OT: My letter to AAP Spokesman regarding vaccines & autism

[Guest guest]

The other day, CNN interviewed Kirby and the AAP's representative Chip

Harbaugh, who was my older children's first pediatrician. I had to respond

to some of the statements that Dr. Harbaugh made, since CNN didn't give Mr

Kirby a chance to fully respond and so much of what he said was untrue.

~Sue

Dear Dr. Harbaugh,

I am sure that you don't remember me, but my two oldest children were

patients of yours nearly 20 years ago at Children's Medical Group. I saw

you the other day on CNN as a spokesperson for the American Academy of

Pediatrics talking about the vaccine/autism controversy. I am very

interested in this issue, since my youngest child, an adorable 10-year-old

boy, has mercury and lead poisoning, immune system dysfunction, many GI

problems, and autism. (I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find that

he also has a mitochondrial disorder, but we haven't tested that – yet.)

I remember you as a very reasonable person, so I was hoping to hear some

words of wisdom from you on vaccine safety. Unfortunately, instead you said

quite a few things that are completely untrue, to which I must respond.

1) You stated that " thimerosal has not been used in childhood vaccines

since 2001 " . Although the CDC recommended that vaccines made after 2001 be

mercury-free, there was never a recall on them. Routine scheduled vaccines

with thimerosal and an expiration date of 2004 remained in use in doctors'

offices. The tetanus and flu vaccines continue to contain thimerosal. In

2006, our pediatrician recommended a tetanus vaccine for my oldest son, so I

requested the mercury-free Decavac. Although the pediatrician insisted that

they ONLY use mercury-free vaccines in her practice, the nurse

" accidentally " brought out a multi-dose vial of tetanus vaccine that was

clearly labeled " contains thimerosal " . Obviously, we declined. The CDC is

now recommending the mercury-containing flu vaccine for not only infants and

pregnant women, but all children up to age 18. This is unconscionable in my

opinion, especially because the flu vaccine is of limited effectiveness. Most

other vaccines still contain " trace amounts " of mercury, since thimerosal is

used in their manufacture and then removed.

2) You stated that " the rise in autism is due to better diagnosis by

pediatricians " . My son with autism regressed following his 18 months

vaccines, after a long history of ear infections and ever-more-potent

antibiotic treatments, just like Hannah Poling. His pediatrician tried to

prevent us from seeking a second opinion from a developmental pediatrician,

saying that his problems were due to hearing loss from the ear infections. We

argued with her " Don't deaf kids point and otherwise try to communicate? "

but we were told that since he was a 5th child, the older children must be

communicating for him. I ended up diagnosing his autism myself, by reading

the DSM-IV criteria for autism and realizing that my son met EVERY ONE of

the items on the list. He was later officially diagnosed by a pediatric

neurologist, who spent 5 minutes with him and wrote " Dx: Autism " on her

prescription pad. His pediatrician finally admitted " Well, I had only one

semester of child development in medical school. " Do you honestly think

this type of person has suddenly become able to diagnose previously hidden

cases of autism? Anyone meeting my son today, including the average 5 year

old, knows that something is very wrong with his functioning. This is NOT

something that would have been missed 10, 15 or 20 years ago. I now have

many friends and neighbors with children on the autism spectrum, but my son

was the first person with autism I had ever met. There IS an epidemic, and

its proportions are frightening.

3) You stated that you have patients " with mitochondrial disease and

autistic-like symptoms, but NOT autism " . What definition of autism are you

using? Since autism is defined by its behavioral symptoms, it is impossible

to have " autistic-like symptoms " without having autism. That would be like

saying a child has " ADHD symptoms " but not ADHD.

When a plane crash occurs, the FAA does not claim " This is an isolated

incident. We are sure that all planes are safe. " They say " We will

investigate the cause of this crash and determine how we can make flying

safer for all. " In the case of a child whose autism was caused by her

vaccines, why then do the CDC and AAP claim " This is an isolated incident. We

are sure that all vaccines are safe " ? These organizations should be saying

" We will investigate this case and the thousands of other similar cases to

determine how we can make vaccines safer for all. "

Until our government agencies stop lying to us about vaccine safety, my

family members will never receive another shot. In the meantime, I will be

spending all of my resources trying to treat my son's vaccine-induced

autism, and trying to prevent a similar tragedy from occurring in other

children.

Sincerely,

Sue Swanson

Brett's mom