The following letter was sent to the editors at Discover Magazine last week, regarding a recent article on vaccines and autism. The magazine claimed that the debate is over, but ignored the fact that federal and private support of research into a possible association continues.
I have seen a number of online postings and comments from readers of Discover Magazine who are wondering why freelancer Chris Mooney did not interview doctors and scientists who believe that more vaccine-autism research is warranted in his recent article, "Why Does the Vaccine/Autism Controversy Live On?"
Chris contacted me in mid-March to ask if he could interview me for the piece. When I wrote back to say that was fine, I added that I hoped he would consider "doing an honest examination of this controversy."
I also urged Chris before, during and after our 90-minute interview to not just listen to me, but to speak with several scientists and clinicians who do not feel like the vaccine-autism question has been thoroughly answered.
Chris and Discover Magazine have every right to craft an article as they see fit, and I would not tell another journalist how to do their job. Nor am I complaining about how I was personally portrayed in the piece. I am writing this simply for the record.
Among the things I mentioned to Chris was that Department of Health and Human Services' National Vaccine Advisory Committee Vaccine Safety Working Group (NVAC VSWG) had just recommended appointing a panel of experts to explore the strengths and weaknesses of conducting studies on health outcomes in vaccinated vs. unvaccinated children, and they said it was "desirable" to include autism as one of the health outcomes.
I suggested he might want to contact some of the mainstream doctors who supported the measure, which is still moving forward, even if they didn't personally believe in a connection. I sent him the names of many of these doctors, including Bruce Gellin, M.D., MPH, Director of the HHS National Vaccine Program Office (NVPO) and Executive Secretary of NVAC, Andrew Pavia, M.D., an NVAC Member and Chair of the NVAC Vaccine Safety Working Group, and James Mason, M.D., DrPH, an NVAC member and member of the Vaccine Safety Working Group and a former CDC Director and former Assistant Secretary of Health.
I suggested Chris speak to researchers doing some interesting work coming out of Harvard (Herbert et al) and Johns Hopkins (Vargas et al) in terms of autistic brain tissue and oxidative stress, chronic neuroinflammation, autoimmunity, microglial activation, etc. I also mentioned that Martha Herbert had been looking at the role that glutathione depletion and mitochondrial dysfunction might play in autism symptoms -- and that a new study from Stanford said that glutathione depletion is probably a marker for mitochondrial disorders. Other people I mentioned were Dr. Jill James et al at the University of Arkansas and Dr. Thomas Burbacher at the University of Washington.
I brought up the court cases of Hannah Poling and Bailey Banks, and suggested that Hannah's father Dr. Jon Poling might have some interesting perspectives on mitochondria, vaccines and autism. I also said that Bailey Banks's lawyer could attest that the previously normal boy developed acute brain damage after an MMR shot, which then turned into PDD-NOS, for which he will be compensated.
(As an aside to those who still don't think that PDD-NOS is an autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, the new autism report from the State of California's Department of Developmental Services states, "ASD includes Autistic Disorder, Asperger's Disorder, Rett's Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD NOS), and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder.")
I also mentioned that researchers at HHS and the EPA working on the National Children's Study, in which federal researchers expect to find 600 to 700 kids with an ASD by age three and will compare these outcomes to genetic and environmental factors, including vaccines.
I spoke about the CDC program called the CADDRE Network, whose five year goal is to "identify what might put children at risk for autism," including "specific mercury exposures, including any vaccine use by the mother during pregnancy and the child's vaccine exposures after birth."
I suggested that Chris contact scientists at the Cleveland Clinic, Harvard University, and Johns Hopkins University who wrote in a recent study that "There might be no difference between the inflammatory or catabolic stress of vaccinations and that of common childhood diseases" and that "Large, population-based studies will be needed to identify a possible relationship of vaccination with autistic regression in persons with mitochondrial cytopathies."
Among the authors of that paper were Dr. Richard I. Kelley of the Department of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center and Division of Metabolism at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Dr. Margaret L. Bauman of the Department of Pediatrics and Learning and Developmental Disabilities Evaluation and Rehabilitation Services (LADDERS) at Massachusetts General Hospital. I said that Dr. Bauman, in particular, might have some interesting perspectives, given that she withdrew her name as a witness for the government in the Autism Omnibus Proceedings in federal vaccine court.
Along those lines, I also suggested that Chris might want to speak with Dr. Andrew Zimmerman, a pediatric neurologist and research scientist at Kennedy Krieger Institute and Associate Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Zimmerman also withdrew his name as a government witness in vaccine court, and recently published a groundbreaking book titled "Autism-Current Theories and Evidence," According to the publisher, Zimmerman's goal is to "show how the scientific method is revealing the biological bases of this spectrum of disorders, thereby leading the way to their treatment and prevention using evidence-based medicine." The book is divided into 6 sections, including one on immunology and another on environmental mechanisms and models.
I also told Chris he might enjoy speaking with Dr. Douglas Wallace, Professor of Molecular Medicine and Director of the Center for Molecular and Mitochondrial Medicine in Genetics at UC Irvine. A member of the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation's scientific board, and father of a son with autism, he testified that children with mitochondrial disorders are not only at greater risk for autistic regression, but they are also more likely to suffer from vaccine injuries. And, he told the NVAC: "We advocate spreading vaccines out as much as possible. Each time you vaccinate, you're creating a challenge for the system, and if a child has an impaired system, that could in fact trigger further clinical problems."
There were other prominent researchers I that thought could contribute to the article, such as former NIH Director Dr. Bernadine Healy, and Dr. Geraldine Dawson, Scientific Director of Autism Speaks, which currently supports and funds vaccine-autism research.
I also mentioned Dr. Duane Alexander, Director of the National Institute of Childhood Health and Human Development, who supports autism-vaccine research and who said that, "Genetic variations exist that cause adverse reactions to specific foods, medications, or anesthetic agents -- it is legitimate to ask whether a similar situation may exist for vaccines." He added that there may be, "subpopulations unable to remove mercury from the body as fast as others, or some adverse or cross-reacting response to a vaccine component, or a mitochondrial disorder increasing the adverse response to vaccine-associated fever."
Finally, I brought up Dr, Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who recently said that, "If we can show that individuals of a certain genetic profile have a greater propensity for developing adverse events, we may want to screen everyone prior to vaccination (for) undetectable diseases like a subclinical mitochondrial disorder." Chris said he was interested in the idea of small groups of children being genetically vulnerable to vaccine injury, and in researching ways to identify them and, as I suggested, create an alternative vaccine schedule for them.
Perhaps Chris did contact some of these experts but did not find their remarks as compelling as mine, which seems doubtful.
I am sure that he and Discover Magazine have their reasons for not including comments from any of these professionals. Also for the record, I also spent over an hour on the phone with a factchecker at Discover, discussing much of the above information. Perhaps the magazine will let us know why their reporter chose not include any comments from Doctors Gellin, Pavia, Mason, Herbert, Vargas, James, Burbacher, Poling, Kelley, Bauman, Zimmerman, Wallace, Healy, Dawson, Alexander or Fauci.
First posted at www.ageofautism.com
This was not directed at me but I'm answering it.
Immature myelin sheath. Maybe the reason I was not brain damaged by the very same DPT that caused my brother's brain damage (verified by many doctors back in the 70's) is possibly because the myelin sheath matures faster or slower in some babies. That would explain the "affected neurons". Maybe my myelin sheath was more mature than my brother's...I WAS older when I got that jab then he was when he got his.
Funny thing is - if the DPT wasn't causing brain damage, aka: mental retardation, aka AUTISM - then why the hell did they have a need to reformulate it??? Why do we now have the DTaP instead? And why was the severity of the "brain damage" less severe with the new vaccine? Oh, it's STILL autism, just less severe now days.
"Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder with high heritability. Here, we discuss data supporting the view that there are at least two distinct genetic etiologies for ASD: rare, private (de novo) single gene mutations that may have a large effect in causing ASD; and inherited, common functional variants of a combination of genes, each having a small to moderate effect in increasing ASD risk. It also is possible that a combination of the two mechanisms may occur in some individuals with ASD. We further discuss evidence from individuals with a number of different neurodevelopmental syndromes, in which there is a high prevalence of ASD, that some private mutations and common variants converge on dysfunctional ERK and PI3K signaling, which negatively impacts neurodevelopmental events regulated by some receptor tyrosine kinases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]"
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/health/research/16gene.html
There are a lot of new parents out there that are just learning about some of these issues. The more good information they get the more likely they are to question the mainstream and do some research on their own.
Love your work, just bought Evidence of Harm and can't wait to dig in but as always have too many irons in the fire.
David Kirby is on the front lines leading this war against Big Pharma Propaganda, along with so many others who are "fighting the good fight". More and more parents, doctors, scientists and researchers as well as journalists like David Kirby are discovering that the facts support the truth and not the lies. And this united front is making headway and producing results in spite of the prevailing climate of Ignorance and Denial. Highlights from the following 2008 National Public Opinion survey demonstrate that the American Public is being awakened to the autism issues:
(83%) thought that finding a cure for autism should be a national priority.
(24%) respondents said that because vaccines may cause autism it was safer not to have children vaccinated at all.
http://www.theoneclickgroup.co.uk/news.php?start=2380&end=2400&view=yes&id=2912#newspost
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090312115133.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090312115133.htm
Kirby has done a great job of utilizing the "appeal to authority" fallacy. The fact is, most of the people he cites to make his point would not agree with his claims or conclusions.
What is really sad is that readers here don't even realize that. It seems he's supplying them with what they want to hear. Go figure!
But like I said...he's saying what some of you want to hear, not reality.
And to quote Josephius "Bwahahaha!"
You keep changing your tune, "moving the goalpost", to suit your pro-industry needs.
Last week it was "there is no thimerosal" and now it's" fraudulent use of names."
Sounds like you are losing your battle and so you have to change your tactics frequently. The facts keep building on the vaccines cause autism side.
What will you use next week?
Discover Magazine and its editorial decisions about autism research are not hard to understand if viewed through Jay Rosen's lens of the "deep politics" of journalism: http://bigthink.com/jayrosen
In brief, there are three concentric circles. The innermost is the legitimate sphere of debate: topics and their frames that mainstream journalists are allowed to debate.
Next is the sphere of consensus--the things we all agree on and therefore journalists feel no need to write about: "anyone can succeed in America," "Abe Lincoln was a great president."
Finally, the last and outermost circle: the sphere of deviance--views and people not worthy of discussion by serious, mainstream journalists.
All the stuff that you sent to this "journalist" and that was subsequently ignored is found in the sphere of Establishment deviance. Not writing about these people and ideas was not given any more analysis than that: they are not worthy. They do not fit. They deviate from accepted dogma I follow to keep my job.
More important, had they been written about, Discover would have risked its allotted position in the sphere of legitimate debate as well as its ad revenue.
How do we get inside? One David Kirby, one Huff Post at a time.
http://discovermagazine.com/2007/apr/autism-it2019s-not-just-in-the-head/?searchterm=autism
Thanks for the great link.
My concern is Mooney's and other skeptics' lack of humility and lack of recognition of the possibility of various phenomena. This viewpoint is ultimately anti-scientific because it is closed-minded.
The fact that Mooney didn't follow-up on Kirby's recommendations are part and parcel of Mooney's and other skeptics' efforts to set-up straw men, just to knock them down.
The best scientists remain humble...and almost always call for more and better research, rather than assume that all is already known about a subject.
1. State outright that the link is not proven.
2. Claim that only "desperate parents" are keeping the controversy alive.
3. Drop in some quotes from Paul Offit (vaccine profiteer), Marie McCormick (IOM colluder), and perhaps a generalist TV medical specialist or AAP trade union rep.
4. Scare the public into thinking they'll either get sick or legally prosecuted if they don't vaccinate.
Meanwhile the Chris Mooneys of the world handily ignore the growing numbers of researchers, physicians and other medical professionals who have found compelling evidence to support the vaccine/autism link. It's gratifying to know that some journalists, such as David Kirby, still have professional ethics and a conscience.
So you think these folks are byassed becuase they stand to profit?...So how is that different from Kirby who makes millions from his book (see "evidence of Harm" Amazon link on the article!!
Talk about byass...why would you put the product you sell next to your "independent" journalism article?
Again, Kirby focuses on molecular data, which may seem compleing but is ultimately weak. but neglects the dozens of other studies which are epidemiological, and thus much more powerful, showing no autism-vaccine link.
More research is needed like that done by Herbert and Vargas.
Think about it like this: if thimerosal, used in the past in vaccines does cause autism, you should definately see and increase in ASD rates in kids exposed to it as opposed to not. This is independent of whether ethyl-mercury causes brain cell damage or not. The real question is: does it cause autism, which we now know it does not.
So epi studies are in fact, the end-all-be-all and our popular medical interventions should be based on them, not in vitro studies only.
They are gradually starting to admit to the reality that the numbers are increasing but at the same time, they are overselling the genetic causation. These two arguments don't work together but how often do you see that in the same article?
Now they are being forced to admit that many of these children can be recovered. This "spontaneous" recovery argument being pushed by those such as Offit won't last long.
They can drag this out but only so far. Articles like this help so much in this fight and give parents of childrend with ASD a great deal of hope.
How do you figure? Are you claiming that our understanding of stage-specific gene expression is invalid? The whole area of epigenetic research is worthless?
Before you stick your foot any further in your mouth, you should look the basics of genetics and at other genetic diseases that regress at specific developmental milestones.
Autism is not a genetic disease of regression. It is a regression, either immediate or subtle, of previous skills and is correlated with an exposure to either an environmental source ie mercury, or vaccines (and their components). There may be a genetic vulnerability and that is where more research, especially a vaccinated vs unvaccinated study will prove to be helpful.
How much longer are you going to try and make up false information?
11:14am
Alexandria,VA
Hi,David.
I.saw.you.at.the.New.Canaan.Library.a.few.years.ago.when.you.spoke.about.autism...I'm.sure.that.I.was.the.angriest.parent.present.
I'm.still.angry.about.what.happened.to.my.son.even.though.he.is.now.18.and.doing.great--graduating.from.high.school.and.working.
Keep.up.the.good.work..If.you.can.spare.one.child.what.my.son.went.through.then.you.are.a.saint.