Age of Autism Exclusives

Editorials from Laura Hayes:

The Microbiome Series by Teresa Conrick

An Elaborate Fraud Series: Brian Deer, BMJ, Murdoch, Dr. Andrew Wakefield

An Elaborate Fraud, Part 1: In Which a Murdoch Reporter Deceives the Mother of a Severely Autistic Child
An Elaborate Fraud, Part 2: In Which a Murdoch Newspaper’s Deceptive Tactics Infect the British Medical Journal
An Elaborate Fraud, Part 3: In Which the Mother of Two Autistic Children Demands Accountability From the British Medical Journal
An Elaborate Fraud, Part 4: News Analysis -- The British Medical Association Is “Standing Up for Doctors” Even If It Means Attacking Patient
An Elaborate Fraud, Part 5: In Which Brian Deer Defends His Reporting and Accuses Autism Parents of a Conspiracy
An Elaborate Fraud, Part 6: In Which “Blagging” is Discredited as a Journalistic Tactic, Unless the British Medical Journal Publishes It
An Elaborate Fraud Series Part 7: In Which the BMJ’s Prime Example of Wakefield’s Alleged Misconduct Proves Flagrantly False
An Elaborate Fraud, Part 8: In Which The British Medical Journal Tries to Debunk a Clear-Cut Case of Regressive Autism

An Elaborate Fraud, Part 9: in Which the BMJ's Fraud Claim Collapses -- and No One Hears It Fall Blanket Lancet

Special Report: What Do Epidemiological Studies Really Tell Us?

A NOTE FROM SAFEMINDS:

There are 16 epidemiological studies here on MMR vaccines, thimerosal and autism. These studies represent the most often cited papers by scientists, public health officials and members of the media when trying to refute any evidence of an association between vaccinations and autism.

There are serious methodological limitations, design flaws, conflicts of interest or other problems related to each of these 16 studies. These flaws have been pointed out by government officials, other researchers, medical review panels and even the authors of the studies themselves. Taken together, the limitations of these studies make it impossible to conclude that thimerosal and MMR vaccines are not associated with autism.

SafeMinds would like to acknowledge the previous work in this regard gathered by the "Fourteen Studies project at Generation Rescue.

One additional study on autism and thimerosal was published in September 2010 while this paper was in completed draft form. This study’s methods produced a result that demonstrated that thimerosal exposure was protective against autism. Further analysis of this study is forthcoming but not included here. Read the 3 part series below:

Mercury Rising

From Safety Last to Children First

The great autism gene hunt

Follow the money

Animal models of vaccine injury

CDC and autism

Paradigm wars