Fwd: FW: POLITICAL ACTION ALERT - Write the Washington Times!

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Mon, 03 Nov 2003 15:20:07 -0900

Sandy Mintz

FW: POLITICAL ACTION ALERT - Write the Washington Times!

" ParentsofKidsAdultswithAutism (AT) groups (DOT) msn. com "

 

" Autism_and_Vaccinations (AT) (DOT) Com "

, immunizations ,

Parents of Vaccine Damaged Children

 

 

 

PASS THIS ON!

 

From Jo Pike of MoMA:

 

If there's ever been a time that you need to make your voice heard, it's

now. Please flood the Washington Times with your stories.

 

Letters to the Editor

letters

 

Jo Pike

 

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20031103-123317-1271r.htm

Mercury-laced vaccines a threat, child group says

 

By Cheryl Wetzstein

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

 

A vaccine safety study of more than 124,000 babies that appears today in the

journal Pediatrics concludes there are " no consistent significant

associations " between mercury-laced vaccines and maladies such as autism or

attention-deficit disorder.

 

However, an advocacy group is accusing federal researchers of finding such a

link in " earlier, secret studies " and " manipulating data " to cover it up.

 

" They found the truth and then swept it under the rug, " said Lyn Redwood,

the mother of an autistic child and president of Safe Minds, a Cranford,

N.J., organization dedicated to removing mercury from medical products.

 

Mercury is known to have toxic effects on the brain. Thimerosal, a

mercury-containing preservative, was used for decades to stabilize vaccines.

Vaccines today contain little or no thimerosal.

 

Rep. Dave Weldon, Florida Republican and a physician, sent a letter Friday

to Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC), asking for a " thorough, open, timely and independent

review " of the study.

 

" I have reviewed the [Pediatrics] article and have serious reservations

about the four-year evaluation and conclusions of this study, " Dr. Weldon

said.

 

" While most childhood vaccines now have only trace amounts of mercury from

thimerosal-containing vaccines, it is critical that we know with certainty

if children were injured in the 1990s, " he wrote.

 

" I am a strong supporter of childhood vaccinations, and know that they have

saved us from considerable death and suffering, " he added. However, " [W]e

must fully disclose adverse events " to preserve public confidence in

vaccines.

 

The CDC study, led by Dr. Thomas Verstraeten, was based on vaccine and

health data from 124,170 infants born between 1992 and 1999 at two health

maintenance organizations and 16,717 children born between 1991 and 1997 at

another HMO.

 

The researchers found " conflicting results " about links between vaccines and

tics or language delays at different sites. However, they found no evidence

of significant increased risks for autism or attention-deficit disorder.

 

Safe Minds leaders say that, according to materials obtained through the

Freedom of Information Act, Dr. Verstraeten said during the early stages of

the study that he thought he saw a " plausible " link between

thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism.

 

But, " once Dr. Verstraeten began working for vaccine manufacturer

GlaxoSmithKline, he altered the data, sampling and methodology of the study

so that results would point to enough inconsistencies to cast doubt " on the

link, the group said.

 

Specifically, they said, CDC researchers added data from a Massachusetts HMO

even though it had data-management problems and the state is believed to

have " severely underreported " its cases of autism. This data skewed the

findings, the Safe Minds leaders said.

 

Spokesmen for the CDC said Friday they were reviewing information about

these " serious allegations. "

 

CDC materials say there are no proven links between autism and vaccines, and

American parents and health care workers should continue to immunize babies

and young children against disease.

 

A spokeswoman at GlaxoSmithKline referred questions about the study to the

CDC, since it was conducted when Dr. Verstraeten was in an agency fellowship

program.

 

GlaxoSmithKline is named as a defendant in lawsuits filed by persons with

autism.

 

A spokeswoman for the Pediatrics journal said that the CDC study was

" peer-reviewed by multiple experts. " Also, Dr. Verstraeten declared that he

was a federal employee and had no conflict of interest when the study was

performed, the journal said

 

---~->

 

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Sandy Mintz

http://www.vaccinationnews.com/

http://www.vaccinationnews.com/Scandals/past_scandals.htm

http://www.vaccinationnews.com/Out_of_Control/past_ool.htm

 

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" Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. " - Wendell Phillips (1811-1884),

paraphrasing John Philpot Curran (1808)