Comments on: The "Open Question" On Vaccines and Autism

[peakdavid]

Hello:

I am writing to congratulate Sharyl Attkisson and CBS Evening News for last night''s important and courageous report and interview with Dr. Healy.

Our son, Davey, was crippled by vaccines and his case is part of the 4,900 currently being heard in the Autism Omnibus hearing. When Dr. Healy spoke about the need to make vaccines safe not just for the majority, but also for the subgroup of childrend susceptible to their damage, she was speaking on behalf of our son.

For her courage, for your reporter''s and network''s willingness to say this, my family will forever have you in our hearts. You have earned a group of new and loyal viewers from our extended families.

Thank you, thank you.

[peakdavid]

Hello:

I am writing to congratulate Sharyl Attkisson and CBS Evening News for last night''s important and courageous report and interview with Dr. Healy.

Our son, Davey, was crippled by vaccines and his case is part of the 4,900 currently being heard in the Autism Omnibus hearing. When Dr. Healy spoke about the need to make vaccines safe not just for the majority, but also for the subgroup of childrend susceptible to their damage, she was speaking on behalf of our son.

For her courage, for your reporter''s and network''s willingness to say this, my family will forever have you in our hearts. You have earned a group of new and loyal viewers from our extended families.

Thank you, thank you.

[peakdavid]

Hello:

I am writing to congratulate Sharyl Attkisson and CBS Evening News for last night''s important and courageous report and interview with Dr. Healy.

Our son, Davey, was crippled by vaccines and his case is part of the 4,900 currently being heard in the Autism Omnibus hearing. When Dr. Healy spoke about the need to make vaccines safe not just for the majority, but also for the subgroup of childrend susceptible to their damage, she was speaking on behalf of our son.

For her courage, for your reporter''s and network''s willingness to say this, my family will forever have you in our hearts. You have earned a group of new and loyal viewers from our extended families.

Thank you, thank you.

[peakdavid]

Hello:

I am writing to congratulate Sharyl Attkisson and CBS Evening News for last night''s important and courageous report and interview with Dr. Healy.

Our son, Davey, was crippled by vaccines and his case is part of the 4,900 currently being heard in the Autism Omnibus hearing. When Dr. Healy spoke about the need to make vaccines safe not just for the majority, but also for the subgroup of childrend susceptible to their damage, she was speaking on behalf of our son.

For her courage, for your reporter''s and network''s willingness to say this, my family will forever have you in our hearts. You have earned a group of new and loyal viewers from our extended families.

Thank you, thank you.

[peakdavid]

Hello:

I am writing to congratulate Sharyl Attkisson and CBS Evening News for last night''s important and courageous report and interview with Dr. Healy.

Our son, Davey, was crippled by vaccines and his case is part of the 4,900 currently being heard in the Autism Omnibus hearing. When Dr. Healy spoke about the need to make vaccines safe not just for the majority, but also for the subgroup of childrend susceptible to their damage, she was speaking on behalf of our son.

For her courage, for your reporter''s and network''s willingness to say this, my family will forever have you in our hearts. You have earned a group of new and loyal viewers from our extended families.

Thank you, thank you.

[jeannecant]

Thank you Dr. Healy and Sharyl for talking about an issue that needs to be discussed and taken seriously. Our children are being injured and we need to act now to help them and those who come after them.

Diamonddavej,

I am sure you do have an ASD; however, my son does not (even though a doctor gave him an "autism" diagnosis). He is vaccine injured. His injury caused him to have neurological problems that translate as "autism" - but trust me, he does not have what you have.

anniepema, My husband and I were not in any way,shape or form "old" or "aged" when our son came into this world. I do not have a mental disorder, nor does my husband... although, I must admit, sometimes I feel like I might develop one... like right now, I definitely feel one coming on...

My son developed normally - talking, reading, laughing - until he was about 18 months old. It took about a year for him to totally slip away - nonverbal, "in his own world", and severe diarrhea. Two years ago we started the biomed intervention. Today, thanks to that darned snake oil, my son attends kindergarten with a "typical" class, no aides, no help. MEDICAL TESTING has shown our doctor the treatment path to take, we''ve taken it, my son is better.

[euthman]

Bernadine Healy should be ashamed of herself for digging up and beating this skeleton of a dead horse. She has done no research in this area. She has no training or expertise in this area. She has no new analysis of old data to raise any new questions. The first question that comes to mind is whether she or her husband is a paid expert witness in the court proceedings that have just begun.

The bottom line is that there have been extensive investigations into the hypothesis that vaccines are connected to autism, and those investigations have failed to show any connection. The longer the True Believers, goaded by the likes of Dr. Healy, remain fixated on this scientific dead end, the longer we''ll have to wait before the real cause of autism is found.

[adisaacs]

Sharyl, Thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart for this interview. It''s a huge step in the right direction for my family and others like mine who have known for years that vaccines played a role in the development of autism. Please help us push forward so the truth can be brought to light; autism has to be stopped!

[rlford3]

Is it too much to ask for even one large scale study in the US on the safety of vaccines??? First of all, many of these previous studies in other countries are fraught with conflicts of interest and ties with the pharmaceutical companies that make the vaccines.

Dr. Healy is to be congratulated for her willingness to stand up to the government and the status quo by stating what many parents have suspected for a long time--that the IOM and the CDC do not want to know what truly solid research studies on vaccine safety will show.

And what about the principles of informed consent, right to know, and "first, do no harm"?

[spilgree]

Thank you CBS news for stepping up the quality of the news and telling some truth on this matter. As a professional who works with families of children who have Autism I am constantly amazed that our news media CANNOT tell truth about this matter. The government agencies'' arguments and statements simply do not add up. The children of the United States are suffering as a result of a simple unwillingness to eat crow and honestly investigate this critical epidemic & public health emergency. Meanwhile, pediatricians are constantly influenced to insist that parents go against their gut and vaccinate their children. They insist that vaccines are safe--and in reality they do not KNOW this to be true. Hipocrates is turning over in his grave. :)

[looking4help-2009]

to Diamonddavej.. first off, what field exactly is your phd in? and secondly, I would think that with you being on the spectrum, you would be a little more open to finding out why you developed autism. I am sure that you were trained to believe that vaccines are perfectly safe and necessary. maybe you should research Dr. Sherry Tenpenny at www.nmaseminars.com inder vaccines..the benefits, the risks, the choices. As for those of you who believe that the age of the parents and even their parents can cause autistic genes..let me just say that myself, my husband, and our parents were all under 30 when we and our children were born. I now have 3 perfectly healthy daughters, and an autistic son. Explain that.

[kibitzer3]

Both Sharyl and Dr Healy - and CBS - are to be congratulated for this interview. At last, a scientist from within the medical establishment who demonstrates the requisite attitude to take regarding scientific issues in general, and this one in particular - in this case, it would appear, more and more, that one size does NOT fit all. As one aspect of that truism: there is a subset of children who, for genetic reasons, can''t process heavy metals as well as other children can. It has to do with their levels of a substance called glutathione, the biochemical generating of which is inhibited by a genetic polymorphism, and also by being used up trying to bind to and excrete a buildup of h.m. like mercury and aluminum - both of which are ingredients of vaccines. (And are neurotoxins; go figure.) Also, the mercury in thimerosal interferes with a process called methylation, which is necessary for the elimination of these toxins. Thus, Dr. Marcel Kinsbourne is right when he says in his paper referred to in this article, that there is a "biologically plausible mechanism by which exposure to mercury contained in the thimerosal added to many pediatric vaccines can be a substantial contributing cause of the symptoms of regressive autism observed in some of the affected children". Well done, Dr. Healy, in recognizing the need to (a) acknowledge scientific facts, and (b) move on in this debate, and develop tests to screen these susceptible children - and develop safer vaccines in general.

[concerned101-2009]

I have seen personally how these MMR shots have effected the lives of what were happy children and who are now unhappy and do not smile or acknowledge their mothers and fathers. My own daughter recently underwent her shots at 18 months under extreme hesitation from myself and much to my regret suffered a severe reaction 104 fevers rashes and then swelling throughout her entire body. She was extremely irritable. Her doctor then tried to say it was allergies to pollen. I set him straight on that notion and he backtracked and agreed with me that unfortunatley it looks like a reaction to the shots and had the baby put on steroids. He said it was like the babies body was being attacked by two or more viruses. What amazed me was how he was quick to say allergies when it did not in fact look like allergies at all. Amazing how the pediatricians tone changed and even recommended holding of the boosters. Luckily I am in a position where my daughter does not have to recieve anymore shots as I know many physicians that are willing to do what is necessary to help people concerned by this and I can get by the system that intentionally is avoiding this issue. My concern is more for the other parents who are basically forced to play russian roulette with their childs lives because of a a gov''t that makes it mandatory.

[sarahsam-2009]

kEEP DIGGING- A proper long-term safety evaluation of vaccines of any kind has never been done-and it will never be done by the CDC or the vaccine producers because these organizations forced them on the population and they know what the study will show..
They like to point to studies from other countries.Why hasn''t one been done in this country? The vaccine autism link will never be debunked because the CDC has known for at least 8 years they cause autism.

[sarahsam-2009]

The current vaccine policy is dangerous and unnecessary.They are also linked to a wide variety of diseases in adults. The more we vaccinate the sicker our children get.
Hundreds of doctors and scientists have been warning about them for years.
In the past journalist routinely run to the corrupt CDC and the incompetent FDA for information regarding vaccine safety and efficacy. They might as well be asking the vaccine producers themselves since that is where most will work after they put in a few years at their government jobs.
Parents of vaccine injured children and vaccine injured adults find the bureaucracy is unable to hear them. They find it is so corrupt and set in it''s misguided belief system regarding vaccinations that it is almost pointless to even discuss the sacred fantasy that vaccines are the salvation of mankind.
Anyone who challenges the religion of vaccines is ruthlessly attacked, doctors are afraid to speak for fear of they will be branded "anti-vaccination". Scientist must only talk of genetic causes for fear of losing their funding.
Doctors fail to report side effects at an estimated rate of 90%.
Many will go to extremes to explain away side effects as anything but what they are.

[sarahsam-2009]

Congratulations. It''s about time a large news outlet had the guts and integrity to take on the disastrous national vaccine policy in this country. You and Dr Healy can now expect to be ruthlessly attacked for daring to even question the issue of vaccine safety. The dogma surrounding this issue is incredible. No other medical procedure or medicine gets the pass that vaccines do. I hope you have the guts to keep digging.

[sarahsam-2009]

Congratulations. It''s about time a large news outlet had the guts and integrity to take on the disastrous national vaccine policy in this country. You and Dr Healy can now expect to be ruthlessly attacked for daring to even question the issue of vaccine safety. The dogma surrounding this issue is incredible. No other medical procedure or medicine gets the pass that vaccines do. I hope you have the guts to keep digging.

[maine104-2009]

Thank you for covering this very critically important story. We have a young child who has been vaccinated to schedule with the exception of live virus vaccines. I am pro-vax, but am so (insert adjective) angry, terrified, tentative, and very stubborn about NOT going forward with the schedule, certainly not on the recommended schedule but on OUR schedule. The population is not as stupid as our government may believe. I want the truth, and I don''t want to be subjected to criticism and pressure to vax live virus vaccinations when we don''t have the truth yet, and when we have children who can regress into autism from triggers in vaccines. We need to know how to screen for vulnerable kids, and we need that screening now. What government officials don''t understand is the longer they avoid looking at this, the more parents will feel lied to - and as a result of that - a growing number of families will not vaccinate to schedule. More and more American parents are demanding honesty, transparency, and unbaised research (that has no ties to pharma in any way). We deserve nothing less.

To all at CBSNews, I urge you to please continue coverage on this story.

[biomedmom]

My son regressed into autism shortly after vaccination. Thank you so much for your willingness to do the research and not just repeat what the CDC and AMA want all doctors to parrot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJIXEyXE4Vk

[fatherasd]

"Furthermore, I agree that autism-mercury myth is a modern "snake oil" business that preys on the vulnerable emotions of parents who are desperate for help with their autistic children."

Snake oil huh? Would you care to give an explanation of how children as young as those mentioned in the report above registered such a high reading of metals? And I suppose those children who have responded to diets such as the GF/CF diet, or the Spec. Carb. Diet don''t really exist? I guess my child doesn''t exist either.
Yes, there are snake oil salesmen out there. But many of them walk among the mainstream med. community where they are readily accepted. These are the ones who tried to sell the parents of autistics the idea that their kids will be institutionalized with no hope of a real life, and that mothers should blame themselves for their children''s condition. (BTW, someone named Bernard Rimland, who you would call a quack, is the one who discredited the "Refridgerator Mother" syndrome)

Yet, kids are recovering from this epidemic... with the help of both behavioral and biomedical treatments acting in tandem with ea other.
If autism is just a mental/psychological disorder caused by just genetic factors, then why are kids GI and immunological systems being affected? And why when you treat these systems are the children recovering?