Liz Birt's work - for those of you who didn't know her

[Guest guest]

As you have seen from the list these last few days, Liz Birt was killed in

a car accident

Some of you don't know who she is so I thought I'd share some articles

Liz Birt's work - for those of you who didn't know her

Also more info here

http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.com/

http://www.evidenceofharm.com/resources.htm

Liz Birt, Wilmette, IL, (Chicago)

Liz began researching the role of vaccines and autism in 1998 shortly after

Dr. Wakefield's first article was published in the Lancet. Liz

started Medical Interventions for Autism, a 501©(3) organization

dedicated to finding the possible link between inflammatory bowel disease,

immune system disorders, viruses from vaccines and autism in 1999 shortly

after her son, was treated at the Royal Free Hospital by Dr.

Wakefield's colleagues. In 2000 she helped found the advocacy group

SafeMinds and as General Counsel obtained various important documents

relating to the CDC's knowledge of the dangers of Thimerosal. In 2001 she

" retired " from the private practice of law to become a full time employee

of the Committee on Government Reform under the Chairmanship of Rep. Dan

Burton R-Ind. Liz's main function was to review thousands of pages of

government and industry records, conduct interviews of key FDA and CDC

employees and to write a report on this issue to Congress. She accomplished

this in May of 2002 when the Committee's staff report was released to

Congress and the public, entitled " Mercury in Medicine-Taking Unnecessary

Risks. " Liz is currently in private law practice in Chicago and continues

to be an advocate for vaccine-damaged children. Liz has been a speaker at

national autism conferences. She is mother to a 9 year old, .

http://www.mothering.com/articles/growing_child/vaccines/matthew.html

Fighting for : A Parent's Activism

By Liz Birt

Issue 115, November/December 2002

Liz Birt's son, , was diagnosed with pervasive developmental

disorder/autism in December of 1996. In 1999, she and her husband took

to the Royal Free Hospital in London for treatment. She described

this trip in an article that appeared in the May-June 2000 issue of Mothering.

When we returned to the US from London in December of 1999, I was

determined to get to the bottom of what caused 's regression and

inflammatory bowel disease and to do whatever I could to further the

research of Wakefield, MD, the British gastroenterologist who made

such a difference in my son's life and the lives of thousands of children

suffering with abdominal pain like 's.

I founded Medical Interventions for Autism (MIA), a section 501©(3)

charity, to raise money for this important research. We have four

fundraising groups, located in Chicago, Detroit, Ft. Lauderdale, and

Boulder; these groups operate with no administrative overhead, employ no

professional fundraisers, and are completely staffed by volunteers. Many of

our volunteers are parents of autistic children, although having a child

with autism is itself a 24/7 job; for many of us our " free time " starts at

10:00 p.m. Since its inception in December of 1999, MIA has raised over

$300,000 for autism research, our Detroit chapter has received support from

the Ted Foundation, and we have established a goal to raise another

$200,000 before the end of 2002. I also became involved in the creation of

a research and clinical center for the treatment of children with

developmental disabilities, including autism. The center, which will be

located in South Florida, is a unique model for autism research and

treatment. The principal participants are physicians Wakefield and

Jeff Bradstreet. Dr. Wakefield brings to the project a wealth of research

abilities in the fields of gastroenterology, virology, and immunology. Dr.

Bradstreet is clinical director of the International Child Development

Resource Center (ICDRC) in Palm City, Florida [see his article in this

issue of Mothering].

I also have been using my skills as a lawyer to advocate for children with

autism. In May 2000 I received a phone call from Lyn Redwood, a nurse

practitioner from Atlanta and coauthor of a research paper entitled

" Autism: A Unique Type of Mercury Poisoning. " [see Lyn Redwood's articles

in this issue of Mothering.] This paper, which was published in the

peer-reviewed journal Medical Hypothesis, chronicles in detail the

similarities between mercury poisoning and autism.1 The authors had met

with the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to express their

concerns regarding the continued use of pediatric vaccines containing

thimerosal, but Lyn believed that their message fell on deaf ears. She

asked me to become involved as a lawyer with this issue. I agreed, and thus

SAFEMINDs was born.

SAFEMINDs--Sensible Action For Ending Mercury Induced Neurological

Disorders--is primarily an advocacy and information group, although it has

also funded several studies. Through the Freedom of Information Act, the

group helped to uncover evidence that federal agencies have engaged in

systematic distortion of the truth on this issue. We found a CDC document

dated February 2000, based upon the Vaccine Safety Datalink Project, which

cited a 2.48 relative risk of autism in children who were exposed to 62.5

mcgs of thimerosal from their vaccinations. [This was previously reported

in Mothering no. 111, March-April 2002.] By June 2000, the CDC had amended

this finding to 1.69 through what we believe to be a gross manipulation of

the dataset.

We have asked the CDC repeatedly to allow independent researchers access to

this database in order to perform vaccine safety studies. Thanks to

advocacy groups such as SAFEMINDs and to the assistance of Congressmen Dan

Burton (R-IN) and Dave Weldon (R-FL) and the Committee on Government

Reform, the CDC recently changed its position and has agreed to allow

access to this database by independent researchers, utilizing standard

institutional controls to protect the confidentiality of the patients.

SAFEMINDs also uncovered documentary evidence that the issue of thimerosal

came to the attention of government regulators well before the summer of

1999, when a decision was made to postpone the birth dose of hepatitis B

because it contained thimerosal. The movement to ban thimerosal actually

originated in Europe in the 1990s. The European Medicinal Evaluation

Agency, the equivalent of our FDA, is on record favoring the removal of

thimerosal from vaccines and biologics in 1998 due to concerns regarding

its effect on an infant's developing neurological and immune systems. Here

is one of the questions we would like answered: when did the FDA first

become aware that thimerosal in pediatric vaccines was a health risk? In

1982, a panel of 15 experts convened by the FDA found that the use of

mercury-containing ingredients in over-the-counter products was not safe or

effective. But it was not until 1997, with the passage of the Food and Drug

Modernization Act, that the FDA compiled a list of products that contained

mercury. What was the FDA doing from 1982 until 1997 about the use of

mercury in medicinal products, given that it had been advised by a panel of

experts that the continued use of these products was dangerous?

One sign that the FDA may have had a plan in place prior to 1999 is an

e-mail, entered as Exhibit 15 in the June 19, 2002, hearings of the US

House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform on " The Status of

Research into Vaccine Safety and Autism. " On June 29, 1999, FDA scientist

Patriarca wrote to two CDC employees, Bernier, PhD, and

Codero, MD, " The fact of the matter is that an 'interim plan' (for

potential removal of thimerosal) has already been in place for many years

we just need to 'speed up' the existing plan not create a 'new' interim

plan. " The e-mail also stated that one of the negative results of

announcing an immediate removal of thimerosal from vaccines by the FDA and

CDC would be that the FDA would be subject to criticism for being asleep at

the switch for decades, by allowing a potentially hazardous compound to

remain in many childhood vaccines, and not forcing manufacturers to exclude

it from new products. Will also raise questions about the various advisory

bodies about aggressive recommendations for use. We must keep in mind that

the dose of ethylmercury was not generated by 'rocket science': conversion

of the percent thimerosal to actual ug of mercury involves ninth grade

algebra. What took the FDA so long to do the calculations? Why didn't CDC

and the advisory bodies do these calculations while rapidly expanding the

childhood immunization schedule?

As a parent, I continue to be appalled by the lack of oversight at the FDA.

There must be personal accountability for the FDA's failure to act. In the

past 30 years, the prevalence rate for autism in the US and UK has grown

from 1 in 2000 in children born before 1990 to 1 in 150, according to the

CDC's own study from Brick Township, New Jersey. In the UK, the National

Autistic Society reports that 1 in 86 children are now diagnosed on the

autistic spectrum. We need independent research into the causes of autism,

for without determining the cause, there can be no cure.

NOTE

1. S. Bernard et al., " Autism: A Novel Form of Mercury Poisoning, " Medical

Hypothesis 56, no. 4 (2001): 462-471.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Medical Interventions for Autism (MIA)

www.miaautism.org

Liz Birt, a corporate attorney by training, lives in Wilmette, Illinois,

with her husband, Maurice , and their three children: (10),

(8), and (6).

For more information on vaccines see the Mothering Reprint: Vaccines:

Mercury, Autism and Chronic Disease

***********

http://www.looksmarthealth.com/p/articles/mi_m0838/is_2002_Nov-Dec/ai_100807

168

ighting for : a parent's activism - Health - Medical Interventions

for Autism

Mothering, Nov-Dec, 2002 by Liz Birt

Liz Birt's son, , was diagnosed with pervasive developmental

disorder/autism in December 1996. In 1999, she and her husband took

to the Royal Free Hospital in London to receive treatment. She described

the trip in an article published in the May-June 2000 issue of Mothering.

When we returned to the US from London in December 1999, I was determined

to get to the bottom of what had caused 's regression and

inflammatory bowel disease and to do whatever I could to further the

research of Wakefield, MD, the British gastroenterologist who made

such a difference in my son's life and the lives of thousands of other

children suffering with abdominal pain like 's.

I founded Medical Interventions for Autism (MIA), a section 501©(3)

charity, to raise money for this very important research. We have four

fund-raising groups, located in Chicago, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, and

Boulder; these groups operate with no administrative overhead, employ no

professional fund-raisers, and are staffed entirely by volunteers. Many of

our volunteers are parents of autistic children, although having a child

with autism is itself a 24/7 job; for many of us, our " free time " starts at

10:00 p.m. Since its inception in December 1999, MIA has raised more than

$300,000 for autism research, our Detroit chapter has received support from

the Ted Foundation, and we have established a goal to raise another

$200,000 before the end of 2002.

I also became involved in the creation of a research and clinical center

for the treatment of children with developmental disabilities, including

autism. The center, which will be located in South Florida, is a unique

model for autism research and treatment. The principal participants are

physicians Wakefield and Jeff Bradstreet. Dr. Wakefield brings to

the project a wealth of research abilities in the fields of

gastroenterology, virology, and immunology. Dr. Bradstreet is clinical

director of the International Child Development Resource Center (ICDRC) in

Palm City, Florida (see his article in this issue of Mothering).

Continue article

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I also have been using my skills as a lawyer to advocate for children with

autism. In May 2000 I received a phone call from Lyn Redwood, a nurse

practitioner from Atlanta and coauthor of a research paper titled " Autism:

A Unique Type of Mercury Poisoning. " (See Lyn Redwood's articles in this

edition of Mothering.) This paper, which was published in the peer-reviewed

journal Medical Hypothesis, chronicles in detail the similarities between

mercury poisoning and autism. (1) The authors had met with the FDA and the

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to express their concerns regarding the

continued use of pediatric vaccines containing thimerosal, but Lyn believed

that their message fell on deaf ears. She asked me to become involved with

this issue as a lawyer. I agreed, and thus SAFEMINDs was born.

SAFEMINDs--Sensible Action For Ending Mercury Induced Neurological

Disorders--is primarily an advocacy and information group, although it has

also funded several studies. Through the Freedom of Information Act, the

group helped to uncover evidence that federal agencies have engaged in

systematic distortion of the truth on this issue. We found a CDC document

dated February 2000, based upon the Vaccine Safety Datalink project, that

cited a 2.48 relative risk of autism in children who were exposed to 62.5

mcg of thimerosal from their vaccinations. (This was previously reported in

Mothering no. 111, March-April 2002.) By June 2000, the CDC had amended

this finding to 1.69, through what we believe to be a gross manipulation of

the dataset.

We have asked the CDC repeatedly to allow independent researchers access to

this database in order to perform vaccine safety studies. Thanks to

advocacy groups such as SAFEMINDs and to the assistance of Congressmen Dan

Burton (R-IN) and Dave Weldon (R-FL) and the Committee on Government

Reform, the CDC recently changed its position and has agreed to allow

access to this database by independent researchers, utilizing standard

institutional controls to protect the confidentiality of the patients.

SAFEMINDs also uncovered documentary evidence that the issue of thimerosal

had come to the attention of government regulators well before the summer

of 1999, when a decision was made to postpone the birth dose of hepatitis B

because it contained thimerosal. The movement to ban thimerosal actually

originated in Europe in the 1990s. The European Medicinal Evaluation

Agency, the equivalent of our FDA, is on record as favoring the removal of

thimerosal from vaccines and biologics in 1998, due to concerns regarding

its effect on an infant's developing neurological and immune systems.

Here is one of the questions we'd like answered: When did the FDA first

become aware that thimerosal in pediatric vaccines was a health risk? In

1982, a panel of 15 experts convened by the FDA found that the use of

mercury-containing ingredients in over-the-counter products was not safe or

effective. But it was not until 1997, with the passage of the Food and Drug

Modernization Act, that the FDA compiled a list of products that contained

mercury. What was the FDA doing from 1982 until 1997 about the use of

mercury in medicinal products, given that it had been advised by a panel of

experts that the continued use of these products was dangerous?

One sign that the FDA might have had a plan in place prior to 1999 is an

e-mail, entered as Exhibit 15 in the June 19, 2002, hearings of the US

House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform on " The Status of

Research into Vaccine Safety and Autism. " On June 29, 1999, the FDA

scientist Patriarca wrote to two CDC employees, Bernier, PhD,

and Codero, MD, " The fact of the matter is that an `interim plan' [for

potential removal of thimerosal] has already been in place for many years

.... we just need to `speed up' the existing plan ... not create a `new'

interim plan. " In addition, the e-mail said that if the FDA were to

announce an immediate removal of thimerosal from vaccines, it would be

subject to criticism for being " asleep at the switch for decades, by

allowing a potentially hazardous compound to remain in many childhood

vaccines, and not forcing manufacturers to exclude it from their new

products. "

As a parent, I continue to be quite appalled by the lack of oversight at

the FDA. There must be personal accountability for the FDA's failure to

act. In the past 30 years, the prevalence rate for autism in the US and UK

has grown from 1 in 2,000 in children born before 1990 to 1 in 150,

according to the CDC's own study from Brick Township, New Jersey. In the

UK, the National Autistic Society reports that 1 in 86 children are now

being diagnosed on the autistic spectrum. We need independent research into

the causes of autism, for without determining the cause, there can be no cure.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Medical Interventions for Autism (MIA) www.miaautism.org

NOTE

(1.) S. Bernard, et al., " Autism: A Novel Form of Mercury Poisoning, "

Medical Hypothesis 56, no. 4 (2001): 462-471.

Liz Birt, a corporate attorney by training, lives in Wilmette, Illinois,

with her three children: (10), (8), and (6).

COPYRIGHT 2002 Mothering Magazine

COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group

*********

http://www.vaccineawareness.org/

Book Review: Evidence of Harm

September 13th, 2005

Illinois Vaccine Awareness Coalition

" Evidence of Harm " by Kirby

(St. 's Press, 2005) 441-page hard cover

This book explores the controversy of autism epidemic linked to

vaccines' thimerosal (49.6 percent ethyl mercury). It chronicles the

searches of three " Mercury Moms: " Sallie Bernard, Liz Birt and Lyn Redwood

to find the autism cause and cure for their sons, Bill, and Will.

The three mothers take on science, business and government to find answers

for their sons' sudden mental and physical decline. The mothers form

Sensible Action For Ending mercury-Induced Neurological Disorders

(Coalition for Safe Minds). They expose the secret vaccine workings of the

Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, Institutes

of Medicine and Congress.

This book shows government and medicine bureaucracy's denials of

" evidence of harm. " Unfortunately, author Kirby, a New York Times

contributor, neglects the major media's resistance to investigate and to

air this heated controversy. Autism now affects 1 in 166 or approximately

450,000 U.S. children ages 0-18.

Early on, Kirby lists vaccines' components, sounding " like something

from a poison factory manual: " aborted human fetal tissue diploid cells,

aluminum hydroxide, aluminum phosphate, ammonium sulfate, calf serum,

casein from pig pancreas, chick embryo, fetal bovine serum, fetal rheus

monkey lung cells, monkey kidney cells, neomycin (antibiotic),

phenoxyethanol (antifreeze), streptomycin (antibiotic), washed sheep red

blood cells.

Kirby mentions University of Kentucky's Boyd Haley, a mercury

researcher for over a decade. His studies with mouse neuronal cells in

culture show a shocking synergistic effect . When he mixed thimerosal with

aluminum and neomycin, survival rates plummeted, after twenty-four hours,

to less than 10 percent. With thimerosal-testosterone combination, cells

died " 'a hundred times faster than those exposed to testosterone alone.' "

Estrogen had a protective effect on cells.

In other studies, Haley ' " discovered that mercury-laden shots were

tenfold to hundredfold more toxic than those without thimerosal.' " He found

that the preservative-free MMR vaccine ' " was as toxic as the

thimerosal-containing vaccines' " but could not determine the cause.

On June 21, 2000, CDC's Dr. Verstraten announced: " 'Researchers

found statistically significant associations between thimerosal and

neurodevelopmental disorders.' " This verified one of the Mercury Moms

theory that two vaccines with more thimerosal, the Hib vaccine, added in

1988 and the hepatitis-B vaccine, added in 1991, contributed to high

mercury levels in children.

One of vaccines' most passionate supporter remains Offit, M.D.,

chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Children's Hospital of

Philadelphia. His reaction to the mercury/ autism link is best

characterized by his own words to Kirby:

" 'ly, until thimerosal is out of all vaccines, nobody's going to

be comfortable, which is sad...I think we scared people unnecessarily. And

you did more harm than good in sort of, quote/unquote, allowing the parent

to be fully informed. There's no politically correct way to say this, but

being fully informed is not always the best thing. You can take that out of

context and make me look like a jerk, but you know what I'm saying. You

need to be appropriately informed. You need to have information in a

context. That's what I think gets lost in this.' "

Kirby refers to Merck, a vaccine manufacturer, as Offit's business

partner. Offit was a Merck consultant and patent holder for the rotavirus

vaccine which netted he and his partner $350,000 in grant money. Merck

Vaccine Division, also, purchased 20,000 copies of his vaccine book for

distribution to doctors' offices. Offit sat on CDC's Advisory Committee for

Immunization Practices (ACIP) which recommends vaccines that end up on

states' mandatory list for children's school attendance.

Kirby ends his book on a politically somber note. He relates how Merck

and GlaxoKline have aggressively marketed pediatric vaccines to other

countries. He tells that Xinhua, the Chinese News Agency, reported that

autism had suddenly skyrocketed to 1.8 million children in 2004. One

researcher estimated that autism was growing at 20 percent annually. Other

countries are also reporting high autism numbers.Kirby ends his book with

two questions, ' " What if the profitable export of our much vaunted medical

technology has led to the poisoning of hundreds of thousands of children?

What then?' "

***********

http://www.upi.com/inc/view.php?StoryID=20030505-123913-6672r

Liz Birt, an attorney with Burton's Subcommittee on Human Rights and

Wellness, said that during the 1990s, the U.S. childhood vaccination

schedule exposed some children to 125 times the federal limit on mercury

exposure set by the Environmental Protection Agency. Birt said the CDC and

the FDA have been slow to admit the damage the vaccines may have caused

because key officials want to keep their jobs and vaccine manufacturers do

not want the liability.

" It all comes down to money, " Birt said.

**********

http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/board.php

Liz Birt

Board Member

Liz started her career in health insurance and then decided to go to law

school at the ripe old age of 32. Liz began researching the role of

vaccines and autism in 1998 shortly after Dr. Wakefield's first

article was published in the Lancet. Liz started Medical Interventions for

Autism, a 501©(3) organization dedicated to funding the possible link

between inflammatory bowel disease, immune system disorders, viruses from

vaccines and autism in 1999 shortly after her son, was treated at

the Royal Free Hospital by Dr. Wakefield's colleagues. In 2000 she helped

found the advocacy group SafeMinds and as General Counsel obtained various

important documents relating to the CDC's knowledge of the dangers of

Thimerosal. In 2001 she " retired " from the private practice of law to

become a full time employee of the Committee on Government Reform under the

Chairmanship of Rep. Dan Burton R-Ind.. Liz's main function was to review

thousands of pages of government and industry records, conduct interviews

of key FDA and CDC employees and to write a report on this issue to

Congress. She accomplished this in May of 2002 when the Committee's staff

report was released to Congress and the public entitled " Mercury in

Medicine-Taking Unnecessary Risks " . Liz is currently in private law

practice in Chicago, Illinois and continues to be an advocate for vaccine

damaged children. She lives in Wilmette, Illinois with her three children,

, and , a small dog named Sophie, a bird named Skyer and

a hamster named Peanut. She is looking forward to the newest

" family " member, a bearded dragon lizard by the name of Godzilla Jr. She has

a sense of humor and is not afraid of Capitol Hill.

********

http://www.salon.com/letters/daily/2000/08/04/autism/

My son, , was developmentally normal -- a bright-eyed, verbal,

affectionate toddler -- until he received his MMR and Hib vaccines. Within

seven days he developed a terrible ulcerated rash on his diaper area and

chronic diarrhea which persists five years later. I took him to numerous

specialists, gastroenterologists included. He even developed shingles. I

met Dr. Andy Wakefield last October and asked him if he could help my son.

had not slept through the night for over three years. Every night

he would wake up screaming in his bed. I took to the Royal Free

Hospital in England. There, doctors diagnosed with severe

constipation -- in fact he had a fecal mass the size of a cantaloupe in his

colon. (The physicians used a simple X-ray to find the obstruction.) We

cleaned his colon out and he has been officially diagnosed with autistic

enterocoliti, a type of inflammatory bowel disease. His gut biopsies show

the presence of live measles virus. Now is able to sleep because we

are treating this medical condition with anti-inflammatory medications.

I recently became involved with a group called the Coalition for SAFE MINDS

(Sensible Action for the Elimination of Mercury-Induced Neurological

Disorders). Members of this coalition, as well as a physician and

toxicologist, testified in front of Rep. Dan Burton's committee on July

18th regarding the amount of mercury children are being given. The amount

that children are exposed to in routine vaccinations exceeds, in some

cases, 125 times the adult maximum allowable dose in one day.

Mercury is a known neurotoxin. The similarities between mercury poisoning

and autism are remarkable. Coalition for SAFE MINDs members have researched

this connection and written a paper which was presented this spring to the

FDA and CDC entitled: " Autism: A Unique Type of Mercury Poisoning. " The CDC

has looked at their large linked database and presented findings at the

June ACIP meeting in Atlanta which show a statistical association between

neurodevelopmental delays and the administration of thimerosal-containing

vaccines. At the July 18 meeting, Bernier, Ph.D. of the CDC stated

that there is enough thimerosal-free vaccine on the market to safely

vaccinate American children today. Yet the FDA refuses to remove these

toxic vaccines from the market. The Coalition for SAFE MINDS has filed a

citizens' petition to Jane Henney, M.D., commissioner of the FDA,

requesting removal of these toxic products from the market. We are prepared

to pursue all available legal means to ensure that the children in this

country receive the safest products available.

My son's immunologist believes that the mercury contained in the vaccines

he received suppressed his immune system to the point where he actually

contracted the measles from the MMR vaccination. We are in the process of

treating him for mercury poisoning. He is a very different little boy than

he was a year ago. I have Dr. Wakefield and the other brave parents and

researchers who have the determination to find the cause cure for this

terrible disorder to thank for giving me my life and little boy back.

has a long way to go to recover but at least we know what is wrong

with him finally.

-- Liz Birt

's Mother

Founder, Medical Interventions for Autism

*******

much more if you google

" liz birt "

--------------------------------------------------------

Sheri Nakken, R.N., MA, Hahnemannian Homeopath

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Nevada City CA & Wales UK

$$ Donations to help in the work - accepted by Paypal account

vaccineinfo@... voicemail US 530-740-0561

(go to http://www.paypal.com) or by mail

Vaccines - http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/vaccine.htm

Vaccine Dangers On-Line course - http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/vaccineclass.htm

Homeopathy On-Line course - http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/homeo.htm

ANY INFO OBTAINED HERE NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS MEDICAL

OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION TO VACCINATE IS YOURS AND YOURS ALONE.

******

" Just look at us. Everything is backwards; everything is upside down.

Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy

knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the major media destroy information

and religions destroy spirituality " .... Ellner