit, The American Academy of Pediatrics and the vaccine promotion organization called "Every Child by Two.":