Max Wiznitzer Scores a Perfect Zero in Wakefield Slam
Does Dr. Max Wiznitzer, "autism expert" from University Hospital in Cleveland have even the slightest knowledge of Dr. Andrew Wakefield's Case Series published in The Lancet over a decade ago. 1) MMR never contained mercury, it is a live virus vaccine. 2) Dr. Wakefield's case series was about about novel GI disorder, not autism. 3) There were no numbers to manipulate in his case series, only a handful of subjects participated. 4) Dr. Wakefield did not have a patent for a single dose vaccine. He was working on a treatment for children who were immuno-compromised (undergoing cancer treatments for instance) and who COULD NOT TAKE the MMR vaccine because it is a live virus vaccine. Dr. Wakefield's project was to provide a "medicine" that would greatly reduce their chances of severe reactions and even death by measles infection for kids who contracted the disease because they could not have the MMR. A vaccine prevents the disease. Dr. Wakefield's project was to reduce the chance of death as a result of the disease.
Dr. Wiznitzer is the go to expert witness for pharma/government in the US vaccine court. Yes, he testifies consistently that autism can not be the result of vaccines. Of course, he loses that argument from time to time.
Read this ridiculous article below and add your own comments. KS
The Marietta Times:
"If you can't trust the integrity of the researcher, you can't trust the research," Dr. Max Wiznitzer told a standing- room only crowd in Marietta College's McDonough Center auditorium Monday night.
An expert on autism spectrum disorder, Wiznitzer was a key witness against claims in a study led by Dr. Andrew Wakefield that trace amounts of mercury in the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine was linked to autism.
The study, originally published in the British medical journal Lancet, was retracted by the magazine a year ago after Great Britain's General Medical Council ruled Wakefield had acted unethically.
"His science on autism was not good-it's mythology," Wiznitzer told his audience on Monday.
He said the mercury-containing substance Wakefield linked to autism was basically the same as Mercurochrome, an antiseptic substance that was popular for treating minor wounds in the 50s and 60s.
"Many of us used it, but we didn't develop autism," Wiznitzer said.
He recommended reading a three-part series by British investigative reporter Brian Deer ,available online at briandeer.com, that exposes the fraud in Wakefield's research.
"You can read how the numbers and data were manipulated in the (Wakefield) study," Wiznitzer said. "And Wakefield had financial conflicts of interest."
He noted that Wakefield's study suggested splitting the vaccine into single doses.
"And he had a patent out for a single-dose measles vaccine at that time, but it's not mentioned in his book," Wiznitzer said.
He said Wakefield's hypothesis was fueled by media attention and peoples' willingness to believe an unscientific study because it was published in a journal.
"But in this age virtually anything can be published," Wiznitzer said, adding that there's a general lack of understanding of the true scientific process by the public.
"Preventable deaths have occurred because parents were afraid to give vaccines to their children," he said of the controversy stirred by Wakefield's study.
"Vaccines do work, and there may be some valid concerns but his science on autism was not good." he said.
Pam Rost, of Parkersburg attended Monday's lecture with her sister.
"She has a grandchild with autism," Rost said. "I think we need more education about this issue and more facilities in this area. My sister had to take her son to Morgantown to have him diagnosed."
She said when the Wakefield claims first came out she believed them but later changed her mind.
"I've kept up on the latest about autism but I can understand why people believed that study," Rost said. "People want answers, and if they have children with autism, answers are hard to find, so they're ready to believe anything."
Mary Walker of Marietta, a nurse, has an 11-year-old son with autism.
"I never bought into that vaccine issue," she said but agreed with Rost that more local facilities are needed for autistic children.
"There's such limited resources for autistic kids here," she said. "We're back in the area now, but we had moved to Columbus so we could put my son in a school designed for kids with autism."
A pediatric neurologist at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, Wiznitzer graduated from Northwestern University Medical School.
He's an associate professor of pediatric neurology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and is a liaison to the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Children with Disabilities.
Monday's presentation was part of the Marietta College Krause lecture series, which began in 2002, and is supported by gifts from Dr. Richard M. Krause '47, the son of E.L. and Jennie Mae Krause. Dr. Krause served on the College's Board of Trustees for 22 years.
One of the things we had to cope with in a situation where our son was regressing (and this was not officially recognized) was that we kept on being told things which we did not agree with but were becoming progressively true. We were very angry and retrospectively we were right. In the end truth was not told because it was not acknowledged that our son was losing faculties and with all the tough speak no one wanted to do anything about it, or admit that there was a problem.
Tough speaking Dr Wiznitzer does not impress me.
Posted by: For Mrs Geeky | November 14, 2015 at 06:54 AM
DR. Wizintzer is the BEST doctor we have taken our daughter to and there were times we walked away from his office not totally agreeing and later finding he was right. He does not sugar coat things, and he tells it like it is. He is the expert on this topic and if you aren't strong enough to hear him tell the truth to you, you are only dong your child a disservice.
Posted by: Mrs. Geeky | November 13, 2015 at 11:17 PM
We need to focus on the rising number of autistic children,rising number of chronic illnesses in children,rising auto-immunity,rising cancer rates,rising
special needs childrens.Their body is over-loaded with
toxic ingredients,their livers and kidneys are less mature to detoxify and to excrete some of these toxins. The blood brain barrier is weaker and not fully developed. The brain
is still maturing and neuron connections are not yet finalized.
The results show that we cannot have such large number of autistic children in 40 years based on genetics.Pharma and lots of the experts just have this "do not care attitude",
because they do not want to solve the issues of autism.
They will have steady flow of new patients to medicate for the rest of their lives.The "causes of the roots of the problems will not be identified" they will just "try"
to treat some of the symptoms.We need independent researchers,independent doctors from big pharma.FDA,CDC are financed by pharma.We also need better communications between professionals. The children are suffering,the families are suffering.Answers must be found.They continue to inject pregnant mothers with vaccines and they keep changing the ingredients to more powerful vaccines (aluminum
adjuvants,detergents...)and other questionable ingredients.
You can not keep pumping toxins into the body and expect
higher level of health.USA only need to look at their rising child morbidity and mortality rates,the rising
premature birthrates and schools who can not handle the
number of high needs children.The system had failed and they do not want to fix it,because sickness is a very profitable
business.So now you know why I do not trust the doctors,
why I lost my confidence in the system.They have attacked
Mr.Wakefield and they will attack anyone who stands in the way of their vaccination program.A total system failure.
A researcher "needs to wait to bring forward information
after they retire".What that tells us about our society that we live in???? Our children's symptoms are real and they need to STOP AUTISM NOW.
Posted by: one Voice | April 17, 2011 at 11:55 PM
Referring to Dr. Wiznitzer's remark about older mothers having autistic kids- Is this another of the evil offspring of Big Pharma???? Does anyone here know the years of the cohort used? All one would have to do to create that illusion would be to take women who had one child born prior to increased use of vaccine mercury and another born after. Of course it is also possible that it is the older mom, having her child late in life, who would take every vaccine under the sun for her beloved child. (Sigh of sadness)
Posted by: Cherry Sperlin Misra | April 17, 2011 at 09:59 PM
Thankyou Index on Toads and Carolyn M. Put together, this seems to be quite a lengthy and interesting topic. Perhaps someone could collect facts and write an article.
It is certainly clear in his interview (URL above) that he is very keen that no one should worry about an epidemic of autism.
There is one thing that I find very interesting in this interview : Being at pains to minimize the importance and impact of autism, he has gone into detail about the criteria for autism being widened. I suspect that this is the way in which they have managed to keep the autism rate in California as high as possible, so that they could state that the autism rate in not falling. They know that this will be the most convincing evidence for doctors that vaccines with Thimerosal cause autism. I brought up this topic with my doctor daughter and she insisted that the diagnosis for autism has not changed.(Autism is not part of her work) I thought about that and came to the conclusion that the diagnostic manuals may not have changed, but the children being diagnosed as "autistic" in the referral clinics may have broadened. Dr. Wiznitzer seems to be saying the same thing. So what we saw in California earlier was the more severe type of autism coming out of many mercury vaccines and now we see mild autism coming out of flu vaccine during pregnancy and possibly two flu vaccines with mercury at 6 months of age combined with the many other sources of mercury in California - fish, water, cement plants, dust from China, forest fires, etc etc. Yet both are lumped together in autism statistics. Anyone here please correct me if I am wrong.
My impression is that at least twice California has suspended their law against use of Thimerosal - in order to give flu vaccines. This was during the last 5-6 years. there may have been even a third year, but interestingly even the doctors dont seem to get clear information on this topic.
Also I would like to note that whenever I go to California I meet many immigrants from India. Many of those mothers go back to India after delivering their babies in the US, and get Thimerosal vaccines there. The same may be happening with Mexicans and other nationalities. This serves to keep the autism rate in California a bit higher.
But the good news is that the future is going to be different. I meet so many parents from the western countries who know all about mercury in vaccines. They refuse to vaccinate their babies with Indian-made vaccines and they know about the dangers of flu vaccines.There is hope, despite the efforts of people like Dr. Wagnitzer who would love for the populace to stay pacified and ignorant.
Friends, it would appear to me that we just dont have much data on topic of mercury in fish (???) So many people seem to take that topic very casually. But this is a very important source of mercury for some mothers and we need to know what is happening. I have concluded this after learning that nearly all the early cases of autism in India were in the Bengali community. Bengalis frequently eat fish twice a day and 7 days a week. We know that the rivers are highly polluted with mercury for at least 22 years. (They eat river fish ) Their children would have received three DPT vaccines with 25 mcg ethylmercury each and then they got fish mercury on top of that. I was amazed recently to learn that an American doctor who is very senior in his field consumes nearly one can of tuna fish per day despite his wife urging him not to do this. Clearly, information about fish is not getting out to the public. You will get all these immigrants to the US who were unable to eat expensive fish in their own countries , delighted to find that tuna is an inexpensive commodity in the U.S.
Posted by: Cherry Sperlin Misra | April 17, 2011 at 09:43 PM
I don't know if I should laugh or cry after reading this so called sound advice from Dr. Wiznitzer.
http://www.aap.org/audio/autism/Wiznitzer-Transcript.pdf
Posted by: Sound advice? | April 17, 2011 at 02:44 PM
To JenB
Thanks for that reference. Is this the same Clarkson that in 1977 says the SURVIVORS must be followed up to check for neurological harm and in this century in retirement and presumably paid fat fees is saying today off the top of his head that thimerosal in vaccines and used on 1 day infants is a RISK FREE practice?
Lets get this right. 13 treated with thimerosal and 9 dead.
Thats just 4 people ALIVE to check upon. Not too many for a treatment KNOWN to be harmful even then.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1545035/
Did anyone ACTUALLY do what was recommended or were they just ABANDONED like the increasing MILLIONS of autism infants who are forced practically to be subjected to thimerosal flu vaccines et al or lose jobs if they ever get one when older.
Can ANYBODY let me know PLEASE?
Posted by: John Fryer Chemist | April 17, 2011 at 01:38 PM
"If you can't trust the integrity of the researcher, you can't trust the research," Dr. Max Wiznitzer told a standing- room only crowd in Marietta College's McDonough Center auditorium Monday night.
So Paol Thorson and his work showing virtually no autism and no vaccines in Denmark means lots of vaccines in the UK and USA can't be responsible for lots of autism in these countries.
It's talking cheese and chalk from the word go and the work of this Danish group was HEAVILY criticised and condemned by many people before his dishonest practices caused his recent arrest at the berceau of vaccines at any price and at any number of dead, dying and injured to save the one person that did not die fromvaccine preventable illness every ten years.
Looking at one case of his where he got a member of the family imprisoned, he failed to recognise the vaccine at day one and more than three hours of crying may have caused or resulted in long term harm to a child. He also failed to recognise a very quick blowing up of the head after this vaccine (more than 50 per cent)could also be a cause of longterm ill health.
His testimony for me is a LIE and a PERJURE for how much MONEY? At a guess more than themoney babies in the UK get when vaccine harmis PROVEN.
Posted by: John Fryer Chemist | April 17, 2011 at 01:22 PM
Cherry Sperlin Misra -
I'm sorry if my comment was not clear. I did not mean that it was one person's nutty idea; I meant that Wiznitzer will say anything to further the denial of the connection between vaccines and autism. He does even more harm by implying to the general public that there are plenty of services available for children with autism and that this is the reason for the increasing number of children with autism. If the general public believes that there is an abundance of services to help children with autism, then this enables them to not have to think very much about children with autism. After all, from their point of view if the children are getting the help that they need, where is the problem? It furthers the idea that the parents are "overly emotional" - which the denialists love to promote.
I agree with you that all of this is part of the pharmaceutical companies agenda and that it would be dangerous to underestimate them.
Posted by: Carolyn M | April 17, 2011 at 12:43 PM
ahhh, Max Wiznitzer. the same Max Wiznitzer who, during a Brighton Collaboration Working Group session, brought up the apparent entities of VAMP (Vaccine Altered Measles Panencephalitis) and MINAS (Measles-Induced Neural Autism Syndrome) and how to fit those definitions into the criteria of autism as a result of vaccines.
but we won't hear about that one...
Posted by: Janet S | April 17, 2011 at 07:08 AM
Cherry
You have put your finger on one of the most disturbing elements in this entire business: that people keep on acting as if they are not even afraid to be caught out. If you repeat the vaccine safety cant it really does not matter what you do. I am sure there are three sub-intellectual arguments behind this:-
(1) even if it isn't quite right the general proposition is somehow sound
(2) the vaccine programme is so important that lying in its defence is actually a moral obligation
(3) it is the job of every health professional and every journalist to do this
Obviously, you can also be fairly sure if you do get caught out that there may be 5 minutes of embarrassment but absolutely no action will ensue, and that is small price compared with the financial rewards and professional approbation for saying for saying it, or penalties for saying anything different.
This is why you can also stare at all the outrageous conflicts in this story, with people actually almost waving them in you face because actual all normal human rules have been suspended.
'Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air"
Shakespeare, Macbeth 1,1 12-13
Posted by: Index on Toads | April 17, 2011 at 05:51 AM
Wiznitzer gave evidence in the US Federal Court case of Benjamin Zeller. As a result of the MMR vaccination received on 17 November 2004, Benjamin, suffered persistent, intractable seizures, encephalopathy, and developmental delay. The judgement of the Court states the US Department of Health and Human Services had no alternative explanation beyond “Unconfirmed speculation by a few treating doctors, as with Dr. Wiznitzer’s hypothesization“
[US Court Rules In Favour Of Family In MMR Vaccine Case Ben Zeller J]
http://tinyurl.com/3fbe8cj
Wiznitzer on Larry King Live Friday 3rd April 2009 that the rate of autism in northeastern Ohio, the largest Amish community in the USA with low rates of vaccination, was 1 in 10,000. He should know, he said: “I’m their neurologist.”
[Autism In Amish Children – 1 in 10,000]
http://tinyurl.com/c7lual"
Posted by: ChildHealthSafety | April 17, 2011 at 05:22 AM
Thankyou to " Well...what is he like as a doctor?" You have provided the missing puzzle piece. Dr. Wiznitzer told you to read two books on autism?? One of those must be the one I read that explained that vaccines could not be the cause of autism because the mercury had been taken out of the MMR but autism rates remained unchanged ! Those two books must be the only ones that the good doctor has ever read on the topic of autism.
Posted by: Cherry Sperlin Misra | April 17, 2011 at 03:24 AM
To Carolyn M, You may think that this concept of parents WANTING an autism diagnosis is just one persons nutty idea, but I see it as something more sinister. I think it is one of the ideas that big pharma has decided to work on to mislead the public. The doctors in one hospital that I hear of in the US appear to have fallen for the desired diagnosis story. The most obvious creation of the pharma-public health machinery is the phrase "highly heritable" That is the mark of the devil- the footprint that says "Big pharma was here" Another incredible successful creation of our opponents was the idea that the MMR used to contain mercury and now does not. Most doctors still believe that and it is easy to create confusion with it. I once read a book about autism which I believe may have been written solely to purvey that lie.
I have often told people that I know it is sometimes hard for doctors to realize that a child needs a diagnosis of autism. The kid never plays with other kids? You wont see that in an office will you? The kid said "Happy New Year" Hey he's speaking so well! (Actually he is still saying Happy New Year every day three months later). And remember- Lots of behavior can still be blamed on mom !
Posted by: Cherry Sperlin Misra | April 17, 2011 at 03:15 AM
Max Wiznitzer Scores a Perfect Zero in Wakefield Slam
http://www.ageofautism.com/2011/04/max-wiznitzer-has-every-fact-wrong-in-wakefield-slam.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ageofautism+%28AGE+OF+AUTISM%29&utm_content=Yahoo%21+Mail
Hey Dr Maxeeee Baby,
Winging it is not good enough!
There are lives at stake here!
You’re a doctor that has exposed the shallowness of your depth of knowledge!
You’re no expert!
Get out of the vaccine business!
Paul Shapiro
Posted by: Paul Shapiro | April 16, 2011 at 11:13 PM
http://xrl.in/8tp9
….. this is the story of the illegal behaviour of the US Department of Justice in the Michelle Cedillo case. And how the English and US Federal Courts acted to torpedo one severely injured little girl’s claim for much needed financial compensation – and with it over 5000 other US childrens’ cases.
Posted by: Media Scholar | April 16, 2011 at 09:25 PM
Australia
@ Kristina-these were my thoughts immediately after I read the article.
After Dr. Wizniter's comment about integrity and trust Thorsen's research should be discarded or will it!
It is interesting to see the day-by-day growing list of discreditable individuals.
Posted by: AussieMum | April 16, 2011 at 07:08 PM
For Harry H
It's too late. Once a nitwitzer-always a nitwitzer.
Maurine
Posted by: Maurine Meleck | April 16, 2011 at 06:31 PM
Robert F. Kennedy referenced this rather long paper in relation to the infants who were killed by merthiolate:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1545035/
I remember watching a news special about merthiolate (or whatever name they were using) as a child that I believe was an investigation instigated by the Toronto hospital tragedy, so when I started researching/learning about thimerosal I had a sense that I'd heard this story before. The reporter in this program (I wish I could remember his name or even the news network!!!) went into great detail about the "safety" research had been done on patients with a terminal disease and how questionable the conclusions of "no harm" were from such a study and even the notes on the patients' reactions to the substance seemed to contradict such claims. At the conclusion, the reporter brought on some drug company exec (from Eli Lilly?) and drilled him about whether he had ever personally been exposed to this compound. The man said he hadn't, not even through a vaccination. If I now remember correctly, this exec even volunteered that he had never received any vaccine at all, which he was particularly queried about, because I think it took the reporter by surprise. The man just indicated that he was lucky to be healthy... I now wish I had been paying more attention and could remember enough to possibly look for a transcript to check my memory, but I think I was less than 10 years of age.
Posted by: JenB | April 16, 2011 at 06:05 PM
Sorry! I didn't mean to send the same comment twice. It's a computer glitch.
Posted by: Birgit Calhoun | April 16, 2011 at 05:58 PM
He's an associate professor of pediatric neurology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and is a liaison to the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Children with Disabilities.
I read this as he's an asshole professor of pediatric neurology...
Posted by: Mom23boys | April 16, 2011 at 05:09 PM
This is the same liar that has stated that he used to beg his mother for Mercurochrome to soothe his wounds.
Posted by: Steve | April 16, 2011 at 05:07 PM
Thanks for the reminder about the merthiolate treatment of umbilical cords, it had temporarily slipped my mind.
Posted by: Carolyn M | April 16, 2011 at 04:16 PM
Wiznitzer doesn't seem to realize that Mercurochrome was not commonly used on infants. Also, both my parents and my husband's parents only used it a few times (once or twice) before switching to a different antiseptic - because they were dissatisfied with Mercurochrome as an antiseptic. I doubt that our parents were the only ones who became dissatified and discontinued its use. My mother went back to using either hydrogen peroxide or alcohol.
Wiznitzer's "science" is not even "mythology" it is complete garbage. But what else can you expect from someone who stated on national television that parents WANTED their children diagnosed with autism, so that they could get all the services available?
Posted by: Carolyn M | April 16, 2011 at 04:06 PM
Wiznitzer put his foot in it yet again, stating, "If you can't trust the integrity of the researcher, you can't trust the research." What a pathetic lack of ironic self-awareness.
One measure of integrity is one's willingness to sacrifice career and income to help little children who have agonizingly painful sores lining their gastrointestinal tracts. Instead Wiznitzer lines his pockets with NVICP funds for his fallacious testimony.
One measure of intelligence is understanding that infrequent low doses of topical mercury ointments contribute to overall body burden, and frequent mercury dabbing onto umbilical cords causes infant death.
In addition to Wiznitzer's ethical shortcomings, he must have been talking about that Million Dollar Man, "Mister Indictment!" Poul Thorsen.
Posted by: nhokkanen | April 16, 2011 at 03:14 PM
Wiznitzer may not even know that he has been affected by mercurochrome. He seems to know very little about the effects of mercury. Obviously he is out of the loop. Does that mean he is loopy? Typically mercury poisoning is insidious and it may result in mental debility. Is he confabulating, or is he really as uninformed as that? For the Wiznitzer fans, I would like to point out that six infants died of mercury poisoning from merthiolate (a topical mercury preparation similar to mercurochrome) in the '70s. These deaths caused the removal of mercury-containing topical medications (including mercurochrome and merthiolate) from U.S shelves. Question: Was he asked to testify about MMR in because he was ignorant?
Wiznitzer may not even know that he has been affected by mercurochrome. He seems to know very little about the effects of mercury. Obviously he is out of the loop. Does that mean he is loopy? Typically mercury poisoning is insidious and it may result in mental debility. Is he confabulating, or is he really as uninformed as that? For the Wiznitzer fans, I would like to point out that six infants died of mercury poisoning from merthiolate (a topical mercury preparation similar to mercurochrome)in the '70s. These deaths caused the removal of mercury-containing topical medications including mercurochrome and merthiolate) from U.S shelves. Question: Was he asked to testify about MMR because he was ignorant?
Posted by: Birgit Calhoun | April 16, 2011 at 02:59 PM
The fact that anyone is listening to this man is appalling. Could he possibly be any more wrong about any more facts?
I once thought that people who had earned PhD's and held university positions tended to be thoughtful people whose opinions were worth listening to and considering. I could not have been more mistaken. Between Poul Thorsen and WizNOTzer (and quite a few other prominent figures in this controversy), it is abundantly clear that a PhD degree means absolutely nothing about the person who holds it, or what weight to place on their opinions and statements.
Either WizNOTzer's cloak of knowledge is made of the same fabric as the emperor's new clothes or he is purposefully dissembling to confuse and mislead the masses. I am not sure which conclusion is the more disturbing.
Question authority!!!
Posted by: Sue | April 16, 2011 at 02:55 PM
There is so much wrong with this article that it would take hours to parse it out! suffice to say, Wakefield is honest and has more integrity than this ... jerk... could ever fathom. AW had no financial interest in however his research turned out And he had the bravery and integrity, when attacked, to stand up againt his naysayers and say 'no, I havent done anything wrong'. He couldnt say anything for many years b/c of the hearings that were ongoing. Go to YouTube and enter Andrew Wakefield and Dr Mercola interviews and watch them. He gives an honest account of what has hapened. He never retracts his research and never admits any wrongdoing. Insiders know that it is the Lancet that is shaking in their boots right now!
Posted by: Dr BA Gilmore | April 16, 2011 at 02:43 PM
Dr. Wiznitzer's mistake is to try to answer a real question directly.
When Dr. Offit is asked a question about Autism and vaccines, he always talks about the measles or pertussis.
Posted by: cmo | April 16, 2011 at 01:28 PM
""If you can't trust the integrity of the researcher, you can't trust the research."
LOVE IT.
There goes Poul Thorsen's Danish studies. Although they were obvious garbage to anyone who actually read them, even before we knew Thorsen was a crook.
Posted by: Kristina | April 16, 2011 at 01:06 PM
"'If you can't trust the integrity of the researcher, you can't trust the research,' Dr. Max Wiznitzer told a standing- room only crowd in Marietta College's McDonough Center auditorium Monday night."
OK, then! Yeah, good point! Throw out all that Poul Thorsen research! But keep Dr. Wakefield's research, because we do trust him, and his associates such as world renowned pediatric gastroenterologist John Walker-Smith!
Posted by: Twyla | April 16, 2011 at 12:52 PM
http://www.klokast.se/siem/MMRE2E.html
Posted by: Media Scholar | April 16, 2011 at 12:23 PM
Here is a parent comment about Dr. Wiznitzer from 2 years ago on a yahoo group. Another parent in another comment said he himself has ADHD and that may account for his notoriously poor bedside manner. That also may explain when I saw him on CNN talking to Larry King about autism he was smiling and kind of laughing. I thought it was extremely inappropriate and very unprofessional.
"We took our son to Dr. Wiznitzer 8 years ago to confirm his diagnosis of autism.
I didn't think he helped us much at all. He didn't give us any direction to go
as parents of a newly diagnosed child, except he gave us a couple titles of
books to read. Well, I read them and I didn't find the books to be helpful
either. It was a waste of our time and money to drive 2 hours to Cleveland. I
have also heard him speak and he is all about medications for kids with autism,
with no other treatment suggestions, at least that's how it was several years
ago. He was recommended to us as "the best", but I was not impressed."
Posted by: Well...what is he like as a doctor? | April 16, 2011 at 12:09 PM
I would love to see Wakefield openly debate this guy Wiznitzer on the science. It would be like a heavey weight champ v. a lightweight. It would almost be unfair but I'd still love to see Wakefield take this guy down. I bet Wiznitzer wouldn't make even it to round two.
Posted by: Sarah | April 16, 2011 at 12:09 PM
It is truly scary that somebody that misinformed is in charge of anything, never mind the health and well-being of children.
Posted by: Jen | April 16, 2011 at 11:59 AM
Really? I'd like to ask Wiznitzer why we should have any faith in the Danish studies, long used to disprove a link between vaccines and autism, when it was just announced that leading Danish vaccine researcher Poul Thorsen has been charged with 13 counts of fraud and nine counts of money laundering.
Thorsen allegedly submitted more than a dozen fraudulent invoices, purportedly signed by a laboratory section chief at the CDC, and received a million dollars illegally.
See SafeMinds report: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/autism-and-vaccines-researcher-for-cdc-indicted-for-fraud-and-money-laundering-119853574.html
Thorsen's Danish research was used by the IOM in 2004 to claim that evidence disproved vaccines cause autism. It was also used against parents who filed vaccine damage suits in vaccine court. So much for trusting the research.
Anne Dachel, Media
Posted by: Anne McElroy Dachel | April 16, 2011 at 11:45 AM
When the "day of truth" finally arrives .. I expect Dr. Wiznitzer to be summoned before a global "humanitarian court" .. similar to that held at Nuremberg after the Nazi holocaust .. where he and his co-defendents will be held accountable for their personal contributions as an "enthusiastic facilators" of vaccine policies that resulted damaged an entire generation of children.
I consider his "expert opinion" the quivalent of "making the trains run on time" in Germany's darkest days.
Posted by: Bob Moffitt | April 16, 2011 at 11:23 AM
he shows how easy it is to fool the "da-masses"
Posted by: codysdaddy | April 16, 2011 at 11:14 AM
Carol;
I wanted to let you know that I did listen to the Robert McNeil link, and to thank you for putting the link up.
Also thanks for linking us to the Wakefield study too.
We think that all evil dwells in the past, that in this day and time we have enough checks and balances that something like railroading a good man (Wakefield) can't be done or continued to be done or easily be done. Well we are still human and still making human history of injustice.
Oh, and Kim the Stag; Men like him "whizes on our kids" can eat our heart, mind, and health. Torture if we had him in our clutches would be too good for him. Best thing is to Give several short prayers to God just to bless him; nothing specific. I will too. What God considers blessings is not always easy on a human being.
Posted by: Benedetta | April 16, 2011 at 11:08 AM
Would somebody please extract this man's head from his ass before he does any more damage to himself and others around him.
Posted by: Harry H. | April 16, 2011 at 11:02 AM
Dr. Wiznitzer is a well-paid pharma lobbyist. Lying about safety of vaccines is his job. Whole vaccination program depends of professional liars like him.
Posted by: veritas | April 16, 2011 at 10:56 AM
Dr. Susan Klein in Cleveland - Max's office - was our ped neuro. Can you imagine why we left mainstream medicine when Mia's seizures were completely blown off as "autism?" I write about UH quite a bit in my book. Avoid UH at all costs -go to The Cleveland Clinic and see Natowicz (whom I adore) and Cohen who actually consider our kids human beings. Max has the bedside manner of a bedpan too. He's actually nasty - I was on FOX News Cleveland before I had Bella - 9 months pregnant - and it was about vaccines. He had the same tired arguments in 2000. Tim Taylor was the news anchor, and a friend of ours. He told us Max was such an asshole they had to edit him to death to make him remotely palatable for TV. You can see that he's made ZERO POINT ZERO progress. He should be on super double secret probation for sure.
Posted by: Stagmom | April 16, 2011 at 09:51 AM
This explains the amazingly arrogant stupidity of the general public, when commenting on message boards about vaccines. How can they be expected to have the slightest clue about Dr. Wakefield or autism when idiots like this are their primary source of information?
Posted by: Julia C. | April 16, 2011 at 09:30 AM
His comments and lack of medical expertise are downright scary.
Maurine
Posted by: Maurine Meleck | April 16, 2011 at 09:12 AM
"ALISON MACNEIL: Nick was irritable, crying, inconsolable and now is not on track developmentally at all. He's gone backward.
So we went from a 15-month appointment where this child was A-OK, supposedly, and given the MMR, the DTaP and the Hib vaccines.
People say to me, Alison, it's a coincidence. Alison, how do you know this happened? Well, it's impossible for me to know. But what I will say is this: It was not a coincidence that my child was diagnosed with autism at the same time that his whole system shut down. Something happened to my child.
ROBERT MACNEIL: I understand Alison's suspicion, but public health authorities say there is no scientifically valid evidence that vaccines cause autism. And Alison found little support from the developmental pediatrician.
ALISON MACNEIL: When I said to her this child has not had a formed bowel movement since the 15-month shots, she said children with autism have diarrhea.
When I said that he was crying inconsolably, she said this is part of autism. They can't regulate their emotions. So it was all lumped under, "yes, we always see that with autism. It's just autism."
ROBERT MACNEIL: Nick's complex problems demanded a broader view of autism. Some call it a new paradigm, or a systemic illness, or a whole-body experience. One of the leaders of that new thinking is Dr. Timothy Buie, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.
DR. TIMOTHY BUIE, Massachusetts General Hospital: Six months ago, he was so lethargic and so out of it that he came into the office and literally laid on the chair for a 30- or 40-minute visit. He never moved.
He wouldn't interact. He wouldn't give you any eye contact whatsoever. And at the end of the appointment, Mom picked him up and took him out and went home.
ROBERT MACNEIL: Dr. Buie found changes in the lower GI tract he called lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia -- inflammation and damage in his small intestine."
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june11/autism_04-18.html
As in Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia? Hm. That sounds like a paper I've heard of...what is it, what is it? I've got it! "Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children"
For those of you who haven't read it (Max), here it is:
http://www.vaccinesafetyfirst.com/pdf/LANCET%20pdf.pdf
Posted by: Carol | April 16, 2011 at 08:46 AM
This article is actually disturbing.
This supposed expert on autism spectrum disorder, a guy who is also supposedly an associate professor of pediatric neurology, AND a go to expert witness in the US vaccine court... thinks Andrew Wakefield’s study was about a link between autism and the trace amounts of mercury in the MMR vaccine???
How could someone with that much education, and that much DIRECT experience in the field of autism... possibly be that stupid??
As for this imbecile’s Mercurochrome comment, someone should remind him that it was applied as a topical ointment, and comparing that form of mercury exposure to an injected vaccine is preposterous (... and dumb!). As much as I’d love to see him test his theory by injecting Mercurochrome into his own veins, he would have to resort to the black market to conduct any such test. Because this knob likely doesn’t know that in 1998, the FDA declared that Mercurochrome was "not generally recognized as safe and effective", and forbade its sale across state lines.
Posted by: Barry | April 16, 2011 at 08:41 AM
What is unreal - is this is coming out of the city of Cleveland. Imagine getting this jerk and Natowicz and Cohen at a cocktail party together? Natowicz and Cohen are part of the Cleveland Clinic - thankfully a very different hospital.
Posted by: Women without MDs | April 16, 2011 at 07:36 AM
Ahha! What a fool. He recommends people to Deer's 3-part editorial, but obviously Wiznitzer hasn't read it himself with any understanding. You can't make this up!
Posted by: aoa fan | April 16, 2011 at 07:26 AM
The "mythology" is presented not by the Good Doctor, but by witnesses and experts who don't even bother reading the science. Time and time again, Wiznitzer, Seigel on Fox, Rep Graham up against Ginger Taylor--none of them even educated enough to know mercury cannot co-exist with a live virus!!!! It's maddening watching this from the sidelines. Regarding the nurse's thoughtful comment, "I never bought into vaccines causing autism..." Yeah, me either. And I don't believe cigarettes cause cancer. The folks saying that are just nuts. Just a bunch of nuts trying to save your life and the lives of your children, ma'am. But you keep right on not buying into it and in the meantime we'll save that lost generation by treating them with vaccine injury protocol. Denial and ignorance are like a cozy sweater and a cup of tea for these mainstream denialists. Such a comfortable happy place. And while they relax, child after child after child falls ill, becomes neurologically damaged and is swept under the rug.
Posted by: lj goes | April 16, 2011 at 07:21 AM
Sounds like Dr Drranged.Earth to Max Wiznitzer do you read us??
Angus Files
Posted by: Angus Files | April 16, 2011 at 06:49 AM
From above:-
"Dr. Wiznitzer is the go to expert witness for pharma/government in the US vaccine court."
This 'expert' is so badly informed that it is frightening to think of him being used as an 'expert witness' in ANY court.
I don't know about the US but in the UK medical expert witnessess' court guidance includes the following:-
Witnesses must do their best to ensure that the information they provide is accurate and complete and that expressed opinions are within their field of expertise.
They must draw to the court's attention all matters which might adversely affect their opinion. (conflicts of interest)
Where they have no personal knowledge they should indicate their sources of factual information.
Expert witnesses are required to make a signed statement to the court beforehand stating their reports are complete and accurate; they are also required to give court evidence under oath.
Posted by: Jenny Allan | April 16, 2011 at 06:26 AM