HELP Committee Let Down
By J.B. Handley
Bummer. That’s my reaction after reading the report examining allegations of misconduct between CDC and IOM by the Senate HELP Committee.
From sources I trust, the folks at HELP seemed pretty genuine in getting to an answer, so I’m not going to second-guess what they concluded. At least we all now know that third world countries are still getting Thimerosal-containing vaccines.
Here are my thoughts about this report.
1. Vaccines still aren’t being honestly evaluated for their role in autism, and the science has not yet been done.
As Dan Olmsted reported here earlier this week, the CDC won’t touch the unvaccinated kids and compare their rates of NDs to vaccinated kids as they are, I believe, scared to death of what they may find. If our survey of unvaccinated children (link here) is any indication, they should be scared.
As I discussed in a previous post, The Thimerosal Shield is now being used to deflect attention from considering anything else about vaccines that may cause problems like the tripling of the schedule, aluminum, live viruses, MSG, etc.
2. If we want real science, we will have to fund it ourselves.
We will only solve the autism puzzle if we prove what caused it and we prove how to successfully treat it. That will only happen with credible, well-designed studies.
3. For all the times the 2004 IOM report has been cited, it is shocking to me that the a number of published studies were not considered in reaching their conclusion (some because they had yet to be finalized) including:
Porphyrinuria in Childhood Autistic Disorder: Implications for Environmental Toxicity (link here)
Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 2006.
Robert Nataf, Corinne Skorupka, Lorene Amet
A Case Control Study of Mercury Burden in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (link here)
Journal of American Physicians and Surgeon, 2003.
James Adams, PhD [Arizona State University]
Thimerosal Neurotoxicity is Associated with Glutathione Depletion: Protection with Glutathione Precursors (link here)
Neurotoxicology, Jan 2005.
S. Jill James, PhD [University of Arkansas]
Neurotoxic Effects of Postnatal Thimerosal are Mouse Strain Dependent (link here)
Molecular Psychiatry, Sep 2004.
Mady Hornig, MD [Columbia University]
Activation of Methionine Synthase by Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 and Dopamine: a Target for Neurodevelopmental Toxins and Thimerosal (link here)
Molecular Psychiatry, July 2004.
Richard C. Deth, PhD [Northeastern University]
4. Someone tell me why we shouldn’t be cynical about these comments from the Simpsonwood transcripts:
"The number of dose related relationships [between mercury and autism] are linear and statistically significant. You can play with this all you want. They are linear. They are statistically significant." - Dr. William Weil, American Academy of Pediatrics. Simpsonwood, GA, June 7, 2000
"The issue is that it is impossible, unethical to leave kids unimmunized, so you will never, ever resolve that issue [regarding the impact of mercury]." - Dr. Robert Chen, Chief of Vaccine Safety and Development, Centers For Disease Control, Simpsonwood, GA, June 7, 2000
"Forgive this personal comment, but I got called out at eight o'clock for an emergency call and my daughter-in-law delivered a son by c-section. Our first male in the line of the next generation and I do not want that grandson to get a Thimerosal containing vaccine until we know better what is going on. It will probably take a long time. In the meantime, and I know there are probably implications for this internationally, but in the meanwhile I think I want that grandson to only be given Thimerosal-free vaccines." - Dr. Robert Johnson, Immunologist, University of Colorado, Simpsonwood, GA, June 7, 2000
"But there is now the point at which the research results have to be handled, and even if this committee decides that there is no association and that information gets out, the work has been done and through the freedom of information that will be taken by others and will be used in other ways beyond the control of this group. And I am very concerned about that as I suspect that it is already too late to do anything regardless of any professional body and what they say…My mandate as I sit here in this group is to make sure at the end of the day that 100,000,000 are immunized with DTP, Hepatitis B and if possible Hib, this year, next year and for many years to come, and that will have to be with Thimerosal containing vaccines unless a miracle occurs and an alternative is found quickly and is tried and found to be safe." - Dr. John Clements, World Health Organization, Simpsonwood, GA, June 7, 2000
Onward parents. As one of my activist friends recently told me, if we want this done right we’ll have to do it ourselves.
J.B. Handley is co-founder of Generation Rescue.
Do'C, when you chelate to remove metal from the bloodstream the metal is excreted via the body's detox system, the kidneys, into urine. You test the blood for the presence of metal. You test the urine to see if you are excreting the metal. Otherwise I suppose you could just use leeches to chelate and suck out the metal laden blood. That sounds a bit icky to me, although I've heard leeches have made a comeback for treating some skin injuries.
Kim
Posted by: Stagmom | September 30, 2007 at 07:26 AM
Hi Kim,
>>"That the ASD kids excreted mercury with DMSA shows that there is potentially significant mercury in their bloodstream."
If that were true, blood tests would reveal it. They don't. But, it does show that they were excellent excretors.
>>"An NT child would be likely to excrete LESS mercury in a challenge test because their bodies were able to systematically excrete the neurotoxin over time so there would be a lower concentration for the challenge test."
Let's read from the book of JB (April 2007 edition), chapter 14, verse 2, shall we?
"A non-excretor of mercury is someone who, even after the administration of a chelating agent (which is how a mercury toxicity test has typically been performed), is unable to excrete any mercury."
http://web.archive.org/web/20070204130603/www.generationrescue.org/mercury_myths7.html
Seems if the children in the Bradstreet "study" were poor excretors, even with DMSA they shouldn't have been able to excrete any mercury.
>>"This is also why basic metal tests without a challenge using a chelator rarely show mercury in an ASD child's blood. That's where most docs stop and say, "No metal in the urine Mom!"
Blood, urine, what's the difference anyway?
Posted by: Do'C | September 30, 2007 at 01:57 AM
"...folks at HELP seemed pretty genuine in getting to an answer..."
JB, Do you think a politician who didn't sound genuine while he was lying to you could get elected?
Posted by: John Best | September 29, 2007 at 09:59 PM
Dad (that is your nickname, right?) That the ASD kids excreted mercury with DMSA shows that there is potentially significant mercury in their bloodstream. An NT child would be likely to excrete LESS mercury in a challenge test because their bodies were able to systematically excrete the neurotoxin over time so there would be a lower concentration for the challenge test. That the ASD kids need a powerful chelator like DMSA shows that the mercury has indeed built up in their blood because they can not excrete it via the "normal" detox pathways. This is also why basic metal tests without a challenge using a chelator rarely show mercury in an ASD child's blood. That's where most docs stop and say, "No metal in the urine Mom! Good news!) The DAN! doc will use a challenge test. The ASD kids seem to NEED that sulfur "Claw" in the DMSA or DMPS to attach to the mercury and carry it out of the body in the urine.
Similarly. when child has lead in the body, and God forbid there will be SO MANY more kids since the toy problem has finally come to light, those kids will likely get chelation with EDTA to carry out the lead quickly and efficiently. Natural detox is not enough to protect them from the potential brain damage of lead elevation in the blood. In Massachusetts all Kindergarteners must have a lead test. Let's hope that carries over to other states. Isn't it sad when some our ASD kids favorite toys are lead infested. Fortunately lead poisoning is a recognized hazard without the political third rail of mercury, so our kids will receive proper care.
Kim, as Kim the Mom, not Kim the editor, or would you call me Mo'MGB? ;)
Posted by: Stagmom | September 29, 2007 at 07:37 PM
It's interesting that you'd mention "A Case Control Study of Mercury Burden in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder".
If you're able to ignore the flawed methodology, this paper shows that autistic children are excellent mercury excretors!
"Controls and cases were both challenged with a three-day oral treatment of DMSA (10 mg/kg per dose given three times daily)."
"Our null hypothesis was that the populations under study should have similar distributions of excreted heavy metals, and we accepted a double-sided P-value of <0.05 as statistically significant."
"The urinary mercury concentrations were significantly higher in cases than in controls (RI=3.76; P < 0.002; 95%CI: 1.60 to 6.41)."
"This study shows a strong association between increased urinary mercury concentrations following three days of treatment with DMSA and the presence of an autistic spectrum disorder."
Posted by: Do'C | September 29, 2007 at 07:01 PM
Good points all, JB.
Their (HELP) comment regarding Simpsonwood was that it was a conference centered around "robust debate" and that they did make a mistake by not inviting "advocacy groups to participate."
We brought up some pertinent points during our meeting yesterday and we were assured that there would be follow-up.
Posted by: Kelli Ann Davis | September 29, 2007 at 12:40 PM
I wonder if anyone on the HELP committee accepted campaign contributions from vaccine manufacturers. They would disqualify themselves if they had that conflict of interest, wouldn't they? Bush would see to that, wouldn't he?
Posted by: John Best | September 28, 2007 at 10:17 PM