J. B. Handley: Show Me The Monkeys!
Do you remember that scene where Indiana Jones tosses the date up in the air, expecting to catch it in his mouth?
Suddenly, Indy is saved at the last second by Sallah who points at the dead monkey on the floor.
Why did every audience member intuitively get the connection? ‘Cause what’s bad for a monkey is probably bad for us.
Show me the monkeys.
If a scientist were dropped into the autism controversy with no previous understanding of anything, here is what they would be presented with:
- A dramatic increase in the number of kids with autism, creating a need to find an environmental, rather than genetic, cause.
- A vaccine schedule that has grown dramatically during a time when the autism rate has grown dramatically, representing something (vaccines) nearly every child is exposed to from their environment.
- The knowledge that vaccines do, with certainty, cause brain damage in a certain subset of kids. As Jim Moody has pointed out, it’s certain that vaccines cause brain damage, we just need to know how many kids have been damaged.
- The fact that tens of thousands of parents have reported that heir child regressed into autism after vaccination. People like Andy Wakefield never created this connection. He, like many other honest doctors and scientists, simply reacted to the dizzying number of parental reports. He listened to parents.
Show me the monkeys.Thinking again about these scientists who are learning about the autism epidemic for the first time and presuming they are agnostic to the political risks of questioning the Godliness of vaccines, they would find themselves in quite a pickle for one very simple reason:
If in fact vaccines seemed like a good place to start to assess a fairly obvious risk from the environment, a risk that was known to cause brain damage and that many parents were pointing to as a cause of their child’s regression, than it would really be hard to know where the hell to start because we give so many vaccines at once.
Show me the monkeys.People forget how many vaccines we actually do give in a very short period of time so sometimes it just bears repeating the obvious, even though I’m certain I’m boring some of you in doing so, so here’s just the first 6 months of most American newborns:
Day 1 of life: Hepatitis B
2 month visit: Hepatitis B, Rotavirus, DTP, Hib, Pneumococcal, Polio
4 month visit: Hepatitis B, Rotavirus, DTP, Hib, Pneumococcal, Polio
6 month visit: Hepatitis B, Rotavirus, DTP, Hib, Pneumococcal, Polio, Flu
26 vaccines.
Something like, we started out with really good intentions to save kids lives, but didn’t realize that something with a tiny risk of brain injury when given singularly, may in fact see that risk grow geometrically when given in combination, so that the risk of brain injury is no longer a risk so much as simply an expected side effect.
Something like that. Show me the monkeys.
So these scientists, looking at this whole mess for the first time and all these vaccines and all these parent reports and the fact that vaccines are most certainly known to cause brain injury would realize that there simply had to be some way somehow to isolate some population somewhere who had not yet actually been exposed to all these vaccines that are given to most children so early in life.
What these scientists would be left with, I am wholly certain, is that there are three relatively easy and obvious paths for how you would go about trying to figure out if all these tens of thousands of parent reports were actually telling you something, or if all these parents were just sort of making it up to get better services:
- Find a group of kids who never received any vaccines and compare their rates of all the things you suspect the vaccine schedule may be causing to kids who got all their vaccines. See if there are any differences that are significant, statistically speaking.
- Take a group of kids whose parents claim regression after vaccination and see if there is anything materially different about their bodies from a group of normally developing children who didn’t regress after vaccination.
- Start from scratch with an animal model, thereby bypassing potential ethical issues of not having children vaccinated, and see what happens to a group of animals vaccinated like our kids compared to a group of animals getting no vaccines.
I think Andy Wakefield is the only doctor on the planet who has attempted to do both the second and third ones, and no one has yet done the first one, even though Dan Olmsted has been writing about it for five years or so.
Show me the monkeys.
One of the many interesting aspects of this whole autism-vaccine debate is how many times it seems that the issue is presented in a very binary fashion: a kid who gets vaccinated has a risk of autism or nothing. I’m preaching to the choir when I tell you that if in fact autism is a byproduct of too many vaccines, than it is most certainly the tiny tip of a very, very large iceberg. An iceberg named ADHD, speech delay, learning disability, asthma, food allergy, and many, many more.
If, in fact, autism is just a tiny tip of the iceberg, than it is very likely that these poor little monkeys who were given our vaccines are messed up in many, many ways.
Show me the monkeys.
Let me say something to clear my conscience: I love animals and I hate animal testing. I feel terrible writing about these monkeys because the truth is that they were all sacrificed at the end of this study. It breaks my heart open to think about how these monkeys had to live their lives and I do think it is both cruel and inhumane to experiment on animals. We are all God’s creatures.
The only thing I can say in defense of the sacrifice of these poor monkeys is that I have a very strong feeling their deaths will not be in vain. I have this strong feeling these monkeys will in fact save and improve the lives of many, many thousands of kids, if not millions. These monkeys have made a huge contribution to the planet’s life, and I am very grateful for them.
Show me the monkeys.
If you were alive last week, you may have heard the gravedancer’s ball, tapdancing all over town. Ding dong, Andy’s dead, and so is his stupid theory and movement, yippee! They were everywhere, and they were gleeful.
They were also driving web traffic to Generation Rescue's website to new, unprecedented levels, bigger than we have ever seen.
The most downloaded page? Alternative vaccine schedules.
Show me the monkeys.
On Friday, you could almost hear the collective gasp of the gravedancers when Jenny & Jim’s statement about the monkey study hit the wires. Did you notice the “their theory is dead” articles slowed to a trickle?
It was amazing how many journalists I talked to on Friday, journalists who had been told by their editors to write something about this whole Wakefield thing. I referred them all to the statement.
It wasn’t what they were expecting to hear. They wanted to talk about the death of a theory and we talked instead about monkeys. How were they supposed to know unvaccinated children had never been looked at?
Do you know how many of those reporters from Friday have actually written an article as of today?
Zero.
Show me the monkeys.
The other side is playing defense again. My favorite argument so far?
“There is no animal model for autism.”
Right, O.K. Well, is there an animal model for being completely and utterly messed up, both in terms of neurological and immunological function?
Show me the monkeys.
Yes, the expected drumbeat has begun.
“Don’t trust anything that guy Wakefield publishes, it’s all lies!”
“He probably poisoned those poor monkeys, with something other than vaccines I mean!”
In fact, some yahoo apparently protested to Neurotoxicology, the journal with the courage to publish the first phase of the unvaccinated monkey study, letting them have it for even considering publishing something with Andy’s fingerprints on it. This yahoo claims that he wrote:
“It has been reported that your journal has or will soon publish a paper cowritten by Andrew Wakefield, against whom there are well-substantiated charges of fraud. If so, you have breached professional ethics, and unless you retract immediately, I feel it is the duty of all professionals to boycott your magazine and all others in the Elsevier line. I would welcome any explanations or clarifications you have to offer.”
The editor of Neurotoxicology apparently responded to said yahoo with the following response:
“As Editor of Neurotoxicology this is to inform you that the referenced manuscript has been subjected to rigorous independent peer review according to our journal standards. If you have issues with the science in the paper please submit them to me as a Letter to the Editor which will undergo peer review and will be subject to publication if deemed acceptable.”
For those of you who don’t speak “Scientist”, the response from the Editor of Neurotoxicology actually reads:
“No.”
Show me the monkeys, and let the world decide.
J.B. Handley is Co-Founder of Generation Rescue.
From the site:
This article has been withdrawn at the request of the editor. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.
The full Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal can be found at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy.
Note to users: Withdrawn Articles in Press are proofs of articles which have been peer reviewed and initially accepted, but have since been withdrawn before being published in this journal. Reasons for withdrawal may be due to a decision by the author and/or editor, accidental duplication of an article elsewhere, or because the content contravenes the Elsevier publishing policy in some way. Withdrawn Articles in Press are only visible to users when following an external link, e.g., an end user following a PubMed or DOI link. Such Withdrawn Articles in Press are not searchable or otherwise available in ScienceDirect.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What I would like to know is what is going on behind the scenes in the US while we are distracted about Dr. Andy and the withdrawal of this study. Apparently a lot went on after this study was published and certain websites were given a heads-up long before we were.
Posted by: A Mom | February 15, 2010 at 08:01 PM
I don't know about any of you guys...but I want some answers NOW. Why was it withdrawn and by whom?
Posted by: rileysmom | February 15, 2010 at 06:10 PM
Withdrawn and I am so angry I can barely type.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W81-4XC57CT-1&_user=10&_coverDate=10%2F02%2F2009&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=browse&_srch=doc-info%28%23toc%236641%239999%23999999999%2399999%23FLA%23display%23Articles%29&_cdi=6641&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=61&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=4dfea2dc7075d6dd087413b80f4b8f3b
Posted by: A Mom | February 15, 2010 at 12:44 PM
Wacko Smasher...how do you really feel???? No worries, I feel the same way, minus the balls parts cuz I don't have physical balls but I got plenty in my back pocket.
Seriously though, has any body heard anything? What's going on with this? Do we know IF and WHEN we'll see it?
Posted by: rileysmom | February 14, 2010 at 06:24 PM
Hi Craig,
I agree with you and I am tired of all this The Quackosphere Bullsh-t and they can suck on my b-lls. I am ready to knock on their door and start kickin 4ss and takin names. These people have nothing better to do than to talk sh1t.
Bring the on the Monkeys and lets dance!
Posted by: Wacko Smasher | February 12, 2010 at 08:15 PM
Anyone have any information about the study and its publication? The Quackosphere (tm) is celebrating that the study appears to have been withdrawn. According to the editor of the site, it says that a Withdrawn status applies to studies that are preliminary and have a few errors. Or, they can withdraw it because of ethical reasons.
Any information would be appreciated. The Quackosphere (tm) is getting entirely too full of themselves.
Posted by: Craig Willoughby | February 12, 2010 at 10:50 AM
Thanks for the t-shirt info, Bensmyson.
Twyla, interesting about Wozniak and Biederman's lab... Biederman has been in the news for being on the take from pharma: http://www.pharmalot.com/2008/11/harvards-biederman-what-jj-money/ ...makes you wonder what other druggable conditions he'll find...
Posted by: Theresa O | February 11, 2010 at 08:41 PM
This just out...
Toyota has decided not to repair any of their cars and will create an "Accelerator Court" in Japan to hear all accelerator cases.
Posted by: cmo | February 11, 2010 at 07:39 PM
JB a friend and I (I was a Rescue Angel before working for a pediatrician in autism and she is a RA) were talking last night. We need GR to produce some sort of PowerPoint and handout package for opportunities that come up in our areas. For example, I have been asked to speak to the Pediatric Nurses' Association in our area, and if I had something to explain this to everyone, it would help me alot. The media calls me too. I use you to reference alot, but making my own presentation for next week has been daunting. Something with the science to use at conferences and on air would be priceless....
Posted by: kim | February 11, 2010 at 05:26 PM
6 shots at once is absurd, especially for an infant, when even two shots at once has not been safety tested.
CDC: "simultaneous vaccination is incompletely studied at time of licensure". April 4, 2008, page 33
Translation: incompletely studied = not studied.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/00_pdf/draft_agenda_recommendations_080404.pdf
Great work JB!
Posted by: Kevin Barry | February 11, 2010 at 04:06 PM
Yep, Jake...I got my Illuminati pen last week. The Overlords are pleased with our progress.
Does anyone else find it wonderfully hypocritical of them to want to prevent the monkey study from being published (as demonstrated by the letter to Neurotoxicology) while at the same time whining and simpering about how they are always censored?
Posted by: Craig Willoughby | February 11, 2010 at 03:22 PM
the puzzel of Autism:
Thalidomide - past, great FDA wonder drug
Th..i...m...e........
just have to fill in some blanks
Posted by: cmo | February 11, 2010 at 02:59 PM
Theresa here's where the tshirt is
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Why-Autism/343857845704?ref=ts
or email me bensmyson (at) gmail.com
Posted by: bensmyson | February 11, 2010 at 11:28 AM
Henderson - I second you on Type 1 diabetes.
My nephew (sister's son) came down with it at age 6. My sister was told (off the record of course) that diagnosis in that age range is fairly common (kinder boosters anyone?). It took about a year for his pancreas to completely shut down. No, he is not fat (very thin actually) nor is he a couch potato (I get so angry every time I hear that crap).
My dad is also Type 1, but he made it to age 18! Huge difference!
As they say, genetics load the gun - the environment pulls the trigger.
Since diabetes is such a lucrative condition for pharma we'll likely never see a cure.
Posted by: Parent | February 11, 2010 at 07:42 AM
Bravo! Bravo!
While we're sacrificing the innocent monkeys, let us not let their lives go to waste by recording only symptoms of autism, but also record symptoms of learning disabilities, ADHD, allergies, asthma and the lot. Kill a few more birds with these monkeys while we're at it!
Posted by: PS | February 11, 2010 at 04:40 AM
The story about bipolar on NPR (which Lynn mentioned) is interesting. See:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123544191&ft=1&f=1001
"Since the mid-1990s, the number of children diagnosed with bipolar disorder has increased a staggering 4,000 percent."
"The notion that children might suffer from bipolar disorder in large numbers is new, dating back only to the mid-1990s.
"Dr. Janet Wozniak, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, was one of the people who first popularized this idea.
"Wozniak says that when she was starting out, most psychiatrists placed the prevalence of bipolar disorder in children somewhere between 'never' and 'vanishingly rare.'
"'Papers about bipolar disorder in children would usually start out with the phrase, 'Here's a disorder that's so rare maybe you'll see one or two in your entire lifetime in practice,' ' Wozniak says.
"Wozniak herself only started thinking about pediatric bipolar disorder when she got a job as a researcher in the clinic of a famous Harvard child psychiatrist named Dr. Joseph Biederman. Biederman was studying kids with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and felt that there was a portion of the kids in his clinic whose problems with anger seemed to go way beyond normal ADHD. So he asked Wozniak to look into it.
"She did. And what she found were kids who continued to struggle with intense, uncontrollable outbursts of anger — violent hitting and screaming and kicking — even after they passed through the preschool years.
"She felt these outbursts were substantively different from the kind of outbursts you saw among ADHD kids, who often had problems regulating their impulses. Then one day, she says she had an insight.
"'This child that I was thinking of as having really difficult-to-treat ADHD and a lot of parent-child interaction problems, I really was ignoring the serious mood component of their problem.' In other words, it wasn't that the kids just had problems with their impulse control; there was a more serious problem of mood. These kids were bipolar."
_________________
But these kids are different in some ways from classic bipolar, so now they have come up with a new diagnosis "temper dysregulation disorder".
Hmmm, a new mood disorder, only noticed since the 1990's, nobody knows what causes it, the only treatment is drugs or therapy -- sounds kind of familiar...
Posted by: Twyla | February 11, 2010 at 02:10 AM
.
IF SOMEONE IS GOING TO DO A STUDY OF VACCINATED vs. UNVACCINATED . . . IT WOULD BE BEST TO COMPARE AT LEAST TWO GENERATIONS.
TODAY'S YOUNG MOTHERS AND FATHERS ARE THEMSELVES A PRODUCT OF THE 'VACCINATION FRENZY.'
AND SOME OF THOSE YOUNG PARENTS BELIEVE THAT AUTISM CAN'T BE RELATED TO VACCINES BECAUSE THEIR CHILDREN WERE NOT VACCINATED.
BUT THOSE YOUNG PARENTS WERE. AND HERE'S THE QUESTION: HOW MUCH MERCURY AND OTHER SUBSTANCES WERE 'HANDED ON' TO THIS NEXT GENERATION?
PERHAPS A COMPARISON WITH TWO GENERATIONS OF AMISH WOULD WORK . . . ?
Posted by: wondering | February 11, 2010 at 01:59 AM
Life is such a rollercoaster. All day long I did my monkey touchdown dance. I can barely contain myself. I go to Bunco, usually the sanity outlet I look forward to every month. But then I got there . . .
So what advice would any of you give my friend, Teresa. Tonight my hands and voice shook as I tried to explain even just a bit to her, from anger at her doctors and fear for her, her unborn baby in her stomach, and her 5 year old daughter, and her boy who was just diagnosed with asthma. She and her daughter went for their H1N1 shot 5 weeks ago. She missed Bunco last month because she started bleeding the day she got the shot. That same day her daughter passed out with what looked like a seizure when she bent over when they got home after getting their shots. Within the past few months her 6 year old boy got diagnosed with asthma. Pale skin, dark circles under his eyes. Boy did he look so much better after he started the nebulizer.
Today she took her daughter back for round 2 of the H1N1 shot. Her daughter actually had a seizure and passed out in the doctors office with everyone right in the room. Her doctor told her it was due to her daughter being so anxious about the shots, something happens in the body and the oxygen level drops in the brain and causes a seizure. Doctor told her it wasn't from the shot. I didn't tell her vaccinated boys were more likely to have asthma. I told her the vaccines weren't tested on pregnant women, but she already knew that. I didn't tell her what cytokaine (sp?) storms can do to a fetus, I couldn't bare to worry her. I didn't talk about blood brain barriers and aluminum and mercury. I told her about the study about to come out, and about the hepatitis B shot, and simultaneous shots, and about spreading shots out if she continues them and touched on how they are various autoimmune/inflammatory responses and why it indicates she shouldn't give her child any more shots, about vitamin C, and maybe D prior to shots, about school requirements vs CDC recommendations. She had never heard of VAERS and the doctor didn't mention it, but I guess if it wasn't due to shots then what is there to report. It happened fast and I probably sounded like a lunatic. I was talking to someone who had never heard about any of this or any of its background. I cried on the way home, because she home schools her kids already. Not even for religious reasons or vaccination reasons. It needn't have happened at all. But she doesn't know.
What can I tell her, show her, to clarify what I was trying to get across to her?
What would seizures like these sound like to you and what would you tell her?
If you have experienced something like this, please respond. I'm not sure that just directing her to NVIC without guidence would be right. Sometimes personal stories hit home faster. I'm praying her daughter and kids come through this without further problems.
Posted by: Jenny | February 11, 2010 at 12:09 AM
Great work! And I also loved the Toyota analogy and other comments!
Posted by: CarolynKylesMom | February 10, 2010 at 11:29 PM
I forgot. Type 1 Diabetes most certainly has a mitochondrial link too.
Again, sound familiar?
Posted by: Henderson | February 10, 2010 at 11:25 PM
Thank you JB.
Add one more to your list: type 1 diabetes.
A very dear friend of mine (just as obsessive re: research as me) - Her daughter fell in to a Type-1 diabetes near coma within hours of her 18m DPT/Hep B/Polio combo. She's the first one to tip me off re: type 1 rates skyrocketing as well.
Type 1 Diabetes Cases In Children Under Five To Double By 2020
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/151775.php
A quick google turned this one up...
Childhood Vaccinations and Juvenile-Onset (Type-1) Diabetes
by Harris Coulter, Ph.D.
http://www.whale.to/v/coulter.html
The article's Conclusion:
"V. Conclusion
The vaccines discussed above are not an exhaustive list of those suspected of causing Type-I diabetes. Apparently in all cases, factors relating to autoimmunity are involved in the causal chain between vaccination and the emergence of Type-I diabetes. Any vaccine capable of giving rise to the autoimmune state is thus a candidate. Little Research Exists on Vaccination and Autoimmunity - A 1996 article on vaccination and autoimmunity by researchers at Tel Aviv University in Israel throws additional light on this question. (35) The authors note that "in recent decades, although it has been suggested in case reports that some vaccines might trigger autoimmune disorders, the subject has received comparatively little attention in clinical and laboratory studies."
Such vaccines as influenza, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rabies, MMR, tetanus and oral polio have all been linked with autoimmune diseases such as reactive arthritis, thrombocytopenia purpura and lupus. Also, the authors note, "it seems that vaccines have a predilection to affect the nervous system: neuritis, demyelination, myasthenia gravis, and Guillain-Barre syndrome have been described." Furthermore, the incidence of vaccine-induced autoimmunity is twice as high as high in females as in males. The authors conclude: "The subject of the vaccine autoimmunity relationship is still obscure; reports have been rare, not laboratory experimentation on this topic has been undertaken, and there are few animal models. For the time being no conclusions can be drawn."
Since this is still virgin territory, we may expect far more data in support of the vaccine-autoimmunity connection as work progresses and, specifically, on the connection with Type-I diabetes. Military and African American Populations Need Study - Further evidence of a possible vaccination link is found in the data on diabetes in US Navy enlisted personnel mentioned above. These are individuals in whom Type-I diabetes has appeared after the age of enlistment (since diabetes is a bar to enlistment). Frequent vaccinations seems to be a fact of life in the US armed forces. In the absence of any suggestion as to other possible causative factors which could transform a healthy sailor into a diabetic, the vaccinations which these men and women receive at regular intervals during their naval service must be considered as prime suspects. (36) The greater incidence of diabetes in the US African American population can readily be explained in terms of enhanced susceptibility to vaccine damage. The genetic background of this population may differ in significant respects from that of white populations sufficiently to account for a greater likelihood of vaccine damage.
Public Health Agencies Ignore Diabetes-Vaccine Connection - A striking feature of this whole diabetes/vaccination picture is the division or bifurcation of medical opinion. While researchers are well aware of the significance of vaccinations as etiological agents in the production of diabetes, the Public Health Service and related agencies promoting vaccination programs deny or ignore this relationship or are simply unaware of it. At any rate, the public is not yet being informed of this additional and very real risk from the vaccines which they are compelled to administer to their children.
The seriousness of Type-I diabetes is perhaps not appreciated by the public at large. While not quite a death sentence, it is close to it. Panzram wrote in 1984: "Type-I diabetes, particularly at a young age, must be considered as a rather serious disease, with a 5 to 10-fold higher excess in mortality in comparison with the general population." (37) Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. Type-I, especially, means a shortened life with many disagreeable features such as stroke, kidney failure, cardiovascular complications, blindness and the need to amputate gangrenous limbs. The bill for treating these conditions is, as already noted earlier, in the neighborhood of $100-$150 billion every year."
Sound familiar?
Posted by: Henderson | February 10, 2010 at 11:22 PM
Frank-- what I'm reading has me convinced that increased diagnosis among adults also has to do with another epidemic- psychopharmaceutical induced brain injuries. It's inevitable with more than 11% of adults taking the drugs, many since childhood or teens when the "drugging epidemic" started in the 80's.
There's quite a few overlapping symptoms with HFA and even some overlapping labs. A specialist could tell the difference from an interview, but the psychiatrists diagnosing it don't care-- it pads the missing adult cohort, is a "druggable", therefore lucrative dx. And for those seeking the diagnosis, if one has to be disabled, then flattering comparisons to "Einstein" and "Mozart" (as if they had autism) are far more attractive than "Brain damaged from Prozac and Abilify".
Posted by: Gatogorra | February 10, 2010 at 11:04 PM
"Which industry puts it right into their veins?"
Oh, I nominate this for comment of the week! Go, Benedetta!
Can someone make a T-shirt with this?
Posted by: Taximom5 | February 10, 2010 at 10:37 PM
To CMO: We do need to study what happened 20 years ago. Remember in 80s when all of a sudden a lot of kids had ADD and ADHD?
We need to look at the vaccine schedule 25 years and see if it presaged the rise in ADD/ADHD children.
Posted by: Amanda Blinn | February 10, 2010 at 10:09 PM
Bensmyson, are you making that shirt? Can you put it on CafePress or something so we can buy it? That shirt is awesome!!
Posted by: Theresa O | February 10, 2010 at 09:55 PM
Ha! you are still the man! Same question I asked in 2006- do Burbacher's monkeys get ABA with skittles for reinforcers at UW autism center, or are they on the wait list with all of the other human vaccine victims?
Posted by: from the First Ever GR Rescue Angel | February 10, 2010 at 09:31 PM
Thanks Jenny!
Posted by: Parent | February 10, 2010 at 08:51 PM
Sorry if I wasn't clear. By 20 years ago I meant when I was in school. I meant adults in their 30's, like me.
Posted by: Frank | February 10, 2010 at 08:38 PM
...uh Frank, those adults in their 20's were born in the mid eighties or early 90's when the vaccine schedule started to ramp up pretty noticibly. Coincidence? I think not.
Posted by: jen | February 10, 2010 at 07:29 PM
Perhaps someday...
there will be an answer to the reason why it took "modern medicine" an extra twenty years to find the cause of something thirty times more common than polio...
Posted by: cmo | February 10, 2010 at 06:59 PM
There does appear to be a marked increase in the number of adults that currently self-identify as having Apsergers. Where were they 20 years ago? You have to admit that increased adult diagnosis is based on increased recognition, not vaccines.
Posted by: Frank | February 10, 2010 at 06:31 PM
J.B. - What you have written here is our Gettysburg Address. The original excerpt below defines where we are in history right now with the autism epidemic.
"- A dramatic increase in the number of kids with autism, creating a need to find an environmental, rather than genetic, cause.
- A vaccine schedule that has grown dramatically during a time when the autism rate has grown dramatically, representing something (vaccines) nearly every child is exposed to from their environment.
- The knowledge that vaccines do, with certainty, cause brain damage in a certain subset of kids. As Jim Moody has pointed out, it’s certain that vaccines cause brain damage, we just need to know how many kids have been damaged.
- The fact that tens of thousands of parents have reported that their child regressed into autism after vaccination. People like Andy Wakefield never created this connection. He, like many other honest doctors and scientists, simply reacted to the dizzying number of parental reports. He listened to parents.
- Find a group of kids who never received any vaccines and compare their rates of all the things you suspect the vaccine schedule may be causing to kids who got all their vaccines. See if there are any differences that are significant, statistically speaking.
- Take a group of kids whose parents claim regression after vaccination and see if there is anything materially different about their bodies from a group of normally developing children who didn’t regress after vaccination.
- Start from scratch with an animal model, thereby bypassing potential ethical issues of not having children vaccinated, and see what happens to a group of animals vaccinated like our kids compared to a group of animals getting no vaccines.
Show me the monkeys, and let the world decide."
"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Posted by: Teresa Conrick | February 10, 2010 at 06:25 PM
A Toyota Parody which may sound a bit familiar.
The engineering division of Toyota known as the Collateral Damage Control(CDC) was first given the task of investigating the theoretical possibility of uncontrolled acceleration and accidents, in a subset of Toyota vehicles. Toyota's VSD was accessed and as one CDC engineer noted, "the number of accidents and uncontrolled acceleration are linear and statistically significant." "You can play with this all you want. They are linear. They are statistically significant."
In a secret meeting, somewhere in Georgia, the CDC engineers proposed that we can statistically make these associations disappear and maintain production quotas using the VSD and other tools at our disposal. The American Automobile Profession (AAP) was fully on board to do what ever was necessary to bury the evidence. Another special interest group, pHARMa, was heavily invested and knew the liabilities would be high if connection were made public. pHARMa's mission, "we may need to seek them out and destroy them where they live…" referring to anyone pointing to evidence of a connection between malfunctioning Toyota accelerators and accidents.
The public's concern was growing because many more people were reporting this uncontrolled acceleration or knew friends who experienced a devastating accident which authorities were all claiming were coincidental or temporal in nature. It appeared that the incidence of accidents to be around 1 accident to 100 vehicles.
Toyota issued the following press release: The accidents which are occurring are certainly not connected to our accelerators or anything to do with our vehicle manufacturing. Our accelerators and vehicles are the safest in the world. Furthermore the number of accidents may be due to better recognition and the level of accidents really hasn't changed over time. We do think that the accidents that are occurring are related to something genetic in the drivers who experience an accident in one of our vehicles.
National Public Radio (NPR) turned out to be especially useful in making sure the Toyota message would get through and all other explanations would be discredited. Toyota's underwriting of NPR has increased significantly.
Posted by: michael framson | February 10, 2010 at 06:20 PM
To Parent: You are right, it's debilitating and demoralizing. And 40 food allergies is just unimaginable to me. I wonder if you have tried homeopathy for any of them. I think homeopathy has been used for allergies successfully. As a matter of fact, Duke in NC has conducted research re: peanut allergies which can actually be life threatening, on children, where they started at unbelievably low doses (orally) and worked up from there. Although a few of the kids withdrew due to reaction, the rest were up to around 15 peanuts without reaction. Some dropped out of the study because they could tolerate peanuts in their regular diet. Some, if I recall, were still reaping the benefits a year out from their part in the study. It seemed to me similar to homeopathy, which uses doses in microscopic amounts. I think there are studies going on re: eggs, too, since the results at Duke were so promising. Of course you would never never want to start something like that on your own w/out professional supervision, but it could be helpful for your child's situation if you haven't tried it yet.
Posted by: Jenny | February 10, 2010 at 05:28 PM
J.B. - you're right that it's not just autism. It's learning disabilities and severe food allergies too.
Try 40+ food allergies to be precise, for my child. Imagine sending your child to school tasked with providing lunch which doesn't aggravate allergies. It's one of the biggest reasons we homeschool!
It's debilitating, demoralizing and awful. And as far as I can tell, there is no cure. Tell me how a child is allergic to chicken and eggs but NOT turkey (all are poultry)? Could it be - perhaps - the egg stew that vaccines are grown in? Hmmmmm??? Try going through life avoiding those things, along with wheat, dairy, corn and soy!
I hate to sound like this, because I know there are parents here who deal with much worse than me. But what pharma and medicine have done to a generation of children is a travesty - one which will not easily be revealed for what it truly is (naked, unadulterated greed and/or arrogance).
Posted by: Parent | February 10, 2010 at 04:17 PM
I think this is within my top 5 favorite articles since the beginning of Age of Autism.
Hallelujah! Show us the monkeys. And thank you, monkeys, for the ultimate sacrifice.
Posted by: Kristina | February 10, 2010 at 04:14 PM
tshirt for ya
http://i47.tinypic.com/n36y61.jpg
Posted by: bensmyson | February 10, 2010 at 04:08 PM
Thank you JB. Right on target as usual. The truth that is vaccine damage can and will no longer be ignored.
Posted by: Theresa Cedillo | February 10, 2010 at 03:55 PM
When will the monkeys be shown? I know the study is being published, but when will the world see it.
Posted by: maggie | February 10, 2010 at 03:53 PM
JB keep up the great work this song is for you and I think should be the new or old depending on your age "fight for what is right song" for the autism movement!
"If I Had a Hammer" written by Pete Seger and sung by Peter Paul and Mary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUKB3PxG-0E
Posted by: Nora | February 10, 2010 at 03:27 PM
Go Benedetta!
"Which industry actually puts it right into the veins?"
Oh, I want this (with an autism reference) on a bumper sticker and several T-shirts. And if I were a cap-wearer, I would want it on my caps, too.
Brilliant!
Posted by: A Mom | February 10, 2010 at 03:22 PM
Autism has increased 10,000 percent (?) or more in the last 20-30 years. Today, NPR reported that bipolar disorder (an overlapping diagnosis in many ways) is up 4,000 percent in children in a similar period of time. Interestingly, the new DSM V is looking to change this diagnosis to "temper dysregulation disorder" and it will be viewed as a non-permanent "brain or biological dysfunction". I wonder what they mean by biological. NPR also reported today that the DSM will do away with the separate Aspergers diagnosis and fold in into the category of "autism spectrum disorders".
Here's the part about bipolar disorder from NPR: "In a move that could potentially change mental health practice all over America, the American Psychiatric Association has announced that it intends to include a new diagnosis in its upcoming fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual — and hopes that new label will be used by clinicians instead of the bipolar label. The condition will be called temper dysregulation disorder, and it will be seen as a brain or biological dysfunction, but not as a necessarily lifelong condition like bipolar."
Posted by: Lynn | February 10, 2010 at 03:13 PM
Gotogorra;
Exactly!
Which industry has the most power!
Which industry is the most dangerous!
Which industry will try to blame other industries - for the environmental cause.
Which industry actually puts it right into the veins?
Posted by: Benedetta | February 10, 2010 at 02:53 PM
Would be rather cruel,
but was there a "Dr. Fancy monkey" that was given 8 or 9 vaccines on the same day ?
Posted by: cmo | February 10, 2010 at 01:25 PM
Great reporting as usual Mr. Handley. I like your style.
I would like to address others' various suggestions that studies should incorporate more variables, ie different toxins the population has been increasingly exposed to in the environment over the years besides vaccinal, but, the best study would be to weed out all of the confounders that are not correlated as significant contributers. A novel condition was identified in the early 1940's, whereby a novel exposure corresponding to increases that can be traced to specific points in time point to the most likely environmental influence to study. This monkey study is a great place to start.
For those outside our community who have been outspoken in their opinion that the thimerosal theory doesn't hold water because their children were never vaccinated yet still have an autism diagnosis, I would suggest the possibility still exists that their infant(s) might have been exposed to a thimerosal-based antiseptic tincture in the hospital at birth. Five infants were known to have died of mercury poisoning in Ontario in 1977? from hospital nurses swabbing the infants' umbilical cord stubs with a not uncommon thimerosal-based tincture antiseptic.
Autism was a novel condition; thimerosal was a novel environmental exposure.
Our community does not for one second doubt the integrity and courage of Dr. Wakefield. Understand, in terms of intelligence and ability very few in this world can be considered his peers in research.
I too would buy and wear a t-shirt that said "show me the monkeys."
Posted by: Donna Kincanon | February 10, 2010 at 12:48 PM
12 Monkeys in 2 minutes...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyvZEO0ey0g
Posted by: htbenz | February 10, 2010 at 12:41 PM
Awesome! I always enjoy reading your articles. I would point out one thing. There is no such thing as a side effect. The idea of a "side effect" is a very clever marketing scheme to downplay the negative or unwanted effects of a medication. Imagine watching television and hearing about all the negative effects of a medication. I expect this rewording would change how people perceive the medications they are taking. Semantics are important. Thank you for pointing out all the negative effects of our bloated and toxic vaccine schedule so eloquently.
Sargent L. Goodchild, Jr.
Exec. Director
Active Healing, Inc.
Posted by: Sargent L. Goodchild, Jr. | February 10, 2010 at 12:32 PM
My son was poisoned with the Hep B at birth in 1999 but the hospital lost the records so to be "safe" his ped poisoned him again at TWO WEEKS with the Hep B and than a full round of poisoning at two months, etc. I watched by son get the Hep B in the hospital and then within two hours my son was rushed to the NICU four times with what was described as going "floppy." Being rushed to the NICU wasn't "lost" from his records but all records about receiving the HEP B poisoning right before have mysteriously disappeared from his records. Quite convenient. They KNEW what happened but I didn't. They "lost" that on purpose to continue the poisoning. This has to stop. Bring on the sick monkeys and put these "doctors" in jail.
Posted by: Maggie | February 10, 2010 at 12:17 PM
Thanks for my facebook status of the day! I'm thinking of even making up a t-shirt.
"Show me the monkeys!"
Posted by: Julie Obradovic | February 10, 2010 at 12:14 PM
Hey JB:
"Show me the Monkeys" reminds me of another classic line which is oh, so fitting:
"Show me the Money"....as in money trail...as in "it-doesn't-take-a-rocket-scientist-to-connect-the-pharma-makes-a-lotta-money-off-of-vaccines-dots"....as in "give-me-enough-green-backs-and-I'll-make-sure-that--monkey-stays-off-your-back"....
Posted by: Kelli Ann Davis -- Show Me The Money!!!! | February 10, 2010 at 12:11 PM
Eric received the MMR vaccine in April 1986 and regressed into autism and lost his ability to speak.
In 1992/1993 Eric received three hepatitis B vaccines and his slide into bad aggressions began.
Ray Gallup
Eric who has gastro problems and tested positive for myelin basic protein antibodies and elevated measles antibody titers
Posted by: Raymond Gallup | February 10, 2010 at 12:07 PM
Dawn - I've wondered that myself. But once the past has been set straight, taking into account thimerosol, when the non-thimerosol studies are done, if they turn out to show compound vaccines without thimerosol are still detrimental, that will set straight the present and the future. I think the same applies to the comment on Deb in IL. This seems to have been a good starting point upon which to build. It is definately the last word on all this, it's merely the beginning.
Matt K - Your hypothesis has already been tested and disproven by research done in California. It could not account for the increase. Didn't even come close.
Bensmyson - To everything there is a season. I finally understand the football players doing their touchdown dances. Come dance with me in my house. Then, everyone can stand together in the joy of truth and carry it into the fight.
GH - Stunning information - you imply there is something out there already duplicating (or setting the stage for) findings yet to be announced. Please find a way to share.
JB - Thank God for you and Dr. Wakefield and all the good that will come of this. Thank-you, little primates, for your sacrifice. The public will know that it wasn't in the name of Cialis or some mascara that stays on in the water. But we all know there will be lots of new animal advocate groups created from the coffers of marketing companies that just happen to have people that work there that have close friends at the marketing companies that work for the pharmaceutical companies popping up in the media soon, or maybe the old one will show up again looking to spend their fresh infusions of anonymous donations. Watch for it and laugh . . .
Posted by: Jenny | February 10, 2010 at 11:59 AM
"Improved diagnosis" time to retire that little excuse.
Like it's hard to diagnose a 5 year old who walks on his toes all day and can't talk.
Posted by: julie | February 10, 2010 at 11:55 AM
Matt K. wrote: "It is possible that the increased levels of autism is caused by the increased understanding of what autism is and the increased reporting of autism.
It may not be environmental at all".
In a word, no. Not even those with a stake in defending vaccines are holding to this party line with much gusto or at all-- with the exception of Paul Offit and Eric Fombonne who are holding out to the point of foolishness just to avoid admitting they were wrong. The UC MIND study showed that "increased diagnosis" can only explain a tiny fraction of the rise. Even Thomas Insel of the NIMH admits it has to be environmental. So now mainstream authorities are opting for the vague "kitchen sink environmental cause" theory mingled with genetic susceptibility-- a cause theory that's too vast, nebulous and complex ever to be nailed down. To nail it down is out of the question for mainstream authorities because this would potentially indict Monsanto, Dow Chemical and GE, etc. and would never, in the end, take the onus off vaccines, but would only reiterate that the most intense exposures infants get to certain culprit chemicals and viruses is through vaccination.
Posted by: Gatogorra | February 10, 2010 at 11:26 AM
I loved this! Exactly! You can't tell me they've even tried to really assess vaccines and their impact on the child. They could be doing stuff like measuring brain size (indications of brain swelling)from birth in a group of children. The only damn thing is that now they're giving hep b at birth so the poor brains may be harmed immediately. I guess they still know what typical developing brains look like, though. When you re-stated what the vaccination schedule is up to six months I was infuriated again. Hep b and rotavirus really stand out as stupid, pointless poisons given to children who will never benefit from them and may be harmed. Sickening. Good news about that Neurotoxicology editor having some balls!!!
Posted by: jen | February 10, 2010 at 11:16 AM
"The only thing I can say in defense of the sacrifice of these poor monkeys is that I have a very strong feeling their deaths will not be in vain. I have this strong feeling these monkeys will in fact save and improve the lives of many, many thousands of kids, if not millions. These monkeys have made a huge contribution to the planet’s life, and I am very grateful for them"
Yes indeed - an entirely different feeling of deep sorrow for those several thousands of monkeys sacrificed for their kidneys used as cultures for the polio vaccine.
and dogs, mice, calves and whatever else they can get their hands on to make their evil brew.
As always an enlightening article.
Posted by: Genny GC | February 10, 2010 at 11:08 AM
Hey Matt, do have heating in your cave? Stay warm and stupid, buddy!
Posted by: Buna300 | February 10, 2010 at 10:52 AM
J.B. - Your piece brings to a higher level a relentless, intelligent, logical drumbeat - getting only louder and louder as it must, to obliterate the perceived "it's all good" realm of vaccines.
Only when the ideology of this completely corrupt vaccine realm endorsed by Dr. Thomas Insel and his completely biased, financially corrupted, and intellectual dishonesty is drowned by scientists' and common peoples' common sense will infants and children be spared.
Bring on Andrew Wakefield's monkeys.
Of course, the esteemed Dr. Thomas Insel could provide us all a great anecdotal test case by having himself injected with all these vaccines (adjusted upward for his 175 pounds, so the doses would be 30-40 times greater).
Posted by: david burd | February 10, 2010 at 10:49 AM
If you follow the money, everything points at the vaccines.
If you follow the "real research," everything points at the vaccines.
If you follow the "real population studies", everything points at the vaccines.
If you follow the research & population studies that the "other side does not want to see done", everything points at the vaccines.
If you follow what "other countries have done & what they have not done", everything points at the vaccines.
If you follow the "fraud and deceit" of what the vaccine industry/ CDC has wanted to hide, everything points at the vaccines.
If you follow the hype, fraud & money in the media, everything points at the vaccines.
I would suppose a monkey with Autism is a bit more convincing than a hamster or a mouse with Autism.
God bless the little monkeys.
Posted by: cmo | February 10, 2010 at 10:31 AM
Oh please - no animal studies.
Dow Chemical environmental lab up in Michigan has all kinds of neurological test they do on mice!!!!
They also have such for chickens, rabbits, and even fish!!!!
But of course autism has nothing to do with neruological problems - none of our kids have any trouble with fine motor problems, all of our kids have no trouble riding a tricyle - right???? Yeah, right!
Posted by: Benedetta | February 10, 2010 at 10:03 AM
You write brilliantly. You always have the reader's attention. This will also be forwarded to my media contacts and no doubt I'll get the same cold shoulder as usual.
My heart breaks for the monkeys that were sacrificed, but you are right, it's for our children. A hell of a lot better than the thousands of monkeys they killed in Africa for polio and other vaccines.
Thanks as always for your work.
maurine
Posted by: Maurine Meleck | February 10, 2010 at 09:56 AM
Matt,
Extremely OLD argument. We've moved past the shit stain a long time ago.
Posted by: rileysmom | February 10, 2010 at 09:48 AM
I love you JB.
Much like our children, there is a special place in heaven for the monkeys that were sacrificed "for the GREATER good". Thank you, once again, for a hard hitting, truthful and heartfilled message.
Posted by: rileysmom | February 10, 2010 at 09:38 AM
"In fact, some yahoo apparently protested to Neurotoxicology, the journal with the courage to publish the first phase of the unvaccinated monkey study, letting them have it for even considering publishing something with Andy’s fingerprints on it."
Who wants to take bets that we all know who this Yahoo is? My bet is that it's Dorkski. Anyone want in on this action?
Posted by: Craig Willoughby | February 10, 2010 at 09:24 AM
Does anyone know if any studies are being done to replicate the neonatal responses in vaccinated primates at birth - but using Hepatitis B without Thimerosal? I am surprised that this study didn't consider having three groups to better illuminate the question - was it the HepB or Thimerosal or combination?
Posted by: Dawn | February 10, 2010 at 09:04 AM
That dude attacked Elsevier for publishing an article with Wakefield's name on it? Elsevier is the publisher that cranked out the fake medical journals for Merck to help promote Vioxx! Where were all those high-minded folks then? Did they even notice?
Posted by: MinorityView | February 10, 2010 at 08:53 AM
We can't put all our "eggs" in the vaccine basket - there's the mom with the amalgams, the toxic GM processed foods and chemicals in the environment, too. The monkeys would have to have the same toxin pre-cursers to have a true comparison when vaccinated.
Posted by: Deb in IL | February 10, 2010 at 08:48 AM
I would totally buy a T-shirt that said "Show Me the Monkeys!"
Requiem in pace, little monkeys, and thank you. I am only sorry that they didn't keep them around longer to see how fertility was affected.
Posted by: Garbo | February 10, 2010 at 08:44 AM
"...there is not one shred of science anywhere on this planet that yet, in any way shape or form, looks at the real world in terms of how vaccines are administered and tries to figure out if, in the real world, something very, very horrible may actually be happening to our kids from so many vaccines given at once."
JB you are the second person I have heard refer to the belief that vaccines are - all good all the time/shouldn't be questioned - as basically a religion.
You both are right.
Posted by: A Mom | February 10, 2010 at 08:28 AM
Matt -
Hello? How old are you? I'm 37 years old and fairly observant. When I was a child and teenager I knew of no child in my class/school that had autism. When my husband was an undergraduate Ed major he spent a week (also never having been exposed to anyone with autism at that point) helping at a small autism camp (1993) when the rates were still relatively low. The magnitude of children we are seeing today was not like it was then. Do you know any teachers? Ask them about autism. Teachers over the last 20 years have neither been blind or stupid. If kids had this type of disability they would have noticed it. Believe me it is not something you can just ignore - try living at my house for a week. So please spare us the "better diagnosis" crap...we're all living with the increase and need someone in our government to step up and stop it before our society is completely overwhelmed as our families have been. So get on board or get out of the way...
J.B. - Excellent article as always!
Posted by: Melissa D | February 10, 2010 at 08:26 AM
THE TRUTH!!
"As Jim Moody has pointed out, it’s certain that vaccines cause brain damage, we just need to know how many kids have been damaged.
"
Dr. Paul King says the same thing about Thimerosal - there is no question that it's causing damage, the question is how much damage. We lowered the IQ of a generation of kids. I'm going to keep posting the following until I die:
Eli Lilly Thimerosal MSDS June 13, 1991
"Exposure to mercury in utero and in children can cause mild to severe mental retardation and mild to severe motor coordination impairment."
PAGE 89 Day 6 - June 18, 2007, Cedillo hearing
Q: And you mentioned retardation. If I'm understanding your slide correctly,
70 percent of people with autistic disorder also have mental retardation of some form?
Dr. Fombonne (Fed Witness)
A: Yes. Mental retardation is a correlate of autism which is significant. This figure
is for autistic disorder. For PDD and the rest, it's not very well known, probably less
than that. But for autistic disorder, it's about 70 percent."
Posted by: Fed Up | February 10, 2010 at 08:17 AM
Matt K,
In it there is a story that addresses this. The study shows that it can't all be explained by better and/or expanded diagnosis, but must be explained by some environmental factor. Scientific American, January '09
Posted by: Robin | February 10, 2010 at 07:57 AM
Matt K,
Scientific American, January '09
Posted by: Robin | February 10, 2010 at 07:54 AM
Matt, do you really believe that? If you are 30 or older - think back to your school years. Did your classroom have 1/3 of it's children on ADHD medication, autistic, or with some major food allergy so that signs were posted on every wall "NO NUTS OR WHEAT ALLOWED"?
I live in a city that brings people from all over the country and out of my 30 close women friends(who grew up all over the country) we can ALL agree that what is happening in our schools today DID NOT happen when we were of school age.
Please use some common sense and not eat the bullsh*t served up on the nightly news. It amazes me that people no longer use common sense anymore. You just believe what you are told from some news station whose owner owns stock in Merck.
Posted by: Stacie | February 10, 2010 at 07:39 AM
A year ago I first looked at the subject in the manner of the scientist you describe, and came to those exact conclusions. Unfortunately I am useless, somebody with access to $16 million is needed instead.
Posted by: GH | February 10, 2010 at 06:53 AM
When public opinion reaches a level of threat to national security the government will step in so as to keep the herd immunity intact.
Oh wait, that's already happened.
Think of our foreign policy and how innocent people suffer from US led embargos and espionage for the betterment of the Country. If it is to be believed that vaccines save millions of lives, why would a few tens of thousands of developmentally delayed children matter? I mean the downside is what, that these children with vaccine injuries create jobs and revenue for the health care and pharmaceutical industry.
Studies are great but it's going to take a lot more than monkeys to turn all this around, it's going to take a whole lot more. And it all starts with speaking out, standing in unison, ready to do what it takes to be heard so that others are saved.
The day government agencies comes to our door and forcefully take our children to be injected with vaccines will be the last day of America, they might as well come for all the guns and books.
Posted by: bensmyson | February 10, 2010 at 06:19 AM
It is possible that the increased levels of autism is caused by the increased understanding of what autism is and the increased reporting of autism.
It may not be environmental at all.
Posted by: Matt K | February 10, 2010 at 06:09 AM