Comments on: Memo to McCain: Vaccines Not Linked to Autism

By: RW

RW — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:34:50 +0000

Sorry about the messed up html.

By: RW

RW — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:34:18 +0000

Every person denying mercury causes autism is anonymous.

My name is Ricky West & I live in Georgia. My son has autism. He was vaccinated at the very same location as my daughter, who does not have autism. Our family is participating in a ground breaking study (funded in part by the Marcus Institute) to see if there is a genetic link in place. Since boys are four times more likely to develop autism than girls, a direct link between a vaccination and autism doesn’t seem likely to me, but I’m an engineer & not a scientist.

Every study to date fails the scientific method in proving a connection.

My anecdotal guess is that *I* have the genetic traits & I passed it down to my son and MAYBE the vaccination caused something to kick the gears, so to speak, that put the path to autism into action. Simply a guess, mind you, but there are far too many things that my son does that today causes people to say “wow, better check for autism” that I did when I was a kid in the 70s that made people say “wow, smart kid….likes to do things himself, though” as I was quite talkative and my time in ‘my own world’ was brief and was nothing more than a typical kid playing in their land of make-believe, which almost every kid does.

Am I anonymous, still?

And presumably you think you can do nothing to help your child recover?

We’re doing everything possible, to the point of meeting the federal medical deduction (7.75% of gross) for the last six years. What I’m not doing is claiming/blaming something that has no evidence to support it, so I’m working constructively to keep my son ahead of where he should be as a first-grader (which he currently is).

Mercury could have some part, yeah, much like water has a role in drowning. Getting the person underwater & in a situation to cause the lungs to fill w/o recourse is the problem, not the H20 & perhaps genetics & not vaccinations (which didn’t hurt my daughter) are the culprit. But, hey, I’m only Ricky A. West in Georgia, and I’m a political operative trying to help the big pharma companies (that would be liable to pay me big bucks if there WAS a link) instead of being a pragmatic dad.

In short, lighten up & do some research.
To those battering parents who make such claims: imagine this being your kid & you having no answers and the day after a vaccination was the first time you saw the switch turn “off”. Lighten up, yourselves.

By: Real Answers

Real Answers — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:23:03 +0000

Autism has been growing incredibly since 2000, so has cell phone use. Cell phones use microwaves to communicate with cell towers. Microwaves adversely affect the brain and the developing fetus. Please start asking questions.

Try doing some searches in google with the words, cell phones, microwaves, health, autism, cancer etc. I think you will be a little shocked about what you see.

If we start asking questions we may get some real answers.

By: isles

isles — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 05:05:42 +0000

Excellent post. You know you’ve hit a nerve when the mercury moms and dads start coming around spluttering.

Policymakers often have to make decisions on topics where they have no expertise, but they should at least have the good judgment to know not to get their science briefings from angry Iowa autism moms.

By: Kathleen Seidel

Kathleen Seidel — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:58:43 +0000

I have family members with ASD dx’es, and do not attribute this to vaccines or mercury. Although it is possible that some autistic children have experienced vaccine reactions, I strongly doubt that this is the case for the majority of autistic children, or for the majority of those autistic children whose parents have been persuaded to file a VICP claim.

I have written extensively about this subject under my own name. At the same time, I respect the right of others to express their opinions anonymously. By choosing anonymity, Dr. Manhattan allows his opinions and arguments to be evaluated on their own merits. He protects his own and his family’s privacy. He avoids receiving hostile emails and invasive telephone calls from vaccine-causation proponents determined to vent some spleen and/or “educate” him. It happens; I’ve been there.

IMHO, McCain stuck his foot in his mouth because he temporarily confused the interests of a well-organized, assertive group of litigants with the interests of disabled citizens.

By: Anthony Cox

Anthony Cox — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:58:18 +0000

John Fryer writes: “Every person denying mercury causes autism is anonymous.”

I’m not.

“Every person has an autism spectrum child.”

I don’t, but I have vaccinated children.

Dr Anthony Cox BSc Clin Dip Pharm MRPharmS Ph.D.
Pharmacovigilance Pharmacist

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:20:23 +0000

Big Pharma would like to send a big shout out to Dr. Manhattan. Great idea doc- let’s put this issue to bed before there is ever a true study done that confirms or denies- makes lots of sense. It makes about as much sense as getting a Hep B shot day one of life…

By: tanstaafl

tanstaafl — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 02:25:54 +0000

Recommended childhood vaccines, 1973.

DPT (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus)
MMR (measles, mumps, rubella)
Polio vaccine

Recommended childhood vaccines, 2006

here

Seems like a heavy load, hepatitis A&B, influenza (2 types), chickenpox (varicella), meningitis, pneumonia…

I don’t know that this heavy and early medicalization represents “progress”.

Anyway, I was incorrect earlier.

The Lederle Labs vaccine that was huge problematical in the 1980’s was the P or “pertussis” (whooping cough) component of the DPT shot.

By: Johan Amedeus Metesky

Johan Amedeus Metesky — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 23:39:28 +0000

The only reason anti vaccine luddites can even think of not vaccinating children is ironically because of the very success in childhood vaccinations effectively suppressing childhood diseases.

One problem with focusing on thimerosol is that autism predates the use of vaccines. What caused autism before widespread exposure to thimerosol?

Life is all about balancing risks and rewards. Before Pasteur, mortality due to childhood diseases and smallpox was incredibly high. People had many children and only some of them lived to adulthood. As a parent I’m willing to risk a 1 in 100 chance of autism to avoid a 25 in 100 chance of infant or childhood mortality.

By: Tracy

Tracy — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 20:35:35 +0000

Then why did the government just pay money to a family they concluded had been given autism (autism-like is the same thing as autism) from the vaccines?