The Vaccine-Autism Story: Trust Your Government, or Be a Patriot and Get on Google

A big autism bomb went off yesterday, about how US medical personnel had determined that vaccines had aggravated a little girl's mitochondrial disorder, resulting in autism. Now, the American people are left to interpret what it all means.

Here is a handy guide. You can:

A) Blindly trust what government officials are saying (or not saying)

or

B) Invest 30 minutes in the future of your nation's young people (do it now, over a nice, warm latte!) and go Google for yourself.

OPTION A:

Yesterday, Dr Paul E. Jarris, Executive Director of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) sent an email to his colleague, Anna DeBlois, on how officials should respond to the glaring headlines emanating from Atlanta.

"You may have seen the recent media interest in a vaccine-autism lawsuit which was settled by the federal government," he wrote. Apparently, someone in the federal government had reached Dr. Jarris and told him to pass on the following (internal) explanation:

The case was settled because the vaccine worsened the child's underlying and previously undiagnosed disorder, causing impaired brain function. These symptoms of impaired brain function then led to an autism spectrum disorder. The federal government maintains that vaccines do not cause autism, and that this case does not indicate any change in their position on the issue.

TRANSLATION (An Anti-Syllogism): "Vaccines cause brain impairment, and brain impairments cause autism. Therefore vaccines do not cause autism."

Meanwhile yesterday, back in Washington, Bush administration officials would not comment on the case, saying they needed permission, "from the person who submitted the information" to the court.

TRANSLATION (Auto-Censorship): "We really, really want to explain WHY we folded like a tent without so much as a whisper of a defense, but that would require asking permission from our lawyer (the DOJ), which we are unwilling to do.

And most recently, CDC Director Julie Gerberding told the media that the American people need to "set aside this very isolated, unusual situation," even though "the court apparently made the decision that it is fair to say that vaccinations may have been one of the precipitators."

TRANSLATION: (Middlebrow Bureaucratese) "I am either an exceedingly ignorant, untruthful or misleading Director, because there is no evidence at all that this situation is 'isolated and unusual' (indeed, the evidence points to the opposite), and because the court 'decision' was not made by the court at all, but rather by medical doctors who work for the US Secretary of Health and Human Services," otherwise known as Dr. Gerberding's boss.

OPTION B)

Google "autism and mitochondria," (96,900 hits) and then Google "mercury and mitochondria," (169,000 hits) and draw your own, informed conclusions.

Now, enjoy your coffee (and your good citizenship).

PS: The next time someone tells you that this girl does not have autism, but only the "symptoms" of autism, you tell them that the definition of autism is having the symptoms of autism. Period. Hannah Poling has autism as defined by every medical book, on every shelf, in every library -- including at the colleges where all these government officials received their degrees.

Comments

[CraigWilloughby]

I owe several people on here an apology. I accused them of being hypocrites, and here I am doing the same thing by treating them like they treat us. Such ideological terrorism doesn't do any of us any good, and it certainly doesn't help our children. So, I will call for a truce and ask that the various parties associated with the verbal sparring step back and be more respectful to each other. Such discussion leads to a better understanding of ideas. I'm sure we can all agree on that.

[AutismNewsBeat]

I would like to respectfully submit that there are different kinds of respect. Respect for opposing points of views is one. Respect for facts in another. Both have been in short supply here.

It's possible to point out a logical fallacy or false statement without resorting to personal attack. I too will try to be more repectful.

In the spirit of team building, political solidarity, and reconciliation, I would like to offer four simple statements that I think we can all agree on.

1. Anecdotes are unreliable

2. The scientific method is the best way that we know for separating the wheat of truth from the chaff of nonsense

3. Correlation is not the same as causation

4. Health care fraud is a serious problem, and the bad guys prey on people who don't understand the first three points.

Discuss.

[EssentialEmmes]

David Kirby is a pioneering crusader working against a ton of money-armed big-pharma lobbyists. Unless someone who touts the wonders of vaccines has a child who has been adversely affected by a vaccine, I doubt that advice can be taken seriously.
My only concern is the focus on mercury preservative as the basic culprit. The toxins that vaccines are made out of can cause all the devlopmental delays and leaky gut that happens, without the intrusion of thimerosol.
For a run-down of vaccine ingredients and to find out what the drug manufacturers do not want us to know, check out http://vaccinerisksreport.com.
Thank you again to David Kirby for keeping a good eye on the government goings on, without which we may not have found out about the amazing result in the Hannah Poling case.

[sharon80]

Mr. Kirby-,
I love your posts. Thank you for sharing such great content with us.
I linked to one of your posts on my own blog (hope that is ok), as vaccines are a huge interest and passion of mine.
Thankfully a loved one caught my interest on the vaccine controversy, and studied up on it before my first was born. Both of my children are vaccine-free, and it is my intention to keep them that way.
The posts that you make keep me encouraged, and lead me to believe that I am doing the right thing. For that, I thank you.

[CraigWilloughby]

I don't know if you know about this or not, everyone, but apparently, the government has "quietly" conceded several other vaccine injury cases since 1990. Apparently, this is starting to become a trend with the Gov'ment and the CDC. Here are the articles.

http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080307/LIFE/803070318/1004

and

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/recent-vaccine

[AutismNewsBeat]

The gov't has "conceded" 2,000 vaccine cases in the past 20 years. I don't what constitutes "quiet", but it's all public record.

[CraigWilloughby]

I was giving this information to the restof the group because I wasn't sure they knew. But thank you for clarifying. And it's quiet because the government has sealed the records, and in several of the cases, they conceded without any evidentiary hearings.

[CamJam]

Mr Kirby,
Thank you so much for covering this story and for all that you do. Thank you for standing up and speaking out on this.
One of our twin boys was recently diagnosed with ASD on Aug 13 2007 shortly after they turned 4 years old. This is how WE learned about Autism:
http://www.whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com/videos/view/id/664709

If I could only turn back the hands of time and had the courage to demand they spread out the vaccines that were given to the twins. Recently I had to take Cameron in because his cold worsened. The Kaiser Dr raked me over the coals for not having the the twins given the "tainted" Flu Vaccine.
I said "I know the difference, and this is NOT the flu" She replies back "Well we'll see about that!" She checks him and says "Oh ok, he has pneumonia and a slight ear infection"
I snapped back saying " So your FLU VACCINE would NOT have prevented this! Right?"

I have no clue if this has something to do with ALL the many vaccines given to him that slowly but surely changed our son. All I know is the diagnosis is AUTISM and that our insurance coverage either barely covers or will NOT cover much of the needed therapies he needs. I recently called to question their clause LIMIT OF "20 therapy visits per calendar year, per family member " Even their pediatrician has recommended many of these therapies for Cameron.
Kaiser Membership services replied "Well there is no cure for Autism"
I was livid and said, "Well there is no absolute cure for Cancer, AIDS and Diabetes, but you still cover for those treatments!"

Just ticks me off that month after month, year after year, of paying for Health / Medical Insurance that we RARELY ever used, but now when we need to use it for Cameron, they refuse to help.

I am so sick of being bullied, threatened, must do as they say or else crap with these vaccines.. like the recent run in with that Dr. on the Flu Vaccine. We've felt like WE have no say in any of this and that we must go with the flow and not cause waves or else.

Keep up the awesome work David!
WE THANK YOU!
Cindy, Chris, and the Twins: Andrew & Cameron

[CraigWilloughby]

Did your insurance company refuse to pay because they claim that Autism is a pre-existing condition? Mine did that to me. And I make too much money to get government assistance. So, I pay out of pocket, too, and I am slowly but surely going in the hole. Insurance companies are owned by the same corrupt corporate execs who forcefully poisoned our children. And then they refuse to pay for the crime by making us do it. Yes, it makes me sick, too. I'm right there with you, and my prayers and hopes go out to you.

[ARealConservative]

HuffPost's Pick

If it seems that the CDC is a shill for Pharma companies - they are.

The CDC is the only government agency specifically allowed by Congress to accept individual payments from the companies that benefit from their public policy decisions. Of course they maintain that there is no connection. However, if you had been paid extra "honorarium" for years for speaking engagements on behalf of a company wouldn't it influence your trust of the company and public policy decision making that would keep the checks coming.

Meanwhile, their decisions affect our kids. If they seem quick to react to this story - it is not just because of public health concerns. The CDC is immensely worried the gravy train is coming to an end.

[andygaus]

Mr. Kirby, why aren't we seeing a decline in cases of autism? Even if there is some residual mercury exposure to kids, it certainly isn't going up, and if the kids are getting significantly less Thimerosal, we should be seeing the drop in autism rates, which by all accounts we aren't. I can't credit anything you say without having a better answer to that than I have heard. It's irresponsible not to notice whether a factor fails to correlate, because if the incidence of autism is not showing any decline that correlates with the removal of Thimerosal, then people should look for other factors if they are really serious about the problem.

[Stagmom]

Hi, Andygaus - I'm not sure if you heard the Polings TWO theories on what happened to Hannah. They stated them at their press conference, but not on Larry King, I believe.

One was the Thimerosal question. The other was the number of vaccines administered (nine) at Hannah's 18 month visit. Many of us are quite concerned that infants and toddlers are receiving dozens of vaccines before the age of three. We're questioning if this is asking a young, underdeveloped immune system to create too many antibodies too fast. ( Not to mention America's obession with cleanliness - which studies have shown to lower our natural immunity, the kind Mother Nature designed for us, not the kind the comes in vaccines.)

We are also asking about the other ingredients in the shots and the volume of those ingredients.

I recently read the Gardasil literature from Merck - it states that the vaccine was not tested with the eighteen other vaccines with which it could be given at an office visit. The young woman might need a Tetanus booster (25mcg Hg) or a Hep B for travel or a Meningitis vaccination for college. Gardasil was studied and tested in a vaccuum.

A pediatrician will tell a Mom, "Tylenol is safe. Motrin is safe. But alternate the doses, don't give them together." That's reasonable. But vaccines, sometimes 7, 8 or 9 in a visit go in all at once. And no one knows if this is a problem because it hasn't been studied.

So the Thimerosal is in question, as are several other ingredients and vigor of the schedule itself.

Best,

Kim Stagliano
HuffPo blogger
Managing Editor www.ageofautism.com

[AutismNewsBeat]

Dr. Poling says the case was not about thimerosal.

[johnfryer]

Heraldblog gets 10 out of 10 for effort.

THIMEROSAL is not OUT of vaccines.

How do we know?

Because the AUTISM rate is going haywire.

Why dont we get exact analyses of mercury in vaccines?

They just pulled one load of vaccines and admitted they had little faults.

Like destroying your HEART.

But the best is yet to come.

The stocks they are destroying go back for DECADES.

So how do we know mercury is out after a mere 3 years?

We MIGHT just get rid of mercury vaccines by 20 20.

And WE might get perfect vision of why we got AUTISM sky high in the 1990 - 2010 period.

[Heraldblog]

And you get a 10 out of 10 for circular reasoning!

[rolandcassard]

There's an overriding question here that i haven't seen Mr. Kirby or anyone else answer. If this case is so pivotal -- and so representative of the other 5,000 or so cases that are part of the Autism Omnibus proceedings -- then why was it pulled from those proceedings, making it no longer one of the test cases? Surely if the lawyers thought it would be the linchpin to a mass victory in the Omnibus, they would have let it continue?

[AutismNewsBeat]

The petitioners have been failing miserably so far in the proceedings. The Poling case was either inserted for the PR value the lawyers knew it would bring to their cause, or else withdrawn when it became apparent the facts don't line up with the petitioners' claims.

[CraigWilloughby]

Can you show us proof of this? I'd truly like to see the documentation that verifies your claims.

[CraigWilloughby]

Oh, and its interesting that you say this as well. Its strange that all of the petitioners have been failing so miserably since this is only the 1st case to go through the court....just an observation.

And I wasn't being sarcastic. I really would like to see where you got your information.

[CraigWilloughby]

Because the IOM lobbied to have it removed as a test case. Things like a judgement that might just prove that they have been poisoning children with their vaccines might make them look bad, and then their stock would go down.

[Doybia]

It was the government who conceded. The lawyers for the parents would probably have been happy to go to trial with the case. Apparently this isn't the first time the government has conceded that vaccines caused something that looks like autism, either. http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/03/so-there-are-mo.html

[wm1066]

I recieved only 9 vaccinations between my first year and adulthood. Some of these kids, whose brains are not fully formed, have 7 in one day. Thats insane. When you get innoculated your body gets alittle sick so it can make the antibodies. How do they justify giving 7 different innoculations at one time?
No wonder the brain shuts down. I think these doctors have forgotten what these innoculations do to the body and that a 5 year old doesn't have a fully formed brain to with stand the onslot of that many vaccines at once.

[anniepema]

Excellent article about the spin and the facts.

Please read this article from the Simons Foundation website which is finally dealing with a different aspect of autism more directly than before: http://www.simonsfoundation.org/news/father-s-advanced-age-feeds-autism-risk

[WilliePilgrim]

Very curious. I wonder if men and women who have children later in life are more likely to have socialization issues as we see with lots of asperger's spectum people. You know the type; they focus on school and profession and only later when hormones aren't the driving force in mate selection as they seem to be when younger, do these people select mates and have offspring. I see a touch of that in my family and it leads me to believe that at least in some cases it could be a factor and for us it's worked out pretty well. Not entirely without problems but overall, a well adjusted bunch whatever our proclivities are. I should add that we've had all our vaccinations just as people do, and we've experienced no mental retardation in silbing and offspring, and instead have a higher percentage of family members who are a bit on the bookish and/or artistic (autistic) side and prefer numbers or text to social interaction, though not to a debilitating degree....and some of us are a treat to have at a party.

[HeatherO]

One thing I was waiting to hear in the news reports was “What about the all children with autism?” There are 1 in 150 kids with ASD at the last count. So what’s that? Over 300,000 kids with ASD? In my mid-size state alone there over 10,000 school age children with autism, Fightingautism has it at a rate of 1 in 81 children with ASD. Only a small fraction of those kids are in this Omnibus Proceedings. I heard the question asked a few times “What does the Poling case mean for the 5,000 cases in Vaccine Court” and in every report I heard the question asked “What can we tell parents who are taking their healthy children for immunizations”. But what about all the other 295,000 kids with autism? They seem to be written off with a note of “heartbreak” by the media.

[ReverseAutism]

Yes, and what about those of us who have been fighting this for 15 years? NO chance of lawsuit....the connection was never even made until 1998-99...WAY beyond the 3 year limit for my son who was born in 1991. It seems that the government should at least help us parents treat our kids. This has been a HUGE frustration for me, knowing in my heart that the Government "mandated" vaccines caused his autism, and then trying to eke out a living on a part time job because as a single parent I can ONLY work while my son is in school, he is severely disabled with Autism. My kids have had to do without so much it makes me sick...especially my son having to go without treatments that may have helped because mom is trying to keep the bills paid. Isn't it about time we get some HELP???

[CraigWilloughby]

And right there is where you get to the heart of the matter. The reason why the government, the FDA, the CDC and the IOM is so vehemently denying the link is because then, they would be held responsible. You now have around 250,000 children with autism now, and considering that most cases are beginning to show up in middle and lower class incomes, most of whom can't afford the thousand or more dollar a month treatments, that adds up to a LOT of money, espcially if litigation proves the link. They'll have a lot of very angry Americans trying to get justice for the Big Pharm's blunder.

[TimKasemodel]

Too often when someone questions vaccine safety, people’s mental filters can’t
process the paradox that a product intended to improve health is hurting some
children. I think this all changed on March 6th 2008.

Drug commercials routinely list side effects as well individuals who, with certain health issues should not take the drug. Why would vaccines be any different? The Government concession indicates the one size fits all recommended vaccine schedule may need to be re-examined.

I thought of this when on Larry King live, Sanjay Gupta was questioning the vaccine schedule and the use of multiple vaccines like the MMR. The AAP rep was shaking his head, but then they went to commercial......

The following Plavix ad described its benefits but then predictably went to on to side effects, then described conditions (read "underlying disorders") that would indicate "this medicine is not for you".

When they show came back on Larry King asked the AAP dude why he shook his head he basically said vaccines we safe for everyone and impied there are no conditions that would contradict this.

I think the average parent watching this may not believe that anymore...­..........­..

The Poling Family are heroes, especially beautiful Hannah.

Tim Kasemodel

[AutismNewsBeat]

"When they show came back on Larry King asked the AAP dude why he shook his head he basically said vaccines we safe for everyone and impied there are no conditions that would contradict this."

This is your interpretation. Can you tell us what the rep's exact word are? That way some people can make up their own minds rather than count on another person's filtered message.

[HeatherO]

From the people I spoke with who don’t have a personal interest in the vaccine-autism debate, they are really questioning the credibility and authority of the government agencies now. If they weren’t paying attention before, they sure are now and this government doublespeak isn’t holding up. I saw an interview this morning where an AAP type Dr. claimed vaccines never caused autism, only saved lives, then conceded that the science is still inconclusive, but the vaccines continue to save lives of children with autism. What?!? Their refusal to address vaccine safety (and lack thereof) is beyond belief. Guess it explains why our children are so sick.

[Blackspeare]

What is even more interesting about this situation is that “Thimerosal”, the mercury containing preservative used in many vaccines, is only used when a vaccine is distributed in multiple-use vials. If the vaccine were place in single-use syringes or even single-use vials, there would be no need for the preservative. The reason they use multiple-use vials is, you guessed it-----to save money and increase profits-----ain’t that interesting n’est pas?

[Heraldblog]

Thimerosal has been absent from scheduled pediatric vaccines for five years. So why haven't we seen a decline in autism among today's 3 to 5 year olds?

And don't say it's because of flu shots. Only 20% of the 3-5 yr olds had a flu shot before the age of three.

Back in 2005, Mr. Kirby said that if autism rates don't decline by Jan., 2007, then he would have to rethink the thimerosal hypothesis. That day came and went, and Mr. Kirby is still rethinkin'. That's why the Hannah Poling case is so exciting for him. It's his chance at redemption. We can all just forget about the California numbers now, and Mr. Kirby can get back to what he does best - junk science and fuzzy math.

I can't believe HuffPo hasn't seen through this guy. The only thing progressive about David Kirby is that each of his posts get progressively more ridiculous and unfounded. And the worst part of it is - Kirby knows he's selling nonsense.

[TruthWins]

Ignorance is the best bliss. I will try to light it up.

1) Even though the Vaccine manufacturers have been asked to remove Thimerosal Mercury Poison vaccines "voluntarily", they never recalled the the vaccines that were made. As a result, Vaccines with Thimerosal Mercury Poison in them were given until 2004.

2) The vaccines given to Pregnant moms still contain harmful levels of Thimerosal Mercury Poison.

3) Flu shot, that is administered to millions of kids still contains Thimerosal Mercury Poison .

That means Thimerosal Mercury Poison was there and is there all along.

[LaniersMom]

Thimerosal has NEVER been pulled off the shelves or recalled. Millions of doses with expiration dates up to 2006 were allowed to be used up on millions of vulnerable, susceptible infants and toddlers.

In 2004, I personally took a vial of DTaP containing 25 micrograms to my State Capitol in Florida to prove to legislators Thimerosal was indeed still in the pipeline.

The ban in California did not go into effect until 2006, based on that fact, there should NOT be a decline in autism until 2009/2010. In 2002 Thimerosal was REINTRODUCED into the schedule with the mercury laced flu vaccines recommended to pregnant women, (exposing mercury to the fetus) and infants.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) own website,(www.fda.gov/CBER/vaccine/thimerosal.htm ) mercury remains in one formulation of the DTaP vaccine, the pediatric version of the Hepatitis B vaccine, and three of the four formulations of the influenza vaccine normally administered to children and pregnant mothers – and in amounts that exceed FDA and Environmental Protection Agency safety guidelines.

In terms of all of the 43 currently manufactured U.S. licensed vaccines, mercury remains in 15 of them.

Sad, but true...

Leslie,
Mother to Lanier (9) who was repeatedly injected with bolus doses of mercury without her mothers knowledge.

Lanier has never uttered a word since she was16 months old...

[joseph0227]

There is also another neurotoxin in the vaccines, aluminum. When the thimerasol was removed from most of the vaccines, the aluminum was increased, thus one poison was traded for another. I have found that most people, unbelievably, do not know what "neurotoxin" means. They know that it means something "bad", but do not truly understand what it is... a nervous system poison. This definition can be found in any dictionary. It is unbelievable to think that neurotoxins, know nervous system poisons, are, and have been for years, injected right into the bloodstream. Did nobody think that something classified as a neurotoxin was not going to do exactly what it is classified as doing and attack the nervous system? I suppose the message that is being sent to the American people is "Pick your poison."!!!!!!!

[ReverseAutism]

BUT...there is mercury in the FLU vaccines....never had one, never will...never get the FLU!