Filipek & Freund

[Guest guest]

My frustration continues to grow in response to the quoted statements of the

NIH's Freund and UCirvine's ine Filipek regarding mercury and

thimerosal (1,2). That each presumed autism-expert provided false information

to ABC News has two significances.

A. Freund's and Filipek's false information was deliberate, in which case the

giving of that information constituted deliberate fraud, or:

B. Fruend or Filipek or both offered false information because of unfamiliarity

with thimerosal use and unfamiliarity with mercury literature and autism

epidemiology in Japan (2, 3).

If A is true for either physician, the she should no longer receive NIH grants

and should lose her license to practice medicine.

If B is true for either physician, then that physician ought have her

grants-projects halted or transferred to other researchers and ought have her

medical license suspended for at least two years, during which time she

re-studies and is tested for mastery of medical literature regarding mercury

toxicity and epidemiology.

Furthermore, Freund and Filipek each ought write to ABC News and retract their

erroneous information. In the absence of such request for corrections, Freund's

and Filipek's motives appear to be in category A hereinabove.

Parents and others ought write not only to Dan Burton (c/o Beth Clay

<Beth.Clay@...>) but ought write to other Senators and

Congresspersons (eg, from your home district). Individuals such as Freund and

Filipek rank high within the NIH and within a major university's medical school.

Such individuals ought not distribute false information knowingly and ought

correct such false information as has already been distributed. If the heads of

UCirvine, the NICHD, and NIH do nothing to correct the misinformation

distributed by Freund and Filipek, then a Congressional inquiry is warranted.

Binstock

Researcher in Developmental & Behavioral Neuroanatomy

Letters to Senators and Congresspeople can be cced to:

(director of NICHD)

Duane <alexandd@...>

(director of NIH)

" Elias Zerhouni, M.D. " <zerhoune@...>

" Freund, M.D. " <freundl@...>

(Chancellor for UCirvine)

" Ralph J. Cicerone " <chancellor@...>

(Department head at UCirvine med)

" Feizal Waffarn, M.D. " <fwaffarn@...>

(another department head at UCirvine med)

" Ira T. Lott, M.D. " <itlott@...>

" ine Filipek, M.D. " <filipek@...>

References:

1. http://abcnews.go.com/sections/living/DailyNews/autismWNT020801.html

No Easy Autism Answers

Treatments of the Disorder Raise More Questions

Aug. 1...

Mercury Myth

Mercury, which has been known to cause neurological defects, particularly if

exposure occurs in utero, is at the center of another controversial theory.

Some parents feared that the mercury in vaccines might cause autism, but

scientists say there is actually very little or no mercury in vaccines these

days.

" Vaccines have not had mercury in them for years, " says Freund. " And if that

had a direct impact, we would probably have seen a decrease in a reporting of

the disorder, and that has not occurred. However, it would be important to know

the symptoms of children who did receive this and have the disorder. It could be

that some children, because of a genetic predisposition, have a vulnerability

to low doses of mercury, which results in something along the autism spectrum. "

Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta are now planning to

conduct research revolving around mercury.

Dr. ine A. Filipek, director of the Departments of Pediatrics & Neurology

at the University of California-Irvine College of Medicine, says if mercury were

the culprit, statistics would have pointed to the association earlier.

" There would be a much higher prevalence in countries that consume fish [which

can have a higher mercury content] as a major staple to their diet, like Japan, "

she says, but notes " the prevalence is the same there as it is in the U.S. "

Cautious Approach

There is also disagreement about how best to help autistic children

Some parents use a variety of treatments. More than half try alternative

methods such as special diets, nutritional supplements, even medications to

remove mercury from a child's body.

Cyndi Green and her husband, , tried a variety of treatments for their son,

but taking off milk helped the most.

" The result was nothing short of spectacular. Within two to three days

started to actually speak again, which we hadn't heard in a long time, " says

Greene.

Minshew advises parents to approach alternative treatments with caution.

" There's always a miracle story like that going around, " she says. " The problem

is that we have a disorder where we have some treatments that are effective, but

not in all children and not to the extent that we want them to be. "

She adds: " It is important to keep in mind that there is no cure. Parents have

to put their foot down, because they're so vulnerable, and say, 'Give me some

proof before I put my heart on the line and put my child through this.' These

children don't like change. "

2. Eg, Mark Blaxill's letters to Freund & Filipek.

3. http://www.house.gov/burton/pr102600.htm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 26, 2000

CONTACT: Cardarelli 202-225-2276

Chairman Burton Requests Vaccine Recall

Washington, DC - In an October 25, 2000 letter to HHS Secretary Donna

Shalala, Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN), Chairman of the House

Committee on Government Reform, requested a recall of all vaccines

containing Thimerosal. The mercury-based product Thimerosal is added

to vaccines as a preservative.

On July 18, 2000 the Committee conducted a hearing entitled, " Mercury

in Medicine: Are We Taking Unnecessary Risks? " During the hearing,

the FDA admitted that children are being exposed to unsafe levels of

mercury through vaccines containing Thimerosal. It was also

determined that symptoms of mercury poisoning mimic symptoms of

autism -- a disease that has reached epidemic levels in the United

States. However, the FDA has chosen to allow pharmaceutical companies

to merely phase out their use of Thimerosal, leaving mercury-

containing vaccines at public and private health facilities.

In his letter to Secretary Shalala, Chairman Burton stated:

" We all know and accept that mercury is a neurotoxin, and yet the FDA

has failed to recall the 50 vaccines that contain Thimerosal...On

their own website, the FDA states, `lead, cadmium, and mercury are

examples of elements that are toxic when present at relatively low

levels'…