Couric & Co.
June 15, 2007 12:44 PM

Autism: Why The Debate Rages

(CBS)
Sharyl Attkisson is the Capitol Hill Correspondent for CBS News.

With the first autism case now being heard in federal vaccine court in Washington D.C., it makes sense to ask: Why is anyone even still debating the possibility of a link between vaccines and autism? After all, for years, many government health officials, advisors and vaccine manufacturers have said there's no association.

Here are a number of reasons why the question remains open:

1. While public health officials, government scientists, advisors and pharmaceutical companies have been responsible for innumerable lifesaving and life improving medical advances, they are not infallible.

• For many years, public health officials thought it was safe to use x-ray machines in shoe stores and allowed mercury in medicines. Doctors prescribed Thalidomide - a drug marketed as a sleep aid - to pregnant women to treat morning sickness. In the case of Thalidomide, it came with no warning against use by pregnant women and the drug maker apparently did not predict it could cause fetuses the devastating damage that it did. (The bulk of the injuries were outside of the U.S. because the Cincinnati phamaceutical company was denied a license to sell Thalidomide in the this country. At the time, according to news reports, the pharmaceutical company's representative complained that the FDA was being unreasonable and nit-picking in not quickly approving the drug). The medical establishment assured us Vioxx and Duract were safe painkillers, prescribed Rezulin for diabetics and then denied any of them were responsible for patient deaths. If we never questioned the presumed experts, we might not have discovered that Fen-phen and the dietary supplement Ephedra are not safe weight-loss products, that antidepressants in kids can lead to suicidality and Viagra can cause blindness. The list goes on.

• When it comes to vaccines, the same group failed to predict that the 1990's rotavirus (diarrhea) vaccine would have to be pulled from the market after infant deaths. They encouraged use of the oral polio vaccine (eventually discontinued after it gave too many children polio). And they allowed the use of a mercury neurotoxin preservative in childhood vaccines, only to admit later that they hadn't thought to calculate the cumulative amount kids were getting as more and more vaccines were added to the childhood immunization schedule.

• Recent history demonstrates that too often, government health officials, mainstream doctors and pharmaceutical companies aren't on the leading edge of alerting us to health risks; they're bringing up the rear. Patients feel left to fend for themselves, seeking independent research and opinions on their own. They and their dogged, relentless determination have often been the catalyst that eventually brings medical dangers to the forefront.

2. Government scientists, advisors and vaccine manufacturers often take an all-or-nothing approach to vaccinations.

• Government officials and infectious disease experts I've spoken with are fearful that if vaccine side effects are better publicized, or if a link between vaccines and autism and ADD were made, the public would overreact and lose faith in the entire vaccination program. The result, they're afraid, would be parents refusing to give their children any vaccines, leading to new, deadly epidemics of preventable diseases. That indeed would be a disaster. However, their fears have resulted in something I call an all-or-nothing approach: they tend to promote nearly all vaccines for nearly all children as equally necessary and equally safe. Yet at the same time, if asked, they agree not all vaccines are equally safe, equally beneficial, equally necessary and equally tolerated by each individual child.

• Through the Internet and other resources, parents are now able to find research on vaccines and read it for themselves. They compare the government's all-or-nothing approach to the research and become skeptical that the government is presenting the whole picture on vaccine safety generally.

3. Government officials and mainstream scientists who dispel any vaccine/autism/ADD link have ties to vaccine makers.

• There's so much overlap among pharmaceutical companies, government scientists and advisors that the information they provide at least has the appearance of a conflict of interest. Government scientists and advisors often do not mention their connections to the vaccine industry when they provide opinions on the vaccine/autism/ADD issue.

• One of the best examples of this is the landmark autism/vaccine study published in Pediatrics. Early in his study, the lead author, CDC's Dr. Thomas Verstraeten, found statistically significant associations between the amount of mercury (thimerosal) exposure kids got from their childhood vaccines, and a wide range of brain disorders. However, the published version of the study (the one the authors say is accurate) found no evidence of a link to autism. Not disclosed was that Dr. Verstraeten had left CDC midstream during the study and had gone to work for Glaxo, a vaccine manufacturer. That failure to disclose was criticized in a later publication of Pediatrics, but it got little mainstream attention. Also getting little attention was a letter from well-respected scientists, also in Pediatrics, who echoed what parents of autistic children had been saying for months: they questioned the use and exclusion of certain data from Dr. Verstraeten's study that eventually reduced the statistical ties between vaccines and neurodisorders.

• University and government researchers and advisors often do research for vaccine companies, help develop vaccines (even profit from them), and/or are paid to consult for them. Often, these researchers do not disclose their industry ties when they publicly dispel the notion of a link between autism or ADD and vaccines.

• Lastly, the CDC is inextricably tied to vaccine makers through contracts and other business and financial relationships that open the door for the possibility of conflicts.

4. Non-profits which dispel any vaccine/autism/ADD link have ties to vaccine makers.

• Non-profits that promote vaccinations have ties to vaccine makers that they often do not disclose when giving their opinions on vaccine safety. One example is "Every Child By Two." This group contacted CBS News several years ago in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent one of our stories about the vaccine safety from airing. In forms filed for the IRS, the non-profit lists an official from vaccine maker Wyeth Pharmaceuticals as its Treasurer. It lists vaccine maker Chiron as a paid client.

• Another example of a non-profit tied to the industry is "The Vaccine Fund." Its President from 2000-2005 was Jacques-Francois Martin, formerly CEO of vaccine maker Sanofi-Pasteur, CEO of vaccine maker Chiron, and President of the International Federation of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association. While at The Vaccine Fund, his salary was paid by a company that says it "has developed particular strength in the vaccine industry and vaccine development."

5. The dual role of the CDC undermines the appearance of fairness.

• There is a perceived, if not real, conflict of interest with the government's Centers for Disease Control (CDC) heavily promoting vaccines, but also responsible for monitoring adverse events. At least two respected medical journals, the "American Journal of Public Health" and "Pediatrics" have published letters or articles recommending "greater independence in vaccine safety assessments" apart from "the highly successful program to promote immunizations." In short, the CDC's bread and butter is achieving high vaccination rates. But that role is in conflict with the agency's responsibility to fully research and disclose adverse events that could, in theory, bring down vaccination rates.

6. There is no definitive research proving a link between vaccines and autism or ADD, but there is also no definitive research ruling it out.

• Something rarely reported is that while there's no definitive study linking vaccines to autism or ADD, there is also no study definitively disproving a link. And there's a substantial body of peer-reviewed, published science from places like Columbia, Yale and Northeastern suggesting a link, or pointing to the need for further study.

• Many credible voices deny a link. But many other credible voices support the idea of a link. One example of the latter is George Wayne Lucier, formerly a senior official at the National Institutes of Health in Environmental Toxicology, an NIH advisor, member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Toxicity Testing and a scientific advisor for EPA who concludes "...it is highly probably that use of thimerosal as a preservative has caused developmental disorders, including autism, in some children." A lengthy Congressional investigation also concluded that the autism epidemic is likely linked to vaccinations.

7. Those who say autism and ADD are not linked to vaccines do not know what is causing the epidemics.

• The most frightening part of the autism/ADD epidemics is that if, indeed, they're unrelated to vaccinations, that our best, brightest public health experts still have no idea what is causing it. Excluding ADD, one out of every 150 American children are now being diagnosed with autism.

Vaccinations have provided lifesaving miracles in public health. However, it's undisputed that they are also responsible for many serious adverse events including brain disorders and, rarely, deaths. Trying to maximize the potential benefits of vaccines and minimize the harm shouldn't be seen as a threat to the nation's inoculation program, it's merely a logical step forward.

One scientist who testified for the plaintiff this week in The Vaccine Court said there's a way to test children for a hidden hole in their immune make-up that makes them susceptible to bad immune reactions from vaccinations. He said that, ideally, every child should undergo such a test before their first vaccinations. But he also said the test is very expensive and so "not worth it." Many parents might disagree. If they knew such a test was available, they'd find a way to pay for it. But such information has to be disseminated to the public before a first step can even be considered.

Mainstream medicine initially said that autism was caused by mothers who weren't affectionate enough with their children. If that doesn't teach us that we should always seek further knowledge and not necessarily accept what's spoon-fed to us by certain experts…then nothing will.


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by nhokkanen June 15, 2007 3:01 PM PDT
THANK YOU! for summarizing what parents have tried to tell MSM for years. Reporters need to read the transcripts, not the hype. Look at the FOIA documents, the children's medical records. Listen to the plaintiffs' expert witnesses -- a federal trial is not a "parents vs. science" scenario, but a lazy headline writer's bias.
Look at Day 1 transcript page 40, line 18. Read how little Michelle Cecillo pounded on her chest, trying to tell us something. She was in pain. Someone listened, she was scoped, and a lesion found in her esophagus. She got treatment, stopped pounding, and another scope showed the lesion was healed.
In 2002 I took my son to a university for a tantrum study. A psychologist was paid to watch my son freak out. Months later, disillusioned but better educated, I had medical tests run that showed mercury toxicity and nutritional deficiency. Within 2 weeks of getting supplements my son's tantrums diminished drastically.
How many other children are being watched, instead of helped? How many are being punished for behaviors borne of pain and illness? How many doctors are giving drugs that mask or worsen symptoms, instead of treating the root cause?
This is a national disgrace. A horrible tragedy has been visited upon a generation of children suffering from autism, Attention Deficit Disorder, allergies, immune disorders, speech disorders, etc.
No child should be written off as collateral damage in the war on disease.
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by graciesmama June 15, 2007 3:16 PM PDT
Way to go! What a lot of us parents out there with autistic/vaccine injured kids have been saying for years! I just want a healthy child! I want to be able to vaccinate her, and not worry that if I do she won't fall further into the hole of autism.

My child has in the last 3-4 months has become constipated, She went for 10 days without a bowel movement, and only then an enima took care of it, and more and more enimas every 7-10 days, since she seems to no longer be able to go.

She had a terrible x-ray all filled with fluid levels, her ped was so concerned that she almost hospitialized her! We finally got her into a ped gastro, he says its nothing, no need to scope her, just give her an adult dose 2 times a day of miralax, and an enima if she is too uncomfortable.... Dosen't need to see her back!

Sorry but if you or I stopped having bowel movements they would have you scoped so fast!

Anyhow, off the subject but thanks for reporting what is really going on out there!


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by grautism June 15, 2007 3:24 PM PDT
This is the most fair and balance piece we have ever seen written on the case many parents have been trying to make for year.

On behalf of Generation Rescue, and organization with more than 350 parent-volunteer families, thank you from the bottom of our heart.

JB Handley
Portland, OR
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by ida8812 June 15, 2007 3:34 PM PDT
This is the most clearly articulated article I've ever seen on this topic. Trust and integrity in science, medicine and journalism is very important. The reasons and issues raised in this article make it clear why those of us, especially those of us who have worked on the front-lines in health care for decades, and who saw our normally developing infants literally fall apart within days of vaccination, distrustful of those in medicine, industry, government and the media who will not listen. Continuing to try to convince people that "that which cannot be, must not be" is not working any longer.

It's way past the time when serious research is funded and conducted on the biological mechanisms by which a minority of children are injured by vaccines. These are most likely avoidable injuries if only we knew which babies should be vaccinated differently and should not be subjected to a one-size-fits-all medical protocol. Such protocols are soundly rejected everywhere else in health care, why is it tolerated for our most vulnerable and precious infants?

Vicky Pebsworth Debold, PhD, RN
Public Health and Nursing
Mother of a 10-year-old boy diagnosed with autism
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by dannyhorn June 15, 2007 3:54 PM PDT
This article blames "them" -- scientists, doctors, and pharmaceutical companies -- for ignoring the potential risks of vaccines. But there is no "them" -- no single, unified body of researchers who all say the same thing, and don't care about patients' lives. Encouraging people to fear and distrust all of medical science is irresponsible.

Just because "they" have been wrong sometimes doesn't mean that everything "we" say is true. Some parents say that there's a link between vaccines and autism. They may be right, and they may be wrong -- but if they want to be taken seriously, they need to provide real evidence.

It helps if you avoid saying things like this: "While there's no definitive study linking vaccines to autism or ADD, there is also no study definitively disproving a link." It's a basic principle of science that you can't "prove" a negative. The burden of proof is on the person who's making the claim.
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by dannyhorn June 15, 2007 3:54 PM PDT
This article blames "them" -- scientists, doctors, and pharmaceutical companies -- for ignoring the potential risks of vaccines. But there is no "them" -- no single, unified body of researchers who all say the same thing, and don't care about patients' lives. Encouraging people to fear and distrust all of medical science is irresponsible.

Just because "they" have been wrong sometimes doesn't mean that everything "we" say is true. Some parents say that there's a link between vaccines and autism. They may be right, and they may be wrong -- but if they want to be taken seriously, they need to provide real evidence.

It helps if you avoid saying things like this: "While there's no definitive study linking vaccines to autism or ADD, there is also no study definitively disproving a link." It's a basic principle of science that you can't "prove" a negative. The burden of proof is on the person who's making the claim.
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by aprokofiew June 15, 2007 3:55 PM PDT
"Autism: Why The Debate Rages"

"Excellent"

Thank You again Sharyl!!

Adrian Prokofiew
County of Hunterdon
Flemington NJ 08822
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by carolh26 June 15, 2007 3:59 PM PDT
Thank you for the only unbiased, logical article on this topic I have seen. I have been following this story for many years. The latest research in February of 2007 that showed a genetic link to autism was linked to the genes that code for Glutamate neurotransmission. Glutamate is found in the MMR vaccine. Gelatin is 10% free glutamic acid and gluten and casein are very high in free glutamate as well. These parents aren't imagining things. They are noticing things. It all makes sense, when you consider that free glutamate lowers glutathione levels and glutathione is what chelates mercury. So, with glutamate and mercury in the same vaccine, you are both poisoning the child with mercury and removing their means of getting rid of that mercury. Glutamate to a child with a genetic problem handling glutamate as a neurotransmitter, and neurotoxic mercury may be creating a perfect recipe for brain injury when added to the normal inflammation from one vaccine, let alone many at the same time. Glutamate increases histamine response. Please see http://www.msgtruth.org/autism.htm for information about the link between free glutamate - found in vaccines and foods, and autism. We just may need to remove mercury and free glutamate from vaccines and space the vaccines out for children under 7. We test kids for PKU at birth and treat them carefully till age 7, why don't we treat these children with autism genes the same until the brain is hardwired?
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by qchan63 June 15, 2007 4:17 PM PDT
You neglected to list a couple of additional reasons this debate still drags on:

-- There is lots of money to be made (mostly by lawyers) if they can get a court to declare vaccines cause autism.

-- "Alternative" healthcare practitioners already are making lots of money selling questionable, expensive therapies and products to parents who believe their children's autism was caused by vaccines.

I think it's telling that Generation Rescue, one of the most strident voices implicating vaccines in autism, finds your story "fair and balanced."

And to say people "don't know what's causing the epidemics" ignores the fact that researchers have presented strong evidence that there is no "epidemic" -- that the rise in autism diagnoses is due to greater awareness and the vastly broadened criteria for what is considered part of the autism spectrum. Are you even aware of this?

Personally, i am no great fan of pharma companies, and i'm not really interested in defending them. But plenty of us parents of autistic children choose not to look upon our kids as "poisoned" or "damaged," or as victims. And we see the vaccine hysteria as pulling crucial attention and resources away from research and education that might actually help our kids -- and others'.
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by grautism June 15, 2007 4:52 PM PDT
Strident voices?

Is that a crime?

We happen to feel we are right, as do tens of thousands of other parents, about 4,800 of whom have filed lawsuits to make their voice heard. And, we applaud all of them.

If you are a parent, read for yourself:

www.generationrescue.org

Respectfully,

JB Handley
Generation Rescue
Portland, OR
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by tmiktliu June 15, 2007 5:34 PM PDT
Sharyl Attkisson is (once again, and always) a breath of fresh air - a fearless voice - and this post is as articulate and honest as it gets.

As for Katie - I seem to recall taking a bit of a dump on her in a discussion forum a while back for her work on an unrelated story - then I see this posted on her blog - Katie steps up too - so this is me eating crow.

thank you both

-randy
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by olerist June 15, 2007 5:44 PM PDT
Thank you cbsnews and Sheryl for being FAIR and not one sided.

This is much better than the "control the message" we have seen from other MSM sources.

Such as:
NBC's Snydeerman - who is a VP of a company facing litigation

or NPR's "we cant find any experts" to say the contrary. So they put on a shrink and a vaccine industry shill to talk "expertly" about mercury instead of a toxicologist.

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by politicalpun June 15, 2007 6:10 PM PDT
Thank you Sharyl, finally a journalist with the integrity to look beyond what is being spun as "science vs. parents" regarding vaccines implications into the autism epidemic. It is unbelievable how little or biased the coverage has been on this topic. Those of us who have lived this experience deserve at the very least fair and objective coverage.
Laura Cellini
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by kelliann5 June 15, 2007 7:43 PM PDT
Dannyhorn said:

It's a basic principle of science that you can't "prove" a negative. The burden of proof is on the person who's making the claim.

Wrong.

The law for the regulation of drugs including vaccines and other biological preparations classified as drugs, explicitly require that all drugs (as the term is defined in 21 U.S.C. Section 321(g)(1)13, including any component used in a drug [21 U.S.C. Section 321(g)(1)(D)])must be SAFE (based on the definition of SAFE in 21 U.S.C.Section 321(u)14)and effective in human and animals.

Personally, I can't recall ONE STUDY where mercury, a KNOWN NEUROTOXIN, is determined to be SAFE.

So no Danny. The burden is not for me to prove that a neurotoxin injected into individuals is UNSAFE (although I personally think it's a no brainer)....Rather the burden is on the "person" who declares its SAFETY....and in this case, that would rest with the manufacturer who places it in their product.

Kelli Ann Davis
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by carolh26 June 15, 2007 8:19 PM PDT
I am continuously amazed by parents of autistic children who don't want to find out the causes of autism. Forgive me for not having an autistic child but wanting to find a way to keep new children from suffering. I am all for helping autistic children and adults be productive in society, but I think we can walk and chew gum at the same time here. Lets help ALL the children. You may not wish to view your child as "damaged" but make no mistake your child IS suffering. Why do you want to stop other parents from getting answers - answers that may stop more suffering - answers that would put parents minds at ease about vaccinating their kids? Just because you have made peace with your child's condition does not mean we should give up trying to prevent autism in other children. In so doing, we may find ways to make your child's life that much easier.
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by olerist June 15, 2007 9:20 PM PDT
Hey dannyhorn,

just where exactly are cash strapped parents supposed to get the money to fund such studies?

The federal government officals, who either weren't paying attention to the expsoure rates or neglecting to do anything about it because of fear to their program (and might face criminal prosecution) or the pharmaceutical companies, who are worried about liability (inserting riders into law admonishing them from litiagtion) and only seem interested in funding genetic studies to make drugs to treat and profit from this disorder rather than look for the causes and dealing with those?

Other parents,
I am certainly not saying "all" autism on the spectrum was manifested from this source but please support us who witnessed first hand what happened in our instances. A "spectrum disorder" could very well be due to several things with similar manifestations.

I watched my son react and change, as if the soul had been taken from him following his 15 month shots.

As a scientist myself I know correlation does not always mean cause - but sometimes correlations DO point to the cause.

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by timkasemodel June 15, 2007 9:27 PM PDT
Sharyl is now my newest hero. Thank you for having the courage to stand up and say what needs to be said. Sadly, most journalists are too busy to do the resaerch you obviously did to produce such a knowledgable article.

One group you did not mention that works hard to promote vaccines is the Immunizaton Action Coalition in St. Paul Minnesota. This group actively lobbies against mercury free vaccines legislation in nearly every state pursing it. They recieved around $750,000 from the CDC and $750,000 from pharmacuetical companies to do so, and one 30 year veteran pediatrician I spoke with, in front of a Representative of IAC, did not know that infant vaccines still contained thimerosal and why until she FINALLY admnitted to him that there was mercury in the vaccines he was giving to babies.

I also want you to notice how many people praising you include their own names, and how many of those who say you did a diservice to the immunization program do not.

I say if you are proud enough to speak your mind, sign your name with pride!

Tim Kasemodel
Wayzata, MN
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by qchan63 June 15, 2007 9:56 PM PDT
CarolH,

I sympathize with you, in that i understand what it's like to be continually amazed. I get that way over seeing people endlessly mispresenting other people's opinions.

I never said a word about not wanting to find out the causes of autism. I simply believe that continuing to pursue the vaccine hypothesis, in the face of such a lack of actual scientific evidence, is not the way we're going to get there. And i'm not remotely trying to "stop other parents from finding answers"; i'm simply stating my opinion that looking for those answers in vaccines has the consequence of diverting much-needed resources from other areas of research.

A couple of things you might want to ponder: Thimerosal has been out of virtually all routine childhood vaccinations since 2002. Yet the rate of new autism diagnoses has not started to plunge, as you might expect if thimerosal were the main culprit. If anything, it continues to rise. Also: My own daughter got all her vaccinations before thimerosal was phased out; her brother got them after the phaseout. Guess which one has autism?

I believe you're sincere that you want to help kids with autism, and i also believe that autism is a very different thing in every person it affects. But trust me when i tell you that you don't know a thing about MY child or how much he's "suffering." He would probably laugh at that. He laughs a lot. And it doesn't look much like suffering at all.
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by carolh26 June 15, 2007 11:03 PM PDT
The thing is this, if we stop looking in the area that appears most promising - the vaccine link, that is like closing your eyes and plugging up your ears and humming because you do not want to hear or see the evidence before you.

It is disturbing that since the early 1990's when the patent on aspartame expired autism rates went up. Aspartame began to appear in more and more childrens meds and chewable vitamins and even gums that are NOT sugar-free. Aspartame is split into phenylalanine and aspartate which is turned into glutamate in the body.

If we examine the amino acid neurotransmitter angle - which is BACKED UP by scientific studies just released, then vaccines certainly would affect children with those genetic traits. Because, like I said before, free glutamate is in vaccines. Just because the vaccine manufacturers and food producers who put aspartame and free glutamate into just about everything our children eat or are medicated with tell you there is "no evidence" I am telling you there is - and I am giving it to you. It is up to you whether you wish to close your eyes and not see it.

All the SCIENTIFIC evidence you can claim does not exist, I have laid out for you on my website, but still you choose to avoid hope. Why? Simply because your child is capable of laughter?
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by karenburns3 June 16, 2007 12:00 PM PDT
In this article I wondered where the FDA was has anyone remembered them this week in court. It seems like the scientist's they find can always say no its not the vaccienes causing the autism, I always think something is causing it does anyone look in other areas? Its the same thing with the amalgam issue the FDA was bought to court last Sept (K.Couric)reported on it,Then in May I got to see the FDA's lawyer admit in Federal court 5 times that they werent sure that amalgam fillings were safe. I was a Dental Assistant I know amalgam/silver fillings are half mercury. Maybe if the FDA did some research they could see mothers with lots of fillings could have a high mercury levels and if they nurse their babies its in the milk so the baby is exposed twice (Maybe we could start testing everyone for heavy metals like we do for lead) And then from birth we start giving them vaccienes its not working.Katie I dont care what they say about your ratings you should know that you are making a differce in this world. Thankyou for reporting what others are afaid to. Karenburns
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by karenburns3 June 16, 2007 12:06 PM PDT
Who is the scientist that said its too costly to test for a hole in the child's immune makeup. To expensive for who.......
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by celsass June 16, 2007 1:10 PM PDT
Thank you so much for your brave reporting! What a great piece- I am forwarding the link far & wide:) One other factor not mentioned in the piece is the role doctors' groups are playing in the continued coverup. We had a bill here in Arkansas that would simply have required health care practitioners to tell patients that there is still a substantial amount of mercury in flu vaccines. The people who lobbied most heavily against having to tell were the doctors themselves. When they seek to hide information from us, confidence in their precious vaccine program erodes further. Most parents beleive that all the vaccines they give their children now are "mercury-free", and while routine immunizations do contain substantially less than before, they still contain some- and pharmaceutical companies are just replacing it with aluminum anyway! But the flu shots have caused many a child to descend rapidly into the world of autism.
Carrie Elsass
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by celsass June 16, 2007 1:10 PM PDT
Parents should be able to make fully informed choices,but the information is not readily available- and I would give anything to have known "then" what I know now. After YEARS of research, time, and money, my little one is a world better. But it has been a tough row to hoe, & we shouldn't have had to go through it at all. Some research indicates that mothers of autistic kids have a far higher prevalence of autoimmune disorders(and my family history is riddled with autoimmune disease, including myself). Why are basic screening tools such as this (which costs NOTHING to ask about) not being better utilized?
Carrie Elsass
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by akvirs42 June 16, 2007 2:35 PM PDT
I find it rather peculiar that a journalist discussing the supposed "epidemics" of ADD and autism seems to have no knowledge of how the definitions of these "disorders" (note the quotes) and the cultural awareness surrounding them have shifted dramatically over years. Though I am now an adult, I was diagnosed with both ADD and an autistic spectrum disorder as a minor. Note that autism is now viewed as a spectrum. If you were to meet me, it's highly unlikely that you would recognize my neurological differences unless you are extremely knowledgable about the full spectrum. It's even possible that some professionals might think I'm too "high-functioning" to qualify--after all, diagnosis based on behavioral traits is subjective. Yet I am statistically part of the autism epidemic. So are many others who just ten or fifteen years ago would have been considered merely shy, unusual, and quirky. Conversely, many people who were written off as "retarded" are now considered autistic. I have family members who would have been considered autistic were they children in today's society, but they were not. Autism and ADD are natural variations in the neurological diversity of our species. A little less panic and a little more actual analysis, please.
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by carolh26 June 16, 2007 3:59 PM PDT
Please, autism is not just shyness which was not diagnosed before - it is a disease with a genetic basis.

Just because someone may be ashamed of having autism or having a child with the disease does not mean they need to deny it exists to feel better about themselves. Autism is not being quirky or eccentric. There is a stigma with ANY disease centered in the brain and telling ourselves it is not a disease so we don't feel "damaged" or otherwise inferior does not help. Understanding the causes and treatment does. Those of us with mental illness like depression must face the fact that we are dealing with a disease here and accept treatment accordingly. Self esteem has to take a breather here. That means looking it square in the eye and calling it for what it is. I am sorry some here feel a stigma about it, but it is time to realize autism is not an imaginary disorder. These kids are in pain - pain from sights, smells, sounds, their nervous systems are on super high alert all the time it is like being in a "fight or flight" kind of hell for some children. They feel things more than those without autism - things like fear. They ARE different. The more we can understand about the way they experience and feel the world and what environmental triggers affect them, the easier we can make everything for them. And, maybe the less children will be diagnosed in the future. We HAVE to try.
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by T-F June 16, 2007 4:06 PM PDT
For a reference to what vaccines still have mercury see - http://www.fda.gov/cber/vaccine/thimerosal.htm#t1 (last updated June 13th, 2007)

Thanks for this report. NBC's Today Show just had a doctor on this week that completely said all of this hogwash (surprise - the doctor has ties to the drug companies). It is rare to see anything close to objective journalism these days...
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by karenburns3 June 16, 2007 10:32 PM PDT
Sharyl Attkinson what a wonderful job you did reporting this story. I hope CBS is smart enough to keep you and Katie Couric around for awhile. I experied two separate occasions where I saw major news taking place and no coverage at all I couldnt believe it. After the first event I stopped reading papers and watching the news. I know I can count on Katies evening news and it is a blessing that its on TV and radio so is conveinet. Also she has the nerve to cover what other people are too afraid. Thanks for such fine coverage it made up for the rotten coverage on NPR radio Thurs. Karenburns3
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by nomercury June 17, 2007 1:49 AM PDT
Thank you for your succinct and insightful blog post. You are a true investigative journalist in an era when most of your colleagues too often find it easier to regurgitate the press release swill churned out by slick public relations firms hired by corporations (such as pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturers) hiding behind the curtain of "non-profit" foundations rather than doing the research, basic fact-finding and verfication necessary to report an accurate story.

One important fact that has not been noted is the conflicts of interest by some in the mainstream media, such as NBC which is owned by GE. How ironic the network who is the most adamant about denying the causal connection between mercury and autism also happens to own Amersham Biosciences which provides the protein separators involved in 90% of the world's vaccine manufacturing. Oh, and by the way, they also use thimerosal. What a coincidence.

Thank you again for having the integrity and courage to do your job so throughly, even if it means going outside the comfort zone for your network's corporate advertisers.

Respectfully,

Lujene G. Clark
President
NoMercury

Trustee
Alan D. Clark, M.D. Memorial Research Foundation
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by qchan63 June 17, 2007 3:28 AM PDT
Autism is not an imaginary disorder. Got it. Thanks for clearing that up. You can imagine how useful that information is to the PARENT OF A CHILD WHO HAS BEEN DIAGNOSED AS AUTISTIC. Especially when that opinion comes from a person who appears to have many, many more opinions on the matter than actual, real-life experiences with autism or autistic kids. (At least that's how it would appear from your cookie-cutter conceptions of what autistic people are like.)

To be honest, though, you pretty much lost me at "aspartame."
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by recovertwins June 17, 2007 5:22 PM PDT
Wonderful to finally see a serious journalist covering in mainstream media the questions most of us know the answers to. I would love to have been told about that there was a "way to test children for a hidden hole in their immune make-up that makes them susceptible to bad immune reactions from vaccinations." I would have paid full cost for my twins. Now I am paying hundreds of dollars for the CDC's cover up. I hope Ms. Attkisson teams up with David Kirby soon. She should be working with HIM!
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by mw3e June 17, 2007 8:34 PM PDT
Finally a balanced, measured and thoughtful perspective. Lets not overreact nut lets not be as stupid as many who falsely claim premature safety!!!

What is left unsaid is that by not knowing for certain, and yet realizing that thimerosal is a mercury based compound and that mercury is indeed a neurotoxin, one can assume correctly that different folks (ie BABIES and CHILDREN) will have varying thresholds /sensitivities and onset of debilitating symptoms.

The authorities are insensitive to the implications of their conflicted analyses (leaving out data is heinous and grounds for retribution, nevermind more onerous punishment of the purported experts)

Is any member of those who claim any connection to studies or republication of studies, in ANY way under any conflict of interest? If so - step down NOW.

The issue is one of public health and not optimizing profits in false name of public health !!!

That means to reduce mercury load in the bodies of children seems to reduce the severity of symptoms of those suffering and afflicted, is reason to doubt the impartiality of many who claim otherwise.

All to have a longer shelf life of a vaccine? Instead of slightly higher vaccine costs of mercury / thimerosol free SAFER vaccines? Someone or many have a screw loose. FOR SHAME...
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by ProudPrimate June 17, 2007 8:37 PM PDT
This is really fine work for Mainstream Media. You could get a job in the underground!

It's almost a shock to see so much candor in the MSM -- are you afraid for your job?

(Kidding aside, sincere thanks to you and the network.)
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by sadmom1 June 17, 2007 10:15 PM PDT
Everyone who has a child on the Spectrum knows the truth. To think that hiding behind a psychiatric definiation would prevent us from 'knowing' is an exercise in naivity.

What you have really done is neglect the children: an entire generation who possibly could have been medically saved but were abandoned to prevent public exposure and scrutiny.

It is shameful. In the end, time will tell the truth and those who stood up to reveal it will be honoured as heros; those who sought to deceive the masses will become criminals.

My son knows the truth and he is the next generation. Healing my child stole away my marriage, my career and my life. I have spent every dime I have trying to save my boy. It is my journey and I accept this.

I am very frightened by what our generation has done to this world. We need to mitigate our losses and properly treat these children rather than continue to deny our culpability. We eventually need to stand up and do the right thing by the children born in the 1990's.

They are our future leaders of men/women and we tossed them away as though they were expendable because we didn't want to admit that it was mercury poisoning.

Provide medical care for these children around the world! Those who administered the vaccine should be required to provide medical care for the injured.

For shame indeed!
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by JohnJDougherty June 17, 2007 10:53 PM PDT
The tone and the implicit conclusion of this article on a possible link between autism & vaccines is contemptible and beneath any acceptable standards of fair journalism. The author wants to assert that they MAY be a link - she certainly doesn't know if there is or not -but repeatedly accuses researchers, government officials & doctors of deliberately avoiding the issue. Her evidence? Because in the past, there have been problems with other vaccines & medications - problems, incidentally, that were researched and addressed by the very "group" (in the author's repeated use of the term "the same group who..." you would imagine there is this timeless group of medical conspirators who never age and have been covering up medical malfeasance for decades) - it is this very group of researchers & doctors who did the work to get mistakes corrected. Is medicine & science perfect? Not since the beginning of time has it been perfect - never will be. But to malign doctors just to write some pseudo-conspiratorial nonsense in order to make it look like you are some fighter for truth. This is really more about YOUR ego than the causes of autism.
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by gatogorra June 17, 2007 10:55 PM PDT
It gets tiresome wading through the usual press spin on this issue, so it's quite a shock to run accross a report stating the facts as many of us know them and even adding new information. What, you mean we don't have to brace ourselves, steel our skepticism and quell nausea while reading a mainstream press piece on the autism/vaccine link? Since I'm unprepared for this strange and surprising event, I don't quite know what to say but thank you, Ms. Attkisson, and whichever intrepid news director or editor allowed this report to leak through the stonewall. The truth on this chapter in history will fully emerge one day and I believe you'll be among the few left untarnished.
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by redhead60707 June 18, 2007 1:51 AM PDT
Thank you Sharyl Attkisson and CBS for an objective and honest report. No hype but instead hope. It was the best report that I have seen in a long time. Your efforts are appreciated by a generation of children and their families.

Teresa Conrick
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by uktinalouise June 18, 2007 6:00 AM PDT
Thank you so much for this informative and balanced look at a vitally important topic. We seem to be expected to simply just trust that all Vaccines are suited and right for our children - yet all children are NOT the same, although vaccine doses are and children will react differently.

The paragraph that says:
...He said that, ideally, every child should undergo such a test before their first vaccinations. But he also said the test is very expensive and so "not worth it." Many parents might disagree.

....is particularly telling about the priorities and importance that ONE life holds to

I don't know the answers but I do have a lot of questions that need to be answered (by someone not connected to the profit vaccines provide). I do not want to take ANY chances with the precious lives that I am responsible for.

Thanks again for covering this and I look forward to more information in the future.

Namaste,
Tina Louise
England
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by carolh26 June 18, 2007 8:29 AM PDT
To qchan63,

I feel sorry for your child. You can celebrate your desire not to find the answers so many other parents seek. But the rest of us who do read the science and actually know what a neurotransmitter is and what foods and medicines they are in will continue to demand answers. Real science is the open search for answers, ignorance is smug, and those who are hiding something will do anything to keep it hidden. Best of luck to you.
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by docvaughn1 June 18, 2007 9:24 AM PDT
As a doctor and author on the subject of medically-induced birth trauma, I want to thank you for your thoughtful and accurate reporting on this subject. Your piece will be required reading for anyone wishing to discuss the matter in our clinic, and my hope is that you will continue to state the facts rather than the governmental/pharmaceutical party line.

I must say that reading it provoked the same emotional response as listening to a flawless musical performance from a great master, as something that resonates with truth and beauty. Please do not allow corporate bullying to ever stop your honest statement of facts, especially when so many lives are at stake. Those of us in the trenches applaud your efforts and look forward to the day you will be recognized by your former critics.
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by drricklippin June 18, 2007 9:40 AM PDT
Sharyl Attkisson

Thanks for the story on Autism and "whom does one trust?

Please contact me at cell- 570-242-1414 or ralippin@aol.com

I am requesting an opprtunity to serve as a confidential source on a vaccine story which I know well.

Thanks

Rick Lippin MD
Southampton Pa
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by drricklippin June 18, 2007 9:45 AM PDT
Sharyl Attkisson;

Thanks for this story on Autism but more broadly the issue of "whom does one trust?"

I have a story on a vaccine program that I have researched and "lived" for 6 years which I would like to convey to a responsible investigative reporter.

Thanks for contacting me at ralippin@aol.com or cell- 570-242-1414

Be Well,

Rick Lippin MD
Southampton, Pa

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by back2basics1 June 18, 2007 9:47 AM PDT
It%u2019s incredibly inaccurate to say that no evidence exists to disprove a link. Sadly the people who believe this is a balanced report really should read the transcripts of the supreme court case, this reporter clearly has not.

Everybody should read the transcripts for the real reason this myth continues. It%u2019s because of a handful of unethical doctors and researchers, who earn money through the court system bringing frivolous cases. In one case a doctor earned $500,000 for a few months work, for her support of the link. And these doctors? They have consistently lied about their qualifications. In once case just about every qualification on an immunologists resume was false.

The transcripts can be found here I urge everybody, including the reporter to read them, to see clearly just who is lying to line their own pockets.

ftp://autism.uscfc.uscourts.gov/autism/index.html
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by lordeeme June 18, 2007 10:45 AM PDT
Thank you and thank you again for this article that speaks of truths that most seem to be avoiding. I hope that you will continue to investigate this as so many of us have. It will be a victory when these truths become evident to all.
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by lmarkssmith June 18, 2007 11:01 AM PDT
please be aware that both the tetanus and flu vaccine still have mercury in them. Can anyone tell me the name of the test that will identify children with holes in their immune make up. I would pay anything to spare my children the reaction I had in Oct 2005 to a flu vaccine.

Lisa Smith
lmarkssmith@cinci.rr.com
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by wvinsusan June 18, 2007 11:17 AM PDT
Thanks for an article that should open many people's eyes. You are one of my heroes, along with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Dr. Andrew Wakefield, Ingri Cassel, and many others.

Susan Pearce
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by qchan63 June 18, 2007 1:04 PM PDT
CarolH,

I guess i might be offended by your surely heartfelt sympathy for my child if i thought you had the slightest idea what you were talking about. (Just one example: Neurotransmitters are not "in" our food like some kind of prize in a cereal box; they're synthesized in the body using the nutrients we consume.)

For the record, my son has been (and continues to undergo) intensive therapy for autism. I'm hardly "celebrating a desire not to find answers," whatever that means. We as a family are doing everything we can to help our son, without subjecting him to therapies that are untested, unwarranted and sometimes dangerous. (Did you know a boy died last year while undergoing chelation, a technique supported by many who believe in the vaccine hypothesis?)

I do, however, celebrate my son, because he did not ask to be born with autism, and the least i can do for him is to love him and respect him for who he is, while also doing all i can to make his world better.

It's too bad there is as yet no vaccine for ignorance and misplaced pity (although i'm afraid it might be too late for your sake). But again, thanks for all your kind thoughts.

(And for anyone seeking an opinion on this matter from a qualified expert -- an actual doctor -- the following article in yesterday's SanFran Chronicle is worth checking out:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/17/INGMLQEPNT1.DTL
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