WSJ - Politics in Autism

[Guest guest]

Politics of Autism

EDITORIAL:

See editorial below

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110004487

(Free Registration Required)

Another editorial was published in the Wall Street Journal entitled " The

Politics of Autism. " The WSJ has already posted an opinion about this with their

previous editorial " Where's My Flu Shot? " , why another one? I think that's

exactly what we need to know. Please fax or email the WSJ and send a copy of

your

letter for us to post in our Grassroots Center. See a step by step

rebuttal/response below.

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

It only takes 5 minutes to make a difference!

CONTACT INFO:

Letter to the Editor

EMAIL ADDRESS:

wsj.ltrs@...

FAX NUMBER:

212-416-2255

Here's a step by step rebuttal/response that may be helpful when writing to

the Wall Street Journal:

Points to make in any response to the WSJ editorial:

1. General points: Parents just want good and honest science; that is their

" passion " in the interest of their children and all children. It is ironic they

called their editorial " the politics of autism " when their approach is solely

political. WSJ Journal has a political and industry profit promoting agenda--

It is the Wall Street Journal that is politicizing this issue by:

a. repeatedly editorializing on it from one perspective without reporting the

facts in a balanced way

b. failing to rely on the science as the critical issue, but instead blasting

trial lawyers and misguided parents

c. the WSJ transparent agenda is to boost pharma profits--their cover is the

supposed shortage of vaccines--this has been exposed to be a ruse because the

flu vaccine shortage has nothing to do with thimerosal claims; this is also

illustrated by the recent Prevnar shortage that resulted from industry problems

wholly unrelated to liability or lawsuits; How exactly does " attention to

" that affliction " [autism] result in " unintended and dangerous consequence of

limiting vaccines for all children. "

2. Responsive points:

a. " Thimerosal never credibly linked to health problems "

Rebuttal: WSJ ignores thousands of articles in the scientific

literature--there are no studies showing the safety of thimerosal

b. " spat " " frightens parents " and discourages vaccination

Rebuttal: there is no evidence showing that vaccination rates have

decreased--the critics of thimerosal are not opposed to vaccination--Is the WSJ

opposed

to safety in vaccines? WSJ later says that thimerosal has been removed- so

then how does the claim regarding thimerosal discourage vaccination with

thimerosal free vaccines.

c. " lawyers are exploiting loopholes " in vaccine law

Rebuttal: the only " loophole " being exploited is the civil rights of children

to seek damages for injuries caused by large corporations

d. " Senators haven't yet honored their side of the deal " to air the issues.

Rebuttal: let's have a full and fair debate rather than ramming through

giveaways in the dead of night

3. Science: WSJ claims to rely on science that is " trumped " by lawyers, but

it distorts the science.

a. " study after study has shown there is simply no such link " :

Rebuttal: generally discredit the studies cited (some points listed

below--others well laid out in critiques on Safe Minds website) in the editorial

and to

criticize the WSJ for failing to mention studies that do support a link (they

conveniently left those out, e.g. Geier's studies, and many that show

neurotoxicity of mercury)

b. WSJ cites Pichichero " University of Rochester " study;

(1) Claims it compared the blood mercury levels of infants who received

vaccines with and without thimerosal-- simply not accurate

Rebuttal: A. mercury cannot be measured by blood level; B. study sample

tiny-40 some odd children; C. did not account for where the mercury went after

it

disappeared from the blood so rapidly; D. did not measure blood level early

enough and did not prove it was excreted--takes a lot longer than the study

protocol waited to excrete mercury by biliary transport, which is the way

mercury

is excreted

(2) WSJ relies on Baumann & study in Pediatrics:

Rebuttal: This was not new science but a review article only, see Mark

Blaxill's rebuttal to this --one major problem is that this article examined the

features of so called Classic autism

(3) Reliance on Denmark thimerosal studies; Madsen (Pediatrics) and Hviid

(NEJM) study:

Rebuttal: SafeMinds has pretty much responded to this and their points should

be utilized (e.g. data disappearance or manipulation; conflicts of interest;

rates in Denmark lower even now; vaccine administration different and fewer

number of vaccines in Denmark than in U.S. thus not comparable plus other

points;

c. Rise in Autism-WSJ ignores epidemiological studies

(1) " MR goes down as autism rates go up " argument-- Disability substitution

argument:

Rebuttal: What studies show that mental retardation declines as autism

increases? An article by Mark Blaxill, Walter Spitzer, and Baskin,

published

in JADD, clearly refuted this theory, so much so that Croen herself conceded in

a response letter to Mark's paper.

(2) " Keener parents seeking services "

Rebuttal: Similarly the MIND study said parents seeking a diagnosis to get

access to treatment was not a reason for the increase--there is no scientific

support for this WSJ allegation

d. WSJ says " Research is beginning to reveal autism's causes and signs "

(1) " Genetic Link "

-- " Studies have found that if one identical twin has autism the other has a

very high chance of having severe social impairment "

Rebuttal: how does WSJ Journal explain the fact that there is discordance in

rates of twins with autism--this strongly suggests there is a strong

environmental component and that genetics is not the " cause "

-- " Scientists are already focusing on a handful of genes that may play a

role "

Rebuttal: WSJ is overly simplistic and misleading in their speculatory

assertion about genetic science--scientists have claimed for years that they

have

found an autism gene--they have " isolated " it to 5, 10, or 20 genes and the

research is usually not verified or replicated. There is no dispute that

genetics

play a role--life is genetic--this has more to do with susceptibility rather

than cause.

(2) " Head size study "

--WSJ says small head size at birth plus a growth spurt prior to one year is

a warning size of autism

Rebuttal: Even Courchesne, the lead author of this study was quoted in the LA

Times that this theory is not incompatible with an environmental trigger to

autism

4. WSJ Journal says that parents, SafeMinds and Dan Burton are seeking

scapegoats:

Rebuttal: --We parents just want honest answers, honest and complete

scientific inquiry and, in the absence of studies showing that it is safe,

complete

removal of thimerosal from all vaccines. This is the responsible position rather

that the industry protectionism advocated by the WSJ.

5. WSJ says " vaccine makers stopped using thimerosal a few years ago "

Rebuttal: Still in flu, tetanus, and still on the shelves even now. 2003 PDR

still lists it as an ingredient in childhood vaccines.

6. WSJ says " Passion shouldn't be allowed to trump undeniable evidence and

damage childhood immunizations "

Rebuttal: there is no evidence of thimerosal safety; the only damage to

childhood immunizations is being done by the vaccine makers and the regulators

who

are acting irresponsibly in failing to properly test vaccine safety, and by

failing to remove a known neurotoxin from injectable vaccines.

7. Frist bill -- WSJ wants open debate on vaccine issue so that sufficient

vaccines can be manufactured

Rebuttal: Parents favor legislation that protects the health of children and

their civil rights. We reject legislation that allows unsafe vaccines to be

manufactured at the risk of the health of our children.

Sample Letter:

Regarding your December 29th article entitled, " The Politics of Autism, " the

author (whoever they are) fails to establish themselves as either an expert of

autism, parent of an autistic child, politician, or freelance copywriter

hired by a public relations firm on behalf of big-money drug companies. I'm also

wondering why this so-called " opinion " is being published by WSJ again when a

similar opinion was published two weeks ago?

To this writer, I am only going to make a few points (actual facts)...

First, I am a parent of an autistic child---and, yes, he was permanently

damaged by ethylmercury thimerosal, a compound used in vaccines and pregnancy

shots (as a sterilizing agent more than a preservative.)

Second, the NVICP doesn't work---it's a broken program. Don't believe me? Ask

a group of parents who have been through it. I personally wish to litigate

for the discovery phase, not the " money, " which seems to be brought up only by

the Bill Frist's of the world (Bill, refer to my advertisements addressed to

you in the Congress Daily issues last April---found another word for " frivolous "

yet?) Anyone who says we're all in this for monetary gain is just plain

ignorant.

Third, we've continued to ask for hearings---we've asked for a White House

Conference, we've all but invited the CDC over to our house to compare notes.

Has anyone ever agreed to any of these things? No. Maybe because the actual

unmanipulated science that rightfully fingers the rise in thimerosal as the

logical cause of the rise in autism would have to be publicly acknowledged.

People

like Dr. Vaerstraten who once wrote an e-mail to his colleagues

(recovered by the Freedom of Information Act) entitled " It just won't go away, "

would

actually have to contend with the fact that the connection won't go away

because the connection is real.

Last few points: the Denmark study...severely flawed. The CDC study...the

first one suggested a connection and was never published...this last

(manipulated) one suggested no connection and almost had neon lights attached to

it. My

child has never had an abnormal head circumference (come to think of it, I

haven't met anyone whose autistic child had this). The vaccine supply has

nothing

to do with any of this. Finally, Senators , Chaffe, and Snowe (along

with Dan Burton) stood up for our children's rights. Senator Frist tried to sell

them.

Anytime the other side wants to meet to debate the science, we're all

waiting...

Lori McIlwain

Not hired by a PR firm

EDITORIAL:

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110004487

(Free Registration Required)

REVIEW & OUTLOOK

The Politics of Autism

Lawsuits and emotion vs. science and childhood vaccines.

Monday, December 29, 2003 12:01 a.m.

For any parent, there are few more traumatic diagnoses than that a child

suffers from autism. But the increasing political attention to that affliction

is

having the unintended and dangerous consequence of limiting vaccines for all

children. This is a story of politics and lawyers trumping science and

medicine. It concerns thimerosal, a preservative that was used in vaccines for

60

years and has never been credibly linked to any health problems. Nonetheless, a

small but vocal group of parents have taken to claiming that thimerosal causes

autism, a brain disorder that impairs normal social interaction. The result has

been an ugly legal and political spat that has spilled into Congress and is

frightening some parents from vaccinating their children against such deadly

diseases as tetanus and whooping cough.

Like night follows day, the dispute has also brought in the trial lawyers.

Vaccine makers are supposed to be protected from lawsuits by 1986 legislation,

but the lawyers are exploiting loopholes to file billion-dollar suits that

threaten to punish the few companies that still make vaccines.

Congress tried to fix this by including a liability provision in homeland

security legislation a year ago. But three Northeast Republican

Senators--Olympia

Snowe, and Lincoln Chafee--demanded it be taken out until

Congress could have a full airing of the thimerosal-autism issue. The Senators

haven't yet honored their side of that deal.

Perhaps that's because if they did their position would be exposed as

scientifically untenable. The claim is that thimerosal, an organic mercury

compound,

can cause neurodevelopmental disorders. But study after study has shown that

there is simply no such link.

A 2002 University of Rochester study compared the blood mercury levels of

infants who'd received vaccines with and without thimerosal. All had levels well

below the super-cautious EPA safety standard. This was followed last March by

a study published in Pediatrics magazine, in which researchers compared the

physical manifestations of autism and mercury poisoning. They found that the

symptoms weren't the same, nor were the brain tissues similar.

Perhaps the best evidence comes from Denmark, one of those European nations

that likes to monitor most everything about its citizens. Researchers recently

examined the health records of all children born in Denmark from 1971 to 2000

for autism diagnoses. Though Denmark eliminated thimerosal from its vaccines

in 1992, the researchers found that the incidence of autism continued to

increase. A second research team reviewed the records of nearly 500,000 Danes

vaccinated for pertussis. They also found that the risk of autism and related

disorders didn't differ between those vaccinated with thimerosal and those

without.

None of this is to deny that the incidence of autism may be rising, though

there is a dispute about why. The definition of the disease has broadened in

recent years, encompassing even mild learning disabilities, and doctors have

become better at diagnosing it. Some statistics show that as autism diagnoses

rise, those for mental retardation fall--suggesting children were previously

misdiagnosed. Parents are also more keen to have a proper diagnosis, because

many

schools now offer more extensive educational services for autism than they do

for other disorders. The good news is that research is beginning to reveal

autism's causes and signs, in particular evidence of a genetic link. Studies

have

found that if one identical twin has autism the other has a very high chance

of having severe social impairment. Scientists are already focusing on a

handful of genes that may play a role.

In a important study this year, researchers found that a small head

circumference at birth, followed by a sudden growth spurt of the head before the

end of

the first year, is a reliable early warning sign. (Brain growth that early

can't be triggered by vaccines.)

Autism is a terrible disease and it's understandable that some parents would

want to look for scapegoats. One lobby group, Safe Minds, has been especially

active in blaming vaccines and has found a powerful ally in Indiana Republican

Dan Burton, who runs the House Wellness and Human Rights Subcommittee. His

family has had its own painful experience with autism.

But their understandable passion shouldn't be allowed to trump undeniable e

vidence and damage childhood immunizations that are essential to public health.

Vaccine makers stopped using thimerosal a few years ago, but the autism

lawsuits threaten those companies with enough damage that their ability to

supply

vaccines is in jeopardy.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has a proposal to offer liability

protection against thimerosal claims and modernize the federal Vaccine Injury

Compensation Program--which pays out to the rare family whose child is truly

harmed by

a vaccine. Congress could both redeem itself and improve public health by

making this bill a priority when it reconvenes in January.

Thanks everyone!

The NAA Team

National Autism Association

Phone: 877-NAA-AUTISM

Email: NAA@...

http://nationalautismassociation.org/