Autism

[Guest guest]

http:/. /www.sierratimes.com/05/07/29/24_164_252_187_13884.htm

 

 

Autism

Evelyn Pringle

 

In their public statements, officials within the FDA and CDC, are

always claiming that researchers and scientists who conduct studies,

not funded by drug companies or the government, are making unfounded

claims about a link between thimerosal-laced vaccines and autism, and

other neurological disorders, which they claim could lead to reduced

vaccine coverage, resulting in preventable outbreaks of disease

affecting the entire planet.

 

I say cut the crap.

 

Think about it. Why would so many highly respected scientists,

researchers and physicians go to such great lengths to concoct bogus

studies and issue false reports, in essence putting their professional

reputations on the line, if their was no connection? I want these

officials to do two things. First I want them to give me one good

reason why these professionals would make this up, and two, I want

them to give me one logical alternative theory for the current

epidemic of disorders.

 

Lets look at a few of these experts.

 

Dr. Jeffrey Bradstreet, is a practicing physician who treats children

with autism and other brain-damage disorders. While in the Air Force,

he was trained in toxicology and environmental health. His duties as

an Officer included the responsibility for military personnel who had

exposure to a wide variety of toxins, including mercury.

 

Dr. Bradstreet has evaluated well over 2000 children with neurological

disorders. He also directs a school for children with

neurodevelopmental disorders where his responsibilities include

supervising occupational therapists, speech and language pathologists,

and applied behavioral analysts.

 

Dr. Bradstreet is a Harvard Certified Medical Education Instructor in

autism and has written three peer reviewed papers regarding the

relationship between thimerosal, developmental disorders and

biological markers for Mercury-Susceptibility.

 

In addition, he has conducted research regarding these disorders and

has worked with some of the most highly respected professionals in the

country, including Dr Jane El-Dahr of the Tulane University Medical

Center; Dr V.K. Singh of the Utah State University Biotechnology

Center; the University of Michigan Department of Pharmacology; Dr Vas

Aposhian of the University of Arizona; Dr Anne Connolly of the

Washington University Hospital; Dr Walter Spitzer of McGill

University; the Department of Pediatrics at Robert Wood Johnson

Medical School; Dr. Jim Adams of the University of Arizona; and Dr.

Jill James, a former FDA researcher, now with the University of

Arkansas, Department of Pediatrics.

 

Apparently the FDA, CDC, and vaccine makers expect us to believe that

this long line of highly respected professionals from Universities all

over the country somehow got together and conspired to conduct

fraudulent research for decades and then authored 1000s of false

reports and other publications.

 

I do not buy it. What would be the payoff?

 

Dr. Mark Geier is a medical doctor who holds a PhD in genetics and is

board-certified in medical genetics and forensic medicine. He was a

researcher at the National Institutes of Health for 10 years and was

previously a professor at Johns Hopkins University. He has studied

vaccines for more than 30 years and has published over 50

peer-reviewed papers on vaccine safety, efficacy, contamination and

policy.

 

He was instrumental in convincing officials to switch from the

whole-cell Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis (DTP) vaccine to the safer

version (DTaP). In fact, he wrote the article, " The True Story of

Pertussis Vaccination: A Sordid Legacy? " which in 2002, won the first

annual Stanley W. Jackson award for the best paper published in the

Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences during the

period of 2000 to 2002.

 

Dr. Geier has made several presentations to the Institute of Medicine

on the adverse effects of vaccines including one on thimerosal in

2004. He and his son, David Geier, are the only independent

researchers who have ever been permitted to study the Vaccine Safety

Datalink (VSD) database of the CDC.

 

Dr. Geier has testified before the US House of Representatives

Committee on Government Reform Investigating Vaccines and the Autism

Epidemic to critique the Hviid study, conducted in Denmark on autism

and thimerosal exposure and he has also addressed the FDA Advisory

Committee regarding vaccine safety.

 

Finally, Dr. Geier has testified as an expert witness in about 100

cases before the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program in the

U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

 

In one such case, on November 25, 2003, the Special Master French

issued an opinion in which he praised Geier's credentials and vast

experience and said in part:

 

Dr. Geier " ranks high among those who have studied vaccine issues

through the medical literature on vaccines, databases, studies,

articles and information on vaccine safety and efficacy in vaccine

policy. " ... " The tenor of his testimony in this case addressed the

importance of statistical databases in providing statistical

reliability and validity in interpreting the epidemiology and issues

relating to autism and various vaccines. . . . Dr. Geier has recently

proposed a data-sharing process that would improve the reliability of

present statistical data that would include the present VAERS

statistical database. It would be helpful in interpreting the

epidemiology and issues relating to the autism controversy. "

 

Give me one good reason why this world renowned scientist would put

his professional career on the line by lying under oath, not only in

court 100 times, but also before a congressional committee?

 

The drug makers and government officials have waged an all out attack

on this particular expert in attempt to discount his opinions because

Dr. Geier speaks in term most people understand. He has reported on

the staggering statistical numbers showing the rise in brain-damaged

kids who were vaccinated with thimerosal compared to the children who

received very little mercury, or mercury-free vaccines, and were not

injured. When he speaks, people " get it, " and the powers that be know it.

 

Then there is expert, Dr. George Lucier, who in the year 2000, retired

from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences where he

was Director of the Environmental Toxicology Program and Associate of the National Toxicology Program. In that capacity, he was

responsible for coordinating toxicological research and testing across

federal agencies as well as conducting risk assessments for exposure

to toxic substances including mercury. He has authored well over 200

scientific publications involving toxicology, pharmacology and risk

assessment, including ten articles on mercury.

 

In 1998, Dr. Lucier was appointed the Chair of the Organizing

Committee for the White House Workshop on Scientific Issues Relevant

to Assessment of Health Effects from Exposure to Methylmercury. He has

presented his opinions on numerous occasions in various forums and for

28 years, he was the co-editor in chief of the prestigious scientific

journal, Environmental Health Perspectives.

 

Why would this guy lie under oath?

 

Another renowned scientist expressing the same view on thimerosal, is

Dr. Boyd Haley, who is currently a Professor and Chairman of the

Department of Chemistry with a joint appointment in the College of

Pharmacy at the University of Kentucky.

 

He teaches a class on mercury toxicology and has published more than

110 articles in the peer-reviewed literature including the toxic

effects of elemental mercury. Since 1989, his laboratory has been

conducting research on the relationship between mercury and

neurological diseases, and has performed experiments with thimerosal.

In 2001, Dr. Haley made a presentation on " In Vitro Studies of

Thimerosal Toxicity, " to the IOM.

 

So why would this guy spend 25 year of his life conducting bogus

studies, rendering fraudulent results and authoring a 100 dishonest

articles?

 

An expert I consulted during my initial investigation of this issue

was Dr. David Ayoub, MD, who when asked how certain he was of the link

between autism and thimerosal, told me, " I can state that the

certainty of the science supporting mercury as a major cause of autism

is probably more overpowering than the science behind any other

disease process that I studied dating back to medical school. "

 

Dr. Ayoub is the Director of the Prairie Collaborative for

Immunization, an organization that is self-funded, which aids

organizations, journalists, and legislators obtain accurate

information to assist their work. He is also the author of the report,

" Pregnancy and the Myth of Influenza Vaccination-Is it safe, is it

effective, is it necessary? What the CDC documents reveal. "

 

When asked why so many scientists were now conducting research Dr.

Ayoud said, " I think a disease that effects more individuals than AIDS

or cancer, in previously normal infants and children, has created a

sense of urgency amongst researchers. "

 

Flu shots with a toxic dose of mercury are still being given to

pregnant women and Rh negative shots with thimerosal are still being

given to pregnant women. Even though recent studies have shown that

lower IQ levels linked to mercury exposure in the womb costs the US

$8.7 billion a year in lost earnings potential, according to a study

released in February 2005, by researchers at the Mount Sinai Center

for Children's Health and the Environment, who combined a number of

previous studies to determine hundreds of thousands of babies are born

every year with lower IQ associated with mercury exposure.

 

Lead researcher and pediatician, Leonard Trasande, said annually,

between 316,588 and 637,233 infants are born with umbilical cord blood

mecury levels linked to IQ loss and about 4% of babies are born with

mercury levels between 7.13 and 15 micrograms per liter which at that

level, causes an IQ loss of 1.6 points.

 

The drug makers have been marching their own experts into court so

lets look at the credentials of some of their experts to see how they

match up with those listed above.

 

In the case of Vera Easter verses Aventis Pasteur, although

Harvard-educated and the author of some 80 peer-reviewed articles,

according to his deposition, Dr. Philip Wang's specialty was

epidemiology related to antidepressants. Prior to being retained as an

expert for the vaccine makers, Dr. Wang had not done any evaluations

associated with vaccines, had no specific training whatsoever

regarding mercury, and had written no articles on the effects of heavy

metal exposure.

 

Dr. Wang has never investigated any illness claimed to be associated

with heavy metal exposure and has never been asked to do a formal

epidemiologic evaluation of the hypothesis that the thimerosal could

cause neurological disorders or autism.

 

He claimed that he did know that the VAERS database existed prior to

being retained as an expert, but had never conducted any analysis on

the Vaccine Safety Datalink.

 

Dr. Wang's knowledge of vaccines and thimerosal was limited to what he

learned in 30 to 35 hours of meetings with defense attorneys and

reading the relevant medical literature, most of which was provided by

the defense attorneys.

 

Finally, Dr. Wang only offered an opinion on the link between

thimerosal and autism and not on the issues relevant to the case

relating to other neurological disorders.

 

For some reason, I don't think Dr. Wang would fare too well if called

upon to take the stand to disprove the opinions of the many

established experts on the plaintiff's team with their combined

decades of research experience in this area of expertise.

 

Another drug maker expert in the case was Dr. Chris P. Johnson, who in

her deposition agreed that, prior to the case, her experience with

mercury poisoning cases was zero. She has had no experience related to

mercury or its neurotoxic effects and conceded that she was not an

expert on mercury or the effects of mercury exposure on the human body.

 

I hardly think Dr. Johnson is a match for the experts above. In fact I

think it would be grossly unfair to even throw this gal in the ring

with the other heavyweights. I guess it just goes to show how much

humiliation some people are willing to endure to make a buck.

 

Partnerships Between Industry and Regulatory Officials

 

In reaching decisions, officials within regulatory bodies seem more

concerned about the impact of their decision on global vaccination

policies than making an unbiased appraisal of the scientific evidence.

In reviewing statements by these agencies, people need to consider the

inherent conflicts of interest between the CDC, charged with

investigating medical issues; the FDA, charged with regulating

vaccines; the Institute of Medicine (IOM), which examines policy

issues; and the vaccine manufacturers.

 

After an on-going investigation of several years, the Mercury in

Medicine Report was published on May 21, 2003 by the Subcommittee on

Human Rights and Wellness of the Committee on Government Reform, and

included testimony from numerous experts. The report rendered a number

of specific findings.

 

Most significant was its statement that, " The CDC in general and the

National Immunization Program are particularly conflicted in their

duty to monitor the safety of vaccines, while also charged with the

responsibility of purchasing vaccines for resale as well as promoting

increased immunization rates. "

 

The report went on to say that the CDC due to its " biases against

theories regarding vaccine-induced autism, " had chosen to fund

researchers " who also worked for vaccine manufacturers to conduct

population-based immunologic studies. . . " But most importantly, it

identified Thimerosal as the culprit in plain language and in no

uncertain terms:

 

" Thimerosal used as a preservative in vaccines is directly related to

the autism epidemic. This epidemic in all probability may have been

prevented or curtailed had the FDA not been asleep at the switch

regarding a lack of safety data regarding injected thimerosal and the

sharper eyes of infant exposure to this known neurotoxin. The public

health agencies' failure to act is indicative of institutional

malfeasance for self protection and misplaced protectionism of the

pharmaceutical industry. "

 

The CDC's decision to promote the publication of research supportive

of the vaccine industry to refute this report by a congressional

committee, demonstrates just how far it will go to support its

partners in crime.

 

Blatant evidence of this partnership can be found in a CDC plan to

promote flu vaccine sales which detailed a " 7 step recipe for

generating interest in, and demand for, flu (or any other)

vaccination. " The document discusses the " best recipe " that would

foster interest and demand, including use of terms like " very severe, "

" more severe, " and " deadly " to " motivate behavior " and increase sales.

For any doubters, this evidence should confirm that the interests of

the CDC and the industry are one and the same.

 

In addition, numerous articles published in medical journals between

2001 to 2004, were quoted as key studies relied upon by the Institute

of Medicine, which as it turns out, were written by authors and

researchers with direct conflicts of interest and real biases in favor

of claiming that thimerosal did not cause injuries or autism. Many of

the conflicts were not revealed by the authors at the time the

articles were written in direct violation of policy rules pertaining

to medical journals.

 

For instance, one article relied upon by the IOM, although not a

population study, was Pichichero et al. Mercury concentrations and

metabolism in infants receiving vaccines containing Thimerosal: a

descriptive study, published in Lancet in 2002.

 

Pichichero did not declare any conflicts, despite the Lancet's strict

policy requiring that conflicts be disclosed. However, in a subsequent

New York Times article, Pichichero admitted that he had done work for

Lilly and other drug companies. But a fact that must have slipped his

mind was that in an earlier article in American Family Physician,

Pichichero had declarated:

 

The author has received research grants and/or honoraria from the

following pharmaceutical companies: Abbott Laboratories, Inc.; Bristol

Myers Squibb Company; Eli Lilly & Company; Merck and Co.; Pasteur

Merieux Connaught; Pfizer Labs; Roach Laboratories; Roussel-Uclaf;

Schering Corporation; SmithKlineBeecham Pharmaceuticals; Upjohn

Company; Wyeth-Lederle.

 

In defending thimerosal, officials will often refer to the World

Health Organization as a body that has found it safe. Well in a June,

2001 WHO report, the agency itself refers to vaccine manufacturers as

a full and equal " partner. " When the WHO was worried that regulations

had affected drug maker's costs, it stressed the need to get them to

stay in the market, and even proposed a " communication strategy that

would take account of public concern about adverse effects of vaccines. "

 

So, in a subsequent WHO meeting on April 15-16, 2002, a decision was

made to " lobby Ministry of Health and senior regulators " on the

thimerosal issue and to " develop a strong advocacy campaign to support

the ongoing use of thiomersal. " It can readily be seen that the WHO

has similar reasons to those of the CDC to support the industry's

position.

 

As thimerosal containing vaccines continue to be shipped to countries

all over the world, its becoming more and more apparent that these

cozy " partnerships " wield a considerable amount of power when it comes

to making decisions related to vaccine safety.

 

Who Knew What And When

 

The well-documented sordid history of thimerosal, including the

continuing misrepresentations by its inventor, Eli Lilly, confirms

that the product should never have been used in childhood vaccines,

and should have definitely been removed prior to the doubling of the

content that resulted from the addition of the HIB and Hepatitis B

vaccines in the late 1980's to mid-90's.

 

Mercury in vaccines was tested and shown to be lethal many times over

the past 40 years. In May of 1967, an article was published in Applied

Microbiology, titled " Enhanced Toxicity for Mice of Pertussis Vaccine

When Preserved with Merthiolate. " The abstract states: Pertussis

vaccines preserved with 0.01% merthiolate (thimerosal) are more toxic

for mice than unpreserved vaccines prepared from the same parent

concentrate containing the same number of organisms.

 

In this study, twenty mice were injected with a vaccine with no

thimerosal and none died. 30 others were injected with the same

vaccines, plus thimerosal, and 5 died. The article stated that " it

would not be surprising if injection of this vaccine influenced the

susceptibility of the mouse towards a mercurial preservative. " The

authors also noted that " other laboratories " had observed toxicity of

final lots of preserved vaccine when the vaccines themselves were

" atoxic or only slightly toxic. "

 

In 1972, Lilly received an article that confirmed that thimerosal had

caused 6 deaths when too much of it had been used, which said: " The

symptoms and clinical course of the 6 patients suggests subacute

mercury poisoning. "

 

In 1975, autopsies on squirrel monkeys treated with

thimerosal-containing nose spray, determined that mercury accumulated

in the brain " which may represent a potential hazard in the chronic

use of thimerosal as a preservative in products intended for human use. "

 

By the late 1970's, vaccine companies realized the need to remove

thimerosal because of its poisonous effects. In an October 12, 1979

memo, Merck scientists discussed the " potential problem " of having

mercury in its flu and meningococcal vaccines, as well as the

Hepatitis B vaccine that was under development and asked: " Should a

program of replacement be initiated now to guard against any

spontaneous rally to avoid its (thimerosal) use in injectables? "

 

This memo proves that the industry knew about the dangers long before

the mercury-loaded Hib and Hep B vaccines were added to the schedule

in the 1980's and 1990's.

 

In 1986, an article titled, " Organic Mercury Compounds and Their

Toxicity, " noted that thimerosal had caused problems and stated that

it was " now accepted that multidose injection preparations are

undesirable, and preservatives should not present in unidose

preparations. "

 

In the early 1990's, the level of thimerosal in vaccines increased

drastically, and in many cases doubled. The drug companies knew that

adding 3 or four HIB vaccines and as many as 3 Hep B shots would

substantially increase the level of mercury injected into infants at a

critical period of brain development.

 

We now know that by 1991, Merck absolutely knew that the increase was

harmful. A 1991 internal memo, recently revealed by the LA Times,

concluded that exposure in infants within the first six month of life

could be 87 times the level determined safe. The memo`s damning

revelations said:

 

For babies: the 25 ug of mercury in a single 0.5 ml dose and

extrapolated to a 6 pound baby would be 25 times the adjusted Swedish

daily allowance of 1.0 micrograms for a baby of that size. The total

mercury burden in a baby is unknown, but it has been stated that the

blood level of a newborn may exceed that of the mother. If eight doses

of thimerosal-containing vaccine was given in the first six months of

life (3 DTP, 2 HIB, and 3 Hepatitis B) the 200 micrograms of mercury

given, say to an average size of 12 pounds, would be about 87 times

the Swedish daily allowance of 2.3 micrograms for a baby of that size.

 

In the memo even acknowledged that " the best way to go is to switch to

dispensing the actual vaccines without adding preservatives. " However,

it went on to say that while this was the best solution, there was " a

cost consideration the head of Health Services has to consider.

Several large ampoules or bottles are more expensive than a smaller

number of larger packages. "

 

So in essence, this Merck memo proves that by 1991, vaccine makers

knew that they were injecting poison into infants and decided that

profits were more important than the country's most precious asset, an

entire generation of children.

 

The vaccine makers are fighting hard against the removal of thimerosal

for two reasons. The first is the usual suspect, greed. But the second

reason is now higher on their list. The industry knows that if

thimerosal were to be completely removed from all vaccines tomorrow,

the public would not be able to ignore the corresponding decline, not

only in cases of autism, but in the epidemic of all the strange

disorders that have engulfed the public school system in all 50 states

over the past 15 years. The decline is already happening in

California, one of the first states to ban thimerosal.

 

In attempt to confuse the issue, officials have tried to avoid any

discussion of the evidence establishing an association between mercury

and a host of other neurological disorders.

 

In addition to autism, the epidemic includes attention

deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD) and speech or language delay

and each has its own spectrum of symptoms. For example, autism is

characterized by impairments of social interaction, communication, and

behavior. ADD/ADHD is typified by persistent patterns of inattention

and/or hyperactivity. Speech and language delay are characterized by

sensory and auditory processing disorders impacting on communication.

See Immunization Safety Review, Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines and

Neurodevelopmental Disorder, IOM 2001.

 

Officials should quit using scare tactics to infer a threat to the

vaccine program as a whole. The issue is not the vaccines, its the

preservative that has to go. And its not just contained in childhood

vaccines. Thimerosal is in other products given to unsuspecting victims.

 

The flu vaccine is probably the most commonly used product that still

contains the preservative, but there are other shots that have it as

well. For instance, I just found out that a shot given to stop

contractions in pregnant women who go into labor too early contains

thimerosal.

 

I traveled to Wisconsin to be sure that I would be in the hospital at

the time of delivery to protect my first grandson from any nurse with

a needle looking to stick him with a Hep B vaccine. A few days ago, my

daughter began to have early contractions. The doctor told her not to

worry, to just come in for a check up. She came home with the great

news that a shot stopped the contractions, only to find out a few

hours later that the miracle shot may have contained thimerosal.

 

That was three days ago and I am still in shock!

 

While adverse effects of vaccines to a small number of susceptible

individuals might seem justified in the interest of the greater good

to mankind, the brain-injuring effects arising as a result of the

government forcing parents to inject a known poison into their

precious children should not be tolerated.

 

Evelyn Pringle epringle05

 

(The author is a columnist for Independent Media TV and an

investigative journalist focused on exposing corruption in government)