Did Change.org's Brie Cadman Promote Censorship of Science?
Managing Editor's Note: Looks like Brie Cadman is following Secretary of Health and Human Services Director Kathleen Sebelius's directive to censor/suppress/choose not to run science that questions vaccine safety. Where's the 1st amendment outcry from left or right?
By J.B. Handley
Brie Cadman is the Health Editor for Change.org. According to her bio:
“Prior to Change.org, Brie was an editor at DivineCaroline.com, a Web 2.0 site for women. As a freelancer, she has covered health, science and sustainability for print and online publications. Brie's previous professions include biochemist, clinical trial coordinator, indoor air pollution researcher, wine bottler and farm hand. She has a degree in biochemistry and a Master of Public Health, both from U.C. Berkeley.”
Today, Brie has posted an article begging people to denounce the “anti-vaccine agenda” of Professor John W. Oller Jr., a professor at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. As some of you may know, Professor Oller is the author of a terrific book, The Autism Epidemic and Related Issues.
Here’s what Ms. Cadman writes:
“The scientific community has overwhelming concluded that vaccines do not cause autism, but Oller, who does not have a background in immunology, epidemiology or toxicology, continues to push an agenda based on false premises and conspiracy theories. Perhaps most troubling is that Oller uses his University of Louisiana-Lafayette website to promote his books, praise Wakefield and link to his anti-science blog.
No credible academic institution should support a theory that is so widely discredited, especially one that has already resulted in the resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases and deaths. Tell University of Louisiana and the Department of Communications to publicly denounce Oller’s statements about vaccines and autism and to ensure that he doesn’t spread his ideas to students.”
* *
Really, has it really come to this? Sorry, Ms. Cadman, not so fast. As you can read in the post right below this one, your assertion that the link between vaccines and autism has been disproven is resting on a foundation of sand. How could you possibly represent this to be true when:
- The studies you invariably will cite are funded by either the vaccine industry or the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)?
- Of the 36 vaccines our children receive, exactly 2, both doses of the MMR shot, have been studied for their relationship to autism?
- In every study cited by people like you, the control group is always vaccinated children?
There is simply no excuse for ignorance. Ms. Cadman, you and your public health degree need to go back to the drawing board. Read the studies you actually claim provide overwhelming evidence that vaccines don’t cause autism, see how mistaken you really are.
As I’ve said before, parents aren’t stupid, and I doubt the students at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette are either. Do your own work, see both sides, all the information on these studies is available in one place, so check out the Fourteen Studies website and see for yourself.
Autism parents, if you’re feeling helpless right now, you can do something, you can stand up for the other researchers out there who are willing to speak the truth.
By the way, the blog post by Dr. Oller is one of the more compelling pieces you’ll ever read, which you can see right HERE, here’s just an excerpt:
“CDC policy recommends not giving vaccinations at “well-baby” visits when the child comes in with a fever and runny nose. Why not? Because sound logic suggests that multiple additional threats piled on top of an already burdened immune defense system, one that is fighting an existing infection or illness of some sort (judging by the symptoms of the runny nose and fever), can only increase the burden the child is already facing. The more disease agents and toxins adding to the load, the greater the likelihood of producing a crisis potentially leading to seizures, encephalopathy, and potential fatality…
Finally, consider the question of combining multiple disease agents and toxins on the same occasion or in closely spaced vaccinations. In particular, take the MMR and DPT triple germ shots plus the toxins and contaminants they contain. Is it true from the research that the industry and the CDC are not increasing the risk of injuries by using simultaneous or closely spaced multivalent vaccines? What does the research show?...
When Offit says vaccines cannot cause autism because the CDC studies can’t find a link, he is relying on reports of failed searches. But failures of that kind are inconclusive. If we look into the ones the CDC points to as sustaining their claims, as we have done, all of the failed searches seem designed so that they could not possibly find any links between autism and vaccines. Why have there been no systematic comparisons between vaccinated and unvaccinated matched pairs?”
J.B. Handley is the father of a child with autism, the co-founder of Generation Rescue, and a contributing writer for AoA.
I don't have a child with autism, and both my children received all their required shots. Nobody in my family has a child with autism, so I think you could say I am not what you would call biased on this topic.
I do not have a degree in science, immunology or any other biomedical specialty degrees that would give me the pedigree needed to say I'm an expert.
But I have talked to enough people whose children have autism, and done enough research on my own, reading clinical information as well as subjective stories from mothers of autistic children, to say without a doubt that I believe that vaccines ARE connected to autism.
I look at it this way: every human cell is unique unto its owner. Even with identical twins, scientists have found that each twin can have certain biomarkers that make them unique from each other, if only in a teeny-tiny way.
What that means is that no two persons can, or will, react exactly the same way to everything. Example: science has shown that true redheads are more susceptible to sunburns. They also have shown to have different levels of pain tolerance. These genetic differences are widely accepted in both scientific and non-scientific circles.
It's also widely accepted that some people are allergic to peanuts, while others are not. Apparently, something about the genetic makeup of those persons who are allergic just makes them fall apart when they're exposed to peanuts. And the scientific community accepts that -- you don't see them forcing peanuts on kids who are allergic to them.
I think you get the point. And the point is that I've seen enough, heard enough, read enough, and studied enough on this topic to issue my personal opinion on vaccines vs. autism, and that is that YES, I BELIEVE VACCINES CAN CAUSE OR TRIGGER AUTISM OR SPECTRUM DISORDERS IN SOME HUMAN BEINGS.
Why is that so hard to accept in the scientific community???? Every child who eats peanut butter isn't going to have an anaphylactic reaction. Likewise, just because every kid who gets a shot doesn't have autism doesn't mean that none will.
Again, why can't the scientific community own up to the truth? I'll tell you why: they don't have the resources (money, staffing, etc.)to test every child for peanut butter (vaccine vulnerability) in advance so they just willy-nilly vaccinate everybody and stick their heads in the sand so they can go on "saving" the world from disease and pestilence.
Only they're not really saving anybody, and like the line in Jurassic Park, life finds a way -- including bacteria that mutate and form new strains of diseases that need vaccinating against(pneumococcal and pertussis are just two examples).
I could go on but I'm preaching to the choir.
Posted by: Cindy | February 05, 2011 at 08:05 AM
The unwillingness of the CDC and vaccine manufacturers to conduct a basic, argument-ending study demonstrating that autism occurs at the same, or at nearly the same, rate in unvaccinated children as it does in vaccinated children is their smoking gun. The more noise they make, the more we should keep pointing out how easily they could legitimately discredit us with such a study. Calling all Amish parents! Calling all home-schooling parents! How many of your unvaccinated children exhibit autistic tendencies??
Posted by: Mark L. Oller | January 25, 2011 at 03:27 AM
Brie Cadman is on the take. She's written articles about vaccines before that clearly have canned lines in them that can be matched with other paid for promo pieces disguised as a blog or editorial.
She should stick with writing about orgasms and vibrators. No I take that back. Such pitifully written pieces such as the one mentioned here do nothing but help Offit Nation bask in all its glory.
Posted by: Steve | January 21, 2011 at 12:30 AM
@ Bob Moffitt - “Indeed, universities are often the LAST place one should expect to find "freedom of speech".
Very true! The greatest legacy we can leave for the next generation is medical freedom and unbiased, unfiltered information as to the risks to their health posed by the vaccine schedules and mandated inoculations. The greatest responsibility that parents have to their children is to teach them well. Public schools are being turned into vaccination clinics. Attendence in public schools acts as a checkpoint to ensure compliance and uptake. There is no meaningful informed consent as to risks.
http://videocenter.denverpost.com/services/player/bcpid934052406?bctid=63938886001
http://www.progressiveconvergence.com/
“Student assaulted by teacher for handing out swine flu vaccine information”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXjC2f9ct9U
Kind of reminds me of the old CS&N anthem, “Teach your children”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49ajPPEkATA
VACCINES CAUSE AUTISM
MAKE AUTISM STOP
MEDICAL FREEDOM NOW
END MEDICAL FASCISM NOW
EDUCATE BEFORE YOU VACCINATE
Posted by: patrons99 | January 20, 2011 at 01:13 PM
Brie (is that really her name? I guess it goes with that absurd, self-absorbed photo) seems to be carrying on in the same tradition as Trine Tsouderos, cupcake writer gone all scientific on us. The PR firms retained by Big Pharma seem to be going for certain type- educated (pretentious), worldly (smartass), attractive (what all us misinformed mothers REALLY want), glamorous (forget the drudgery of our autism home lives, we want to read Vogue).
Before being hired by big Pharma, her contributions seem to have been along the lines of childish cocktail recipes (chocolate milk and vodka - I'm not kidding) and vapid world observations (2 liners on homeless people in San Francisco, how touchingly generous the poor Guatemalan people were).
How much are they paying you, Brie?
Posted by: navi | January 20, 2011 at 11:15 AM
This is not the first .. nor will it be the last .. instance that a major university was asked to deny opportunity for those seeking "safer vaccines" to speak openly to students.
Prestigious Brown University published "Inviting Ignorance" by David Sheffield .. "an opinions columnist" .. that castigated Brown University for allowing Dan Olmsted and Mark Blaxill .. authors of "The Age of Autism: Mercury, Medicine, and a man-made epidemic" to speak during a book signing event at the campus book store.
http://tinyurl.com/45glzxw
Indeed, universities are often the LAST place one should expect to find "freedom of speech".
Posted by: Bob Moffitt | January 20, 2011 at 06:53 AM
Does Brie Cadman realize what a huge favor she has just done for our side? She links the whole world to Dr. John Oller's exceptional summary of the damage vaccines can do, complete with references anyone with a computer can verify. Dr. Oller effectively brought together in one article all the points we have been trying to broadcast for years now, and Brie's little temper tantrum of a post just hands all the evidence right over to the reader.
If I were a new parent right now, and read Dr. Oller's report as well as every article he cited as a reference, I don't think there's a chance in hell that I would vaccinate my child.
Thank you, Brie. You have done so much more than just attempt to violate Freedom of Speech.
Posted by: Donna L. | January 19, 2011 at 11:38 PM
My God, these people have no shame, it's straight out of The Crucible. They are "pulling down heaven and raising up a whore." They are gearing up to press the Ollers next, for daring to publish a book. As soon as they're done hanging Dr. Wakefield Brian Deer's say-so.
Posted by: Garbo | January 19, 2011 at 10:29 PM
As a follow-up to my non-posted comment, I needed to confirm my comment in my e-mail account. Now it is posted.
Posted by: JenB | January 19, 2011 at 09:34 PM
It has gotten to the point that I almost, and I say almost because I am not innately evil, only beyond angry, that when I attempted to inform my daughter's pregnant gastroenterologist about vaccines and autism, keeping in mind this is the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the land of Dr. Offit, I almost wished that more mainstream medicine docs would experience what I have gone through with two children with autism.
J.B. hits the nail on the head again. Its the combination and the schedule itself, never studied,that are at the epicenter of the problem. My daughter declined after three shots in one day while allegedly mildly sick i.e. a fever of 99.9. My son regress on a combination of MMR and Varricella - often given together.
Note: this is the third gastroenterologist I consulted in five years about my autistic daughter's abdominal pain and bowel problems - who told me I was obviously off-base. Notwithstanding, after at least finally agreeing to do a colonoscopy to put silly Mom's concern's to rest once and for all - Low and behold to her shock it turned out to be Crohn's Disease. Wait there is no link between autism and bowel disease right? and no link between vaccines and autism? Amazing how my daughter's self-injurious behavior - again obviously neurologically based - cleared up after diagnosis and medication for Crohn's - what's five or more years of pain. But hey, I am only a parent...
Posted by: Leslie | January 19, 2011 at 09:04 PM
Given the frightening Jekyll and Hyde behavior of these "masters of public health," it appears that legislation and litigation are necessary tools to establish ethical treatment protocols for handling vaccine injury cases.
Posted by: nhokkanen | January 19, 2011 at 08:54 PM
It has come down to a re-definition campaign, as in re-classifying Wakefield's case study to "research" and then claiming he didn't follow protocol.
So, in the same vane, we parents cry, "we want MORE (honest) research" and we get, "YOUR research is flawed, you are not a scientist!"
What research? The one where totally unvaccinated kids are compared to vaccinated kids? Oh, that one .... oops, it doesn't exist!
Posted by: Cynthia Cournoyer | January 19, 2011 at 06:28 PM
Will H.-
Are you aware of this list that contains research/studies that: 1-support the findings of the original work by Wakefield and colleagues at the Royal Free Hospital in the UK and 2- duplicate Dr. Wakefield’s original findings in five additional countries, including the US, Italy, Venezuela, Canada and Poland?
http://www.ageofautism.com/2010/05/peer-reviewed-papers-support-findings.html
Posted by: Teresa Conrick | January 19, 2011 at 06:09 PM
Will H. wrote: There is at least one well-cited article from the NEJM ("A Population-Based Study of Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Vaccination and Autism") that uses unvaccinated children as a control group.
When it was pointed out that the children were, in fact, vaccinated, he simply moved the goalposts and said:
No--I think that if you're intending to examine the effect a single intervention, i.e. MMR, with a specific, stated etiology, i.e. ileotic effect, then, yes, an appropriate control would be those individuals who have yet to receive said intervention.
Quite right, Will, however, if you do a study looking at a single intervention and a single outcome, you cannot, then, advertise that narrow bit of information as: "Vaccines do not cause autism."
Not unless you are spreading misinformation.
Posted by: MinorityView | January 19, 2011 at 05:52 PM
I'm not certain they are letting all comments through. I tried posting one prior to the time on some of the more recent comments there.
Posted by: JenB | January 19, 2011 at 05:19 PM
Not so sure my post went through. Brie, really, you're kidding me. You are advocating censorship at an institution of higher learning? Why don't you pro-vaccine zealots just go out and round up and arrest anyone and everyone who disagrees that the question has been asked and answered. Tudor-style! It would really save you guys so much time. Think about it seriously. Just come out of the closet, none of this "fraud" stuff, court cases- just keep it simple and have everyone arrested. Oh shit! You would need a really, really big place to put them all!
Posted by: Jen | January 19, 2011 at 05:14 PM
To be crystal clear: the kids in the NEJM study WERE vaccinated.
Posted by: JB Handley | January 19, 2011 at 05:13 PM
And this, to me, is one of the most scary aspects of the issue; that ANYone - scientist, researcher, doctor - who dares question vaccines is basically ending their career.
Posted by: ASusan | January 19, 2011 at 04:47 PM
Will H.:
Actually, I'm trying to figure out if all these parental reports of regression after vaccine appointment are true or not. Because kids typically receive 6 vaccines at one time, the only reasonable control group are children who DIDN'T experience the vaccine appointment. With 6 shots in the mix, there are too many variable to look at "no MMR but otherwise got shots" and learn anything.
You just need to understand what actually happens in the real world, what parents are saying, and the science that has been done to realize there is nothing to the claim that the science shows "vaccines don't cause autism." It's just a very big, oft repeated, LIE.
JB Handley
Posted by: JB Handley | January 19, 2011 at 04:46 PM
Will - it is not just MMR. VAERS lists the following numbers of cases of autism and ASD after childhood vaccines:
Hep B 343
HibV 448
MMR 1451
DTaP and similar 218
Flu all types 35
MMR has had the most publicity, but if you read this site regularly you will read similar stories of regression following many other vaccines.
Moreover, the crucial line in the study you refer to is:
'After adjustment for potential confounders, the relative risk of autistic disorder in the group of vaccinated children, as compared with the unvaccinated group, was 0.92 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.68 to 1.24'
Error bars that high leave the possibility that MMR could act as the final trigger for a significant percentage of autism cases.
Posted by: GH | January 19, 2011 at 04:29 PM
Will, the crux of the media frenzy is "the doc who blames MMR for autism!" He never ever ever did this. Nor did he launch the vaccines/autism ship for the vast majority of us. I leanred of the link from MOTHERING Magazine in 2001 - not a peep before that. Shall we light our torches and go raze their offices too? This is out of control - the effort to whitewash vaccine safety as anti-vaccine. It simply is not true. But the lie has been repeated so often it has stuck. As was the plan. Thanks. KIM
Posted by: StagMom | January 19, 2011 at 04:13 PM
JB,
No--I think that if you're intending to examine the effect a single intervention, i.e. MMR, with a specific, stated etiology, i.e. ileotic effect, then, yes, an appropriate control would be those individuals who have yet to receive said intervention.
Stag Mom--I stand corrected. Wakefield suggested strongly, but did not conclude.
Posted by: Will H. | January 19, 2011 at 04:06 PM
BTW DR Oller has another wonderful book called MILESTONES Normal Speech and Language Development Across the Lifespan. Every parent should get this book and the one on Autism. They are a wealth of knowledge about how children are supposed to develop and how vaccines and other toxins/problems can screw it all up.
Thanks again Mr Handley.
Posted by: Adam M | January 19, 2011 at 03:57 PM
Will: Nice try. The "unvaccinated children" you refer to in that study are actually "children who haven't yet received MMR but our otherwise vaccinated." An understandable error on your part, but an error nonetheless.
If you think vaccinated controls are adequate to prove vaccines don't cause autism, then a rational discussion is unlikely.
JB Handley
Posted by: JB Handley | January 19, 2011 at 03:46 PM
Will - thanks. Dr. Wakefield did not conclude a link in the Lancet paper. The exact conclusion from the paper says, "We did not prove an asociation..."
Posted by: StagMom | January 19, 2011 at 03:44 PM
JB,
Posted this elsewhere, so I figure I'd place it here too.
Before you start lobbing claims about being ill-informed, perhaps you should check some of the sources you claim to know. There is at least one well-cited article from the NEJM ("A Population-Based Study of Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Vaccination and Autism") that uses unvaccinated children as a control group. Needless to say, there was no association with autism or autism-spectral disorders between vaccination arms. Moreover, while the research was, in part, funded by the CDC, it was also funded by a grant from the National Alliance for Autism Research. If you think that organization is coloring Dr. Madsen et al's research and conclusions, then a rational discussion is unlikely.
Finally, I'd like to counter that the reason the MMR vaccine has been the focus of these studies is because it is exactly the vaccine Dr. Wakefield purportedly researched and concluded a link. Until I see published studies from informed scientists that disprove no association, I can't see why the onus is on science to show (again) no effect when these vaccines already undergo Phase IV follow-up.
Best,
Will
Posted by: Will H. | January 19, 2011 at 03:37 PM
my God JB we got you working overtime! But you are a powerful voice of reason and one they cannot easily dismiss! Go get them and Godspeed!
Posted by: Nora | January 19, 2011 at 03:20 PM
Exactly, Kristina, especially since "students" are mere steps away from being "parents" who will be making "decisions for themselves" about vaccination.
Should we write the university to complain about Cadman's pervasive propoganda? At the very least, we should keep our eyes on her.
Posted by: Zed | January 19, 2011 at 03:16 PM
The autism vaccine connection has been discredited by all doctors and scientists, except the doctors and scientists who support it, or who support further research.
I think that's what Brie Cadman is trying to say. Very compelling.
This is scary: "Tell University of Louisiana and the Department of Communications... to ensure that he doesn’t spread his ideas to students.” Yikes.
Posted by: Kristina | January 19, 2011 at 02:52 PM