TACA E-News

2 General News

AUTISM RALLY In D.C. on April 6 – Missed it?
Listen to it on AUTISM ONE RADIO www.autismone.org
And see the full page ad www.putchildrenfirst.org/media/ad.060404.pdf

Related RALLY ARTICLES:

New Internal Documents Reveal Deception by the Centers for Disease Control About Vaccines' Role in Autism, Says Generation Rescue

WASHINGTON, April 5 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Generation Rescue, a national organization of parents of autistic children, today launched a Web site (http://www.PutChildrenFirst.org) and full- page ad detailing newly-released internal documents about the Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) efforts to minimize or cover up the connection between child vaccines and autism. Many parents and scientists believe that autism and other developmental disorders are caused by the toxic metal mercury, a key ingredient in a vaccine preservative called Thimerosal.

Other nonprofits that support the ad include the National Autism Association, Autism One, NoMercury, Moms Against Mercury and A-CHAMP. Tomorrow autism organizations and parents will participate in the Mercury Generation March, a rally in Washington, D.C., to demand answers. This controversy has been recently fueled by high-profile figures publicly calling for similar answers from the CDC, such as Senators Joe Lieberman (D- CT) and John Kerry (D-MA); Representatives Dave Weldon (R-FL), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Dan Burton (R-IN); Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.; and radio and television host Don Imus of MSNBC.

The CDC is the agency responsible for the National Immunization Program. In the 1990s, the CDC's dramatic increases to the number of immunizations nearly tripled the amount of mercury injected into children-as much 125 times higher than federal safety standards.

Rates of autism also greatly increased during this period. The CDC estimates that more than 1 in 166 children are diagnosed with autism, up from 1 in 10,000 in the 1970s. According to the CDC, autism is a life-long disorder that is not treatable.

"Autism is a devastating disorder that affects millions of families," said J.B. Handley, one of Generation Rescue's founding parents and father of an autistic son. "To help children with autism and to prevent others from acquiring it, we need the CDC to stand up for our children. Sadly, the CDC would rather protect its own skin than our kids."

The full-page advertisement running in tomorrow's USA Today delivers a similarly blunt message: "If you caused a 6,000% increase in autism, wouldn't you try to cover it up, too?" To view the ad, visit: http://www.PutChildrenFirst.org.

Through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), parents of autistic children acquired numerous emails, memos, transcripts and reports from the CDC, Food and Drug Administration, Institute of Medicine, and U.S. Congress. Some findings from documents never before released include:

-- A private email and spreadsheet from a CDC epidemiologist showing an extremely high correlation between autism and mercury received through vaccines, with the researcher writing that the correlation "just won't go away."

-- A CDC contract for $190 million to a lobbying firm to maintain the Vaccine Safety Datalink, which prevents access to the data through the Freedom of Information Act.

-- Emails from the CDC "frantically" searching for evidence to exonerate Thimerosal. Even though a Danish researcher highlights serious flaws in a Denmark study, the data is used.

-- A secret memo summarizing the cover up and a statement of charges recently shared with the Senate H.E.L.P. Committee and recommending Senate Hearings.

Previous FOIA discoveries include:

-- After a revelation that children were receiving up to 125 times the safe level of mercury, a private FDA memo worried that the CDC and FDA looked "asleep at the switch."

-- Transcripts of an emergency meeting held by the CDC for health officials that reveal statements like, "the number of dose-related relationships 1/8between Thimerosal and autism 3/8 are linear and statistically significant" and the need to keep the CDC data out of "less responsible hands."

-- Transcripts from committee proceedings of the Institute of Medicine, where members note that the CDC, who paid for their study, "wants us to declare these things are pretty safe on a population basis."

"This mountain of internal documents proves that the CDC knew that its ambitious vaccine schedule in the 1990s created America's autism epidemic," said Handley. "Every day the CDC denies that mercury from vaccines causes autism is another day proper treatment is ignored for the more than one million American children who could be treated."

The parents of Generation Rescue have helped heal their children through individualized medical treatments that remove mercury and treat the damages it causes young bodies. Generation Rescue's 300 families also serve as "Rescue Angels" and have helped 7,500 other families looking for advice on treating autism.

"The worst part about the CDC's deception is that parents are not hearing about real, medical treatments that can heal their children," said Lisa Handley, co-founder of Generation Rescue. "In the last year alone, we have seen the inspiring improvements treatments can bring to our three-year-old son Jamie. He is talking more than ever, socializing and even has a best friend- all things doctors rule out for autistic children."

Thousands of children are recovering from autism through the Defeat Autism Now! Protocol-safe medical treatments that remove the mercury and other toxic metals and live viruses that vaccines inject into children. Mercury, the second most toxic element after plutonium, is 500 to 1,000 times more toxic than lead. The heavy metal burrows into the cells of the brain and other organs and can lead to serious central nervous system damage and neurological disorders.

"The symptoms of early infant mercury poisoning and autism are virtually identical," said Dr. Boyd Haley, chairman of the chemistry department at the University of Kentucky. "Furthermore, research indicates that autistic children genetically have a harder time excreting mercury from their bodies and that many of their biomedical problems could be caused by mercury."

"In a time when pregnant women are told not to eat fish because it might contain mercury, why in the world are we still injecting mercury into our children's bloodstream through vaccines?" asked Kevin Barry, President of Generation Rescue. "We are completely mystified about why the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics are fighting state laws trying to ban mercury in vaccines."

Generation Rescue is calling on Congress to recall vaccines with Thimerosal, ban it nationwide, and support Congresswoman Maloney's new bill to study the differences between vaccinated and unvaccinated populations.

The Age of Autism: Mercury ban opposed

By DAN OLMSTED

Representatives of 22 medical organizations have written to all members of Congress opposing efforts to ban the mercury-based preservative thimerosal from vaccines.

"Our organizations respectfully wish to state our opposition to all legislative efforts at the federal and state levels to restrict access to vaccines containing thimerosal, an ethylmercury-based preservative," said the letter dated April 3 from "Multiple National Organizations that Support Safe and Effective Vaccines."

The groups said that banning the preservative in vaccines for children and pregnant women -- as several states have done and legislation in Congress proposes -- would "perpetuate false and misleading information that vaccines are not safe. Parents may see the banning of thimerosal as an admission that vaccine safety oversight is inadequate."

In fact, the letter said, "There has been considerable research on this issue since the 1999 precautionary statement of the U.S. Public Health Service and the American Academy of Pediatrics and there is no documented scientific evidence that ethylmercury in the form of thimerosal in the doses administered in vaccines causes any risk to health."

The letter also cited concerns that bans could trigger "ongoing vaccine shortages or inability to deliver care. ... Limit the nation's inability to quickly administer influenza vaccine in the U.S. when a pandemic strikes. ... Lead to increased costs for vaccines. ... Add more complexity to our present vaccine delivery system. ... Profoundly affect global immunization programs, as do many U.S. vaccine policy decision."

At issue are concerns raised by parents and some scientists that increasing exposure to thimerosal in childhood vaccines during the 1990s may have triggered a huge rise in autism diagnoses. In 1999 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others recommended manufacturers phase out thimerosal as soon as possible to limit exposure.

In 2004 the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies said it found no connection and that future research should go to "more promising" areas.

Yet concerns have persisted, in part because some flu vaccines still contain thimerosal, and the CDC has recommended the vaccines for all pregnant women and for children ages 6 months to 5 years.

Those concerns have prompted several states -- including New York, Illinois, California, Iowa, Delaware and most recently Washington state -- to enact bans over the opposition of the CDC and state medical associations.

At the same time, pressure has mounted for more studies of potential health problems of thimerosal and vaccines in general. Last week U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., said she will introduce a bill this month to force the federal government to study the autism rate in never-vaccinated American children.

In a letter to Congressional health policy staff that accompanied the groups' statement opposing a thimerosal ban, Diane C. Peterson of the Immunization Action Coalition said: "As you may be aware, recent media attention has been given to the role of thimerosal in vaccines and the development of autism. The 22 national organizations that have signed this letter, as well as many others, stand behind the enormous amount of scientific evidence that shows no link exists between thimerosal in vaccines and the development of autism.

"Please oppose all anti-thimerosal legislative proposals and help further (the) nation's work in protecting children and adults against vaccine-preventable diseases."

The signers include representatives of the following groups:

Ambulatory Pediatric Association; American Academy of Family Physicians; American Academy of Physician Assistants; American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology; American College of Preventive Medicine; American Liver Foundation; American Medical Directors Association; American Pharmacists Association; Association of Immunization Program Managers; Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists; Every Child by Two; Hepatitis B Foundation; Hepatitis Foundation International; Immunization Action Coalition; Infectious Diseases Society of America; National Coalition on Adult Immunization; National Foundation for Infectious Diseases; Parents of Kids with Infectious Diseases; Pediatric Infectious Disease Society; Society for Adolescent Medicine; Society of Teachers of Family Medicine; Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

E-mail: dolmsted@upi.com

2. Article A: Autism 'Epidemic' in Schools Called Illusory & Some Rebuttals to this “new study”

By Neil Osterweil, Senior Associate Editor, MedPage Today Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

An apparent increase over the past decade in the prevalence of children labeled as autistic in special education programs may be a phantom conjured by diagnostic substitution, according to an investigator here.

"My research indicates that the increase in the number of kids with an autism label in special education is strongly associated with a declining usage of the mental retardation and learning disabilities labels in special education during the same period," said Paul T. Shattuck Ph.D., MSSW, a pediatrics researcher at the University of Wisconsin

"Many of the children now being counted in the autism category would probably have been counted in the mental retardation or learning disabilities categories if they were being labeled 10 years ago instead of today," Dr. Shattuck added. He outlined his case for the rise in autism being due largely to diagnostic substitution in the April issue of Pediatrics.

His findings suggested that those who seek evidence of an increased incidence and prevalence of autism can't rely on special education's trends to support their claims, "because states don't all use a standard definition of autism, and there is considerable variability in classification of children into special education programs," Dr. Shattuck wrote.

He designed his study to determine whether the increase in the administrative prevalence of autism (i.e., prevalence as reported by various educational systems versus population-based surveillance) was accompanied by decreases in other diagnostic categories.

To do this, he conducted multiple analyses using data on children classified as having autism in special education programs beginning in 1994, after a new autism-reporting category mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was implemented in all but two states (those two, Massachusetts and Iowa, were excluded from the analysis).

He also drew on data published by the U.S. Department of Education on annual state-by-state counts of children ages six to 11 with disabilities in special education from 1984 to 2003.

He found that the average administrative prevalence of autism among children increased from 0.6 per 1,000 to 3.1 per 1,000 from 1994 to 2003.

During the same period, however, in all but five states the prevalence of mental retardation declined by 2.8 per 1,000, and the prevalence of learning disabilities dropped by 8.3 per 1,000. The declines in these two categories occurred despite the fact that from 1984 to 1993 there had been a level or gradual upward trend in each of the categories.

Additionally, the quality of the data was questionable, as suggested by the fact that "changes in the special education prevalence of autism varied tremendously among states despite a common federal mandate to create a separate special education reporting category for children with autism," Dr. Shattuck wrote.

Of note was the fact that as of 2003, the special education prevalence of autism was within the range of recent population-based estimates in only 17 states.

"The mean administrative prevalence of autism in U.S. special education among children ages six to 11 in 1994 was only 0.6 per 1,000, less than one-fifth of the lowest CDC estimate from Atlanta (based on surveillance data from 1996)," he commented. "Therefore, special education counts of children with autism in the early 1990s were dramatic underestimates of population prevalence and really had nowhere to go but up."

Dr. Shattuck also noted that some critics have used California as an example to refute the diagnostic substitution hypothesis, because in that state's social services system the increase in the prevalence of autism has not been accompanied by a change in the prevalence of mental retardation.

" California's special education and state service trends seem to mirror one another, thereby suggesting that California's experience has not been typical of the rest of the country," he wrote. "This finding does not minimize or invalidate what may actually be a very troubling pattern of change in California that merits additional study and intervention. However, the implications for national policy are clear: California's changes are unique and should not be the foundation for nationwide policy responses."

Catherine Lord, Ph.D., an authority on autism at the University of Michigan's Center for Human Growth and Development, who was not involved in the study, commented that it "highlights the need to consider the immediate implications for children's lives of the lag between scientific findings regarding the diagnosis and prevalence of autism, and state and school system policies."

Editors note: Please do not confuse Paul Shattuck (above) with Dr. Paul Shattock from the U.K. who has been a great friend to autism. I would also like to suggest Paul Shattuck leave his home and go to the store, the neighbor schools, the parks and just open his eyes to see the rise in autism.

Rebuttal #1 – Safe Minds - AUTISM COMMUNITY CALLS NEW STUDY IN JOURNAL PEDIATRICS MISLEADING, DECLARES AUTISM EPIDEMIC REAL -- Department of Education Data Inadequate to Determine Prevalence Over Time

A study appearing in the April 2006 edition of Pediatrics titled “Diagnostic Substitution and Changing Autism Prevalence” is being questioned by the autism community. The report, authored by Dr. Paul Shattuck, uses US Department of Education data to support the hypothesis that real autism rates have not increased over the last two decades, and that reported increases are a function of reclassification of students from learning disabilities and mental retardation categories. This theory has been rejected in a number of scientific studies. The autism community would like to see scientific studies based on more valid databases in order to determine accurate prevalence trends.

The autism parent organizations including SafeMinds, National Autism Association, A-CHAMP, and Generation Rescue see this latest article as part of a phenomenon of epidemic denial that inhibits open scientific investigation of autism’s causes and blocks allocation of needed resources into autism. The groups note that the prevalence of autism now far exceeds other high profile disorders such as cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, and juvenile diabetes. They request that autism be recognized as a national emergency and that unbiased epidemiological studies be conducted that count both older and younger people with autism to see if the increases are real.

The paper’s use of Department of Education data to conclude no epidemic exists is troubling. The study author himself said that the data set is inconsistent and is subject to administrative and policy changes by the states. He notes that 28 of the 48 states included in the analysis do not support his theory of reclassification as a reason for autism increases. “Each state has its own rules and the autism rates by state vary greatly, so aggregating the state-level data to a US average is not good statistical practice,” explained Mark Blaxill of SafeMinds. “Other, more reliable data sets, like the California Department of Developmental Disabilities, do show a real increase in autism.”

Autism groups voiced support for the commentary by Dr. Craig Newschaffer that accompanies the Shattuck article in Pediatrics. This commentary makes a number of valid points regarding Dr. Shattuck’s approach and conclusions. The autism groups note that the hypothesis of reclassification, or “diagnostic substitution”, has been examined and rejected in several scientific papers as a likely major factor in reported autism increases. One study was authored by Dr. Newschaffer. A study by Robert Byrd and a study by Blaxill, Baskin and Spitzer have also ruled out diagnostic substitution.

For more information about the Shattuck study and autism prevalence please see the following links.

Pediatrics, Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics April 2006 Article: The Contribution of Diagnostic Substitution to the Growing Administrative Prevalence of Autism in U.S. Special Education, Paul T. Shattuck, Ph.D.. The April 2006 issue of Pediatrics was not available online at time of publication, but should be available soon here .

Pediatrics, April 2006 Commentary: Investigating Diagnostic Substitution and Autism Prevalence Trends, Craig J. Newschaffer, Ph.D. The April 2006 issue of Pediatrics was not available online at time of publication, but should be available soon here .

Pediatrics, April 2006, Commentary: Diagnostic Substitution and the Changing Autism Prevalence, Paul T. Shattuck, Ph.D. The April 2006 issue of Pediatrics was not available online at time of publication, but should be available soon here .

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders April 2003, Commentary: Blaxill, Baskin & Spitzer on Croen et al (2002), The Changing Prevalence of Autism in California

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders April 2003, Response: A Response to Blaxill, Baskin & Spitzer on Croen et al (2002), The Changing Prevalence of Autism in California, Lisa A. Croen and Judith K. Gether

Public Health Reports, Nov-Dec 2004, What's Going On? The Question of Time Trends in Autism, Mark Blaxill, MBA

The Epidemic of Autism in California: Report to the Legislature of the Principal Findings from the Epidemiology of Autism in California: A Comprehensive Pilot Study, October 17, 2002, Robert S. Byrd, M.D., M.P.H., et al

Pediatrics, March 2005, National Autism Prevalence Trends from United States Special Education Data, Craig J. Newschaffer, Matthew D. Falb and James G. Gurney

Fighting Autism website for more information on Department of Education data.

Rebuttal #2

National Autism Association Points Out Possible Conflicts of Interest in New Study Denying Epidemic Rise in Autism Rates

New research relying on evolving diagnostic criteria to explain huge autism numbers fails to mention author’s potential conflicts

Nixa , MO - A study published today in Pediatrics, “The Contribution of Diagnostic Substitution to the Growing Administrative Prevalence of Autism in US Special Education,” suggests that autism diagnoses haven’t actually risen over the past two decades, despite growing and credible scientific evidence to the contrary. In addition to the study’s weak methods and erroneous conclusions, questions have now arisen over possible failure to disclose conflicts of interest and recent findings that data from previous autism projects with which current study author Paul Shattuck has been associated were fabricated.

Although he was not personally implicated, Dr. Shattuck’s former research partner, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin’s Waisman Center, was recently disciplined by the Health and Human Services Office of Research Integrity for scientific misconduct due to fabrication of data. Dr. Shattuck and others published several articles and delivered scientific presentations using data from the project in question. “We need to know the ramifications of the falsified information,” said Ann Brasher, NAA Vice President. “The autism community demands that the University of Wisconsin clearly identify all published documents that potentially contain false information.”

Additionally, Pediatrics failed to disclose a potential or actual conflict of interest. Although the article states that Dr. Shattuck has indicated he has no financial relationships relevant to the article, NAA has learned that he was a Merck Scholar Pre-doctoral Trainee from 1999-2003, and in 2003-2004 he successfully applied for $530,000 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Given the rocky history of the CDC and the autism community, failing to mention the author’s ties to this agency is a glaring omission that requires an explanation,” commented NAA board chair Claire Bothwell. “Clearly, the CDC has a vested interest in deflecting attention from the possibility that children injured by mercury-containing vaccines ended up with autism diagnoses which fueled autism rates off the charts. It can’t come as a surprise to the Pediatrics board that any autism researcher’s relationship with the CDC is certainly noteworthy and should have been disclosed to readers. It’s unclear at this time whether the failure to disclose is on the part of the researcher or the journal, but these issues must be resolved.”

For more information, go to www.nationalautism.org

Rebuttal #3 – From ASA

Study Denouncing Autism Epidemic Misses the Mark; ASA Calls for Studies Benefiting Families Now

BETHESDA, Md., April 5 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Autism Society of America (ASA), the oldest and largest grassroots organization serving the entire autism community, in response to a study by Dr. Paul Shattuck appearing in next week's edition of Pediatrics titled "Diagnostic Substitution and Changing Autism Prevalence," says the study takes the focus away from the real issue: autism is affecting millions of people and families who need help today.

"We need to move away from a dialogue about prevalence," said ASA President & CEO Lee Grossman. "Whether it's one in 166 children or one in 1,166 being diagnosed with autism, each and every one of those affected today and in the future must be helped."

According to the study, the rise in number of autism diagnoses is not evidence of an epidemic, but shows that schools are diagnosing autism more often. Shattuck claims that autism rates have not increased over the last two decades, and children identified by U.S. school special education programs as mentally retarded or learning disabled have declined with the rise in autism cases between 1994 and 2003, suggesting a diagnostic substitution. Shattuck says there may be unknown environmental triggers behind autism, and his research suggests the past decade's rise in autism cases is a result of poor labeling.

ASA Board of Directors Chair Cathy Pratt, Ph.D., said that "in 30 years of working in the autism community, certain realities have become increasingly clear. More individuals are receiving a diagnosis on the spectrum. The needs of these individuals and their families continue to grow. And finally, the lack of options and resources place an incredible stress on all and threaten the future of these individuals. Any study that diverts our focus or that diminishes the perception of this need hurts us all. I know of no family who has enough resources for their child, nor any adult who has all the supports he or she needs."

Diane Twachtman-Cullen, Ph.D., co-chair of ASA's Panel of Professional Advisors, noted that "the findings of Dr. Shattuck's study do not support the conclusion that there is or is not an autism epidemic. If we read more into this study than the findings support, we will be doing a disservice to the significant number of individuals with autism and their families who aren't mere statistics in a study, but rather, real people with real needs." Jim Ball, Ed.D., co-chair of ASA's Panel of Professional Advisors, added that regardless of Shattuck's study findings, more and more people are being diagnosed with autism and the focus must be on the services agenda.

"The fact remains that the numbers of those with autism have reached epidemic proportions, and we need to address this now," continued Grossman. "Let's put research into interventions, education and services for individuals with autism, not into a dispute about whether autism is being better labeled versus an epidemic."

---

The Autism Society of America (ASA) is the leading voice and resource of the entire autism community in education, advocacy, services, research and support. The ASA is committed to meaningful participation and self-determination in all aspects of life for individuals on the autism spectrum and their families. ASA accomplishes its mission through close collaboration with a successful network of 200 chapters, and hundreds of thousands of members and supporters.
Contact: Kate Ranta of the Autism Society of America, 301-657-0881 ext. 120 or kranta@autism-society.org

2. Article B:

March 30 Press Conference in D.C. – TWO ARTICLES

CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY
CQ HEALTHBEAT THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2006
CONTROVERSY OVER AUTISM-THIMEROSAL LINK FLARING ANEW

The self-described "wait a second" crowd is getting bigger. So named by parents and advocates of autistic children who believe the Institute of Medicine (IoM) has erred in ruling out a link between a vaccine ingredient and autism, it has the ear of a growing number of lawmakers who agree more research is needed to resolve whether there is a link. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., is the latest member of Congress to spotlight the issue, saying Thursday she will introduce a bill in late April requiring a study comparing children who have received vaccines with the ingredient, the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal, to those who are unvaccinated..

Maloney said such a study is needed because of stories written by United Press International editor Dan Olmsted reporting no cases of autism in unvaccinated Amish children and in some 30,000 children seen over the years by doctors in a Chicago-area HMO that does not vaccinate children. "To date, no autism study of note" has used a control group to compare children exposed to thimerosal in vaccines to unvaccinated children, she said.

However, IoM President Harvey Fineberg has defended the institute's review of data on the link as thorough, saying it's time to focus research on other possible causes of autism.

Other lawmakers also recently called for additional research. In a Feb. 22 letter, Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman, D-Conn., and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich, reminded the new director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) at the National Institutes of Health about report language in the fiscal 2006 Health and Human Services spending bill (PL 109-149) urging research on a possible thimerosal-autism link.

The report language said that conferees on the measure believe that a database maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could be helpful in resolving the issue. But because of skepticism on the part of parents "concerned with vaccine safety" about CDC's credibility on the issue, NIEHS not CDC should lead a study examining the Vaccine Safety Datalink database, the senators said in their letter, also signed by six House members.

Meanwhile, the number of co-sponsors on a bill introduced by Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., to bar the marketing of mercury-containing vaccines to children and pregnant women has grown to 72, with the number of

Republican and Democratic sponsors virtually the same. According to HHS spokeswoman Christina Pearson, thimerosal has been removed from all children's vaccines other than for flu. Parents can request thimerosal-free versions, Pearson said.

Focus on a Best Seller

Helping to fuel the growing questions about the IoM's May 18, 2004, study is "Evidence of Harm," a New York Times best seller whose author David Kirby appeared with Maloney at a Washington press briefing Thursday. Kirby noted arguments by parents of autistic children that the IoM report relied on broad epidemiological studies rather than on biological research examining the impact of thimerosal at the cellular level.

Four of the five epidemiological studies examined the use of thimerosal in Europe, where lower doses of thimerosal were used in vaccines, Kirby said. And the IoM review did not examine subsets of children who for genetic reasons might be particularly vulnerable to neurological damage caused by mercury, Kirby added.

There has been growing biological evidence that "in a small subset of children with a certain genetic predisposition, they are unable to properly process the mercury they were exposed to," Kirby told TV newsman Tim Russert in an August 7, 2005, appearance on "Meet the Press." At Thursday's briefing, Kirby highlighted NIEHS-funded study results released March 21 linking thimerosal to cellular changes that could weaken the immune system in mice. It's important to examine tissues and animal models, not just epidemiology, Kirby said.

The IoM's View

IoM spokeswoman Christine Stencel said Thursday that while there have been additional biological studies, "they provide hints, they provide clues, of what should be explored further, but they do not necessarily equate to what is happening in the human body."

Fineberg told Russert on the "Meet the Press" broadcast that Kirby's emphasis on biological data was unwarranted. "When you're trying to assess a specific association, there are biological studies that are relevant, and there are epidemiological studies that are relevant. All of these studies are not equally valid," Fineberg said. The IoM committee that prepared the study "went through very carefully and assessed each of those studies representing its strengths and weaknesses." The epidemiological studies "were carried out in the United States, in Great Britain, in Denmark and Sweden," Fineberg said. "These studies covered hundreds of thousands of individuals, children, in these populations. They compared systematically in different ways whether you received vaccine with no thimerosal, with some thimerosal, with more thimerosal, and they looked at the relationship of those experiences with the development of autism. Uniformly, the best of those studies all show no association between receiving vaccine of different amounts with thimerosal or without and the development of autism."

Fineberg said "other avenues of research looking at other possible causes today are much more promising ways to spend our precious resources" trying to identify the causes of autism.

ASA Participates in Press Conference on Mercury and Autism
Thursday, March 30, 2006
By: Kate Ranta

ASA President & CEO Lee Grossman Discusses Autism Epidemic in America

BETHESDA, MD—March 30, 2006—The Autism Society of America (ASA)--along with Evidence of Harm author David Kirby, UPI journalist Dan Olmsted and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)--participated today in a press conference in Washington, D.C., on vaccines, mercury and autism. ASA President & CEO Lee Grossman briefed attendees, which included several media outlets, on the staggering numbers of those with autism in this country, the ever-growing numbers of children being diagnosed and the economic impact autism will have on America in the future.

"Autism is one of the most important health, social and economic crises in this country," Grossman said. "With over 60 new cases being diagnosed per day, autism is the fastest growing developmental disability in the U.S. Currently, the annual cost to provide services to the autism community is $60-90 billion, but apparently only about 10% of costs are being met by the government agencies; unfortunately, the other 90% either comes directly out of parents' pockets, or services are not being provided. We estimate an enormous rise in the cost of autism to nearly $300-400 billion in coming years."

Grossman also outlined four key messages: 1) autism is treatable, 2) individuals with autism are recovering, 3) we need a shift in thinking about the importance of services and interventions for those with autism, and 4) individuals with autism deserve to receive appropriate services across the lifespan. He pointed out that autism is a lifelong condition--that most individuals live a normal life expectancy--yet the adult population with autism is terribly underserved. "With 1 in 166 children today being diagnosed with autism, we are going to see a tsunami effect of adults coming into a service sector that is grossly unable to serve of needs even of those today," he said, calling for more funding for adult services.

As for ASA's position on mercury and autism, Grossman made it clear that ASA supports greater funding for research into a connection, specifically clinically-based research rather than epidemiological. "ASA also believes that those injured by vaccines must be fairly compensated and receive appropriate services," he said. "We support legislation that removes thimerosal from vaccines, and were the first to support Rep. Weldon's bill calling for its removal."

Grossman noted that ASA is currently seeking answers through a $100,000 grant from the John Merck Fund to raise awareness about the broad range of environmental contributors to autism spectrum disorders. Given the increase in prevalence of autism and its implications, this project will focus on the possibility that neurotoxicants and other environmental health concerns are culprits in damaging the gene construct and triggering the symptoms known as autism, and raising awareness on this issue.

2. Article C:

THREE New Installments in the AGE OF AUTISM by DAN OLMSTED

The Age of Autism: Mercury creeps back in

By DAN OLMSTED
UPI Senior Editor

WASHINGTON , March 17 (UPI) -- New calculations suggest children today can be exposed to more than half the mercury that was in vaccines in the 1990s, even though manufacturers began phasing it out in 1999.

Adjusted for a child's body weight at the time of the shots, there's virtually no reduction at all, according to this analysis.

The source: Flu vaccines, which have been recommended for millions more kids over 6 months old and pregnant women in the past few years. Most of those shots still contain the mercury-based preservative called thimerosal that some fear is behind a huge rise in autism diagnoses.

"It's been under the radar and it's allowed health officials to say, 'We've taken it out of all the childhood vaccines,'" said Dr. David Ayoub, an Illinois anti-thimerosal activist who put the data together along with Maryland researchers David Geier and Dr. Mark Geier.

"They don't consider influenza one of the mandated childhood vaccines yet," Ayoub said. But because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends flu shots for all pregnant women and all children between 6 months and age 5, doctors routinely give them.

The CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics urged in 1999 that manufacturers remove thimerosal from childhood vaccines amid concerns over mercury exposure from shots including hepatitis B and the diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus combination shot.

"Because any potential risk is of concern, the Public Health Service, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and vaccine manufacturers agree that thimerosal-containing vaccines should be removed as soon as possible," they said in a joint statement at the time.

Since then, however, the CDC has significantly broadened its flu-shot recommendations. And the "coverage" rate -- the percent of those who actually get the recommended shots -- is rising as well.

The thrust of the numbers compiled by Ayoub and the Geiers: By 5, children exposed to an all-thimerosal schedule of flu shots would get 53 percent of the mercury the same kids got from all shots in 1999, they concluded.

Ayoub then calculated cumulative weight-adjusted mercury exposures at less than 5 years of age. That shows kids getting 36.34 micrograms of mercury per kilogram of body weight in 1999 -- and 33.2 from the influenza vaccine recommendations in 2006, or only about 10 percent less.

Of course, a lot has happened since 1999. Chiefly, the independent, prestigious Institute of Medicine ruled out thimerosal, and vaccines in general, as a cause of autism and said it wasn't worth the research money to keep exploring.

On the other hand, a University of Washington researcher showed twice as much ethyl mercury that comes from thimerosal gets trapped in the brain as does methyl mercury that comes from fish and pollution, and it stays there indefinitely. And the CDC study most often invoked to show that thimerosal isn't linked to autism was later pronounced a "neutral study" by its principal author, meaning more research is needed.

Plus, the autism rate has started to drop in California since thimerosal was removed. Finally, as we've pointed out, the CDC continues to research whether thimerosal causes autism -- that hasn't been "ruled out," nor has any other cause, a spokesman told us earlier this year.

The Age of Autism: Pay no attention
By DAN OLMSTED

There's a Steely Dan album called Pretzel Logic that could be the theme song of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as it struggles with concerns over vaccines and autism.

At least in our view, it is a bit twisted -- logically speaking – to simultaneously spend taxpayer money to keep studying whether a mercury preservative causes autism, yet recommend that pregnant women and children get vaccines containing that preservative. Especially so when alternatives are available that are free of the preservative, called thimerosal.

It is puzzling to urge, as the CDC did in 1999, that thimerosal ought to be phased out as soon as possible from all childhood vaccines used in the United States -- yet successfully fight efforts this year by state legislatures to codify a ban.

It is peculiar to issue an "Autism Alarm," as the CDC did in 2004 – then publish a 72-page annual report in 2005 that mentions the perils of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, cryptosporidiosis, leprosy and the four people "killed by rabies transmitted through transplanted organs or tissues in 2004," yet never use the word autism, not once. (Check it out at www.cdc.gov/cdc.pdf)

Perhaps the oddest, though subtlest, anomaly is the seeming resistance by the CDC to the idea that the autism rate might be declining.

Our last column reported a new study that suggests it could well be. The study's authors are firmly convinced a drop in autism cases in two separate government databases -- one run by the CDC, the other by the state of California -- proves thimerosal is the big culprit in autism. That's a step we're not ready to take, to the consternation of some in the anti-thimerosal movement.

But wouldn't even tentative signs of a decrease, for whatever conceivable reason, be welcome and hopeful?

Instead, the CDC seems keen to clobber any suggestion that autism might be declining. In Thursday's Boston-area Herald News Tribune, reporter Jon Brodkin quotes Dr. Robert Davis, director of the immunization safety group at the CDC, as saying: "I don't think this study can really be taken to provide any evidence one way or another."

Davis also said one of the databases the study authors used -- the CDC's own Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System -- is unreliable because anyone can report any health problem as a possible vaccine side effect.

Fair enough, but new cases in that database seem to be declining in tandem with new cases in California's special education system. And those California numbers are widely regarded as the most reliable count of full-syndrome, professionally diagnosed autism cases in the United States. P.S.: The most recent figures from the U.S. Department of Education also dropped.

But so what, say the CDC and others who are on record (and, let's face it, on the line) backing thimerosal to the hilt and asserting there is no connection between vaccines and autism.

"The Department of Education numbers are skewed, another official said, because the DOE did not make autism a separate diagnosis until the 1990s," Brodkin reported. "That led to an artificial increase because children who previously had different diagnoses were then considered autistic, said Dr. Marie McCormick, a Harvard professor who chaired an Institute of Medicine committee that dismissed any link between vaccines and autism."

What's intriguing is how all this dovetails with comments made last summer by Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the CDC, at a press conference in Washington set up to defend vaccine safety. Here is the question she was asked: "Can you address the ... California study that basically showed that there was an increase in autism in direct relation to the 1990s when the series of vaccines were increased, and now since thimerosal has been taken out there is a slight decrease in autistic cases?"

Responded Gerberding:

"The California study, as you know, is an ongoing study and they are addressing the estimates of autism prevalence on a quarterly basis, sort of like the stock market bounces around a little bit. The most recent reading from that study is in fact that the rates are increasing, they have not shown a decline."

That's one way to look at it. Here's another, from reporter Thomas Maugh II in The Los Angeles Times on July 13: "The number of newly diagnosed cases of autism in California, which had been skyrocketing for more than a decade, has leveled off and may even be declining, according to new data compiled by the state Department of Developmental Services."

Some parents who listened in on Gerberding's comments did not like comparing the autism rate to the stock market. But the bigger issue is the odd, official resistance to the idea that any autism rate anywhere in the United States might be going down, however slightly, however inconclusively, however briefly.

So the VAERS data don't count, the California numbers are bouncing, the Department of Education stats are unreliable. Is any of this starting to sound like, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain?" And do we all remember who said that?

E-mail: dolmsted@upi.com

http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20060331-111327-8105r

The Age of Autism: Hot potato on the Hill

By DAN OLMSTED
UPI Senior Editor

The newly proposed legislation to study the autism rate in never-vaccinated American kids could settle the debate over vaccines and autism once and for all. Does that mean it will never happen?

This week U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., stepped out front on the issue. She announced at a briefing at the National Press Club that she is drafting legislation to mandate that the federal government find the answer to that question.

Notice the word "mandate" -- as in "direct," which is the language the bill uses. As in, quit making excuses and just do it.

Bureaucrats and lobbyists and "experts" sometimes forget that the power in this country resides with the people, who express their will through their elected representatives. This may sound rather grand, but the point is that legislators are not some "special interest" who must be humored while the permanent ruling class goes on its merry way.

That's why putting a bill before the Congress -- which Maloney says she will do by the end of April after getting as much public comment as possible -- could be a bigger threat than people realize.

After all, as Maloney said this week, "Maybe someone in the medical establishment will show me why this study is a bad idea, but they haven't done it yet."

Maloney, who credits this column with the idea to look at the never-vaccinated, also critiqued the studies that supposedly have ruled out any link between vaccines -- particularly the mercury-based preservative thimerosal -- and autism.

"The one major government study to date, the Institute of Medicine's 2004 review, has been met with skepticism from a lot of people," she said. "There are serious questions about the data set and methodology.

"Meanwhile, there is new biological evidence published in top journals, and from major U.S. universities, to support the mercury-autism hypothesis. Just last week we saw the study out of UC Davis, which found that thimerosal disrupts normal biological signals within cells, causes inflammation and even cell death.

"In short," the congresswoman concluded, "I believe that there are still more questions than answers. But answers are what we desperately need."

Surely everyone's in favor of answers, aren't they? Well, no, they're not. Already, doubts are being raised about whether there are enough never-vaccinated kids to do such a study (there are); whether it's worth doing (it is); and what the results would really show (well, let's find out).

In fact, if the feds hadn't been contentedly dozing for the last decade as the autism rate inexplicably soared, we'd already have our answer.

Back in 2002 a woman named Sandy Gottstein, who does not even have an affected child, came all the way from Anchorage, Alaska, to raise this issue at a congressional hearing.

"My question is, is the National Institutes of Health ever planning on doing a study using the only proper control group, that is, never-vaccinated children?" Gottstein asked.

Dr. Steve Foote of NIH responded: "I am not aware of a proposed study to use a suitably constructed group of never-vaccinated children. ... Now CDC would be more likely perhaps to be aware of such an opportunity."

Responded Dr. Melinda Wharton of the CDC: "The difficulty with doing such a study in the United States, of course, is that a very small portion of children have never received any vaccines, and these children probably differ in other ways from vaccinated children. So performing such a study would, in fact, be quite difficult."

Another futile effort is recounted in David Kirby's book, "Evidence of Harm," which recounts parents' compelling stories that their children's regressive autism was triggered by vaccine reactions.

The book -- just out in paperback and winner of this year's prize from the prestigious Investigative Reporters and Editors -- describes how in 2004 Lyn Redwood of the advocacy group SafeMinds sent a list of proposed studies to Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla.

Weldon, a strong advocate of banning thimerosal, sent the list on to Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Redwood's proposal No. 1: "An investigation into the rates of neurodevelopmental disorders including autism in vaccinated and unvaccinated populations (e.g., Amish, Christian Scientists.)"

Last year this column set out to test that theory among the Amish, in an unvaccinated subset of homeschooled kids and in a large medical practice in Chicago with thousands of never-vaccinated children. In this admittedly unscientific and anecdotal reporting, we didn't find very many kids with autism.

That's certainly not conclusive, but we did conclude there are plenty of never-vaccinated kids in this country, and not all of them are riding around in buggies and reading by candlelight. The total number of appropriate "controls" -- reasonably typical never-vaccinated kids -- is well into the tens of thousands, at least.

Nor is the issue pro-vaccines vs. no vaccines, as some who oppose such a study are subtly suggesting. It's safety vs. complacency.

After all, the CDC switched to an inactivated polio vaccine in 2000 when it became clear that the live polio virus was causing a handful of polio cases each year. And kids today are still protected from polio -- only now with zero chance of actually contracting it from the vaccine.

Switching to a safer vaccine did not cause a collapse in public confidence in childhood immunizations -- probably quite the contrary.

Expect to hear all kinds of excuses, including that one, from the powers that be as to why such a conclusive study couldn't, shouldn't and really mustn't be done. Then ask yourself, Why?

E-mail: dolmsted@upi.com

2. Article D:

The High Cost of Autism Bill Would Force Private Insurers To Pay For Intense Therapy For Children

By Aaron Gould Sheinin in S.C.
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/14189191.htm

Four-year-old Winston Ridley can read.

When he was 20 months old, a doctor told Winston's mother that her son was a vegetable and would never be a contributing member of society.

Winston has autism. But thanks to treatment known as applied behavioral analysis, experts say, Winston has a chance to be a normal little boy and to grow into a fully functioning man.

Nearly 100 S.C. lawmakers are supporting a bill that would allow other children with autism to receive the same kind of treatment.

But the bill - with more than 80 co-sponsors in the House and another

16 in the Senate - is far from a sure thing. Insurers say the proposal would cost hundreds of millions of dollars and could hurt all S.C. residents.

Insurers say the higher costs would be passed along to consumers, making insurance too expensive for some as more mandatory coverages are added. They also say the measure would help only a slice of those who need it because it would not apply to at least 70 percent of the state's autism patients.

The legislation, proposed by Rep. Nathan Ballentine, R-Richland, would require insurers to cover treatment for autism and other conditions known as pervasive developmental disorders.

Committees in the House and Senate will consider the proposal in the next few weeks.

And - despite the fact that the bill would not help her son because of the type of insurance they have - Winston's mother will be there to tell legislators why it's so important: It's making her son better.

"This is my only shot," Marcella Ridley said of the therapy. "This is the only chance he's going to have."

Pay Now, Pay Later

The treatment is expensive. It can cost up to $100,000 annually and generally lasts up to five years.

Insurance companies do not cover the cost, and few S.C. families earn enough to pay for the treatment.

Marcella Ridley and a group of other parents of children with autism have spent weeks and thousands of dollars trying to convince lawmakers of the bills' merit. They have told lawmakers:

. The therapy works. Studies show nearly half of children who get at least 40 hours of therapy a week can be mainstreamed into first grade on time. Another 40 percent make substantial progress but still need treatment; the rest made minimal gains.

. It saves the state money. An autistic child who receives no treatment or not enough treatment almost always ends up institutionalized as an adult. That can cost the state up to $4 million per patient, studies have shown.

Seventeen other states have ma