GOV'T ADMITS VACCINE AUTISM LINK
By Kent Heckenlively
I understand that headline is something we thought we’d never hear, but it’s difficult to come to any other conclusion from recent events.
This is from the document concluding that this child I’ll call “Eve” (pseudonym) is entitled to compensation as determined by medical personnel and the Division of Vaccine Injury Compensation, Department of Health and Human Services. “DVIC has concluded that the facts of this case meet the statutory criteria for demonstrating that the vaccinations Eve received on July 19, 2000, significantly aggravated an underlying mitochondrial disorder, which predisposed her to deficits in cellular energy metabolism, and manifested as a regressive encephalopathy with features of autism spectrum disorder.”
It’s official. The sky has fallen. The fat lady has sung. Pigs are flying.
Who is Eve, and why haven’t we heard about her before?
Eve was born on December 27, 1998, weighing eight pounds and ten ounces. At seven months she started having ear infections. Because of her recurrent ear infections she did not receive her 12 and 15 month immunizations.
At her July 19, 2000 pediatric visit the attending pediatrician observed Eve “spoke well”, was “alert and active” and according to her mother had regular bowel movements and slept through the night.
During that visit Eve received her DtaP, HiB, MMR, Varivax, and IPV vaccinations. Within two days she developed a fever, was irritable, lethargic, and well, we’ve all heard this story before.
She was later diagnosed by Dr. Andrew Zimmerman of the Kennedy-Krieger Institute as having “regressive encephalopathy with features consistent with an autistic spectrum disorder, following normal development.” In February 2004 she was diagnosed as having oxidative phosphorylation disease, a mitochondrial disorder.
But as David Kirby pointed out in his fine article for The Huffington Post, “mitochondrial disorders are rare in the general population, affecting some 1 in 5,000 people in the general population . . .” That means of the nearly five thousand claimants in the Autism Omnibus Proceeding, this should be the only case.
But according an article published in the “Journal of Child Neurology” and co-authored by Dr. Zimmerman, 38% of autistics in his practice were positive for one marker for impaired oxidative phosphorylation, and 47% were positive for another marker.
What causes this mitochondrial disorder?
According to the Cleveland Clinic, a leading authority on the subject, “medicines or other toxins” account for most of the 75% of cases which have no paternal, genetic link, and are said to be “sporadic.”
The AIDS drug AZT can cause this disorder by deleting large segments of mitochondrial DNA. According to the “International Journal of Molecular Medicine”, one of the prime cellular targets of mercury is the cellular mitochondria.
In a settlement, the settling party tries to admit as little as possible. It’s like what I imagine the settlement claim against Bill Clinton in the Paula Jones case must look like. Nowhere in the document does he admit to dropping his pants in a hotel room and asking her to kiss it. It likely says something along the lines of he concedes they were in a hotel room together, they were alone, and something happened which formed the basis of her law suit.
But we all know what happened there. And we know what this settlement means.
The government just dropped its pants.
Kent Heckenlively is Legal Editor for Age of Autism.
So many prays and sleepless nights hoping wishing and praying for a cure and a way to confirm what I alredy knew, vaccines can have a allergic, even horrible effects on our childen, some vaccines that protect, can even infect, thank god this is America. And these creator of these vaccines will be held accoutable for my child and yours.
Posted by: Tonya William | March 18, 2008 at 03:09 PM
LISTENING TO EVE'S STORY SOUNDED LIKE MINE. MY SON WENT THROUGH THE EXACT SAME SITUATION WITH THE SHOTS BEING DELAYED DUE TO EAR INFECTIONS, AND NOW HE IS LIVING WITH AUTISM.MY PRAYER'S GO OUY TO ANY FAMILY WHO IS GOING THROUGH WITH THIS.
Posted by: GINA HIGHFIELD | March 07, 2008 at 02:08 PM
Relating to Autism Speaks! comment... my son has autism and he IS BRIGHT AND INTELLIGENT. Having autism does not mean you have a low IQ. You learn different from other people but you learn if given the correct way of teaching. You have to try and find out the best way your son/daughter learns, whether it's visual, auditory, hands on(tactile), repetition, etc. and believe me, they learn a lot. There are many things that my son with autism remembers and does better than my son who doesn't have autism. Both my sons are precious, special, loving AND intelligent.
Posted by: Aida | February 28, 2008 at 08:53 AM
Dan- re the insurance suing for money back. We had to sign a letter of Subrogation when we filed for the VICP back in 1997. So our insurance company will be asking for all their money back -IF the ruling is in our favor.
Posted by: Theresa Cedillo | February 27, 2008 at 10:42 PM
Would this case give insurance companies grounds to sue the federal government to pay their costs of autism treatments in the states where insurance companies are required to cover autism treatments? Does this case give insurance companies grounds to reject autism treatments claims on the grounds that the family should have filed a vaccine injury claim? Insurance companies will not open their check books before looking for someone else to open their checkbook first.
Posted by: Dan | February 27, 2008 at 06:36 PM
What if?
Back in 1989 our family was overwhelmed when we heard our son, Eric had autism. There were no Defeat Autism Now (DAN) conferences and doctors, there was no Internet, no mention about an autism epidemic, etc.
What if all independent autism organizations that feel vaccines are linked to the autism epidemic sign on to putting the following on their websites, below.
Obviously, Autism Speaks with their pro-vaccine research board think they are the cat's meow and won't sign on to this.
What if independent autism organizations had a special page for new parents (whether they have young children or adults) with the following information:
1. Mention the benefits of parents going to DAN conferences for the lastest information.
2. Mention that parents should file with the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) if they belive their child/adult with autism had an adverse event to vaccines.
http://vaers.hhs.gov/
3. If a parent believes there child with autism had an adverse event to vaccines causing their autism and it has happened within three years to file with a lawfirm such as
http://www.ccandh.com/default.asp
to pursue a lawsuit against the vaccine companies.
4. Parents should be aware of SSI and Medicare/Medicaid benefits for their children/adults with autism. If they want to place their adult with autism in a group home/residential center and they are having trouble then get a lawyer whose speciality is in special education/disability law.
By doing this new parents will have a guidepost to follow. Also by listing number 2, 3 and 4 we will be able to be able to push back at the vaccine companies and get the public aroused especially when this becomes a big FINANCIAL issue.
Ray Gallup
Posted by: Raymond Gallup | February 27, 2008 at 06:10 PM
"Why is this not on the front page of my daily newspaper?"
Sue Morgan, have you ever heard of the term, conflict of interest? Its when folks propound a theory and then sleep together in the same bed and get all warm and cozy. In fact that warm bed feels so good and so safe that they are unable to fathom the extent of the cold outside the quilt. Now all you have to do is give that quilt a good hard tug to expose the squirming bodies below and voila suddenly they are screaming and running for cover. Now the question is, what might constitute a good hard tug in layman terms? I think it would be safe to call it "conflict of interest." Remember it NEEDS to be a good hard tug, we want to give the bodies below very *good* exposure.
Posted by: Conflict of interest | February 27, 2008 at 02:13 PM
Okay, for what it's worth, here's the "latest". I looked at every study listed at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. (There were 105.) Here is what they say about themselves: "ClinicalTrials.gov is a registry of federally and privately supported clinical trials conducted in the United States and around the world. ClinicalTrials.gov gives you information about a trial's purpose, who may participate, locations, and phone numbers for more details. This information should be used in conjunction with advice from health care professionals. ". It is stated to be "A service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health". NIH, in its section about itself, declares "The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research."
The studies listed include those which are in process, recruiting, and completed. There was NOT ONE study sponsored or co-sponsored by NIH from what I can tell, although there were quite a few sponsored or co-sponsored by NIMH. Some were obviously sponsored or co-sponsored by drug companies. And although there were many University studies that did not indicate any drug company ties, it is not possible to know if there were indirect ties, like department and/or university contributions from such companies.
There was ONLY ONE study concerning chelation and that study left out the population most likely to benefit from chelation and/or to result in the most dramatic change.
What does that say about any official desire to understand a topic which might lead to a connection with vaccines?
Posted by: Sandy Gottstein | February 27, 2008 at 02:11 PM
Why is this not on the front page of my daily newspaper? It's not even buried inside in the national digest section. I will forward a comment to the editor with the link to your article.
Posted by: Sue Morgan | February 27, 2008 at 01:12 PM
Happy to say my daughter's name is Eve, and her story is basically this in a nut-shell. One exception... they did still vaccinate her in spite of being sick at 12 and 15 and 18 months old.
Posted by: Julie | February 27, 2008 at 01:10 PM
KENT HECKENLIVELY! I can’t believe you just said this:
Nowhere in the document does he admit to dropping his pants in a hotel room and asking her to kiss it.
I am literally laughing so hard, I’m crying.
I love this site! I never know when I’m gonna shed a tear.
Kim, I vote this line goes into the notable quotable section ;-)
Posted by: Kelli Ann Davis | February 27, 2008 at 12:27 PM
I can only HOPE that this is the beginning of the end of all doubt that vaccines cause Autism. As a parent with a child with Autism I understand that my battle will never end even if they come clean that vaccines cause Autism. At the very least Govt could help with paying all therapies available. If this really is true then the saying is a FACT -
"All truth passes through 3 phases: First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed, and Third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Posted by: Elucidatus | February 27, 2008 at 12:25 PM
"But as David Kirby pointed out in his fine article for The Huffington Post, “mitochondrial disorders are rare in the general population, affecting some 1 in 5,000 people in the general population . . .” That means of the nearly five thousand claimants in the Autism Omnibus Proceeding, this should be the only case.
But according an article published in the “Journal of Child Neurology” and co-authored by Dr. Zimmerman, 38% of autistics in his practice were positive for one marker for impaired oxidative phosphorylation, and 47% were positive for another marker."
I don't think it can get any plainer than THIS - the fact that it is indeed vaccines that CAUSE autism and not merely "aggravate" an underlying predisposition. Because, if the latter were true, then one ought to suppose that the parent/ s have autism and we know that they don't. We all know that the parents are bright, intelligent, articulate, and contributing members of society. Don't we?
Posted by: Autism Speaks! | February 27, 2008 at 10:20 AM
Jeanne - great comment! Would that be "Lake Eerie?" :)
KIM
Posted by: Stagmom | February 27, 2008 at 06:49 AM
Like a serial killer who has just revealed the first body was dumped in the lake. Just wait and see how many more float to the surface.
Look out United States Government, things are about to get real ugly.
Posted by: Jeanne | February 27, 2008 at 06:36 AM