Many members of the bio-medical community are celebrating that this pillar of the medical world is expressing her belief that the “science” on the vaccine-autism question simply has not been done.  If this opinion is coming from a woman who was head of the National Institute of Health and the American Red Cross, who can convincingly argue that the needed research has been done?

However, I do part ways with Dr. Healy and her belief that “détente” is what’s needed now in this fight.  For those who were not interested in world affairs at the time, “détente” was the policy initiated by President Nixon and Henry Kissinger between the United States and the Soviet Union.  The idea was that tensions would be lowered between the two superpowers, but in truth it was a little like paying off pirates and not protesting too loudly when they took over your ships.  In reality each superpower had competing visions of the world.  Somebody had to win and somebody had to lose.

When Reagan became President he drove the Soviets crazy by quoting the communists’ own words against them, as well as initiating a military build-up.  While the military build-up was impressive (and probably too costly), the critical factor was his honesty as to what the Soviets were really about.  They denied the essential freedom of humanity in pursuit of their Socialist paradise.  When people cannot freely choose their leaders, worship the god of their choice, or make their own decisions, there is nothing else to call that system but evil.

Healy strikes me as a Gorbachev-like figure who truly believes that if she can just get the medical establishment to open up a little and get people to talk to each other that it’s all going to turn out fine and dandy.  She’s probably too much of a well-respected figure to be openly attacked like Dr. Andrew Wakefield, but the knives will be out for her.  The truth of the matter is that with more than a million children stricken with autism and the medical authorities avoiding this issue for years, there’s little hope that this will end well for them.  Not only are their professional reputations at stake, but billions of dollars in vaccine revenue.  It's difficult to see how any true "detente" is possible.

At the end of the Soviet Union Gorbachev seemed befuddled by the changes he had brought about.  He thought that a little “glasnost” (openness) and “perestroika” (restructuring) were the only changes Marxism-Leninism needed.  But the mighty river of human freedom wouldn’t be satisfied with those tiny cracks in the dam.

I do not foresee a good end for the medical authorities who have turned their back on our children.  I see future studies which support the assertions made by parents for many years.  I see congressional committees demanding answers.  I see the ruin of many careers, and shame which lasts for generations.  “Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!” was Shakespeare's rallying cry in his play “Julius Caesar”.  I think this is what Dr. Healy has done with her column, and with what seems to be the beginning of a very public advocacy on our part.  When asked how he saw the Cold War ending, Reagan quipped, "We win, they lose." 

In our own conflict the battle-lines are similarly stark.  If we're right it means that the pharmaceutical companies and government health authorities will have to completely overhaul the vaccine schedule and lose billions of dollars in revenue.  Forgive me for a somewhat pessimistic view of human nature, but I don't think the medical establishment and the pharmaceutical companies will easily give up their long-held beliefs and the money that comes with the current system. 

Detente is not possible when the sides have radically different ideas of what should happen. 

But change will come, heralded by brave individuals like Dr. Healy, who are setting mighty forces in motion. 

Kent Heckenlively is Legal Editor of Age of Autism