AGE OF AUTISM

Histopathologist from the Lancet study Rebuffs Brian Deer’s Article in British Medical Journal

By John Stone

A letter in on-line BMJ today from, Susan E Davies, one of the signatory histopathologists to the Lancet paper (HERE), rebuts Brian Deer’s imputation that there was anything amiss with the interpretation of the histopathology results in the study. This should finally knock on the head the claim made by Deer first in the Sunday Times in February 2009 that Andrew Wakefield had manipulated the results of the biopsy tests for his own purposes (HERE & HERE ).

Deer wrote in his article published a fortnight ago (HERE):

“The lead pathologist for the Wakefield project, and an author of the now retracted paper, was Susan Davies, now at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge. At weekly meetings with paediatricians, the unexceptional results were confirmed. For four of the 12 she made additional notes recording the position more bluntly: "no abnormality detected". “

Deer based his report on evidence given by Davies to the GMC hearing in 2007 but it now looks clear that he put too much emphasis on isolated statements. Instead, Davies’s letter substantially corroborates the account of the matter that Wakefield gave in his complaint to the UK Press Complaints Commission (HERE). This is the text of Davies’s letter (HERE):-

Caution in assessing histopathological opinions. 30 April 2010

As one of the pathologists in question, I wish to respond to some of the issues raised in the recent article by Brian Deer(1), and accompanying editorial by Nick Wright(2), on the histopathological aspects of autistic enterocolitis. There is some misrepresentation of my involvement and lack of understanding of the process in studies involving histopathology.
Firstly, at the time in question I was working solely for the NHS and acted as the key pathologist for the clinical gastroenterology paediatric team. I was not the lead pathologist for this, or any other Wakefield project.

Secretary Sebelius Announces New Members of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today the appointment of five new members to the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), a federal advisory committee created in an effort to accelerate progress in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) research and services.
 
“Today I am pleased to announce new members of the IACC, who will bring additional points of view and expertise to the committee”

The committee is composed of a diverse group of federal officials from HHS agencies and the Department of Education, as well as public members that include people with ASD, parents of people with ASD, and leaders of national ASD advocacy and research organizations.

MP Who Breached Patient Confidentiality Failed to Disclose Competing Interest in MMR Debate

By John Stone

Evan Harris, the MP who made allegations in a debate about MMR in the House of Commons in March 2004, disclosed that his father, Frank, was a recently retired professor paediatrics ((see TheyWorkForYou), but not that the latter had sat on the Committee on Safety in Medicines in 1990-92 (an appointment listed in his entry in Who’s Who) in the period leading to the withdrawal of the Urabe strain MMR vaccines in September 1992 .

 A report in British Medical Journal testifies to the hectic manoeuvring that followed the sudden removal of these two vaccines:

 "Last week the GMSC was worried that the vaccination programme would be put back by the debacle over the new arrangements for supplying the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR). The CMO has apologised to the profession that the information that two brands of the MMR vaccine were to be withdrawn was leaked before the profession was told. The department had planned to give doctors 48 hours' notice. The information was leaked on 15 September and earlier in some places. But by the time of the MSC meeting (17 September) many members had still received no information. The department has advised doctors to return their stocks of Pluserix-MMR and Immravix [sic] and order extra supplies of MMR II.

"The chairman will draw the department's attention to the possible effect on vaccination target levels if parents are deterred from bringing their children to be vaccinated because of the adverse publicity. Dr Eric Rose suggested that the department should mount a publicity campaign on the virtues of the MMR and the Hib vaccines."

By contrast Evan Harris had written failing to recall the episode in the Sunday Times on 22 February 2004 (HERE):

"On the safety of MMR, the evidence and scientific consensus are overwhelming. There is a lot of good research that fails to find any significant safety problem with MMR..."

PANDAS Presentations at Autism One Generation Rescue Conference Address Tics, OCD, More

At the Autism One/Generation Rescue 2010 Conference
Chicago, Illinois
Register at www.autismone.org

PANDAS refers to the acute onset of tics and/or obsessive-compulsive symptoms in temporal correlation with a group A strep infection. However, PANDAS is but one of
a larger group of post-infectious neuropsychiatric disorders known by the acronym PITANDS.

Friday, May 28 & Saturday, May 29
PANDAS Presentations

Fri.   1:45 Drs. Susan Swedo & Madeleine Cunningham
Fri.   3:00 Dr. Rosario Trifiletti
Fri.   4:00 Dr. M. Elizabeth Latimer & Laura Matheos
Fri.   5:00 Dr. Denis Bouboulis & Lynn Johnson
Sat. 4:00 Beth Alison Maloney

Bios and presentations below the jump.

Murder Suicide in Maine Starts Conversation About The Coming Flood

Ginger Taylor wrote a powerful post at Adventures in Autism about the panic in the media over vaccination safety issues (and blaming the autism community) and how it juxtaposes with the very real emergencies taking place every day for people with autism and their caregivers. Like the murder suicide this week in Maine.  

Ginger wrote, Last night I returned home, planning on watching Frontline's "The Vaccine War", which we already knew would be a hit piece on parents, as we saw the website that only offered the perspective of dismissive doctors, heard that they had cut famous UCLA pediatrician Jay Gordon out of the show (even though he was interviewed sitting next to Jenny McCarthy), and we had seen the preview which basically told vaccine resistant mothers they were bad citizens and condemning other children to death by vaccine preventable illness. But I never got to watch the show. Because as soon as I came in the door, the phone rang. It was a reporter from the Portland Press Harold who had interviewed me after Ashley's death looking for comment on a story. Another murder suicide of someone with autism by their parent. But this time it was just a few towns away from me. Click into Adventures in Autism to read the full post.  

Deaths Ruled Murder-Suicide; Parents of Autistic Kids Speak Out By News 13 Story Created: Apr 29, 2010 at 6:56 AM EDT.   Fox TV 13   in Maine took the time to speak with parents about their fears for the future:

Lylah Alphonse in Boston Globe Blog on Frontline Vaccine War

Interesting blog entry by Lylah Alphonse in the Boston Globe's, Blogs in the Parenthood on Frontline's The Vaccine War. Frontline is produced by Boston's WGBH. (The link is wonky, sorry.)

While the search continues for a cause -- and for a cure -- autism in general has become part of the mainstream. But while children's programs like PBS's Arthur are encouraging acceptance and understanding about autism spectrum disorders, controversey is what's making headlines in the news.

Last night, PBS broadcast its Frontline piece on "The Vaccine Wars," touching on the MMR vaccine-autism debate and the Thimerosal-autism debate, both of which are still ongoing in some communities in spite of the fact that the supposed links have been debunked. The show pitted anecdotal evidence from parents against research and advice from medical professionals, creating, as Dr. Jay Gordon put it in an open letter to one of Frontline's co-producers, "a pseudo-documentary with a preconceived set of conclusions: 'Irresponsible moms against science' was an easy takeaway from the show..."

Click into Blogs in the Parenthood to read the full post. Lylah M. Alphonse is a member of the Globe Magazine staff and mom and stepmom to five kids. She writes about juggling a full-time career and parenthood at The 36-Hour Day, and about everything else at Write. Edit. Repeat. When she's not glued to the computer or solving a kid-related crisis, she's in the kitchen or, occasionally, asleep.

IACC Meeting Friday, April 30

The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee has a public meeting tomorrow. Click HERE for full details on how to participate.

Friday, April 30, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern

Agenda: The purpose of this IACC meeting is to welcome the new members of the IACC and to discuss IACC activities including the 2009 IACC Summary of Advances and the 2009 Portfolio Analysis. There will also be presentations on the Autism Treatment Network, autism in the DSM-V, stem cell research, nonverbal autism and comparative effectiveness research.

Place: The Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
Rotunda Room
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20004
 
Webcast Live: http://videocast.nih.gov/
Conference Call: USA/Canada Phone Number: 888-577-8995
Access code: 1991506 
Registration: http://www.acclaroresearch.com/oarc/4-30-10_IACC 

Former Student with Asperger's and ADHD Convicted of 1st Degree Murder

There's audio tape of Odgren, the video tape is an intense debate of whether a 16 year old should have ever been convicted of First Degree murder. They keep referring to him as having mental illness. "Completely lacking in social skills," in prison comes up in the conversation below. Worth watching to see perceptions outside our community. A recap of the murder is at
Boston.com.

(NECN) - Former Lincoln-Sudbury high school student John Odgren was convicted of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of a fellow student. A jury rejected a defense assertion that Odgren was legally insane when he stabbed 15-year-old James Alenson in a boys' bathroom in 2007. Odgren's lawyers said he had a long history of disorders including Asperger's syndrome and ADHD. Attorney Wendy Murphy joins Jim Braude on Broadside to discuss the Odgren case, as well as the anti-bullying legislation passed by Massachusetts legislators.

Erik Lippmann's Body Found on CA Beach

We've been following this story. Unfortunately, there is no happy ending for Erik Lippmann, of Santa Cruz, CA, or his family. His body has been found. Our condolences to his family and friends. This has been a very tough Autism Awareness Month, hasn't it?

From the Mercury News

 — An autistic Santa Cruz man missing for more than a week was found dead at Marina State Beach this morning, according to authorities.

Erik Lippmann, 30, walked away from his Seabright-area home April 21. People have searched relentlessly for Lippmann, who liked to walk through parks, forested areas and beaches, since his disappearance.

Around 8 a.m. today, someone found Lippmann's body on the beach near a sand plant north of Marina.

"He washed ashore," Santa Cruz police spokesman Zach Friend said.

Barbara Fischkin: A Miracle Group Home for my Son with Autism

Here's a beautiful, hopeful post by our good friend Barbara Fischkin about her son Dan Mulvaney's new home. Please congratulate Barbara and (and Dan) with comment over at Huffington Post.

In a ballroom in a Beaux Arts landmark building at the Bronx Zoo this week, housing rights for the disabled was on the agenda. The place was packed with the kind of federal, state and non-profit officials and administrators -- and just plain, old working heroes -- who are willing to wade through a dense bureaucracy because in the end it leads to justice.

I know they all have their stories to tell. This one, though, is dedicated to Bryan Greene, General Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development better known as HUD, who sat upfront. For our family HUD made a miracle possible. It approved funding and in turn, permission, for a terrific group home for our young adult son with autism to be opened by the Nassau County AHRC.

And so here's to Secretary Greene. With people like him at the helm we could someday live in a world where disabled individuals get the housing they need every day...