Bob Wright on Today Show
2:45 Matt Lauer: "Please help me with this controversy that's come up again in the last couple of days, about autism and childhood vaccines. There's a film out now, one of the people behind it is Dr. Andrew Wakefield, who's been widely discredited by scientific studies. But it has people asking the question again, do childhood vaccines cause autism?
"As a man who's done so much to educate people, what's the definitive answer?"
"As a man who's done so much to educate people, what's the definitive answer?"
Bob Wright: "There is no definitive answer, but we have not been able to determine that autism is caused by vaccines. However, there are lots of issues having to do with the vaccine safety program that I got into very deeply with no agenda early on in autism. We proposed, along with a series of doctors, some changes that could be made. If vaccine safety, it's a passive program, and if you made it an active program, I think that would make it better for everybody.
"There is no direct tie to autism, but there's a $100 million a year that the Vaccine Court pays out to people for damages with vaccines, not specifically autism. ...There's always going to be an issue with vaccines because all vaccines are the same, and all people receiving them are different."
First of all, on Monday, Mar 28, on the Today Show, the news team discussed the film in question, "Vaxxed,"
This was the conversation:
NBC's Hoda Kotb: "The trailer includes the suggestion that a whistleblower spoke out from the CDC alleging the organization committed fraud, and knew that 'vaccines were actually causing autism.'"
A three second clip of Andrew Wakefield: "The CDC had known all along."
A slide with a quote from the film makers: "We have just witnessed yet another example of the power of corporate interests censoring free speech, art, truth.".
"And the festival says it doesn't seek to avoid or shy away from controversy, but there were 'concerns with certain things in this film that we feel prevent us from presenting it in the Festival program.'"
Other comments:
"Dr. Wakefield is an extremely controversial figure in this debate."
"Absolutely."
"It's a hot button issue with a lot of consequences as well."
Within 24 hours, Matt Lauer seems to have forgotten that the film he brought up is about charges of corruption and cover-up by a CDC whistleblower. This is the same place Bob Wright just said doesn't conduct legitimate safety testing on vaccines. Lauer could only bring up Wakefield's name.
It's interesting that Wright's comments about vaccines and autism were just a small part of this interview. He also talked about his work founding the world's leading autism advocacy group, Autism Speaks, and he described the struggle he and his wife have faced since her cancer diagnosis, yet the only thing in the headline was the denial of any line between vaccines and autism.
And it needs to be pointed out that Bob Wright was incorrect when he said that the Vaccine Court had not paid out for damages that included autism. It's simply not true.
In 2011, Pace University Law Review published the report called, "Unanswered Questions," that revealed that investigators had uncovered 83 cases where the federal government compensated cases for vaccine induced autism.
And no one seems to remember the news from 2008, when we learned that the DOJ and HHS conceded that Hannah Poling, a young girl from Georgia, developed autism as result of her vaccinations.
One has to wonder of the whole purpose of the interview with Bob Wright was to have him publicly declare that vaccines don't cause autism, in the face of heated charges of censorship in the cancelling of "Vaxxed" at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism.
Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism.
I am very sorry for the family. A pancreatic cancer diagnosis is like a death sentence today. I hope they are looking at some alternative doctors who have had a bit of success with cancer treatments, including treatments for pancreatic cancer. Unfortunately, one of the most successful, Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez, is no longer with us. He passed away shortly after Dr. Bradstreet was found in the river. Officially, he is stated to have died of a heart attack, although his autopsy is inconsistent with a heart attack. If it were me and I had the money, I would be searching high and low for an alternative doctor like Dr. Gonzalez. Hopefully there are still some that have managed to remain alive.
Posted by: Betty Bona | April 01, 2016 at 11:46 AM
another flip flop in a week.
Posted by: Not Surprised | April 01, 2016 at 11:42 AM
He didnt wimp out...it was intentional, Autism Speaks has ties to big pharma...
Posted by: Keith | April 01, 2016 at 08:36 AM
Yeah, those guys were Wright, all along they researched it better than we did. Let’s give up..thats what Bob wants to hear ..give up Bob we ain't started yet, all the criminal cases are still to come ...well worth living for..hang about...SIT BACK AND ENJOY
MMR RIP
Posted by: angusfiles | March 31, 2016 at 02:51 PM
The original title of the Wright book was a bit longer...
"Walking in Circles with Million Dollar Blue Balloons, the Endless Autism Speaks Search for the Autism Gene"
the decided the title has to be shorter...
Posted by: go Trump | March 31, 2016 at 01:55 PM
Mr. Wright qualified his answer to the question by saying no "definitive" proof. That's very different from the usual. He also volunteered that the US gov't pays out $100,000,000 a year to those injured by vaccines. He said that there are safety problems with vaccines and that vaccines are all the same and that people are all different.
While he did not come out and say that vaccines cause autism, this was no glowing endorsement for vaccines either.
Posted by: Linda1 | March 31, 2016 at 11:42 AM
My sympathies to the family at this difficult time. To Andrea's point, it does seem to be more common and certainly environmental factors would be the main factor. Having said that, I would think now might be the Wright time for Bob to speak a lot more strongly to this issue. He wimped out completely.
Posted by: Reader | March 31, 2016 at 10:14 AM
The spin is on. The MSM goal is to continually promote Vaxxed as a film bout Dr. Wakefield and of course the online line trolls are heavily using the trigger names of Wakefield and Jenny McCarthy. I advise everyone who runs across a comment that deliberates misleads to put in that comment the ABC video of Del Bigtree. Shut them down.
Posted by: Danchi | March 31, 2016 at 09:58 AM
Bob , man , c'mon . So dilute , its pathetic .
You know about Poul Thoresen ?
You know about William Thompson ?
You know they have the statistics to prove it TODAY .
All the evidence and proof is in .
Gerberding admitted it ?
Bernadine Healey NIH knew it . (a good woman)
STOP Bob .
Posted by: Hans Litten | March 31, 2016 at 06:30 AM
I don't know how that guy lives with himself. Considering his daugther's own views and vocal position about vaccines and autism research/treatment or lack of it.
Maybe facing and coping with a stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis with his wife might help him come clean in the future? Because he knows the truth. The whole idea vaccines can disable or kill but can't cause "autism" is stupid.
Katie- my heart goes out to you. We lost a beloved Uncle and a dear friend lost her sister to this horrible cancer in the last two years. Both wonderful people who were taken too young.
Pancreatic cancer seems like it is one of the most common cancers of late. What are people's thoughts on that? Our chemicalized diets? Vaccines role? What is driving it?
Posted by: Andrea | March 31, 2016 at 06:25 AM