Jan 17, 2013, New York Daily News: Flu? What flu? Chiropractors buck the trend by warning against flu shots 

“Hanson’s views represent an industry-wide stance. A survey of websites by licensed chiropractors reveals staunch opposition to vaccines in general, but especially the flu shot.”

“Assertions by chiropractors that the flu vaccine doesn’t doesn’t measure up to alternative treatments are enough for public health officials to pull their hair out.”

“’Chiropractors should stick to the musculoskeletal system, period,’ Dr. Paul Offit, Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and the Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told the Daily News. ‘The bad information that they give their patients on vaccines is putting their patients at risk, and what are the consequences? There are none.’

“Many chiropractors flag the use of such toxic ingredients as formaldehyde and the mercury-based preservative thimerosal in the vaccines as reasons to avoid the shots. Allen and Offit counter that those chemicals are used in trace amounts to protect the effectiveness of the vaccine, and that thimerosal has been removed from all but multi-use vials out of an abundance of caution.

“’There have been seven recent scientific studies on whether exposure to thimerosal caused negative health effects like autism, none did,’ Offit said.”

First of all, I’m amazed that the Daily News even published this story.  It gave me a chance to post specific comments about Offit.  Second, I’m really interested in the “seven recent scientific studies” on thimerosal—all showing it’s safe, that Offit talks about here.  And of course, The Daily News neglects to tell us about Offit and his rota virus vax. 

Jan 17, 2013, MSN Now: Study into outcomes of autism suggests it's just a phase for some kids 

“A study by the National Institutes of Health suggests that, contrary to conventional wisdom, autism may not always be a lifelong condition. University of Connecticut's Dr Deborah Fein led the research which showed 34 kids diagnosed with the condition went on to be just like 34 classmates who hadn't been diagnosed. The kids' teachers agreed with tests used in the study that found they had no sign of any cognitive, social or language issues. While experts say the findings of the study are not conclusive, it does suggest a diagnosis of autism in early childhood can have ‘a very wide range of possible outcomes.’"

What really bothers me about this is the phrase, “it’s just a phase for some kids.”  Regardless of where a child is on the spectrum, it’s a struggle.  Parents go through a struggle.  This trivializes these kids.  We’re used to autism being ignored and dismissed and this continues the deception.

Jan 17, 2013, THE WEEK: 13 things ‘linked’ to autism

“Thanks to improved diagnostic tools, doctors are identifying autism spectrum disorders at "unprecedented rates." And yet, the causes of the disorder continue to elude us. While the widely discussed notion that childhood vaccines cause autism has effectively been debunked, a whole host of studies have popped up since, fostering fear around purported risk factors both in and out of our control. The most recent revelation offers a rather complicated connection — variations in the DNA that may predict whether a person will develop the disorder — but previous hypotheses have targeted more everyday elements and activities. Here, 13 things reportedly linked to autism:”

It was nice of THE WEEK to put together all the autism research claims into one article.  Everything is a possibility---except of course---VACCINES. I posted comments.

Jan 16, 2013, FOX News, Vaccine timetable for children is safe, US experts say 

“The current U.S. guideline for immunizing children against polio, whooping cough, measles and other infectious diseases is safe, but should still be monitored, federal health advisers said on Wednesday.

“In what they called the most comprehensive review to date, scientists at the Institute of Medicine (IOM) said there is no evidence that giving children vaccines according to the recommended timetable causes other problems such as autism or asthma.”

So what happened to the VAX/UNVAXED study?

Jan 16, 2013, FOX News: Dr. Manny: Do some facets of autism get better with time? I say yes 

“So when I look at this new study, I tend to believe that for many kids on the spectrum, ‘growing out’ of autism is achievable. However, another point the research makes – which I tend to agree with – is perhaps some of these kids who are classified as autistic are actually misclassified.

“During my many years here at Fox News, I’ve had the opportunity to interview many reputable autism experts. One thing I always come away with from our discussions is they all seem to have a sense of optimism about the outcomes for many of these children. So to me, these recent findings seem to be a continuum of that positive hope.”

I can’t imagine a more clueless commentary than what FOX News has put out.. Where is this man living? Where are the success stories to back his idiotic claim? “The sun will come out tomorrow…  ”Dr. Manny, have you talked to parents?

Jan 15, 2013, TIME Magazine: New Gene Variants Linked to Autism 

“In one of the largest-ever studies of genetics and autism, researchers have identified 24 new gene variants associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The work also confirms that 31 variants previously linked to the developmental disorder may serve as useful genetic markers for identifying those with the condition.”

What is this supposed to mean? Has medical science simply given up on understanding what causes autism?

’The bottom line is that autism simply is a lot of different diseases genetically, each of which gives you a similar behavioral result. But they have different causes,’ he says.”

The photo with the story a strange kind of situation with a little boy and finger paint images.. So what’s the message from TIME here?

Autistic kids like to finger paint all over themselves? Is this more of the mystery of autism? Autism is simply a name for strange kids we just can figure out?

Blaming bad genes…….I hate these stories because they program the public into looking at autism as this curious affliction we’ll just never understand and about all we can do is try to recognize it as early as possible. This is because your kid is genetically different. It’s all your fault and that’s just the way it is.

I posted comments.

Jan 14, 2013, UK Daily Mail; American parents awarded £600,000 in compensation after their son developed autism as a result of MMR vaccine

“American parents awarded £600,000 in compensation after their son developed autism as a result of MMR vaccine.”

It’s amazing that a story on such a controversial topic has only ONE COMMENT.  I tried several times to post one, it wouldn’t work.  My friend Maurine Meleck has the only one up.

Jan 14, 2013, FOX News: Questions and answers about the flu

“I am concerned about the mercury in many flu shots.

“Thimerosal, which is a preservative that helps keep vaccines from being contaminated with bacteria, has never been shown to lead to autism, despite many scientific studies over many years.”

Interesting that the question was only about mercury in the flu shot yet in his answer Siegel brings up AUTISM.  No one was even talking about autism. Why did he have to add that?

Fox News didn’t allow comments on this story. Certainly an expert like Dr. Siegel would like to hear how the public responds.