Pediatricians, ABC and Censorship: Facts Are Scarier Than Fiction
On Monday, the American Academy of Pediatrics will release the contents of a foreboding letter sent last week to ABC/Disney executives, demanding they cancel the January 31 premiere of a new legal drama series, Eli Stone, because it features a family attorney who successfully argues in court that mercury-containing flu vaccine caused autism in one child.
The letter, signed by AAP President Renee Jenkins, borders on near-hysteria over a fictional television entertainment. It ominously warns that ABC "will bear responsibility for the needless suffering and potential deaths of children from parents' decisions not to immunize based on the content of the episode."
Dr. Jenkins calls on ABC to cancel the episode but, anticipating a refusal, urges executives to run a disclaimer that "no scientific link exists between vaccines and autism," if the offending network "persists" in airing the show.
I share the AAP's concern that parents should not be driven away from protecting their children from dangerous, even deadly diseases. But parents are far too smart to base such an important decision as immunization on the "content of the episode" of a single drama on broadcast television.
In fact, if I were Dr. Jenkins, I would be far more concerned about real news happening in the real world -- events that not only suggest the possibility of some sort of link between mercury, vaccines and autism, but might alarm parents more than any fictional account written for ratings-grabbing mass entertainment.
If I were Dr. Jenkins, instead of fretting over a fake family engaged in a mock trial held in a make-believe court on some LA soundstage, I would be up at night wondering why the Federal Government recently conceded a real vaccine-autism lawsuit in a real court and will soon pay a real (taxpayer-funded) settlement to a real American family and a very real child with autism.
I would want to know why the Department of Justice agreed that mercury-containing vaccines "severely aggravated" the autism symptoms in at least one child, and I would wonder if research into what triggered that severe aggravation might provide at least some clues into the perpetual mysteries of the disorder and its causes.
And, if I were Dr. Jenkins, rather than wringing my hands and trying to censor a TV-show verdict, I would truly worry about what will happen when parents realize that the Federal Government's concession has been sealed -- preventing the public (and future plaintiffs) from viewing what could only be described as "evidence of harm." I would be nervous that this secretive action in an actual court (itself reminiscent of science fiction) might drive parents away from vaccination far more effectively than any scripted drama.
Furthermore, if I were the top pediatrician in America, I would not be asking television networks to make sweeping statements such as, "No scientific link exists" between autism and mercury or vaccines, when highly respected publications continue to publish new (and very real) data that roundly debunk what has now become, frankly, a tired piece of misinformation.
If I were the AAP, or ABC for that matter, I would feel downright silly stating that "no scientific link exists," so soon after the Journal of Child Neurology published a study titled, "Blood Levels of Mercury Are Related to Diagnosis of Autism: A Reanalysis of an Important Data Set." I would also worry about parental reaction to learning that researchers had done due diligence and reanalyzed data from a prior, hugely influential study that (erroneously) found zero connection between mercury levels and autism.
Instead of trying to silence the fictional words of "Eli Stone" co-creators Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim, I would pay closer attention to the real words of Journal authors M. Catherine DeSoto and Robert Hitlan, who found a major flaw in the original study that found no link. In fact, they concluded, "a significant relation does exist between the blood levels of mercury and diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder," and that "hair sample analysis results offer some support for the idea that persons with autism may be less efficient... at eliminating mercury from the blood," something that proponents of the mercury-autism hypothesis have long contended.
And, I would heed this rather wise warning from the authors: "If there is any link between autism and mercury, it is absolutely crucial that the first reports of the question are not falsely stating that no link occurs."
Another study, freshly out of Harvard, likewise shows a potential link between mercury and the autopsied brains of young people with autism. The American Journal of Biochemistry and Biotechnology reports that a marker for oxidative stress was 68.9% higher in autistic brain issue than controls (a statistically significant result), while mercury levels were 68.2% higher.
And though the mercury results did not quite reach statistical significance (probably due to the small number of autistic brains studied: 9), the authors cautioned that, "However, there was a positive correlation between (oxidative stress and mercury levels)," meaning the two might be associated.
Finally, if part of my AAP job description was to ensure that every American child is vaccinated as early and often as possible, I would be hugely apprehensive, not about a new courtroom drama, but rather about a dramatic new study soon to appear in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
In the article, "Delay in DPT vaccination is associated with a reduced risk of childhood asthma," Anita Kozyrskyj, an asthma researcher at the University of Manitoba, and other scientists combed the medical records of 14,000 children born in Manitoba in 1995 (when many Canadian shots still contained mercury, by the way).
They found that children who received the DPT (diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus) vaccine at two months of age were 2.63 times more likely to develop asthma (at a rate of 13.9%) than children who were not given the shot until after four months of age (5.9%). "We're thinking that maybe if you delay this allergic response until a bit later, the child's immune system is more developed and maybe you're not seeing this effect," Kozyrskyj told the Winnipeg Free Press, which just broke the story.
No one wants infant children to go unprotected from whooping cough (or pertussis, the "P" in DPT). But what if delaying that vaccine could have prevented more than half of the asthma cases in the United States? With millions of children currently suffering from the disease, at the cost of billions of dollars a year, would waiting another two months improve the risk-benefit ratio for society (save for the companies that market those asthma medications)?
Even more importantly, if too-early vaccination causes asthma in some kids, could the practice cause other disorders? There is absolutely nothing to link this vaccine study to autism, of course. But consider the following:
1) Many asthma cases have been linked to autoimmunity. The same with autism.
2) Childhood asthma has been dramatically increasing for two decades. The same with autism.
3) Most of the children with asthma in the vaccine study were boys. The same with autism.
Any way you look at it, this study is hardly reassuring news to parents who are about to vaccinate their kids (though think how comforting it would be to allow them to delay this shot by two months). Medicine and the media constantly tell us that all vaccines are safe for all children. When parents try to jive that information with studies that imply the opposite, their faith and trust in public health and the immunization program begin to take a nosedive, along with vaccination rates.
It's not just the broadcast of fiction out of ABC that might drive parents away from immunization. It is the negation of fact out of the AAP as well. And if unvaccinated children get sick, will the esteemed Academy also "bear responsibility," or just heap it all upon the network?
ABC executives could cave in and cancel the broadcast, but I don't think they will. And even if America's pediatricians manage to successfully censor fiction and crush artistic freedom, they will never be able to stifle the facts.
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Why? Why? Why after all these years are we still injecting children and pregnant woman with neurotoxic mercury? And why does the AAP continue to not only defend this practice, but actually promotes it? It's been nine years now since vaccine manufacturers were asked to voluntarily phase out the use of thimerosal. For God's sake, when will this madness end?
Charlie
The AAP is known to have clear conflicts of interest with the vaccine manufacturers. For instance, as I wrote in one of my early Scandals columns(see below*) "....priva
And what has thus far been revealed is probably the tip of the iceberg.
It is time for us to acknowledge and accept that neither the AAP nor the vaccine manufacturers have our best interests at heart. They are protecting their interests, however they define them. But their interests and our interest are not the same.
They do not love us, they do not love our children. It is our job to protect our children, our families and ourselves. It is time to stop kidding ourselves.
*"There are no secrets that time does not reveal - Jean Racine -
What time and the legal system are beginning to reveal about what vaccine manufacturers and the CDC know - http://www
1n 1989 the AAP came out AGAINST CENSORSHIP: See the sentence, "THE AAP STRONGLY OPPOSES CENSORSHIP
"Rock music has undergone dramatic changes since its introduction 30 years ago and is an issue of vital interest and concern for parents and pediatricians.
Rock music lyrics have become increasingly explicit during the last two decades—pa
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) strongly opposes censorship. According to the Federal Communications Commission, the public owns the airways, which are leased back to radio and television stations that are obligated to produce programming in the public's best interest. Good taste and self-regulation by consumers, media, and the music industry would be appropriate and effective solutions.
http://ped
Great article.
The AAP and CDC have invested heavily in providing "consultants" for the piper and are clearly expressing shock and betrayal that they were not, in this case, able to call the tune. Hell hath no fury and all that:
http://www
Scroll down to "Key Organizations" at bottom of pdf: http://tin
Excerpts from AAP "Media Resource Team"
http://www
"If your next production includes a children's health issue, make sure you get it right the first time. Call a pediatrician, an expert who deals with them every day. The Media Resource Team from the American Academy of Pediatrics works with the entertainment industry to provide accurate information on the health and well-being of all children and adolescents, young adults and families. Call the Media Resource Team at 847-434-7877 or visit our website at http://www
"These are just some of the shows and movies where the American Academy of Pediatrics Media Resource Team has acted as a consultant.
America's Funniest Home Videos
The Clonage
The Crusaders
Dellaventura
Dr Quinn: Medicine Woman
ER
Family Matters
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Full House
General Hospital
Head Over Heels
Home Improvement
Homicide: Life on the Streets
Law and Order
Mad About You
Malcome & Eddie
Medicine Ball
Mike and Matty
Parenthood
Profiler
Promised Land
Real TV
Second Noah
The Teen Files
Vital Signs
West Wing
The Wonder Years
Children's Shows
The All New Captain Kangaroo
Beakman's World
Blanket Show
Bobbie's World
Crackers
Doug
Goosebumps
Grandma's House
Igor
Kid's Cafe
Lenny and Lori
Magic School Bus
Pepper Ann
Power Rangers
Recess
Street Smarts
Uncle Chef
Whimzie's House
Movies
Dances With Wolves
The Nicholas Green Story
Parent Trap
Stradivari
What Dreams May Come"
Hi David,
This is incredible information yet the continual denial and confabulation that we see is just so unethical and borders on being criminal. Why is no one in these federal and state health agencies asking why so many children are sick with asthma, allergies, especially peanut and food allergies, and of course autism? Why are the researchers from CDC not examining the children? Why is the "cluster" in Northvale, NJ not a concern of the AAP or CDC? How much longer can they keep up the charade of finding a gene/s to solve the autism puzzle? It is so obvious to all of us what has happened to our own children and those of friends, neighbors, and strangers we now meet. The puzzle now is how do these agencies and people deny science and continue their "stepford" dogma while a nation of parents cry out for help?
Thanks always for shining the light.
Teresa/red
All very good points David. The AAP should be ashamed of the stance they have taken. It's pretty obvious that they are less concerned about the welfare of children than they are about their ties to the CDC. Their 180 degree turn from 1999 "thimerosal should be removed" to their present "let's promote flu shots to get the mercury levels back up so we can scrable the data" shows a total lack of concern for our children. Is it any wonder parents are taking their children's vaccine schedules into their own hands? What happened to FIRST DO NO HARM? Honestly, Jenkins needs to surrender her medical license.
An award has been approved to the petitioners in Poling v. HHS because this autistic child experienced a compensable vaccine reaction. This does not mean that a vaccine reaction caused the Poling child to become autistic, or that thimerosal caused harm. Vaccine reactions happen; the NVICP exists so that individuals and families can obtain fair compensation without incurring the expense generally associated with civil litigation. There are ca. 5,000 autism cases pending in Vaccine Court, and it is likely that some of these autistic children will be found to have suffered from vaccine reactions. As for the supposedly "secretive action" of the court in "sealing" the records of the case -- filings in NVICP proceedings are only made available to the Special Master and the parties to the case. Even though transcripts for the first three test case hearings were made available to the public, this was an exception to SOP, made with the consent of the families involved. You will find that if you try to download any other case documents from the docket sheet at http://ecf
Maybe the vaccine asthma link will get parents' attention. So many Moms are spending time every day with a nebulizer cupped their childs' faces and administering powerful drugs to their kids. HAve you seen that the meds now come in pretty plastic colored cases - as if they are iPods? Imagine their grief knowing their docs could have prevented their childs' gasping for breath by the simple act of delaying vaccines beyond two months of age? I feel for them.
That the asthma study came out of Canada cheers me - I think people will give it more credence than anything in America given the state of lies, coverups and malfeasance within the pharmaceutical industry recently highlighted in the NY Times.
Kim Stagliano
HuffPo contributor
There is a major difference in the philosophy of Western and Eastern medicine. I admire many of the Eastern philosophies but the Western Scientific Method (SM) cannot measure (thus understand) the Eastern (multifaceted) philosophy.
Let me try to explain. The SM, especially as it is used in the biological sciences has to reduce everything to an either/or, one or two choices that can be measured.
It is how we get our drugs, finding a plant and reducing it to one chemical.
But in almost all cases when you use the entire plant there are less side effects because what is in the other parts of the plant counterbalances it. BALANCE. Balance cannot be measured in SM because that reduces the sum to zero.
But our body is dynamic, it works in multiple facets, it cannot be reduced to either/or to be measured. It is 20 or 100 working all at the same time and the SM cannot deal with these parameters.
DNA studies are going to bring Western Medicine closer to Eastern, because it is going to make something that is obvious - individual variability and multiple factors - measurable.
Thus people will see that PREDISPOSITION plays a huge role in all of what our body does.
That a vaccine may produce immunity to one disease, but can cause other problems (balance) in SOME, and these problems will be different because of individual variablilties.
We see these vaccination problems in dogs all the time. I had a friend whose dog would get very aggressive after every rabies vaccine. Trainers told her to put her dog down. She is a nurse, her husband a doctor, but she turned to homeopathy and it cured her dogs aggression after every vaccine (by law she has to give it). This after trying everything else.
Other people's dogs get allergy problems, auto immune diseases..
So hang in there. The science will catch up..... eventually.
Thank you Mr. Kirby for staying on this topic. I have a daughter with Autism and I have given your book to everyone we know. Please keep up the fight for the truth.
I highly recommend Evidence of Harm by David Kirby
Thank you Mr. Kirby. We are still waiting for an effort to be mounted to study thimerosal and mercury poisoning in the relationship with autism, in such a comprehensive fashion, that we could look at other reasons for the tens of thousands who are labeled "autistic.
My son was mercury posioned by Thimerosal, as we witnessed it happening. He was the unlucky lottery winner by getting his entire schedule of childhood immunizations from multi-dose vials. He also suffers from allergies that create a permanent dark set of cirlces below his eyes.
Having been engaged in this battle legally for so long, I continue to witness the disinformation campaign waged by the protectors of the interests of Big Pharma. I have witnessed the holier than thou attitude of AAP.
Let me be clear: I am not anti-vaccine.
I'm adamant in my demand that the Federal Government support an exhaustive and completely independent set of studies to help us find the truth.
Only then will we protect the millions of children which are owed that responsibility, and only then can we deliver justice to the families of kids like mine, whose lives have been damaged irreparably by the incredible pain of losing a child to permanent disability.
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