Jane Johnson on the Every-Child-by-Two Press Conference

By Jane Johnson

My daughter and I showed up in the very pretty and obviously extremely expensive lobby of the Peninsula Hotel, where we were met by a couple of attractive but chilly young women who informed me that we weren’t on the list.  I explained that I hadn’t even heard about the meeting until about 10 pm, but had tried to reserve a slot then.  Finally they took my card, scurried upstairs, and returned to tell me we would be allowed in.  We went upstairs, where they told us it was for members of the press only (bless Spectrum’s Cris Italia—he tried to pull us in), and they were concerned they wouldn’t have enough seats.  I offered to wait and see if spare seats were an issue, and they sent us back down to the lobby. 

By that point Katie Wright and some other parents were milling around, along with an impossibly beautiful, adorable little boy named Rome.  We chatted for a while, until they came back down and apologized, and—eureka!—let me and my daughter in.

It was in a very small room, so we weren’t all that far away from the panel.  (I have to say it felt odd sitting that close to Paul Offit.  There are few human beings toward whom I feel so much anger.)  Each person on the panel spoke in turn, and said exactly what you’d expect them to say.  Amanda Peet kept harping on the fact that there’s mercury and aluminum in breast milk, which seemed a little weird.  I’m not sure why that’s supposed to cheer me up.  She, Offit, and others continually presented it as, once again, science vs. parents—all of the scientific data on the one side, hysterical anti-science parents on the other.

The Q and A was similarly useless—reporters from places like Entertainment Weekly who were most interested in the Peet-McCarthy battle.  Even though Amanda had already been pretty explicit about her opinion that parents shouldn’t listen to celebrities, they kept trying to draw her into saying something as offensive as her parasites comment (she didn’t).

I kept raising my hand, dying to ask “Dr. Bernadine Healy, former head of NIH, current member of the IOM, says that the epidemiological studies used to disprove a connection between vaccines and autism are useless, and that fellow colleagues on the IOM have explicitly said that they don’t want to look because they’re afraid of what they might find.  Comments?”  But they never called on me.  Bless their hearts though, they did call on Mary Holland, who did a spectacular job of calling them out on the notion that there’s no science on the vaccine-concerned side, and referred to Dr. Healy’s comments.  Cris, Kevin Barry, my daughter, and I all burst into applause.  Offit calmly responded that Dr. Healy must not have done any research.  Is there a word for that level of arrogance?  I can’t think of one.  The gall to suggest that someone of Dr. Healy’s stature would casually pick at the vaccine program and accuse her colleagues of intentionally avoiding the truth is almost impressive, if frightening. 

Then Mrs. Carter had to leave and the conference broke up.  Katie and the other parents were outside and across the street, bravely chanting and waving signs (they took mine away from me before they let me into the conference).

What’s fascinating is that they don’t seem to understand that the controversy persists because the science supporting safety is lacking.  They really seem to believe that a new website accompanied by PSAs starring Ms. Peet and an aggressive PR campaign will make parents’ concerns go away.

Jane Johnson is the director of Defeat Autism Now! and the co-author of Bryan Jepson's CHANGING THE COURSE OF AUTISM (Click here.)  She also sits on the board of directors of Thoughtful House and ARI.  She lives in New York City, where she spends a lot of time fretting about the fact that two of her three children are about to leave the nest.

Comments

[Twyla]

Thank you so so much to everyone who attended this event -- whether inside the room or out on the street protesting -- and to all who wrote about it.

[Tracy Stewart]

Autism's FALSE PR-OFFITS, I like that. He can shove his stupid book.

[Dana C. Sturdivant]

Thank you to everyone who was able to attend this smoke screen event. I truly believe people will believe the parent's who are holding hand's with their precious vaccine damage little children. I spread the message on a daily basis and will not stop. Today, I spoke to two pregnant women trying to save their babie's from the Hep B shot at birth and telling them how to go about it. I know when I go home I can sleep soundly knowing I am spreading the message vaccine's do cause autism, unfortunately my four year old is living proof of that! After, 72 round's of hyperbaric's Brennan said,"Real bad world why? why? why?" pretty amazing for someone who couldn't communicate hardly at all before hyperbaric's.I believe these damage children are way smarter than Dr. Offit and this Amanda Peet's whoever she is! God Bless you all...keep fighting! Dana

[sdtech74]

The USEPA regulates most of the chemicals we are exposed to in the environment (including mercury) and the basis for dose safety margins in humans are almost all done with animal studies. So it just depends on which "experts" you go to Amanda and whether they have really serious conflicts of interest.

[Barbara Fischkin]

Jane

Many many thanks for this detailed report. And many thanks to Chris Italia, too. And thanks to Katie so much for trying to get in! They really attempted to control the flow of information but thanks to you guys the art of reporting the "alternative view" lives on! The "alternative view" is the foundation of American journalism. Thomas Paine would be proud.

[Kelli Ann Davis]

"Offit is Oz, Amanda, the man behind the curtain with no magical powers over the behavior of toxins and live viruses."

Okay. I'm officially rolling. Hey, let's call Offit -- Ozitt. After all, *he's* the one who said he's the "man behind the curtain."

Kevin, thanks for the laugh!

And Jane, Katie, Cris, and all the others thanks for being there for US!

[Deb in IL]

Regarding the toxins in breastmilk argument - wouldn't this just turn uneducated moms away from breastfeeding their babies? If they're "toxic", then formula is safer for their baby.
Also, 2 wrongs don't make a right. If I AM toxic, then I need to clean myself before having a baby. I regret not detoxing before pregancy every day.
And another thing - "7 shots to 14 shots". I'm sure we all know this is the combination of many viruses/diseases/toxins. When I was taught about alcohol, it was important to point out that mixing drinks doesn't just add to the drunk, it multiplies it. It's harmful to the kidneys and liver. Booze goes through the digestive system, and the brain tells us to puke it out if it's too much. Combo-vacs going straight into the tissue doesn't allow the brain to somehow reject the intruder.

[Heidi]

Thanks to everyone who went today on such short notice and to Jane for this great recap. I thought the same as commenter Curt above, that it was probably just as well I couldn't go, my blood pressure thanks me and I am too busy at work right now to get arrested for lunging over the table and choking the life out of Paul Offit. I wish Jenny had sent a team of cameras to film this today as it is just incomprehensible that they can believe/say/promote what they do. I am hoping that some of the press in attendance will not just accept what was presented today.

[Kevin Barry]

Excellent piece Jane.

I had questions too, but was not called on either.

For Ms. Carter, since the number of vaccine doses has more than tripled since you started Every Child by Two, have you considered renaming the organization Every Child by Seven?

For Dr. Jenkins (AAP), why is it acceptable to you for 94% of flu vaccine made each year to be mulit-dose with Thimerosal, when there is a licenced Thimerosal-free version? Because most parents who would know to ask for a thimerosal-free flu shot also are aware that the flu shot doesn't work, the SAFER thimerosal-free version will only have a market if the more dangerous multi-dose version is removed from the market entirely. Why does the AAP not support this?

For Dr. Offit, why does the 2006 version of CHOP's thimerosal safety brochure leave out the 2005 Burbacher study? (Note: Cris Italia discussed this with Offit afterwards. Offit said something to the effect that animal studies are not always helpful.)

For Dr. Offit: The CDC admitted in April 2008 that "usually simultaneous vaccination is incompletely studied at time of licensure". While your efforts to reassure parents regarding vaccine safety have always been hallow, it's NEWS that the CDC admits that the interactions between the multiple doses of vaccines injected into children every single day in doctors offices around the country have not be safety tested. Dr. Offit, now that CDC admits that the present vaccine program is a giant experiment - are you looking for a retirement home in countries without an Extradition Treaty?

For Amanda Peet, please go to Generation Rescue's website. Read the published peer-reviewed studies. Vaccine safety concerns are legitimate and science-based, not "misinformation" on the (drumroll) INTERNET. No matter how many stethoscopes Offit strings around his neck, he can't make a mercury trapped in a developing brain behave differently. Offit is Oz, Amanda, the man behind the curtain with no magical powers over the behavior of toxins and live viruses. When you realize this Amanda, will you expose him as a fraud or just exit the stage?

[Tanners Dad]

Watch Amanda stumble through this one... I cannot believe they actually have this on the new Vacinate your baby website... They are just out to help us spread the word...

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/AutismNews/story?id=5483159&page=1

http://vaccinateyourbaby.org/

[Geoff Dubrowsky]

I was outside since my disguise didn't work , damm those NAA T-shirts. When I got home I went on guidestar to look up the financials for ECBT. They seem to get allot of money from government sources and private undisclosed sources. Ami makes over 90 K so I may switch teams soon. I have the 2006 return and will have Congressman Smith of NJ review the document. We will dig deeper into the money and if you all could ask your representatives to do the same we may be able to figure out this intentional misleading of America.

Guidestar is free to join and a useful tool.

[Not an MD]

Jane, I am so glad you were able to get into the meeting to hear what was said, and that you took the time to report back. I am also glad that Mary Holland got the chance to speak. ECBT needs to hear our voices and know that we are strong, we are growing in number (exponentially, unfortunately) and they cannot expect to convince us that vaccines are safe in the quantity now mandated. They need to know we demand the right to pick and choose which vaccines, if any, we wish to take into our bloodstreams and which we allow into the bloodstreams of our children. Our blood is ours alone; It is not the eminent domain of any pharmaceutical company, or any government officials whom we elect. Thank you for attending, once again.

[Jane Johnson]

Yes, Alison Singer was there. Didn't recognize the guy sitting next to her, but he might have been Autism Speaks too. Kevin would know.

[MCD]

My son recevied an extra Hep B. He was vaccinated in the hospital without my knowledge and then 5 days later at the pediatrician and again at 7 weeks and a fourth later on. We were an omnibus test case and I only found out about the birth shot when we obtained my birth records from St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital in NYC. Needless to say I was devastated. The Special Masters in our case acknowledged this before it was even mentioned by the attorneys. Clearly, the hospital staff so blanently disregarded the importance of the vaccince schedule they neglected to inform me. My ped should have known this was standard policy at my hospital as well as others in NY but questions were never asked and now who's left holding the bag? Cheers to the parents who made it out today. We know the score and the only way to help the next generation is to keep fighting the fight so new parents won't fall prey to the propaganda we did.

[lisa]

Jane -

Thank you - Kevin, Katie and the other families present at this meeting. So glad Cris from Spectrum was there too. So many of us wanted to be there.

Was anyone from Autism Speaks there?

It was kind of last minute in their scheduling and very lined up for their purposes. I am hoping the press do a little bit of research and not just report what was spoon fed to them.

Thank you again -

[Theresa Cedillo]

Thank you Jane (and your daughter) for attending and for the great report. I felt like I was there. I wonder how long they will keep the "there's no scientific proof" storyline alive?

Theresa

ps: thank you Mary Holland and Katie too!

[Gail C.]

Thank you for the report. I found the breast milk comment interesting. Four years ago immediately prior to my son's two month old shots, when I expressed concern about the mercury in the shots to our then pediatrician she told me the same thing. It shut me then but I've regretted it ever since. It must be some sort of CDC canned response.

I'm also confused about why Amanda Peet is the spokesperson for this faux nonprofit if she does not think we should listen to celebrities.

[Angela S.]

So they are consoling everyone by telling them that these toxins already exist in our lives but we shouldn't be concerned about vaccines adding to the load?

Oh don't worry about it, it's only one more trace of mercury...it's harmless!

[curt linderman sr]

I truly don't know if I could have gotten that close to (pr)offit without ending up in jail! kuddos to you for your self control. I've always dreamt of having people like him over for a dinner party and spiking the wine with all of the toxins in every vaccine that a child gets (of course adjusting for their weight!). and then sitting back for the next six months and watching the fun! I have no doubt those bastards will end up in hell, but I'd sure like to see em' suffer in this life as well!

[Craig Willoughby]

Jane, great job. If you'd like, I can send you some Lye soap to wash away the unclean from being so close to the pHARMa-scum (tm).

Thanks for the update, and keep it up!!