Teresa Binstock
Researcher in Developmental & Behavioral Neuroanatomy
June 5, 2009
In 2001 and 2004, the Institute of
Medicine conducted hearings regarding vaccinations in relation to autism.
The 2001 hearing concluded that an etiologically relevant link between
thimerosal injections and autism was plausible. The 2004 hearing offered not
only a negative conclusion but recommended that no further research be done.
Fortunately, some researchers have continued to document mechanisms by which
some individuals are more likely to be adversely affected by injections of
thimerosal and/or aluminum (eg, 1-5). Clearly, in 2004 the IOM took a strong
stand against research linking vaccinations and autism (eg, 6). However,
according to documents obtained by FOIA, the IOM's hearing process and
conclusions may have been biased by the IOM's contractual relationship with the
CDC (reviewed in 7).
Since 2004, various commentors in media and in science have cited the IOM's 2004
decree as gospel and do so without realizing that the IOM continues to consider
vaccinations as a factor contributing to the rise in autism, which is actual,
not merely the result of "better diagnosis" (8).
Consider what Liza Gross and Ari Brown have written in regard to the IOM:
a) Ari Brown, M.D., is a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
In 2008 she wrote, "The Institute of Medicine spent four years studying this
issue. Their conclusion, issued in 2004: mercury preservatives in vaccines did
NOT cause autism . . . and the Institute said it was time to move on to look at
other possible causes. Several other leading medical organizations (both
nationally and internationally) agree with this conclusion." (9)
b) Presumably referring to the Institute of Medicine, Gross wrote for
publication in 2009, "the leading health institutions in the United States had
reviewed the body of evidence, and that they found no reason to think vaccines
had anything to do with autism." (10)
However, despite what Brown and Gross have written, the IOM has not ruled out a
causal link between vaccinations and autism in subgroups of children with
increased susceptibility. Indeed, vaccinations as etiologically significant in
some cases of autism remain a focus of the IOM. Consider some points set forth
in a thoroughly referenced reply to Dr. Brown's essay.
a) "The Institute of Medicine (IOM) hosted a two-day conference in April, 2007,
“Autism and the Environment: Challenges and Opportunities for Research” [78].
The workshop discussed environmental causes, including vaccines, and suggested a
long list of related research opportunities."(11)
b) "...a subsequent 2008 IOM autism workshop reversed much of the Institute’s
original position, concluding that vaccine safety was “still on the table” and
recommended specific vaccine studies [104]." (11)
Preliminary conclusion: Ari Brown and Liza Gross would have us believe that the
IOM has sustained its 2004 decree proscribing further research into a causal
relationship between autism and vaccinations for subgroups of children with
increased susceptibility. However, the IOM statements offered by Brown and Gross
seem erroneous, and questions arise. Did Brown and Gross write in ignorance of
the IOM's ongoing consideration of vaccines and vaccinations? Did Brown and
Gross deliberately offer fictional summaries of the IOM's current stance so as
to further a belief contrary to fact?
So long as official spokespersons such as Brown and Gross mislead (9-10) -
either deliberately or through ignorance - and don't admit and share important
details (many obtained by FOIA) (7, 11), trust in vaccinations will not be
rekindled.
References:
1. Some aspects of astroglial functions and aluminum implications for
neurodegeneration.
Aremu DA, Meshitsuka S. Brain Res Rev. 2006 Aug 30;52(1):193-200.
2. Blood-brain barrier flux of aluminum, manganese, iron and other metals
suspected to contribute to metal-induced neurodegeneration.
Yokel RA. J Alzheimers Dis. 2006 Nov;10(2-3):223-53.
3. Cellular and mitochondrial glutathione redox imbalance in lymphoblastoid
cells derived from children with autism.
Jame SJ et al. FASEB J. 2009 Mar 23. [Epub ahead of print]
4. Thimerosal neurotoxicity is associated with glutathione depletion: protection
with glutathione precursors.
James SJ et al. Neurotoxicology. 2005 Jan;26(1):1-8.
5. Mitochondrial mediated thimerosal-induced apoptosis in a human neuroblastoma
cell line (SK-N-SH).
Humphrey ML et al. Neurotoxicology. 2005 Jun;26(3):407-16.
Environmental exposure to mercurials continues to be a public health issue due
to their deleterious effects on immune, renal and neurological function.
Recently the safety of thimerosal, an ethyl mercury-containing preservative used
in vaccines, has been questioned due to exposure of infants during immunization.
Mercurials have been reported to cause apoptosis in cultured neurons; however,
the signaling pathways resulting in cell death have not been well characterized.
Therefore, the objective of this study was to identify the mode of cell death in
an in vitro model of thimerosal-induced neurotoxicity, and more specifically, to
elucidate signaling pathways which might serve as pharmacological targets...
Taken together these findings suggest deleterious effects on the
cytoarchitecture by thimerosal and initiation of mitochondrial-mediated
apoptosis.
6. IOM Report: No Link Between Vaccines and Autism
http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2004/504_iom.html
7. [CDC chicanery] Quick Summary
http://www.putchildrenfirst.org/quicksummary.html
8. The rise in autism and the role of age at diagnosis.
Hertz-Picciotto I, Delwiche L. Epidemiology. 2009 Jan;20(1):84-90.
9. Clear Answers & Smart Advice About Your Baby's Shots
Ari Brown, M.D.
http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p2068.pdf
10. A broken trust: lessons from the vaccine--autism wars.
Liza Gross. PLoS Biol. 2009 May 26;7(5):e1000114.
http://tinyurl.com/odu5gc
11. Response to Dr. Ari Brown and the Immunization Action Coalition
Wakefield et al.
http://www.generationrescue.org/documents/dr-ari-brown-response.pdf
78. Institute of Medicine
http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3740/35684/39826.aspx
(agenda, task, slides, audiotapes, transcript, and summary of recommendations).
104 Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders, IoM, Autism and the
Environment: Challenges
and Opportunities for Research, Workshop Proceedings. 2008, National Academies
Press: Washington DC.
http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11946&page=1