Media Coverage and Vaccine Science
By Anne Dachel
Members of the press, please DON’T tell us about “THE SCIENCE ON VACCINES SAFETY”—There isn’t any!
As someone who’s waded through daily news stories on autism and on the controversial link to vaccines for well over ten years, let me tell you, nothing ever changes when the media reports on this. The tired mantra, “studies show no link,” or some version thereof, is always present, as if OFFICIAL STUDIES HAVE SETTLED THE DEBATE.
Members of the media retreat to the guys in the white coats waving the latest research to cover up their own failure as journalists. No mainstream reporter ever deviates from the standard storyline when they’re covering vaccines. There can never be even a hint that parents have something to worry about.
One only has to think back to George Stephanopoulos on ABC interviewing Dr. Andrew Wakefield in 2011. Stephanopoulos said that he’d read Wakefield’s book, Callous Disregard, yet he couldn’t cite a single statement that was in the book. All he did was repeat the claims from Brian Deer’s book.
Probably the worst example of media fraud on this issue was on CNN when Anderson Cooper talked to Wakefield, also in 2011. Cooper refused to address Wakefield as “Dr. Wakefield.” Instead he merely said, “Sir.” When Wakefield tried to defend himself against the charges Cooper was making by holding up a copy of his book, Cooper immediately cut him off saying, “I’m not here to let you pitch your book, I’m here to have you answer questions.” He went on to call Wakefield a liar: “But sir, if you’re lying, then you book is a lie. If your study is a lie, your book is a lie.” Every time Wakefield tried to present his side, Cooper cut him off.
Reporters love to bring up Wakefield’s name in their stories, blaming him for parents not vaccinating because of his fraudulent study; no one interviews him these days. No one wants his side in the news.
Corruption of the press is on my mind lately because of rather blunt comments from President Trump.
Recently Trump was interviewed by Fox News reporter Sean Hannity and the discussion was about the media.
Donald Trump:
“They’re very dishonest people. The media is very dishonest, I’ve been saying, I say it openly. …I get stories that are so false and so dishonest… It’s fake news, it’s fake. They make things up…. They’re the liars.”
Please understand that my life is so centered on what’s happening to the health of our children that I don’t have a lot of time to explode political questions, but as far as the press is concerned, Trump is absolutely right! (And this is not an endorsement of his economic, foreign, or domestic policies.)
After years and years of watching news coverage and reading endless stories, posting thousands of comments, and writing hundreds of articles, I know full well that the press is corrupt. They write what they’re told. They set up the phony scenario: cite the studies, interview pro-vaccine experts, slam vaccine skeptical parents, trivialize autism.
All I had to do was look at the last couple weeks to prove my point. There were dozens of stories to choose from, and I picked five.
Jan 26, USA Today
John J. Pitney, Jr.: Trump’s fake science could be lethal
“Trump’s science denial is especially troubling when it comes to autism. For years, he has propounded a discredited theory about the origins of the condition. In 2007, he said: ‘When I was growing up, autism wasn't really a factor. And now all of a sudden, it's an epidemic. Everybody has their theory, and my theory is the shots. They're getting these massive injections at one time. I think it's the vaccinations.’
“Study after study has disproved any connection between vaccines and autism. Scientists are still studying the roots of autism, and many possibilities remain, but vaccinations are the one purported cause that they have definitively ruled out.”
Jan 26, Washington Post
Joel Achenbach: The nation’s top scientists can’t get through to Trump — and they’re alarmed
Leaders of several of the nation's top science organizations say they've been shunned by the Trump administration and are alarmed by signs that the administration will muzzle government researchers and reject the scientific evidence that informs such critical issues as vaccine safety and climate change….
Earlier this month Trump met with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., after which Kennedy, an ardent promoter of the discredited notion that vaccines cause autism, said Trump asked him to chair a presidential commission on vaccine safety and scientific integrity. The Trump transition team quickly said no decision has been made about such a commission. But Trump has also promoted the discredited vaccine-autism link.
Jan 26, Los Angeles Times Michael Hiltzik: Trump is at war with science and knowledge, and that should terrify you “He also has given credence to a decisively debunked link between childhood vaccines and autism, …”
“ A White House panel that questions vaccine safety and attacks immunization standards set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control—a possibility raised last week in meetings with incoming president Donald Trump—could actually lead to increased disease outbreaks. Environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who suggests inoculations are linked to autism, met last week with Trump to discuss a panel to examine what Kennedy called ‘vaccine safety and scientific integrity.’ Although the autism–vaccine claim has been studied and debunked, the president-elect has also suggested a connection. His team later hedged about the panel, saying that nothing had been decided. (Kennedy’s office declined an interview request.) Nevertheless, public health experts and autism advocates are deeply worried that an effort with presidential backing could undermine public confidence in vaccines and trigger epidemics of all-but-eradicated diseases.
“‘We have dozens of studies examining autism and vaccines, and they don’t show a link,’ says Alison Singer, president of the Autism Science Foundation, a nonprofit that supports autism research.
Jan 16, Chicago Tribune
Laurie Garrett: Donald Trump and the anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorists
“Things are getting down and dirty now. And millions of lives are at stake. I cannot possibly state strongly enough how dangerous it is that President-elect Donald Trump has embraced the notion that vaccination is the cause of autism.
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a celebrated vaccine skeptic, met with Trump on Jan. 10. Speaking to reporters outside Trump Tower in Manhattan after the meeting, Kennedy said he will chair a commission ‘on vaccine safety and scientific integrity’ at Trump’s request, because, ‘we ought to be debating the science.’…
Kennedy has long held the position that vaccines are dangerous, and that the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine administered to American children is a likely cause of autism. Like any good conspiracy theorist, Trump has long questioned the wisdom of vaccines. On Oct. 22, 2012, he tweeted that vaccines constitute “doctor-inflicted autism.”…
“…Kennedy claims the mercury is still used as a preservative and causes brain damage. But the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Food and Drug Administration removed thimerosal, the preservative in question, from vaccines and it has not been used in MMR since 1999. “
Jan 16, Sacramento Bee
Karin Klein:How scientific fraud about vaccines sows seeds of long-lived doubt
“I talked vaccines with Robert Kennedy Jr. a couple of years ago, when the Legislature was considering Senate Bill 277, which made vaccines mandatory for almost all school-age children. Kennedy was putting on rallies in Sacramento and showing his anti-vaccine movie; I’d been told by a mutual friend that he could explain the real scientific concerns.
“Not really, as it turned out. Instead of bringing up previously unexamined concerns about the safety of vaccines, Kennedy homed in on one of the most ancient. He wanted to talk about what he contends is the link between autism and thimerosal, the preservative that used to be added to many routine childhood vaccinations.
“Let’s ignore for a moment the mountains of high-quality studies that have discredited the autism-vaccine shibboleth and focus instead on the words ‘used to.’ Thimerosal was removed or reduced to trace amounts in children’s vaccines some 15 years ago. It’s still present in multi-dose flu vaccines, but getting a single-dose shot is easy enough….
“Trump already has an entire agency – the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – that studies and studies and studies vaccine safety. Vaccines undergo regulatory safety regulations so tight, they make the approval of regular prescription drugs look like a waltz in the free market.”
Notice that these stories attack Robert Kennedy without showing any interest in why scientific integrity is in question at the CDC.
John Pitney, Joel Achenbach, Michael Hiltzik, Laurie Garrett, and Karin Klein don’t really cover the issue. Their stories simply defend the safety of vaccines, no questions asked. They’re going after Kennedy the same way the press demonizes Andrew Wakefield.
Pitney cited“study after study” without, I’m sure, ever having looked at a single one or asked about the role of the vaccine industry in the research.
Achenbach reported that “several of the nation’s top science organizations…are alarmed” over Kennedy’s commission on vaccine safety. What Achenbach will never do is investigate the money ties between those organizations and the pharmaceutical industry.
Hiltzik warned that if Kennedy’s panel looks into the CDC’s immunization standards, it could “undermine public confidence in vaccines and trigger epidemics…” According to Hiltzik the science is in, and we dare not even look into the issue.
Laurie Garrett at the Chicago Tribune is the most glaring example of the incompetence of the press. She has no idea of the real issues here and makes the absurd claim that mercury “has not been used in the MMR since 1999,” when it was never in the MMR in the first place!
Klein defended injecting mercury into children as safe, and relied on the authority of the CDC that “studies and studies and studies vaccine safety,” seemingly unconcerned that the agency that approves, recommends, and vigorously promotes vaccines is also in charge of vaccine safety.
She said she’d talked about this issue with Kennedy a couple of years ago, but it seems she wasn’t really listening. In his scathing attacks on the CDC, he has long made it clear that their main interest is profit for the vaccine makers, not the health and safety of our children. The money ties between this agency and the companies they regulate are vast. Klein is willing to close her eyes to the fact that in Kennedy’s words, the CDC “is a vaccine company” because they hold the patents on over 20 vaccines.
No reporter will ever discuss the power and influence the pharmaceutical industry has over our health officials (and the media for that matter). Pharma long ago bought the regulators and the press.
ANY HONEST COVERAGE would open the door to the possibility that through total oversight failure and corruption, we are now looking at the systematic poisoning of a generation of children through the mandated vaccine program.
The only real defense experts, officials and reporters have is “the studies”—they are often referenced as conclusive proof that disproves any link between vaccines and autism. No one ever looks into the easily flawed and easily manipulated findings of the endless population studies.
NOTE TO THE PRESS: The public isn’t buying it. We know the science was rigged and the findings were fixed. We have a whistleblower from inside the CDC, Dr. William Thompson, and he says his agency lied. They destroyed data that showed a link between the MMR and autism.
Parents also know about research of Dr. Poul Thorsen in Denmark. He’s currently under indictment by the U.S. government for 22 counts of wire fraud and money laundering. He is alleged to have stolen more than $1 million from a CDC grant to Denmark. His study on thimerosal and autism was the science used by the 2004 Institute of Medicine panel to dismiss a connection between vaccines and autism.
Parents have heard all about how medical experts from HHS conceded the claim of vaccine-induced autism in the case of Hannah Poling back in 2008, as well as more than 80 injury claims that included autism and were compensated by the federal Vaccine Court.
They know about the conflicts of interest waivers that are rampant at the CDC because those regulating vaccines are also getting money from the vaccine makers.
You either haven’t educated yourselves on all the slimy facts involved in the vaccine safety debate, or you know and you willingly cover them up.
Either way, after two decade of failing to honestly report on a subject so vital to the our children’s health, NO ONE IS LISTENING TO YOU.
Dr. James Lyons Weiler reports on fake news and censorship in Fake Science: When is Medical “Science” Not Science?
Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism.
Has anyone seen a chart showing the amount of vaccines given in every country, and the countries rates of autism? Are there any countries left that don't vaccinate? If there is, what are there rates of autism? Zero would be my guess. The anecdotal stories and evidence is so overwhelming of the link between vaccines and autism (not to mention the links to SIDS, allergies, brain damage, etc.) that those reporters look like total idiots, as does the media in general. I just read the new study out of Italy that examined vaccine contamination, some of which include lead. Here is the link: http://info.cmsri.org/the-driven-researcher-blog/dirty-vaccines-new-study-reveals-prevalence-of-contaminants?utm_campaign=Vaccine%20Dangers%20brochure&utm_content=41719381&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook You probably have to copy and paste.
One tactic the media, pharma, etc do is discredit the link between vaccines and autism, and then generalize that, saying since they don't cause autism, they are safe and effective. Never mind that they cause death and brain damage (which of course leads to autism).
I'm hoping Trump forms that commission with Kennedy leading it. And hope that he totally reorganizes the CDC and FDA. Would be really great if he made the Nuremberg Code a federal law in the U.S.
Posted by: Tony | February 03, 2017 at 01:25 AM
Aimee,
"I'll conclude with the observation that the neurodiversity movement has done a lot to hurt our cause (witness the membership on the IACC)"
As we know, it's not just IACC membership, the neurodiversity movement has infested and infected every single autism organisation worldwide. Take this talk by Professor Andrew Whitehouse, Senior Principal Research Fellow at the Telethon Kids Institute for Child Health Research, obviously fearful that if he doesn't make his position crystal clear there will be backlash from the neurodiverse:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6fbjp9Zw8s
@13.48
"I need to say this out loud, I don't want to cure autism. People with autism have so many different strengths and wonders they can bring to this world. What we want to do is to reduce the disability associated with autism"....."Again, we're not trying to cure autism, we're trying to reduce the long term disability".
And guess who was the very first speaker to take the stage at the All In VAC2016 (Victoria Autism Conference)?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_89urMU9F1c
He was accompanied by self advocates - Chris Varney and Jeanette Purkis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1HQKB2txgY
Autism - How My Unstoppable Mother Proved the Experts Wrong <\b>
"Autism provides children with incredible gifts in memory, focus, detail and visual perception"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR4jli5KddQ
Guest Speaker Jeanette Purkis ACT Chief Minister's Inclusion Awards
From her TEDx talk '
Disability, Resilience and Achieving the Supposedly Impossible' Jeanette Purkis says:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqdGb4TraFk
"People on the autism spectrum are amazing! We can do anything. We can do what people without autism do and we sometimes do it even better. " <\b>
Seriously?!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO1W7iXTSQE
A Day in the Life of a Child with Autism at The ELIJA School
I don't know how we can go about combatting the "autism is a gift" message disseminated by those at the mild end of the Asperger's spectrum with university degrees, jobs, friends, and bright futures ahead of them but someone should point out that these outspoken Aspies are at the very tip of the ASD iceberg and have no business speaking for people on the rest of the spectrum who are struggling at or below water-level. It's like people who need to use glasses to read small print telling an audience that everyone on the visually-impaired spectrum can see, they just see differently, so preventing or finding a cure for blindness is unnecessary.
Someone really should investigate Ari Ne'eman and his Autistic Self-Advocacy Network - "Nothing About Us Without Us" - organisation which insisted on identity-first language and blurred the lines between Autistic Disorder and Asperger's Syndrome. In Neurotribes, and elsewhere, Ne'eman's mother is simply referred to as a paratrooper in the Israeli army, but Rina Ne'eman is an interpreter and founded Hebrew Language Services. She interpreted for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and for other high-profile Israeli politicians such as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. "So" as Jake Crosby wrote in
Keeping Autism Neurodiversity Out of the White House (AoA
December 18, 2009), "it should not be surprising that such a connection would lead to Ari having a foothold in our government".
What would a twenty-one year old born in 1987 at the beginning of the epidemic know about Autistic Disorder or Childhood Disintegrative Disorder? This man is a menace:
"After congress failed to pass Kevin and Avonte’s Law, Ari Ne'eman wrote an editorial claiming that wandering behavior among autistics was caused by physical and sexual abuse." (Wiki)
Obviously, he knows nothing about autism, or raising a child with (or without) autism. Neuordiversity advocates really should be made to spend a year working with children and adults at the lowest end of the spectrum before they write their books and spout their nonsense at autism conferences.
Rina Ne'eman:
http://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/found-in-translation/
Posted by: ATSC | February 01, 2017 at 10:28 PM
Carolyn Coglin, All --
Clarification: google "Niel Z Miller AAPS Winter 2016 Aluminum in Childhood Vaccines Unsafe"
Combined with children getting every-year Flu Shots having Thimerosal, before birth their mothers also having the flu shot loaded with Thimerosal, and with inexorable poisoning by the repeated doses of Aluminum neurotoxic adjuvants in the other vaccines, there seems no chance whatsoever to stop the Vaccine Holocaust.
Posted by: david m burd | January 31, 2017 at 01:47 PM
Carolyn Coglin,
The flu vaccine, even for 6-month babies, again 4 weeks later, still has 12.5 micrograms of EtHg (ethylmercury), again at 18 months, again at 24 months; thence 25 micrograms when over 3 years of age. The CDC forever lies about this as proven by Vaccine Manufacturers distribution documents.
As Neil Z. Miller published last fall in the AAPS Journal, more than ever neurotoxic Aluminum adjuvants are now more than ever in child vaccines.
Please 'google' his name and "aluminum adjuvants in vaccines are unsafe" - it is chilling paper, documented by many listed references.
My contention is the Vaccine Schedule for our babies is more destructive than ever. RFK, Jr. MUST get attention by the media, and I pray he will.
Posted by: david m burd | January 31, 2017 at 10:48 AM
One thing that gets me --even though mercury is out of some vaccines great damage was done to so many children and we deserve that to be acknowledged. We deserve them to grovel and learn from their lies of that time. Even if autism stopped being caused tomorrow that is better than now but gets no one off the hook. All this suffering we must learn from. Hubris greed and an amazing lack of compassion and willful refusal to #hearus or even the whistleblower .
Posted by: Carolyn Coglin | January 31, 2017 at 02:30 AM
You hit the nail on the head Aimee, big Pharma and their billions of dollars are the driving force of vaccine carnage. Thanks to Ken Frazier, CEO of Merck, and his band of paid off doctors, politicians, and media, babies are poisoned each and every day in America by their pediatricians.
The thing is they're damaging so many kids now, in such an indiscriminate way, that it's starting to catch up with them. Important people (and not so important people), are losing their kids and grandkids to permanent and preventative disabilities. This sham will topple, unfortunately it's too late for my son.
Posted by: kws | January 30, 2017 at 10:43 PM
Bill, the one and only thing you need to know is this:
Rates of paralysis have increased since the polio vaccine.
Yes. Increased.
Once you realise that that part of the vaccine propaganda is a lie (for both developed and the developing world) then it is easy to understand that it is all abject nonsense.
The question remains though. How? How is it that all the official data shows a fall in polio, diptheria, measles etc after their vaccines are introduced? Is it some massive conspiratorial concoction?
Well no.
Far more boring than that.
It is instead nothing more than a self-fulfilling prophecy. And one so obvious that you will kick yourself for missing.
You see, doctors *differentially diagnose on the basis of vaccine status*. So if little Johnny has a rash but is not vaccinated then they have measles. But if Johnny has a rash but is up to date on all his vaccines, most doctors are very reluctant (except perhaps in a widely publicised 'outbreak') to diagnose measles (they will call it things like roseola or fifth disease etc).
So polio, measles, pertussis, diphtheria have not fallen *at all*. Inasmuch as they appear to have fallen it is because, and only because, they have been renamed.
To be fair, there is another aspect of the self-fulfilling prophecy. Before the vaccine is introduced, we typically only diagnosed on clinical grounds (ie symptoms) whereas today we will typically make a diagnose jump through far more hoops (eg lab testing) before a supposed vaccine preventable disease can be diagnosed. For example, doctors are forbidden from diagnosing polio at all. They can suspect it but are not allowed to diagnose it.
Think about that. We have seen a massive fall in polio diagnoses. And doctors aren't allowed to diagnose polio. And amazingly, not one person in a 1000 can see the extent of the fraud here. Even most non-vaxxers have a hard time comprehending the fact (which can be shown using irrefutable logic) that every single vaccine - bar none - is completely worthless.
Posted by: rtp | January 30, 2017 at 07:07 PM
@Bob
I absolutely agree with you that failure to confront the vaccine-autism issue is bipartisan. Both parties do deserve our wrath (and not our votes). It's hard, though, to find a senator or representative anywhere to vote for who will take on this issue.
However, I think the neurodiverse - who've co-opted a number of autism organizations (even Autism Speaks isn't looking for a cure anymore), taken over the Combating Autism Act (now known as "Autism Cares Act"), provide the autism voice on the President's Disability Council (although I'm not sure who's replacing Ari Ne'eman), dominate the public membership on IACC - have stolen the thunder from our issue. And we should hold them to account and demand our voice be heard too. There's a difference between "difference" and "disability." Only the very highest functioning autistic individuals could argue that autism a "gift" and even those individuals seem to be deficient in empathy. We should take our anger and wrest back control of the shiny happy autism story narrative.
I'm just saying all this anger toward the media and the Democrats could be spread out a little more, and our energy could possibly be more effectively targeted. Republicans are in charge in Congress now - direct our advocacy toward them - force hearings.
Posted by: Aimee Doyle | January 30, 2017 at 04:40 PM
Here is a good one for your list, another Forbes shill who is either incompetent, or intentionally misleading the readers.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/geoffreykabat/2017/01/30/science-under-threat/#3e0caad22e9c
"This knowledge stems from studies involving hundreds of thousands of children that show no link between vaccines and autism.
On this question, there is virtually no dissent within the scientific or regulatory communities. Public distrust of vaccines is largely the result of paper published in 1998 by the British physician, Andrew Wakefield, "
Lol, there is virtually no dissent. Except the numerous studies done by scientists, you know, people in the scientific community, that do show a link. It's Wakefields fault that people distrust vaccines? I thought it was the confessions of the CDC whistleblower or the testimony of the thousands of parents of damaged children. Lets see what other disturbing nonsense this guy spews.
"the need for a new panel to review the evidence is mystifying. "
The need to repeatedly lie throughout an article would be even more mystifying I would think.
"If Trump chooses to disregard the clear lessons from the hard-won battle against childhood infectious diseases, how can we expect him to take seriously challenging issues,"
So let me try to understand. Interpreting Shill speak is proving to be quite difficult. Up is down.
Is this person trying to say that looking at vaccine safety means Trump is disregarding all infectious disease science and is a "threat" to the very foundation of scientific integrity? I am starting to think that maybe these Forbes contributors should apply for a refund on their degrees. Some friendly advice would be to steer clear of the field of science if you lack even the most basic analytical skills.
Posted by: ForbesisthenewMadmag | January 30, 2017 at 03:21 PM
Thank you Aimee!
Posted by: L Land | January 30, 2017 at 02:37 PM
Bill,
I just typed in Allison Singer in the little box in the right hand margin, left it checked to look only for articles published at Age of Autism, and got several hits. Here's one. J.B. Handley wrote a lot of funny articles about her six or seven years ago.
http://www.ageofautism.com/2010/05/autism-science-foundations-alison-singer-in-her-own-worlds.html
Posted by: ciaparker | January 30, 2017 at 02:34 PM
@ Aimee
"However, we haven't exhibited the same kind of fury toward the Republicans on this issue and I wonder why."
In my humble opinion .. I believe the failure of U.S. government public health bureaucracies .. HHS, CDC, FDA, etc. .. to protect our children from the onslaught on an ever-increasing number of vaccines .. IS .. and .. has ALWAYS been .. a bi-partisan failure .. as BOTH parties have willingly participated .. and .. profited from what President Trump rightly describes as a "SWAMP THAT DESPERATELY NEEDS DRAINING"
I have come to believe the pharmaceutical-vaccine industries really do not care who sits in the Oval Office .. their true purpose of lavishing lucrative campaign contributions to BOTH parties .. as a payback for their campaign money .. is to exercise control over WHO is appointed to head those public health bureaucracies .. the HHS, CDC, FDA, etc .. for the next four years of a President's term in office.
You are right .. BOTH parties have failed us .. which is why the BI-PARTISAN SWAMP MUST BE DRAINED.
Posted by: Bob Moffit | January 30, 2017 at 01:33 PM
Bill, maybe you already started searching Alison Singer, but here is just one point along the way. http://www.ageofautism.com/2011/02/alison-singer-autism-mom-pharma-wife.html
Posted by: michael | January 30, 2017 at 12:59 PM
Anne , you wrote: "NO ONE IS LISTENING TO YOU", meaning the general public is not listening to the "media-military-pharmaceutical-industril-political complex". Yeah, I get what you mean, and I think most folks here do, too. But Anne, you know as well as I do, that many Americans DO still believe the "party line" about vaxxing kids. Also, Anne, you mention Alison Singer, and the Autism Science Foundation. Do I have to go do my own research, or could you say something about them? I'm really kinda' "agnostic", or "on the fence" about vaccines. I still think that *some* vaccines, *sometimes*, for *some* folks, *might* be a good idea. But do you see how many qualifiers I had to use there? I'm 100% convinced that the medical science is crooked and corrupt, and that both "medical mafia", and "medical fascism", are appropriate labels to use. Perhaps you could also point out that ALL major media in America is owned by only *6* Corporations? I share President Trump's concerns for both vaccine safety, and FAKE NEWS. So, *THANK-YOU*, Anne Dachel~ ~B./
Posted by: Bill | January 30, 2017 at 10:50 AM
Just last week I watched a report on CNN from our old pal Dr Liz Cohen (of #hearthiswell fame) about the high incidence of mumps outbreaks; no mention what so ever of the fact that the mumps vaccines is under litigation. Dr Choen did however report that the disease may be transmitted via people traveling from other countries. Trumps travel bans and the ensuing protests are all the rage in the media this week. I wonder what the media coverage would be like if he stated that he was just making sure travelers were up to date on their vaccines?
I believe the big march in defense of science is April 29th if I'm remembering correctly. Maybe Dr Thompson could be on of the speakers. One can dream.
Posted by: annie | January 30, 2017 at 09:49 AM
I've been reading AoA for a decade now. My journey with autism has lasted 20+ years. My son is profoundly impaired. We're mad as heck and we should be. But - some observations from my time in the trenches. And for the record, I've been a political independent most of my voting life.
We have blamed the media for not investigating or reporting honestly on the vaccine issue. That's appropriate - the media has failed us horribly. We have blasted liberals in general, Democrats in particular, and President Obama and Hillary Clinton specifically for pushing vaccine policies in the name of public health. I get that - liberal policies and positions on the vaccine issue are atrocious. We have blasted the medical profession and the medical associations for turning a blind eye to the carnage that vaccines have created. I agree. I am profoundly disappointed in the way the medical profession has failed our kids.
However, we haven't exhibited the same kind of fury toward the Republicans on this issue and I wonder why. Since Dan Burton, there has been a resounding silence. In Congress Bill Posey has done squat for the last couple of years...he has made the documents available, but near as I can tell, that's all he's done. The Government Oversight Committee (chaired by Republicans, with a Republican majority) has not held hearings. Generally, the House of Representatives, which has consistently had a Republican majority, has done nothing on this issue. Senate Republicans have similarly been silent even when they've been in the majority. President Bush made promises but didn't do anything for autism. I think the failure to act on the vaccine issue is just as reprehensible as the mindless pro-vaccine push. Republicans on this list - what has been the response when you've contacted your reps and senators on this matter? There's power in Congress to do something about this...why hasn't anything happened?
Finally, I am baffled as to why we aren't protesting Pharma big time. Pharma is the puppetmaster - it makes the vaccines, falsifies the clinical trials, buys the media, buys the doctors, buys Congress...how about some more righteous anger toward Pharma and some genuine strategy toward dealing with that kind of power and monopoly?
And I'll conclude with the observation that the neurodiversity movement has done a lot to hurt our cause (witness the membership on the IACC) - how about some ire directed in that direction? What is our strategy with respect to combating the neurodiversity position that autism is genetic - and their stance that in any event, it's a "gift."
Posted by: Aimee Doyle | January 30, 2017 at 09:07 AM
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38769697
THE BBC SAYS THIS :
Mercury is one of the world's most toxic metals, and according to the World Health Organization, is one of the top ten threats to public health. The substance at high levels has been linked to damage to the nervous system, paralysis and mental impairment in children.
But the Flu vaccine containing mercury is ok according to these BBC THIEVES <
Posted by: Hans Litten | January 30, 2017 at 07:49 AM
http://www.healthnutnews.com/video-trump-warns-flu-shots-greatest-scam-medical-history/
Trump Warns Flu Shots Are The Greatest ‘Scam’ In Medical History
Posted by: Hans Litten | January 30, 2017 at 07:38 AM
Corruption is the inability to investigate fraud. At present the the US news media is much the same as the old Soviet Union.
What we have is a bit of a "fraud, felons and all their friends" program which has been working pretty well for the elites for the past 25 years.
All that changed on January 20th.
It would be great if Trump and Putin got together and tried to figure out WHY the Russian Autism rates are now 100 times lower than the US of A.
Posted by: go Trump | January 30, 2017 at 07:11 AM
At the end of the day .... it is the scientists, public health officials, media, academia, AMA, AAP, etc .. THEMSELVES .. that should be clamoring for the creation of a "commission to study vaccine safety and scientific integrity" .. after all .. THEY insist THEY have overwhelming scientific evidence proving vaccines are "safe and effective".
I cannot help but wonder .. why are these people ... so desperate to avoid creating a commission that would PROVE their scientific evidence will stand the heat of the commission's scientific inquiry?
After all .. if the commission eventually concludes vaccines are .. indeed .. safe and effective .. the commission will have served to restore the public's dwindling confidence in our public health bureaucracies .. and .. our media .. as the reputations of both surely need rehabilitation in the public square.
Posted by: Bob Moffit | January 30, 2017 at 06:40 AM