A Reminder to Autism Speaks on Vaccine Research Promises

I wrote the post below last year, but it seems appropriate to bring it back because HuffPo contributor David Kirby has a piece running today called, Autism Speaks: Don't Rule Out Vaccines.

It's clear that both Bob and Suzanne Wright, the founders of Autism Speaks, want the same answers many of us in the autism community want regarding vaccination safety and the link to the diagnosis that has devastated so many lives, including their own. The very answers that the AAP, pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Paul Offit, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, the CDC, the mainstream media and surprising to me, most liberal bloggers, do NOT want.

And yet, Autism Speaks has moved at the pace of a gimpy snail to find answers, instead spending millions on genetics studies, social networking sites, glitzy fundraisers, six figure salaries, Park Avenue rent and media blitzes for "awareness." God almighty, we're aware already! When your two year old can't speak, you know "the signs." We need immediate answers for the kids who are here and growing older every day. And we need to stop the epidemic from continuing. Please Mr. and Mrs. Wright. Ask louder. Demand more. Threaten to shut down Autism Speaks unless you get answers.

Here's what I wrote:

On May 1, 2006, Suzanne Wright, founder of Autism Speaks promised me that Autism Speaks would study whether mercury and vaccines are part of the cause of the autism epidemic. Here's the video [Quicktime required].

Mrs. Wright made this promise at the Children Making Strides/Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation event in Waltham, Massachusetts, where she and David Kirby were the keynote speakers. Mr. Kirby is the author of Evidence of Harm, the book that discusses the mercury and autism connection. Both Mrs. Wright and Mr. Kirby were well received. And here's the Autism Speaks webpage showing Mrs. Wright with Doug Flutie.

I'd like to know why, in fifteen months and with tens of millions of research dollars, numerous "Walks" and fundraisers, I can see no progress toward answering my question. I mean Mrs. Wright no ill will. But if you're going to wear the crown of the founder, you have to expect the serfs to pick up a pitch fork every so often when their hunger (in my case, for answers) becomes overwhelming. I have three daughters with autism. Call me crazy, but I'd like some answers for my children.

If you've ever seen Mrs. Wright on Larry King or The Today Show or in person, I think you'll you agree with me that her passion to help her grandson Christian and my girls and the thousands of kids with an autism diagnosis is genuine. As is her grief. If she's acting, someone had better tell Meryl Streep that she's got some serious competition.

I'd like to know who (if anyone) is stopping Suzanne Wright from making good on her word. Is it Alison Singer? Is it Dr. Eric London? Is it pressure from pharmaceutical lobbyists? Is it the pharmaceutical companies themselves who've spent a fortune advertising on Bob Wright's NBC? (I realize he is no longer in that position.) Is it the US government who mandated the vaccines in the first place? What about The American Academy of Pediatrics who have steadfastly denied any link, even as they added a flu vaccine with 25 micrograms of mercury to the childhood schedule?

I suppose that I sound like I'm writing an X-Files episode. Well, it feels that way sometimes. "The truth is out there." was the show's motto after all.

Did Mrs. Wright suddenly change her mind? I don't think so. She is media savvy. She could have easily hemmed and hawed and said just enough to keep me from foaming at the mouth without making the firm promises you'll hear on this clip. I think she spoke from her heart and gut. I'll let you be the judge.

The clip is only two and half minutes long. I'm the shaky voiced gal who asks the second question. You'll hear Mrs. Wright say, "My new friend, Kim." Although that ship might have sailed after this post.

I'd like to thank these folks at Autism Media for providing the technical work for me.

Comments

[Jmulvaney]

Kim:
Don't you know that GE--the money behind the Wright's monument to selves known as Autism Speaks--"brings good things to life" or so their slogan goes.
As one of the world's biggest polluters (see Hudson River PCB's) of course GE is going to stick with pharma companies that poison kids.
Autism Speaks has positioned itself as the voice of autism. It isn't, shouldn't be and hopefully won't be.
Thanks for the reminder

[CarolineWriterHMB]

Like Global Warming before we had inarguable proof, this is a Pascal's Wager thing. Pascal didn't know if there was a God. But he figured that if he went to Church and there was a God, he was saved from eternal hellfire and granted eternal heaven. If he went to Church and there wasn't a God, he wasted an hour each Sunday. So he 'wagered' that the cost of being wrong (going to hell!) was far, far, greater than the cost of wasting an hour each week. So he went to Church.

If mercury and aluminum in vaccines DON"T contribute to autism and we take them out, the cost is whatever it is to have a new preservative and to throw out all the poisonous vaccines (they have to be handled like toxic waste. HMMMM). But if mercury and aluminum DO cause autism and other neurological horrors, the cost of NOT taking them out that is every 60th boy and every 200th girl develops autism. This is happening now. Thimerasol is a top ten contact allergens. Why oh why can't we see that JUST MAYBE injecting an allergen could cause severe harm to a subset of infants? . . that vaccines may not be safe for every child, just as peanuts aren't even safe for every child? Someone please tell me that common sense has come back into this debate . . someone please tell me this nightmare will soon be over!

[Barbara Fischkin - Huffpost Blogger]

Sorry to be repetitive but here is my mantra:

New President plus New EPA Chief Equals Real Research.

Autism Speaks isn't going to do it. It has to come from the Feds. Untainted Feds for a change. I hope.

[arvay]

Yes, the Obama administration, which didn't need K Street money to get elected, offers the best hope to get straight answers to this and many other questions about how our industrial society affects us and our environment.

I suspect that many of our regulatory agencies need to be cleaned out, no doubt over the past eight years many industry advocates and people looking for a second career in industry have been inserted into the management chain.

I think the autism debate is potentially the start of comprehensive research into the myriad substances that have been routinely inserted into the products we use and ingest daily. No one knows how these substances interact with each other in the environment and in our bodies.

It's time for expert researchers to start with the most likely "suspects" and begin looking into the matter. Eventually, discoveries lead to others and we can and should end up with a large-scale investigation of these matters.

We can't just keep plunking things into ourselves, our children and the environment without knowing what the effects are.

[arvay]

Yes, the Obama administration, which didn't need K Street money to get elected, offers the best hope to get straight answers to this an many other questions about how our industrial society affects us and our environment.

I suspect that many of our regulatory agencies need to be cleaned out, no doubt over the past eight years many industry advocates and people looking for a second career in industry have been inserted into the management chain.

I think the autism debate is potentially the start of comprehensive research into the myriad substances that have been routinely inserted into the products we use and ingest daily. No one knows how these substances interact with each other in the environment and in our bodies.

It's time for expert researchers to start with the most likely "suspects" and begin looking into the matter. Eventually, discoveries lead to others and we can and should end up with a large-scale investigation of these matters.

We can't just keep plunking things into ourselves, our children and the environment without knowing what the effects are.

[Josephius]

"It's clear that both Bob and Suzanne Wright, the founders of Autism Speaks, want the same answers many of us in the autism community want regarding vaccination safety and the link to the diagnosis that has devastated so many lives, including their own. The very answers that the AAP, pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Paul Offit, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, the CDC, the mainstream media and surprising to me, most liberal bloggers, do NOT want."

The idea is to produce information from research relating to autism, as well as vaccine safety. NOT to create or provie a link for you. That's the key point. This isn't about proving your 'theory'. It is about answers and solutions for the community and our children.

Research away, that's the best policy. But you owe it to yourself, to your readers, the community, and especially your children to be honest with yourself when the data shows otherwise.

[ThinkForYourself2]

The U.S. Government has recorded 238,755 Vaccine Injuries
and deaths from 1990 - Mar. 2008.
The FDA states that 90% of vaccine reactions go un-recorded.

http://www.vaccine911.com/
http://www.vaclib.org/sites/debate/web1.html

[jened]

Josephius, you owe it to yourself and others to be honest when the data is flawed, non-existant or show that vaccines do cause autism (such as with the recent study where they gave a monkey all the childhood recommend schedule and the monkey became autistic). You sound awefully threatened by the idea of vaccines being in some way harmful and unwilling to address specific questions. Do you work for the CDC?

[usna73]

Hi Kim. As I have said for more than 6 yerars of litigation and administrative review, this will be "resolved" in the back rooms of the politicians. Not for your girls or my son or any victim who has been destroyed. This is and always be about MONEY. Big money.

Now that the Vaccine Court has heard their fill and the new administration has been elected, there will be choices. Nobody will be happy and justice will never be done.

There will be a deal in 2009. And Mr. Wright will have a hand in brokering it.

As F. Scott Fitzgerald reminded us: "Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me."

[TannersDad]

Kim,
I was contemplating the same questions this morning. I know that it has been over 10 years now since the congress asked for an unbiased look into the Vaccinated vs. Unvaccinated population. I am just getting very very tired of all the words and no action. Thanks for saying it so clearly and directly.

[mogrammy]

Kim,
Good grief-it's two and a half years since you wrote that piece! Ya, right, two and a half years and we're still answering call after call of newly diagnosed kids. Go, Kim, we must demand more and now. Our voices will be heard. What choice is there?
Maurine