Statement from the National Autism Association in Support of Dr. Wakefield

I have done research and gone to seminars on mercury used as a preservative in vaccines and its’ potential link to autism.  The most interesting was the Toxicology Seminar in Montreal where doctors and epidemiologists  from all over the world congregated and many there questioned the wisdom of exposure of pregnant women, babies and children to mercury.  Only the representative from the United States was adamant about there being absolutely no connection to autism.  He was questioned as to the scientific validity of his research; the skepticism in that group of scientists was obvious.  I was first intrigued to study this when the American Academy of Pediatrics urged that the preservative (thimerosal) be removed from multi-dose vaccines given to babies for the prevention of childhood diseases.  Much later, they declaimed this by saying that they didn’t understand how harmless this form of mercury was.  However, regardless of the alarming rise in the rate of autism, none of the esteemed researchers at the CDC, AAP or NIH have proposed studying the many and varied ways that children are exposed to mercury and the potential for a cumulative and destructive dose.  Beginning as a fetus, when exposed to the mercury in the flu shot urged for all pregnant women as well as the mercury in the fish that we all eat; then the mercury in the Hepatitis B shot that babies get a few days after birth and then the mercury they are exposed to in the vaccines and the mercury that is used in the making of high fructose corn syrup.  The list goes on.  Perhaps, instead of being apologists for the pharmaceutical companies that all too often ghost write the “scientific articles” upon which they rely to determine safety, they should recall their first duty to the children and their parents of this country to protect them from potential harm.  Please read below for the reasoned response to the NBC coverage of this controversy.

**A.Jordan, RN - Legal Nurse Consultant

We thank NBC for covering the vaccine-autism controversy. First described in 1943, autism is now the fastest growing childhood developmental disorder, an epidemic that affects 1% of our children. Accurate and balanced reporting by Dateline will help get the science we need to prevent new cases and treat our children. On the other hand, presenting a message that “science” has already answered the vaccine-autism question, will do much harm. We must have the courage to conduct research which will identify and prevent vaccine-caused disease including autism. Failure to do so not only unnecessarily sacrifices children but puts at risk the benefits of vaccines.

We express our unwavering support for Dr. Wakefield and his courageous dedication and curiosity to find the cause of and treatments for autism. Dr. Wakefield has endured meritless attacks by powerful industry and government sources who seek to protect themselves by censoring science and silencing vaccine safety critics. He is an inspiration and a blessing to the many children and families affected by autism.

We call upon the media to report more fully, fairly, and honestly on the autism epidemic, its exploding costs to society, the daily struggles of families for adequate medical care and other much-needed services and supports, to critically examine the claims about vaccine safety made by those with financial and philosophical conflicts, and to recognize that parents who seek to prevent vaccine-caused disorders deserve at least as much respect, science, and medicine, as parents who are concerned about the spread of infectious disease. The media must help create a safe environment for scientists, doctors, and parents to question and criticize vaccine safety.

Continued public support for vaccines requires a transparent, independent, conflict-free “safety first” research agenda, beginning with a comprehensive research program in humans and animals to establish baseline health data for unvaccinated children and mechanisms of vaccine injury. The

government’s policies of blocking access to key safety data, epidemic denial, manufactured studies akin to the “junk science” once used to prove cigarettes don’t cause cancer, and “vaccines are safe” propaganda must stop. So too must the demonization of parents who seek safer vaccines. Parents and physicians who question vaccine safety are often labeled as “anti-vaccine” when in reality they are simply advocating for a vaccine program that puts the safety of our children first.

Most media coverage on the vaccine-autism link has been biased with claims that “science” has demonstrated no link between vaccines and autism despite that fact that our Vaccine Court has ruled in cases since 1991 and the government has conceded an unknown number of secret settlements that vaccines can cause autism. These inaccurate claims are often made by those with vested and seldom disclosed interests in protecting the vaccine schedule from meaningful scientific scrutiny. The autism community is not alone in raising concerns about vaccine safety. More and more scientists and public figures are calling for a radically redesigned vaccine safety system. Continued bias in reporting on vaccine safety issues is likely to fuel growing distrust of the vaccine program especially since vaccine-caused disorders now far exceed the incidence of vaccine-preventable disease. The media have an ethical obligation to inform the public on what we know and don’t know about vaccine safety, so that they can in turn exercise informed choice and demand of government and industry the safest possible vaccine schedule.

Reporting on the potential for bias is appropriate but scrutiny must be both thorough and even-handed. Dr. Offit’s “counter argument,” for example, must be accompanied by disclosure of his tens of millions in profit from Merck sales of his rotavirus vaccine, which could be put at risk by adequate safety research, and his profit from a book critical of parents, scientists, and doctors who see vaccines as a potential cause of autism and who are struggling to find effective treatments.

Dr. Offit predictably refers to studies conducted abroad which somehow exonerate vaccines from harming children in this country. Science does not speak with a single voice or with papal infallibility. These foreign studies reflect vaccine schedules and formulations quite different from this country. All of his “studies” have serious methodological flaws and none ask the right question, comparing the health of fully vaccinated with unvaccinated children.

We call upon our government to stop denying the existence of this epidemic and to declare autism the national health emergency that it is. Sufficient resources must be made available to identify the causes of autism so that new cases can be prevented and existing cases treated expeditiously. We call upon the government to implement the Congressional Mandate for Safer Childhood Vaccines by taking all necessary steps to reduce vaccine-caused disease and death. This includes research on unvaccinated children and mechanisms of vaccine injury, reformulation of existing vaccines to eliminate neurotoxins such as mercury and aluminum, and warnings that pregnant women and infants should never take vaccines containing mercury.

The aggressive CDC-recommended vaccine schedule has NEVER been tested for chronic, vaccine-caused injury and cumulative safety despite its rapid expansion over the past two decades. This controversy will continue until appropriate safety studies are done and we are able to finally answer the question of whether or not we are exchanging potential immunity from infectious disease for lifelong chronic and debilitating illness.

Think Autism. Think Cure. ^®