Deborah Kotz of US News on AAP and Dr. Paul Offit
By Kim Stagliano
Lord, the AAP and Paul Offit are painfully transparent. Deborah Kotz of US News certainly sees straight through their agenda when it comes to managing the health of American children versus mainlining the steady stream of vaccinations per a rigid schedule. (We'll post more about this at Age of Autism soon.)
...Along with this policy statement and numerous research papers, the journal contains a "special article" that quite frankly shocked me for its one-sided treatment of a very important issue with regard to vaccinations. Unfortunately, instead of allowing a pro-and-con debate about the benefits and drawbacks. ...What's worse, the lead author, Paul Offit, who heads the vaccine education center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, clearly has a conflict of interest. Read the full US News blog entry HERE.
The AAP and Dr. Offit are in full court press mode to counteract the forthcoming book The Autism Book: Diagnosis, Treatment, Recovery, and Prevention from Dr. Bob Sears (see his post about vaccinations and how to create a flexible schedule for your child at Age of Autism HERE.)
The AAP doesn't give a rat's ass about children with autism.
They only care about making sure that every child gets 36, 48, 60, 10,000 vaccinations on their ever-growing schedule. We scare the shit out of the AAP, friends. I mean all of us who are raising questions about vaccine safety. We're heretics. (Your own pediatricians might be a lovely, caring people - I'm talking about the organization that they allow to represent them.)
By the way, keep an eye on Autism Speaks too. Dr. Andy Shih, VP of Scientific Affairs, is allied with the AAP (Click HERE.) Katie Wright, daughter of Autism Speaks' founders and mother of the child for whom the organization was created, wrote at Age of Autism (HERE) ...Dr. Andy Shih, VP of Scientific Affairs, an avowed disbeliever of vaccines as a possible trigger for autism, appeared on “Montel” a few years ago. Shih vehemently argued that vaccines are totally safe, can not and do not trigger autism and that excessive quantities of mercury are perfectly safe to inject into babies and children.
With Shih at the research helm what can we reasonably expect from Autism Speaks in terms of preventing and treating autism?
Hey, Jenny and Jim, want to share a cheesesteak and a frosty Yuengling with several thousand parents in 2009? We can create our own miracle on 34th Street (and Civic Center Blvd.) in the city of Brotherly Love.
Kim Stagliano is Managing Editor of Age of Autism and mother to three daughters with autism.
has Offit ever shared his own vaccination record? Is he all caught up on everything he will say is necessary in the coming years? I would presume he is, but it would be interesting to see what schedule he has followed for himself in life.
Posted by: Ben's Dad | December 31, 2008 at 03:56 PM
This is the second time this year that an official medical journal has given Paul Offit the opportunity to speak from its pages unchallenged. In May, the New England Journal of Medicine (http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/358/20/2089?ijkey=b102af96a1e57d82a0c0b7384a415dae63a2742d&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha) let Offit spread misinformation about the Hannah Poling case, with no counterpoint in that issue of the journal.
I recently had an argument with a close friend (a doctor) who contends that the mainstream medical journals are not under the thumb of Big Pharma. Maybe she's right. Maybe they're just under the thumb of Paul Offit.
Posted by: Theresa | December 31, 2008 at 03:37 PM
Thank goodness for blogs like yours to open the eyes about Dr. Proffit.
If you only read two books as a parent this year, make them:
Poisoned Profits: the toxic assualt on our children
and
The Virus and the Vaccine
Neither are anti-vax, but they will open your eyes and start you down a new path for you and your children.
Posted by: Mary | December 31, 2008 at 02:52 PM
Look at these quotes from todays www.ajc.com
"As the nation’s health protection agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) knows full well that “a dime of prevention is worth a dollar of cure."
"Now is the time to broaden our conversation about reform to include the entire health system. Public health agencies, businesses, community groups, teachers and, above all, parents have a strong stake in our success."
-Dr. Julie L. Gerberding 12/31/2008 Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
This parent and many others are wondering if you will ever spend that dime on our vaccine injured family members and really listen to parents.
Posted by: Tanners Dad | December 31, 2008 at 02:08 PM
I'd love to protest in front of Offit's office. Kim, Jenny, Jim... let me know when and where and I'll be there!
When are the "A**hole of the Year" awards coming up? You know who has my vote!
Posted by: Mom23boys | December 31, 2008 at 08:25 AM
We want researh into how vaccins are inducing autism. We want to know the pathway and the way to reverse it.
Posted by: payman | December 31, 2008 at 12:28 AM
Three cheers for Deborah Kotz and U.S. News & World Report!! A million boos for Offit and the AAP!!
On an only slightly related topic, I would just like to tell all our readers that you can go to http://change.gov/page/content/openforquestions20081229/
to ask questions of the Obama administration.
They say, "We recently launched a new feature on Change.gov called Open for Questions. Thousands of you responded, asking 10,000 questions and voting nearly a million times on questions from others.
"Now that we've answered some of the most popular ones from the last round, we are open for questions again. Ask whatever you like, and vote up or down on the other questions to let us know which ones you most want the Transition to answer.
"Get started now at http://change.gov/openforquestions "
You can select a topic - be creative - autism and vaccines affect not only health but also the economy, foreign relations...
If you do a search for "vaccines" or "autism" you can vote on the related questions.
Posted by: Twyla | December 30, 2008 at 06:08 PM
Thank you Deborah for pointing out what many of us have been saying for years -- it's time for the media to stop regurgitating sound bites from so-called *experts* (with obvious conflicts of interest) who are unable render an unbiased opinion on important vaccine issues which may adversely effect uptake rates.
It’s not rocket science – it’s human nature.
Bottom Line: Follow the money.
Kelli Ann Davis
D.C. Political Liaison for Generation Rescue
Posted by: Kelli Ann Davis | December 30, 2008 at 02:27 PM
Kim, You say it sister! I LOVE this paregraph. Let us all shout it together until we're heard. I am praying that 2009 is the year of hope for many of our families!
"The AAP doesn't give a rat's ass about children with autism. They only care about making sure that every child gets 36, 48, 60, 10,000 vaccinations on their ever-growing schedule. We scare the shit out of the AAP, friends. I mean all of us who are raising questions about vaccine safety. We're heretics."
WOW!!!
Thanks so much,
Cathy Jameson
Posted by: Cathy Jameson | December 30, 2008 at 02:03 PM