Conflict-of-Interest Reporting Serves to Replace Fact with Fiction in Vaccine Injury Cases

http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/press062507.php

Conflict-of-Interest Reporting Serves to Replace Fact with Fiction in Vaccine Injury Cases
Advocates for vaccine-injured children claim coverage of Autism Hearings heavily influenced by drug industry

Washington, DC - With the Autism Omnibus Proceedings now in the second week of testimony in the US Court of Federal Claims, advocates for vaccine-injured children are calling the bulk of media accounts biased against families. 

Often presented as iron-clad in many media accounts, the misinformation parents and advocacy organizations note as appearing most frequently in mainstream news include:

• the 2004 IOM report suggesting that research involving thimerosal be discontinued, even though the committee considering the research presented disregarded clinical investigation in favor of epidemiology conducted in Europe and funded primarily by drug companies and public health agencies

• the assertion that the autism rate of one in 150 children is attributable to better diagnosing, while the symptoms associated with autism are profound, and according to parents and professionals alike “can’t be missed”

• the claim that the mercury-based preservative thimerosal has been removed from all vaccines, although most flu shots and several other vaccines still contain 25 micrograms mercury, an amount considered unsafe by government guidelines for anyone weighing under 550 lbs. (A current list of vaccines and thimerosal content is available at http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/thi-table.htm )

• that there is no science linking vaccines to autism, even though many peer-reviewed published studies confirm the link between mercury and neurological injuries with symptoms nearly identical to autism spectrum disorders (To view some of the relevant studies, visit http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/library.php )

The use of spokespersons with ties to drug companies in news accounts has also been cited as form of bias.  Dr. Paul Offit has been quoted frequently in defense of the practice of injecting mercury into pregnant women and young children.  Dr. Offit’s work has been funded for over 15 years by pharmaceutical giant Merck, with whom he is co-patent holder of the RotaTeq vaccine.  The FDA announced last week that RotaTeq will now carry a label warning for pediatricians and parents about the vaccine's link to Kawasaki Disease, considered one of the leading causes of acquired heart disease among children in the US.

During the first week of the hearings, an NBC Today show segment featuring former Johnson & Johnson vice president Dr. Nancy Snyderman drew further criticism when Snyderman suggested that parents involved in the autism hearings were motivated by financial gain.  “Apparently, Dr. Snyderman is either completely ignorant of the emotional and financial devastation to families of children suffering from vaccine-related injuries or she’s speaking on behalf of her former employer.  Either way, it’s unacceptable,” commented NAA president and parent Wendy Fournier.  Dr. Snyderman's former employment with Johnson & Johnson was not disclosed to viewers.

Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ortho Clinical Diagnostics is involved in litigation for injuries, including autism, associated with its thimerosal-containing Rh immune globulin product, RhoGAM.

For more information, visit www.nationalautism.org