Will the Press Respond? - Anne Dachel

Thursday, March 27, on the Huffington Post, journalist and author, David Kirby, presented his latest article, The Next Big Autism Bomb: Are 1 in 50 Kids Potentially At Risk? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/the-next-big-autism-bomb_b_93627.html

It was also on Age of Autism, DAVID KIRBY: ARE 1 in 50 KIDS AT RISK?

In it, Kirby describes a recent conference call "between vaccine safety officials at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, several leading experts in vaccine safety research, and executives from America's Health Insurance Plans, (the HMO trade association) to discuss childhood mitochondrial dysfunction and its potential link to autism and vaccines."

It seems that the CDC has a great deal of interest in the results of the Hannah Poling case. David Kirby quoted unnamed officials and pointed out the seriousness of the issue:

"One person on the call (those interviewed for this article asked to remain anonymous) told me that, "the CDC people were informed, in no uncertain terms, that they need to look into this issue immediately, and do something about it." The clock is ticking, they were told, and if they don't respond, the information will be made public."

HIGHLIGHTS OF FROM THE CALL AS TOLD BY DAVID KIRBY:

*Up to 1 in 50 children (2%) may have a genetic mutation that puts them at risk for mitochondrial dysfunction.

*Up to 20% of all children with autism may have an underlying mitochondrial dysfunction.

*Children with mitochondrial dysfunction are more likely to regress into autism between the ages 1 and 2 years, if they have fever or illness from viral infections or vaccines.

*The CDC is aware of this difficult situation and is taking measures immediately to address the current national vaccine schedule.

*The genetic susceptibility for mitochondrial dysfunction in autism is inherited through the father, not the mother, as previously thought, and is not rare at all.

*The DNA mutation might not be enough in itself to confer cellular dysfunction, and many doctors believe there is an environmental trigger as well.

*They note that thimerosal, mercury, aluminum, pollution, pesticides, medicines and prenatal alcohol exposure have all been shown to damage mitochondria.

*Other doctors believe that a corn-byproduct based diet in America has put children in a constant inflammatory state, thus making the DNA mutation more pathogenic.

While some children with mitochondrial dysfunction regress into autism following fever and illness from a viral infection; other kids, like Hannah Poling, clearly regress following a reaction to vaccines.

The exact percentage of people with vaccine induced autism is unknown. But even a 1% rate could mean 10,000 Americans with vaccine related autism, at a cost of many billions of dollars for lifetime care.

Some changes in the vaccine schedule will almost surely be made. The most difficult decision is how and when to vaccinate children with proven mitochondrial dysfunction.

This hot topic will be the subject of a daylong meeting of the HHS National Vaccine Advisory Committee's Vaccine Safety Working Group, in Washington, DC on April 11.

This is also a very hot topic in the autism community and I've watched today as the news has spread into everywhere. For many of us, it's more confirmation that the undeniable truth is finally coming out, regardless of what officials say publicly. The stories on the growing fears over vaccine safety are making more and more parents question the mandated schedule.

This issue isn't going away and as we are nearly at the start of "Autism Awareness Month," we'll be hearing lots more about it. These are just two websites showing how big this is on the Internet: AGE OF AUTISM and Clean Vaccines in Oklahoma http://cleanupvaccines.blogspot.com/,

Many of us are amazed at the failure of the mainstream press to treat this like the national health care issue that it is. The Poling case should have raised serious concerns over the years of denials from the CDC. The revelation that the CDC is discussing the impact of mitochonrial dysfunction and vaccines is worthy of front page coverage.

These are the burning questions in my mind:

---Is anyone going to ask the CDC to respond about the comments made on that conference call?

---Why are officials secretly discussing something that is in direct contradiction to the remarks make by Dr. Julie Gerberding concerning the Poling case?

---Is the CDC telling the public one thing but behind the scene, they are accepting the link connecting vaccines, mitochondrial dysfunction, and autism?

This news only serves to increase the already soaring loss of confidence in the vaccine program.

Dental Mercury Use Banned in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark

Because Composites Are Adequate Replacements
Published on Jan 3, 2008 - 7:06:49 AM By: Mercury Policy Project

Norway recently announced a ban on the use of mercury, including dental amalgam, that took effect on January 1, 2008. Sweden announced a similar ban and dentists in Denmark will no longer be allowed to use mercury in fillings after April 1, 2008. "These bans clearly indicate that amalgam is no longer needed. There are viable non-mercury filling substitutes that are used everyday in the US," said Michael Bender, director of the Mercury Policy Project.

"By eliminating amalgam use, which is 50% mercury, we can reduce mercury pollution much more efficiently than end-of-the-pipeline solutions." In a prepared statement, Norwegian Minister of the Environment Erik Solheim said that the reason for the ban is the risk that mercury from products may constitute in the environment. "Mercury is among the most dangerous environmental toxins. Satisfactory alternatives to mercury in products are available, and it is therefore fitting to introduce a ban," said Solheim.

The Swedish amalgam ban is for both environmental and health issues, according to authorities. Danish officials indicate that the reason for banning amalgam is also because composites have become better, and may now be used in many more situations than a few years ago. Teeth will have to be mended with e.g. plastic or ceramics. Exceptions to use amalgam may be granted for a certain period after the ban, if dentists apply for it.

"Composite fillings have now become so strong that the Danish National Board of Health says that we can expand the ban to also include amalgam fillings," said the (Danish) Minister of Health Jakob Axel Nielsen to "TV Avisen". Authorities note that when the ban takes effect in Denmark in four months time, the present subsidy for amalgam will be changed so that it will instead cover dental fillings of composite material. Since the health insurance stopped paying for amalgam restorations in Sweden in 1999, the use has decreased markedly and is now estimated to be 2-5% of all fillings. Posted by archimede on January 29, 2008 09:49 AM

David Kirby's Post - The Next Big Autism Bomb

David Kirby

The Next Big Autism Bomb: Are 1 in 50 Kids Potentially at Risk?

Posted March 26, 2008 09:30 PM (EST)

On Tuesday, March 11, a conference call was held between vaccine safety officials at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, several leading experts in vaccine safety research, and executives from America's Health Insurance Plans, (the HMO trade association) to discuss childhood mitochondrial dysfunction and its potential link to autism and vaccines.

It was a sobering event for all concerned, and it could soon become known as the Conference Call heard 'round the world.

The teleconference was scheduled by a little known CDC agency called the Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment (CISA) Network, a consortium of six research centers working on "immunization-associated health risks," in conjunction with the CDC's Immunization Safety Office and the health insurance lobby -- whose companies cover some 200 million Americans.

The hot topic of the day was mitochondria - the little powerhouses within each cell that convert food and oxygen into energy for use by the body. Recent news events have implicated mitochondria in at least one case of regressive autism, following normal development.

To read more click here.

Measles vaccine advised for Oklahoma children

http://newsok.com/article/3221077/1206504994

By Jim Killackey
Oklahoman Staff Writer, March 26, 2008

A southern California measles outbreak provides a lesson to Oklahoma parents that their children should be immunized against communicable diseases, state health authorities said.
"Let there be no doubt — the risk of severe illness, complications, and death from vaccine-preventable diseases is very real. Immunizations are absolutely essential for health protection,” said Dr. Mike Crutcher, state Health Department commissioner.

As many as a dozen children in San Diego County, Calif., were diagnosed with or suspected to have measles in an outbreak that started in January. None of the children had been vaccinated, either because they were too young or their parents didn't want them to be vaccinated. An 11-month-old child who was infected at the Children's Clinic of La Jolla flew to Hawaii before parents knew the child had measles.

"In today's global economy, serious diseases like measles are only a plane ride away,” said Don Blose, chief of the Oklahoma Immunization Service at the state Health Department.
"It remains imperative that we continue to promote full and timely vaccination at the youngest age possible.” he said.” It's unfortunate that some of the infected San Diego children were too young to be vaccinated. Thanks to vaccines, today's providers rarely see many of the diseases that once dominated yesterday's practices.”

Oklahoma law allows immunization exemptions to be granted for medical, religious or philosophical reasons. Data from the Oklahoma school-entry survey show that less than 1 percent of parents opt for exemptions for their school-age children. Measles vaccinations are recommended for children under 6 years of age, with the first shot at 12 to 15 months and a second dose at 4 to 6 years.

Oklahoma hasn't had a measles case since 1997, health authorities said.

Rethinking our Vaccine Policies - Bismarck Tribune

Mar 26, 2008 - 04:05:06 CDT

By BECKY OLSEN
Bismarck

Dr. Edward Fogarty should be commended for his proposal on childhood vaccinations. This new information on how our children should be tested prior to vaccinations is exactly what we parents should demand the very next time we take our children to the pediatrician. The simple lab test for titers could ensure against over-vaccination.

While I agree with Dr. Terry Dwelle (letter: "Vaccination is an act of love") that vaccines save lives, I am in conflict with his statements on studies that found no link between vaccines and autism. Most parents of autistic children who began life developing normally and then suddenly regressed believe there indeed could be a link.

I take to heart parents' gut feeling and intuition about their own children's condition rather than a study. After all, who knows their own child better than mom and dad?I am a parent who has met with resistance about vaccinations of my own young children on a schedule that differs from what currently is suggested. When I offer my concerns about the harm these vaccines could do to my child I am told that the risks are small and the benefits are great. While I believe this to be true, I don't want my healthy child to be one of the many to develop autism.

I can only imagine the struggles the parents and families go through.Now that we are aware of the simple test that can be done prior to vaccination, we should advocate for it. We should ask our pediatricians and the North Dakota Department of Health for it. We should demand it. We parents should do our part.

Vaccinations coming under fire for link to autism

By Dan Baer / The Daily Item

LYNN - A recent admission by government health officials that childhood vaccines worsened a rare, underlying disorder that ultimately led to autism-like symptoms in a Georgia girl has sparked a new debate among parents and physicians alike as to whether the important vaccinations are responsible for a drastic rise in autism diagnosis over the past two decades.

The parents of nine-year-old Hannah Poling believe it was the five simultaneous vaccines that she received as a toddler eight years ago that led to her autism, and were ultimately awarded a settlement from the federal vaccine-injury fund earlier this month.

According to U.S. Department of Health documents obtained by the Associated Press, the five vaccines Poling received aggravated a genetic mitochondrial condition, predisposing her to metabolic problems that manifested in worsening her brain function.

While the landmark ruling has created hope and optimism among many parents with autistic children - nearly 5,000 families are in the process of seeking similar compensation on the grounds that vaccines may have caused autism in their own children - many medical experts are weary of blaming vaccines for the complicated condition, calling Poling's case a rare exception.

"This is a significant debate, but I tend to agree with the Academy of Pediatrics' perspective. Immunizations are one of the top 10 changes in health care that have helped the human race immensely," said Dr. Edward Bailey, a pediatrician at North Shore Medical Center in Salem. "We believe strongly in vaccines. We are only a plane ride away from some of these serious diseases. In my 30 years of practice, every few years we have had people rising up to say that these vaccines are dangerous for one reason or another, but if we stop using them it will have a very negative effect on everyone."

The main focus of these claims is a mercury-based preservative, thermerosal, which was once found in most common vaccines. While it has since been removed from nearly all of the shots, many families believe this has triggered autistic effects in their children.

Lynn resident Kristin Chasse, whose 13-year-old son Daniel was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, a form of autism, at the age of four, says she has explored the possibility of vaccinations playing a role in her son's problems because his behavior began to change shortly after receiving the shots.

"I definitely think there has to be a link, but no one really knows for sure," she said. "We did see a change somewhat after the vaccinations, but it is hard to say because it was our first child. We didn't really know what we were looking for."

Chasse says Daniel was very vocal, and would babble and make sounds prior to his vaccinations, but afterward she began to notice he had stopped talking and didn't reach out to touch and grab things like he had before.

"After we realized that, we called early intervention," she said. "I definitely think there has to be a link. There are too many kids that this happens to, but I really don't think they know. Even if they did know, stopping the vaccines would create a more widespread problem than autism."

Bailey said, like all medicines, vaccines do occasionally have negative side effects in some individuals, but based on how little doctors know about autism to begin with, blaming these shots as a primary cause for the disease is something he strongly disagrees with.

"The association that makes this difficult is that these vaccines are given in the first two years of life, and when do the first signs of autism take effect? In the first two years of life," Bailey said. "So if you are getting a vaccine every two to four months, it might appear when the signs of autism first surface, that is the effect. But keeping in mind that no one knows the cause of autism, to pick one life-saving intervention and say that it is a conspiracy, I have to disagree with that."

Bailey and other physicians say there is no good, solid evidence to link autism to vaccines, or the mitochondrial disorder that Poling suffers from.

"It is a very difficult problem for any parent who walks into the pediatrician's office and finds out that it is vaccination day," said Bailey. "The best we can say is children are much better off with vaccines than they are without them, because if the vaccination rate drops below 80 percent, the whole population is at risk."

Autism is a developmental disorder that causes abnormalities in social interaction and communication, as well as severely restricted interests and highly repetitive behavior.

Asperger Syndrome is the most common form, but differs from other forms of autism in that delay in cognitive development and language development are less common.

"Autistic children are defined in a number of different ways," said Bailey. "Most are bright individuals who just process things in a different way. They have an inability to relate and communicate with people in the normal, make eye contact sort of ways."

Many parents point to an increase in diagnosis in the disorder over the last two decades, as a sign that vaccines may be causing an increase in the problem.

On the other hand, Bailey says, much of that spike in diagnosis may come from re-classification of other diseases such as some forms of retardation as autism because the medical industry has more knowledge and resources.

The medical field didn't even recognize the diagnostic term of autism until the 1940's, and the disease did not become common until the 1980's, suggesting the increase may come from better understanding of the symptoms.

For families like the Chasses, the term of diagnosis doesn't matter as much as finding a cause, and a cure for the disease.

"Regardless of what they classify it as, it is a problem," she said. "It has caused a lot of pain and difficulty for our family over the last 13 years. Daniel is doing very well now, but we are one of the lucky ones to be honest."

A decision is expected in the spring on the first test case for a larger group of autism-vaccine claims, which are being held in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

Dr. Ted Fogerty, Bismarck Tribune

A proposal on vaccinations
Bismarck Tribune, USA
http://webmail.central.cox.net/do/redirect?url=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.bismarcktribune.com%252Farticles%252F2008%252F03%252F24%252Fnews%252Fopinion%252Fletters%252F151637.txt

Now that the courts have recognized a link between vaccinations and autism, we need to revisit public policy. Individual vaccines can't get much safer, but vaccine protocols can. The 2008 Centers for Disease Control protocol for pediatric vaccines is not the safest way to accomplish the goal of immunity to multiple infectious diseases in an individual. . . .

All U.S. physicians and state legislators should thoroughly read the Simpsonwood Transcripts (www.nationalautismassociation.org/library.php). This is the most honest assessment of the relationship of vaccines to autism and shows a clear signal of "uncertain" strength.The CDC conveniently "forgets" to publish the transcript as part of the timeline of understanding the relationship of vaccines to autism. This is clearly a lack of transparency at the federal level of health policy, a timely discussion in light of John Irby's front-page piece in the March 16 Tribune. . . .

As a father of an autistic child, I will fight the federal government's continuing to abuse certain vulnerable children in this nation's war against disease. We don't send everyone to the front line of other wars, why aren't we more discriminating in this one?North Dakota physicians know how to better vaccinate the children of this state than the CDC. We all need to get behind the pediatrics and public health community of North Dakota to improve this art in scientific ways. It may be a decade before that happens, but we can do it.(Dr. Edward "Ted" Fogarty is a Bismarck radiologist. - Editor)

Thank you for Dr. Fogarty's article. Yes, the federal vaccine court has recognized a link between vaccines and the onset of autism in a Georgia girl. This is not an isolated case. There are 5,000 other cases waiting to be heard. Medical experts from the Department of Health and Human Services conceded this case before it was ever heard. The evidence was convincing. It should also convince everyone that something is wrong with a one-size-fits-all vaccine program.

Anne Dachel
Member of the Board of A-Champ
(Advocates for Children's Health Affected by Mercury Poisoning)

David Kirby's Interview on Air America

Click Here to listen to David Kirby's interview today on Air America.

Wendy Fournier TV Interview on ABC 6 Providence, RI

Click here to watch Wendy Fournier, President of National Autism Association discuss Vaccines and Autism. Wendy has some of the best discussion points!!

Give us answers on Vaccines by David Kirby

Give us answers on vaccines
By DAVID KIRBY Published on: 03/20/08

By now, many parents in America have heard of the Hannah Poling court case. They know the government has acknowledged that vaccines contributed to autism in at least one little girl from Georgia. Understandably, they are worried, and they want answers.
But instead of frank talk from leading health officials, their concerns are being met with stonewalling, denial and misinformation.

By refusing to address what really happened to Hannah — by commanding parents to settle down and adhere to the nation's rigid immunization regime — officials will only drive people away from vaccines in anxiety-ridden droves.

But what if we could test children for underlying conditions that might increase their risk of vaccine injury and autism? And what if we allowed those at risk to slightly delay and spread out their shots?

It's a difficult, but not impossible, proposition. And I believe doing so would reduce the rate of autism, seizure disorders and even asthma in some children. And we would boost vaccination rates by restoring faith in the nation's teetering immunization program.
Why do I say this? New documents have surfaced in the Poling case that shine more light on how Hannah's vaccine injury led to autism.

A government document filed in the case last November conceded that Hannah's vaccines had aggravated an underlying disorder of the mitochondria. Mitochondria are the tiny powerhouses within each cell that convert food and oxygen into energy. Government officials acknowledged that Hannah's disorder led to a condition known as low cellular energy metabolism, which was aggravated by vaccines and ultimately led to an autism diagnosis.

It was a tantalizing admission but did little to explain just how the vaccines had aggravated the disorder or caused autism.

But on Feb. 21, the U.S. government made a second, unpublicized concession in the case. In addition to triggering autism, officials now admitted, Hannah's vaccines had also led to her "seizure disorder," or epilepsy.

And there was more. The November document claimed that Hannah had a mitochondrial "disorder." But by February, this was modulated to a mere mitochondrial "dysfunction."
That's because Hannah's underlying condition was asymptomatic and most likely environmentally acquired. It was not some rare, grave, inherited disease that would have progressed to autism anyway, as many officials contend.

The November report said Hannah's vaccine reaction had "manifested" as early-onset brain disease, with "features of autism spectrum disorder." But the February report is more blunt. It says that Hannah's vaccines "caused" her "autistic" brain disease.

But the real bombshell was this: Hannah's autism was caused by vaccine-induced fever and overstimulation of her immune system, according to court documents. Her low cellular energy and reduced metabolic reserves, due to mitochondrial dysfunction, were overstressed by the contents of nine vaccines (including mercury) at once.

The Cleveland Clinic defines low cellular energy metabolism disorder this way: "The process of converting food and oxygen (fuel) into energy requires hundreds of chemical reactions, and each chemical reaction must run almost perfectly in order to have a continuous supply of energy. When one or more components of these chemical reactions does not run perfectly, there is an energy crisis, and the cells cannot function normally. As a result, the incompletely burned food might accumulate as poison inside the body."

The cause of Hannah's mitochondrial dysfunction is up for debate, though ample evidence exists to implicate heavy metals in air, water, food and vaccines as possible suspects. But the government has acknowledged that low cellular energy can increase the risk of immune system overdrive, and regression into autism.

Now, one would think that investigating — and preventing — such vaccine-induced overstimulation in susceptible children would be a top priority of health officials. But it is not.
Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has vowed to "adamantly" enforce the one-size-fits-all vaccine schedule, no matter what happened to Hannah and other kids like her.

Frantic parents, desperate for answers, were admonished by Gerberding to "set aside this very isolated, unusual situation" in so-called Vaccine Court, even though "the court apparently made the decision that it is fair to say that vaccinations may have been one of the precipitators."
Gerberding was either grossly misinformed, or lying.

To begin with, this "decision" was not made by the court at all, but by medical personnel working for the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Gerberding's boss. More important, the Poling case is neither isolated nor unusual. At least 12 other autism-related claims have been paid out in Vaccine Court to date, and perhaps hundreds more cases like Hannah's are pending.

Most striking is how typical Hannah's cellular dysfunction may be among children with autism. While extremely rare in the general population, at two per 10,000 people, it seems unusually common in autism — with estimates up to 2,000 per 10,000.

Many opinion leaders are calling on the government to release all relevant documents leading to the Poling concessions. The family has waived all claims to privacy, and the public has a right to know.

For now, all we have is the CDC Web site, which says that "simultaneous vaccination with multiple vaccines has no adverse effect on the normal childhood immune system."
But did Hannah have a "normal" immune system? Are other kids out there also metabolically primed for overstimulation from too many shots at once? Should their vaccines be spread out?
Instead of answers, we get adamant silence. This is not a matter of national security. It's a national emergency. Millions of parents are anxiously waiting for their government to tell them what the hell is going on.

• David Kirby, an investigative journalist, is author of "Evidence of Harm – Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic: A Medical Controversy"

Wall Street Journal: To Vaccinate or Not: The Growing Debate

March 21, 2008, 11:02 am Posted by Sara Schaefer Munoz

The New York Times reports today that San Diego had a highly unusual outbreak of measles last month. Of the 12 children who fell ill, it says nine of them had not been inoculated against the virus because their parents objected. (Clarification: The other three were not inoculated because they were too young.)

The story says that parents skeptical of vaccines take advantage of exemptions to laws requiring vaccinations for school-age children. Epidemiologists say children who are not vaccinated are unnecessarily susceptible to serious illnesses, and also present a danger to children who have had their shots — the measles vaccine, for instance, is only 95% effective — and to those children too young to receive certain vaccines. (Measles, almost wholly eradicated in the United States through vaccines, can cause pneumonia and brain swelling, which in rare cases can lead to death.)

According to the piece, such parents are aware of the risks, but still choose not to give their children the shots because of an “unproven notion” that vaccines are linked to autism and other disorders. “I refuse to sacrifice my children for the greater good,” said Sybil Carlson in the article, whose 6-year-old son goes to school with several of the children hit by the measles outbreak in San Diego.

Indeed, in 1991, less than 1% of children in the states with personal-belief exemptions went without vaccines based on the exemption; by 2004, the most recent year for which data are available, the percentage had increased to 2.54%, the piece says.

Juggle readers, would you rather expose your children to childhood diseases — such as the “measles parties” mentioned in the article — then get them vaccinated? For those who work, has the growing number of unvaccinated children affected your thoughts about using group childcare?

NY Times: Public Health Risk Seen as Parents Reject Vaccines

SAN DIEGO — In a highly unusual outbreak of measles here last month, 12 children fell ill; nine of them had not been inoculated against the virus because their parents objected, and the other three were too young to receive vaccines.

The parents who objected to their children being inoculated are among a small but growing number of vaccine skeptics in California and other states who take advantage of exemptions to laws requiring vaccinations for school-age children. The exemptions have been growing since the early 1990s at a rate that many epidemiologists, public health officials and physicians find disturbing.

Children who are not vaccinated are unnecessarily susceptible to serious illnesses, they say, but also present a danger to children who have had their shots — the measles vaccine, for instance, is only 95 percent effective — and to those children too young to receive certain vaccines.

To read more of this story, please click here.

Oklahoman Editorial on SB 1407 - Vaccine Bill

Something to make you throw up your morning coffee

http://newsok.com/article/3218362/1205973416
Thu March 20, 2008
Breeding fear? Leave medicine to the pros
The Oklahoman Editorial

LAWMAKERS have plenty to do when it comes to divvying up the state budget and setting public policy to deal with pressing state issues. They don't need to play doctor, too. Senators approved a bill that would limit the amount of mercury in vaccines offered to children and pregnant women. Sen. Jay Paul Gumm, D-Durant, said he wants to make sure fears that vaccines — more specifically a mercury preservative — may cause autism don't cause parents to forgo immunizations.

Unfortunately, his bill could do just that. Several studies and reports have found no link between the preservative thimerosal and autism. The implication that the two are connected could breed the very fear Gumm seeks to dispel.State health officials likewise worry such a law would cause parents to shy away from vaccines that have saved many children from serious illness and even death.

"I'm sure there was very good intent,” said Dr. Kristy Bradley, epidemiologist with the state Health Department. "But if it restricts our ability to offer vaccines, then we would not be in favor of it.”Bradley said the preservative is no longer in most childhood vaccines, and it's being phased out of production in flu vaccines. But she said the production capacity for mercury-free flu vaccines can't yet keep up with demand.

Gumm's law allows for an exemption in the case of an actual or potential public health emergency.We've no doubt Gumm's motives are pure. This is an emotional issue for many parents, who would do well to inform themselves about vaccines and the risks. But in this case, it's not wise or necessary for lawmakers to act based on the feared but unproven link between vaccines and autism. This proposal could have unintended consequences. We'd rather lawmakers leave weighty medical issues to the health care professionals.

Letter from Mark Blaxill and Dr. Boyd Haley to Lancet

Infant stool eliminates vaccinal mercury slowly suggesting high retention in tissue

To the editor,

In a study in The Lancet, Pichichero et al 1 argued that ethylmercury administered to infants through vaccines is eliminated rapidly from the blood and effectively excreted in stool. Our analysis of this data, combined with a more recent analysis2 of mercury excretion in baby hair suggests a more worrisome interpretation, one that offers support for the hypothesis3 linking early mercury exposures with autism.

Our calculations suggest that Pichichero et al. overstated the significance of their excretion findings. Although their data support a rapid rate of ethylmercury elimination from blood, instead of similarly rapid stool elimination, their findings demonstrate slow stool excretion in many infants, suggesting that significant amounts of ethylmercury from vaccines may be retained in infant tissue.

Most methyl mercury is eliminated from the body through stool and ethyl mercury from vaccines most likely follows the same path. Both mercury species must pass out of the blood to allow excretion in feces or (in lesser amounts) hair. 4 Nevertheless elimination from blood also allows for mercury transport into tissue, without prompt excretion. Our analysis of mercury excretion in autistic and control baby hair demonstrated that, although mercury was excreted at high rates in hair of normal infants, hair of autistic infants contained very little mercury, only 0.47 mcg/g versus 3.63 mcg/g in controls. This finding raises the possibility of increased mercury retention in the tissue of autistic infants, who also had higher rates of prenatal mercury exposure.

Pichichero et al provide data specific to infant mercury excretion through feces. They measured mercury concentrations in stool of 22 normal infants exposed to thimerosal in vaccines, ages two and six months, and found a range of 23-141 nanograms of mercury per gram of stool (dry weight). The authors interpreted these levels, mere parts per billion, as positive evidence of mercury elimination.

But these mercury concentrations are extremely low, not nearly enough to allow rapid excretion. Infant dry weight stool volumes have been measured at between 1-3 grams per kilogram (kg) per day.5 Based on the 50^th percentile weight progression from 3.5-8 kg in the zero-six month period, infant stool volumes may be expected to range from 6-18 grams (dry weight) per day. Taking the stool concentration range for mercury from Pichichero et al, we calculated the time required for an infant to excrete the ethylmercury (187.5 mcg) that U.S. infants received by six months of age during the 1990s.

Stool Hg concentration Daily Hg excretion Days to excrete 187.5 mcg

(ng/g) (mcg/day) (days)

Minimum: 23 0.14-0.41 457-1,339

Maximum: 140 0.84-2.52 74-223

In the case of maximum excretion, early vaccine exposures are eliminated within the time period of exposure, but for those children with stool concentrations at the low end of the range, the infant elimination rate rises to nearly four years. For autistic infants, with evidence of reduced excretion in hair and additional fetal exposures2 (from maternal amalgam filling, fish consumption and Rho D immunoglobulin injections) these excretion times were likely far longer.

Our analysis contradicts the optimism expressed by Pichichero et al and suggests that low mercury excretion rates in some infants may underlie the link between mercury exposures and autism.

Mark F. Blaxill

Director, Safe Minds

Boyd E. Haley, PhD

Professor of Chemistry and Department Chairman

University of Kentucky

References:

1. Pichichero ME, Cernichiari E, Lopreiato J, Treanor J. Mercury concentrations and metabolism in infants receiving vaccines containing thiomersal: a descriptive study. Lancet. 2002;360(9347):1737-1741
2. Holmes AS, Blaxill MF, Haley BE. Reduced levels of mercury in first baby haircuts of autistic children. Int J Toxic. 2003;111(4):277-285
3. Bernard S, Enayati A, Redwood L, Roger H, Binstock T. Autism: a novel form of mercury poisoning. Med Hypotheses. 2001;56:462-471
4. Clarkson TW. The three modern faces of mercury. Environ Health Perspect. 2002;110 Suppl 1:11-23
5. Chou C, Studies on the use of soybean food in infant feeding in China and the development of formula 5410. Food Nutr Bull. 1983;5(1) :10-11 http://www.unu.edu/unupress/food/8F051e/8F051E00.htm#Contents

Dr. Haley's comments on the governement's refusal to study vaccinated vs non-vaccinated populations

I want to pass on Dr. Haley's opinion about the studies the government uses and their refusal to examine vaccinated vs non-vaccinated populations.

The attempt by the CDC and AAP to promote the concept that thimerosal containing vaccines is safe for all but those with “underlying mitochondrial disorder” is similar to the previous attempt to label autism as a genetic disorder. This attempt is geared to place research funds into areas other than looking at vaccines in general and thimerosal in specific as the cause for the recent increase in autism.

We need to push for academic funding to do an epidemiological study not controlled by the CDC or AAP on the diseases and illnesses between the vaccinated and non-vaccinated populations. The CDC and AAP refuse to do this for reasons unknown, but most likely fear of the facts that may be found which may even involve more than autism causation---like whether or not the flu vaccines work, or any possible relationship between early vaccines and asthma rates.

However, it appears as if no governmental agency or body can understand the importance of the vaccinated versus non-vaccinated study to the welfare of our children and the overall cost of encompassing medical treatments in the USA. However, in my opinion, the CDC is impeding this due to the fear of a handful of bureaucrats who played an important role in implementing the CDC mandated vaccine program. In my opinion, the AAP does not support such a study due to the implications that forcing patients to follow the CDC mandate through pediatric programs has caused a major epidemic in our children and the loss of financial benefits presented by a forced well baby visits system.

What I am proposing, along with many others, regarding the study of vaccinated versus non-vaccinated populations represents straight-forward scientific logic. The fact that the major medical agencies and associations refuse to do this and insist on spending millions on genetic or mitochondrial disorder research suggests a force is working hard to prevent such a study----perhaps because they already know the answer. I would hardily promise to quite hammering vaccines if a reliable USA located academic institution was assigned the task to evaluate the vaccinated versus non-vaccinated populations and found no harmful effects of our vaccination program. The recent report from Manitoba, Canada on an approximate 5% versus 16% asthma rate on adolescents receiving thimerosal containing DPT at 4 months versus 2 months of age, respectively, tells us that there is a lot about the various aspects of the mandated vaccine program that science does not understand at this time. A comprehensive study of the vaccinated versus the non-vaccinated followed by the design of global monitoring of identified “vaccine risk factors” would provide the basis of implementing a much safer vaccine program.

Everyone should be aware of the fact that most of the epidemiological studies routinely quoted by the CDC, AAP and others as showing no connection between vaccines with thimerosal and autism were funded by the CDC, done by non-USA citizens, mostly done in Europe by individuals involved in producing thimerosal containing vaccines and on populations where the autism rate was more than 13 times less than in the USA. Interestingly, three of the epidemiological studies most quoted by pediatricians as proving thimerosal safety actually showed that thimerosal removal lead to an increase in autism, in one this increase was about 20 fold. To report that decreasing exposure to a potent neurotoxin like thimerosal decreased any specific neurological disease is ridiculous. Perhaps this is why the countries where the data was collected (Denmark, Sweden, England) and the reports filed have not followed the conclusion of the authors and still maintain thimerosal removal from pediatric vaccines. In my opinion, only our CDC and AAP give any scientific credence to the obviously low quality epidemiological studies done by these Danish, Swedish and English researchers who had obvious vested interests in the outcome. Again, this begs the question why our government does not fund a major epidemiological study on vaccinated versus non-vaccinated American children done by a prestigious American university!

I can only imagine the embarrassment to some professional groups when the American public finally find out that the autism epidemic was brought to light through considerable efforts by the mothers and fathers of autistic children, and not the government agencies or medical organizations that should have been in the forefront of recognizing this disaster. Where was the CDC, AAP, AMA, our neurological associations, etc. when the epidemic was in its early stages? I was involved in the autism issue starting in 1998 because of parents of autistic children, and what I distinctly remember was a flat denial by many of our aforementioned medical groups that an autism epidemic even existed. The very fact that we are having the CDC, who in my opinion caused the autistic epidemic through their mandated vaccine program which was not evaluated for safety, still involved in determining the cause of the autism epidemic is a failure of our government and our national medical programs. During the upcoming elections we have the opportunity to use our voting privileges to elect officials that will push for a complete evaluation of our national vaccine program. I strongly suggest that making foundation research based on vaccinated versus non-vaccinated populations regarding the autism/vaccine safety concern a major campaign issue.

Boyd Haley

Oklahoma latest state to produce vaccine legislation

Okla. latest state to produce vaccine legislation

by Janice Francis-Smith
The Journal Record
March 18, 2008

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma has joined a host of states considering legislation to limit the amount of mercury in childhood vaccines. Though there is no conclusive evidence linking thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative found in some vaccines, to increasing diagnosis of autism in children, concern over the potential harm has moved several states to pass laws limiting the amount of mercury permitted in childhood vaccines.

Senate Bill 1407, by state Sen. Jay Paul Gumm, D-Durant, was approved by the full Senate last week on a bipartisan vote of 27 to 17, and will next be considered in the state House of Representatives. The bill would create a new law, limiting the amount of mercury permitted in vaccines for children less than three years of age and knowingly pregnant women to 0.5 micrograms per 0.5 milliliter dose, or in the case of flu vaccines, 0.625 micrograms per 0.25 milliliter dose.

Concern over mercury in vaccines administered to children has been growing for years. The controversy reached the mainstream with the publication in 2005 of the best-selling book Evidence of Harm: Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic, A Medical Controvery by New York Times reporter David Kirby.

“There is no convincing scientific evidence of harm caused by the low doses of thimerosal in vaccines, except for minor reactions like redness and swelling at the injection site,” according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “However, in July 1999, the Public Health Service agencies, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and vaccine manufacturers agreed that thimerosal should be reduced or eliminated in vaccines as a precautionary measure.

Click here to read more.

Jenny McCarthy on Chelsea

Click the link below to see Jenny talk with Chelsea about calling the White House to ask for Dr. Julie Gerberding's resignation and to talk about Generation Rescue's Alternative Vaccine Schedule.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1ugBXlaHtQ

My Child does not have Autism.

Jenny McCarthy in Toronto

Watch and listen to Jenny McCarthy during a Toronto interview.
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-7698061497812533517

Deirdre Imus on Imus Show

Click link below to view Deirdre Imus's interview on the Imus Show.

http://youtube. com/watch? v=E8T3BsOI81Q

Dr. Kartzinel on Larry King

To see what Dr. Kartzinel says about vaccines and autism click below, see him with Jenny on this Larry King.

Larry King Live: Autism - Truveo Video Search

Oklahoma SB 1407 Passes Senate 27-17

The State of Oklahoma

The Office of Senator Jay Paul Gumm

March 12, 2008

Contact: Senator Jay Paul Gumm

State Capitol: (405) 521-5586

Email: gumm@oksenate.gov

Oklahoma Senate Votes to Reduce Mercury in Childhood Vaccines

OKLAHOMA CITY – A bill to reduce the amount of mercury allowed in childhood vaccinations was approved by the Oklahoma Senate today on a bipartisan 27-17 vote.

Senator Jay Paul Gumm, author of Senate Bill 1407, said the purpose of the bill was to remove a substance that causes some parents to have concern about childhood vaccinations.

“I believe strongly that vaccination is the greatest medical success story of the 20^th century,” said Gumm, a Democrat from Durant. “Vaccinations have saved untold lives and prevented untold suffering. We should do everything possible to promote childhood vaccinations.

“However, the presence of mercury in the form of thimerosal causes great fear for some because of the growing belief there is a link between mercury and the near-epidemic growth of autism. That justifiable and understandable fear is keeping kids from getting vaccinated, and that is a risk we dare not take.”

The bill would limit the amount of mercury to 0.5 micrograms per 0.5 milliliter dose. For influenza vaccine, the amount would be 0.625 micrograms of mercury per 0.25 milliliter dose.

The bill would allow the Commissioner of Health to suspend the limit in cases where large quantities of vaccine are needed in a public health emergency like a real or potential epidemic. SB 1407 mirrors a similar law on the books in Missouri. Six other states have similar laws, and in each of those states the vaccination rate of children increased.

Most vaccine manufacturers are already removing mercury from vaccines, the lawmaker said. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatricians recommended removing the chemical from vaccinations in 1999.

While the Centers for Disease Control reports many studies show no link between autism and mercury in vaccine, the federal government – through the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program – recently made a landmark decision to pay compensation to a family that claimed childhood vaccines caused their daughter’s autism.

“Whether is scientifically proven, many Oklahoma parents are convinced there is a link,” Gumm said.

“By phasing out the use of mercury in Oklahoma vaccines, more parents will feel safer about having their children vaccinated, better protecting those children and all of us from the diseases the vaccines prevent.”

The measure now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration.

David Kirby on IMUS radio show

Click Here to watch the video. David Kirby on IMUS March 4th, 2008

Autism & Vaccines WJZ-13 Baltimore

Thanks to WJZ 13 in Baltimore for this story.

Click here to view the video.

The Story of Caitlyn Hoiberg

From Jacksonville, FL

Click Here to view Caitlyn Hoiberg's story.

Autism, vaccine link generates community buzz
PensacolaNewsJournal.com - FL
In 2002, the Hiatts received a settlement from the Nation- al Vaccine Injuries Compensation Program, a fund Congress set up to pay children in- jured by vaccines and to protect makers from damages as a way to help ensure an adequate vaccine supply. Since the fund started in 1988, it has paid about 950 claims ? none for autism but some for autism-like symptoms.

"The government settled with our family and accepted responsibility for the injury the vaccines caused my daughter, Madison," Misty Hiatt said.

KOMU - Missouri's TV coverage of Autism

Click here to watch the entire series on Autism and the look into Vaccines.

Vaccine Safety in Oklahoma, Fox25 Reports

Just to remind everyone what we are working for in Oklahoma. Click here to watch the Fox25 report on vaccine safety.

Combo Vaccine Linked To Kids' Convulsions

Click here to read article.

Vaccine and Autism Video and Story from Panama City, FL

Click here to read the story and watch the video from Panama City, FL about vaccines and autism.

Autism, vaccine link generates community buzz
PensacolaNewsJournal.com - FL
In 2002, the Hiatts received a settlement from the Nation- al Vaccine Injuries Compensation Program, a fund Congress set up to pay children in- jured by vaccines and to protect makers from damages as a way to help ensure an adequate vaccine supply. Since the fund started in 1988, it has paid about 950 claims ? none for autism but some for autism-like symptoms.

"The government settled with our family and accepted responsibility for the injury the vaccines caused my daughter, Madison," Misty Hiatt said.

News article on Autism and Vaccines from South Carolina

Click on the link to read the article from South Carolina about autism and vaccines.

Read it here.

Vaccine and Autism TV video from Arlington, VA

Click on the link to the TV video from Arlington, VA

http://cfc.wjla. com/videoondeman d.cfm?id= 10273

TV Video from Jacksonville, FL

Video from Jacksonville, FL about vaccines and autism.

http://www.news4jax.com/video/15521128/

Video from San Diego TV station

Click video link for the news from San Diego, CA

http://www.10news.com/video/15532255/index.html

Vaccines and Autism video from South Bend, IN

Click the link below to view the video from South Bend, Indiana
http://www.wndu.com/news/headlines/16396576.html

Interview with US Congressman Weldon

Click the link below to watch the interview with US Congressman Dave Weldon regarding the Poling case.

http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=aHtuILnzYZ4&feature=related

Autism: Why The Debate Rages

March 6, 2008

Autism: Why The Debate Rages

EDITOR'S NOTE: this entry by CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson was first posted last June, but as the debate over autism and vaccinations rages on, it seems worthy of repeating. You can read the original post here, or simply scroll down below to see it in full.

Just yesterday, U.S. health officials conceded that childhood vaccines interacted with and worsened a rare disorder that ultimately led to autism-like symptoms in a Georgia girl. Her family is set to be paid from a federal fund.

---

With the first autism case now being heard in federal vaccine court in Washington D.C., it makes sense to ask: Why is anyone even still debating the possibility of a link between vaccines and autism? After all, for years, many government health officials, advisors and vaccine manufacturers have said there's no association.

Here are a number of reasons why the question remains open:

1. While government scientists, advisors and pharmaceutical companies have been responsible for infinite lifesaving and life improving medical advances, they are not infallible.

• It's the same group that originally thought it was safe to use x-ray machines in shoe stores, gave pregnant women Thalidomide for morning sickness and once allowed mercury in medicines. They assured us Vioxx and Duract were safe painkillers, prescribed Rezulin for diabetics and then denied any of them were responsible for patient deaths. If we never questioned that group, we might not have discovered that Fen-phen and the dietary supplement Ephedra are not safe weight loss products, that antidepressants in kids can lead to suicidality and Viagra can cause blindness. The list goes on.

• When it comes to vaccines, the same group failed to predict that the 1990's rotavirus (diarrhea) vaccine would have to be pulled from the market after infant deaths. They encouraged use of the oral polio vaccine (eventually discontinued after it gave too many children polio). And they allowed the use of a mercury neurotoxin preservative in childhood vaccines, only to admit later that they hadn't thought to calculate the cumulative amount kids were getting as more and more vaccines were added to the childhood immunization schedule.

• Recent history demonstrates that too often, government health officials, mainstream doctors and pharmaceutical companies aren't on the leading edge of alerting us to health risks; they're bringing up the rear. Patients feel left to fend for themselves, seeking independent research and opinions on their own. They and their dogged, relentless determination have often been the catalyst that eventually brings medical dangers to the forefront.

2. Government scientists, advisors and vaccine manufacturers often take an all-or-nothing approach to vaccinations.

• Government officials and infectious disease experts I've spoken with are fearful that if vaccine side effects are better publicized, or if a link between vaccines and autism and ADD were made, the public would overreact and lose faith in the entire vaccination program. The result, they're afraid, would be parents refusing to give their children any vaccines, leading to new, deadly epidemics of preventable diseases. That indeed would be a disaster. However, their fears have resulted in something I call an all-or-nothing approach: they tend to promote nearly all vaccines for nearly all children as equally necessary and equally safe. Yet at the same time, if asked, they agree not all vaccines are equally safe, equally beneficial, equally necessary and equally tolerated by each individual child.

• Through the Internet and other resources, parents are now able to find research on vaccines and read it for themselves. They compare the government's all-or-nothing approach to the research and become skeptical that the government is presenting the whole picture on vaccine safety generally.

3. Government officials and mainstream scientists who dispel any vaccine/autism/ADD link have ties to vaccine makers.

• There's so much overlap among pharmaceutical companies, government scientists and advisors that the information they provide at least has the appearance of a conflict of interest. Government scientists and advisors often do not mention their connections to the vaccine industry when they provide opinions on the vaccine/autism/ADD issue.

• One of the best examples of this is the landmark autism/vaccine study published in Pediatrics. Early in his study, the lead author, CDC's Dr. Thomas Verstraeten, found statistically significant associations between the amount of mercury (thimerosal) exposure kids got from their childhood vaccines, and a wide range of brain disorders. However, the published version of the study (the one the authors say is accurate) found no evidence of a link to autism. Not disclosed was that Dr. Verstraeten had left CDC midstream during the study and had gone to work for Glaxo, a vaccine manufacturer. That failure to disclose was criticized in a later publication of Pediatrics, but it got little mainstream attention. Also getting little attention was a letter from well-respected scientists, also in Pediatrics, who echoed what parents of autistic children had been saying for months: they questioned the use and exclusion of certain data from Dr. Verstraeten's study that eventually reduced the statistical ties between vaccines and neurodisorders.

• University and government researchers and advisors often do research for vaccine companies, help develop vaccines (even profit from them), and/or are paid to consult for them. Often, these researchers do not disclose their industry ties when they publicly dispel the notion of a link between autism or ADD and vaccines.

• Lastly, the CDC is inextricably tied to vaccine makers through contracts and other business and financial relationships that open the door for the possibility of conflicts.

4. Non-profits which dispel any vaccine/autism/ADD link have ties to vaccine makers.

• Non-profits that promote vaccinations have ties to vaccine makers that they often do not disclose when giving their opinions on vaccine safety. One example is "Every Child By Two." This group contacted CBS News several years ago in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent one of our stories about the vaccine safety from airing. In forms filed for the IRS, the non-profit lists an official from vaccine maker Wyeth Pharmaceuticals as its Treasurer. It lists vaccine maker Chiron as a paid client.

• Another example of a non-profit tied to the industry is "The Vaccine Fund." Its President from 2000-2005 was Jacques-Francois Martin, formerly CEO of vaccine maker Sanofi-Pasteur, CEO of vaccine maker Chiron, and President of the International Federation of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association. While at The Vaccine Fund, his salary was paid by a company that says it "has developed particular strength in the vaccine industry and vaccine development."

5. The dual role of the CDC undermines the appearance of fairness.

• There is a perceived, if not real, conflict of interest with the government's Centers for Disease Control (CDC) heavily promoting vaccines, but also responsible for monitoring adverse events. At least two respected medical journals, the "American Journal of Public Health" and "Pediatrics" have published letters or articles recommending "greater independence in vaccine safety assessments" apart from "the highly successful program to promote immunizations." In short, the CDC's bread and butter is achieving high vaccination rates. But that role is in conflict with the agency's responsibility to fully research and disclose adverse events that could, in theory, bring down vaccination rates.

6. There is no definitive research proving a link between vaccines and autism or ADD, but there is also no definitive research ruling it out.

• Something rarely reported is that while there's no definitive study linking vaccines to autism or ADD, there is also no study definitively disproving a link. And there's a substantial body of peer-reviewed, published science from places like Columbia, Yale and Northeastern suggesting a link, or pointing to the need for further study.

• Many credible voices deny a link. But many other credible voices support the idea of a link. One example of the latter is George Wayne Lucier, formerly a senior official at the National Institutes of Health in Environmental Toxicology, an NIH advisor, member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Toxicity Testing and a scientific advisor for EPA who concludes "...it is highly probably that use of thimerosal as a preservative has caused developmental disorders, including autism, in some children." A lengthy Congressional investigation also concluded that the autism epidemic is likely linked to vaccinations.

7. Those who say autism and ADD are not linked to vaccines do not know what is causing the epidemics.

• The most frightening part of the autism/ADD epidemics is that if, indeed, they're unrelated to vaccinations, that our best, brightest public health experts still have no idea what is causing it. Excluding ADD, one out of every 150 American children are now being diagnosed with autism.

Vaccinations have provided lifesaving miracles in public health. However, it's undisputed that they are also responsible for many serious adverse events including brain disorders and, rarely, deaths. Trying to maximize the potential benefits of vaccines and minimize the harm shouldn't be seen as a threat to the nation's inoculation program, it's merely a logical step forward.

One scientist who testified for the plaintiff this week in The Vaccine Court said there's a way to test children for a hidden hole in their immune make-up that makes them susceptible to bad immune reactions from vaccinations. He said that, ideally, every child should undergo such a test before their first vaccinations. But he also said the test is very expensive and so "not worth it." Many parents might disagree. If they knew such a test was available, they'd find a way to pay for it. But such information has to be disseminated to the public before a first step can even be considered.

Mainstream medicine initially said that autism was caused by mothers who weren't affectionate enough with their children. If that doesn't teach us that we should always seek further knowledge and not necessarily accept what's spoon-fed to us by certain experts…then nothing will.

JENNY McCARTHY: JULIE GERBERDING MUST GO!

JENNY McCARTHY: JULIE GERBERDING MUST GO!

By Jenny McCarthy

I’m asking all parents and autism groups to join me in demanding Julie Gerberding’s immediate resignation as Director of the CDC.

On Monday, March 10th, beginning at 9:00am Eastern Daylight Time, let’s all start calling the White House and ask President Bush & Laura Bush to demand Julie Gerberding’s resignation for incompetence during the autism epidemic. The White House switchboard can be reached at:

202-456-1414

Also, on the same day, please call your local Congressperson and Senators from your state and ask them to call for her resignation, too.

Julie Gerberding has led the CDC for 6 years during a time when the autism epidemic has only gotten worse. Despite tens of thousands of children who declined just like Hannah Poling, Ms. Gerberding stood before cameras yesterday defiant, cold, and defensive. Where is her humanity in the face of such tragedy? Why couldn’t she have said, “We at CDC want to make sure what happened to Hannah doesn’t happen to any other children, we want to make vaccines safe”?

Rather than listen to the heartbreaking stories of so many parents, you can be sure that Ms. Gerberding is spending her time right now trying to get the Spin Machine up and running to minimize, confuse, and deceive the American public.

The autism epidemic won’t end until we fix the vaccine schedule by reducing total vaccines, separating shots, waiting until our kids are older to begin shots, greening our vaccines, and screening for at-risk kids. Ms Gerberding has stood by and watched self-interested parties more than triple our vaccine schedule and I’m certain her inactivity to help our kids will continue.

The chances of Ms. Gerberding taking the radical steps to reform the CDC and reform our vaccine schedule to make it kid-safe are zero! We need a new CDC Director who is an open-minded reformer and who recognizes that we are experiencing an epidemic of autism, which Ms. Gerberding has never publicly admitted.

Please, parents and national autism organizations, let’s all help make our voices heard on Monday.

Thank you,

Jenny McCarthy

Jenny McCarthy is an actress, author and autism advocate.

SB 1407 up for a vote

SB 1407, Senator Gumm's Thimerosal Reduction in Vaccines bill is scheduled for a vote next week. There has been a lot of pressure recently from doctors and out of state medical associations to stop the passage of a bill to reduce thimerosal in the vaccine supply.

Their arguments are that this bill would lead to greater shortages, thus causing more people not to be vaccinated. However, the major manufacturers of the flu vaccine state that with their new facilities opening up later this year, there will be more than 150 million injectable doses of flu vaccines. That is nearly double the current supply.

The bill's objective is to clean up the vaccine supply and remove the harmful toxins. A growing number of parents are now questioning the safety of the vaccine supply, especially with the recent news of the first case conceded by the federal government whereas vaccines contributed to autism.

In order to help build confidence in vaccine safety, the neurotoxins must be removed.