While I don’t have the book they referenced, I have to ask if they looked at any of the top researchers included in Robert Kennedy’s book Thimerosal: Let the Science speak.  Did they really talk to the scientists who say vaccines aren’t safe? I personally know a number of the top experts who’ve conducted studies that raise serious concerns.

Did Roizen and Oz use the CDC’s 2004 MMR study as proof that the MMR is safe? One of the authors of that study, Dr. William Thompson, now says that this definitive research was a fraud. He and fellow scientists at the CDC were ordered to destroy evidence of a link between the MMR and autism.

What about all the research out of Denmark? If Roizen and Oz reviewed “every study,” they must have included the ones by Dr. Poul Thorsen. 

Thorsen supposedly exonerated vaccines (thimerosal) from a link to autism in his research, but as it turns out, he was also involved in defrauding the CDC of over a million dollars in research money. There’s a federal arrest warrant out on him. If Thorsen was one of the experts Roizen and Oz talked to, maybe they could let the feds know where he is currently. They would like to arrest him.

And it’s more than a little disingenuous for Roizen and Oz to claim that Kennedy’s $100,000 is just for proof that vaccines are safe. If they were interested in the truth, they’d have included this link. 

“The WMP will pay $100,000 to the first journalist, or other individual, who can find a peer-reviewed scientific study demonstrating that thimerosal is safe in the amounts contained in vaccines currently being administered to American children and pregnant women.”

Dr. Oz has been involved in this controversy for a long time.

In 2014, he interviewed Robert Kennedy and Dr. Mark Hyman about thimerosal in vaccines. I wrote about it for Age of Autism.

Video footage was shown that covered the history of thimerosal, a vaccine additive that's been around since the 1930s.  "A powerful preservative, it was originally added to make vaccines safer, preventing the growth of dangerous fungus and bacteria.  But in the 1990s, thimerosal came under fire, implicated as a possible cause in the skyrocketing rates of autism and other neurological disorders.  The reason?  Thimerosal contains a form of mercury--a potent neurotoxin.  The link between thimerosal and autism was ultimately discredited, but better safe than sorry, in 1999, the government and medical community agreed that thimerosal should reduced or cut from our vaccine supplies.  Since 2001, thimerosal has been eliminated from all vaccines in this country with the glaring exception of some flu shots. The EPA considers medical products containing thimerosal to be hazardous waste. So what is it still doing in your flu shot?"

Hyman: "It's a potent neurotoxin.  It's been linked to all sorts of neuro-developmental issues....  Any form of mercury is toxic.  There's no reason we should be putting it in our medical products. ...Our goal is to take it out of vaccines globally."

Oz then cited the statistic that "sixty-five percent of you have little trust in vaccines."  He said that this segment was about "restoring trust in vaccines." 

Oz had contacted the CDC to ask about "their role in taking thimerosal out of the multi-dose flu vaccines," ...and he gave their response: "The conclusion of the scientific community is clear that thimerosal-containing vaccines are safe and effective and do not represent a public health risk."

Kennedy however was adamant.  The CDC's response was not based on the science.  He had found 500 peer-reviewed studies and "virtually every one of them said that thimerosal is a potent neurotoxin that should not be in vaccines.

"We couldn't find a single, valid, plausible, scientific study that said that thimeorsal was safe.  So what we've said to CDC is, 'Show us the study.'   And they have not been able to show us the study."

Dr. Oz ended the show by advising his audience, "Pregnant women and babies and people over 65, you're at risk and you should ask for thimerosal-free vaccines, like the kind you find in a single dose."  For other people, he recommended the live virus nasal spray.

Oz is well-aware that Kennedy is focused on the use of mercury in vaccines. Three years ago he had him on his show, but in this Idaho Statesman article, it isn’t mentioned when he cited Kennedy.

If we go back further, we can find Oz very concerned about the exploding autism rate back in 2011.   In What Causes Autism, he said this.

Dr. Oz: “Every 15 minutes, a family hears a diagnosis they fear most: Your child is autistic. One in 110 children born in this country will have autism. Boys are hardest hit with a staggering one in 70. The big question: WHY?”

Watch the children in this video. They’re severe. No U.S. official has ever admitted a true increase in the autism rate, regardless of the dramatic leap in the rate.

So why aren’t the signs of autism even included in the “important issues” you should talk to your doctor about? How “staggering” is the current rate of one in 68/one in 42 boys to Dr. Oz?

Is Oz at all concerned that currently a child is diagnosed with autism every 11 minutes?

Finally, I’m stunned by Roizen and Oz’s suggestion at the end of the article:

“ If you win the prize, please make a donation jointly in our and your names to the American Academy of Pediatrics!”

NINE YEARS AGO Sharyl Attkisson reported on how much $$$$$ pharma gives the AAP.

The $100,000 offer from Kennedy and De Niro would be nothing to the AAP.

Attkisson said this:

CBS News has found these three have something more in common - strong financial ties to the industry whose products they promote and defend.

The vaccine industry gives millions to the Academy of Pediatrics for conferences, grants, medical education classes and even helped build their headquarters. The totals are kept secret, but public documents reveal bits and pieces.

• A $342,000 payment from Wyeth, maker of the pneumococcal vaccine - which makes $2 billion a year in sales.
• A $433,000 contribution from Merck, the same year the academy endorsed Merck's HPV vaccine - which made $1.5 billion a year in sales.
• Another top donor: Sanofi Aventis, maker of 17 vaccines and a new five-in-one combo shot just added to the childhood vaccine schedule last month.

The fact that Roizen and Oz say nothing about the massive web of money ties between the AAP and the vaccine makers is a good indication that all the studies they looked at to determine that vaccine are safe were done at the behest of the pharmaceutical industry.  

Spinning the truth and omitting the uncomfortable facts will not make this issue go away.

Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism.