Comment-Commending List

This item was emailed to this blog--AR

The undersigned organizations and individuals are commending KOMU TV on the excellent investigative report, "Combating Autism from Within." The friends and families of vaccine-injured children, with mercury induced autism, congratulate you on the recent coverage and discussions of this serious disorder which has reached epidemic levels across the United States.

We are so pleased to see the extensive research reported to reveal the struggles families face and the truth about the poisoning of a generation of children through the use of thimerosal containing vaccines.

The Missouri School of Journalism should be proud, this report exemplifies why it is known as the leader in the world for students desiring careers in Journalism. We believe the experience and training these student/reporters have gained through this series will prove to be immeasurable for advancement and professional careers in the media.

The amount of science that was covered is the most in-depth, thoughtful and truthful investigation we have watched unfold by any journalist, during the fifteen year explosion in diagnoses of vaccine related autism.

The journalistic integrity and credibility at KOMU has allowed your viewers to see the reality of children affected by autism and the blatant falsehood of the government and medical community trying to keep this tragedy from being exposed. Your unbiased and accurate report was the first to acknowledge the conflicts of interest which have infested the medical community where a "First Do No Harm" attitude should prevail. The heart breaking lack of medical, educational and social service support for these families was reported in a respectful and meaningful way.

Ashley Reynolds and her team uncovered and reported the misleading information, that is often provided by CDC or pharmaceutical funded scientists, and reported the fact that mercury is still in most flu, tetanus, and diphtheria/tetanus vaccines--and an array of vaccines still contain "trace" amounts. (The term "trace" is not recognized as a scientific term.)

We were pleased to see honest interviews with known experts Dr. Boyd Haley and Dr. David Ayoub speaking about the relationship between mercury exposure and neurological injury. Ms. Reynolds secured an exclusive interview with local resident and former chairman of the Microbiology Department, Dr. Frank B. Engley, Jr., whose studies from 1940's-90's found toxicity of thimerosal at a nanomolar level.

The parents of children suffering from vaccine-induced illnesses applaud you for speaking out about the families' tragedies and reporting the research supporting a causal link between mercury in vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders.

We sincerely appreciate your brave reporting of all sides of the devastating disorder of autism. We look forward to your hour presentation in February.

Respectfully,

A-Champ Advocates for Children's Health Affected by Mercury

Alan D. Clark Research Memorial Fund

Albert W. Burgstahler, PhD., Professor Emeritus of Chemistry; University of Kansas

ARROW- Autism Recovery Resources of Washington

Autism One

Autism United

Boyd Haley, PhD., Professor of Chemistry; University of Kentucky PhD.

CoMeD; The Coalition for Mercury-free Drugs

Darrel G. Moreland, DDS, MSD

David Ayoub, MD

Edward F. Fogarty, III, M.D. and Family

Exceptional Families Network

Frank B. Engley Jr., PhD., Former Professor and Chairman of Micro Biology; and Assistant Dean of the School of Medicine University of Missouri

Foundation for Autism Information and Research

Foundation for Mercury Injured Children

Generation Rescue

HEAL! Healing Every Autistic Life

MAM- Moms Against Mercury

Michael J. Cannon, DO

NAA National Autism Association

No Mercury

Oklahoma Autism Coalition

Prairie Collaborative

Richard Deth, PhD., Professor of Pharmacology Northeastern University, Massachusetts

Safe Minds

Schafer Autism Report

TN4SaferVaccine

The Wyatt Holliday Foundation

World Mercury Project

Anne Dachel: anti-vaccine activist???

This item was emailed to this blog--AR

I read the comment referring to me as an anti-vaccine activist: "You were introduced to autism last June when you interviewed Dr. Miles. After the story ran, you were deluged with messages from anti-vaccine activists, such as Anne Dachel at Age of Autism. The activists convinced you there was another side to the story that needed to be told, and that's what precipitated the Combating Autism series."

I've never thought of myself of being "anti-vaccine." I'm dedicated to publicizing the epidemic of autism affecting a generation of children, yet which is unrecognized by the medical community and the federal health agencies.

The reference was made to "another side to to the story that needed to be told." Isn't that what legitimate journalism is all about? Isn't the media obligated to investigate and fairly present issues like this? Ashley Reynolds gave us some of the most balanced coverage we've ever seen in the press.

Anne Dachel

Media Editor: AGE OF AUTISM

Member of the board of A-CHAMP

http://www.a-champ.org

Comment-Scientific Criticisms-KOMU

http://www.safeminds.org/pressroom/pres_releases/Review_Miles_Takahashi_6-20-07.pdf

For those who are students of science, it would seem there are some fair assessments and issues brought to light in the piece above. As relates to the KOMU coverage of this, I would have to think Dr. Miles might want to comment on these criticisms in the February wrap up.

For policy makers in state government in Missouri, this little project has done a great service to our democracy by presenting both sides of a debate. I encourage all to read through all of the many posts, understand we are human and this is of incredible importance to many not just as a medical debate but as relates to the potential for biological imperialism as imposed by state and federal government. Titer documentation not vaccination records should determine public school entrance and exemptions need to be protected. I will vaccinate my fourth child in a quite different manner than the "guidelines" given by the CDC, knowing all that I understand currently and was complete unaware of before having been engaged in this area by the experience of my family.

Evidence based medicine requires evidence of need for boosters after first dose of a vaccine in a series; it is the keep-it-simple-stupid approach that should be openly and honestly discussed between family practice and pediatrics physicians and their patients. Those who open their doors in practice to this idea may see many new patients, parents like me who want to vaccinate their children for the appropriate at-risk epidemic diseases at appropriate ages with the safest of approaches; this would shift revenue to clinical pathologists from vaccine companies selling unneeded boosters and to open-minded clinicians in the care of children. This compromise puts the patient-physician relationship back in the spotlight. The approach also dims the governance-governed relationship of the CDC and public health officials trying to do their best on a societal basis while ignoring the needs of individuals. These policy artists are so willing to overdose vaccines on the assumption that it is the best method to protect a populace that can't make decisions on its own; very unAmerican and unscientific as the idea has never ben approached any other way. A titer check approach to indicate booster need would actually help defuse a growing vaccine availability crisis, ironic isn't it?

For those who ask why a former Husker and Dakotan has so much to say on this blog, it is simple: our water is your water, I live on the banks of the great river that bears the name of your state and what we do up here on these molecules of H2O gets to Missouri eventually.

Protecting our children's environment is getting harder everyday and it is something that requires great effort from the "little" guy. Autism has a major environmental component that is a liability for the many large industries that are polluting our children's bodies; thus, though vaccines are not completely to blame they do reflect the effects of an industry who job it is to protect the environmental health of our children.

Physicians pushing pharmaceuticals to be better than the fossil fuels industry, metals manufacturers and other industrial polluters shouldn't be so hard, but as anyone can see from experience on this blog, the conditioning of MDs leads them to keep their mouths shut on politically contentious issues for fear of many backlashes.

If PHaRMA wants to push back on this issue, maybe they should spend some money on researching the environmental connections here in a productive manner for their industry by supporting the epidemiology of autism near industrial pollution sites instead of just trying to white wash their own role in this , or give Dr. Von Saal of the University of Missouri some grants to research the explosion of reproductive toxins in our food supply. The role of other industries in this internal-environmental crisis affecting the neurological health of the next generation of Americans is probably even worse than the role played by vaccines, but mom's keep blaming vaccines completely when by temporal association there is an event of vaccination and a response of neurological decline that then gets institutionally ignored.

The future will show we are on the course of a growing epigenetic epidemic, our genes and our environments are suffering increasing dysfunction. These kids are Rachel Carson's birds of the 21st century they need better than what society is doing to skirt the issues so as to protect establishment medicine (state of denial), pharmaceuticals (vaccines), big oil (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), manufacturing (heavy metals), agriculture (organophosphates), food processors (bisphenol A, aspartame), and others (including radiologists) who are playing this role in punctuated genomic instability complicated by molecular slowing of toxin handling kinetics in an increasing proportion of an entire generation of children. Sadly, all of this is only going to get much worse (slowly) for a very long time (decades); the chicken little of today will be understood as the sentinel of tomorrow-by then I fear we will not really have the American experiment anymore, being too run down as a middle class populace by these social-environmental issues to fight the good fight anymore.

As for approach to treatment, establishment academic clinicians need to start paying attention to the work and ideas of Martha Herbert, MD, PhD at Harvard, she's doing the right homework on this issue where so many others are afraid to in the ivory towers. People who want the vision to see how to make this debate productive for children need to read Changing the Course of Autism by Bryan Jepson, MD.

Thanks again to the faculty of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, you are profiles in courage for our day.

Edward F. Fogarty, III, M.D.

Chairman of Radiology

University of North Dakota School of Medicine

Lifelong resident of the banks of the Missouri.

Story Idea-insurance

This person wants more coverage on insurance issues. This item was emailed to this blog--AR

Hi-I wanted to contact you concerning your coverage of autism. I do not live in your area but since you, as a member of the press have asked for input I am taking this oportunity to express my opinion concerning the presses typical coverage of autistic disorders.

I am the Father of a 4 year old by who was diagnosed with an Autistic Spectrum disorder at 18 months. To our knowledge our son has never recieved thimerisol in any of his vaccines. In fact, on the day he went for his 18 month check up he was diagnosed. This check up included giving him the MMR vaccine. To be clear-he was diagnosed as literally minutes before recieving the vaccine.

I do not discount the posibility that mercury or vaccines play a role in some childrens autism. However i find it to less likely than the billions of other potentialy viable causes. I say this because it has been tested and tested and tested and the tests do not indicate this is the cause. Meanwhile just about everything else has not been tested.

You, as a member of the press are looking for controversy. I understand that. Unfortunately you, and the rest of the press are missing the real controversy which is the blatant discrimination by the medical insurance industry. Over 90% of health insurance policies will not cover what main stream medicine recommends to treat children with these disorders. Occupational, Speech and behavioral therapies.

There is no controversy among health professionals that these interventions, when administered early, result in the best outcome for our children. Yet this contoversy is drowned out by the dead horse argument of vaccines and thimerisol. Moreover the paltry sums of funding going to finding treatments for autism are being drained to fund even more testing for an argument that has already been decided. The press has an obligation to report on controveries that affect public policy.

Where is the report that asks the insurance industry-Why are you descriminating against Autistic Children? If you investigated this, you will find that the justifications for this has no merit. We live in a society in which treatment or erectile dysfunction are funded by insurance yet treatments for autism are not-why? The most blatant effect of this descrimination is the economic reality that without insurance unding for autism treatments, no economic incentive exists for finding better treatments. Who is going to fund research into something they will not be paid for? Examples of the lack of economic incentive and/ or misguided priorities for research in finding better treatments are numerous.

I will give you one: Medical science has known for over forty years that abnormal EEG's, siezures and autism are closely related. However, to date, no research has ever been conducted to determine whether autistic children- who are given drugs to correct abnormal EEG's and eliminate the potential for siezures-autistic symptoms get better or worse after treatment with these drugs. The why is obvious-drug companies will be paid for treating siezures, they will not be for treating Autism.

My wife and I funded out of our pocket over $30,000 last year for main stream medicine recomended therapies. Afer considerable effort our insurance company reimbursed $408. Because my insurance was under Cobra law; due to my changing jobs I paid for our health insurance. The premiums were $1200 per month or $14,400. I currently make $84,000 per year plus benefits. Congress is currently trying pas legislation to give free insurance to children whose families make up to $64,000 per year.

Yet this coverage will not cover Autism nor will the coverage the rest of us pay for through our employer sponsored plans. A few states are passing legislation to change this problem. However, neither the federal government under which ERISA sponsored plans (the laws which govern insurance plans for most of us) or my state has passed such legislation.

I do not know what your state is doing. But I urge you to find out. We are overwhelmed with the 24/7 job of caring for a child with an ASD. It is outrageous to me to have to pay insurance pemiums and taxes whch fund every disorder except the one my son has.

Richard Fauth, P.E., M.B.A, CSSB.

Story Idea-yeast,diet, vax, allergies

This person wants to share their ideas for the series. This item was emailed to this blog.--AR


Hello! Thanks for covering such an important topic. Here is what I think needs to come to the forefront. I'm the mom of two kids with ASD so I think I'm qualified to weigh in.

For one, wwww.tacanow.com and www.austim.com have some fabulous information about autism that is rarely talked about.

Other than that: 1) Yeast- Candida Albicans. This is a "theory" that in my opinion is right on that affects all of our ASD children. It causes problems such as sensory issues, weak immune systems, fatigue, irritability, speech delay, digestive issues, rashes, eczema, poor appetite, sleep disturbances, sound sensitivity and much more. It is worth looking into and very valid

2) Gluten Free Casein Free diet- supposedly controversial but plays into the yeast situation. Very effective when used long enough...i.e. most parents who claim that this doesn't work have only tried it for a month at most. It takes up to 9 months for the body to rid itself of gluten and casein remnants.

3) Vaccines- I know that this is also supposedly controversial but it is fact that not only is thimerosal used in vaccinces, but just as bad as that is the fact that formaldehyde, arsenic, aluminum bicarbonate (a neurotoxin), tin, and antifreeze are used at preservatives. Would you feed this stuff to your infant in his or her bottle? Research from the cdc.gov website the side effects of formaldehyde and the other ingredients including thimerosal. Isn't it quite interesting that acute mercury poisoning and autism share the same exact side effects? Then look at the others...do you think that brain damage and seizures is an acceptable side effect?

4) Allergies- vaccienes are also known to be the culprit of food allergies like wheat, milk, egg, gelatin and latex. This is because these ingredients are all present in vaccines and we introduce them to our infant children when they are less than 48 hours old to their very immature immune systems

5) Also talk about why it is that medical doctors seem to offer little or no support to those whose children have been diagnosed with autism. It's because they don't know much of anything about it to begin with . Most of a parents best education comes from other parents- not doctors.

I also wanted to point out: Isn't it interesting that parents are taught to look to our pediatricians/doctors for advice on autism from the moment they are diagnosed. The problem is that once a parent approaches the doctor, suddenly they know virtually nothing beyong "Hey, let's get your child onto a 2-6 months waiting list (if you're lucky) for speech therapy, Physical therapy and Occupational Therapy. Let's cross our fingers and hope for the best!" Although I agree that these therapies play a very important role in helping children with autism, I don't think it's enough.

Also, I am outraged that our insurance companies cover these "band-aid" treatments (as I have called them) but they do not bother to cover the core of the very effective treatments that parents are using to help their own children. I'm talking about proper supplements, vitamins, diets and anti yeast/fungal medications aka biomedical treatments. These are effective treatments....I am amazed at how few doctors actually recommend special diets for people with most any medical condition. I am also annoyed that insurance does not cover testing for vitamin deficiencies (another problem with our kids) and enzyme deficiencies. There should also be testing of our childrens blood work to determine how much of a problem yeast actually is for an individual child so that an appropriate treatment can be determined.Basically, I am upset because insurance companies and medical doctors are all so concerned about putting a "band-aid" over the effects that have already taken place but no one wants to get to the heart of the problem and look deeper inside of the child to fix what can be fixed. If we can do that, then it would be a lot easier for parents to deal with the rest of what is not able to be fixed and can rest easier knowing that they did everything they could do to help their child when all is said and done.

Want to know more? feel free to contact me! or view my story in a nutshell http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/412250/controversy_healing_autism.html

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Story Idea-vaccine safety

This person wants more coverage on vax safety. This item was emailed to this blog.--AR

I hope you will report on the vaccine safety issue. Vaccines contain a number of toxic ingredients, and in addition we need to do more to determine which children will be affected (for example, it is shown that moms with auto-immune conditions stand a much greater chance of having vaccines affect their children negatively).

As Jenny McCarthy has been saying on her recent press tour, the vaccine schedule needs to be re-visited. There are too many given in too short a time span, and in addition, vaccines should not be necessarily given to every child…they are not “one size fits all”.

In addition, many studies call into question how effective they even are. In the case of recent outbreaks, the majority of those affected were fully vaccinated.

Best,

Carrie

autism moms in missouri

This mom wants to share her story. This item was emailed to this blog--AR

Hello,My name is Jackie Hanson and I have a son who was diagnosed with autism in Sept of 06. Im not sure what kind of information you are looking for. But I will start with what of course I believe played a very big role with my son having autism. Vaccines. My son was not born with autism. He was crawling at 4 months standinf up and walking around things at 6 babbling very early everything he did was early.

He used to make eye contact. He would laugh at funny things on tv. He was a little boy. Then one day he had shots and was a little boy with autism. Vaccines that i beleived was helping my son not harming him.

And no We have tons of meeting with school and people with the resources to help my child. We have an account that we are saving money in order to take him to a DAN dr. Instead of saving money for him to have for college. It bothers me very much. The Dr is at least $1000 to $2000 for the first visit. Well Im not sure what information you are wanting but that was a little preview of our story. I fyou would like to know more please feel free to email me at jackie_hanson@sbcglobal.net
Thanks
Jackie Hanson.

Please make this a good story and let people hear what us moms have to say. Because we after all know best right?!

Vaccines questionable

I am the proud grandfather of a lovable seven year old, nonverbal, non-potty trained boy, who "regressed" and was diagnosed autistic just prior to three years of age. Our family believes our little guy's "regression" was caused by too many vaccines, given him too early in life.

Recently, major media reported some companies have "pulled" infant medications from their shelves, as a "precautionary" step, following an FDA bulletin that warned children being given "infant medications" for colds and coughs could be at risk. This follows a CDC report in January that 1,500 children under 2 were treated in emergency rooms in 2004 and 2005 because of reactions to infant cough and cold medications....three children died.


Since it takes only weeks before the FDA and CDC identifies, isolates and contains an outbreak of E Coli contaminated spinach, which caused a few victims diarrhea.....why did it require "1,500 children under the age of two...and...three deaths", over years, before the FDA and CDC issued their "cautionary" warning about the "risks" associated with these commonly used, over-the-counter products, given to infants?


If children under two are at higher risk for "over-the-counter" medications, what are their risks when given the HEP B vaccine, within hours of birth, ostensibly to protect them from a disease that is primarily spread through unprotected promiscuous sex or the sharing of illegal drug paraphernalia? Indeed, how is it possible for anyone....parents, doctors or nurses...to know for certain that infant is not allergic to the ingredients of the HEP B vaccine...or...that infant's immune system is not already under attack? After all, those are the "guidelines" the FDA now recommends parents follow before giving their under two child "over-the-counter" medications.

Unfortunately, the CDC reports that 1 in every 6 American children suffer some type of early childhood disorder, such as, allergies, asthma, autism, juvenile type 1 diabetes, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, ADD, ADHD, etc. etc.


Can anyone please explain to me why the most heavily vaccinated generation in history, is so sick?

BOB MOFFITT
PROUD GRANDPA OF BOBBY MOFFITT, "REGRESSED" FOUR YEARS
SLOATSBURG, NEW YORK