Proven: Lawyers manufacture false link between mercury vaccines and autism

[Barry]

People tend to underestimate the importance of consensus within the scientific community. General agreement among scientists rules everything from which scientific proposals are currently accepted to what makes for an appropriate control and what margins of statistical error are tolerable. But, as with everything else in science, the consensus is tentative, and can sometimes be wrong. When new ideas challenge the consensus, their evaluation is often two-fold: is there data to support the idea, and do those proposing it have a nonscientific motivation for doing so.

The proposal that the use of mercury preservatives in vaccines can cause autism bucked the consensus that childhood vaccinations are safe. But it failed the first test: epidemiological data showed no link between the use of mercury in vaccines and climbing rates of autism in a number of countries. Now, investigative reporting by the Times of London reveals that it has failed the second: the medical researchers pushing the link had a massive financial incentive for doing so.

The Times obtained a record of the payments made by the legal teams that have pursued lawsuits against vaccine makers on behalf of autistic children in England. It revealed that the primary author of the first paper that suggested a mercury-autism link, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, began receiving payments from the lawyers starting a full two years before his first published study on the topic. In the decade since, Dr. Wakefield has received a total of over £435,000. Several of his business associates and co-workers received over £100,000; all told, roughly £3.4 million was paid out for the expert work and testimony of doctors associated with the research. In a further conflict of interest, the autistic children that were the subjects of the studies were also the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Wakefield's initial paper has been retracted by the journal it was published in, and he seems to be rapidly on the way to a status similar to those who continue to doubt the HIV-AIDS connection. But in the intervening years, the publicity he attracted caused a dip of over 10 percent in the vaccination rates in England, which recently suffered its first measles death in 14 years.

Sources:
1. http://arstechnica.com/articles/columns/science/science-20050307.ars
2. http://arstechnica.com/journals/science.ars/2005/11/2/1707
3. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2524335,00.html

[Can I?]

I was under the impression that the MMR vaccine and thimerosal were separate issues?

Andrew Wakefield's study suggested that


MMR leads to a non-specific gut condition permitting the absorption of non-permeable peptides, which in turn cause serious developmental disorders.1 (http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/316/7133/715?ijkey=c9818179624f1b9fdb2f91d355a69b58e7a3281c&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha#B1) Supportive evidence consists of cases referred to a gastroenterology group. The data published comprises 11 boys and one girl, each with bowel abnormalities and serious developmental regression (nine had autism). In eight children parents reported regression starting shortly after the children received MMR.1 (http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/316/7133/715?ijkey=c9818179624f1b9fdb2f91d355a69b58e7a3281c&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha#B1)from

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/316/7133/715?ijkey=c9818179624f1b9fdb2f91d355a69b58e7a3281c&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha

The thimerosal/autism link was suggested by several people - parents and physiscians - who thought that the neurological symptoms of autism were similar to the effects of mercury toxicity. Any link has been disproven by several studies.

Anyone who wants to know more might want to look at these

http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/cc-thim.htm

http://www.quackwatch.org/03HealthPromotion/immu/immu00.html

And a great article on the latest ideas about autism and the special people that are affected by it

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1191843,00.html

[jessgray]

has anyone actaully been told the mercury caused the autism?:confused:

[Barry]

has anyone actaully been told the mercury caused the autism?:confused:

Andrew Wakefield was given money to essentially fabricate research which was used in a well publicised lawsuit in the UK, he told various parents their child had autisum because they had vaccinated them and they joined the case.

It's been thoroughly disproven since, however since was not quick enough and the vaccinate rate slumped 10% as a result of the negative publication resulting in 1 death which they think may have been prevented.

It's a sad-sad story of one mans campaign against vaccines. He is still continuing his fight today against vaccines, a lot of scientific journals will no longer publish his so called research however, so hopefully nothing like that will occur in the future.

[jessgray]

thanks for clearing that up that man sounds very greedy praying on vunerable families:shame:

[Barry]

thanks for clearing that up that man sounds very greedy praying on vunerable families:shame:

Sadly some people feel their own agenda is more important than the health and wellbeing of the little ones, let alone the emotions of parents.

[theycallmemum]

Yes they are. As the mother of a child with autism I have done an immense amount of research and have also seen the effects of immunisation on my own children. Not every child is able to be immunised 'risk free'.

[Can I?]

What irritates me is the need for people to point the finger at the parents of autistic children for whatever reason. In the 50's and 60's it was the 'refrigerator mother' syndrome. Now it is us poisoning our children by allowing them to receive vaccines, or 'refusing' them the chance of a 'cure' because we don't jump on the bandwagon of whatever the latest fad treatment might be. Recently I have heard autism referred to as the latest "trendy" diagnosis (WTF??) for difficult children.

If my son were blind, if he had cerebral palsy or down syndrome, people would say "Oh....that's bad luck....let me know how I can help". But they don't. Because my son has autism, they stand back and look at my very normal appearing child who is screaming like a banshee face down in the supermarket and they mutter. I can cope with that. Friends tell me about the latest cure they read about in a magazine. I can cope with that. Other mothers on forums tell me of the miraculous cure they paid thousands for and worked like a charm. I can cope with that. But the way that society wants to tell me that I am some coldhearted, love witholding, poison toting, miracle cure stopping ***** because my son has autism? What the hell is up with that? So noone knows what causes autism. Does that necessarily mean that it is the parent's fault?

[Barry]

What irritates me is the need for people to point the finger at the parents of autistic children for whatever reason.

Well I'm definitely not saying that.

The point of the post was to put to rest the rumors and spreading of false information regarding the link between the two, as many people continue to pass around false information despite the studies being completely discreditted both in the scientific community and in court.

I'll be the first to acknowledge it's a horrible thing for a parent or child to encounter, but having said that blame shouldn't just be randomly assigned to placate what someone may be feeling about their choice to vaccinate, live a certain lifestyle, or have children with their & their partners gene structure whatever the case may turn out to be.

Personally I think it's a testiment to some of these parents that they had the will to not only adapt to raising their children with varying degrees of special needs but also had the will to stand up to the pressure placed on them to do something they felt was unethical - not many people out their in a similar situation would put up such a fight, especially when they're promised millions of dollars.

In my opinion every child is a heavenly gift.