Fighting the Autism-Vaccine War

Uh oh.

Uh oh. Dr. Paul Offit on line 1.

Thanks for your open mind. Like many parents of a child with autism who exhibit dramatic regression in development coincidental with immunization, I am not anti- vaccine. Rather, I continue to support independent research into the possibility that for some subtypes in this spectrum disorder, the currently recommended schedule may be too much of a good thing, too soon, and in too strong (due to vaccine interference), multiple, preserved delivery. The IOM and CDC were dismissive in 2004 (and continue to be) without first doing the work that many investigators, including their own, were saying needed to be done. That enraged many in the autism community and called the IOM and CDC's objectivity into question.

The best solution is to do the research. The best way to restore confidence is to ensure that the vaccine safety and promotion mandates of the CDC and closely linked IOM are truly separated.

Tone of article

This is an editorial not an article.

Fighting the Autism-Vaccine War

Thank US News for a balanced and reasonable discussion.

As a parent of a child who regressed after receiving 4 shots, it's good to see another media outlet not just toe-the-line with the "sacred medical dogma".

Something with or in the vaccines is causing a problem in some children. This issue needs to be addressed rather than the stick our heads in the sand approach taken by the CDC and FDA.

We need a SAFE program that benefits all children rather than a one size fits all approach.

We also need open and proper scientific testing of a vaccinated vs unvaccinated population to determine what the safety issues are rather than just best-guessing or presupposing them based on theorectical models or easily manipulated epidemiological studies.

Fighting the autism/vaccine war.

>Without laying blame, the independent Office of Special Masters of the Court of Federal Claims—with a 20-year record of handling vaccine matters—recently conceded that the brain damage and autistic behavior of Hannah Poling stemmed from her exposure as a toddler to five vaccinations on one day in July 2000<

Why are they not laying blame? Somebody made these vaccines. Somebody approved these vaccines. In the beginning, somebody made a stupid mistake and maybe it’s stupid to blame somebody for their stupidity, but those days are long gone. Somebody choose to sweep the truth about this under the rug, and a lot of people are complicit in helping them.

Perhaps if there were some attempt to hold the people accountable responsible, there would be a stop put to the destruction, which continues to this day, of innocent lives.

Oh and by the way, Hannah did not just have ‘autistic behavior’. She had autism. She was, according to Dr. Poling, diagnosed with autism by a doctor. This is what happens when a child has sufficient autistic behaviors—they are diagnosed with autism. Why do public health officials keep insisting on referring to what happened to her as anything other than autism?

> Even though autism has a strong genetic basis, and she has a coexisting rare mitochondrial disorder, I would not be too quick to dismiss Hannah as an anomaly<.

I am really getting sick of the use of the words ‘pre-existing’, and ‘coexisting’ and ‘underlying’ used to describe her mitochondrial dysfunction. There is no evidence that I’m aware of that the mitochondrial dysfunction wasn’t caused by the vaccines. Dr. Poling himself has said that it’s a possibility. Google ‘mercury+mitochondria’ and you’ll find studies galore which show that mercury can damage mitochondria.

>There is no evidence that removal of thimerosal from vaccines has lowered autism rates.<

That’s because it hasn’t been removed. American children are still being poisoned through the flu shots they now receive while in utero and as babies and children. If there were any real journalists anymore, they would know this and wouldn’t just keep on regurgitating what the CDC and their cronies are telling Americans. And they wouldn’t allow you, Dr. Healy, to do so either.

Great Article

Thank you for posting this article. You ask the right questions instead of encouraging the sheep to follow the heard.

Autism

Thank you, I also am greatful for the vaccine court. There is another subset of what is diagnosed as autism caused by the mutated sperm of an older father. There are many studies that support this cause of non-familial hschizophrenia and also of autism. There is a study showing that men with familial autism do not have later paternal age. Think how much suffering could be avoided if men and women knew it was biologically import for men to father babies before the age of 34 and preferably in ones 20s for the genetic health of the offspring and futurre generations. The male biological clock exists for genetic disorders not in the parent.

The IOM and acceptable losses.

"The IOM concluded that efforts to find a link between vaccines and autism "must be balanced against the broader benefit of the current vaccine program for all children."

Translation: 1:150 children with autism is an acceptable casualty to making sure all children are vaccinated. Let's not worry about who is going to react negatively and let's not help parents to know if their children are going to be a statistic. Let's instead continue the charade that all children are safe and not worry about the fact that we've said there are going to be acceptable losses actually be the reason why people stop vaccinating their kids.

They are perpetuating their own fear. Because they won't do any real studies, people are turning away. The studies they cite now are so poorly done and references to them are manipulated to sound wonderfully conclusive when they are just the opposite. The Poling case has made sure that everyone now knows that yes, it can happen and if it can happen to a neurologist and a nurse, it can happen to you. It's indiscriminate. People want (reliable) answers and until they get them, I suspect we'll see more and more people foregoing vaccines. And who can blame them with a statement from the IOM like the above?

"The official death toll in 1987 for measles was 6, which on the Currie figure of 47,000 cases gives a death rate of just over 1 in 8,000." [BMJ 2005 John Stone. Measles risk]

Which would you pick, 1:150 get autism or 1:8000 die from the measles? I'll take my chances with the measles.

I agree wholeheartedly, thank goodness for the vaccine court.

Thank You

Dear Dr. Healy:

Thank you for your thoughtful article. I have covered the autism omnibus hearing through 4,665 pages and have come away believing that the vaccine-autism believers (myself included) have an extremely persuasive case. Like you, I believe any open-minded person who delves into this subject will quickly find more questions than answers to what has happened to our children.

All the best,

Kent Heckenlively, Esq.

Lega Editor, Age of Autism

Healy

Dr. Healy mischaracterizes the conclusions of the IOM report. It discouraged further investment in research efforts to a possible link between vaccines and autism because the data it considered clearly showed no link, meaning that futher research would be throwing good money after bad. It did not insinuate that such studies needed to be curtailed because a positive finding would undercut the benefits of the vaccine program. Regardless of the IOM, research has continued, and continued to find, at a fairly granular level, that MMR and thimerosal in vaccines are not responsible for an increase in autism diagnoses. The Poling case demonstrates that there continue to be occasional cases of autism with a plausible link to vaccines (a review of the vaccine court's record finds about nine similar cases over the past two decades). The case was conceded on the basis that a vaccine encephalopathy, probably linked to fever, combined with an underlying genetic disorder in such a way as to cause autistic symptoms. Much remains unclear about this case, and the issues it raises are complex, but they don't really fit into the scenario of a massive increase in autism caused by vaccines.

Sacred Dogma

At this point, the vaccine-causation theory has reached the status of "sacred dogma". No matter what studies come forward, if they don't support the theory they are violently rejected. People who would challenge the idea of vaccine causation are targeted for smear campaigns, as happened after a recent TV talk show on the subject.

The debate "rolls on", as you say. But your paragraph would indicate that there is no research ongoing after the IOM 2004 report. Major studies have been performed and are ongoing. One study released in the last six months demonstrated that one study you apparantly reference (Hornig et al. "Studies in mice suggest that genetic variation influences brain sensitivity to the toxic effects of mercury") is not reproduced. Another major study on neurological disorders and thimerosal was published last year, with the sister study concentrating on autism due out this year.

Thank goodness for the vaccine court. Also, thank goodness for the researchers who are brave enough to research the question. Given that an honest researcher has to admit at the outset that there is a possiblity (likely a strong possibility) that the vaccine-causation theory is wrong, and the fact that such a pronouncement will incite strong reactions from 'activist' groups, we are lucky that anyone will take on the task.

Thank-you

Dr. Healy,

Thank-you so much for providing a balanced view of the Vaccine-Autism controversy. It's an incredible step forward to hear the voice of reason from a top US doctor like yourself. Hopefully our daughter's case will lead to both a better understanding of mitochondrial dysfunction as it relates to autism and encourage public health officials to make the national vaccine program even safer than it has been. If this all can happen, Hannah's sacrifice as a soldier in the 'war on disease' will not be for naught.

Sincerely,

Jon Poling

Autism-Vaccine Wars

Thanks for having the courage to write this article and to publish it with the vaccine trials scheduled to start so soon, in mid-May. My grandson, Willy, is next in line -- right behind Hannah.

Let's hope the Vaccine Court really does provide our injured children and families with a fair hearing in an open court -- they certainly deserve it, after years of suffering.

Fighting The Autism-Vaccine War

Dr. Healy,

I am thanking you for your well written article, because my son can not. He regressed after his 1 1/2 year shots. He was born almost 10 pounds, never sick, never any antibiotics, but vaccined on time. He lost his words, started acting strange, developed a sort of frozen face, mitochondria damage ( which I am told is common with vaccine injury), etc. He is one of the 4900 cases to be heard in the vaccine court. I am looking forward for my son's "voice" to be heard in court.

A couple thoughts

Dr. Healy,

It's just too nutty for the media to continue to report that all the ethylmercury is out of infant and toddler vaccines.

Thimerosal was put back in thanks to a 2005 Flu shot bill sponsored by Sen. Hillary Clinton. The price tag for the American tax payer was $200,000,000.00 and meant, that for the first time ever, not only infants and toddlers were to be Influenza vaccinated, but pregnant mothers would as well. First time recipients among the very young got two.

Is it coincidence Ms. Clinton's 2005 bill expressed no preference for Thimerosal-free jabs? Perhaps not, as we all recall that as first lady, in 1993 Ms. Clinton, Every Child by Two, and the Children's Defense Fund pushed for multiple doses of vaccines that contained Thimerosal.

As the national vaccination rates among infants and toddlers sky-rocketed, nearly reaching the success of Ms. Clinton's previous Arkansas campaign, so did cases of a rare neurological disorder called Autism.

Today, we are coining new terms such as mackeralmercurialism and fishmonger. What we are missing, of course, is poisoning children with mercury-laced vaccines is wrong. So why are pediatricians still doing it, and telling America that they aren't?

It certainly appears as though the Poling's, both medical professionals, got their hands caught in the cookie jar. The concession made on a published study of a single child (the author's own daughter)? And the science is now completely off-limits.

Nutty stuff, indeed.

Testing, treatment, and vaccine exclusion without bullying

We all must deal with the paradox that a product intended to improve health is having the opposite effect for a subset of children.

We don't force peanuts on all children; some will need exclusion from vaccinations. It's way past time to use vaccine revenues to develop tests to determine which genetic subsets are vulnerable to vaccine injury.

Parents on listservs have reported disorders in common such as Parkinson's, MS, and tested themselves for mercury toxicity. Mitochondrial dysfunction can be detected through Organic Acid Tests (OAT) looking for high lactic acid, high ammonia, and low carnitine levels.

Strip away the emotion surrounding vaccines and you see a basic marketing failure: The customer comes first. The customer is always right. You can get better service anywhere than from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, with its hit-and-run, one-size-fits-all protocol.

Tragically our public health administrators provide NO medical treatment for vaccine-injured children despite thousands of cases reported to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System... which is estimated at 10% of actual cases.

The corporate mainstream media has failed to cover the vaccine injury issue, caving to advertising pressure and fearmongering. Too many reporters buy into the "anti-vaccine" canard, which is akin to calling Meryl Streep "anti-apple."

Thanks to inaction and apathy, the "autism" rate has increased so much that almost everyone knows an affected child. How sad that even the neurologist and ICU nurse/attorney parents are disbelieved, as other parents have been for decades.

How many more children must be injured by vaccines before doctors finally make time to read more than bullet points from the CDC?

Genetic Link???

In the first paragraph of this article Dr. Healy states that autism has a stong genetic basis. On what is this claim based? As far as I have heard the powers that be and/or the scientists have always said that they did not know what caused autism. I am unaware of any study that purports there to be a genetic link. I have met many people with autistic children. They were not autistic.

When can we call Autism by its correct name?

First and foremost, thank you for helping the truth to come forward. The next step is to begin to call what affected children have by a more appropriate name so they can receive the correct interventions and treatment, as well as helping other children avoid the cause. This neuroimmune disorder the causes this mitochondrial dysfunction is triggered by environmental poisons, such as heavy metals, pesticides, etc. Yes, children become vaccine intolerant regardless of what is in those vaccines. If the vaccine have mercury it is all the worse. It is time to dump the word Autism and all the denial and propaganda surrounding it. The clock is ticking fast and affected children need to be treated. Let's make that the first priority because there is treatment for affected children when we call what they have by a more appropriate diagnosis. It is time to stop poisoning the world's children with dirty vaccine for greed and hubris.

Autism

Thermerisol isn't the only toxin in the vaccines. I appreciate the article. But until the vaccines are totally cleaned up (free of any toxins) and the schedule reduced autism will be around for a lot longer. Don;t vaccinate infants. My older sons should have autism not my last daughter. They were born in the lead paint and leaded gas era. But they only received 7 vaccines and not as infants. Since I was not and am not a doctor I allowed my daughter to be vaccinated in the name of good health. Just to find out what happened to her. I thank the Defeat Autism Now doctors and the late Dr. Bernard Rimland for all there progress. My daughter is recovering. age 13 Never Give up. Put your trust in God.

Dr. Healy's article

As a mainstream pediatrician who was taught that the most important clinical skill was to take a good history (which in pediatrics means listening carefully to the parents), I have been distressed at how many parents have been dismissed when they told their doctors that their children's medical problems and/or autistic symptoms seemed to be correlated with vaccines.

We all have much work to do in this arena. I applaud Dr. Healy for pointing out that medicine has always advanced by those who dare to question dogma.

Elizabeth Mumper, MD

Medical Director, Autism Research Institute

thimerosal/vaccines

A simple search of the FDA website: http://www.fda.gov/cber/vaccine/thimerosal.htm#t1 will reveal that the flu shot, the meningitis shot, the diphtheria shot, and the tetanus shot routinely contain mercury. It is tragic that the media is so incompetent that they don't even do the most basic investigative journalism. I shudder to think of all the children and pregnant women receiving these mercury containing shots. I try to warn every mom I can about this.

I'm a mom of a vaccine injured child. My son is also one of the 4900 cases coming before the vaccine court. I pray that the vaccine court does its job and helps us to receive financial compensation. Dealing with this disorder has been extremely expensive. I spent 50,000 on my little one's kindergarten, for example, since the NYC public school system is doing an appalling job of addressing the educational needs of children with autism. But even more devastating has been the realization that my little one will never grow up to be the man he was born to be.

The IOM, incidentally, has finally, with glacial slowness, begun turning in the direction of acknowledging the role of environmental factors in autism, including vaccines and preservatives (thimerosal). A 2007 two day IOM workshop, entitled "Autism and the Environment," brought together leading researchers on autism. A National Autism Association press release, October 29, 2007, states: "Dr. William Raub, Science Advisor to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt, expressed his hopes that the workshop would prove to be an important milestone in autism research. He stated: 'The planning committee recognized that vaccine constituents, especially organic chemicals used as preservatives or adjuvants, obviously qualify as environmental agents that warrant attention. . . . . Other aspects of the autism challenge deserve similar attention, especially the paucity of effective treatments.'" The IOM is therefore, HOPEFULLY, FINALLY, realizing the necessity to recognize the thousands of scientific, peer-reviewed studies supporting the extreme neurotoxicity of mercury and the relationship between mercury exposure and neurological injury. The following link provides a copious amount of research: http://www.generationrescue.org/studies.html

But an even quicker way to understand the toxicity of thimerosal is to go to the following link where you will find at the bottom of the article a picture of a vial of thimerosal with a skull and crossbones on it (deadly poison). http://www.putchildrenfirst.org/flu.html

It isn't hard to understand why the CDC, the FDA, the IOM are trying to cover their collective asses since they were so negligent as to allow the vaccine program to become so excessive, the mercury burden injected into our barely born and not yet born to grow so devastatingly high, so tragically for so many children like mine.

I am also thankful for the vaccine court, and hope and pray that they will do this right, and help to shed light on this terrible tragedy!!!!!

Mercury is STILL in vaccines

The article says: "There is no evidence that removal of thimerosal from vaccines has lowered autism rates."

Many people think that thimerosal (mercury) is no longer used in vaccines. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says that you are mistaken.

This is from a CDC site that lists the ingredients in vaccines. It lists the vaccines that STILL CONTAIN THIMEROSAL. They are still on the 2008 schedule of recommended vaccinations.

Vaccine When it is recommended by CDC

DTaP, DTaP-Hib 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 4-6 years

Hepatitis B Birth, 1 month,2 months, 6 months 12 months, 15 months, 18 months

Hib (Haemophilus influenza type b) 2 months, 4 months, 6 months,

DT; - diphtheria tetanus - 0.3 mcg - 2, 4, 6 & 15 months for those who cannot take pertussis portion of DTaP

Td; - trade name Decavac 0.3 mcg - 7 years or older

Td; - tetanus diptheria - 8.3 mcg 7 years or older

TT; - tetanus toxoid - 25 mcg 6 weeks of age ond older

HBV; - trade name Energix B - 0.5 mcg (availble Jan 2008 hg free, but trace stocks still on shelves and available for sale) - BIRTH and on

Flu; - trade name FLuzone 25 mcg - 6 to 36 months

Flu; trade name Fluvirin 25 mcg 4 years and older

Flu ; trand name Fluvirin 1 mcg 4 years and older

Meningococcal; trade name Menomune 25 mcg 2 years and older

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-1.pdf

2008 recommended schedule (Source: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/downloads/child/2008/08_0-6yrs_schedule_pr.pdf)

How much mercury do vaccines have?

0.5 parts per billion (ppb) mercury Kills human neuroblastoma cells (Parran et al., Toxicol Sci 2005; 86: 132-140).

2 ppb mercury U.S. EPA limit for drinking water (http://www.epa.gov/safewater/contaminants/index.html#inorganic )

20 ppb mercury Neurite membrane structure destroyed (Watch a video of what happens inside a child's brain with this concentration of mercury) (Leong et al., Neuroreport 2001; 12: 733-37).

200 ppb mercury level in liquid the EPA classifies as hazardous waste http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/mercury/regs.htm#hazwaste

25,000 ppb mercury

Concentration of mercury in the Hepatitis B vaccine, administered at birth in the U.S., from 1990-2001.

50,000 ppb mercury Concentration of mercury in multi-dose DTaP and Haemophilus B vaccine vials, administered 4 times each in the 1990's to children at 2, 4, 6, 12 and 18 months of age. Current "preservative" level mercury in multi-dose flu (94% of supply), meningococcal and tetanus (7 and older) vaccines. This can be confirmed by simply analyzing the multi- dose vials.

vaccine wars

Welcome Bernadine Healy M.D. to the surreal world where parents are told that vaccine injury is an acceptable loss in the battle with disease. Well our kids are not soldiers lost in battle in a volunteer army. They are babies being held down and poisoned by doctors without proper informed consent being given to the parent and were angry about it-understand? Please join us in stopping this barbaric practice. If enough doctors stand up children can be saved. It's time for doctors and our government to worry less about face saving and reputation and the almighty dollar and start worrying more about their patients and people. Parents, not Pediatricians, were and are the driving force behind the attempt at thimerosol removal from vaccines. Pediatricians have been eerily silent during this debacle and deserve little credit. You are misinformed when you say thimerosol has been removed. The science is there doctor. You should be talking to toxicologists. Vaccines definitely cause developmental disabilities in children. Do your homework, get of the fence and together we can fix this mess and end this farce.

Vaccine-autism hypothesis lacking in evidence

Dr. Healy,

As a physician and scientist, I think you will find that a review of peer-reviewed scientific research pretty clearly demonstrates the lack of a direct link between thimerasol (the mercury-based component of vaccines) and autism. As you may know, autism is a clinical syndrome with a number of known and potential causes, but vaccines do not appear to have a direct causative effect, given the research that's been done. Hannah Poling's case involved the specific issue of mitochondrial disease and the adverse effects of her febrile response to vaccination, effects that may have been worse with any serious infectious disease process.

There was no concern about the "lunacy of injecting mercury into little kids through mandated vaccines that together exceeded mercury safety guidelines designed for adults," playing in to the public health system's recommendation that thimerosal be removed from vaccines. The theoretical risk had been raised, but subsequent studies have demonstrated there to be no causative relationship between thimerosal and autism. Unfortunately, what doctors were left with was a decision that left the public with the impression that thimerasol-containing vaccines were to blame for causing the "autism epidemic".

Please study the science and the evidence base that exists and reconsider the theme and conclusions of your column.

MISSING INFORMATION

The exact nature of the girl's mitochondria abnomality has not been revealed to the public, but it is possible that the autism-like reaction triggered by the vaccinations could also have been triggered by other things as well, such as a case of the flu.

Autism and Sleep Position

What about the BTS Vaccine?

The U.S. started innoculating 13% of children in the U.S. with the

BTS vaccine in 1992 and then ramped it up to 65% in 1999 and up to 76% in

2006? Why isn't this vaccine being investigated?

Infants who received the BTS Vaccine compared to infants who

didn't received the BTS Vaccine have the following side effects:

- statistically significant social skills delays at 6 months

- statistically significant motor skills delays at 6 months

- decreased sleep duration by 6%-8% during the first 6 months of life

- increased rates of sleep apnea (lack of oxygen to the brain)

Why isn’t the BTS Vaccine investigated?

Actually, there is not BTS Vaccine or BTS Drug. What I am actually

referring to is the negative effects reported in Peer Reviewed Journals

(cited in the articles below) which are associated with the SIDS

Prevention “Back to Sleep” Campaign. Never mind, if a vaccine, a drug,

or a medical procedure causes those symptoms we should investigate. But,

we can't investigate infant sleep position because that's politically

incorrect. Just keep on putting these defenseless infants on their backs

and keep on investigating that vaccine autism link. To me, the SIDS

prevention "Back to Sleep" campaign is simply state sponsored

child abuse.

Test Your Knowledge

The following symptoms are used to diagnose what

disorder?

Symptoms: seizures, loss of skills, gi tract problems,

developmental delay, neuropathy, muscle weakness,

endocrine imbalances, hearing and vision problems.

a) Autism

b) PDD-NOS

c) Epilepsy

d) Mitochondrial disease

answer: d

source: Mitochondrial disease criteria, diagnostic

applications in children. Neurology 2006;67:1823-1826

Intersting. My child, diagnosed as autistic, had every one of these symptoms.

This statement --

"Pediatricians were concerned enough about mercury, which is known to cause neurological damage in developing infant and fetal brains, that they mobilized to have thimerosal removed from childhood vaccines by 2002."

is ludicrous. The only reason mercury was FINALLY (mostly) removed was the pressure brought to bear by parents.

There are still plenty of pediatricians who think mercury in vaccines is just fine. Many, many pediatricians think this. They 'fire' patients who want their infants' & kids' shots spaced out.

Bah on giving credit to 'pediatricians' for removing thimerosal. Bah.

spiritual component

Not to call the elephant in the room by a different name, but

it seems clear that humanity will be easier controlled and

spiritually deadened by the obvious and persistent attacks on

its young perpetrated by these kinds of policies, to say nothing about

the media "entertainment" and obvious nutritional deficiencies of our

food supply. Perfect storm or planned obsolescence?

There isnt much ambiguity here: duh, mercury

in fish is harmful. mercury in vaccines in not

neccessary and...harmful too!

Enviromentally induced mito-disorder is not rare

There are many published studies validating that Mercury/thimerosal has a deleting effect on mitochondria. According to the United Mitochondrial Foundation a child under ten is diagnosed every 15 minutes. 20% of Autistic children have diagnosed mito-disorder. Hardly rare.

When will we stop blaming TV and old dads for Autism!

Thimerosal is a dangerous neuro-toxin it has no place in infant vaccines.

Our damaged children will require lifetime care that most of us are providing out of pocket, while the government insults us with this spin.

Most of the their spokespeople like Dr. Paul Offit and Dr. Peter Hotez have vested interest and financial ties with pharmaceuticals. Yet they swear Mercury is safe.

All the while the epidemic rages on.

Enough!

Anyone who has had their life destroyed by regressive Autism can tell you we would not put our worst enemy through it.

My child was sick,non-verbal, screaming in pain, would run off an nearly drown, refused to eat food and smeared fecal matter.

By some miracle we found ARI,NAA,SAFEMINDS and Generation Rescue.

After 5 years of removing the Mercury a beautiful verbal boy has emerged pain free.

It's balanced reports like this that will bring progress.

Michelle L. Humphreya, Marsha P. Coleb, James C. Pendergrassc and Kinsley K. Kininghama, Corresponding Author Contact Information, E-mail The Corresponding Author

aDepartment of Pharmacology, Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, Marshall University, 1542 Spring Valley Drive, Huntington, WV 25704-9388, USA

bGraduate Center for Toxicology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA

cAffinity Labeling Technologies, Inc., Lexington, KY 40508, USA

Received 6 December 2004; accepted 25 February 2005. Available online 24 May 2005.

Abstract

Environmental exposure to mercurials continues to be a public health issue due to their deleterious effects on immune, renal and neurological function. Recently the safety of thimerosal, an ethyl mercury-containing preservative used in vaccines, has been questioned due to exposure of infants during immunization. Mercurials have been reported to cause apoptosis in cultured neurons; however, the signaling pathways resulting in cell death have not been well characterized. Therefore, the objective of this study was to identify the mode of cell death in an in vitro model of thimerosal-induced neurotoxicity, and more specifically, to elucidate signaling pathways which might serve as pharmacological targets. Within 2 h of thimerosal exposure (5 μM) to the human neuroblastoma cell line, SK-N-SH, morphological changes, including membrane alterations and cell shrinkage, were observed. Cell viability, assessed by measurement of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity in the medium, as well as the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, showed a time- and concentration-dependent decrease in cell survival upon thimerosal exposure. In cells treated for 24 h with thimerosal, fluorescence microscopy indicated cells undergoing both apoptosis and oncosis/necrosis. To identify the apoptotic pathway associated with thimerosal-mediated cell death, we first evaluated the mitochondrial cascade, as both inorganic and organic mercurials have been reported to accumulate in the organelle. Cytochrome c was shown to leak from the mitochondria, followed by caspase 9 cleavage within 8 h of treatment. In addition, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) was cleaved to form a 85 kDa fragment following maximal caspase 3 activation at 24 h. Taken together these findings suggest deleterious effects on the cytoarchitecture by thimerosal and initiation of mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis.

Keywords: Mercury; Thimerosal; Mitochondria; Neurotoxicity

Who was this written for?

Did you write your "editorial" for MDs (Medicinae Doctor meaning "Teacher of Medicine") or for all the American Public?

If it was written for the former, MDs, as you said, "At the risk of incurring the wrath of some of my dearest colleagues", please do us a favor and park your job security fear in the first sentence. MDs already know your content. They are just unable to admit it in our existing medical industry.

If it was written for the latter, the American public, as you said, "Medicine has moved ahead only because doctors, researchers, and yes, families, have openly challenged even the most sacred medical dogma.", please correct your statement. "Medicine" has not moved ahead. It is stuck in it's own rhetoric. Families know it, too. They have moved to use alternative remedies that CAN be given to a 2YO. Medicinal Doctors have no approved prescriptions for a 2YO Autistic. Autism families feel there is nothing MDs can "teach" us anymore. They are a shame to their profession. Ask yourself why, you, Dr Healy, didn't mention this, and we find ourselves back at my former point -fear of job secirity. Ugh.

I'll refer to the editorial as USNs effort to convince MDs of something.

As to what that might be - welp . . . ,

I'm looking forward to USN selling more than recycled editorial fear.

~zeph

If some of you are under the misguided impression that our damaged kids are the result of genetic "differences" heretofore never having appeared as autism in multiple generations of our families, then by all means vaccinate your children as early and often as possible.

A Courageous Woman and Doctor

Thank you Dr. Healy for taking a thoughtful, fair-minded position that is contrary to that which is pushed by the so-called "experts" in the vaccine arena. Sadly, we parents have learned that we must become our own "experts" and that we cannot assume that the official experts have the best interests of our children, especially individual ones, at heart.

But even if they are right that the benefits of vaccines outweigh the risks in the general population (although there is no data to support this notion given the lack of valid, reliable studies comparing the vaccinated to the never-vaccinated), they clearly do not necessarily outweigh the benefits for individual children. And even if there is ethical justification to sacrifice some children for others (a notion which I personally find reprehensible), what kind of society then ignores those children, as if they are some kind of embarrassing collateral damage? (For more on the issue of forced vaccination and sacrifice for the "greater good", see the Scandals columns "On cheating 'the other guy'" (http://www.vaccinationnews.com/Scandals/2008/Feb_18_08/Scandal86.htm) and ""Forced Vaccinations - Musings on what the road to Hell is paved " (http://www.vaccinationnews.com/Scandals/2007/Nov_21_07/Scandal83.htm).

All the best, Sandy Gottstein, President, Vaccination News, A Non-Profit Corporation (http://www.vaccinationnews.org)

Burbacher far from conclusive

"And a primate study designed to mimic vaccination in infants reported in 2005 that thimerosal may clear from the blood in a matter of days but leaves inorganic mercury behind in the brain."

Sounds like you're talking about Burbacher. His results are inconclusive and have not been replicated, and there are serious problems with the way he presents his data. Here's a good explanation of why this is not a good study:

http://tinyurl.com/56dfts

How can any learned person

believe that injecting chemical trash into a child...to be a good thing?

I am greatful for this article, as in this comment section, ONE HONEST and BRAVE DOCTOR has stepped forward to give a truthful statement, calling vaccine for children what it is... poison.

Thank you, DEAR DOCTOR STOLLER.

I concur!

What's Your Problem - It's in the Air

Thank-you Dr. Healy for your open-minded piece on this issue.

I recently attended a panel discussion in Philadelphia called: Should the Government Make You Do It? Vaccine Mandates and Children. The panel included Dr. Paul Offit, Dr. Eddy Bresnitz (NJ Dept. of Health & Senior Services) and an Editor from the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Although advertised as an "exploration" and "discussion", there was a lack of any position discussed other than vaccines are completely safe and the Government knows what's best for your children.

At the Q & A segment, when an audience member asked about mercury and vaccines, Dr. Offit, somewhat angrily, responded that it wasn't a problem and there's mercury in the air and water, it's everywhere. Maybe it is, but is this quite the same as having it injected into an infant's body?

What was especially disturbing about this discussion was panel member John Timpane, an Editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer. It appears he was behind a February 9th editoral in the Inquirer titled Vaccines and Autism. No Link Exists. This editioral contained errors including stating Joseph Kennedy II as an adovcate of the autism vaccine theory (it's Robert Kennedy, Jr.) and a reference to the MMR vaccine and Dr. Wakefield regarding mercury when the MMR does not contain thimerosal. Shall we put our faith in editorals that can't even get the facts straight?

The editioral when on to say that parents can rest assured about vaccination. Just as President Bush prematurely declared Victory in Iraq, it appears the Inquirer's reassurances are premature with the recent concession in the Hannah Poling case.

Thank-you for providing some balance in an arena where balance is sorely lacking.

Mercury was removed from the vaccines years ago.

Autism rates have continued to climb.

Yet people still blame the vaccines even though there has been no SCIENTIFIC evidence to do so because our little brains need something or someone to focus on, saying "We don't know yet" isn't enough.

Research funds are not unlimited, let's direct it toward studies that have some preliminary evidence or reason for suspicion. Not where our emotions tell us to, that is not science.

This is so interesting. I know many people that have not been "officially diagnosed" with autism yet they exhibit MANY of the symptoms - so while the numbers might be high, they are not high enough. I have a child with undiagnosed high functioning autism. We tried and tried to find out what his issues were, and they didn't even come close until he was 16. 16, people!!! We need better ways to identify this in the schools. I have another child that only exhibits about half the signs and another little boy that only had shots up until he was 6 months and we are watching him closely. He seems to be very smart yet has issues with articulation, and some of the signs. He is now 4 but we also have a 2 year old that never received any vaccinations and she is ahead in all areas. Was speaking in full sentences at 16 months and was easily understood by strangers. I can't help but feel like while we are trying to save our children, our way of life, the public as a whole we are also handicapping them in a society that doesn't understand. A better question to ask is also why they have to vaccinated with so much, so quickly, and so young? How about the premature babies that are already compromised and behind yet we are vaccinating them in the same manner as an infant that is full term? My sister does not know what to think so she vaccinates her children and her premature twin boys were just given shots before they were even suppose to be born. Her doctor wanted to just treat them normally as he has in the past with all infants regardless of gestational age. She told him nothing live but is that the best choice? You decide.

The CDC is committing genocide

Vaccines cause autism. No sane person who evaluates the actual data can believe otherwise.

This is why so many of the 'pro vaccine' papers published have fraudulent contents, see for example the article in the Journal of Child Neurology about earlier errors in a paper claiming blood mercury (from vaccines) didn't correlate with autism even though the actual data said it did.

The first paper is widely reported, the second widely ignored.

Also the standards of proof the doctors insist on are inappropriate. There are over a hundred papers showing that it is more likely than not that vaccines cause autism (and only one showing that it is more likely than not they don't), but the criminals in charge of the vaccine program insist that the standard of proof used in these papers be "beyond a reasonable doubt," so that the very papers whose data proves vaccines cause autism proclaim the opposite.

This is like saying OJ Simpson definitely did not kill his wife because he wasn't proven guiltly at the criminal trial, and that the civil judgment against him should be dismissed. It is an idiotic position to base public policy and the health of millions of children on.

The only relevant research we need is how severely all responsible parties at the CDC, AAP, and FDA need to be punished so the lying stops and the hundreds of thousands of brain damaged children finally get medical care instead of abuse. Calling for further research on the cause of autism is itself culpable and should lead to punishment.

Dr. Healy Supports Merck's Gardasil

I have seen this same Dr. Healy on TV earnestly hyping the widespread use of Merck's Gardasil vaccine against a condition (cervical cancer) that the NIH Office of Rare Diseases itself classifies as rare.

Just an observation...

one vaccine at a time is enough

I am all for vaccines, all of them. But, I'm also practical. IN PA they asked for HEP B at birth... I sent the Doctors away saying that they were stupid to suggest that idea. I think I have a few years before the sex / drug / blood products high risk years. At the very least, in the first 24 hours of life is too early for this one.

Last year the Dr wanted to give my son three shots with a total of 6 vaccines at once.... after he had a bad reaction to his previous shot. Not only did I say no, but I refused to use that Dr at the practice again when she argued with me. Something about the waste of time at the office to support all the shots one at a time.....

One shot at a time is plenty for a child. I give my children motrin before the shot and I make sure they are well hydrated and put them to bed early. Vaccines are serious meds. Parents and doctors take them way to casually!

Dr Healy?

Where did you get your degree Dr Healy? What kind of doctor are you? The hypothesis has been rejected multiple times , I dont think a court is the best place to debate this issues.

I understand the parents of these children since my brother is autistic but no matter how hard they try, this is not a democracy it does not matter how many of them think vaccines are the cause as long as the studies show no relationship. The reason everybody gets autism after the 1 year shots is because thats the time most diagnosis are made.

Why dont you write another article about medical conspiracies against indefense people like Chronic Lyme disease, Chronic fatigue syndrome or spontaneous combustion..

WOW!

"WOW..., I say thank goodness for the vaccine court".

I say thank goodness for a doctor of your stature to step out and right an article with all these great questions. The political pressures and "sacred medical dogma" scare many a writer.

Our Doctor group in chicago held a free information seminar on the issues of child vaccination and 300 families showed up- scared, questioning, and deeply concerned about the right thing to do for our kids.

Autism has reached my sister's family, and now I have a baby girl of 6 months.

God bless all the families who have challenged this "most sacred medical dogma". It has the vaccine companies Chief Financial officers terrifed about a vaccine revolt. Now both vaccine companies and parents are both equally terrified.

Mark

Autism and Immunizations

The definition of autism:

1. Autism has specific characteristic, often noted between 18 to 36 mos of age because of delays in speech and social skills surface at this time. Now, we have found key developmental milestones related to shared attention that are key in identifing autism as early as 6 months of age.

2. You are born with autism or the potential for autism, you do not "get" autism. This makes autism quite distinct from a person with autism features. When a person suffers a brain trauma, whether from encephalitis like H. Poling or a car accident, changes in the brain occur. When a person's brain is damaged, often so is their intellectual skills and their behaviors. It is not uncommon to see autism symptoms after an assualt on the brain or in persons with lower mental capabilities. This fine line is true of many other medical diagnosis. For example, many children with autism often have symptoms of ADHD. However, it is incorrect to give these children a comorbid diagnosis of ADHD because the ADHD symptoms are a part of autism spectrum. Changes in behavior are expected after a traumatic brain injury. We do not label the new behavior with a new diagnosis. This is why H. Poling is referred to as a child with autism symptoms, not autism...eventhough the end result is the same.

Immunizations:

1. Parents are afraid of the immunizations. Many want to protect their child from the disease but do not want an incident such as encephalitis. Although more research is needed to support or refute the role of immunizations in brain damage, a different immunization schedule that spaces out immunizations maybe of great help. At my clinic, we a more than happy to separate immunizations. It is not uncommon for parents to come to our clinic and write out their own immunization schedule. If parents want to wait until the children are older before immunizations, we also abide by their wishes. Unfortunately, many clinics are not flexible with immunizations and kick the family out of their practice if the children do not get the immunizations on the CDC schedule. My clinic wants the children to get their immunizations, even if the child receives them off-schedule. The CDC needs to revamp their schedule to spread out the vaccination. Perhaps some fears will be calmed.

2. Many of the immunizations are thimerasol-free...but not all. Some have "traces." The flu shot also has thimerasol, but a thimeraol-free version is available. However, I have never see the thinerasol-free version. The flu mist does not have thimerasol. It is wrong to assure our parents that all the shots are thimerasol-free because they are not. Any quick search on the vaccine company's web-site will confirm this.

I am a health professional who works only in pediatrics. I have conducted several research projects related to autism. I am also a parent of an autistic child. I am unsure as to the roll of immunzations in relation to autism. I am sure many of our children with "autism" have the disorder because of an insult to the brain like H. Poling. I also think that autism is quite genetic, but not completely genetic. Something turns on the genetic autism gene and perhaps immunizations are the culprit. I would like to think that the vaccine companies would protect our children from harm. Would they knowingly continue to give our children something that was harmful? When it comes down to the almighty dollar, yes they would. For example, did you know our food pyramid is incorrect? Through its own research, the goverment determined that a diet of 20% or less of fat is necessary for a healthy diet. The meat and dairy industry did not like this...it was bad for profits. They said their research showed a diet of 50% fat was healthy. So they lobbied and lobbied. The government and the meat and dairy industry "settled on" a diet of 30% fat was healthy. The entire American diet was affected so the meat and dairy industry could keep making a pretty dollar. So, would the vaccine companies hurt our children to make a dollar...yes!! Are they? I do not know.

The courage to stand up to dogma

Dear Dr. Healy-

Yes, you are right, and you deserve commendation for your strength and courage to speak the truth in public in the face of intense "medical" dogma. As a physician-scientist, I have followed this controversy, and my interpretation of the data matches yours. As you know, outspoken dogma is usually wrong, and the calls to halt research derive from financial conflicts of interest. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and vision.

Parsed Autism Numbers

Thank you for driving the stake of truth in the ground with your article 'Fighting the Autism-Vaccine War.' You are helping thousands who have had their children destroyed and the parent's lives derailed by medical elitism. One thing does trouble me in every article I've read. When the 1 in 150 number is quoted, the fact that 4 out of 5 are boys seem conveniently omitted. I'm not a math whizz, but isn't that something like 1 in 30 boys. I've never seen that number mentioned. So in a few years our society will be supporting a massive Autistic population - for life. This is more than what happened to my grandson whom I watched turn Autistic before my very eyes after US Air Force inoculations. Maybe we are about to see the "Breaking of the Bank" of our society.

Autism Numbers: Watch for Lag-time Effects

In June 2000, the CDC agreed to remove thimerosal from childhood vaccines, effective December 2000. For a government agency, this was lightening fast. Yet it is intepreted by many to mean that starting in 2001, childhood vaccines did not contain thimerosal, thus the numbers of autism that haven' t yet started to fall proves that there is no link. Oh, except that the removal was from the manufacture of vaccines starting in 2001, not for the presence of thimerosal in vaccines still given to children. That ended by 2006. There were expensive supplies in stockrooms and in medicine cabinets, still waiting to be injected into children for years after "thimerosal was removed" from vaccines. To recall and destroy all those vials would certainly create a financial mess - like when the flu vaccine had a high failure rate in England a few years ago - attributed to bacterial growth that thimerosal was to have prevented. Thimerosal was present as the antibacterial agent and yet it failed. In 1955, Dr. Salk wrote that thimerosal was not effective in this capacity and felt it was unnecessary in vaccines. With the rise in the number of vaccines given, in multiple shots, the rate of autism spectrum disorders shot up. Without a complete removal of thimerosal-containing vaccines, the rate of autism cannot immediately fall if there is a link. Not seeing a dramatic decrease in autism is not viable as "support" for the argument against thimerosal and autism. I would hope to see a decrease in the upcoming years as the 2006 birth cohorts are less likely to have additive injections of mercury. It is still present in some vaccines, like the flu shot.

If diptheria was prevalent at a 1:150 rate among our children, would there be a public health crisis concern, with a focus on understanding the cause and an equal focus on treating the disease? Why not autism? I cannot give too much credance to people who say it is basically due to better diagnosis - for those who have an autistic child in our lives, we know how "subtle" autism is. Better diagnostic techniques help us get help earlier and early intervention is critical to improving their lives. But it doesn't cure most of our kids who will soon be adults. What will be done to help them be contributing members of society? Or will we wait another decade to decide to face that problem, like it took to get schools to stop fighting so hard against services early in the program? By 2010, I believe we will start to see a reversal in this rate, but by then we will have a burgeoning adult population without supports. And a new fight to help this impacted generation.

Request for Data

Dr. Healy,

I have been involved with autism for almost two years and I am very interested in analyzing autism data (particularly data subsets). If you could steer me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated.

Shaun

False characterization of IOM report

Dr. Healy completely mischaracterizes what the IOM said. They said that it was critical that research into causes of autism continue, and that population studies of the vaccine link should indeed be halted until we found some new risk factor or understood the mechanism better. They felt that good epidemiologic studies could not be designed to find a risk until some specific subgroup or mechanism could be identified to explore. So they called for a redirection of research funds into basic research, with a return to epidemiology when better or more focused hypotheses could be developed. The IOM report has been held up as a straw man (or bogey man) by those who want to make it look draconian or merely silly. It wasn't. It was an extremely wise, nuanced recommendation designed to speed the progress of research into both the causes and cures of this terrible disease.

Not so False

Actually, the proof of the pudding is in the eating of it. If the IOM recommendation was to further better research for autism, it has failed miserably in that regard. Furthermore, as Dr. Healy points out, standard studies probably will not uncover such a nuanced problem. Even though there had not been one single (or combination) study that conclusively found no possibility of a link between vaccines and autism, the IOM study concluded that it just wasn't possible, so why research it further. That is quite a leap for scientist to take.

Thank you, Dr. Healy

Thank you for addressing the validity of the vaccine-autism argument. Public health officials are scared to look at the causes of autism for fear a few less people might vaccinate if they know they are susceptible. Instead, the uncertainty is going to cause far more people to stop vaccinating their children as they feel they are gambling with their children's lives. I would rather know my child is at a higher or lower risk for complications and make an informed decision. Maybe someday your work will convince the CDC, NIH, etc. that parents deserve that knowledge and stop scaring us all with their "no proven link" mantra that is not convincing in the least with evidence piling up and more children being harmed at an alarming rate.

I am the mother of a three-year-old with autism who believes vaccines play a strong role in causing autism and that also fetal exposures to mercury due to flu vaccines and dental amalgams are a contributing factor.

Vaccines - the Courts and Thimerosal

Thank you Dr. Healy for translating the autism/vaccine injury discussion into a congent dialogue that your professional colleagues in medicine might understand. When you arrived at the NIH you rocked the pillars of the Ivory Tower by insisting on the development of a Strategic Plan, something that had never been done in the history of the NIH. Nine years ago, when Congressman Burton first began asking questions of the CDC, FDA and NIH about vaccine injury, thimerosal and its potential link the rapid upsurge in the prevalence of autism, he quickly learned that there were many things as yet unknown about why some can be vaccinated without suffering injury and why others suffer seizures, develop rheumatoid arthritis, MS, stop breathing or develop autism. There has been insufficient research to understand why some people suffer no harm from exposures to thimerosal when others become ill. We have only begun to understand how prevalent food allergies might be in the general population. Celiac disease was once considered rare but now is thought to affect 10 % of the population. In the autism community - gluten (from wheat) and casein (milk protein) are two common foods that cause gastric distress and behavioral changes.

One of the key points that was not discussed by Dr. Healy was the coziness between the FDA and CDC, industry and the paid consultants to industry. Congressman Burton uncovered serious financial conflicts of interest among advisors to both the FDA and CDC regarding vaccine policy. This was before the NIH and FDA scandals came to light.

I continue to be amazed at how much reliance experts, even those at the NIH, have placed on the population based epidemiology studies on thimerosal, rather than the laboratory, animal and clinical studies in the field. It may be only time in the history of the NIH and the medical community in general in which epidemiology trumps hard science.

The Vaccine Court is an important component of vaccine policy, as are the exemption policies managed at the state level that allow for parents to refuse immunization based on medical, religious or philosophical concerns. Sadly the federal government as well as Merck, Wyeth and other vaccine companies have been lobbying state legislators to curtail an individual's liberty involving vaccine policies.

Vaccines remain an important component of public health, the govenment and research community has to date not fulfilled its obligation to address the very real concerns families, the Congress and the public in general have about vaccine ingredients, supposedly rare mitochondrial conditions, and other vaccine injuries. Parents of vaccine injured children who developed autism deserve their day in court. The public deserves to know the truth, the entire truth about what is and what is not known in science about vaccine safety and to quote a colleague. No evidence of harm is not proof of safety.