Calling All Vaccine-Autism Critics

(PLEASE NOTE: Due to tremendous response, the venue for the NYU event has been moved to the Law School's much larger Tishman Auditorium, at the same address: 40 Washington Square South, Ground Floor. RSVP for this is event is still required at [e-mail])

In the next two weeks, I will give three public lectures and Q&A sessions, free and open to the public, at Brown University in Providence, NYU Law School in Manhattan, and Northeastern University in Boston. (Other events are to be announced soon for New Jersey, Long Island and Southern California).

I sincerely encourage any and all vaccine-autism skeptics, critics, agnostics and cynics living in the northeastern US to please consider attending one of these talks, armed with all of your most pointed, difficult and critical questions.

For my part, I will present slides showing evidence to support and refute the link between autism, vaccines, mercury & heavy metals, air pollution and other environmental factors.

My only arguments will be that the evidence is NOT conclusive against a link, and it is premature to declare that vaccines and their ingredients have been 100% exonerated as environmental contributors to autism.

I hope to have a reasoned and enlightening public discussion with members of the audience. Among the subjects we will tackle are:

1) The Poling Case - in which the government conceded that vaccines induced autism in one little girl, and updates on other court cases.

2) Brand New Evidence - of a link between mitochondrial dysfunction and autistic regression, and evidence of mitochondrial issues in many ASD kids.

3) Research Underway - at top universities on the connection between environmental toxins, oxidative stress, glutathione depletion, neuro-inflammation and autistic encephalopathy.

4) Declarations - By the US Presidential candidates and the former NIH director that autism is epidemic and calling for more research into vaccines and mercury as possible causes.

5) Recent Studies - Linking autism spectrum disorder with heavy metals and contaminants in air pollution.

Here are the times and locations:

PROVIDENCE: Thursday, June 19 - 6:30-9:00PM
Brown University, Salomon Center, Room 101
On the Campus Green
Hosted By Wendy Fournier, President of the National Autism Association

NEW YORK CITY: Thursday, June 26 - 6:30-9:00PM
NYU School of Law, 40 Washington Square South
Vanderbilt Hall, Tishman Auditorium, Ground Floor
Hosted By Mary Holland, NYU Law School
NOTE: RSVP REQUIRED: [e-mail]

BOSTON: Friday, June 27 - 6:30-9:00PM
Northeastern University
Behrakis Health Science Building (Bldg #26) - Room 10
Hosted by Dr. Richard Deth, Northeastern University Professor of Pharmacology

This series was made possible by Generation Rescue, Autism Research Institute, National Autism Association, Coalition for SAFE MINDS, and Talk About Curing Autism.

Announcements for each event can be downloaded at www.evidenceofharm.com - please feel free to circulate these electronically and otherwise to all interested parties.

ALL EVENTS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

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PS - REGARDING TIM RUSSERT:

I had the immense privilege of appearing on Meet the Press in August of 2005. It was the highlight of my career and Tim Russert could not have been kinder, more respectful, or more curious and open minded about the topic at hand.

I was inspired to blog about it at the Huffington Post, and I am proud to draw your attention to it here.

Mr. Russert will be sorely missed by millions.

(This post will also appear at www.ageofautism.com )

Comments

[ThinkForYourself2]

As a future father I just want to say how happy and grateful I am to everyone out there who is fighting for our kids.

I believe nothing is more important than protecting our kids. My hope now is that more people, politicians, organizations, churches and governments join the fight to stop these crimes against children which are happening on a daily basis. These are some of the most heinous crimes against humanity that man has ever seen and the people who are responsible for this need to be stopped and brought to justice immediately.

The public who are in the know have a lot of admiration and gratitude for everyone in the fight and if you're not in the fight yet, get educated on the subject and get in here. We need your help.

[angndon94]

Thanks David for taking on the critics. Any chance those who can't attend will be able to see a video of the event later?

Thanks again!
Angela S.

[hankm]

Although I am not as studied as many of the vaccine opponents here, I decided NEVER to vaccinate my daughter on the basis of Dr. Tim O'Shea's recommendations on his website www.thedoctorwithin.com. He's done a lot of study and knows what he's talking about.

In addition to the thimerosol/mercury problem, there is the fact that you are giving toxins to little bodies whose blood-brain barrier has not fully formed. There are other factors, too, which exacerbate this poisoning of their bodies, and it's all on the website.

In this day and age, it seems that one is not allowed an opinion unless he's an "expert" or has done loads of "studies." Increasingly, though, we are discovering that the "experts" are shills for Big Pharma and that the studies they conducted are rigged to get a certain result.

My daughter is two years old. She is smart, happy and far healthier than other kids her age.

I'm going to continue to rely on my own common sense, thank you.

[klmebane]

i think that if vaccines do have a link to autism it isn't a direct causal link. otherwise there would be a much larger percentage of kids who had been vaccinated with autism. personally, i vaccinate my child. the last thing i want is for her to get sick with something that could have been prevented and might kill her. i know that as parents we should talk to our kids doctors, find out whats in the vaccines, if they are really necessary, and say no thanks to the ones they really don't need. but to say stop vaccinating all kids is a little extreme. vaccinations are one of the reasons a larger percentage of kids actually make it out of childhood.

[ThoJ]

David,

there often is a good discussion going on right here in the comments to your blog. You will find other sites on the net where people discuss the same subjects as you.

If it's discussion you want, it's been available for a long time. Jump in, the water's fine!

[doxyluv13]

Once again Kirby is peddling his autism snake oil. See how he ropes in factors like air pollution and other environmental factors into his "thesis" because the thimerosol theory is in tatters--there has been no reduction in new cases or autism as the amount of mercury exposure has been reduced. It's as simple as that.

Sadly, Kirby and many of the autism advocates who support him are presenting vulnerable parents and others with a classic flim-flam which is to cast as much doubt as possible on the true scientific work that has been done in this field and replacing it with comforting opinions.

[JeanneCant]

doxyluv13,

Which lecture will you be attending so Mr. Kirby can address you personally?

[Stagmom]

Thanks to "snake oil" my daughters are A) med free and B) in their school district and C) just made First Communion and D) can go to a restaurant and E) two of them can speak to me and the third can say, "Mama" and F) sleep through the night and G) do not have GI pain and H) do not have circles under their eyes and I) can swim and J) one is in the talent show on Friday and K) no longer have seizures and L) are toilet trained and M) can ride a bus or plan without the noise driving them insane and N) will kiss me and smile at me every day and O) eat a wide variety of foods including fruits and veggies in droves and P) can stand in the yard without bolting and Q) two can dress tand R) no longer walk on toes and S) one can do her own laundry and T) can attend public events and U) can avoid pediatrician visits due to excellent health and V) two can write, spell and read and W) can sing and X) can speak on the phone and Y) can hug meand Z) I'm sure would call you a vindictive person who has no interest in these children at all if I ever let them know how many people on this site are dead set against their progress.

Kim Stagliano
HuffPo Blogger
Mom to Mia, Gianna and Bella, the lights of my life

[doxyluv13]

Kim, please explain your rant. What exactly do you think has achieved this result? How does this support Kirby's thesis?

And please dont call me vindictive. You have no idea what my motives are

[Dadoftwins]

I haven't seen the epidemiological history on mercury exposure but I would think that children in this age are exposed to much less mercury than, for instance, the baby boomer generation (remember when it was common to dip silver dimes into molten mercury to make them shiny?). Perhaps autism was diagnosed as something else before there was wide spread concern about mercury toxicity? Are there any studies that compare systemic mercury exposure to the rate of autism over a period of 40-50 years? If so, what does that show?

[Orac]

Excellent observation. Also, because only the flu vaccine (which most children still do not get) still contain more than trace amounts of thimerosal, the exposure of the typical American infant to mercury in vaccines is lower than it has been since the 1980s, before the autism "epidemic" that really isn't an epidemic. The prediction one would make for such a sharp drop in a compound that is thought to cause a certain condition is that the drastic decrease in exposure of a population to that compound should be followed by a drastic decrease in new cases of the condition. That just hasn't happened for autism in the 6 years since thimerosal was removed from most childhood vaccines. Indeed, because it's been well over 6 years since thimerosal was removed from vaccines and because autism is generally diagnosed between age 3-5, we are far enough out to have seen a major decrease in new case of autism if thimerosal­-containin­g vaccines were indeed a major cause of autism.

Of course, even the most die-hard believer in the mercury/autism idea is starting to realize this. That's why, having previously said that "it's the mercury, stupid," and failing to see the prediction that follows from their claims validated, antivaccinationists are now moving on to the "toxin" gambit, blaming other ingredients in vaccines:

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2007/11/cries_the_antivaccinationist_why_are_we.php
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2008/02/still_more_evidence_that_its_all_about_t.php

[ObjectiveAutismDad]

"the autism 'epidemic' that really isn't an epidemic"??? This is ridiculous. Even the CDC concedes that 1 in 150 children have autism. Four times as many of these children are boys. That's 1 in 96 -- more than 1% of the male children in this country have autism. You can't argue that these kids would have been missed in previous generations... There would need to be 1% of the adult male population that had autism -- and they don't exist.

The main stream medical community approach to children that have been diagnosed with autism it to tell the parent's to prepare for caring for the child for the rest of their lives -- because there's no cure (I've actually had a Doctor tell me that). You don't grow out of it -- according to them. Happily some people have discovered that there are ways to recover their children -- but they are derided a delusional, attention seeking and money grubbing by the bloggers in places like "science"blogs. The Doctors at HHS respectfully disagree with you -- by their own admission.

[ObjectiveAutismDad]

It's more important to look at the empirical science than it is to look at the epidemiology (i.e., statistics). It's very easy to miss an effect in a small percentage of the population when do this. All of the epidemiology that I have seen lacks sufficient statistical power to detect an effect such has been identified.

Facts: mercury is the 2nd most neuro-toxic thing that we know of in the world; the scientific community has assumed for many years that ethyl-mercury (which makes up 50% of what's in thimerosal) is less toxic than methyl-mercury (what you get eating contaminated fish, for example), recent studies show that ethyl-mercury (when injected) is more toxic than methyl-mercury (when ingested); the toxic load of mercury that children from the early 90s received was over 125X the EPA limit for methyl-mercury (they haven't, AFAIK, established a limit for ethyl-mercury); despite what many have said, the mercury has NOT been removed from all childhood vaccines; and, the childhood vaccines manufactured with thimerosal were still being administered to kids as recently as at least 2005, if not later (they put it in as preservative after all); finally, my son has mercury poisoning (as established in urine, stool and blood tests) -- and he never ate very much fish, and we don't live anywhere near any coal burning or other industrial plants.

More study is obviously needed.

[klmebane]

i made sure to ask my childs pediatrician if there was mercury in the vaccines. at least her dr's office doesn't use those anymore.

[JeanneCant]

Mr. Kirby, this sounds like an incredible lecture, one I am sorry to miss. Thank you (again, and again) for all of your hard work and determination.

As long as others are requesting stops added to your itinerary, how about a jump down to the Memphis area? Heck, I'd even settle for Nashville!

[OkieMon]

there is a strong statistical link between mercury emissions from coal plants and autism.....we know mercury is a neurotoxin yet bush allowed coal plants to spew thousands of tons of mercury into the environmen­t....defea­t coal and mercury with solar and hydrogen power.

[Orac]

If you're referring to the recent study by Raymond F. Palmer in Texas, I hate to tell you this, but Palmer did not show a "strong statistical link" between anything, much less mercury emissions from coal plants and autism. See:

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2008/05/wait_its_not_mercury_in_vaccines_its_mer.php

[S1m0n]

Your article would be a good deal more convincing if you weren't constantly citing YOURSELF in support of your arguments.

[OkieMon]

the only thing this tells me is that you are a shill for the oil/coal monopoly and raymond palmer is not.

[ObjectiveAutismDad]

David, Thank you again for keeping the hope of progress alive on these issues. Many of us would relish the opportunity to debate any and all comers on these topics -- the truth will out! Good luck to you, but I'm sure you don't need it.

[BlackJAC]

It's not autism. It's brain damage from mercury poisoning. Call it what it is, no matter how unsexy it sounds and how it doesn't give you the fun of self-righteous outrage against big evil pharmaceutical companies. Fix the problem rather than the blame.

[usna73]

I applaud your efforts Mr. Kirby. Still, the most discouraging reality of this entire saga is the unwillingness of the Federal government to do what they are charged to do: Protect the citizens of the United States. Instead, heads of agencies have wantonly shirked their responsibility or worse.

Your invitation should be extended to those in Congress and the Presidential candidates.

Absent the ethical courage to allow the truth to be determined, our children will never obtain justice.

[Kane]

"You couldn't even construct a study that shows thimerosal is safe," says Dr. Boyd Haley, one of the world's authorities on mercury toxicity. "It's just too darn toxic. If you inject thimerosal into an animal, its brain will sicken. If you apply it to living tissue, the cells die. If you put it in a petri dish, the culture dies. Knowing these things, it would be shocking if one could inject it into an infant without causing damage."

Deadly Immunity - Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/7395411/deadly_immunity/

[HST]

Hidden CDC Data Confirms Vaccine-Autism Link

http://www.tinyurl.com/4akfmd

[amandastories]

Thank you, David Kirby, for being a link between autism and truth.

[TimKasemodel]

David,

I suspect you will get your most prominent critics to show up (the usual suspects on this blog for instance) but will they address you in public? That type of behavior from your most vocal blog critics is unlikely.

For instance, at the Autism One Conference in Chicago, an extremely vocal critic of Dan Olmsted and other prominent media personalities supporting at least looking into the autism vaccine link showed up, but remiained silent. I was there. Dan and the rest were all sitting in one spot, at the front of the room and the coward could do nothing but record amateur video for his own disection into Youtube spots for his irrational rants.

I suspect the same cowardly reaction to your sincere invitation. Will Offit show up? Harldy. Will Marie McCormick, Walt Orenstien or even Julie G herself? Never in a million years. Even your harshest critics from the "Wackosphere" will come up with all kinds of silly reasons why the can not meet you eye to eye in a public arena and debate you.

That is because they know they are beat before they even show up.

Please please please would someone record a video if anyone actually shows up with something better than an old set of discredited (by the NIEHS and a former director of the NIH) studies that are now eight years old?

Tim