Dachel Media Update: 10/15

Today's headline(s) with my commentary.

Two recent stories got my attention. First Forbes gave us more reasons not to worry about autism or the toxic pesticides in our food.

Oct 15 2012, Forbes: Are Pesticides A Key Driver Of The Autism Increase

Oct 15, 2012, The Philadelphia Inquirer: Ask Dr. H: MMR vaccine unsafe? The study was bogus

It's clear that until the autism generation literally bankrupts the welfare system, everything about the autism epidemic and what's causing it will be repeatedly denied. Today was no exception.

Philadelphia Inquirer:

Mitchell Hecht, MD in his column, Ask Dr. H, gave us the standard medical community’s denial of any link between vaccines and autism.  And while it may be frustrating to once again see a physician who seems to have no concern about autism while vilifying Andrew Wakefield and hailing the work of Brian Deer, this piece is proof that the denials aren’t working. We’ve have years of official studies and countless well-credentialed experts all over the media telling the public THERE IS NO LINK, but still the debate rages.  Hecht probably doesn’t want to keep talking about this, but he has to because the public is increasingly worried about vaccine safety.  Articles like this give us the perfect opportunity to post comments challenging everything.

Forbes Magazine

Emily Willingham was out to convince us that the studies raising serious concern over pesticides (and autism) aren’t reliable while casting doubt on the whole idea of an autism epidemic.   And of course if there’s no epidemic, then there’s no need to worry about what pesticides are doing to our children.  “Anti-pesticide” is used here just like “anti-vaccine” is used to dismiss those who believe toxic vaccines are harming kids.

“An anti-pesticide manifesto [PDF] from the Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) has recently made a few headlines in big papers and nabbed a feature on an NPR member station with claims that “children today are sicker than they were a generation ago” and that pesticides are a “key driver” of the increase in childhood disorders such as “childhood cancers … autism, birth defects, and asthma.” The news reports almost invariably describe the tome in scientific terms without mentioning that it’s self published and not peer reviewed and contains no new data or information. The stories do not fail, however, to mention autism and to mention it early.

“The PANNA authors pin their autism claim in part on the much written-about “autism epidemic.” While environmental factors might play some role in a small portion of the increase in autism, as I argue here, the general consensus appears to be that diagnostic substitution and enhanced awareness and recognition are the main drivers. Regardless of whether a genuine increase exists and what environmental factors are key to it, very little published evidence suggests a link between autism diagnoses and pesticide exposures. Yet the two keep popping up together in articles that sensationalize a relationship or posit one from research that doesn’t address autism at all.

Comments

[Jeannette Bishop]

Why the downplay of a pesticides link? Is it because thimerosal is technically a pesticide? I don't know if the writer understood that de novo mutations indicate something genotoxic, such as thimerosal, modified DNA in the research subjects, and I don't know how much weight to put in the de novo mutation studies anyway, but the better recognition and broadening of diagnostic criteria claims are looking more absurd everyday and not reassuring any new parent I know.

[Jenny Allan]

Patricia-I assume Dr H's lawyers are working overtime on this one!! His little advice blog told a parent that MMR vaccine is completely safe and will not cause the child to develop autism.

In view of the fact that $millions have already been paid out in the US to children who DID develop autism as a result of being administered MMR vaccine, then Dr H has lied to that parent and other parents who were falsely 'reassured' by his advice.

The comment thread will have been 'pulled' for pointing out all the lies and misinformation. NO vaccine is 100% safe, and this is acknowledged in the vaccine inserts.

[Carter's's Daddy]

This Philly Dr's little diatribe is a perfect example of the infuriating behaviour of those with a soapbox not only using it to feed their own egos but to use the veil of "press" to spew outright lies with impunity, knowing that the ganeral public believes it just because it seems authoratative to the uninitiated. Why are there no checks and balances in journalism(and I use the term loosely)? They certainly demand it from our circles.

[Patricia]

Is it me? But I can't find any comments now on that Dr H of the Phil Inquirer....wonder why?

[Sandy MacInnis]

Does the Forbes writer Emily Willingham have any evidence at all supporting her position that environmental factors play only a small role in the autism epidemic and that it's really diagnostic substitution and enhanced awareness?

Does she give any evidence indicating she has read a reasonable sampling of the scientific literature?

Has she read, for example, Hallmayer J, et al. Genetic Heritability and Shared Environmental Factors Among Twin Pairs With Autism. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2011 Jul 4, which produced a very conservative estimate that 58% of autism susceptibility is environmental?

[barbara j]

Whatever happened to David Ayoub MD? His thimerosal connection was so strong.
http://orbisvitae.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=44881&an=128#Post44881