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Patt Morrison webpage

Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is a bacterial respiratory tract infection. It begins looking like most other upper respiratory illnesses:

There may be nothing more than a runny nose and sneezing, often with little or no fever. The first coughs can look like a common cold. After 1-2 weeks, this may progress to a stage characterized by bursts of numerous rapid coughs (paroxysms, a “machine gun” cough) followed by a loud “whooping” inhalation, which gives Bordetella Pertussis the alternative name of “whooping cough.” That “whoop,” however is not an invariable part of the illness. A final recovery stage with coughing may last weeks or months. It’s a nasty illness which the Chinese call the “100 day cough” and their number is not far off. In most cases, whooping cough is a truly miserable cough that can ruin a family’s summer plans and mean a lot of missed days of work and school. In very rare cases, it can lead to much more serious conditions. The risk is highest for infants in the first six weeks of life who can get very sick and even die from it.

At the present time, I’m aware of two families in my practice who I believe have pertussis. I have no laboratory confirmation and in neither case has anyone in the family required hospital care.

The media and many official medical organizations get the discussion of “epidemics” wrong as often as they get it right and when they finally have something to talk about in the press it’s hard to sort out the truth. Before you read any further, have a look at this New York Times article about the whooping cough “epidemic that wasn’t.”

This time, unlike the H1N1 “pandemic” scare, the avian flu hype, the measles epidemic of 132 cases, the Jewish mumps scare and the West Nile Virus fear posters at every trail head, the pertussis outbreak information might be real and might be a reason to consider getting your child vaccinated. Whooping cough is not easy to diagnose with lab tests and doctors and parents often must rely on their clinical impression the cough and the pattern of disease spread. According to the official website of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, an article reviewed by Dr, Paul Offit estimates that there are between “600,000 to 900,000″ cases of pertussis each year in adults and adolescents alone. This stands at odds with official data from the CDC which puts that number at 5000-10,000. This type of disparity makes the discussion of pertussis outbreaks and vaccination just a little more difficult.

I think the DTaP vaccine is the shot with the best risk/benefit ratio and it’s the vaccine I use the most often in my office week. The official schedule includes far too many shots for six-week-old babies. A lot of harm and confusion could be alleviated by vaccinating later and not giving five or six vaccines at the same time.

This “acellular” vaccine does not contain mercury (almost no vaccines still do) and has been in use for nearly fifteen years in the United States and for quite a few years before that in other countries.

DTaP vaccine prevents whooping cough and may even prevent illness or lessen the severity of illness after the first vaccine. The routine schedule includes three doses in the first six months of life, a fourth at eighteen months of age, a fifth at age five years and booster doses of a new adolescent/adult vaccine. I don’t think your babies under a year of age should be given any vaccines, including this one. The CDC and most doctors, including my colleagues in this office, disagree.

Erythromycin, Zithromax and similar antibiotics can shorten the contagious phase of pertussis and can stop the spread of the illness in a family or a school. Our office has DTaP vaccine for infants and young children and another for older children, adolescents and adults. I do not recommend this vaccine for infants unless there are unusual risk factors in a baby’s life. Again, the vast majority of experts disagree, and I understand the need for public health considerations and preservation of herd immunity but still would rather vaccinate only after 12-24 months of age and feel comfortable, in most cases, giving no vaccine at all.

Ultimately this is a parents’ decision. Do not expect the media to let up on this issue in the near future.

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Tylenol Recall Update

Since the April recall, Children’s Tylenol, Benadryl, Motrin and other McNeil Pharmaceutical products are still unavailable for purchase. The latest report says we should not expect a return of these products until 2011. You can receive updates from the makers of Tylenol on their website. In the meantime, I recommend generic brands of diphenhydramine (Benadryl) for allergies and generic acetaminophen and ibuprofen for fever control when you need it.

Here is a resource to help you determine the proper amount of acetaminophen to give your child.

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Jay Gordon, MD, FAAP

A few days ago, Ms.McMahon emailed me to tell me that the decision had been made to omit my interview from the show. There would not be one word from me. She didn’t tell me that she had also omitted 100% of Dr. Robert Sears’ interview. And that any other comments from physicians supporting the parents on the show in their ambivalence about vaccines or their decision to refuse all vaccines would also be omitted.

She left this as a show with many doctors commenting very negatively, very frighteningly and often disdainfully and dismissively about vaccine “hesitation” as they called it.

Below is my email response to Kate McMahon.

Dear Kate,

The “Frontline” show was disgraceful. You didn’t even have the courtesy to put my interview or any part of the two hours we spent taping on your web site.

You created a pseudo-documentary with a preconceived set of conclusions: “Irresponsible moms against science” was an easy takeaway from the show.

Did you happen to notice that Vanessa, the child critically ill with pertussis, was not intubated nor on a respirator in the ER? She had nasal “prongs” delivering oxygen. I’m sorry for her parents’ anxiety and very happy that she was cured of pertussis. But to use anecdotal reports like this as science is irresponsible and merely served the needs of the doctor you wanted to feature.

No one pursued Dr. Offit’s response about becoming rich from the vaccine he invented. He was allowed to slide right by that question without any follow up. Dr. Paul Offit did not go into vaccine research to get rich. He is a scientist motivated by his desire to help children. But his profiting tens of millions of dollars from the creation of this vaccine and the pursuit of sales of this and other vaccines is definitely not what he says it is. His many millions “don’t matter” he says. And you let it go.

Jenny McCarthy resumed being a “former Playboy” person and was not acknowledged as a successful author, actress and mother exploring every possible avenue to treating her own son and the children of tens of thousands of other families.

I trusted you by giving you two or three hours of my time for an interview and multiple background discussions. I expressed my heartfelt reservations about both vaccines and the polarizing of this issue into “pro-vaccine” and “anti-vaccine” camps. I told you that there was at least a third “camp.” There are many doctors and even more parents who would like a more judicious approach to immunization. Give vaccines later, slower and with an individualized approach as we do in every other area of medicine.

What did you create instead?

“The Vaccine War.”

A war. Not a discussion or a disagreement over facts and opinions, but a war. This show was unintelligent, dangerous and completely lacking in the balance that you promised me–and your viewers–when you produced and advertised this piece of biased unscientific journalism. “Tabloid journalism” I believe is the epithet often used. Even a good tabloid journalist could see through the screed you’ve presented.

You interviewed me, you spent hours with Dr. Robert Sears of the deservedly-illustrious Sears family and you spoke to other doctors who support parents in their desire to find out what went wrong and why it’s going wrong and what we might do to prevent this true epidemic.

Not a measles epidemic, not whooping cough. Autism. An epidemic caused by environmental triggers acting on genetic predisposition. The science is there and the evidence of harm is there. Proof will come over the next decade. The National Children’s Study will, perhaps by accident, become a prospective look at many children with and without vaccines. But we don’t have time to wait for the results of this twenty-one year research study: We know that certain pesticides cause cancer and we know that flame retardants in children’s pajamas are dangerous. We are cleaning up our air and water slowly and parents know which paint to buy and which to leave on the shelves when they paint their babies’ bedrooms.

The information parents and doctors don’t have is contained in the huge question mark about the number of vaccines, the way we vaccinate and the dramatic increase in autism, ADD/ADHD, childhood depression and more. We pretend to have proof of harm or proof of no harm when what we really have is a large series of very important unanswered questions.

In case you were wondering, as I practice pediatrics every day of my career, I base nothing I do on Dr. Wakefield’s research or on Jenny McCarthy’s opinions. I respect what they both have done and respectfully disagree with them at times. I don’t think that Dr. Wakefield’s study proved anything except that we need to look harder at his hypothesis. I don’t think that Jenny McCarthy has all the answers to treating or preventing autism, but there are tens of thousands of parents who have long needed her strong high-profile voice to draw attention to their families’ needs: Most families with autism get inadequate reimbursement for their huge annual expenses and very little respect from the insurance industry, the government or the medical community. Jenny has demanded that a brighter light be shone on their circumstances, their frustration and their needs.

I base everything I do on my reading of CDC and World Health Organization statistics about disease incidence in the United States and elsewhere. I base everything I do on having spent the past thirty years in pediatric practice watching tens of thousands of children get vaccines, not get vaccines and the differences I see.

Vaccines change children.

Most experts would argue that the changes are unequivocally good. My experience and three decades of observation and study tell me otherwise. Vaccines are neither all good–as this biased, miserable PBS treacle would have you believe–nor all bad as the strident anti-vaccine camp argues.

You say the decisions to edit 100% of my interview from your show (and omit my comments from your website) “were purely based on what’s best for the show, not personal or political, and the others who didn’t make it came from both sides of the vaccine debate.” You are not telling the truth. You had a point to prove and removed material from your show which made the narrative balanced. “Distraught, confused moms against important, well-spoken calm doctors” was your narrative with a deep sure voice to, literally, narrate the entire artifice.

You should be ashamed of yourself, Kate. You knew what you put on the air was slanted and you cheated the viewers out of an opportunity for education and information. You cheated me out of hours of time, betrayed my trust and then you wasted an hour of PBS airtime. Shame on you.

The way vaccines are manufactured and administered right now in 2010 makes vaccines and their ingredients part of the group of toxins which have led to a huge increase in childhood diseases including autism. Your show made parents’ decisions harder and did nothing except regurgitate old news.

Parents and children deserve far better from PBS.

In June 2000, a group of top government scientists and health officials gathered for a meeting at the isolated Simpsonwood conference center in Norcross, Georgia. Convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the meeting was held at this Methodist retreat center, nestled in wooded farmland next to the Chattahoochee River, to ensure complete secrecy. The agency had issued no public announcement of the session — only private invitations to fifty-two attendees. There were high-level officials from the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration, the top vaccine specialist from the World Health Organization in Geneva and representatives of every major vaccine manufacturer, including GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Wyeth and Aventis Pasteur. All of the scientific data under discussion, CDC officials repeatedly reminded the participants, was strictly “embargoed.” There would be no making photocopies of documents, no taking papers with them when they left.

The federal officials and industry representatives had assembled to discuss a disturbing new study that raised alarming questions about the safety of a host of common childhood vaccines administered to infants and young children. According to a CDC epidemiologist named Tom Verstraeten, who had analyzed the agency’s massive database containing the medical records of 100,000 children, a mercury-based preservative in the vaccines — thimerosal — appeared to be responsible for a dramatic increase in autism and a host of other neurological disorders among children. “I was actually stunned by what I saw,” Verstraeten told those assembled at Simpsonwood, citing the staggering number of earlier studies that indicate a link between thimerosal and speech delays, attention-deficit disorder, hyperactivity and autism. Since 1991, when the CDC and the FDA had recommended that three additional vaccines laced with the preservative be given to extremely young infants — in one case, within hours of birth — the estimated number of cases of autism had increased fifteenfold, from one in every 2,500 children to one in 166 children.

Even for scientists and doctors accustomed to confronting issues of life and death, the findings were frightening. “You can play with this all you want,” Dr. Bill Weil, a consultant for the American Academy of Pediatrics, told the group. The results “are statistically significant.” Dr. Richard Johnston, an immunologist and pediatrician from the University of Colorado whose grandson had been born early on the morning of the meeting’s first day, was even more alarmed. “My gut feeling?” he said. “Forgive this personal comment — I do not want my grandson to get a thimerosal-containing vaccine until we know better what is going on.”

But instead of taking immediate steps to alert the public and rid the vaccine supply of thimerosal, the officials and executives at Simpsonwood spent most of the next two days discussing how to cover up the damaging data. According to transcripts obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, many at the meeting were concerned about how the damaging revelations about thimerosal would affect the vaccine industry’s bottom line. “We are in a bad position from the standpoint of defending any lawsuits,” said Dr. Robert Brent, a pediatrician at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Delaware. “This will be a resource to our very busy plaintiff attorneys in this country.” Dr. Bob Chen, head of vaccine safety for the CDC, expressed relief that “given the sensitivity of the information, we have been able to keep it out of the hands of, let’s say, less responsible hands.” Dr. John Clements, vaccines advisor at the World Health Organization, declared that “perhaps this study should not have been done at all.” He added that “the research results have to be handled,” warning that the study “will be taken by others and will be used in other ways beyond the control of this group.”

In fact, the government has proved to be far more adept at handling the damage than at protecting children’s health. The CDC paid the Institute of Medicine to conduct a new study to whitewash the risks of thimerosal, ordering researchers to “rule out” the chemical’s link to autism. It withheld Verstraeten’s findings, even though they had been slated for immediate publication, and told other scientists that his original data had been “lost” and could not be replicated. And to thwart the Freedom of Information Act, it handed its giant database of vaccine records over to a private company, declaring it off-limits to researchers. By the time Verstraeten finally published his study in 2003, he had gone to work for GlaxoSmithKline and reworked his data to bury the link between thimerosal and autism.

Vaccine manufacturers had already begun to phase thimerosal out of injections given to American infants — but they continued to sell off their mercury-based supplies of vaccines until last year. The CDC and FDA gave them a hand, buying up the tainted vaccines for export to developing countries and allowing drug companies to continue using the preservative in some American vaccines — including several pediatric flu shots as well as tetanus boosters routinely given to eleven-year-olds.

The drug companies are also getting help from powerful lawmakers in Washington. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who has received $873,000 in contributions from the pharmaceutical industry, has been working to immunize vaccine makers from liability in 4,200 lawsuits that have been filed by the parents of injured children. On five separate occasions, Frist has tried to seal all of the government’s vaccine-related documents — including the Simpsonwood transcripts — and shield Eli Lilly, the developer of thimerosal, from subpoenas. In 2002, the day after Frist quietly slipped a rider known as the “Eli Lilly Protection Act” into a homeland security bill, the company contributed $10,000 to his campaign and bought 5,000 copies of his book on bioterrorism. The measure was repealed by Congress in 2003 — but earlier this year, Frist slipped another provision into an anti-terrorism bill that would deny compensation to children suffering from vaccine-related brain disorders. “The lawsuits are of such magnitude that they could put vaccine producers out of business and limit our capacity to deal with a biological attack by terrorists,” says Dean Rosen, health policy adviser to Frist.

Even many conservatives are shocked by the government’s effort to cover up the dangers of thimerosal. Rep. Dan Burton, a Republican from Indiana, oversaw a three-year investigation of thimerosal after his grandson was diagnosed with autism. “Thimerosal used as a preservative in vaccines is directly related to the autism epidemic,” his House Government Reform Committee concluded in its final report. “This epidemic in all probability may have been prevented or curtailed had the FDA not been asleep at the switch regarding a lack of safety data regarding injected thimerosal, a known neurotoxin.” The FDA and other public-health agencies failed to act, the committee added, out of “institutional malfeasance for self protection” and “misplaced protectionism of the pharmaceutical industry.”

The story of how government health agencies colluded with Big Pharma to hide the risks of thimerosal from the public is a chilling case study of institutional arrogance, power and greed. I was drawn into the controversy only reluctantly. As an attorney and environmentalist who has spent years working on issues of mercury toxicity, I frequently met mothers of autistic children who were absolutely convinced that their kids had been injured by vaccines. Privately, I was skeptical.

I doubted that autism could be blamed on a single source, and I certainly understood the government’s need to reassure parents that vaccinations are safe; the eradication of deadly childhood diseases depends on it. I tended to agree with skeptics like Rep. Henry Waxman, a Democrat from California, who criticized his colleagues on the House Government Reform Committee for leaping to conclusions about autism and vaccinations. “Why should we scare people about immunization,” Waxman pointed out at one hearing, “until we know the facts?”

It was only after reading the Simpsonwood transcripts, studying the leading scientific research and talking with many of the nation’s pre-eminent authorities on mercury that I became convinced that the link between thimerosal and the epidemic of childhood neurological disorders is real. Five of my own children are members of the Thimerosal Generation — those born between 1989 and 2003 — who received heavy doses of mercury from vaccines. “The elementary grades are overwhelmed with children who have symptoms of neurological or immune-system damage,” Patti White, a school nurse, told the House Government Reform Committee in 1999. “Vaccines are supposed to be making us healthier; however, in twenty-five years of nursing I have never seen so many damaged, sick kids. Something very, very wrong is happening to our children.”
More than 500,000 kids currently suffer from autism, and pediatricians diagnose more than 40,000 new cases every year. The disease was unknown until 1943, when it was identified and diagnosed among eleven children born in the months after thimerosal was first added to baby vaccines in 1931.

Some skeptics dispute that the rise in autism is caused by thimerosal-tainted vaccinations. They argue that the increase is a result of better diagnosis — a theory that seems questionable at best, given that most of the new cases of autism are clustered within a single generation of children. “If the epidemic is truly an artifact of poor diagnosis,” scoffs Dr. Boyd Haley, one of the world’s authorities on mercury toxicity, “then where are all the twenty-year-old autistics?” Other researchers point out that Americans are exposed to a greater cumulative “load” of mercury than ever before, from contaminated fish to dental fillings, and suggest that thimerosal in vaccines may be only part of a much larger problem. It’s a concern that certainly deserves far more attention than it has received — but it overlooks the fact that the mercury concentrations in vaccines dwarf other sources of exposure to our children.

What is most striking is the lengths to which many of the leading detectives have gone to ignore — and cover up — the evidence against thimerosal. From the very beginning, the scientific case against the mercury additive has been overwhelming. The preservative, which is used to stem fungi and bacterial growth in vaccines, contains ethylmercury, a potent neurotoxin. Truckloads of studies have shown that mercury tends to accumulate in the brains of primates and other animals after they are injected with vaccines — and that the developing brains of infants are particularly susceptible. In 1977, a Russian study found that adults exposed to much lower concentrations of ethylmercury than those given to American children still suffered brain damage years later. Russia banned thimerosal from children’s vaccines twenty years ago, and Denmark, Austria, Japan, Great Britain and all the Scandinavian countries have since followed suit.

“You couldn’t even construct a study that shows thimerosal is safe,” says Haley, who heads the chemistry department at the University of Kentucky. “It’s just too darn toxic. If you inject thimerosal into an animal, its brain will sicken. If you apply it to living tissue, the cells die. If you put it in a petri dish, the culture dies. Knowing these things, it would be shocking if one could inject it into an infant without causing damage.”

Internal documents reveal that Eli Lilly, which first developed thimerosal, knew from the start that its product could cause damage — and even death — in both animals and humans. In 1930, the company tested thimerosal by administering it to twenty-two patients with terminal meningitis, all of whom died within weeks of being injected — a fact Lilly didn’t bother to report in its study declaring thimerosal safe. In 1935, researchers at another vaccine manufacturer, Pittman-Moore, warned Lilly that its claims about thimerosal’s safety “did not check with ours.” Half the dogs Pittman injected with thimerosal-based vaccines became sick, leading researchers there to declare the preservative “unsatisfactory as a serum intended for use on dogs.”

In the decades that followed, the evidence against thimerosal continued to mount. During the Second World War, when the Department of Defense used the preservative in vaccines on soldiers, it required Lilly to label it “poison.” In 1967, a study in Applied Microbiology found that thimerosal killed mice when added to injected vaccines. Four years later, Lilly’s own studies discerned that thimerosal was “toxic to tissue cells” in concentrations as low as one part per million — 100 times weaker than the concentration in a typical vaccine. Even so, the company continued to promote thimerosal as “nontoxic” and also incorporated it into topical disinfectants. In 1977, ten babies at a Toronto hospital died when an antiseptic preserved with thimerosal was dabbed onto their umbilical cords.

In 1982, the FDA proposed a ban on over-the-counter products that contained thimerosal, and in 1991 the agency considered banning it from animal vaccines. But tragically, that same year, the CDC recommended that infants be injected with a series of mercury-laced vaccines. Newborns would be vaccinated for hepatitis B within twenty-four hours of birth, and two-month-old infants would be immunized for haemophilus influenzae B and diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis.
The drug industry knew the additional vaccines posed a danger. The same year that the CDC approved the new vaccines, Dr. Maurice Hilleman, one of the fathers of Merck’s vaccine programs, warned the company that six-month-olds who were administered the shots would suffer dangerous exposure to mercury. He recommended that thimerosal be discontinued, “especially when used on infants and children,” noting that the industry knew of nontoxic alternatives. “The best way to go,” he added, “is to switch to dispensing the actual vaccines without adding preservatives.”

For Merck and other drug companies, however, the obstacle was money. Thimerosal enables the pharmaceutical industry to package vaccines in vials that contain multiple doses, which require additional protection because they are more easily contaminated by multiple needle entries. The larger vials cost half as much to produce as smaller, single-dose vials, making it cheaper for international agencies to distribute them to impoverished regions at risk of epidemics. Faced with this “cost consideration,” Merck ignored Hilleman’s warnings, and government officials continued to push more and more thimerosal-based vaccines for children. Before 1989, American preschoolers received eleven vaccinations — for polio, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis and measles-mumps-rubella. A decade later, thanks to federal recommendations, children were receiving a total of twenty-two immunizations by the time they reached first grade.

As the number of vaccines increased, the rate of autism among children exploded. During the 1990s, 40 million children were injected with thimerosal-based vaccines, receiving unprecedented levels of mercury during a period critical for brain development. Despite the well-documented dangers of thimerosal, it appears that no one bothered to add up the cumulative dose of mercury that children would receive from the mandated vaccines. “What took the FDA so long to do the calculations?” Peter Patriarca, director of viral products for the agency, asked in an e-mail to the CDC in 1999. “Why didn’t CDC and the advisory bodies do these calculations when they rapidly expanded the childhood immunization schedule?”

But by that time, the damage was done. At two months, when the infant brain is still at a critical stage of development, infants routinely received three inoculations that contained a total of 62.5 micrograms of ethylmercury — a level 99 times greater than the EPA’s limit for daily exposure to methylmercury, a related neurotoxin. Although the vaccine industry insists that ethylmercury poses little danger because it breaks down rapidly and is removed by the body, several studies — including one published in April by the National Institutes of Health — suggest that ethylmercury is actually more toxic to developing brains and stays in the brain longer than methylmercury.

Officials responsible for childhood immunizations insist that the additional vaccines were necessary to protect infants from disease and that thimerosal is still essential in developing nations, which, they often claim, cannot afford the single-dose vials that don’t require a preservative. Dr. Paul Offit, one of CDC’s top vaccine advisers, told me, “I think if we really have an influenza pandemic — and certainly we will in the next twenty years, because we always do — there’s no way on God’s earth that we immunize 280 million people with single-dose vials. There has to be multidose vials.”

But while public-health officials may have been well-intentioned, many of those on the CDC advisory committee who backed the additional vaccines had close ties to the industry. Dr. Sam Katz, the committee’s chair, was a paid consultant for most of the major vaccine makers and was part of a team that developed the measles vaccine and brought it to licensure in 1963. Dr. Neal Halsey, another committee member, worked as a researcher for the vaccine companies and received honoraria from Abbott Labs for his research on the hepatitis B vaccine.
Indeed, in the tight circle of scientists who work on vaccines, such conflicts of interest are common. Rep. Burton says that the CDC “routinely allows scientists with blatant conflicts of interest to serve on intellectual advisory committees that make recommendations on new vaccines,” even though they have “interests in the products and companies for which they are supposed to be providing unbiased oversight.” The House Government Reform Committee discovered that four of the eight CDC advisers who approved guidelines for a rotavirus vaccine “had financial ties to the pharmaceutical companies that were developing different versions of the vaccine.”

Offit, who shares a patent on one of the vaccines, acknowledged to me that he “would make money” if his vote eventually leads to a marketable product. But he dismissed my suggestion that a scientist’s direct financial stake in CDC approval might bias his judgment. “It provides no conflict for me,” he insists. “I have simply been informed by the process, not corrupted by it. When I sat around that table, my sole intent was trying to make recommendations that best benefited the children in this country. It’s offensive to say that physicians and public-health people are in the pocket of industry and thus are making decisions that they know are unsafe for children. It’s just not the way it works.”

Other vaccine scientists and regulators gave me similar assurances. Like Offit, they view themselves as enlightened guardians of children’s health, proud of their “partnerships” with pharmaceutical companies, immune to the seductions of personal profit, besieged by irrational activists whose anti-vaccine campaigns are endangering children’s health. They are often resentful of questioning. “Science,” says Offit, “is best left to scientists.”

Still, some government officials were alarmed by the apparent conflicts of interest. In his e-mail to CDC administrators in 1999, Paul Patriarca of the FDA blasted federal regulators for failing to adequately scrutinize the danger posed by the added baby vaccines. “I’m not sure there will be an easy way out of the potential perception that the FDA, CDC and immunization-policy bodies may have been asleep at the switch re: thimerosal until now,” Patriarca wrote. The close ties between regulatory officials and the pharmaceutical industry, he added, “will also raise questions about various advisory bodies regarding aggressive recommendations for use” of thimerosal in child vaccines.

If federal regulators and government scientists failed to grasp the potential risks of thimerosal over the years, no one could claim ignorance after the secret meeting at Simpsonwood. But rather than conduct more studies to test the link to autism and other forms of brain damage, the CDC placed politics over science. The agency turned its database on childhood vaccines — which had been developed largely at taxpayer expense — over to a private agency, America’s Health Insurance Plans, ensuring that it could not be used for additional research. It also instructed the Institute of Medicine, an advisory organization that is part of the National Academy of Sciences, to produce a study debunking the link between thimerosal and brain disorders. The CDC “wants us to declare, well, that these things are pretty safe,” Dr. Marie McCormick, who chaired the IOM’s Immunization Safety Review Committee, told her fellow researchers when they first met in January 2001. “We are not ever going to come down that [autism] is a true side effect” of thimerosal exposure. According to transcripts of the meeting, the committee’s chief staffer, Kathleen Stratton, predicted that the IOM would conclude that the evidence was “inadequate to accept or reject a causal relation” between thimerosal and autism. That, she added, was the result “Walt wants” — a reference to Dr. Walter Orenstein, director of the National Immunization Program for the CDC.
For those who had devoted their lives to promoting vaccination, the revelations about thimerosal threatened to undermine everything they had worked for. “We’ve got a dragon by the tail here,” said Dr. Michael Kaback, another committee member. “The more negative that [our] presentation is, the less likely people are to use vaccination, immunization — and we know what the results of that will be. We are kind of caught in a trap. How we work our way out of the trap, I think is the charge.”

Even in public, federal officials made it clear that their primary goal in studying thimerosal was to dispel doubts about vaccines. “Four current studies are taking place to rule out the proposed link between autism and thimerosal,” Dr. Gordon Douglas, then-director of strategic planning for vaccine research at the National Institutes of Health, assured a Princeton University gathering in May 2001. “In order to undo the harmful effects of research claiming to link the [measles] vaccine to an elevated risk of autism, we need to conduct and publicize additional studies to assure parents of safety.” Douglas formerly served as president of vaccinations for Merck, where he ignored warnings about thimerosal’s risks.

In May of last year, the Institute of Medicine issued its final report. Its conclusion: There is no proven link between autism and thimerosal in vaccines. Rather than reviewing the large body of literature describing the toxicity of thimerosal, the report relied on four disastrously flawed epidemiological studies examining European countries, where children received much smaller doses of thimerosal than American kids. It also cited a new version of the Verstraeten study, published in the journal Pediatrics, that had been reworked to reduce the link between thimerosal and autism. The new study included children too young to have been diagnosed with autism and overlooked others who showed signs of the disease. The IOM declared the case closed and — in a startling position for a scientific body — recommended that no further research be conducted.

The report may have satisfied the CDC, but it convinced no one. Rep. David Weldon, a Republican physician from Florida who serves on the House Government Reform Committee, attacked the Institute of Medicine, saying it relied on a handful of studies that were “fatally flawed” by “poor design” and failed to represent “all the available scientific and medical research.” CDC officials are not interested in an honest search for the truth, Weldon told me, because “an association between vaccines and autism would force them to admit that their policies irreparably damaged thousands of children. Who would want to make that conclusion about themselves?”

Under pressure from Congress and parents, the Institute of Medicine convened another panel to address continuing concerns about the Vaccine Safety Datalink Data Sharing program. In February, the new panel, composed of different scientists, criticized the way the VSD had been used in the Verstraeten study, and urged the CDC to make its vaccine database available to the public.

So far, though, only two scientists have managed to gain access. Dr. Mark Geier, president of the Genetics Center of America, and his son, David, spent a year battling to obtain the medical records from the CDC. Since August 2002, when members of Congress pressured the agency to turn over the data, the Geiers have completed six studies that demonstrate a powerful correlation between thimerosal and neurological damage in children. One study, which compares the cumulative dose of mercury received by children born between 1981 and 1985 with those born between 1990 and 1996, found a “very significant relationship” between autism and vaccines. Another study of educational performance found that kids who received higher doses of thimerosal in vaccines were nearly three times as likely to be diagnosed with autism and more than three times as likely to suffer from speech disorders and mental retardation. Another soon-to-be published study shows that autism rates are in decline following the recent elimination of thimerosal from most vaccines.

As the federal government worked to prevent scientists from studying vaccines, others have stepped in to study the link to autism. In April, reporter Dan Olmsted of UPI undertook one of the more interesting studies himself. Searching for children who had not been exposed to mercury in vaccines — the kind of population that scientists typically use as a “control” in experiments — Olmsted scoured the Amish of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, who refuse to immunize their infants. Given the national rate of autism, Olmsted calculated that there should be 130 autistics among the Amish. He found only four. One had been exposed to high levels of mercury from a power plant. The other three — including one child adopted from outside the Amish community — had received their vaccines.

At the state level, many officials have also conducted in-depth reviews of thimerosal. While the Institute of Medicine was busy whitewashing the risks, the Iowa legislature was carefully combing through all of the available scientific and biological data. “After three years of review, I became convinced there was sufficient credible research to show a link between mercury and the increased incidences in autism,” says state Sen. Ken Veenstra, a Republican who oversaw the investigation. “The fact that Iowa’s 700 percent increase in autism began in the 1990s, right after more and more vaccines were added to the children’s vaccine schedules, is solid evidence alone.” Last year, Iowa became the first state to ban mercury in vaccines, followed by California. Similar bans are now under consideration in thirty-two other states.

But instead of following suit, the FDA continues to allow manufacturers to include thimerosal in scores of over-the-counter medications as well as steroids and injected collagen. Even more alarming, the government continues to ship vaccines preserved with thimerosal to developing countries — some of which are now experiencing a sudden explosion in autism rates. In China, where the disease was virtually unknown prior to the introduction of thimerosal by U.S. drug manufacturers in 1999, news reports indicate that there are now more than 1.8 million autistics. Although reliable numbers are hard to come by, autistic disorders also appear to be soaring in India, Argentina, Nicaragua and other developing countries that are now using thimerosal-laced vaccines. The World Health Organization continues to insist thimerosal is safe, but it promises to keep the possibility that it is linked to neurological disorders “under review.”

I devoted time to study this issue because I believe that this is a moral crisis that must be addressed. If, as the evidence suggests, our public-health authorities knowingly allowed the pharmaceutical industry to poison an entire generation of American children, their actions arguably constitute one of the biggest scandals in the annals of American medicine. “The CDC is guilty of incompetence and gross negligence,” says Mark Blaxill, vice president of Safe Minds, a nonprofit organization concerned about the role of mercury in medicines. “The damage caused by vaccine exposure is massive. It’s bigger than asbestos, bigger than tobacco, bigger than anything you’ve ever seen.”

It’s hard to calculate the damage to our country — and to the international efforts to eradicate epidemic diseases — if Third World nations come to believe that America’s most heralded foreign-aid initiative is poisoning their children. It’s not difficult to predict how this scenario will be interpreted by America’s enemies abroad. The scientists and researchers — many of them sincere, even idealistic — who are participating in efforts to hide the science on thimerosal claim that they are trying to advance the lofty goal of protecting children in developing nations from disease pandemics. They are badly misguided. Their failure to come clean on thimerosal will come back horribly to haunt our country and the world’s poorest populations.

NOTE: This story has been updated to correct several inaccuracies in the original, published version. As originally reported, American preschoolers received only three vaccinations before 1989, but the article failed to note that they were innoculated a total of eleven times with those vaccines, including boosters. The article also misstated the level of ethylmercury received by infants injected with all their shots by the age of six months. It was 187 micrograms – an amount forty percent, not 187 times, greater than the EPA’s limit for daily exposure to methylmercury. Finally, because of an editing error, the article misstated the contents of the rotavirus vaccine approved by the CDC. It did not contain thimerosal. Salon and Rolling Stone regret the errors.

An earlier version of this story stated that the Institute of Medicine convened a second panel to review the work of the Immunization Safety Review Committee that had found no evidence of a link between thimerosal and autism. In fact, the IOM convened the second panel to address continuing concerns about the Vaccine Safety Datalink Data Sharing program, including those raised by critics of the IOM’s earlier work. But the panel was not charged with reviewing the committee’s findings. The story also inadvertently omitted a word and transposed two sentences in a quote by Dr. John Clements, and incorrectly stated that Dr. Sam Katz held a patent with Merck on the measles vaccine. In fact, Dr. Katz was part of a team that developed the vaccine and brought it to licensure, but he never held the patent. Salon and Rolling Stone regret the errors.

CLARIFICATION: After publication of this story, Salon and Rolling Stone corrected an error that misstated the level of ethylmercury received by infants injected with all their shots by the age of six months. It was 187 micrograms ? an amount forty percent, not 187 times, greater than the EPA’s limit for daily exposure to methylmercury. At the time of the correction, we were aware that the comparison itself was flawed, but as journalists we considered it more appropriate to state the correct figure rather than replace it with another number entirely.

Since that earlier correction, however, it has become clear from responses to the article that the forty-percent number, while accurate, is misleading. It measures the total mercury load an infant received from vaccines during the first six months, calculates the daily average received based on average body weight, and then compares that number to the EPA daily limit. But infants did not receive the vaccines as a ?daily average? ? they received massive doses on a single day, through multiple shots. As the story states, these single-day doses exceeded the EPA limit by as much as 99 times. Based on the misunderstanding, and to avoid further confusion, we have amended the story to eliminate the forty-percent figure.

Correction: The story misattributed a quote to Andy Olson, former legislative counsel to Senator Bill Frist. The comment was made by Dean Rosen, health policy adviser to the senator. Rolling Stone and Salon.com regret the error.

Kennedy Report Sparks Controversy

As we were getting up to leave, he handed me a packet.  He called it “propaganda”.  He said as we walked down the hall, “Read this packet of propaganda on the adverse effects of vaccines, but don’t worry…the risk of anything happening is very slim.”  So with that we said goodbye and I tucked the packet away.  How I wish I could go back to that day and ask all the questions I now know to ask!

A few weeks later my son was born a healthy little boy and immediately started his immunization schedule at his first appointment.  I dutifully took him every two months and received the battery of vaccinations. At that time we didn’t think anything of the fact that he wasn’t interested in toys like other kids or that he didn’t babble or smile much.  He seemed to learn these things at a slower rate, but then would lose the skills he had gained.  As a Special Education teacher, I knew in my heart that something was very wrong with my little boy.  My pediatrician was reassuring and tried to calm my fears, but something inside me just ached.  At twelve months I requested an evaluation for my son and at fifteen months he was evaluated by a Speech Therapist.  I remember her coming to me in the waiting room and in front of the rest of families she said, “There is something very wrong with your child. I suspect it is a form of autism.  You need to call for a full evaluation.”  With that she walked away and my life crumbled and has forever changed.

The last three years have been filled with countless hours of ABA therapy (applied behavioral analysis), occupational therapy, physical therapy, music therapy, and special classes, not to mention constantly digging to find out what caused this in my little boy.  I took a Special Education position teaching children with autism.  This allowed me access to the whole world of approaches and theories of what could have happened to my son.  One characteristic related to their overall physical health.   Many children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders, which my son was diagnosed as having, seem to fit the same pattern.  One of the first theories I ran across was the fact that these children were often sick and the likelihood of them having received a vaccine when their bodies were already naturally in an altered immune state is high.  We were always at the doctor for ear infections and respiratory infections.  In my son’s case that means his body probably couldn’t handle the stress of the vaccines.  He should never have received any vaccinations when he was sick.  Some physicians seem to be careful to not give vaccines to children who are running a fever, but there seems to be considerably less caution to giving them to children that are running an ear infection or slight upper respiratory infection, or consideration given to allowing the child’s immune system to return to a normal strong state after having recently having an illness.  The attention not being given to how infections within the body, even minus the absence of a fever, can already have the immune system temporarily in high gear, may be a huge contributory reason we are seeing devastating results in our children receiving vaccines.  A heightened immune system in the throws of fighting an infection can and will react differently to the invasion of yet another element.

About two years ago I attended a conference in which a presenter talked about the fact that there was thimerosal in children’s vaccines.  I listened with interest as I was told that from 1998 to 2000 many children received vaccines that had well over the limit of what was considered safe levels of thimerosal.  Thimerosal was used as a preservative in vaccines for many years.  In 2000 there were changes made in the production of vaccines which eliminated thimerosal from most immunizations, but sadly many doctors continued to use the supplies that they had in their offices.   As I listened I realized that I had a thimerosal allergy and I remember audibly gasping when Irealized that I might have found another possibility of what caused my son’s disability.

I spoke with my pediatrician right after that conference.  He immediately started digging into the research and when we sat down to look at my son’s vaccination record, his shoulders sank.  The realization was weighed heavy.  He turned and looked at me and said, “My God, if we look at where he regressed in his development, it coincides with all four of his DPT vaccines.  From what I have found, they were the ones that contained the highest levels of thimerosal.”  So finally we seemed to have narrowed down what caused my son’s developmental delays.

My son is making great progress and continues to gain skills, but we don’t know if he will ever be the child he should have developed into.  Now when I talk with new moms I always tell them to be an equal partner in their child’s health care.  You need to do the research, be as educated as the doctors on immunizations and not be afraid to say, “I am not comfortable with that for my child”.  Had I known that five years ago, my son wouldn’t have gotten any vaccinations when he was even slightly sick, I wouldn’t have dismissed the seemingly mild reactions after the shots.  I would have known exactly what was in that syringe that was injected into my child.

We now have our daughter and she has received her vaccines, but we ask questions and research every shot she receives.  We have broken down and spaced out the shots that are typically given in combinations.  She doesn’t get any vaccination if she has been sick within seven days of the appointment.  Thankfully, she seems to be developing normally.

I just saw my pediatrician at a recent visit and we talked about my son.  My son is getting ready for kindergarten in the fall, and we are faced with the requirement of booster shots for his vaccines.  My pediatrician said that he feels my son has made such incredible progress over the last few years it is amazing.  He also feels that vaccines had a hand in causing his delays and agrees that giving my son booster shots is taking a very serious risk that he could regress just as he did when he was younger.  So with that our final decision has been made.  My son will not receive another vaccine for the rest of his life.  Had I been armed with the information I have now it is very possible our lives would be vastly different.

For further reading:

Autism and Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA)
Autism-Mercury-Thimerosal, Autism Mercury Thimerosal Link
Autism Resources
TEACCH – Structured Teaching

Assuming that this vaccination is covered by insurance companies the cost to each individual family is not a large concern. A much bigger concern might be the possible adverse effects on the vaccine recipients. Most studies have shown a high rate of minor problems such as swelling at the injection site and very infrequent kidney problems have followed the vaccine with no proven causal relationship. An interesting note not included in most stories about this vaccine: Because the disease is so rare, there have never been clinical trials showing that it actually works. The antibodies are measurable in the blood stream and efficacy is assumed and probable but has never been proven.

If your child will be living in a dormitory, conventional medical wisdom and official medical recommendations favor giving this vaccine. My minority point of view is to avoid it.

I have had firsthand experience and dozens of episodes reported to me of school officials attempting to convince parents that there something wrong with their signing the waiver. Parents have been coerced and threatened over and over again, particularly about the hepatitis B vaccination being absolutely required for entry to kindergarten, sixth or seventh grade. This is not true and represents a serious violation of the letter and the spirit of the laws of the state. This vaccine, along with any and all others, can be waived and refused. School entry may not be denied by either public nor private schools.

I recommend vaccines, gave most of them to my daughter and to the children of my friends, and still support the absolute right of parents to make decisions regarding vaccinations.

Hepatitis B is a terrible disease which causes liver damage and can lead to liver cancer. The vaccine is very effective but preliminary controversial research has suggested that the vaccine itself may increase the incidence of autoimmune diseases such as lupus, multiple sclerosis, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. To repeat, this research does not have the support of mainstream experts nor the backing of even a large minority of American doctors. The data were convincing enough, however, for the temporary suspension of administration of this vaccine in France. The disease is transmitted through high risk behavior: IV drug use or promiscuous unprotected sexual contact. Vaccination does not protect against any other sexually transmitted disease such as AIDS, hepatitis C or gonorrhea.

Additionally, the mercury used to preserve the vaccine has drawn the attention of the American Academy of Pediatrics who have recommended, as of August 1999, removal of the preservative and temporary discontinuation of the vaccine for babies under six months of age.

Do not be bullied into believing that your child must have these vaccines for school entry. Likewise, do not be stampeded away from the immunizations by research which is quite incomplete. This is a personal/medical choice without a wrong answer.

My only problem involves the schools, both public and private who are not displaying good judgment as they threaten parents with either non-admission or expulsion. They do, however have the right to exclude non-vaccinated children from school in the event of an outbreak of a contagious illness like whooping cough or measles. Outbreaks of these illnesses are few and far between but possible.

I will be happy to accept phone calls from your school nurse.

Q. “I have been told that my child may not start kindergarten until he has had all the vaccines on a list given to me by the school system. Why is this?”

A. Many illnesses can be prevented by immunization and the best way to do this is to control school entry. Public health and school officials feel very strongly about “universal immunization.” This means getting every single child vaccinated against every single preventable disease. These diseases are much more “communicable” (catching) in larger groups, like a school room for instance.

Q. “Why would anybody object to this?”

A. Good question. Some children have had bad reactions to vaccines involving very high fevers, seizures, “collapse syndrome” and other problems. Some of these reactions strictly prohibit giving another dose of that same vaccine. From a purely medical point of view, most of these reactions do not mean another dose should not be given, but the parents or doctor may be uncomfortable enough to stop that particular vaccination series. TV shows sensationalized the very rare severe reactions to the old DPT shot. They showed children who had been damaged or even fatally injured by the vaccine without giving any balance to the issue. The only benefit this may have had was to speed up the development and usage of the new, safer and more effective DPaT vaccine which does a much better job of preventing whooping cough without the side effects commonly seen with the old shot.

Q. “All right, but if a child has not had any bad reactions to vaccines–or has not even had any shots yet, why would someone object to beginning the vaccines to protect their children against these illnesses?”

A. Another excellent question. Some people think that the shots might cause harm to the immune system. Some have religious or philosophical objections to the vaccines. Others point to the studies which show that certain immune system problems may be caused by the vaccines and that the risk might even outweigh the benefits of the vaccines. Honest opponents of vaccines must admit two very important facts:

1) Vaccines work very well and have eliminated or nearly eliminated some illnesses which used to injure or kill many, many people. These diseases include small pox (gone!) polio (nearly gone) measles (100 cases in the USA last year down from a peak of nearly one million cases in the worst year) and Hemophilus Influenza B, which used to be the number one cause of bacterial meningitis under age two years and which is now virtually unheard of in the pediatric population in America. Pertussis (whooping cough) cases are way down and the new vaccine is the reason.

2) There is no conclusive research which has shown damage from vaccines. There is some good research, some incomplete research, some ongoing research but there are no “anti-vaccine” studies which have drawn the support of the majority of mainstream experts in the field.

Q. “What is your opinion?”

A. The medical community have never been completely honest with parents about the risks and benefits of vaccines. Parents should not only have much more information, but much more input into the decisions about vaccines. These decisions might include when and if certain shots are given.

Parents might decide that their child is not at any risk for contracting hepatitis B and decide that the benefits from that shot don’t outweigh the possible risks. I think this is a parent’s privilege.

All 50 states allow for a medical exemption from the shots, most allow a religious or philosophical exemption and at least a dozen allow a “personal choice” refusal. There are many web sites which will give you the information you need to make an informed choice and for a full explanation of the convention AMA/American Academy of Pediatrics point of view, discuss this issue at length with your pediatrician.

Q. “The vaccination against Hepatitis B seems to be the biggest ‘sticking point’ in getting my children into school. How do you get hepatitis B?”

A. The disease is transmitted through high risk behavior: IV drug use or promiscuous unprotected sexual contact. Vaccination does not protect against any other sexually transmitted disease such as AIDS, hepatitis C or gonorrhea. There may be a very small number of cases of Hep B transmitted through “unknown” means. I have never found this data convincing but many doctors believe it.

Q. “Why does the issue of school vaccinations concern you so much?”

A. I have had first hand experience and dozens of episodes reported to me, of school officials attempting to convince parents that there is something wrong with their signing the waiver. Parents have been coerced and threatened over and over again particularly about the hepatitis B vaccination being absolutely required for entry to kindergarten, sixth or seventh grade. This is not true and represents a serious violation of the letter and the spirit of the laws of most states. This vaccine, along with any and all others, can be waived and refused. School entry may not be denied by either public nor private schools.

I recommend vaccines, gave most of them to my daughter and to the children of my friends and still support the absolute right of parents to make decisions regarding vaccinations.

Do not be bullied into believing that your child must have these vaccines for school entry. Likewise, do not be stampeded away from the immunizations by research which is quite incomplete. This is a personal/medical choice without a wrong answer.

Q. “But, modern medicine has come along to the point where could treat Hepatitis B and cure it if we get it, right?”

A. Sadly, no. There is no known cure for Hepatitis B and treatments are only partially effective at slowing the progression of the disease.

Hepatitis B is a terrible disease which causes liver damage and can lead to liver cancer. The vaccine is very effective but preliminary controversial research has suggested that the vaccine itself may increase the incidence of autoimmune diseases such as lupus, multiple sclerosis, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. To repeat, this research does not have the support of mainstream experts nor the backing of even a large minority of American doctors. The data were convincing enough, however, for the temporary suspension of administration of this vaccine in France. Again, the disease is transmitted through high risk behavior: IV drug use or promiscuous unprotected sexual contact and the vaccine should give no one false confidence about these behaviors: Vaccination will not protect against any other sexually transmitted disease.

Additionally, the mercury used to preserve the vaccine has drawn the attention of the American Academy of Pediatrics who have recommended, as of August 1999, removal of the preservative and temporary discontinuation of the vaccine for babies under six months of age.

Q. “With all this conflicting information, how can I make an informed choice?”

A. You might want to err on the side of caution, as people like to say. The vast majority of doctors and experts recommend this vaccine very strongly; The vast majority of children entering school are receiving the vaccine. I do not feel that getting the shots poses a high risk to children and, by the same token, I don’t feel that refusing them sets up a high risk situation for an otherwise healthy child.

This is another medical issue without an absolutely correct answer but there is no wrong answer either.

If I were to be invited to participate in a consultation about public health or global vaccine policy, I would readily state that vaccines do much more good than harm.

In my office I am consulted about one child at a time. I tell the parents that I believe that each vaccine deserves a risk/benefit analysis with each individual child. Families which travel extensively are certainly more likely to be exposed to diseases nearly extinct in America. Breastfeeding babies in healthy families whose vacations are less than exotic are less likely to be anywhere near someone with polio, diphtheria or measles.

I have listened to many different points of view about vaccination and am very tired of hearing people “shout” about the issue. Calm, reasoned discussions will give parents the information they need to make informed choices about vaccines.

One simple fact: 99% of doctors favor vaccinating every child and teenager with available vaccines at all the appropriate ages. Only a very small number of doctors and other authorities favor any other point of view, be it delaying vaccines or not giving some or all of the shots.

At the six week or two month appointment, the DPaT, IPV, HIB, Prevnar and second HBV are routinely given. These initials stand for, respectively, diphtheria/acellular pertussis/tetanus, inactivated polio vaccine, hemophilus influenza B, and the newer pneumococcus vaccine. In large measure because of vaccination policies, none of these illnesses are common in America. We see an average of one case per year of diphtheria per year in the entire country and 60 to 70 cases of tetanus. There are still thousands of cases of pertussis (whooping cough), most of which do not get diagnosed and which cause rare hospitalizations and even rarer fatalities. Whooping cough can be fatal in children under six weeks of age (1 out of 200 cases in the midst of an epidemic) and in virtually no other cases.

Tetanus is very rare and occurs mostly in older adults and others with compromised immune systems. The problem I have faced with children who do not have complete tetanus immunity is that I cannot answer the question, “Could this wound cause tetanus? What are the chances?” The honest answer is that a healthy immune system can almost always defeat the clostridia tetani bacterium. Almost always. I have no percentage nor great answer for people who have fewer than three shots or whose immunity is “out of date.” I am quite certain that very few children would contract tetanus even if they were unvaccinated, but I have no proof. I worry, parents worry and the only answer is to get a “tetanus immune globulin” injection to create instant immunity. After a bad wound, there is no certainty of protection with just one shot or even with a second tetanus (or DPaT) injection.

Wild polio has not been in America since 1979. There is presently no wild polio in the Western Hemisphere and it has been obliterated from the Pacific Rim. Most cases of polio are in smaller villages in Africa and in countries in Asia. There have not been recorded cases of immigrants to the USA bringing in polio for decades. Over the past two decades, there have been sporadic outbreaks in Jamaica, the Netherlands, Israel and elsewhere when a person emigrated from another country and found a susceptible group of unvaccinated people. The Netherlands outbreak was among a group of Amish. Many docs and grandparents, and some parents remember the polio epidemic of the 1950s. There is a lot of scientific support and a huge amount of emotional support for continuing to vaccinate thoroughly against this illness even though it no longer exists in America. The elimination of the oral polio immunization, which was a “live” vaccine, has also eliminated vaccine-associated polio in the U.S. Other countries still use this vaccine and it works extremely well. The risk was small, but the IPV doesn’t carry even that tiny chance of transmitting polio from a vaccinee to a susceptible adult or child.

Hemophilus influenza B used to be the major cause of meningitis under two years of age and now that type of meningitis has been almost completely eliminated from pediatric practice. This is a true testimony to the effectiveness of this shot. It is also a strong argument for initiating the risk/benefit analysis I mentioned. Again, a very small minority of vaccine researchers have concluded that the HIB vaccine is another cause of autoimmune problems. There have even been research articles in mainstream medical journals supporting this point of view. And, again, the vast majority (99% or more) of physicians and experts do not believe that the risk outweighs the benefits. Besides meningitis, this bacteria can cause epiglottitis and other “invasive” infections. I have not seen a case of HIB disease in quite a few years.

The Prevnar vaccine is too new for me to recommend. The number of cases of Pneumococcal ear infections which could be prevented is very small and the number of cases of meningitis prevented is also small. I have no quarrel with doctors who recommend the shot or with parents who choose to get it. I have very strong objections to advertising this immunization to the general public on television. I don’t think enough information can be disseminated in 60 seconds.

The second HBV continues the buildup of antibodies against hepatitis B.

(The other commonly mentioned hepatitides are hep A and hep C. Hepatitis A is not a permanent disease but can ruin an adult’s vacation and even lead to hospitalization. The vaccine must be considered seriously by travelers. Hepatitis C is deadly and we have no vaccine for this or the other most-commonly discussed sexually transmitted killer, HIV.)

DPaT, HIB and IPV booster doses are given at the 4 month check up and then another DPaT and HIB at the six month visit. Most experts do not give a third IPV until the 18 month visit. The DPaT is given again at 18 months as is the HIB. A third HBV is given at 18 months of age although this timing may vary.

At one year of age, a child is to receive the measles/mumps/rubella vaccine. The MMR has received more notoriety in the past year or two than all the other shots combined. Research in England and elsewhere tied the shot to an increase in intestinal problems linked with autism. As I have mentioned over and over again above, the vast majority of experts discount these findings and feel that the benefits of the triple shot outweigh the risk. They remind us that, even though America is in the third year during which we will have fewer than 100 cases of measles reported, in India, there are an average of 1,000,000 deaths each year. Most of these deaths are in children. Rubella is dangerous to a fetus at certain stages of pregnancy and mumps can decrease fertility in men who catch the disease. I evaluate this vaccine and discuss it on a case by case basis in my office.

Vaccinating college students against meningococcal meningitis has become official policy on many campuses. If we vaccinate every single college student against this terrible disease, it has been estimated that we would prevent a half dozen cases of the disease each year. If the vaccine has any risk associated (none has been proved) this benefit is not great enough in my opinion.

I am very much opposed to the routine vaccination schedule in the U.S. There are too many vaccines given too early in a child’s life and not enough information given to parents.

Vaccines have side effects. Some rare severe problems, some common minor problems and constant speculation about hidden problems. Vaccine proponents who deny side effects are not being honest with you, either.

My strongest recommendation to you and anyone else considering alternatives to the standard vaccine regimen is to become very well informed and discuss these issues long and hard with your doctor. A doc who won’t hold these discussions is too busy and you may need to move on to another.

Inflammation and swelling at the site of injection are common and can last for days. Large or very tender swelling may represent a small abscess and has to be seen by your doctor.

Fevers and flu-like symptoms are also not rare and almost never last too long. Severe lethargy or a high fever mandate a phone call to the doctor.

Rashes occur with many shots and usually can just be observed for a little while unless they cause you to worry.

Seizures or “collapse syndromes” are quite rare and require immediate medical attention.

I personally would prefer to start vaccines after the first 6-12 months of life even though I know that this would slow the development of immunity to whooping cough which may come back any year.

Mumps can cause decreased fertility in teenage boys who get the illness and suffer testicular infection, but this is a very rare occurrence.

All three of these viruses continue to be associated with severe life-threatening complications in other countries, but the vaccine—including the “split” vaccines—enough risk to outweigh the benefit for healthy North American or European children.”

Your article (“Desperate Measures” People, 9/27/04) mentions that the flu shot contains about the same amount of mercury as 2.5 ounces of albacore tuna. Rarely, if ever do we intentionally inject tuna into six month old babies. I cannot imagine that Dr. Cody Meissner, the physician quoted immediately following that phrase “signed on” to this comparison. No intelligent person would.

This year’s flu shot contain 25 micrograms of mercury. This is 250 times the Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended daily limit of 0.1 micrograms/day and violates the spirit if not the letter of the FDA’s mercury guidelines, too.

There may be many people at risk of influenza complications who should receive the flu shot but pregnant women should not and neither should small babies. The risks outweigh the benefits.

Very solid medical studies support the concept that mercury and other toxins can trigger autism, diabetes and other illnesses in susceptible children. It is completely incorrect to imply that these substances have been proven to “cause” autism but equally inaccurate reasoning to claim that we’ve proven that they do not.

You quote Dr. Gary Freed commenting on his caring for a child who died of measles complications. We have fewer than 50 cases of measles each year in the USA and doctors should help parents decide if the possible risks exceed the possible benefits for each individual child. We have not had a measles death in America for some years. He may have seen this happen, but it was a while ago.

Zealots who deny that the tremendous decrease in measles, polio and other illnesses is not owed to vaccination are as lacking in intellectual honesty as the experts who try to scare parents into vaccinating rather than presenting an honest presentation of the facts.

There are good reasons to vaccinate but there may be other good reasons for parents to refuse certain vaccines.

Jay Gordon, MD, FAAP, IBCLC
drjaygordon.com

I don’t believe that vaccines are “poisonous” or that the tremendous increase in the incidence of autism is directly and solely linked to the “MMR” or mercury in the shots. I do think that there are adverse impacts on a child’s immune system and central nervous system from some immunizations and the preservatives in the solutions, but I don’t agree that we have figured everything out. Nor do I agree with the vaccine opponents who continue to shout at us all about the shots “not even working” and harming everyone who gets them.

The Institute of Medicine reported last year and Dr. Neal Halsey stated (in the Journal of the American Medical Association in November of 1999) that there are enough questions about mercury’s toxicity to warrant eliminating this metal from shots “as soon as possible” to use the IOM’s words. Other constituents of vaccines have not received the same scrutiny but may also have at least minimal side effects that could be cumulative in a 10-pound baby receiving four separate inoculations on the same day.

While there is a huge amount of scientific research to support the fact that vaccines protect against illness, there is very little science supporting the way we give vaccines in America and many other countries. Many children receive the Hepatitis B vaccine within hours of birth and then six weeks later receive another Hep B shot along with a DPT, Hemophilus Influenza B (HIB) Polio vaccine and the newest recommended shot, the Prevnar vaccine. The timing of four or five shots with seven components and a multitude of preservatives and “inert” ingredients is very possibly the wrong thing to do. Two months later this same regimen is repeated and 3 or 4 shots are also given at the six-month visit. The one-year checkup is the time for the measles/mumps/rubella combination vaccine and the chickenpox shot.

Many countries begin vaccines later and slower and I strongly believe we should do the same things. The expedient and economically superior method, which we use now, doesn’t serve our babies well.

I would like to summarize my point of view by making it clear, once again, that very few responsible experts have reservations about the way we give vaccines. I do.

I also don’t like the financial ties that vaccine researchers have to the manufacturers because some of these same experts help make the official decisions about which shots will be approved and/or required.

The diseases against which we vaccinate used to be much more common (and still are in some other countries) but we are now down to an average of one case of diphtheria (the “D” of the DPT) per year in the U.S., a few thousand cases of Pertussis (“P”) and 30 or so cases of Tetanus each year.

We have not had a case of “wild” polio in America since 1979 and the entire Western Hemisphere has been free of the disease for some years.

HIB bacteria used to be the most common bacterial cause of meningitis in young children. Meningitis is a dangerous, potentially fatal infection of the lining of the brain and spinal cord. This vaccine is extremely effective and has eliminated over 95% of this illness. I personally have not seen a case if HIB meningitis in at least 7 or 8 years, maybe more. This shot was a godsend but some scientists and others now think that the vaccine may cause “autoimmune” problems — the immune system mistakenly attacks one’s own body — such as diabetes. This is very much a minority point of view but some data have been gathered which support this possibility.

The Prevnar vaccine was invented to protect higher-risk individuals from a particular group of dangerous bacteria. It was never intended to be, and is not very effect as, an “ear infection” shot. The diseases that it prevents are extremely rare.

The MMR vaccine merits an entire page of its own. Virtually no reputable American authority agrees with the research of Dr. Andrew Wakefield who tied the vaccine to intestinal infection that might lead to autism. But there is enough evidence that these “live-virus” vaccines may not be as safe as we thought to convince me that we need much more study before we can stop looking. The idea of separating these vaccines strikes me as having no advantage.

Chickenpox is a relatively benign disease in childhood and a potentially dangerous disease in adult years. Doctors may have forgotten that this is not a new vaccine but a shot invented in the 1970s to protect children on chemotherapy or high dose steroids for asthma and other illnesses. These very high-risk kids could get severe complications from varicella (chickenpox) but normal kids get immunity from the illness which might actually have been better than that acquired from the shot. My take on this shot is to try to get your child natural chickenpox for 4 or 5 years and then get the shot later if you’re not successful.

The Hepatitis A vaccine may become part of the California State law next year and very few pediatricians would have supported that some years ago. While Hep A might ruin an adult’s vacation (“food handlers’ hepatitis”) this viral illness passes virtually unnoticed in children. This is in marked contrast to the great danger and possible permanence of Hepatitis B and Hep C. The Hep B shot works very well but may have autoimmune complications (again, this belief is held by only a very small minority of physicians) and should be given after careful evaluation of the risks and benefits to the child. There is no Hepatitis C vaccine yet. Hepatitis B and C are diseases transmitted through high-risk behavior involving sex and intravenous drugs.

Smallpox and Anthrax vaccines are not available now and neither is as safe nor effective as it needs to be. These diseases have gotten far more “press” than they deserve at the present time.

Perhaps the most frequently asked questions involve coming in contact with ill people while our families travel and the possibility of immigrants or visitors from other countries bringing rare illnesses to the U.S. “Possible but highly unlikely,” is the short answer with a full discussion beyond the scope of this short article. A family planning a two-year sojourn to Africa or Asia or Eastern Europe needs a completely different discussion of vaccination. There are no diseases in Europe that will threaten an unvaccinated child any more than in the USA. Again, this is beyond the scope of this present discussion.

In my office, with families I know well, I believe that the main idea I convey is that we should vaccinate later and slower. One shot at a visit starting later in the first year and perhaps in the second year of life. I have many families in my practice who have chosen to give their children no vaccines.

My one request is that you thoroughly discuss with your physician all of the benefits and risks of vaccines with an absence of the usual scare tactics we doctors sometimes use.

Neither “The Lancet” nor Britain’s General Medical Council have stated that there is not a connection between vaccines in autism, just that they deem this particular piece of research unethical and incorrect.

This prestigious journal is now forced to cover their own embarrassment at having done virtually no rigorous due diligence of Dr. Wakefield’s methodology, data gathering and conclusions before they published the paper in 1998.

Whether or not you believe that Andrew Wakefield is a savior, a misguided researcher with “his heart in the right place” or an attention-mongering, unethical “biostitute” the real blame must be shared by the world’s most-respected medical journal, “The Lancet” for allowing the flaws, and potential conflicts of interest to go unnoticed. The self-righteous attitude they now assume serves no one, least of all families affected by autism.

I am on record recognizing the importance of Dr. Wakefield’s research for calling attention to a potential connection between the vaccines and autism. I strongly support looking at this possible etiology alongside other possible environmental influences on genetic predisposition to Autism Spectrum Disorders.

A large leap was made in assigning any sort of “proof” from the small “Lancet” study. I’m not certain that Dr. Wakefield, himself, feels that anything was proven. I continue to join him and others in urgently requesting much more study of the possible causal link between vaccines and autism.

There are no easy answers to this and there continues to be no sufficient proof that a connection does not exist between the MMR and autism. What is clear is that a sloppy evaluation by a medical journal combined with research poorly done is being used to discredit those of us who believe that real research into the causes of autism must continue. This must take place with great respect shown for children and their families and adequate funding for ethical thorough investigation of all possible etiologies including immunizations.

Jay Gordon, MD, FAAP

Please don’t be fooled into thinking that this winter is so different from previous winters.

Swine Flu does not pose a realistic risk to your family: There will be millions of cases reported and rare fatalities highly publicized.

Some of us will get high fevers and have to miss school and work for a few days and 99.9999% of us will remain completely unaffected after the flu season except that those who contract Swine Flu this year will be protected if it gets meaner and more virulent in coming years as expected.

Every winter there are dozens and dozens of different viruses. The immune system is built by catching and beating these bugs and acquiring antibodies and “memory cells” for the next time the virus appears.

There is no way around this process and no shortcut. Children, in particular, must suffer through a lot of winter illnesses because their immune systems are so inexperienced.

Colds and coughs have an acute phase of 2, 3 or 4 days during which children are contagious and may need to stay home from school.

Following this contagious period, there can be extra mucus, congestion, cough and malaise for another week or so. By the end of this ten-day period, most children will have been exposed to, and maybe contracted, another 2 or 3 other viruses! It’s really no surprise that your children and many others might seem to be sick for weeks on end.

Some children and adults have allergies which compound the congestion and coughing problem.

A new study showed that when you examine the blood of children who’ve been sick for a couple weeks or more the majority of these kids show antibodies to 2 or 3 different viruses: In other words, children and adults don’t have ten-day viral illnesses, they have a series of 2 and 3 day bugs which might look daunting but are actually just a part of a normal winter viral season.

Why do we get more illnesses in winter? There are more social and school gatherings in confined spaces, the air is drier, more people travel during winter holidays and we eat more junk food during these months.

New viruses get more people sick than older ones and this year the Swine Flu H1N1 virus is the newest common infection.

The media are taking advantage of this situation and are creating more anxiety about winter illness than at any time in recent memory.

Except, maybe, for the SARS scare.

Or the Bird Flu scare.

Or the West Nile Virus scare.
The CDC released fatality data this past week and were quite clear in their assessment of this relatively non-virulent strain of influenza:

75-80% of the 76 children had significant or severe underlying medical problems.

Any child’s death creates an extremely difficult public discussion but of the 300,000,000 Americans there are 45,000,000 children and teens and there have been 76 deaths of younger people. About 15 of these deaths occurred in seemingly healthy children and teens.

Please put all of these numbers in the proper perspective and realize that there are many important lifesaving topics for the media to publicize but none which sell papers and create TV viewership quite as well as this new flu.

In July CDC and World Health Organization officials stopped counting the number of cases of Swine Flu and are now relying on a patchwork reporting system which is reporting both “lab confirmed” cases of H1N1 and fatalities from cases which are associated with symptoms of Swine Flu. The science is terrible but the publicity is geared towards increasing fear, selling vaccines and Tamiflu and keeping us all on edge.

They are reporting deaths from “secondary” bacterial infections and some unofficial sources are even urging people who might be sick with Swine Flu to immediately see their doctors to get vaccines which might prevent bacterial pneumonia. This, by the way, is a serious misinterpretation of certain vaccines’ purpose and an even more serious misunderstanding of how long it takes a vaccine to work.

Vaccines, including the flu shots, should not be given to sick children or adults.

In the past 18 months, budget cutbacks have led to the loss of over 15,000 public health department jobs. It might be overly cynical to assume that a full court press about H1N1 could lead to some of these jobs being restored or, at least, might stem the budget cutbacks and preserve further job loss.

Every winter I tell the families in my practice that winter viruses–including this new H1N1–are very unlikely to cause serious illness in healthy people but you may choose to do your very best to avoid them before a vacation, an important school event or just because you want this to be a quieter winter for your family.

I don’t think that this year’s pair of flu vaccines will create disasters but I also don’t think that they’re a good use of our health care dollars. They are definitely not worth the amount of media and medical attention they’ve received and continue to receive.

Swine Flu vaccines are now available and they may be just as safe as the CDC and others say they are but they are not the most important measure for keeping your children free of viral illness.

Try to get a good night’s sleep!! Somehow.

• Wash your hands. Teach your children to wash their hands. A good long hand washing, about as long as it takes to sing “Happy Birthday” twice or the ABC’s once through is about what it takes. Hand sanitizer is acceptable in moderation when there is no soap and water.
• Work with your children’s schools to have children wash their hands, especially before they eat snacks or lunch. Hand washing is no small benefit in flu and cold prevention but involves a good deal of parental requesting to truly implement at most busy schools.
• When you and your children come home, wash hands again.
• Avoid refined sugars, dairy and fried foods which make you and your children less healthy, replace antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables and may lower your immunity. Work with your children’s schools to stop serving cupcakes at each and every birthday. If one kid’s mom or dad brings in sweets for celebrating, then everyone’s mom and dad does. Make it a “no one” does policy, so no one feels singled out and everyone stays healthy. Ask your child’s school to not serve sweet sugary snacks at all. Get your Parent/Teacher groups on board. Pack healthy and well-balanced meals for your kids.
• Support your child’s immunity with herbs and supplements (look for brands that are not loaded with additives and sugars) For the most part, they’re not proven effective but most have centuries of safe use behind them and seem to help promote good health and stronger immunity.
  • Astragalus: one dose three times a week will help support immunity during flu season (This herb seems to be valuable only before an illness and not during.).
  • Echinacea and Goldenseal: one dose every day in a liquid or chewable form. My favorite is echinacea tea.
  • Vitamin C and Bioflavonoids: I recommend for children (and take) 500 mg of vitamin C per year of age divided into 3-4 doses each day during cold and flu time. (A five year old would get 2500 mg and a 10 year old 5000 mg. The maximum dose is 10,000 mg–Less if C gives you diarrhea.)
  • Elderberry is a patented and proven viral treatment
  • Probiotics: 5 to 10 billion CFUs each day to build immunity

Fever is one of the immune system’s best tools for fighting viruses and bacteria and should be left alone whenever possible. Higher fever might need to be decreased for a child’s comfort and, mainly, for assessment.

104 degree children all look like they might have a terrible illness. Using a long bath, natural remedies and even Tylenol or Ibuprofen will give you a “window” to look at a child with a much lower temperature. A cooler child will usually smile more, drink more and look more like herself.

You can then see that there might be a pretty big fever but the illness underlying the fever is a small illness. Worry and stress levels can drop.

If your child has an illness which is preventing good hydration or if lowering a child’s fever still doesn’t allow you to adequately evaluate the illness, call your doctor.

Again, this winter is not different than previous winters. Swine Flu does not pose a realistic risk to your family.

Jay Gordon, MD, FAAP

We should have long ago moved beyond trying to scare parents into vaccinating and also moved beyond trying to frighten parents into believing that every child getting a vaccine might end up with autism.

But the middle part of his exposition is devoted to a patient of mine and he commits ethics and HIPAA violations so egregious that the Medical Board must take him to task.

Dr. Parikh is a well-published medical author and blogger and he speaks of a patient he saw as an intern in the year 2000 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. (His bio on many sites lets you know that year.) He identifies the parents, their unique profession and their child’s age and illness. This family can be identified by anyone who can use Google.

They have given me permission to respond to the LA Times article.

What he has done is illegal and unethical and violates the family’s and child’s privacy.

He wants to scare parents into listening and is willing to break the rules and violate medical confidentiality to do it.

He even identifies me in his story: “We stuck more needles into her tiny veins, and her doctor performed a spinal tap to make sure she didn’t have bacterial meningitis.” He knows that I’m the only private attending pediatrician who comes to Cedars do spinal taps.

Dr. Parikh then goes on to describe the patient as having whooping cough.

She did not have whooping cough.

Preliminary tests were positive but more definitive tests done later showed that the baby did not have any evidence of exposure to the bacterium that causes whooping cough. This medical writer then goes on to speculate that ” . . .if she had only RSV, then she would have gotten better faster than she did, which is what led us to evaluate her further. But that combination — being very sick and unvaccinated — had led this child to the edge of respiratory failure . . .”

She was sick, required exactly the same care as a fully-vaccinated child and recovered. She’s a healthy happy child.

Again, more efforts to scare than to educate. And a dishonest presentation of the facts. And a serious ethical and legal breach.

Dr. Parikh’s discussion of the Larry King television show omits my presence on the show and mischaracterizes what actually occurred. Watch the episode on YouTube.

This is the second time in a matter of a few weeks that this newspaper has presented old news and inaccurate facts as being real news.

Dr. Paul Offit co-held the patent for a vaccine whose rights recently sold for $182 million. He and his book are cited here and often elsewhere as unbiased sources for information. Dr. Offit is an honest researcher but he should not be quoted as a completely disinterested expert.

Dr. Parikh correctly mentions that pediatricians have long been disdainful and dismissive of those of us who disagree with the routine vaccination schedule. The American Academy of Pediatrics has received millions of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry to support everything from the building of our new headquarters to the coffee and doughnuts at our conferences. The industry sponsors our speakers, spends millions on advertising in our official journals and pays for our lunches and dinners. Dr. David Tayloe, the AAP President, is a good man and I sense that he will soon begin reversing this controversial relationship. But, that money has influenced vaccine approval and recommendations and scheduling for decades.

There is no proof that vaccines can cause autism but the evidence needs further research and investigation. The three “vaccine court” cases this year are easily analogized to the early judicial decisions over cigarettes and lung cancer. Again, the proof’s not there against vaccines, but dismissing the possibility and the evidence based on a few court cases is bad law, bad science and bad medicine.

No one, no one accuses doctors of being ” . . . bent on making profits from vaccines at the expense of children” as Dr. Parikh implies. Drug companies may be motivated very strongly by the profit motive but most of us doctors give vaccines because we truly believe that a child’s personal health and the community’s health benefit because of these shots. And, yes, I give some shots every day. I just don’t give as many of them as are recommended and I vaccinate as late and slowly as I can. Yes, I have considered the public heath implications of this choice. The dangers are grossly over-stated by Dr. Parikh and others.

For the first time in eight years, a child died of HIB bacterial meningitis in Minnesota earlier this year. I responded to a recent LA Times article about vaccines and my first draft included my notes about fatal tree limb accidents: Over 100 people die each year because tree limbs fall on them. The relevance was questioned by my editor (my wife) and therefore omitted. Strange statistically-unlikely things happen. Using them as scary examples in medical articles does not serve the discussion well.

Talk to your doctor but do your own “homework” too. Vaccines are neither unequivocally good nor bad. The way we vaccinate our children now is not as safe as we could make it.

Jay Gordon, MD, Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, FABM, IBCLC Emeritus

Unvaccinated children do not pose a threat to vaccinated children or their families.

We all have a responsibility to keep each other’s children safe. Choosing to not vaccinate or choosing an alternative vaccine schedule could be considered a rift in that contract. Medically, scientifically and statistically speaking, it is not. Honest people might disagree.

I have been a pediatrician for thirty years and have watched children receive all scheduled vaccines, some of the vaccines or receive no vaccines at all. I have seen every one of the illnesses against which we vaccinate. Since the early 1980s, I believe I’ve only seen one case of bacterial meningitis in a child and one other case in a teenager. The rarity of this terrible disease means that it makes the news whenever a case occurs but denying that childhood meningitis still exists is dishonest. Equally dishonest is implying that it is a large threat to any of our children. I see kids with pertussis every year. I see children misdiagnosed with whooping cough far more often. Two years ago, the New York Times took note of this phenomenon.

2009 marks the thirty year anniversary of the last case of “wild polio” in the United States. Subsequent cases were caused by the oral polio vaccine which is no longer used in this country.

http://www.polioeradication.org/casecount.asp (WHO/CDC supported site)

Rubella is no longer an “American” disease.

http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r050321.htm (CDC Press Conference)

I recently read an article, written in 2009 which chastised non-vaccinating parents because there had been 131 cases of measles in the U.S. in the first half of 2008 alone. And how many cases were there in the whole year? 134. The usual number? 62. Disingenuous reporting. An extra 72 cases of measles among 300,000,000 Americans made the papers every day or two for months and the LA Times writers dredge up the child who caught measles on a Swiss vacation one more time.

Yes, as mentioned, measles and other viruses can cause encephalitis. It’s very, very rare. Implying otherwise could scare parents.

And, no, the law does not allow us to know which children have not received vaccines any more than it allows other invasions of privacy.

I have received hundreds of emails from people all over the country and the world reaching out to me and asking me to listen to them about vaccine issues and injuries because it seems that no one else will. I have permission from a mother to forward an email she sent to me with a picture of her four-month old daughter, who received four vaccines and died shortly thereafter. I have dozens and dozens of similar emails and dozens of face-to-face encounters in my office with parents coming to me after what they considered to be vaccine damage to their children. I will not forward that email. It creates a different kind of fear that also doesn’t serve the dialogue well.

I think that these possibly injured children and families represent one end of the bell shaped curve and that scary stories about meningitis in Minnesota (the first there in 18 years) represent the other end. (I do feel that the former end of the curve is far fuller than the latter but no proof exists. None.)

The LA Times stories were “fear-based” just as my forwarding these emails would have been.

The University of Michigan Law Review recently invited me to write a journal article about vaccines and tort law.

I sum up my law review presentation to parents every winter by telling them that the only way to avoid childhood illnesses is “reverse isolation” of your illness-free child. If you go to a two-year-old’s birthday party during the winter months . . . You will probably get sick.

Peripherally, let’s all remember that it took fifty years or more, thousands of court cases and a lot of money to finally prove the connection between cigarettes and cancer. The three court cases showing no connection between vaccines and autism should make no headlines and should be an impetus to honest investigative journalism.

We have increased the number of vaccines and the combinations of vaccines given to babies and children. Adequate testing has not been done. I have seen a huge rise in the number of children with autism. Neither I nor any other doctors are hundreds of percent better at diagnosing this spectrum of developmental delay than ten or twenty years ago. The dramatic rise in the number of cases of autism spectrum disorders is attributable to something other than “reclassification” or better diagnosis.

While waiting for scientific proof, we have to tolerate families’ completely legal and scientific desire to have or not have their children given vaccines according to the current schedule.

JNG MD, FAAP