[INF2FParents] The Age of Autism: 'Amish bill' Introduced

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The Age of Autism: 'Amish bill' introduced

By DAN OLMSTED

WASHINGTON, July 28 (UPI) -- For the second time this week,

legislation aimed at determining whether vaccines are linked to an

epidemic of unrecognized side effects has been introduced in

Congress -- this time as a direct result of reporting by Age of

Autism.

The new legislation, titled the Comprehensive Comparative Study of

Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Populations Act of 2006, would order the

National Institutes of Health to study " health outcomes, including

autism, " in those two groups.

In essence, the bill proposes the simplest way to exonerate vaccines

as a cause of autism: If the autism rate is about the same in never-

vaccinated children, vaccines are unlikely to play any role.

Yet such a straightforward and potentially decisive study has never

been done on American children. In the past, public-health officials

have said such an approach would be impractical due to low numbers

of never-vaccinated children, but this column found tens of

thousands of such children -- beginning with the Amish -- in various

locations in the United

States.

In our anecdotal and unscientific reporting, the rate of autism

seemed strikingly lower in never-vaccinated children, although those

findings cannot be considered conclusive or convincing. For that, a

scientific study would be needed, as proposed in the new legislation.

The bill is being co-sponsored by Reps. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and

Tom Osborne, R-Neb. It seeks to determine whether there is any

correlation between the increasing number of immunizations in recent

years and the rise in " chronic, unexplained diseases such as autism,

learning disabilities, and other neurological disorders " over the

same time period.

" Childhood immunizations greatly reduce human suffering from

infectious disease, and I think it would be in the best interest of

everyone if we definitively resolve parents' questions about

vaccines, " Maloney said in a statement.

Maloney cited particular concern about the mercury-based vaccine

preservative thimerosal, to which children were increasingly exposed

beginning in the late 1980s. It was phased out starting in 1999 at

the recommendation of public-health officials and the American

Academy of Pediatrics.

Subsequent studies have found no association between thimerosal and

autism, but critics say those studies have been inadequate and beset

by conflicts of interest. Nor have they compared vaccinated vs.

unvaccinated populations, in part because officials say such groups

are hard to find in a society where childhood immunizations are

routine -- and mostly mandatory for school attendance.

" In this country we have very high levels of vaccination, " CDC

Director Dr. Gerberding told

Age of Autism at a news

conference last year. While " such studies could be done and should

be done, " she suggested, the obstacles might be overwhelming.

But this column identified several groups that might fit the bill --

from the Amish in Pennsylvania Dutch country to homeschooled

children to patients of a Chicago

family practice.

" I have not seen autism with the Amish, " said Dr. Noonan, a

family practitioner in Lancaster

County, Pa., who has

treated

thousands of Amish for a quarter-century.

" You'll find all the other stuff, but we don't find the autism.

We're right in the heart of Amish country and seeing none, and

that's just the way it is. "

In Chicago,

Homefirst Medical Services treats thousands of never-

vaccinated children whose parents received exemptions through

Illinois'

relatively permissive immunization policy. Homefirst's

medical director, Dr. Mayer Eisenstein, told us he is not aware of

any cases of autism in never-vaccinated children; the national rate

is 1 in 175, according to the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention.

" We have a fairly large practice, " Eisenstein told us. " We have

about 30,000 or 35,000 children that we've taken care of over the

years, and I don't think we have a single case of autism in children

delivered by us who never received vaccines.

" We do have enough of a sample, " Eisenstein said. " The numbers

are

too large to not see it. We would absolutely know. We're all family

doctors. If I have a child with autism come in, there's no

communication. It's frightening. You can't touch them. It's not

something that anyone would miss. "

Dr. Jeff Bradstreet, a Florida

family practitioner with ties to

families who homeschool their children for religious reasons, told

Age of Autism he has proposed such a study in that group.

" I said I know I can tap into this community and find you large

numbers of unvaccinated homeschooled, " said Bradstreet, " and we

can

do simple prevalence and incidence studies in them, and my gut

reaction is that you're going to see no autism in this group. "

Osborne and Maloney said such examples undercut claims " there was

not a big enough population to which we could compare the general

vaccinated population. ... The Maloney-Osborne legislation proposes

comparing vaccinated populations with unvaccinated populations such

as these. "

Clearly, there are children with autism who have never been

vaccinated. Moreover, even a much-lower rate of autism in never-

vaccinated groups would not directly implicate vaccines as a cause --

other factors could be at work. For instance, the Amish might have

a genetic resistance to the disorder; children receiving alternative

schooling or healthcare might have less exposure to other

conceivable medical, environmental or lifestyle triggers.

But just as clearly, such a study could be done, and the Maloney-

Osborne bill proposes to do it.

Maloney was co-sponsor of another bill introduced Wednesday with

Rep. Weldon, R-Fla. That bill would give responsibility for

the nation's vaccine safety to an independent agency outside the

CDC. Weldon was harshly critical of the government's monitoring of

vaccines.

The National Autism Association called the two bills " good news from

Washington.

NAA applauds Congresswoman Maloney in her continuing

efforts to support families affected by autism with this new

legislation and co-sponsorship of Congressman Weldon's Vaccine

Safety bill. "

The group urged its members to ask their local representatives to

support the legislation when they are back in their districts during

the August congressional recess.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International. .

Related Headlines

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Cases of childhood autism increasing in UK (July 14, 2006) -- Autism

in Britain is three times more common than previously thought,

affecting 1 in every 100 children, a study found. In an article in

the British ... > full story

The Age of Autism: Mercury ban opposed (April 4, 2006) --

Representatives of 22 medical organizations have written to all

members of Congress opposing efforts to ban the mercury-based

preservative thimerosal ... > full story

UPI Autism story prompts bill (March 30, 2006) -- A U.S.

congresswoman said Thursday she is drafting legislation to force the

federal government to study the autism rate in never-vaccinated

children ... > full story

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