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October 30, 2007 at 12:45:37

Parents Versus Big Pharma, The Autism Battle Rages On

by Anthony Wade     Page 1 of 1 page(s)

http://www.opednews.com


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October 29, 2007

 

The facts are easy to understand. Decades ago we had one autistic birth in every 2000. Today we have one in every 150. That is a frightening increase that quite simply, must have a cause. It is not believable to have occurred from random chance or normal progression. There seem to be three sides on the causation argument. Group one says that the increase is traceable to mercury based preservatives that were implemented by companies’ right before the autism explosion started. The second group says that there is no such causation relationship, vaccines are safe, and we should spend more time worrying about early detection and services for the autistic child then trying to find out why. The last group admits that they simply do not know enough yet.

 

The first group contains a great deal of parents of autistic children, who rightly want to know why their children fell into this extreme spike in autism. They have been a true grassroots effort, trying to find out the dark secrets in corporate America for years. They eventually received some much needed public clout when Robert Kennedy wrote this piece in 2005:

 

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/7395411/deadly_immunity/

 

While some minor errors have been discovered in this article since it ran over two years ago (see bottom of Deadly Immunity), they were minimal and not damaging to the main points it contained. Without rehashing the entire article, the essential thrust is that it seems our government was more concerned about damage control and protecting the interests of corporate vaccine makers than in safeguarding the children of America. Tough rhetoric? Too bad. One cannot read the Kennedy piece and not feel outraged while digesting the history of mercury based vaccines and the carnage they may have wrought on generations of children. This is of course assuming that the causation can be proven. Pro-vaccine crowds will clamor that mercury was no longer used after 2001, yet autism rates have not declined. If so, I would like to hear from all sides how that fits in with the perception of vaccines as the bad guys.

 

What I do not need to hear anymore are the voices of those with a clear interest in downplaying the vaccine connection telling me to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. These are the primary people in group two. They consist of “scientists” and medical practitioners who primarily wish to defend vaccines and corporate spokespersons who wish to defend their companies from the threats of legal action. We saw another fluff piece come out this week in the Wall Street Journal, which has always sided with the machinery: 

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119344390330373531.html

 

Dr. Brown tells a heart wrenching tale about watching a seven year old girl die from chickenpox and how she “vowed never to let a child on my watch suffer from a disease that was preventable by vaccination.” How terribly noble and of course completely irrelevant to this discussion. The issue has never been to do away with vaccinations, just the horrific poisons placed in them by companies looking to save some money. Dr. Brown goes on to defend the vaccination industry by telling us all the benefits of vaccines. Since she is an educated woman, I will assume that Dr. Brown realizes that her argument is a strawman; and a most vile strawman at that. What is at issue is not the efficacy of vaccines but the decision made by vaccine companies to use a preservative based on mercury; which is one of the most deadliest toxins known to man. They chose to use this preservative so they could mass produce the vaccines and increase profits dramatically. When the parents of autistic children started putting the pieces together, those same companies decided to stop using these mercury based preservatives even though they insist on their safety. Dr. Brown goes on to trash a book by Jenny McCarthy, who actually is a mother of an autistic child. She splits hairs over what may have been two errors found in the entire book and thus makes a case to dismiss her entire account. She even mocks her at one point claiming she has a “medical degree from the University of Google.” This is a common tactic of the voices in group two. Dismiss opponents as wrong and mock them as stupid because they are not part of the very medical establishment they claim is trying to cover up the autism scandal. Of course Jenny McCarthy did not write a book claiming to be a doctor. Her book is entitled, “Louder Than Words: A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism.” It seems the good doctor missed the point. Perhaps that is because while she is a parent, she is not a parent of an autistic child. Maybe if she was, she would be more understanding of the harrowing journey to which Ms. McCarthy speaks. Perhaps she would understand that maybe cute sound bites, poor strawmen, and stupid derision are not the best way to handle this situation. Perhaps she would be defending the parents and not the vaccine companies. Dr. Brown claims that it is the vaccination program that is under attack but she knows better. Somewhere in medical school she must have learned English. It is not the vaccination program under attack by group one. It is the poison the vaccine producers used to increase their profits that are under attack. So all disingenuous distractions aside, let’s try and stay on point.

 

That leaves group three, of which I am a part of. It may seem that I have commiserated more with group one and that is probably true. I look at who is doing the talking and see that the majority of people in group one are concerned parents who have autistic children and have a right to know the truth. Unfortunately the majority of people in group two have a vested interest in disproving the mercury-autism link. They are like Dr. Brown who works within the very establishment that is being accused of the link. They also come off as Dr. Brown comes off. They sound disingenuous and dismissive. They sound arrogant and insincere; making arguments where there are none to try and distract from the simple facts. Those facts remain that decades ago we had one autistic birth in every 2000 and today we have one in every 150. While prevention and treatment are crucial, I would still like to know what caused this spike. We owe that to generations of parents who fight as Jenny McCarthy fights; for the truth. I do not know if Jenny McCarthy and the parents in group one are right but their plight seems more genuine when the shrill voices in group two try to create distractions instead of dealing with the facts.

 

Anthony Wade, a contributing writer to opednews.com, is dedicated to educating the populace to the lies and abuses of the government. He is a 40-year-old independent writer from New York with political commentary articles seen on multiple websites. A Christian progressive and professional Rehabilitation Counselor working with the poor and disabled, Mr. Wade believes that you can have faith and hold elected officials accountable for lies and excess.


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9 comments

None
josephNone

Inaccuracies

"They [group 2] consist of “scientists” and medical practitioners who primarily wish to defend vaccines and corporate spokespersons who wish to defend their companies from the threats of legal action."

Group 2 or something close to it also consists of concerned parents. Furthermore, what's this about putting the word scientists in quotes? Are you suggesting that scientists are not really scientists? That would be a serious charge that needs better support than baseless inuendo.

Additionally, the RFK Jr. article you refer to hasn't been found to have "minor errors." It has been thoroughly shown to be nothing but an irresponsible scare piece full of conspiracist ideas. See this:

http://skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/2005/06/robert_f_kenned.html

 

by joseph (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments) on Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 2:47:17 PM
 


Wisconsin writer, father of two, activist
HeraldblogWisconsin writer, father of two, activist

More inaccuracies

If you had done even a little bit of research, you would know Dr. Ian Brown is a woman.

  

by Heraldblog (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 25 comments) on Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 2:53:48 PM
 


Anthony Wade, a contributing writer to opednews.com, is dedicated to educating the populace to the lies and abuses of the government. He is a 40-year-old independent writer from New York with political commentary articles seen on multiple websites. A Christian progressive and professional Rehabilitation Counselor working with the poor and disabled, Mr. Wade believes that you can have faith and hold elected officials accountable for lies and excess. Anthony Wade?s Archive: http://www.opednews.com...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Anthony WadeAnthony Wade, a contributing writer to opednews.com, is dedicated to educating the populace to the lies and abuses of the government. He is a 40-year-old independent writer from New York with political commentary articles seen on multiple websites. A Christian progressive and professional Rehabilitation Counselor working with the poor and disabled, Mr. Wade believes that you can have faith and hold elected officials accountable for lies and excess. Anthony Wade?s Archive: http://www.opednews.com...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Hysterical

First of all, thanks for pointing out the gender. I assumed man when i saw Ian, my mistake. Of course that has nothing to do with the point.

As for the first guy, with all of 2 comments. The sarcasm of putting scientists in quotes was lost on you. Have someone explain it to you. It was not to infer they are not scientists, but rather to highlight them. Yesterday's science is todays old wives tales.

As for your debunking in the blog, i will instead refer you to the respsonse from Salon:

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/7483530/kennedy_report_sparks_controversy

Of course you missed the point, which i know was intentional. Your obvious attempts to defend the industry at any cost reveals you for the shill that you are.

The point stands, this doctor wrote an article designed to mock those who simply want the truth. SHE used obvious strawmen to create fake arguments, and in the end, SHE ends up helping the cause of those who feel that there is a link. Why? Because if the truth was on HER side, SHE would not have to write such an obvious attempt to dismiss critics.

If you actually read my article, you would further see that I said i fall into group 3 (although HER article makes group one more believable). I also said i would love to hear the response to the issue of Thimerasol not being used since 2001. But that didn't matter to you did it? Nope, because the truth doesn't matter to you. Thanks for making it painfully obvious.

By the way, how do you sleep at night defending the use of one of the deadliest toxins known to man being shot into infants??? Can you really defend this??? For what?? Money?? Even if you believe there is no autism link, my God, you need to go find your soul.

AW

by Anthony Wade (135 articles, 2 quicklinks, 44 diaries, 434 comments) on Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 3:06:53 PM
 


Wisconsin writer, father of two, activist
HeraldblogWisconsin writer, father of two, activist

Assumptions

I assumed man when I saw "Ira". My mistake.

That's not the only erroneous assumption you make. Virtually every paragraph belches facts not in evidence, starting with the first one where you neatly divide stakeholders into three made up camps:

People who link thimerosal to autism. For which there is no good evidence, but so far you're right - you do exist. Ecce homo!

People who don't see a link between thimerosal and autism. Because none have been found.

People who admit they "simply do not know enough yet." Ok, big problems with this statement. Science is about keeping an open mind. When real evidence is presented that links thimerosal and autism, people in the second group will adjust their thinking, and people in the first group can will no longer appear to be exploiting children. So groups two and three are and not mutually exclusive. That you would assume so reveals how little you understand.

But all that pales in comparison to your assumption that death by chicken pox has nothing to do with thimerosal and autism. Dr. Brown's article was perfectly clear on the connection, which I will paraphrase for your benefit: people like you (group number one) are scaring parents away from vaccines. When the vaccination rates drop, the incidence of related diseases goes up.

Assume away.

by Heraldblog (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 25 comments) on Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 4:09:19 PM
 


Anthony Wade, a contributing writer to opednews.com, is dedicated to educating the populace to the lies and abuses of the government. He is a 40-year-old independent writer from New York with political commentary articles seen on multiple websites. A Christian progressive and professional Rehabilitation Counselor working with the poor and disabled, Mr. Wade believes that you can have faith and hold elected officials accountable for lies and excess. Anthony Wade?s Archive: http://www.opednews.com...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Anthony WadeAnthony Wade, a contributing writer to opednews.com, is dedicated to educating the populace to the lies and abuses of the government. He is a 40-year-old independent writer from New York with political commentary articles seen on multiple websites. A Christian progressive and professional Rehabilitation Counselor working with the poor and disabled, Mr. Wade believes that you can have faith and hold elected officials accountable for lies and excess. Anthony Wade?s Archive: http://www.opednews.com...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Dear Troll

That's not the only erroneous assumption you make. Virtually every paragraph belches facts not in evidence, starting with the first one where you neatly divide stakeholders into three made up camps:

People who link thimerosal to autism. For which there is no good evidence, but so far you're right - you do exist. Ecce homo!

Nice try. The first group are those who keep an open mind as to what caused the spike in autism, a subject you are clearly afraid to address.

People who don't see a link between thimerosal and autism. Because none have been found.

Says you and those who work for the system. I honestly do not know. I would like to know. You on the other hand want to stifle that possibility, revealing your predisposed bias.

People who admit they "simply do not know enough yet." Ok, big problems with this statement. Science is about keeping an open mind. When real evidence is presented that links thimerosal and autism, people in the second group will adjust their thinking, and people in the first group can will no longer appear to be exploiting children. So groups two and three are and not mutually exclusive. That you would assume so reveals how little you understand.

None of these are "mutually exclusive." This is another strawman, and a poor one at that. It is not an argument i made and you know it. It also has nothing to do with the main points, which you continue to avoid.

But all that pales in comparison to your assumption that death by chicken pox has nothing to do with thimerosal and autism. Dr. Brown's article was perfectly clear on the connection, which I will paraphrase for your benefit: people like you (group number one) are scaring parents away from vaccines. When the vaccination rates drop, the incidence of related diseases goes up.

Are you this dense?? People like me are the ones that made the greedy vaccine companies stop putting toxins into vaccines for the sake of profit. Even if there is eventually nolink proven, that is a good thing. The fact that you continue to defend it speaks volumes to your status as a shill. There is no link whatsoever. Parents should not vaccinate their children with toxins. Regardless of what you, your boss, or this doctor seem to believe.

 

 

by Anthony Wade (135 articles, 2 quicklinks, 44 diaries, 434 comments) on Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 6:24:45 PM
 


Wisconsin writer, father of two, activist
HeraldblogWisconsin writer, father of two, activist

Ecce homo

Pro-vaccine crowds will clamor that mercury was no longer used after 2001, yet autism rates have not declined. If so, I would like to hear from all sides how that fits in with the perception of vaccines as the bad guys.

What does that last sentence mean? Are you asking why autism rates haven't dropped among 3-5 year olds?

Thimerosal was ordered removed from scheduled childhood vaccines in 1999, and by Jan., 2002, only 1.9 percent of childhood vaxes still had thimerosal. No clamoring necessary - these are facts. So why haven't we seen a drop in autism among 3-5 year olds? You get extra points for using the words "dose response" in your answer.

That's my last comment. I'm done "trolling" for signs of intelligence. I've seen all I need.

by Heraldblog (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 25 comments) on Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 9:17:28 PM
 


An interested parent
Big GuyAn interested parent

Autisms and vaccines

 

Dear Anthony,

 

First, I am a biomedical research in infectious diseases (disclaimer), but also a parent with three small children, all of whom have been vaccinated. I would never endanger my children if I thought there were a connection between vaccines and autisms.

 

A few facts that indicate vaccines have no causal relationship to autisms.

 

1. The principal reason for the increase in autisms (yes, that's plural) is because the disease was redefined to include other disorders that have similar characteristics. Autisms are a family of diseases - just like diabetes are a family of diseases - all with similar but diverse symptoms.

 

 

2. The redefinition is largely due to the congressional increase in funding for special education programs in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This resulted in a money-grab for funding. If you look at what qualified as autism prior to this legislation, you'd have Dustin Hoffman's character in "Rain Man". Now, even subtle signs of such behavior qualify as an autism.

 

 

3. You seem to be suggesting that all forms of mercury have the same toxicity, when they do not. Perhaps the most toxic forms of mercury are the mercury salts, such as mercury chloride. Elemental mercury and methylmercury are also highly toxic. However, the mercury in thimerosal (specifically, its metabolic derivative, ethylmercury) is far less toxic, and the doses formerly used in inactivated vaccines (and still today in the influenza vaccine) are substantially-less toxic. Indeed, the great majority of ethylmercury from thimerosal is excreted within 1 month after vaccine administration (study done prior to its removal from vaccines). Consider this; sodium is a highly toxic metal that ignites in contact with water. Chloride is a highly toxic gas that kills by disrupting the lining of the lungs. But both are essential for all known forms of life because together they form sodium chloride. Putting a toxic atom with another atom can profoundly impact its chemistry (and toxicity).

 

4. Some vaccines that have been accused of causing autisms have never had thimerosal, including the MMR vaccine. 

 

5. British and Danish population studies of vaccinated and unvaccinated children show that the statistical incidence of autisms is the same in both groups. This indicates that vaccines have nothing to do with autisms.

 

6. As noted in a previous post, the incidence of autisms have remained steady-state (or slightly increased) since the removal of thimerosal from vaccines.

 

7. Autisms strike 4 boys for every 5 children. This implies a genetic (in particular, X chromosome linkage) basis for autisms.

 

Nobody disputes that autisms are horrible and stressful diseases. But if we continue spending research resources on mercury and vaccines as a cause, we will be wasting money, effort and time. They have nothing to do with it and effort needs to focus on understanding other possible etiologies, particularly genetics and environmental toxin exposure. 

 

by Big Guy (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Saturday, November 3, 2007 at 2:10:12 PM
 

 

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