Penn Prof. Paul Offit to GW Grad Student: “Get the f*ck out of here! Piece of sh*t!”
By Jake Crosby
That's what millionaire vaccine industrialist Paul Offit said to me following a talk he gave at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology, endowed by Merck. But that was not the only abusive thing he said to me. He also called me stupid, lied that I don't have Asperger Syndrome and labeled me with a new diagnosis after again calling me a stalker.
Offit's talk was part of Penn's Microbiology Seminar Series sponsored by PENN Infectious Diseases. It was titled “Rotavirus Vaccines: From Bench to Bedside.” Throughout the lecture, he talked about the different rotavirus vaccines: RotaTeq, Rotarix and RotaShield – the vaccine pulled for causing intussusception, which is a potentially fatal condition in which the intestine turns inside-out. He even discussed how he was going to lobby to bring back RotaShield in 2000, but that it was already too late and he blamed the harm to RotaShield's reputation on the ensuing controversy over mercury in vaccines. Offit also admitted that his own vaccine, RotaTeq, can cause intussusception.
I was especially surprised to hear him reveal an insight about pharmaceutical executives putting money before health:
“You never say at a pharmaceutical conference, 'it's the right thing to do.'”
At the conclusion of his talk came the Q/A session. When the moderator finally called on me, I asked:
“Hi Dr. Offit,
You didn't talk about your involvement in approving RotaShield. You told an autism parent you did not get to vote the rotavirus vaccine onto the schedule, but you voted for it three times leading up to the CDC's decision to adopt your committee's recommendation into its schedule. So how could you say you did not vote it onto the infant schedule when you clearly did?”
Offit sneered at my question and then snickered and shook his head when I mentioned the autism parent.
He replied:
“Jake! How are you buddy?”
“I'm fine.”
“Ladies and gentleman, this is Jake Crosby – my stalker!”
I called him out, “That's libel!”
Someone then shouted from the audience, “Are you serious?”
So I said, “This is constitutionally-protected free speech and a public event.”
“Oh really,” Offit said sarcastically.
But then surprisingly, he attempted to answer my question:
“I did not participate in the first vote to get Rotashield onto the schedule. I did participate in the vote to get it into the Vaccines For Children program [free vaccines], among other votes. Prior to my voting, I consulted the chair Dr. John Modlin [who is also conflicted with Merck, and was reprimanded for it by Congress], and he said it was okay that I participated. So I did because I was not working on a competing vaccine at the time. Ours was still many years away from completion.”
“But you were still...”
I was going to tell him that he was still working on a competing vaccine and that he still voted RotaShield onto the schedule, but the moderator cut me off:
“Let's continue talking about this afterward.”
Offit said, with a big grin:
“Oh, we can talk about this endlessly.”
Though we did talk after his lecture, it would not be about RotaShield.
Then another graduate student asked a question. While calling people like Donald Trump “idiots,” he said there are some people who have legitimate questions about vaccine safety and wanted to know how to engage those people.
Offit replied:
“You have to use reason! But there are some people who will never stop believing,” gesturing toward me.
At the end of the talk, the woman sitting next to me asked:
“So who in your family has autism?”
“I do.”
Paul Offit beckoned me to the podium with his finger and then I made my way down the aisle.
When I reached the podium, I said:
“You call me a stalker and then you tell me you want to speak to me.”
He extended his hand, wanting me to shake it.
I hesitated.
He asked with a big smirk, “Aren't you gonna shake my hand?”
“I think it would be better to not shake your hand since you've complained of receiving physical threats,” I told him.
“Shake my hand Jake,” he insisted.
“No, I won't.”
He then lost his temper very quickly.
“You vilify me online! You call me names! You say things about me that are false! You question my motives and claim I am doing this for money! I am not doing this for money, I do this to help children! You call me a millionaire vaccine industrialist! You have to stop!”
“I represent you fairly and accurately.”
“No you don't! You write about my motives! How could you possibly know what my motives are?! You don't know my motives! You don't know my motives!”
“I write about you only based on what you do and what you say.”
“No you don't! You call me a millionaire vaccine industrialist! How am I a millionaire vaccine industrialist?!”
“You made millions of dollars from the vaccine industry.”
“Millionaire vaccine industrialist implies motive! How could you be so stupid to not see that?!”
“It means someone who's made millions of dollars from the vaccine industry.”
“And how am I an industrialist?! Should I not have gone to a pharmaceutical company?! Should I have made the vaccine in my garage?!”
“No, but it didn't matter where it was made. It's still a conflict of interest with the vaccine industry.”
His fury only escalated.
“What are my motives?! What are my motives?!”
He continued pointing at me, shouting. I continued moving back and he continued to move forward, seemingly wanting to physically intimidate me.
He yelled:
“WHAT ARE MY MOTIVES?! WHAT ARE MY MOTIVES?!”
I put my hands up, trying to calm him:
“Easy, easy,” I said.
“WHAT ARE MY MOTIVES?! Tell me what you think my motives are!!!”
“Your motives are that you enjoy working on rotavirus vaccine development as you said at the NIH talk, and also for the money...”
“NO!! I do NOT do this for the money! That is wrong!!”
“You told American Medical News that protection from vaccine litigation improves vaccine industry profits. That's making money off the backs of vaccine-injured children.”
Here is the exact line, from American Medical News, 2008:
But other advantages to vaccine production have become increasingly evident, Dr. Offit noted. "There is a fairly beaten path in how to make them, and there is, to some extent, protection from liability in children's vaccines," he said.
But he continued the abuse:
“No, that is bullshit! I don't do this for the money! Get out of here!”
And then he said:
“Get the fuck out of here! Piece of shit!”
He gestured to the door in a fashion similar to what he did at Yale when he threw me out.
Stunned, I walked over to the moderator, introduced myself and asked his name, shaking his hand.
He replied, “Harvey Friedman.”
I commented on how appalled I was at Offit's behavior.
He agreed with me that it was not right but also said, “this is not the right forum.”
I can't imagine what is. Then Paul Offit approached me again and continued to go at it:
“You owe me an apology!”
“You owe me an apology for telling me to get the fuck out of here and calling me a piece of shit!”
Of course, those aren't the only things he owes me an apology for.
“Fine, I'm sorry! I'm sorry, now you apologize to me!”
“I'm not going to apologize to you for representing you accurately.”
“No, you do not represent me accurately!”
Then someone came up to him and said:
“He doesn't like to be shouted at; he has Asperger's.”
Then Paul Offit attempted to undiagnose me:
“No, he doesn't have Asperger's; he's got paranoid schizophrenia is what he has!”
I was stunned.
Attempting to defuse the situation, the moderator then introduced me to the graduate student who asked the question after me during Q/A.
We walked out of the auditorium to a nearby Au Bon Pain restaurant. As we were walking, he told me his name was Jonathan. I didn't get his last name; he said it too fast. He did say he was involved in vaccine research.
But I was still shaken up by what just happened:
“How could you listen to that evil man? How could you listen to him spread his lies on television and in print?”
He agreed with me that what Offit said to me was wrong, but added that I “clearly agitated him.”
I told him that Paul Offit knowingly cites tobacco science and that Institute of Medicine of which he is a member said it would never come down that autism is a true side-effect of vaccination in a meeting that led up to the 2004 IOM Report.
Jonathan told me he never heard of the report – the bible for today's vaccine injury deniers! I brought up Marie McCormick's quote on the IOM's preconceived position on autism and vaccines that, “...we will never come down that it is a true side-effect...”
“So you're saying they already came to a conclusion before looking at any evidence?”
“Yes!”
“Well, IOM has done a lot of good things, but they are not an ancient organization. They also have some major flaws.”
I asked him:
“What was your name again?”
“I told you my name already.”
“I didn't get your last name.”
He quickly tried to change the subject:
“Let's go inside and get some coffee,” referring to the Au Bon Pain restaurant we were right outside of.
After we went in, I had the displeasure of coming across the man who Paul Offit told I did not have Asperger Syndrome, but “paranoid schizophrenia.”
After telling me he read my writing, he commented:
“I think you're a liar and I think you're despicable.”
As I was writing down what he told me, he said:
“Off the record.”
“Too late,” I said back.
He sat down with Jonathan and me. His name was Jeff Bergelson.
“Dr. Jeff Bergelson,” he emphasized to me.
Then again:
“Prof. Jeff Bergelson.”
“I'm glad you're not my professor,” I told him.
“I think that feeling is mutual,” Jonathan observed.
After listening to Offit's abuse, I then had to put up with Bergelson's rant.
“Age of Autism is nothing but complete bunkum!”
He said this many times.
He added:
“I don't know if you are completely misguided or lying, but your writing is complete bunkum!”
“How is it 'bunkum,'” I asked him multiple times before he finally gave some examples, but they weren't much more specific:
“It is anti-vaccine!”
“No, it isn't!”
“You advocate treating autism with nutrients!”
“And people have improved from that,” I said, myself included.
“You advocate homeopathy for autism!”
“Well, I don't advocate that.” I think the one time that I brought up homeopathy was when I quoted Kevin Leitch of all people talking about how much it has helped his autistic daughter.
“Homeopathy is complete and utter bunkum!”
I turned to Jonathan and asked: “Do I need to hear this after what I just put up with from Offit?”
Jonathan replied, “I think it's important.”
I brought up Offit's abuse, but Bergelson went on “What Paul Offit said to you was wrong, but the things you say about Paul Offit online are bunkum! He's done more for public health than everyone else in this room combined!”
“No, he has not.”
“Oh C'mon! I'm just expressing my views about Paul Offit! You'd probably say the same about Andrew Wakefield!”
“Well, you're right about that.”
But he then went on to say:
“Andrew Wakefield's work is a load of bunkum!"
Jonathan, who was mostly quiet during this exchange, said “He did do it for money.”
“No, he didn't,” I said, “he donated that money to a project to build a new GI clinic for sick children.”
Bergelson went on about Desiree Jennings, “that crazy lady who claimed she got hurt by a flu shot! I know people who wouldn't get vaccinated against influenza because of her!”
“She did get hurt after it, she got dystonia!”
“She did not have dystonia!”
“Watch the videos of her!”
“She did not get dystonia! It's a load of bunkum!”
At one point, I asked Bergelson if he can tone down his voice.
His excuse?
“I'm a Jew! I make big hand gestures!”
I was not commenting on his hand gestures, but his volume. Regardless, I was shocked that he used being Jewish to excuse his bad behavior. I am sure my maternal grandfather – who passed away last November and was Jewish – would have been disgusted by this.
Perhaps realizing his mistake, Bergelson quickly changed the subject to my great great grandfather, Captain Edward Crosby:
“And I'm sorry your grandfather went down on the Titanic!”
“Great great grandfather,” I corrected him.
“Great great grandfather,” he reiterated.
“Thank you,” I said.
Suddenly, Paul Offit showed up attempting to “apologize” again:
“I'm sorry for what I said, I hope you can forgive me.”
“Okay,” I said back, not that I forgive him, but that I hear him.
Offit left and then returned yet again, angrily apologizing “I'm sorry! Okay? I'm sorry!” That was probably when he realized the full extent of what he had done and how it could damage his reputation.
I just wanted him to go away, “okay!”
After bidding a happy farewell to Bergelson and his “bunkum” rants, I went outside with Jonathan and we continued our conversation. We walked to the train station while discussing Offit's rant about me.
I complained about how Paul Offit was probably hiding something by the crazed, angry way he was acting.
Jonathan said, “Well, that's one way to look at it, but not the only way.”
I told him:
“Watch the video online of Andrew Wakefield's lecture at Brandeis and compare how he deals with critical questioners with what Paul Offit said to me today, and you'll find a stark difference.”
Jonathan promised he would.
As we walked to the train station, we had a somewhat interesting talk – about how breast feeding has an inverse association with autism, about what we thought were the top three public health issues facing the world (I said they were chronic illnesses, living conditions and health disparities), and about his participation in the never-ending quest for an HIV vaccine. I told him HIV discoverer Dr. Luc Montagnier would be speaking at the AutismOne conference later this month.
As we were approaching the train station, I told Jonathan that Paul Offit tacitly admitted the MMR vaccine causes autism, having made an oxymoronic statement on Medscape about a compensated case of vaccine injury; Offit remarked that a case of measles encephalopathy can fall in the autism spectrum without being autism (even though a disorder that falls within the autism spectrum, by definition, would be autism).
“So how do you define autism?”
I said, “Any collection of behaviors that would fall within the autism spectrum”
Then he asked me, “And you had the MMR?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Well, I had the MMR and I'm not autistic,” he said.
“That's because it only causes autism in certain susceptible people,” I told him.
As we were entering the station, he rehashed the fact that I call Paul Offit a millionaire vaccine industrialist by comparing him to Jonas Salk, inventor of the first effective polio vaccine:
“You know, you could argue Jonas Salk was a millionaire vaccine industrialist.”
Jonas Salk was one of Jonathan's big heroes. Until fairly recently, I had been on the fence about Salk. Then I heard that he experimented on some disabled patients, giving them an experimental flu vaccine and then exposing them to the flu. That's when I decided Salk was no longer a hero.
I chose not to share my feelings about him with Jonathan, however, because I did not want to risk completely alienating him. So instead I brought up that famous interview Salk had with CBS “See It Now” news anchor Edward R. Murrow, who asked him who owned the patent on the vaccine, to which Salk replied, “Can you patent the sun?”
Jonathan admitted, “Well, he was paid a lot of money to make that vaccine.”
But Paul Offit did make millions from vaccine earnings, which he likened to winning the lottery.
Inside the train station, Jonathan and I finally parted ways.
“I hope we will get back in touch some day,” he told me.
“I hope so, too,” I said back, “Good luck with your research!”
I do hope he'll watch Dr. Andrew Wakefield's lecture at Brandeis.
If and when he does, he will not see a doctor who curses at his critics and lies that they don't have Asperger Syndrome, but paranoid schizophrenia. He will see a doctor who shows respect for his critics and fully answers their questions, unlike Paul Offit.
Jake Crosby has Asperger Syndrome and is a contributing editor to Age of Autism. Jake is a 2011 graduate of Brandeis University with a BA in both History and Health: Science, Society and Policy. He currently attends The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services where he is studying for an MPH in epidemiology.
Grace;
Several things;
Most people don't know what a vaccine injury looks like. It also is not always a fast reaction, most times it is a slow reaction.
And it is so many different kinds of reactions, because it involves the hypothalamus and if you look at all the things a hypothalamus does, damage to that brain stem includes so many things.
It aggravates me to know end that my friend from college just told me she had them and was just fine. She never had children and she wanted them so bad. She tried. Does that sound like she is has not been touched? Yet, she thinks she has.
Not only that, but I am pretty sure it is accumulative. IT matters how many shots your parents had or grand parent and you and how many vaccines they received matters too.
Which means if I am right drastic, horrible things to come after what they did in the 90s.
Posted by: Benedetta | February 11, 2016 at 09:12 PM
At the recent Autism Intensive Dr. Richard Deth said he thought it may be the case that more intelligent brains are more sensitive to toxins and other insults. So there's another possible answer to the question, "I was vaccinated so why didn't I get autism?"!
Posted by: Grace Green | February 11, 2016 at 05:34 PM
We were just in the children's hospital, where our five year-old daughter was being treated for an infection (not related to a vaccine-preventable disease). When he questioned why we didn't vaccinate, he verbally abused us in front of our very sick daughter. He yelled at us, pointed and shook his finger at us, berated us, called us bad parents, etc... We were shocked. It was so inappropriate and unprofessional, and completely out of line, especially considering her condition had absolutely nothing to do with vaccines. Ugh.
Posted by: Heidi | February 11, 2016 at 12:56 PM
When they can't argue logic, they call you names and malign your character so that others won't listen to you. Sad.
Posted by: sam | June 27, 2013 at 10:58 AM
Talk about stalking! Check out page 93 of _Deadly Choices_ by Offit. In the photo you see a very unlovely Brian Deer harassing Andrew Wakefield. Dr. Wakefield isn't yelling obscenities even though Deer appears to be actually touching him, the way award-winning journalists do.
I hadn't realized before how little Deer is.
http://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Choices-Anti-Vaccine-Movement-Threatens/dp/B005HKUA4O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339546557&sr=8-1
Posted by: Carol | June 12, 2012 at 08:28 PM
Hi Jake,
I met you over lunch on Sunday, with my nephew Nick, at the AutismOne conference and after having talked with you I was looking forward to reading this article about your experience with Dr. Offit. What a great piece! Fascinating. I love your writing and admire your grace under pressure.
I saw your comments about Jonas Salk, and I wanted to recommend a book to you, in case you haven't come across it. The book is "The Virus and the Vaccine: Contaminated Vaccine, Deadly Cancers, and Government Neglect," by Debbie Bookchin and Jim Schumacher. The book details the history of the polio vaccine. Though it reads like a thriller, the information is fastidiously researched and the authors cite all of their research. In addition to all sorts of enlightening, hidden-from-the-public information, you'll get to know Dr. Jonas Salk quite well.
You can check out what people are saying about it on amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Virus-Vaccine-Contaminated-Government/dp/0312342721/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339028875&sr=8-1
It was a pleasure to meet you, and I'm certainly going to continue to follow your work on this site.
Posted by: Patty | June 06, 2012 at 08:37 PM
Jake, I am currently applauding you!! You are amazing. I'm not sure if I could have been as brave as you and as quick on my toes.
Posted by: kh | May 24, 2012 at 11:46 PM
Isn't Offit's book distributed for free to virtually every pediatric office in US and Canada? I wonder who pays for that? Merck, maybe? Of course, Offit states publicly he does not have a conflict of interest regarding vaccine safety issues. Don't pay attention to the sweetheart book deal.
What would Offit say if some insolent twit had the temerity to ask him how it feels to flack for a company that admitted criminal liability for killing over 40,000 people with phoney research and ghost written medical articles? Offit's bank account is swollen and fat with Merck blood money, how he lives with himself can be explained in two words: sociopathic personality.
Offit is a vaccine injury denialist. Reasoning with him is like reasoning with any other science denying type, think creationist denying theory of evolution. He is obviously divorced from scientific reality, eventually he will learn that the world has moved on without him. In the final analysis, he is a pathetic, wretched, scared, ignorant fool, preaching his gospel to an ever dwindling base of sycophants.
Offit dropping the f bomb on Jake in a very public forum was a stupid and potentially career damaging move. Only mentally unstable types would respond in such a manner. Offit's bosses damn sure noticed that. It is bad for your image and your business if your front man is a delusional sociopath with anger management issues. I expect Offit will have his wings clipped real soon.
Posted by: ottoschnaut | May 15, 2012 at 04:50 PM
Keep it up Jake! It must be fun being Paul Offit's nemesis.
Posted by: Rob | May 15, 2012 at 01:06 PM
I have known about the opium wars for awhile, and after your post I looked them up again- I just did not understand how the riots in England againest vaccines had to do with the opium wars.
But I think you were just shortening your statements in a limited space - and I misunderstand.
But thanks for telling me where the Spencers got all their money- I did not know that.
- (China was doing unfair trade, selling but not buying and keeping foreigners out so the Old British Empire (not by accident) started importing opium to China - actully smuggling it in, and it almost destroyed China for an entire century. If you over simplify it.
(I am sure that there were things that that Chinese government was doing though that was fuel to the opium epidemic).
But I get your point - that people in high places have the ability to think about how to destroy an enemy from within, or reduce what they decide as a too large of population.
*As in China's one child policy
or
*Polpots Cambodia - Get the rural people to be againest urban dwellers - out right kill, or starve, or work the Urban dwellers to death.
*Stalin- starve the Urkainians to death by exporting all the food out of the country.
*Ireland - have the population so close to starvation by taxing them and exporting their food that all it takes is a blight on one type of crop to reduce thier population (that was more accident that policy though)
*China again - what did they do to reduce their population way back after WWII -- I think they used bands of young men that were unattached, with no prospects, hopless for a better life - and they roamed the country - destroying and murdering.
*So thus vaccines is the most human way to reduce the population?
Maybe
or it could just be that we had untalented, not gifted people like James Cherry in a position of power that could not see past the next second let alone the last 30 years. And we still ahve them --- 1 out of 88 and we still have people that are suppose to be intelligent but are not doing what intellegent people do best and that is looking at the trend of today and figuring out how these trends will affect the future.
CDC needs shut down, or we need a presidential/Congress that will get good people into these over bloated federal agencies.
Well that is what I think is really going on.
Posted by: Benedetta | May 11, 2012 at 09:59 AM
About the Opium Wars : the first time a left wing supply teacher told me of this I thought he had to be mistaken but no its a piece of censored\supressed history the British Empire wants everyone to forget . It is not taught in schools in the UK . Basically in exchange for Tea and spice , the British Empire imported Opium to the Chinese . When the Chinese rulers tried to block it because of the harm it was doing , the B.E went to war and won 1839-60. Lady Diana's family , the Spencers are said to have made their fortune on it . Look it up if you dont believe me .
Posted by: Brian In Fear | May 11, 2012 at 06:38 AM
Brian in Fear;
I too wonder about a thirty year "accident"
or
Maybe longer.
What about the opium wars- can you explain further?
Posted by: Benedetta | May 10, 2012 at 09:36 AM
Well a couple of points to reply with . The new parents choose not to listen - nearly them all - I never tire of trying to warn them . In the UK the level of state media censorship surrounding vaccines is near 100% . When my child succumbed to this cull (& yes that can be the only explanation - you cannot have a 30 year accident) there was no way on Earth I could stop my wife from falling for their lying message . In fact it took the threat of court action to prevent our second child from rcving the poisons also . So you see - I say our protest methods are not working well enough (because I got caught in the Hg\Al net - & I knew the metals risk vaguely back in 2007) .
The vaccine riots in England are a historical fact that cannot be undone (but again they have been whitewashed away with the opium wars)
Posted by: Brian In Fear | May 10, 2012 at 04:28 AM
Dear Jake,
Thank you for having the guts to put yourself out there and be a voice for the vaccine injured. The doctrine of Paul Offit and the vaccine industry is going to eventually strip us of our right of refusal for our children. My son has never been vaccinated and I believe that if we do not stir the pot, we will lose that right very soon.
Marghi Barnes
Posted by: Marghi Barnes | May 10, 2012 at 12:33 AM
When people become angry, they reveal an invested emotional tie with being right. It appears that Offit doesn't understand that this issue needs RESEARCH, not continued mantra that stubbornly denies a link between vaccination and autism spectrum disorders. I wonder what Offit will say once the U. of Pittsburgh study is published showing that vaccinated monkeys demonstrate behaviors associated with autism, and non-vaccinated group does not? The evidence is mounting, and the truth is finally coming out. Offit will have to conceade, whether he likes it or not.
Posted by: Meg Allen | May 09, 2012 at 03:04 PM
Maybe someone should go into a Dr's office with the express intent to get one of those shots for a baby but take an official of the CDC WITH THEM and 'accidentally' knock one of the vials meant for a baby onto the floor and actually SEE what happens? You gotta have PROOF, HARD PROOF.
Posted by: Jenifer Parker | May 09, 2012 at 01:57 PM
Let us pity poor mad Dr. Offit, for surely that stalkerish sensation is the beating of his own guilty telltale heart...and we all know how that one turned out.
Jake, please be careful and bring along a friend or two next time if you can, because it does seem that they are trying to goad you into physical contact or an unseemly outburst that would allow them to attempt to obtain a restraining order. Keep your powder dry, and your sunny side up!
Posted by: Greenspun's Mother | May 09, 2012 at 01:32 PM
To Brian in Fear:
Better to light a single candle. . .
Use whatever energy you care to and enlighten the younger people; many of them are now receptive to our message.
Posted by: Terri Lewis | May 09, 2012 at 01:21 PM
Paul Offit asking for forgiveness.....Unbelievable!
Posted by: Patrick | May 09, 2012 at 12:21 PM
Brian In Fear says:-
"In fact the vaccines protests thus far have been far too well mannered in my eyes . I believe there were Vaccines riots in English cities in the past (perhaps 50-100 years ago)..... well ?"
Riots? Absolutely NOT!! We will never defeat the devil by behaving like him!!
Posted by: Jenny Allan | May 09, 2012 at 11:49 AM
Brian in Fear
No, we have to maintain standards, most particularly because they can't. Should we conduct ourselves like Offit? Absolutely not.
Posted by: For 'Brian in Fear' | May 09, 2012 at 09:23 AM
Well done Jake , you have my 100% backing . Wish I'd been there with you to be honest . The only sad thing I'll say though , is vaccine derived autism has been destroying children for what , about 30 years or more now . And I'm afraid these murderers do not deserve our politeness , they do not deserve our respect . I want to see Proffit and his ilk (and we know ALL your names all the way to the top) in a court of law , and sentenced for the remiander of their lives for mass crimes against humanity (including genocide in my eyes .) I really am not too worried about the manners with which we conduct ourselves at all . In fact the vaccines protests thus far have been far too well mannered in my eyes . I believe there were Vaccines riots in English cities in the past (perhaps 50-100 years ago)..... well ?
Posted by: Brian In Fear | May 09, 2012 at 08:46 AM
Offit comes off very badly in this article, but I think you also come off a bit badly too, Jake. It seems that you do tend to follow him around, and I'm kind of wondering why you bother? It does seem a bit obsessive of you - your time would be better spent elsewhere.
**************
Elaine,
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, a liquid with 200 parts per billion of mercury is classified as a hazardous waste. A flu shot contains 50,000 parts per billion mercury. And although a pediatrician will tell you that it's safe to inject that into your baby, you'd need a Hazmat team to clean up the mess if that nurse accidentally drooped and broke it open onto the floor.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the safe daily safe daily dosage for mercury is 0.1 micrograms per kilogram of body weight. A flu shot contains at least 25 micrograms of ethyl mercury. And although a pediatrician will tell you that it's safe to inject that into your baby, the EPA will tell you if a 22-pound baby gets a mercury containing flu shot, then that baby will receive more than 25 times their safe daily limit.
However, as looney as those pediatricians may appear, Paul Offit actually took that quackery to a whole other level. In 2005, Paul Offit actually said that "..healthy infants could safely get up to 100,000 vaccines at once." ( http://www.whale.to/vaccine/Offit%20June%202006.pdf, top of page 2)
If each those 100,000 vaccines was a mercury containing flu shot, then that child would receive a one time mercury dose of 2.5 million micrograms. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, that child would have to be 55 million pounds to safely metabolize all that mercury. In the interest of context, 55 million pounds is roughly the equivalent of 5900 adult male African elephants.
Don't know about you Elaine. but I have yet to see anyone form the media actually challenge Paul Offit on this ridiculously dangerous, and stupid statement.
Jake is the first person I've seen, with the courage to start holding this jackass accountable for his lunacy. Yet you think his time would be better spent elsewhere????
Posted by: Barry | May 09, 2012 at 07:39 AM
Not stalking, just talking;
Ohhhh your good!
I too was thinking about the age difference in not just Offit but Mr. Bunkum too.
Posted by: Benedetta | May 08, 2012 at 04:26 PM
No doubt Bashar Assad felt stalked by Marie Colvin. I guess that's why he killed her.
Posted by: Carol | May 08, 2012 at 11:54 AM
Elaine,
" It seems that you (Elaine) do tend to follow him (Jake) around, and I'm kind of wondering why you bother? It does seem a bit obsessive of you - your time would be better spent elsewhere."
See how that works?
And no surprise that you don't want Jake asking questions, however just what would you have Jake do? What in your mind, would be time better spent?
What you and Offit fail to realize is that by continually trying to censor and shut down dialogue, you are diminishing any credibility that you have. IIRC, Offit has been asked to debate the issues in a formal setting but won't. And he won't because he can't. He can't handle one of Jake's questions without becoming a PR handler's nightmare, let alone a full on debate with other doctors.
And it's not the article making Offit look bad; he did that himself. It is really appalling when you think here is someone pushing 60 who holds all these positions on boards and universities and this is how he reacts to a snub (perfectly reasonable given Offits past accusations) to a handshake let alone that Offit knows (even if he denies) that Jake has Asperger's.
I'm assuming Offit has children. I wonder how much he would appreciate one of his own being treated that way. I wonder how much he would like someone 40 years their senior approaching them aggressively, yelling in their face and calling them a "piece of shit".
And if you and Offit don't like the hard questions, all I can say is you might want to bow out now. Siblings of these children damaged by vaccines are getting older and already are questioning the status quo. And then they will be sharing their experiences with college friends.....and so on.....
Posted by: Not stalking, just talking | May 08, 2012 at 11:25 AM
When ottschnaut said ...
"Enough good people doing nothing is how tragedies occur"
... it reminded me of the Irish Parliamentarian, Edmund Burke, who said,
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
Good for him: at least Jake is doing something about Offit.
Posted by: Mark Struthers | May 08, 2012 at 10:51 AM
Elaine Hill,
Please read Jakes Bio - given his education background and career path it is only reasonable he be allowed to ask ANYONE in the medical field ANY question he feels necessary to get information to clarify contradictory statements by a public figure. (and Offit is a VERY public figure).
Obsessive? My count is only between three to five of Offit's events that Jake has attended. Considering the responses he has recieved from Offit it seems that Offit is the one who is obsessive.
Time better spent elswhere? I can't think of anything I would love to do more than to follow Offit around and ask him questions that make his skin burn. The fact that Jake is able to attend these presentations and represent the thousands of us who would love to stand next to him is a blessing, not an obsession.
I am hopeful that the next time Offit is presented with a troubling question from Jake (ooooooh, and I hope it will happen) he will not be sitting by himself.
Thank you Jake, for representing me and my son.
Posted by: Tim Kasemodel | May 08, 2012 at 10:43 AM
Let's be clear, and let's have an end of this: turning up at public events and asking awkward questions of influential people is not stalking. Posting awkward questions on blogs is not stalking. Writing and publishing articles is not stalking.
Sending someone thousands of unwanted messages, ringing the up incessantly, turning up outside their door is stalking.
But the reality is that Jake behaved in a perfectly proper way and Prof Offit felt persecuted.
Posted by: John Stone | May 08, 2012 at 10:16 AM
In typical fashion of the anti-vaccine-safety crowd, Elaine Hill waits for the comments to subside on a widely-read article, and then posts her comment so it's at the top. She has already revealed her anti-vaccine safety stance earlier on Age of Autism, where she tells Jake Crosby there aren't that many people who share his views and that he's fighting an uphill battle. http://www.ageofautism.com/2012/04/obama-administration-gives-uk-blog-federal-autism-committee-representation.html
It's no surprise she advocates for Offit to be able to tour the country spewing vaccine industry propaganda, unchallenged by his critics.
Considering that Offit started calling Jake a "stalker" on his second visit to an Offit event, does that make Elaine Hill a "stalker" of Jake with this second comment to him?
Posted by: Elaine Hill is a little "obsessive" | May 08, 2012 at 09:27 AM
@ Elaine "It seems that you do tend to follow him around,"
Hey Elaine- you come off as an ignorant idiot, making a medical diagnosis on someone you have never met. Why are you doing this? What is the incidence of brain injury and death associated with vaccination? Are you in favor of defunding the VICP?
When Jake spoke at IOM meeting, he was accorded the dignity and respect to complete his statements. He wasn't chased from the room because he asked a question. Offit by contrast has Jake goose walked out of public forums because Jake asks penetrating questions. Offit is not scared of Jake for his physical safety, he is scared of Jake's knowledge.
You want to explain why your PR people are creating the false narrative that 1) there is a dangerous "anti vaccine movement;" 2) Jake is a "stalker;" 3) Jake has a "mental disturbance;" 4) There have been "police reports" filed with regards to Jake's behavior? All these statements are lies. Yet your group is putting them out there in a calculated attempt to silence a critic. Very similar to how Hitler vilified the Jews, same techniques, same reasons. Bigotry, ignorance, and fear.
Enough good people doing nothing is how tragedies occur. Thank God there are people like Jake who are brave enough to question authority even though they are subjected to abuse from know nothing boot lickers like you, who defend the indefensible.
Why don't you ask Offit next time you see him Elaine whether vaccines cayuse brain injury and death. When he tells you "no," ask him where he stands on getting rid of the VICP.
Posted by: ottschnaut | May 08, 2012 at 07:50 AM
On the surface this may sound heartless and insensitive to the needs of those less fortunate individuals who are found in any society, no matter how affluent. "What about the lame, the sick and the destitute? Is an often-voice question. Most other countries in the world have attempted to use the power of government to meet this need. Yet, in every case, the improvement has been marginal at best and has resulted in the long run creating more misery, more poverty, and certainly less freedom than when government first stepped in. As Henry Grady Weaver wrote, in his excellent book, THE MAINSPRING OF HUMAN PROGRESS:
"Most of the major ills of the world have been caused by well-meaning people who ignored the principle of individual freedom, except as applied to themselves, and who were obsessed with fanatical zeal to improve the lot of mankind-in-the-mass through some pet formula of their own....THE HARM DONE BY ORDINARY CRIMINALS, MURDERES, GANGSTERS, AND THIEVES IS NEGLIGIBLE IN COMPARISON WITH THE AGONY INFLICTED UPON HUMAN BEINGS BY THE PROFESSIONAL 'DO-GOODERS', who attempt to set themselves up as gods on earth and who would ruthlessly force their views on all others - with the abiding assurance that the end justifies the means.
Posted by: doctorjtaylor | May 08, 2012 at 01:05 AM
Offit comes off very badly in this article, but I think you also come off a bit badly too, Jake. It seems that you do tend to follow him around, and I'm kind of wondering why you bother? It does seem a bit obsessive of you - your time would be better spent elsewhere.
Posted by: Elaine Hill | May 07, 2012 at 11:29 PM
Jeffrey Bergelson is a pediatrician at CHOP - the same CHOP where his buddy Offit is Chief of Infectious Disease.
I wonder how many babies Bergelson has given autism by injection. Waving his arms around and yelling "bunkum!" seems to be his his entire defense in the face of dozens of scientific studies linking vaccines and autism - not to mention our own government compensating children such as Hannah Poling and Bailey Banks for vaccines triggering their autism.
Oddly, Bergelson isn't even conversant in vaccine industry propaganda - just advanced arm-waving.
Posted by: Jeffrey M. Bergelson, MD is just another CHOP Shop Doc | May 07, 2012 at 08:14 PM
For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. -Luke
Great article, Jake.
Posted by: Serena | May 07, 2012 at 07:38 PM
Hi, Jake! I'm so sorry you went through all the abusive craziness you did, from such evil, ignorant people.
On a positive note, you are the "f" away from all of them right now, and that is a very good thing.
Don't feel badly about not wanting to shake Offit's hand. I wouldn't do it under any circumstance, either. I would like to ask him a few questions, though, like, "Do you value the life of a child with autoimmune dysfunction and/or cancer who cannot receive any vaccinations, more than the life of a child who was vaccine injured?" And once the response was made, I would ask, "Why shouldn't a child who was vaccine injured be automatically exempted from all further vaccinations? Why doesn't that vaccine injured child have the right to be free from further vaccine insults and harms like the child with cancer undergoing chemotherapy? Why the disparity between those with cancer and those with vaccine injury?" I would love to hear someone answer those questions.
Posted by: Not an MD | May 07, 2012 at 02:42 PM
More PR slag from Slate:
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2012/05/free_radicals_by_michael_brooks_and_ignorance_by_stuart_firestein_reviewed_.html
"But not all misbehavior is creative, as Brooks would have us believe. While both Einstein and Galileo fudged the calculations that initially supported their theories, they were the lucky ones. If they’d been wrong, their so-called “anarchism” could have misled science for years. (Consider the discredited British medical researcher Andrew Wakefield, who was so enthusiastic about his theory linking vaccines and autism that he distorted children's medical histories [*] in order to support it.) Plenty of other, far less brilliant researchers have perpetrated frauds for personal gain, or stolen credit from their hardworking graduate students. That’s not creative expression; it's cheating."
* http://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.c7452
Posted by: Carol | May 07, 2012 at 12:23 PM
Doesn't it seem strange that these professors would be so afraid of a young grad student like Jake showing up at their lectures? It's also strange, as someone else mentioned, that they mysteriously showed up at the restaurant where Jonathon so conveniently led Jake. Who is this Jonathon? Were they trying to set Jake up? They certainly overpowered him and verbally abused him....and they were well aware of his disability. Their behavior was disgraceful. Even when Jake tried to end the abuse, Jonathon convinced him to continue the so-called discussion. This was a gang bang by very powerful people, and Jake was their victim. This whole affair is beginning to give me the creeps. Jake, I repeat. DO NOT ATTEND ANY MORE OF THEIR LECTURE/MEETINGS ALONE. They will be waiting for you.
Posted by: CT teacher | May 07, 2012 at 11:16 AM
It is interesting to me that the man that approached you in the restaurant afterwards, who so adamantly defended Dr. Offit, was Dr. Jeff Bergelson. The same Dr. Jeff Bergelson, Professor of Peditatrics and Biomedical Graduate Studies at UPENN? Coincidence that Dr. Offit showed up too? Is it possible that Jonathan works in the lab with Dr. Bergelson? What would make Johnathan not repeat his last name again? I hope that Jonathan will think for himself. I suspect that Offit and his buddies had an alterior motive for their actions.
Jake I'm in awe of your ability to stay focused and so glad that you handled yourself the way you did. Keep up the good work but be careful.
Posted by: Shelly | May 07, 2012 at 10:36 AM
Great job, Jake. Keep it up.
We all need to confront and hold accountable those fanatics responsible for deliberately destroying generations of the human race. They are willing to accept 1 in 88, or more, victims of friendly fire in their idiotic "war on disease", a war they cannot possible win. Nature will not allow our species to wipe out every disease, especially the made made ones.
Posted by: Just Curious | May 07, 2012 at 09:08 AM
How much longer will Offit be employed by the University of Pennsylvania, where he is the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology, endowed by Merck?
I imagine the whole lot of them will be furious about Offit's profane public outbursts and his treatment of Jake Crosby, whose only 'crime' was to attend a few of Offit's public lectures, surely something to be encouraged, particularly with regard to young persons. Jake's questions were politely asked and properly arranged via the institutions' own systems of moderation and question delivery.
Quite apart from the obvious stain on the reputation of the University of Pennsylvania, collectively responsible for the public behaviour of their employees, those persons responsible for promoting a 'positive image' of the huge Merck pharmaceutical corporation, must be cringing about the bad publicity this has generated for their Rotateq vaccine, and indeed vaccines in general.
Offit's increasingly erratic, unprofessional and dare I say 'thuggish' behaviour in public, will sooner or later ensure his 'retirement' from from both the University and his vaccine promoting activities. If he refuses to go, he will be pushed!! He should take his prOffit $millions and go off into the sunset.
Posted by: Jenny Allan | May 07, 2012 at 04:25 AM
I hope there is a recording of this that travels the likes of everywhere,,, Jake,,, it is time you ask for an interview with him and have him answer every one of your questions... with additional time for follow ups later. Tell him you won't go away until he answers all questions in detail... And if Jake is no longer allowed near him... like if Offit is funny enough to get a restraining order on a journalist.... aaaaaaahahahh... that would be funny.. then Offit would need to be Occupied with people who show up to his talks asking questions for Jake. He must be made to answer questions or hide his face in shame. But I do wonder if he is capable of feeling shame... At some point you have to feel sorry for those people who have no feelings, and it is more and more evident that Offit may be one of those. What a weird story to share. I pray Offit has a change of heart and answers the questions he is due.
Posted by: happy | May 06, 2012 at 07:57 PM
Mark without sounding boring as they say ,the truth will out!!
I hope sooner rather than later...Cheer`s Jake
Angus
Posted by: Angus Files | May 06, 2012 at 06:37 PM
we probably do him an injustice Mary ...he should be up for President next year....then you know your NUT`S..you`ve arrived..sponsered by Bill Gates...la! la! la!
Angus
Posted by: Angus Files | May 06, 2012 at 06:28 PM
"And up in the nursery and absurd little bird is popping out to say CUCKOO. CUCKOO."
So long, farewell Mein Doktor. Keep your head down and don't go off your meds any more.
Bonnie must be so proud. And now, the entire faculty at CHOPS will be too. First thing Monday AM when we all send this to them.
Good thing you have your millions to comfort you. Maybe get out your bank statement tonight before bed and sleep on that comforting hefty balance. Or better yet, since this was never about money, give the stuff away. All of it.
Posted by: Shrimp Toast | May 06, 2012 at 06:24 PM
Jake:
I've never had the pleasure of meeting you but I have had the pleasure of reading your provocative reporting. Talk about grace under fire. Paul Offit should just get "Off-it" when it comes to debating individuals who have been harmed for the "greater good."
For some, the truth shall set them free. For others the truth is considered heresy. We all know what a powerful body can do to those who speak the truth.
I hope all of our children and young adults will rise from the ashes of accepted scientific dogma and rise like a phoenix - reborn and ready to take on the struggle, as you have.
Please keep fighting the good fight and remember "may the odds be ever in your favor."
Posted by: Christine Thompson | May 06, 2012 at 06:07 PM
98 comments so far Jake...
You seem to have a good following, I assume with a number of people under 30 which is great.
Dr. Offit is a major part of the dark side, he should have given it up with Rotashield, only one other country uses RotaTek from what I understand...
He has no real science to back up his claims.
...if you study the wrong group one can prove that even a peanut allergy does not exist.
Posted by: cmo | May 06, 2012 at 05:29 PM
Offit is an all round embarrassment
Posted by: Mark Struthers | May 06, 2012 at 05:05 PM
Angus,
I think it more borders Narcissistic Personality Disorder. See if you can see the pattern:
Narcissistic personality disorder is a condition in which people have an inflated sense of self-importance and an extreme preoccupation with themselves.
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
The causes of this disorder are unknown. An overly sensitive personality and parenting problems may affect the development of this disorder.
A person with narcissistic personality disorder may:
React to criticism with rage, shame, or humiliation
Take advantage of other people to achieve his or her own goals
Have excessive feelings of self-importance
Exaggerate achievements and talents
Be preoccupied with fantasies of success, power, beauty, intelligence, or ideal love
Have unreasonable expectations of favorable treatment
Need constant attention and admiration
Disregard the feelings of others, and have little ability to feel empathy
Have obsessive self-interest
Pursue mainly selfish goals
Yep, this about covers it. I wonder if this will still be in the DSM5.
Posted by: Mary | May 06, 2012 at 04:56 PM
Superb I have read all the posts and Jakes posting about seven times now...just gives me the feel good factor..unlike Offit who is a... vaccine short of an adverse ..how many dont apply to Offit ..less than one possibly...
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Psychosis_explained
Psychotic symptoms
Confused thinking and psychosis
In psychosis, the everyday thoughts that enable us to lead our daily lives become confused. People with psychosis may believe:
Their thoughts are being interfered with
They can influence the thoughts of others
Other people can read their thoughts.
These disturbances in thinking can impair a person’s ability to concentrate, remember things and to make plans. These effects can persist, even after the psychotic episode has subsided.
Delusions and psychosis
Delusions are false beliefs that are not shared by others. Delusions can take various forms:
Paranoid delusion – for example, the person believes they are being watched and singled out for some harmful purpose.
Grandiose delusion – for example, the person believes they have special powers or that they are an important religious or political figure.
Depressive delusion – for example, the person believes they are guilty of some terrible crime.
Posted by: Angus Files | May 06, 2012 at 04:16 PM
Does anyone know if Offit’s university business people are aware of his shenanigans and his conduct in public?
They should be very interested that an apple of theirs is starting to rot - even if he is not on their payroll, as his name is linked to the Pen University name and does not paint them in the nice light. The only question here is whether Offit’s riches from his vaccine patent are shared with the University? I.e. would they weight in the money from their cut of profits versus someone giving them bad publicity?
http://www.upenn.edu/president/about-presidency/presidents-center
Amy Gutmann, President [email protected]
Gregory S. Rost, Vice President and Chief of Staff, [email protected]
Joann Mitchell, Vice President for Institutional Affairs, [email protected]
Jeffrey Cooper (Community Relations), Vice President, [email protected]
Time to write?
Posted by: Penn Uni public relations nightmare versus cut from Offit's profits? | May 06, 2012 at 02:32 PM
Truth is truth. Mr Offit, as a mommie "who doesn't know what she is talking about"...I really would love to sit down with you one day, and go piece by piece with the scientific evidence my kids suffered from vaccine induced encephalopathy ADEM, metabolic crisis, and immune derrangement. I would love to impart into you the wisdom of twenty years of research, and how the "last straw oxidative stressor" known as vaccines, can pinpointedly, damage a predisposed oxidatively stressed child. I would love to show you experts who know how vaccines are full of caca (scientific term for shit) contaminants and neurotoxins. I would love for you to know that not all kids have healing capitals like superior immune systems, or wonderful mitochondrial capacity or adequate metallothionein and MTHFR and COMT problems. I would love to show you what toxins do, how mercury/aluminum imitates metabolic collapse, immune collapse, inflammatory conditions in the brain. I would love to take random lots and have them tested for retroviruses and mycoplasma and human DNA destroying antibodies. I would love to show you how a predisposed child has no chance in HADES on this current schedule to come out unscathed by vaccines. I would love to show you in a friendly professional manner, how this has happened, but I am afraid by the time I lay down my evidence, you may have to use the bathroom and upchuck the millions of dollars you made off the blood of babies, including mine. Oh how I wish I never listened to the likes of your minions and your "scientific evidence" and your "tell a lie long enough" philosophies. How was I to know? I have a child with autism who is thirty, who took part in the first uptake schedule of vaccines and no truthful scientific outlay articles to dispute them. Now there is so much of them, it's no longer a scientific issue, rather a political monetary one. I should have listened to my "ill informed gut". I know people are waking up to people like you who feign concern for my chidren's health. This is what you fear, informed consent. Heck, you haven't even tested an autistic child, let alone even touched them, so how can you claim you know "all about autism". Here's a challenge for you. Show up at a DAN meeting, or a think tank, or Autism One....we would LOVE to have you there...we would even ask you come incognito, heck send a spy. Let that spy take it "all in". Take the time. Ask some moms, researchers and lecturers what is going on here. If you really have "nothing to hide and have the best of intentions"...you would be able to do that, no problem right? And, do you dispute that some kids heal from autism via homeoapthy? Frankly, you never have looked at a multitude of mothers evidences, binders full of biomedical CLIA certified lab results which show inflammatory cytokines, microglia, severe gut inflammation, damaged blood brain barriers, viral titers and antibodies, immune system damages, markers/DNA of the very viruses that are in vaccines sitting in their guts and spinal fluids persisting in them unnaturally? Or, the damage of brains inflammed by immune systems on overdrive, spect scans, and MRI's. Plueez Dr offit, give me a chance...I think you will be very enlightened, VERY~.
Jake, I love that you can keep your cool...I think you must keep up the pressure, even though you were yelled at and publicaly humiliated. You have a right to be at a public forum, period. You have a right to ask questions, period. With that, all parents have a right to question what they put into their children's bloodstreams. They have a right to treat their children holistically no matter what scientifically valued and historically accurate venue they seek, and have a right to put the pediatricians out of business by going to a like minded physician, naturopath, or frankly, mommy care. We have a right to go to school where the vaccinated kids SHED their damn viruses on my kids and in whom have immunity from the disease (don't vaccines work?) and, we have a right to know the truth, that has been hidden and hoaxed for decades now.
Offits undoing is coming so very soon, I can taste it. Blessed be the day.
Posted by: kathy blanco | May 06, 2012 at 12:53 PM
Great Job Jake
next time you have the opportunity to speak to Offit, please ask him what the placebo was in the rotateq vaccine safety trial. The FDA webpage lists it as undisclosed or unspecified biologic. The FDA wrote I had to fill out a FOI request and wait two years to get the answer. THe intucusseption rates were as high in the placebo group or higher. I would not find it hard to believe, he used the old rotavirus vaccine as the placebo.
would love to see how he reacts is confronted with this.
Posted by: toni bark | May 06, 2012 at 12:25 PM
Well done, Jake! One of your best yet! prOffit will one day stand accountable when his industry falls on its face. You can only harm so many people before they come calling!
Posted by: Erik Nanstiel | May 06, 2012 at 12:11 PM
The doctor doth protest too much.
Posted by: Shawn Siegel | May 06, 2012 at 09:46 AM
Ottosschnaut was spot on with his comment, "Offit believes that he can engineer a child's immune system better than God or nature, and when he is questioned, he takes great umbrage. That goes beyond hubris to messianic." I agree with that characterization. Insulted that anyone would question his humanitarian motive and heroic response to infectious disease (a modern day savior) his efforts to define himself in this light can even be seen in design of the front cover of his book "Vaccinated: One Man's Quest to Defeat the World's Deadliest Diseases." While he can say he wrote a biographical tribute to Maurice Hilleman, the lasting impression of anyone looking over the book cover and spine would be to associate the title with Offit's name, since Hilleman's name is not mentioned on either. Offit has fashioned a legacy of heroism for himself and has demonstrated that he won't tolerate any questioning of the legitimacy of his claims, whether they be motive or scientific.
Paul Offit just doesn't get it that motives can be revealed not just by what one does, but by what one chooses not to do. As a vaccine developer, his lack of compassion and interest, and repeated outright denial, of children who suffer adverse vaccine reactions speaks volumes about his motives.
Posted by: Donna K | May 06, 2012 at 04:29 AM
I agree with many others here in that P Offit is losing it. No one in their right mind would act this way, especially in the public arena. Sounds like" Delusional Disorder:Grandiose Type" or either "Intermittent Explosive Disorder", may also be just plain " evil" showing through. You were wise not to be taken in by offer of hand shake. You are an amazing person Jake and Thank you for all that you do. Take care! Almost forgot my P Offit trivia question... How can you tell if P Offit is lying?.......... His lips are moving! :)
Posted by: Tina | May 06, 2012 at 02:35 AM
These individuals do not like to be challenged.
Well done Jake!
Elizabeth Gillespie
Posted by: AussieMum | May 06, 2012 at 12:30 AM
He's just one short straw away from a big "You want the truth?! You can't handle the truth!" speech. Well done, Jake. Next time, bring someone to shoot video and capture the spittle in slo mo...
Posted by: Garbo | May 06, 2012 at 12:20 AM
I know many young doctors who recently became parents. They choose not to vaccinate their children, as they know that infectious diseases today are rare and easy to treat. They are lesser threat to health and life than toxic vaccines. Offit and his pharma accomplices are medical dinosaurs. Jake just exposed them.
Posted by: camille | May 06, 2012 at 12:10 AM
A good report! Thank you, Jake. You don't deserve that kind of abuse. Keep being your factual self! He is becoming very pitiful to those who have been watching for a while.
Posted by: Denise | May 05, 2012 at 11:55 PM
Jake, once again, a spectacular documentation of your smarts, persistence, wit, and grace under pressure. I gotta wonder, though, if you were set up by the mysterious" Jonathan." Was he an operative to "befriend you" and get some dirt that he could post on Gorsky's blog? And what are the odds that Bergelson AND Offit end up in the same coffee shop that Mr. NoLastName Gradstudent invites you to. Bergelson and Offit sure have spent a lot of time scrutinizing your work. Offit, in his twisted mind, might be expect to be obsessed with you. But who is this Bergelson? Why would a Professor stalk you in a restaurant and spew that filth at you? Is his also a paid whore? Or just Offit's big buddy? Who else was watching you at Au Bon Pain? Totally creepy, and I agree with the others who are concerned for your safety.
Posted by: Willa | May 05, 2012 at 11:46 PM
BTW Jake, your mind is like a black box recorder covering the biggest accident disaster in medical history. How do you keep all those facts and figures and quotes in your head for years and years?
Posted by: Adam M | May 05, 2012 at 11:08 PM
Please say you have the tape of this...
Posted by: happy | May 05, 2012 at 11:06 PM
So many things to comment on here:
Jake:
“No, he doesn't have Asperger's; he's got paranoid schizophrenia is what he has!”
I really think a formal complaint should be made to a medical board concerning Dr. Offit publicly lying that you don’t have Asperger’s and then to diagnose you publicly with paranoid schizophrenia. This is so highly inappropriate for a medical professional to do and I wonder if diagnosing what are termed as “psychiatric disorders” are outside of the scope of the medical license he does have.
“Ladies and gentleman, this is Jake Crosby – my stalker!”
That’s twice: Jake, it’s time to consult a lawyer.
For Jonathon:
“Well, I had the MMR and I'm not autistic,”.
I have a relative who has been smoking for 75 years and he doesn’t have lung cancer.
Dr. Paul Offit:
“NO!! I do NOT do this for the money! That is wrong!!”
Uh Paul, are you and your wife (a pediatrician) working for free? Thought not.
Dr. Offit, you could have vaults of money but you could never buy the grace and compassion that Dr. Andrew Wakefield has, even when facing his critics.
Vaccine Industrial Complex:
Thank you so much for using the likes of Dr. Paul Offit as your spokesperson. Being able to show his tirades in contrast to the classy way Dr. Wakefield addresses his critics, adds that much more to my side of the debate. People confident in their stance simply do not behave the way Offit does. I hope you continue to lose streams of profits as people begin to wake up to your “profit, not people first” mentality.
Posted by: Who's the POS now, eh Paul? | May 05, 2012 at 10:45 PM
Bravo!!! and encore!
Posted by: Dr Suzanne Humphries | May 05, 2012 at 10:41 PM
I am really proud of you!.
And thanks...for continuing this fight!
Sunshine
Posted by: S Loire King | May 05, 2012 at 10:28 PM
Jake:
Thank you.
You have revealed the man for what he is.
And you sir, possess real testicular fortitude.
Louis
Posted by: Louis Conte | May 05, 2012 at 10:15 PM
Aussie Dad is right.
I thought the same thing, but Jake would have a better feeling about this since he was there.
Jake does not need to go to these meeting alone!
Posted by: Benedetta | May 05, 2012 at 09:59 PM
"Bergelson went on about Desiree Jennings"the next time someone tells you the flu shot does not cause damage, feel free to use my case. The vaccine court conceded all of my damage was from the flu shot and settled with me.
Posted by: Lisa Smith | May 05, 2012 at 09:52 PM
Great job Jake,
You kept on confronting with truth after truth and he just kept deflecting because the Truth condemns him. You bring up truth to someone living a lie and what do they do with it? They suppress it.
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
Romans 1:18
Posted by: Adam M | May 05, 2012 at 09:49 PM
One main problem I have with "conflict of interest" associations is the lack of attention and importance the public pays to them. It's not their fault. There isn't much drama in it. It's probably just not underhanded enough (for them).
Posted by: Dr. Brett J. Blitzstein | May 05, 2012 at 09:31 PM
Three cheers for you, Jake. Thanks so much for your advocacy and for keeping your cool.
Pathetic behavior on Offit's part. Someone said "raging infantile tyrant" - a very apt description! Good point contrasting him with Dr. Wakefield.
Well now we know how to get Dr. Offit's goat - just yell "Millionaire vaccine industrialist! In it for the money! Millionaire vaccine industrialist! In it for the money! Millionaire vaccine industrialist! In it for the money! Millionaire vaccine industrialist! In it for the money!" and watch him crumble.
And he reads Age of Autism. Dr. Offit, if you're reading this, "How are you buddy?”
But do be careful, Jake. It would be good to attend these events with a friend, as others have pointed out.
Posted by: Twyla | May 05, 2012 at 09:11 PM
APPLAUSE!!!!!!!
Posted by: nancy | May 05, 2012 at 09:09 PM
As far as I'm concerned, Offit is a brutal criminal. I am unconcerned about his motives. Motives do nothing. The tragic results of his words and actions speak louder any motives. And of course he is so invested in his dogma, that any number of dead or injured children, won't change his mind. He won't take Jock Doubleday up on his challenge. Why? Because, somewhere in the deep recesses of his brain, he actually knows it may just kill him. Go for it Paul, it'll be the easiest, most honest money you've ever made. Just write your will first.
Posted by: Robert Murdoch, A.P. | May 05, 2012 at 08:54 PM
Offit is coming apart. His labeling you with "paranoid schizophrenia" is his own fear -- that he is not able to keep the lid on his own paranoia - ie -- guilt.
His behaviors and his swearing at you, in a public forum, are going to make him even more pissed off. He is a sociopath and will do whatever it takes so he will change back quickly and will more than likely deny all of this and try to turn it around.
He is probably reading these comments but is paranoid his IP will be traced. He is trying to convince everyone that he is a doctor, a healer but he knows that it is a money and power thing. This whole episode gives us a glimpse at the REAL Paul Offit and shows that he, the leader of the Vaccine Industry, is an unstable man, vicious to the core.
Posted by: Offit- The Narcissist Unmasked! | May 05, 2012 at 08:44 PM
Thank you Jake. You are very brave to endure such abuse in search of truth. the fact that they know all about everything you write shows that they are afraid of you. They are pathetic.
Posted by: Mfischer | May 05, 2012 at 08:28 PM
For every Profit Offit there are thousands of Bunkum Boys. Good on ya for one of each in a day. A real SUPERHERO!
Posted by: Joy B. | May 05, 2012 at 08:25 PM
Oh, who cares what this idiot Offit thinks of anyone or anything. He is ridiculous to say the least. He has profited from a government recommended product while being associated with a group of people that made decisions for PUBLIC health using the SAME PRODUCT. We are aware of the revolving door between public health groups and pharma. Duh. At this point anyone taking the time to listen to this fool should be aware of those connections too- especially if you are a scientist and wanting to know ALL involved facts.... Of course, anyone questioning anything anymore is considered to be some radical stalking nut because they refuse to drool in awe of taxpayer funded Pharma hijacked crap “science”. All good things come to an end Paul. We all can’t be dumb, we all can’t be under the spell of the magical lies of the anti-vaccine crew. Some of us have read for ourselves to avoid just that very thing. Out of the agony of our situations, we are getting smarter with every truth you care to circumnavigate. Remember THAT if you are reading this and Jesus, I hope you are. Many of us can't be there now, but will one day be there to ask the questions that need to be asked. You can't call everything associated with Autism and vaccines bullsh*t forever. You can't ignore Autism recovery forever. The lady didn't have Dysonia, Jake doesn't have autism, the numbers aren't real, the kid didn't recover- he never had autism, it wasn't the vaccines it was heat stroke...blah blah blah... When I was a teenager there was a whore that lived in my neighborhood that slept around with a lot of boys. Every time someone asked her if she *did it* she would say "Ewww NO! He’s lying" after about 10 boys you get to figure out that this chick was a bag of bull. Of course, I was 15 when I figured that out, but the scientist will catch up I'm sure lol. Jake Crosby you are to be commended for the reserve that you are able to show being in the same stratosphere as this man. Thank you for speaking for us.
Posted by: angie | May 05, 2012 at 08:15 PM
It just occurred to me, the blessings that come with something like AS (determination, ability to focus intently, intelligence) could be the way we unravel the truth. Our children, just like you, may ultimately be the ones who reveal what exactly and how exactly Autism became so prevalent.
Best wishes to you. I'm sorry you were screamed at.
Posted by: Dawn | May 05, 2012 at 08:07 PM
So, Jonathan wouldn't tell Jake his surname. What has Jonathan got to hide?
Is it just a coincidence that Jonathan took Jake to a restaurant at which Offit and that other angry jerk just happened to be?
Sounds like Jonathan is a plant.
Take care Jake.
Posted by: Aussie Dad | May 05, 2012 at 08:05 PM
Jake, I am so sorry to hear the abuse you endured by this dispicable person. Something similar (but not as severe) happened to my friends and I at our state Capitol recently. The Chief of Staff of the Assemblyman who authored a bill to restrict exemption rights started yelling at us. She accused us of "saying bad things about the Assemblyman", and saying things that were not true about the bill. After the initial shock wore off, I realized a person would only behave this way from a position of weakness. To act so unprofessionaly - in front of witnesses - is a sure sign that they do not feel secure in their argument, so attacking the messanger is the easiest thing to do. We had done nothing wrong, and actually had no idea WHAT she was talking about, but remained calm and professional. I am SO glad none of us took the bait to react in kind. It is not easy to be attacked and not react negatively. But if you can stay calm, the attacker is the one standing there with egg on their face.
Sounds like you did all the right things, and Offit looks like more of a degenerate than ever! Bravo!
Posted by: Sylvia | May 05, 2012 at 07:58 PM
Dear Dr. Offit,
I hope you do sometimes read AOA, and I wish you would respond to some of the comments readers post. I read your book, Deadly Choices, which I thought was interesting and informative. I especially appreciate the historical information that you presented.
I sent you an email to suggest that the focus of autism research should be the brain impairment that prevents normal language development. Autism has many causes, including infections like the rubella virus, metabolic disorders such as phenylketonuria (PKU), toxic injury from prenatal exposure to valproic acid, alcohol, and likely medicines that people have somehow come to believe are safe to take during pregnancy. All of autism’s many different causes must affect a “common final pathway” in the brain. I have suggested the auditory system, which has higher blood flow and metabolism than any other area of the brain.
Experiments with laboratory animals should be undertaken, and I posted a proposal to the IACC three years ago to suggest exposing lab animals to two or more injurious factors, such as hypoxia + vaccines. See my proposal at http://www.conradsimon.org/files/IACC4feb2009strategy.pdf.
Those of us dealing with the hardship and sorrow of having an autistic child have ideas, and all ideas are worthy of discussion.
Posted by: Eileen Nicole Simon | May 05, 2012 at 07:54 PM
Look for Jake to have a major role in Offit's next book.
Great work. You must be a wiz at short-hand, getting this all down. BTW-I thought it was the Italians who did all the hand gestures.
Maurine
Posted by: maurine meleck | May 05, 2012 at 07:49 PM
Jake, post the audio on YouTube.
Posted by: Atticus | May 05, 2012 at 07:24 PM
John Stone--Your comment was right on! Vaccine makers and defenders like Offit cannot stand to be questioned AT ALL.
Posted by: healthforchildren | May 05, 2012 at 07:07 PM
I love Jake Crosby. Period. Andersen Cooper and the rest of his cronies should be shaking in their boots. Someday, when we value the truth again, Jake will come along and snatch those anchor seats. "What happened?" They will wonder, as they are reading the days stories as they were handed to them. "What happened?" Jake. Crosby. That piece of Sh%&. THAT'S WHAT. GO BRUTHA! GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NEVER STOP!
Posted by: LJ Goes | May 05, 2012 at 06:45 PM
The tide is turning, indeed.
The young people (especially anyone under 30)--they get it.
The other side is playing defense. Very, very poorly, I might add.
Posted by: Terri Lewis | May 05, 2012 at 06:39 PM
So... Offit's thin professional veneer is cracking -- that papier-mache shell of spit-polished greenbacks covering up his hollowed-out ethic of care.
The millionaire vaccine industrialist's credibility implosion is inevitable. One can only maintain a lie (or many lies) for so long. Other than a few doctor commenters who can backtrack quickly, Offit essentially stands alone in the national media spotlight.
Posted by: nhokkanen | May 05, 2012 at 06:31 PM
Thank you Jake,
Know that you are not alone. As I read your post, I feel the adrenaline flowing through me. If I had been in your shoes, my gut would have been in knots and my hands would have been shaking.
When I reviewed a YouTube video of Dr. Wakefield intelligently outlining the malicious claims that stripped him of his livelihood - and then outlining his and his team's defense - I felt rage. Injured children. A lost generation. Complete and total perversion of justice.
Thank you for taking a stand. Although thousands of miles away, I stand beside you.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Posted by: T. McDonald | May 05, 2012 at 06:28 PM
Jake,
We are proud of you. Disgraceful Offit's behavior only shows how much he does not care about children’s health and about anybody, except of himself and his mega profits. He is a redneck in white coat.
Posted by: camille | May 05, 2012 at 06:09 PM
I did what the docs said for nine years, and when the neurologists and psychiatrists failed to get my kid in regular school, I did what the people who had actual results said to do, which includes homeopathy and nutrients. My child lost half his symptoms in 3 days. I am sickened when I think about human nature being about greed, not about what works, which allowed my child to be ridiculed as a special needs person for all those years. If only the Internet was invented sooner, I could have found out sooner how to really help him. I am sickened about what I have learned on this autism recovery journey, and what I have to say is that until you have results, don't tell me something. I am through wasting my time on degrees, education, experience, research. It's about results!!!!!! And now my family has them. Oh, for those of you wanting to know about how his symptoms were reduced in 3 days that 9 years of specialists didn't do, it was just basic digestive aids that can be bought at your local Walmart.
Posted by: Heidi N | May 05, 2012 at 05:59 PM
Jake,
I have a 19 year old son with Aspergers (as well as a daughter with Autism)and when I read about your encounters, I imagine my own son in your place. Had I been there, I am not sure I could have restrained myself from behaving in a way I may not be proud of later. I am so incensed that he dared treat you in this manner. My disabled children can control themselves better than this "professional." I am also so proud of you that you responded in such a calm and controlled manner. Your family should be extremely proud of you. You have an open invitation for dinner - we live minutes from GW - please feel free to use it anytime. You are an inspiration to all our sons and daughters- with or without Autism.
Posted by: Sonja | May 05, 2012 at 05:52 PM
Keep up the challenge Jake..you beat him on his own back yard mate!...belter..
Angus
Posted by: Angus Files | May 05, 2012 at 05:52 PM
Sorry, that's Sharyl Attkisson. She said he was a "multi-millionaire vaccine inventor who voted himself rich.
Did he sue her for libel because she was inaccurate? Didn't think so.
Posted by: Mary | May 05, 2012 at 05:32 PM
Thanks Jake- this is an excellent retelling of what you had to endure in your quest for the truth when it comes to Paul Offit.
I don't think he will ever "get it" that he is indeed in it for the money, and still the vaccine harms children. He should be put on trial for his quackery when it comes to saying that an infant can get 10,000 vaccines in one day and be ok. He makes me sick. I hope one day that he will see the train of autism moms and dads coming, and get out of the way of progress when it comes to identifying one of the main causes of Autism, and that he indeed helped aid it in happening. A true Vaccine hitler he is.
Posted by: Tara McMillan | May 05, 2012 at 05:30 PM
@ Poetic Justice: Brilliant observation. Absolutely brilliant.
Posted by: Zed | May 05, 2012 at 05:29 PM
Pulled this one from the internet that has CBS news correspondent Sheryl Atkinson describing Offit as a millionaire vaccine industrialist:
http://www.drpauloffit.org/
The follow up articles are interesting too. Dan, you may remember this one.
Posted by: Mary | May 05, 2012 at 05:29 PM
Offit is authoritarian, makes irrational claims and cannot deal with simple questions. He has created a scienceless doctrine on which at least the UK vaccine programme is defended by its leading bureaucratic proponent:
http://www.ageofautism.com/2011/10/best-of-age-of-autism-paul-offit-and-the-milgram-experiment.html
But the key to this madness has always been that things are so arranged that "they" are almost never challenged. Jake has shown what happens when "they" are.
Posted by: John Stone | May 05, 2012 at 05:26 PM
Maybe Offit is tired and wants out?
Posted by: Exit Strategy | May 05, 2012 at 05:13 PM