A Timely Truth Untold... Again

This week Time magazine's cover story "The Truth About Vaccines" carries an ominous suggestion... "worried about autism, many parents are opting out of immunizations. How they're putting the rest of us at risk." (June 2, 2008). Finally, a major periodical puts a spotlight on the most emotionally charged and inaccurately reported medical controversy in modern history. And what does Time do? Blame parents for a crisis in confidence created by public health officials. If you were hoping to learn the "truth" about vaccinations, you are not going to find it in this issue of Time.

In her article, "How Safe Are Vaccines?" Alice Park attempts to address growing concerns about vaccines and asks the million-dollar question that parents around the country really want to know. Unfortunately, Park's version of the "truth" does a disservice to readers when it falls into the same trap that has plagued similar reports; gross inaccuracies, reliance on industry-funded spokesmen whose conflicts are not disclosed, and the all too familiar and constant beat of immunization dogma suggesting doomsday disease scenarios.

Those of you who have read my postings before know that I am very skeptical of both the public health officials and the mainstream media's ability to objectively and forthrightly cover this issue. The Time article does nothing to change that opinion. If anything, it confirms it.

At the heart of Park's report, however, is the question about parental rights. Should parents be forced to vaccinate their children given the growing concerns about vaccine safety?

For over a year now, there has been a steady stream of articles about school districts and health departments' heavy-handed actions towards parents who choose not to vaccine their children. Intimidation tactics that included monetary fines, expulsion from school, even threats to call in child protection agencies were used to try and coerce parents into compliance with the current immunization recommendations.

In March, the New York Times ran two separate articles on the subject of parents deciding not to vaccinate their children ("More Families Are Shunning Inoculations" [March 2], "Public Health Risk Seen as Parents Reject Vaccines" [March 21]). Other news organizations around the country ran similar stories.

Throughout the article, Park implies parents are too "confused" to do their own homework on this subject or lack the good sense to make an informed decision. In reality, parents are deciding to opt out of vaccinations because they are concerned that vaccines may put their children at risk for adverse reactions that they feel are more threatening than the diseases the vaccines are purported to prevent. Chief among these concerns is the possible association between vaccines and autism.

As the Time article details, concerns about thimerosal-containing vaccines is one of several concerns that continues to weigh on the conscience of many parents. In one sentence Ms. Park states, "Thimerosal can do serious damage to brain tissue, especially in children, whose brains are still developing" and then dismissively trivializes parental concerns about a possible link between the developmental neurotoxin and autism by saying "that link could be merely temporal, of course; babies also get their first teeth after they get their first vaccines, but that doesn't mean one causes the other." The absurdly of this analogy ranks with one of the most nonsensical comments I think I have ever read. This "temporal" association has been reported by literally thousands of parents across the country who have documented evidence of their normally developing child regressing into a world of silence and isolation. To consider these vaccines containing neurotoxins like mercury and aluminum, along with other toxins, would seem to be reasonable, absent any other logical explanation.

The article also inaccurately reports that thimerosal-containing vaccines were "replaced" with thimerosal-free formulas in 2001. Thimerosal-containing vaccines were not recalled as the article suggests and remained on clinic shelves well into 2003, according to government communications. In addition, the majority of flu shots, given to pregnant women and babies as young as six months, still contain 25 micrograms of thimerosal.

According to the article, "In the first four months of this year, 64 confirmed cases of measles were reported in the U.S., scattered across 11 hot spots...the most by this date for any year since 2001; 54 cases had links to other countries, an only one of the 64 patients had been vaccinated." Interestingly, the map denoting the location where the outbreaks occurred show that in four of the 11 "hot spots" only 1 case of measles was reported and only three states had more than 10 cases.

So let's put the reports about the recent measles outbreak into some sensible perspective.
Out of the approximately 40 million children born in the last ten years, hundreds of thousands of which are not vaccinated, there have only been 64 cases of measles reported nationwide, all of whom recovered although 14 did require hospitalization.

Now let's compare this statistic with the one that really has parents frightened, the 1 in 150 children who have been diagnosed with autism for which the health agencies have no logical explanation.

Like other articles on this subject, Time attempts to reassure parents about the safety of vaccines based on very selective information from conflicted sources and fails to cite recent published research and independent voices that support parental concerns. Nowhere did we read about the study that suggests delaying vaccinations for just two months might reduce the risk of developing asthma by half.

The article cites a 2003 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report as showing "no scientific evidence to support the link" between vaccines and autism. Actually it was 2004, and the same report also said the committee could not rule out an association in a small susceptible sub-group of children. In addition, it has been four years since that report was released and there have been dozens of published, peer-reviewed studies to suggest there could be an association. Those studies did not make into the Time article.

Having spoken to literally thousands of moms, I know many parents are terrified of the dozens of vaccines given to babies today. They want to do what is right for their children and want to protect them from diseases. Ms. Park notes that 77% of children are fully vaccinated and therefore supposedly protected from the childhood diseases, the author fails to acknowledge that these same children are among the sickest children in the world in spite of being the most vaccinated. They may not get the chicken pox, measles or mumps but they are beleaguered with serious developmental and autoimmune disorders that last a lifetime.

This is where Time fails to really explore the reasons and the truth about why parents are opting out of vaccinations and examine the mindset behind a modern day medical dictatorship that will go to any lengths, including school expulsion and threats of taking children away from parents in order to carry out their mission.

Suggesting that the reason parents don't vaccinate is because "the illnesses kids are being inoculated against are rarely seen anymore," Ms. Park opines, "Once you've seen your neighbor's toddler become paralyzed, you're a lot more likely to worry that the same thing will happen to yours." There may be some truth to this but many parents would look at this suggestion another way. Once you see your healthy, normal toddler, or your neighbor's healthy toddler develop autism following a series of vaccinations, you are a lot more likely to worry that the same thing could happen to your child.

Parents are not "confused," Ms. Park...they are concerned and have every reason to be concerned.

It isn't parents that created this crisis in confidence; it is the government and medical establishment for dismissing parental concerns and failing to make vaccine safety a priority. It is Congress' fault for failing to do proper oversight.

Parents who chose to vaccinate their children should have nothing to fear from the relatively few who are not vaccinated. But ultimately, the choice of whether or not to vaccine a child must be made by the parent who will live with the life-long consequences.

The government bears the burden of proving vaccines are safe. Not parents. And the government has not proven the number of vaccines given to children today are safe, or that injecting our babies with mercury, aluminum and formaldehyde is safe.

Comments

[Mickeysmom]

You want published bench science studies...or Enron like accounting trick epi studies authored by
industry supported public health officials.


Blood Levels of Mercury Are Related to Diagnosis of Autism: A Reanalysis of an Important Data Set" Journal of Child Neurology by DeSoto et al.

"There is a marked increase in the diagnosis of autism." ..."This article reanalyzes an original data set regarding the relation between blood levels of mercury and diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by Ip et al. based on our finding of discrepancies in the original article."

"...the observable symptoms of acute mercury poisoning have been reported to match up with many of the problems observed in autism. Furthermore, mercury poisoning has sometimes been presumptively diagnosed as autism of unknown etiology until the mercury poisoning has been uncovered."

"We have reanalyzed the data set originally reported by Ip et al. in 2004 and have found that the original p value was in error and that a significant relation does exist between the blood levels of mercury and diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder."

Finally, the researchers offer a very strong rebuke of some of the scientific studies that claim that there is no possibility of a link between mercury exposure and autistic disorders by stating, " Of utmost importance (which outweighs the discomfort of writing about an error made by colleagues whom we know are generally competent researchers)."


http://jcn.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/22/11/1308

[prunesquallor]

Mickeysmom,

1. It’s highly debatable whether the DeSoto & Hitlan analysis is a “bench science” study. What it definitely is is a reanalysis of someone else’s bench science study, in other words a thorough use of “accounting tricks” (statistics). If you disapprove of the use of statistics in some studies, why are you so enthusiastic about statistics when they seem to support your point of view?

2, As Dr. DeSoto points out on her web site, the word vaccine doesn’t appear once in the paper. The kids in the study were 7 years old and mercury in their blood could have come from many sources.

3. Fallacy of selective citation: You cite a single study in an attempt to contradict a rather large body of research pointing toward no association between thimerosal and autism.

4. Fallacy of the world-wide conspiracy: There is overwhelming evidence that there is NOT a causal association between thimerosal and autism. This is the conclusion of reports by the UK's Committee on the Safety of Medicines, the World Health Organization, the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products, Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunisation, Germany's STIKO (Standing Committee on Vaccination), A Cochrane Systematic Review, the US's own Institute of Medicine, and at least ten other in-depth reviews by groups of independent scientists. This conclusion, however, could change, pending good new published, peer-reviewed research. It's just beyond rational belief that all of these organizations and scientists are in a conspiracy with "Big Pharma.”

[ThinkForYourself2]

pkafin,

I think you proved my point without even realizing it. You are one of the many who waits to see what the mainstream media, big medicine or our corrupt government waits to tell us next on the subject when all you have to do is talk to a handful of the parents to see what really happened.

It's not fate or chance that's causing some 1 in 150 children today to become autistic. Growing up, and I'm in my mid-thirties, I ran across only 1 person who was autistic. Something is causing it and many parents know exactly what that is. Talk to them and listen to their stories.

We don't think twice about putting people in jail for hurting others, yet many of us are watching from the sidelines and keeping quiet about this subject while harm has been and is being caused to our innocent children.

Don't ever think that big media, big medicine or our government will ever admit fault either. That would be too costly.

FYI, there are many doctors and researchers out there who have long spoken out about causation between vaccines and autism but if you think you'll hear what they have to say on the subject on CBS, NBC, ABC or CNN keep dreaming though.

[LindsE]

And would you like to reference any legitimate, peer reviewed scientific studies to support your claims? Because without evidence, all you're doing is speculating.

[pkafin]

Again, you are confusing "proof" with what seems to be true.

I'm not waiting for the major news corporations to tell me what is going on with autism. I'm waiting for objective scientific studies to do so. So far, that has not happened.

Do you care to present any empirically based studies that have been subjected to peer review that show otherwise?

If you want to go with seems obvious, you could consider any number of environmental factors. These would include, but be limited to: high rates of psychiatric drugs that are appearing in drinking water across America, additives to plastic that leach out of bottles, cell phone towers, petro-cont­amination, auto-immune disorders due to over sterilized childhood environments, etc.

[Boobaloo]

First and foremost, the premise of your post absolutely correct.

Second, this quote from your article sums up modern journalism as a whole, I think:

"gross inaccuracies, reliance on industry-funded spokesmen whose conflicts are not disclosed, and the all too familiar and constant beat of immunization dogma suggesting doomsday disease scenarios"

Not only are the reporters incompetent but,they always conclude that it's the end of the world as we know it. Exaggeration, hyperbole, incompetence, intellectual laziness and corporate ownership ... all media traditional outlets are just a mouthpiece for the status quo. No more. No less.

I say BRAVO to the parents for keeping their children safe from destruction of vaccinations and SHAME on the health industry that bullies and shouts down parents concerns rather than listen, research and find solutions.

[Jmulvaney]

I believe my child slipped onto the autism spectrum some 16 years ago as a result of some cruel concordance of environmental toxins and genetics. He doesn't fit the profile of a vaccine victim.
That said you are absolutely correct about the medical establishment's idiocy and the journalistic malpractice of Time Magazine for failing to use logic.
Beyond thimerosol, it seems that the biggest danger in vaccines for infants is the size of the dose. MMR may be more convenient for HMOs but wouldn't smaller doses allow the tiny bodies to better defend themselves?
These are the folks who said smoking was good, AIDS couldn't be transmitted through transfusion and Celebrex was the answer to everyone's problems.

[SEQUOIABISON]

I completely agree with you Deirdre vaccinations are an abomination and extremely dangerous.

Here is the part that I do not understand.

Why are doctors and proponents of vaccines so upset that some parents are deciding to avoid having their child vaccinated?

They claim that these parents are a danger to the community and could allow the spread of these diseases if they do not adhere to the forced vaccination program.

This nonsensical rhetoric puzzles me, if these vaccines are so reliable and so protective of our children than why would anyone worry about catching something from my un-vaccinated child if their child is vaccinated and protected from the disease they are being innoculated against???

It just does not make sense. What does make sense is that the medical profession has taken over the legislative branch of our government and convinced law makers to pass laws that ensure enormous profits for doctors and the pharmaceutical companies with their call for mandatory inoculations.

They have taken away the rights of parents to raise their children without poison substances being injected into their bodies, they are trying to control how we raise our children and think we parents are too stupid to know what is best for our kids.

There is absolutely no substitute for raising a child healthfully with good nutrition and a positive attitude. No amount of magic potions will improve the health of our children if they live on junk food and sugar saturated soda and candy.

[LindsE]

There are several problems:
1. Vaccines are not 100% effective.
2. There are a subset of individuals for whom vaccines are contraindicated (primary immunodeficiency).
3. Treatments for some illnesses, such as childhood cancer, can destroy the immunity generated by vaccines, leaving these children at risk.
4. Vaccine preventable diseases are typically most dangerous in younger children. Children who may not yet be old enough to be vaccinated can contract diseases if the herd immunity wanes.

Therefore, unvaccinated children can put a whole host of others at risk. It's not nearly as simple as you try to make it. And it's dangerous to think that it is.

[pkafin]

"Why are doctors and proponents of vaccines so upset that some parents are deciding to avoid having their child vaccinated?"

For the same reason that your auto-mechanic may get upset if you don't change your oil every 3,000 miles.

Leaving "proponents" of vaccines out of the picture for the moment, Doctors have spent years of their lives dedicated not only to the study of the human body, but also to the study of what goes wrong in the human body. They have seen more sick people than you or I. They are more aware of the harm to both individuals and to the general population that diseases such as polio can create.

Additionally, they are on the front line of the battle against outbreaks. If an epidemic gets a hold of the population, diseases, such as polio, can mutate beyond the form that vaccines now control. When and if that happens, Doctors will bear the brunt in the workload, in the emotional toll, and in the rate of infection themselves.

Think of them like road workers who work on the side of the highway who must consider whether it is a good idea to have anti-drunk driving rules.

[ThinkForYourself2]

Some people want "science" to tell them that these vaccines actually caused harm to these innocent children and families so here it is:

Parents of autistic children once had full-functioning, happy, outgoing children who then get vaccinated and immediately regress into autism.

Is this science enough for you or do you still need more?


Let us "ignorant" and "dangerous" parents have the choice to poison or not poison our children. That's all some of us ask. And let me send my unvaccinated child to school with your higly vaccinated and therefore highly "immune" child.

Isn't this why you vaccinated your child in the first place to protect them? So don't force me to vaccinate mine if your is immune!


Where is the God Damn Outrage?

[pkafin]

HuffPost's Pick

"Parents of autistic children once had full-functioning, happy, outgoing children who then get vaccinated and immediately regress into autism.

Is this science enough for you or do you still need more?"

That is actually not science at all. Science requires empirical studies that are both repeatable and subjected to peer review. What you mention is anecdotal evidence that can be used to form a hypothesis that becomes the basis for the design of a scientific study.

But that observation, in and of itself, is not scientific in any way.

The "G-d Damn Outrage" cuts both ways. Industry should not be the main source for scientific studies on their own products. But, equally outrageous, American education should not be so entirely dumbed down that we don't actually know what "science" is anymore.

The lack of understanding as to just what science is has led to the assent of specifically anti-science movements such as "intelligent design". That kind of crap would never fly if the average American had been taught the very basic structure of the scientific process.

[prunesquallor]

I agree completely with pkafin. Note, however, that HuffPost has not been much of a promoter of this point of view when it comes to recent important scientific issues (e.g., vaccines and autism). Contrast the essentially anti-science positions of Deirdre Imus and David Kirby to virtually all of the science blogs that have covered this issue (AutismVox, Pathophilia, Respectful Insolence [Orac], EpiWonk, and numerous others).

[prunesquallor]

Deirdre: If you're going to tell "the truth" about this issue, then your article should contain the truth. Regarding your statement, ",,,there have been dozens of published, peer-reviewed studies to suggest there could be an association." This is just not true. There has not been ONE published scientifically valid peer-reviewed study suggesting an association between vaccines and autism. Not before the IOM report and not since IOM report. I've reviewed the medical literature on this issue quite carefully and you are just plain wrong.
Respectfully yours,
Alfred Prunesquallor

[Vernondelray]

Mr. Prunesquallor,

If you're going to tell "the truth" about the issue, perhaps you will care to scientifically explain the rise in autism in countries that utilize thimersol as a preservative for children's vaccines. You state:

"There has not been ONE published scientifically valid peer-reviewed study suggesting an association between vaccines and autism."

Has there been ONE published scientifically valid peer-reviewed study suggesting an alternative reason that autism rates rose dramatically in these countries once thimersol use in vaccines became widespread?

[LindsE]

Or why rates continue to rise after thimerasol removal?

[Lesscancer]

It is critical that health care providers consider the impact of collective environmental exposures and their negative impacts on human health. Incomplete data does not mean safe.

Bill Couzens Founder, Lesscancer.org

[Gatogorra]

Compare the rate of death and injury from measles or even polio in the fifties to the rate of SIDS and autism today and it would seem that the rules to "playing it safe" have changed. It now seems far more of a gamble to adhere religiously to the childhood vaccination schedule than it is not to. And if some parents are refusing to vaccinate out of genuine concern for the safety of the products, it's entirely the fault of the CDC, HHS, Congress and industry. Had they heeded the warnings twenty years ago or more and had they cleaned up the vaxes, done full safety testing of combined vaccines, we wouldn't be in this mess, the public would be able to trust regulatory agencies.

Autism is a crime more than it is a disease. I don't blame parents for not wanting to take the chance that their children could be vaccine victims any more than I could blame parents for not wanting to leave their kids with a tattoed biker skinhead babysitter who smells like crack and bourbon-- which is what CDC officials, vax manufacturers and their pets in Congress currently come off as these days. Sure, maybe things will work out and nothing bad will happen. But then again...

[pkafin]

"Autism is a crime more than it is a disease."

No, it is a disease, or perhaps, a disorder. It is not a crime.

I understand the point you are trying to make. But you are only exacerbating the problem. Science is specifically insulated from emotional influences and predetermined biases. That's why it is what it is.

Science is produced when empirical studies that are subjected to peer review are repeatable without regard for anything related to the researcher. For example, studies will show that gravity on earth, at sea level, creates an acceleration of 9.8 m/sec-squared, for folks who think that it does AND for folks who think that it doesn't AND for folks who believe in G-d AND for folks who do not believe in G-d. The rate remains the same without regard for the tester's age, sanity, gender, legal status, etc.

[kcnativnla]

I have a 15 month old - and there's no way in hell she's going to get vaccinated until this is all sorted out.

Not only have I noticed that she doesn't suffer from the constant cold and flu symptoms that most toddlers have, but I got the flu and it took me almost a month to get over the symptoms ONE MONTH after I got the flu shot! My baby got the flu after me, and 5 days later she was her old self.

It's sad how some people/companies will have no problem subjecting my child to danger, as long as it continues to bring them money.

[DorianA123]

I'm one of those mothers who watched my normal 18 month old get very sick and regress into autism-like symptoms immediately after getting the MMR and other vaccines. Don Imus saved my son's life by having David Kirby on his show several years ago. His book, "Evidence of Harm" set me on the path to finding a doctor who would treat him for all of the immune system problems that often come along with the damage caused by vaccines. My son is now 17 and attends regular high school (many honors classes). I know that we're one of the lucky ones in that we didn't lose him completely to autism. BUT...we have been through a nightmare ever since he was just over 2 years old. Special ed classes, speech therapy, not having my child speak until he was 5+ years old, and the constant fight with the health insurance company.


It's insane that at the same time the government tells pregnant women to avoid mercury-containing fish, they mandate injecting pregnant women and babies with mercury-laden flu vaccines. It would be far better if they would fund reasonable research rather than throwing up roadblocks at every turn.

We now have a rate of 1 on 150 children being diagnosed with autism. If 1 in 150 children were being kidnapped in this country there would be nothing higher on the government's list of priorities.
Thanks to Deirdre & Don Imus for keeping this issue on the front burner!

[holler4health]

It is so refreshing to hear Dierdre stand up to the truth distortion that is rampant around this issue. I did extensive research into the vaccination issue for a book I wrote about toxic chemicals in common products. Unfortunately, I had already givn my daughter numerous vaccinations. This was around the time the mercury-laden vaccines were still being "used up" on children. You know, rather than wasting corporate profits. I am sick over this! Needless to say, I don't trust anyone to tell me whether there is another "epidemic" or to tell me a vaccination is "safe". I just can't believe them anymore. What a shame!
No more shots for my family!
Teresa Holler www.holler4health.com

[DorianA123]

Hi Teresa - will go check out your book. You probably know this but just in case...there are some natural things you can do to try to clear out any residual mercury. If your daughter shows no effects then she likely won't need to go the chelation route but it couldn't hurt to do some of the natural stuff just to make yourself feel better. Good luck!