Vaccines

The President of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. Renee Jenkins, made a rather puzzling comment on Good Morning America, during a segment on vaccine safety and the risk of autism.

Until now, estimates of mitochondrial disease rates have held steady at about 1-in-4000 people. A new study shows that 20 times that number have genetic mutations that could cause the disease.

Amanda Peet's real mistake? Daring to give other parents advice. She should know by now that the only answer is a wistful smile and a silly anecdote.

This week, actress Amanda Peet called parents who don't vaccinate their kids "parasites," and then essentially went on to lie when she announced that scientists have concluded there is "no association between autism and vaccines."

Sure, the government and many physicians have recommended that girls and young women receive the HPV vaccine. But it may have been plugged prematurely. There's still so much we don't know.

My original post mischaracterized the CDC vaccine investigation, and I'm reposting this piece to reflect that information accurately, but also to point out many of the weaknesses identified in the CDC's data.

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."

There's no reason to fear rabies shots; the conventional wisdom of foot-long needles is a fiction, and the vaccine is 100% effective in preventing death by rabies.

As someone who refuses to concede that there is no link between vaccines and autism, I now have a semi tongue-in-cheek response to my once and future critics: "Go tell it to Dr. Healy."

It is surprising that the American medical and educational establishments would so blithely admit to the neglect of hundreds of thousands of children so desperately in need.

A new, additional theory of causation is about to be introduced in Vaccine Court: Vaccines can trigger a chain of events in children with mitochondrial dysfunction that causes autism.

If most childhood diseases are preventable...why are so many on the rise? Because toxic chemicals are everywhere and not enough attention is being given to prevention.

About twenty years ago, I was approached by a manufacturer of supplements and asked to write articles for a magazine. This magazine--coincidentally--was sponsored by the manufacturer and all the articles--coincidentally--were about their products.

Yes, the parents of autistic kids are more "emotional" than the aloof doctors before them. But why are they met with anger, rather than compassion?

The real problem here is the track record and credibility of the CDC to continue conducting any vaccine safety studies at all.

Who will care for my girls when Mark and I are gone? Their autism has wiped us out financially already. My beautiful girls will be at the mercy of the state.

It surprises me, and saddens me, that the Op-Ed page could allow so many false and misleading statements to appear in its ranks.

An autism diagnosis knocks our kids so far out of the medical realm that they lose many of their rights to proper investigative medical care. Every behavior is attributed to "their autism" and virtually dismissed.

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.

You, Senator, like it or not, are now a card-carrying member of autism's "Mercury Militia." You are a tin-foil hatter, a "denialist dead-ender," and an "anti-science" nut job grasping at emotional, litigious straws.

Autism spectrum disorders are especially mysterious, varied, and frightening. Spreading debunked rumors will not help anyone here.

Tell me why our doctors and national institutions and even charities have abandoned children with autism, instead of setting out to conquer this neurological crippler.

Even if America's pediatricians manage to successfully censor fiction and crush artistic freedom, they will never be able to stifle the facts about autism.