Parents aren't convinced about Vaccine Ruling

FROM CNN: A special court's Thursday ruling that no proven link exists between autism and certain early childhood vaccines seems to have done little to change the sometimes-passionate opinion fueling the debate. Amanda Guyton, a mother of a 6-year-old boy with autism, was "incredibly happy" with the decision and said it reaffirmed her belief that her son's autism has nothing to do with vaccines.

"We're ready for them to get on real research like educational strategies and help for kids," she said. "An awful lot of money and effort and time were spent on vaccines when three or four studies said no, there isn't a link."Meanwhile, John Best, the father of a 12-year-old boy with autism, said: "The whole thing stinks."

Guyton and Best were not involved in the cases, but were following the news because of their interest in autism.

Three families -- the Cedillos, the Hazlehursts and the Snyders -- had sought damage awards from the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program for their children who have autism, a disorder that the parents contend was triggered by the vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella combined with vaccines containing thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative. Watch Campbell Brown's take on the controversy »

The panel of "special masters" ruled that these petitioners had not presented sufficient evidence to prove that the childhood vaccines caused autism in their children.

A vocal segment of autism parents has contended that childhood vaccinations recommended by the government cause the disorder. Health agencies and the scientific community have disputed that notion. In defending its conclusion that no link exists, the Institute of Medicine cited five large studies that have failed to prove any connection between autism and thimerosal and 14 large studies finding no link between the MMR vaccine and autism.

"As the scientific community has been saying for a long time, there is no good, credible, reproducible research that supports the hypothesis that MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine causes autism," said Dr. Max Wiznitzer, an autism expert at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio.

Wiznitzer testified in two of these three lawsuits brought against the government's National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.

"What the decision tells us is that these vaccinations are safe," he said. "The medical evidence tells us there is no association between vaccines and autism. This is one more piece that helps confirm that conclusion."

The defendant, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, released a statement Thursday: "Hopefully, the determination by the Special Masters will help reassure parents that vaccines do not cause autism."Meanwhile, some autism advocacy groups such as SafeMinds also criticized the HHS saying the "deck is stacked against families when they enter 'vaccine court.'"

National Autism Association president Wendy Fournier agreed."If you have a vaccine injury, you're forced to sue Health and Human Services instead of suing the manufacturers. It's the government that oversees these court cases," said Fournier, who is the mother of a 9-year-old girl with autism. "The conflict of interest is so huge in so many levels by having the government responsible for not only promoting vaccine program, but also responsible for overseeing the safety."

Fournier said her daughter was a happy, healthy toddler who developed autism after receiving shots. She said she's heard countless similar stories from other parents.

The special court denied Mike and Theresa Cedillo's claim that vaccines caused autism in their daughter, Michelle, 14, who can't walk without help and receives nourishment from a feeding tube.

"We're obviously really disappointed," Theresa Cedillo said.

Tom Powers is an attorney for a litigation steering committee representing thousands of families that fall into three categories: those that claim that MMR vaccines and thimerosal-containing vaccines can combine to cause autism; those who claim thimerosal-containing vaccines alone can cause autism; and those who claim that MMR vaccines, without any link to thimerosal, can cause autism.

"We're disappointed in the outcome of the court's decision," he said. "However, these decisions are the first step in a long process. The whole process was designed to raise every possible issue in these cases -- hear all the evidence in these cases, knowing that ultimately appeals courts will be making the final decisions."

This week's ruling brought a different outcome from the Hannah Poling case. In November 2007, the Division of Vaccine Injury Compensation concluded that the Georgia girl's illness that had predisposed her to symptoms of autism was "significantly aggravated" by the vaccinations she received as a toddler and that her family should therefore be compensated.

But Thursday, Special Master George L. Hastings Jr. wrote in his ruling in the Cedillos case, "The evidence advanced by the petitioners has fallen far short of demonstrating such a link" between autism and vaccinations.

Wiznitzer said the ruling sent a message.

"Instead of spending resources investigating ideas that are hypothetical and have no proven value, we need to invest our time and resources into projects that will better determine the reasons for autism and the interventions that are best needed," he said.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Vaccine Fight

Celebrities Jenny McCarthy and Amanda Peet are feuding over the safety of vaccinations. Jenny McCarthy says more research needs to be done to make them safer for all kids. According the Chicago Tribune, Peet said, People who don't vaccinate

their kids because of autism fears are "parasites."

I realize the fact that these two celebrities are feuding isn't exactly newsworthy, but the topic is. The end of the article annoys me. It says "Me-Ow." I hope there are other people who read that line and rolled their eyes too!

Former Playboy Playmate Jenny McCarthy and actress Amanda Peet are publicly feuding over the safety of childhood vaccines. Who says there's nothing sexy about inoculations?Their dispute revolves around the belief among some parents of children with autism—including McCarthy —that certain vaccines may trigger the disorder, although scientific research has shown no evidence of any link.Peet, a mother and advocate for childhood vaccinations, said in a recent magazine interview that parents who don't vaccinate their children because of autism fears are "parasites."That made McCarthy very angry, almost as angry as the people who paid to see her recent movie "Witless Protection," in which she starred alongside Larry the Cable Guy.

In an article published Wednesday in Spectrum Magazine, McCarthy said Peet "has a lot of balls to come forward and be on that side, because there is an angry mob on my side. I like the fact that I can say she's completely wrong."Peet apologized for her word choice but called it irresponsible to suggest that groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics are engaged in a massive coverup of harmful vaccines.McCarthy said in the article released Wednesday that the American Academy of Pediatrics "sucks."Too bad the Wall Street bailout debate is devoid of celebrity combatants. Just imagine how spicy it would be if Heidi Klum was ripping Kate Hudson for her stance on credit default swaps.Me-OW!

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Thanks for sending this one Billy!

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No link between Autism and Vaccines?

If you are a parent who goes back and forth on the autism/vaccine link, here's the latest word that is sure to be even more controversial.

From CNN:

The Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine causes neither autism nor gastrointestinal disorders, a study reported Wednesday, disputing a theory that has persisted for a decade. A researcher had theorized that the measles vaccine caused gastrointestinal problems that he linked to autism.

The theory was created in 1998, when British researcher Andrew Wakefield published studies that suggested the measles vaccine caused gastrointestinal problems and that those GI problems led to autism.

W. Ian Lipkin of Columbia University in New York, who co-authored the most recent study, said Wakefield theorized that the virus used in the vaccine grew in the intestinal tract, leading to inflammation that made the bowel porous. That allowed material to seep from the bowel into the blood, Wakefield's theory surmised, affecting the nervous system and causing autism.

In Wednesday's study, the researchers replicated key parts of Wakefield's original study to determine whether the vaccine causes autism and GI problems, said Mady Hornig, a study co-author. Irish pathologist John O'Leary, co-author of Wakefield's studies that supported the autism link, also is a co-author of the new study.

O'Leary and the other researchers looked for evidence of the measles vaccine in children's intestines after they had been vaccinated and sought to determine whether their GI problems and autism symptoms occurred before or after they were vaccinated.

They analyzed samples taken from 38 children with bowel disorders, 25 of whom also had autism. The investigators found only one child in each group had trace amounts of the measles virus in their samples. The samples were analyzed at Columbia and at a laboratory of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as at O'Leary's lab -- the same one Wakefield used for his original studies.

The conclusion: "no evidence" linked the vaccine to either autism or GI disorders, Lipkin said. They also said they found no relationship between the timing of the vaccine and children getting GI disorders or autism. "This really puts this issue to bed," said Andy Shih, vice president for scientific affairs of "Autism Speaks," an advocacy group.

Dr. William Schaffner, vaccine expert and chairman of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University, called the study results "conclusive."

Dr. Neal Halsey, a pediatrician at Johns Hopkins Children's Center who specializes in infectious diseases, told CNN, "They have shown the Wakefield study was incorrect." The new study shows "there's no temporal relationship between the vaccines and the gastrointestinal disorders and autism."

But the Autism Society of America cautioned that the cause of autism is complex and more research is needed to fully understand the role, if any, of the vaccine. Another autism advocacy group, the National Autism Association (NAA), said the study is flawed. "This new study does nothing to resolve the controversy whether MMR vaccine has contributed to the autism epidemic," said a press release from the group.

Wendy Fournier, an NAA spokeswoman, told CNN Thursday that the new study raises more questions than answers and should have looked at more children who developed autism and GI problems after they received the vaccine. Only 5 children in the Columbia study were vaccinated before they developed GI symptoms and autism.

According to the CDC, measles is a highly infectious disease that can result in severe, sometimes permanent, complications -- even death. Measles remains widespread in most countries, but widespread vaccination has limited its spread in the United States.

Some parents, familiar with the Wakefield theory's putative link between vaccine and autism, have chosen not to vaccinate their children. Last month, the CDC reported 131 cases of measles in the United States in the first seven months of the year, of which 112 were either among unvaccinated children or children whose vaccination status was unknown. Halsey hopes this new research will help convince new parents that (the MMR) vaccination is safe.

The study is published in the peer-reviewed online journal of the Public Library of Science

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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Federal Study on Chelation?

I was surprised to read this today from AP:

Government researchers are pushing to test an unproven treatment on autistic children, a move some see as unethical. The treatment is chelation. It removes metals from the body and is based on the fringe theory that the mercury preservative once used in childhood vaccines triggers autism. That theory has been rejected by mainstream science.

Dr. Thomas Insel is the head of the National Institute of Mental Health. He supports testing chelation on children provided the tests are safe. He's heard from many parents who
believe it works. For now, the study is on hold because of safety concerns.

Christina Blakey, a mother from Oak Park, uses chelation and a special diet with her 8-year-old son. She applauds the government study. She says chelation has helped her son's autism symptoms. (Christina is one of the people who invited me to the Autism One Conference this summer!)

Here's a doctor who thinks chelation is a bad idea.

Here is a doctor who believes in chelation for some kids.

What do you think about this? What does it mean for kids with autism?

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Methodist Medical Center's new online healthcare program, MyMethodist eHealth, is a proud sponsor of this blog post. MyMethodist eHealth is the secure link to your doctor's office that lets you request appointments, order prescription refills, update your personal health record, and more. Sign up for MyMethodist eHealth here.

Green our Vaccines March

Jenny McCarthy and her boyfriend, Jim Carrey, marched on Washington this week sporting "green our vaccines" t-shirts. As many of you know, Jenny has a son with autism. She believes childhood immunizations played a role in his symptoms. She wants the government to change the vaccine schedule for kids. She says there are too many vaccines given to children at too young of an age. There are strong feelings on both sides of this issue.

I was sent an email stating there was a similar march in Springfield, Illinois at the same time.

Here's the ABC News Coverage of the event:

The actors have joined with other national autism advocacy groups to press for the elimination of toxins from children's vaccines and to change children's vaccination schedules.

The Institute of Medicine concluded that 19 major studies, tracking thousands of kids, all show no link between vaccines and autism. Still, thimerosal was removed from essentially all childhood vaccines in 2001 in response to autism fears. But autism rates have continued to rise, leaving many experts to consider the case against thimerosal settled.


Nearly one in every 150 children in the United States has autism, according to the organization Talk About Curing Autism, one of the march's sponsors.

McCarthy's 6-year-old son, Evan, has autism, and the actress has become a vocal advocate for more autism-related research. McCarthy's best-selling book, "Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism," chronicles her efforts to help her son overcome his symptoms through a special diet, medication and daily therapy.

Many doctors worry that linking autism to vaccines could deter parents from vaccinating their children, leading to an outbreak of childhood diseases like measles, mumps and rubella, which have been virtually delimited thanks to childhood immunization but are now threatening again.


The CDC is bracing for the worst measles outbreak since 2001, with nine states already reporting cases this year. In 2006, more than 6,500 Americans were sickened by mumps, the worst outbreak in 20 years.

McCarthy and Carrey said that while they do support immunization, they and their allies believe children receive "too many vaccines, too soon, many of which are toxic."

This march brought up a question I am often asked. What do Jenny and others mean when they say a safer vaccine schedule? I am hesitant to post the recommendations because I know it would cause a big fuss from doctors who believe there is no link between childhood immunizations and autism. All the major health organizations have stated that as a fact. Still, people who read this blog want to know what an altered immunization schedule looks like. Let me know your thoughts on whether or not I should post something!

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Autism and Vaccinations

We have been following the controversy surrounding autism and vaccinations. The latest round of court proceedings lead to an interesting interview with the former Director of the National Institutes of Health. What she says is pretty shocking. This is the first time I have heard this from someone who has worked for one of the big health care groups.

I think anyone with kids should be keeping track of this controversy.

Here's the CBS interview with Dr. Bernadine Healy:

Autism Press Conference

I talked to the media contact for a group holding a news conference tomorrow on autism and vaccinations. You may have read about a federal case this week some organizations claim proves a link between autism and vaccinations. I have been hesitant to post the story until I had all the details. I am hoping the details come out tomorrow.

Here is the press release from the group making the claim:

Landmark Federal Court Concession that Local Child From Atlanta Developed Autism From Vaccines. Child joins parents in press conference about this historic result at Atlanta Federal Court House tomorrow. Local couple from Atlanta will join with their 9 year old daughter, Hannah, in a press conference discussing their daughter's development of autism as a result of vaccines.

This landmark case alleged that autism was caused by childhood vaccines and was scheduled to be heard as a test case before the concession was made. The press conference will be held tomorrow, Thursday, March 6, 2008 at 11:30 am on the steps of U.S. Federal courthouse at 75 Spring Street in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Centers For Disease Control have estimated that 1 in 166 children have autism, and many have linked the autism epidemic in this country to the mercury based preservative used in childhood vaccines.

This should be interesting. I haven't seen any response from the federal government yet, but I am sure someone will respond after tomorrow's news conference. I will keep you updated.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Just got this from the Associate Press:

Medical and legal experts say the narrow wording and circumstances probably make the case an exception - not a precedent for thousands of other pending claims. The government "has not conceded that vaccines cause autism," said Linda Renzi, the lawyer representing federal officials, who have consistently maintained that childhood shots are safe.