When Journalists Play "The Telephone Game"
Managing Editor's Note: Remember the old slumber party standby called, The Telephone Game? That's when you whispered something to your friend, and she passed it the next gal, and by the time it got to the last girl at the party, "I smell bacon" had become, "I love Satan." Seems journalists play The Telephone Game too. Except it's no game.
By Kent Heckenlively
I need to begin this article with full disclosure.
In August of this year I was contacted by Trine Tsouderos of the Chicago Tribune to talk about autism treatments. I probably spent about two hours on the phone with her laying out the vaccine theory of autism causation as well as sending her a large binder of various publications to support this position.
I have three major criticisms of her article based on the information I’d provided to her.
1. The Autism Increase - She wrote in her article, “One in 100 children is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder by age 6, according to the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The figure has increased in recent decades, though experts do not know whether more children actually have autism or more cases are being diagnosed.”
Article 2 which I provided to her was a study done by UC Davis (January 2009, Journal of Epidemiology) showing that the increase in autism could not be accounted for by better diagnosing. This is from a press release put out by UC Davis about their findings and provided to Ms. Tsouderos:
"A study by researchers at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute has found that the seven- to eight-fold increase in the number children born in California with autism since 1990 cannot be explained by either changes in how the condition is diagnosed or counted — and the trend shows no sign of abating.
Published in the January 2009 issue of the journal Epidemiology, results from the study also suggest that research should shift from genetics to the host of chemicals and infectious microbes in the environment that are likely at the root of changes in the neurodevelopment of California’s children.
It’s time to start looking for the environmental culprits responsible for the remarkable increase in the rate of autism in California,” said UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute researcher Irva Hertz-Picciotto, a professor of environmental and occupational health and epidemiology and an internationally respected autism researcher."
Article 3 was from Dr. Craig Newschaeffer of Johns Hopkins University reporting similar, earlier findings. (Journal of Pediatrics, March 2005)
What scientific research does Tsouderos have to support her position that the autism increase may not be real?
2. Heavy Metals and Autism - She wrote in her article that “Chelation’s popularity as a treatment is driven by the unproven idea that the disorder is tied to the accumulation of heavy metals in the body.”
Article 5 which I provided her with was a study from the
Article 8 was the Burbacher study from the
Article 10 was a study from
She was provided with abundant information supporting the view that heavy metals are implicated in autism.
3. The Vaccine Court - The final criticism I have is her view that the
She wrote in her article, "Colten Snyder, another child who was evaluated in vaccine court, underwent chelation after tests on his blood and hair over six years came back normal for mercury, court records state. Given that the boy was immunized with vaccines containing thimerosal, ‘his hair mercury was exceptionally low, said his physician, Dr. Jeff Bradstreet of
What Tsouderos fails to mention is that Colten Snyder has essentially recovered from his autism and this fact was in the published decision rendered by the Special Master.
Special Master Vowell noted “although Colten’s condition markedly improved between his diagnosis and the hearing, the experimental treatments he received cannot be logically or scientifically linked to the theories of causation.” (P. 3 of the Snyder decision).
Vowell went on to state “Rather than attributing Colten’s obvious improvements in speech, language, socialization, and behavior to the effects of IVIG, secretin, chelation, and/or dietary supplements, Dr. Wiznitzer noted that Colten’s developmental pattern was consistent with the natural history of autism in that those with the disorder are at their worst in the second or third year of life. Speech therapy improved his speech, and Colten’s normal intelligence permitted him to benefit substantially from speech and language therapy.” (P. 256 of Snyder decision.)
However, during cross-examination Dr. Wiznitzer noted that he’d never seen a child with autism improve as much as Colten Snyder. Similarly, Colten’s “miracle-worker” speech therapist (author's note - 30 minutes, twice a week), Kathleen Timlin, made it clear in her testimony that she believed his bio-medical treatments were the key to his recovery.
If you're holding up a child with autism as an example of the inadvisability of certain treatments you should at least note that he has recovered from the disorder.
All of this just goes to show that you can lead a reporter to information, but you can’t make her think.
Kent Heckenlively is Legal Editor of Age of Autism
My letter to Ms. Tsouderos is reproduced below:
August 3, 2009
Chicago Tribune
435 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Ill 60611
Re: Autism Binder
Dear Trine:
It was great to talk to you about autism today and I wish you the best of luck in your research. Please forgive the number of articles in the binder, but I wanted to give you a full overview of the relevant issues.
Here’s a listing of the articles and why they’re important:
1. Age of Autism article, “What Did the CDC Know and When Did They Know It?” - Important historical information that the CDC knew about increased rates of autism I children as early as 1997 from their investigation at Brick Township, New Jersey.
2. UC Davis Study showing that the increase in autism isn’t due to better diagnosis and suggests the investigation should shift to looking at environmental factors.
3. Pediatrics study by Dr. Craig Newschaeffer (Johns Hopkins) also reporting that the increase in autism is real and not due to better diagnosis.
4. My article on the Department of Education numbers about the increase in autism numbers.
5. Study from University of Texas showing an increase in autism rates linked to increases in environmental mercury.
6. Article on California study showing autism occurs in areas with high pollution, especially mercury.
7. Study from China showing higher levels of blood mercury in children with ADHD.
8. Study from the University of Washington showing that thimerosal has an affinity for the brain and settles there much quicker than previously believed. (Note – This is important because one of the arguments is that mercury clears itself out of the body very quickly. Well, it seems to clear out of the blood quickly, but large amounts seem to settle in the brain. This group is supposed to be releasing further research. Definitely worth a call.)
9. Study from Dr. S. Jill James of the University of Arkansas, showing thimerosal depletes glutathione, and autistic kids are low in that anti-oxidant. (Note – She’s one of the best in the field. Also worth a call.)
10. Study from Northeastern University showing thimerosal impairs methylation. (Cell to cell communication.)
11. Study from Columbia University showing that the effects of thimerosal depend on the underlying genetic make-up of the organism. (In the experiment mice with differing genetic profiles were given amounts of thimerosal to mimic the vaccination schedule. Those mice with a genetic profile for auto-immune disorders developed symptoms similar to autism, while the other mice suffered no harm. I think this is one of the most important papers in autism.)
12. Research from Peru supporting the Columbia findings using hamsters.
13. An Age of Autism article on the importance of the Peru research.
14. A letter from a physician in Germany on the question of mercury and autism.
15. Research from Baylor University on how thimerosal damages neurons.
16. Research from the University of British Columbia on aluminum adjuvants (which I believe may be just as serious a problem as the thimerosal) and link to Gulf War Syndrome.
17. Newspaper article on the aluminum research from the University of British Columbia.
18. Article by Dr. Bob Sears “America’s most read pediatrician” on the lack of safety testing of aluminum in vaccines.
19. Generation Rescue piece on which vaccines still contain thimerosal and the level of aluminum in vaccines under the current schedule.
20. Generation Rescue listing of publications discussing autism and mitochondrial dysfunction.
21. Generation Rescue listing of publications discussing autism and neuroinflammation.
22. Generation Rescue listing of publications discussing autism and infections.
23. Generation Rescue’s study of the rates of neurological problems in vaccinated and unvaccinated children in California and Oregon.
24. Pediatrics article discussing the parents of children who choose not to vaccinate.
25. Generation Rescue’s study of the vaccination schedules, autism rates, and under 5 mortality around the world. (Note – U.S. children receive on average double the rate of the western world, and yet still rank high in child mortality and rates of autism.)
26. Chapter from a recent medical textbook on autism and fatty acids written by Dr. Patricia Kane.
27. My article discussing the issue of fatty acids and autism.
28. My article on other research linking fatty acids to autism.
29. CBS News story on former head of the National Institute of Health, Dr. Bernadine Healy, and her opinion that the vaccine-autism question has not been answered, and has been actively avoided by the medical community.
30. CBS News story by Sharyl Attkinson on the vaccines and autism question.
31. David Kirby article on what the Federal Government has agreed to study in regards to vaccines and autism.
32. David Kirby and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. article on the Bailey Banks decision, the second after Hannah Poling to determine that vaccines caused a child’s autism (PDD), and some of the rhetorical games which are being played in the Vaccine Court.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions that come up as you do your research.
All the best,
Kent Heckenlively
Thanks Kent I always enjoy reading your articles. You should send Trine an Invoice for consulting since she wrote a corporate article.
Posted by: Mr. T | November 26, 2009 at 09:37 AM
Thank you Kent for your valiant efforts. What a shame Ms Tsoderous took the low road. This is not journalism.
Posted by: Theresa Cedillo | November 24, 2009 at 01:21 AM
The medical industry attacked Linus Pauling when he wrote about chelation therapy. He was one of the greatest chemist who ever lived. This therapy must not fit the their money making agenda
Posted by: Mr. T | November 23, 2009 at 07:54 PM
The continued use of propaganda in the news media to hide the real truth at the sake of our kids is just disgusting. When I was a little girl, I can remember hearing about different forms of government and how lucky we are that we live in a democracy and not a dictatorship or communist country like other countries around the world. Since having my sons, my view of many things have changed. First, I believe that pediatricians are the medical students that graduated at the bottom of their class. Second, as other countries are becoming more democratic, we in fact are becoming more communistic. I can only hope that when our children become adults they will see the evil ways of our generation and make a difference to change this country back to what I thought it was when I was a little girl.
Posted by: Amy | November 23, 2009 at 07:37 AM
Is there a real increase in worthless journalists and worthless newspapers or is just better recognition?
Is the AAP really so arrogant, so unhelpful, or is it just better recognition?
Is there a greater incidence of government pharma collusion, or is it just better recognition.
Has medical/vaccination science always been this corrupt and manipulated, or is it just better recognition?
Has our government always been so disconnected, inept, on matters of great urgency, or is it just better recognition?
All I know is that I'm getting better at recognition and no matter which way I look, the increases are real.
Posted by: michael framson | November 23, 2009 at 01:40 AM
You will never guess what I just found Trine Tsouderos and Alison Singer are facebook friends. Well, well, well, well!
Posted by: Nora B. | November 23, 2009 at 01:16 AM
You're just amazing Gatogorra. When's your book coming out? I would definitely pre-order that one!
Posted by: ginnie | November 22, 2009 at 08:56 PM
Dear Kern,Callahan,Tsouderos,etc.
My daughter has Asperger's and she is nine years old. From the time she was 2 though age 4 1/2 she screamed almost non-stop. She was kicked out of preschool. Our whole family was in crisis because of the stress of her meltdowns. A DAN! doctor put her on methylated B 12 shots and her screaming dropped by about 90 % within two weeks. SHE FEELS BETTER. She is now doing extremely well in a mainstream public school classroom, she just got her green belt in martial arts and completed a 5K this morning. Please do not dismiss non FDA approved bio-medical therapies for autism. If we had waited for the FDA to find a solution, our daughter would still be suffering deeply.
Thank you for listening.
Michelle O'Neil, Cleveland
Posted by: Michelle O'Neil | November 22, 2009 at 07:48 PM
Arnold--
I agree with Kent that ingested methylmercury and injected ethylmercury-- with the addition of live viruses, ether, formaldehyde, MSG and not to mention the stowaway bacteria and rogue viruses found in some tainted batches of vaccines, etc.-- are two different "kettles of fish" so to speak.
As far as your mention of the Faroe and Seychelle studies and use of mercury in Santeria rituals, I have a few responses. Firstly, there's been only limited investigation and no long-term follow-up studies to the research on children in NY living in apartments in which Santeria rituals using mercury were performed-- but significant rates of "ADHD" type diagnoses were found along with other categories of cognitive/behavioral impairment. In fact, broken down individually, the symptoms of "Santeria mercury poisoning" and autism are very similar: sleeplessness, "shyness", anxiety, hyperactivity, emotional withdrawal; speech, language and motor disorders...
As far as the Faroe and Seychelle studies, read Jane Hightower's "Diagnosis Mercury" for an overview of the sheer fraud committed during the Seychelle Islands research. For one, it was funded by the world's largest lobby organization for the coal-fired power industry and the fishing industry. For another, the Seychelle's main industry at the time of the studies was the Heinz tuna cannery: the subjects had to report only what the conflicted researchers wanted them to lest they lose their jobs. If there were a particularly high rate of autism there now, we would not hear of it. The Faroes study found very serious impairments among exposed children. Curiouslly, Faroe has been the subject of scrutiny over period epidemics of multiple sclerosis (a demyelinating autoimmune disease much like autism but which effects physical functioning) over the years, beginning in 1940. This is similar to the MS epidemics noted on Orkney island...which also currently has the highest rate of autism in the UK (1/44, divulged in 2005, so it's probably far higher).
There's some interesting similarities between both island communities. Both are fishing communities which are not particularly rich and therefore also depends on fish as a food source. Both consume fish known for extremely high mercury content. But children on Faroe island undergo the Danish vaccine schedule and children on Orkney undergo the UK vaccine schedule.
Denmark: 13 doses of 4 vaccines in the first two years of life starting at 3 months (mercury free shots). http://www.euvac.net/graphics/euvac/vaccination/denmark.html
UK: 25 doses of 7 vaccines starting at 2 months (the site below doesn't include mention of flu shots, which are-- like in the US-- full mercury and commonly given in pregnancy and at six months in infancy).
http://www.immunisation.nhs.uk/Immunisation_Schedule
If you consider the low rate of autism in unvaccinated populations (like at the Homefirst Clinic in Illinois) and then Palmer et al's finding that autism rates rose according to proximity of a school district to coal fired power plants (and the similar findings in communities near Superfund dump sites which emit mercury and arsenic, much like coal-fired plants; also similar raised rates have been found in areas using certain pesticides) it would seem that the "recipe" for autism may involve some kind of perfect storm (sorry about the mixed metaphors). The boost of atmospheric or food toxins-- particularly mercury and mitochondrial-toxic pesticides-- coupled with vaccines seems to bake up a batch of higher autism rates.
Environmental mercury appears to raise the risk even if it seems to rarely be the cause itself. This hints that route of entry and type of mercury may be crucial as well as other ingredients which vaccines are an obvious and common source of.
I'm not saying that, through some unhappy accident, these combinations can't be patched together outside of vaccination, just that vaccines may combine many of the necessary "ingredients" that go into creating autism in one fell swoop.
Posted by: Gatogorra | November 22, 2009 at 07:14 PM
Autism Dad in PA
In the past - the ususal thing they do is, they(CDC) sends a report to the news station stating that there is an outbreak of measles, mumps, whooping cough or what ever, and the news like good little propanda soldiers reports it. News itself never, checks it themselves they just take the word of CDC. The public, yes the majority takes a deep, sharp breath of shock and suprise. Many don't even check to see if the shots are up to date but goes right in and gets another booster. At least that is how it has been for the last thirty years.
Posted by: Benedetta | November 22, 2009 at 06:11 PM
ops typo
Mr T, you are so right there, the more promising the treatment the more viciously it will be attacked by those who do NOT want children to recover from autism. In my early days of learning about biology and treatments for autism as a rule of thumb I learned to pay most attention to bits of research and treatment options that had the highest number and the strongest tone of "debunking" articles written about them.
Posted by: Natasa | November 22, 2009 at 06:01 PM
Mr T, you are so right there, the more promising the treatment the more viciously it will be attacked by those who do want children to recover from autism. In my early days of learning about biology and treatments for autism as a rule of thumb I learned to pay most attention to bits of research and treatment options that had the highest number and the strongest tone of "debunking" articles written about them.
Posted by: Natasa | November 22, 2009 at 06:00 PM
"Agree with Kim that this hit piece was likely AAP/Alison Singer-Offit coordinated."
I want to add to this statement from Dadvocate, with this thought:
Is it possible that these people are watching the vac refusal rates and when they start to drastically increase, they call up the leading newspapers to try to influence the public in said regions? The head editors get the call, summon their higher ranked reporters to write a story, but being sure to give the appearance of researching it from both sides; but when the final edition comes out in print, it says exactly what the AAP/Alison Singer-Offit coalition wanted it to say.
Posted by: Autism Dad in Pa | November 22, 2009 at 04:32 PM
As polio peaked at about 1 in 3000 children in 1954, one would think that something about 30 times more prevalent would demand more attention.
However, I am sure they will, with proper endless funding, be willing to spend another 10 years on debating the actual number.
Posted by: cmo | November 22, 2009 at 03:59 PM
As an author and a parent of a child with a history of ASD, I have been frustrated for years by ignorance about autism. There are so many myths about what autism really is, and the two most frustrating places those myths tend to thrive is in the general public and the press. Unfortunately, those two voices love to listen to each other, but they can reek havoc with familes who are working with brave and forward thinking doctors to help us understand that autism is treatable, that our children can recover. I have seen remarkable recovery in my own son, who with the help of diet, supplements, and intensive interactive therapy has become a highly creative, social and "juicy" kid with friends. And I have also seen the devastating results of what happens when we ignore the fact that these kids are sensitive to toxicity (my son got very sick from an exposure years ago). Articles like the onein the Trib. are a waste of everyone's time. And I fear they may sway some naive families into thinking that their child's case is hopeless. Shame on them for refusing to see what we all know to be true -- autism has not always been around as it is now, (huge percentages of boys are sick with neurological problems now) and autism will continue to flourish as long as we continue to refuse to listen to the people on the front lines of the autism wars, the parents and DAN doctors, and Greenspan patients, who are winning those wars.
Patricia Stacey,
author of The Boy Who Loved Windows
Posted by: Patricia Stacey | November 22, 2009 at 02:51 PM
People concerned about vaccine safety have been accused of "moving the goal posts" because the focus on thimerosal has broadened to concerns about other vaccine ingredients, the cumulative effects of so many vaccines, as well as environmental toxins.
I'd say a much more real example of "moving the goal posts" occurs when a child is diagnosed with autism by a prominent expert who tells the parents that autism is lifelong and there is no cure and they should consider institutionaling the child, but then when the child recovers with biomedical treatments they are told that children often spontaneously recover from autism.
Posted by: Twyla | November 22, 2009 at 02:01 PM
Thanks so much for this, Kent. This article is so very frustrating and it helps to sooth my nerves a bit to read your excellent response. Thank you for trying to educate this journalist both before and after the article. All of this information is like drops of water which will wear away stone even if sometimes there does not seem to be any change occuring.
As "Bonnie" put it so well in her comment yesterday, "Honestly, why do people go to such great lengths to perpetuate the lies and why do so many sheeple just rebleat them over and over like a broken record??"
Posted by: Twyla | November 22, 2009 at 01:56 PM
Hey, vaccines didn't effect Trine Tsouderos's children, therefore the schedule and individual vaccine ingredients must be safe for all. Evidence schmevidence. She's fine, so screw the rest of us:
http://www.momsmiami.com/images/blogs/1384.jpg
Posted by: Gatogorra | November 22, 2009 at 01:55 PM
I'm not convinced Ms. Tsouderos is that stupid. I think she is much more of a liar than stupid. There are a lot of smart sociopaths out there, unfortunately. And it's really unfortunate when a sociopath has the power of journalism.
Posted by: Kristina | November 22, 2009 at 01:46 PM
Tsourderos is not interested in learning anything. She is interested in completing her assignment as she was instructed to do in order to keep her job. The treatments they attack so heavily are the ones I am interested in.
Posted by: Mr. T | November 22, 2009 at 01:23 PM
good points, Robin- either way Desiree has not been mentioned in major news media. What bullshit.
Posted by: jen | November 22, 2009 at 12:51 PM
well, that just makes me feel that much better about hiding "Skeptic" magazine from the general public at 7/11 last night. You should hear the cry from the science/pharma types (I think I'll call them "phientists") about the potential new surgical treatment for MS sufferers. It's hilarious. It's exactly the same stuff we have to hear about vaccines and autism. Heehee. They are very busy trying to defend their phience lately.
Posted by: jen | November 22, 2009 at 12:41 PM
Looking a populations with generations of heavy mercury exposure would obviously introduce a major confounder. If evolution works...then any babies born in this population with an inability to excrete mercury wouldn't make it to adulthood or reproduce.
Posted by: MinorityView | November 22, 2009 at 11:55 AM
Agree with Kim that this hit piece was likely AAP/Alison Singer-Offit coordinated. That's their business.
What I find most maddening about the guild like, anti-science, and paternalistic attitude of the AAP (the list is a long one) is that even at the most basic level of autism therapy, ABA, the AAP demonstrates their cowardice by firmly aligning themselves with insurance companies. They cravenly refuse to define ABA as a medical necessity, rather an "educational" intervention, thereby depriving many of the children in their care of the opportunity to improve their communication skills, especially those who are economically disadvantaged.
The Tribune is indeed dead if this is what they offer up as investigative journalism. I'd tell them to cancel my subscription but I already did that a long time ago.
Posted by: Dadvocate | November 22, 2009 at 11:49 AM
Arnold:
I appreciate your comments about consumers of fish and their resultant mercury burden, but you overlook what I believe to be two very important considerations:
1. I do believe that over the course of evolution the body probably has developed very significant detoxification mechanisms for toxins in our environment. However, the injection of these substances directly into the bloodstream is something entirely new and previously unknown vulnerabilities might be brought to light.
2. If all the vaccines had was mercury I would be much more inclined to agree with you, but the vaccines are also combined with many other chemicals such as formaldehyde and aluminum adjuvants which in combination may cause much more extensive damage. Then when a body suffering from such exposure is exposed to additional shots containing live, but weakened viruses, the body may not be able to respond as it should, setting off the cascade which leads to autism and other neurological disorders.
All the best,
Kent Heckenlively
Posted by: Kent Heckenlively | November 22, 2009 at 11:23 AM
If autism and autism-spectrum disease is precipitated by exposure to mercury, we would expect an excess of these disorders in genetically disparate communities exposed to mercury.
Heavily fish-eating communities in the Seychelles Islands, and pilot whale and fish-eaters in the Faeroe Islands ingest large amounts of dietary methylmercury, yet no excess of autism-spectrum disorders has been reported in these intensively studied populations.
Some members of Caribbean communities (including Cuban, Dominican, Haitian and Puerto Rican) employ elemental mercury for a variety of magico-religious uses, many of which semi-permanently contaminate floors of dwellings with mercury, and indoor air with mercury vapor. The most problematic and apparently one of the more common of these practices is to sprinkle mercury metal, in mean weights of ~10 grams, on the floors of homes. Yet there is no reported excess of autism-spectrum disorders in these communities.
Assuming that mercury exposure plays a significant role in the etiology of autism-spectrum disorders, how do we explain these observations?
Posted by: Arnold P. Wendroff, PhD | November 22, 2009 at 10:58 AM
Kent - you are not alone in your frustration stemming from seemingly futile interaction with Ms. Tsouderos.
THANK YOU for compiling that wealth of information for her, and for all you do for this community.
Posted by: Parent | November 22, 2009 at 10:57 AM
"I can only say she gives the appearance of thinking without actually engaging in the activity."
LOL...that really said it all. I will continue to demand that all these journalists still scratching their heads over the numbers focus their reporting zeal on discovering those misdiagnosed adults out there somewhere.
Countless thousands of our children with full-blown autism will fill institutions and group homes in the future. It won't be hard to find them. So where are those adults NOW?
For the Tribune to run those stories slamming parents and not express any alarm over the shocking number of disabled children amounts to a massive cover-up.
I'm sure the AAP, with its headquarters in Chicago, is well-pleased.
Anne Dachel
Media
Posted by: Anne Dachel | November 22, 2009 at 10:45 AM
The Tribune's comment that gets me the most is:
"The figure has increased in recent decades, though experts do not know whether more children actually have autism or more cases are being diagnosed.”
When I first began investigating the autism epidemic in late 2004, knowing not one thing about it, that line was the tip off that convinced me that something was up.
I immediately tried to think back to my school days in a small school, kindergarden to 12th grade, and envision whether there could have been autistic kids that I did not notice.
According to the town's population there should have been at least 7. We had an ungraded room for children that were mentally handicapped or had down's syndrome or similar disorders but were still able to attend school.
I racked my brain and could not come up with even one child that could have been autistic. By that time, I had viewed videos of autistic children and I knew I would not have missed such a child.
To think that five years later, such an argument is still being used is appalling.
Logically, if it was true, people over say 30 would haven been diagnosed by now. Where are they?
I believe your groups should start demanding that the "experts" referred to in the Tribune start producing medical records to prove the existence of all these autistic adults who were misdiagnosed.
Presumably they would have required some kind of treatment for the same problems that autistic children exhibit now.
Posted by: Evelyn Pringle | November 22, 2009 at 10:45 AM
Its so unbelievable that such a one side hack job could be written after the legitimate studies were laid out on a silver platter for the journalist. How can this information just be plain ignored or even worse...contradicted without "science".
If the journalist had any credibility at all, she would reply to this blog post by Heckenlively with why she chose to ignore the data provided.
In the end...Tsouderos will probably chicken out and be a coward. Its easy to write a one-sided hack job and then never respond to the criticism with facts to defend yourself. Come on Tsouderos, respond to Heckenlively's three points above. Dont hide behind your Pharma handlers.....lets see what your all about!
Posted by: David | November 22, 2009 at 10:43 AM
This video compilation of news stories sums up the story by saying the autism rise might be due to "Savvy Parents & Doctors" I say "Hell No" I am not savvy just tired....
http://www.autisable.com/716809630/autism-rates-soar/#
Posted by: Tanners Dad | November 22, 2009 at 08:40 AM
What scientific research does Tsouderos have to support her position that the autism increase may not be real?
She doesn’t need any research to support what she says. She writes what she’s told to and she says what she’s told to and she collects her paycheck.
I am at a loss to explain her failure to even mention this research.
I’m not at a loss at all. She writes what she’s told to and she says what she’s told to and she collects her paycheck.
That’s what it means to be a journalist for the main stream media in the US these days.
Speaking of the main stream media, does anyone remember seeing a story recently about Desiree Jennings on Fox news or CNN or MSNBC? I don’t mean on the internet, I mean on cable. Or does anyone remember seeing anything recently about her on ABC or NBC or CBS? I did see some coverage about her illness long after I’d heard of it on the internet. But I’ve not seen or heard anything from them since her treatments with Dr. Buttar.
Even if they believe the whole thing to be a hoax and in fact even if it IS a hoax, as we’ve seen with Balloon Boy that shouldn’t stop them from giving the story some coverage. And yet, as far as I’ve seen, nada…
Posted by: Robin Nemeth | November 22, 2009 at 08:35 AM
The AAP is in the Trib's backyard. Who is responsible for our kids health? Pediatricians. What have they done during this 15+ year explosion of autism? Nothing. The Trib is dying. Autism sells newspapers. Seems like Paul Offit/AAP and Co. are using these articles to convince failing publications (like Wired) that they'll see a bump in sales if they create these one sided articles.
And parents who have decided not to try biomed and have allowed their kids to languish feel a lot better too - so they're doing them a service. Isn't that kind?
At the end of the day, the Trib article changes NOTHING we do for our own children. I have a SEIZURE FREE, DRUG FREE daughter - think any words in any newspaper can take away my joy and her improvement? Nope.
Posted by: Stagmom | November 22, 2009 at 08:33 AM
I am still stuck on the fact ( I guess now we know she is not the best at fact checking ) 75% of families dealing with try biomedical treatment. As money hungry as mainstream Doctors & Pharma is, I would think they would jump on that as a source of revenue.
Funny thing in the realm of media Relations, I have learned in the past few years sometimes it is just better to ignore certain things. If Ari had not made a big deal about the Autism Speaks new video it may not have gone viral. Now more people have seen both the Original & The Parody http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDdcDlQVYtM
Posted by: Tanners Dad | November 22, 2009 at 08:16 AM
It's infuriating enough to read articles like the recent one in the Trib, but it must be a whole other level of overwhelm and devastation to actually spend hours on the phone with these people thinking you might have a brain on the other end without an agenda, only to learn you were talking to a wall. Thank you for trying and most importantly thank you for integrating all of the important studies and articles. It's wonderful and really helpful to have your list.
Posted by: ginnie | November 22, 2009 at 08:01 AM