Dr Wakefield's Inquisitioners Have Their Day
February 14, 2010
I’ve been asked many times over the last few weeks to share my opinion on the verdict of the U.K’s General Medical Council (GMC) about Dr. Andrew Wakefield and the retraction of his 1998 article, “Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children” by the medical journal, Lancet. The many inquiries fall into four basic questions.
Question #1:
What do you know about Dr. Wakefield’s 1998 paper? Do you feel the
response of the GMC was appropriate?
Answers:
1. Dr. Wakefield’s paper was SIMPLY a case study of 12 children. Hundreds of
case reports are published each year in the medical journals….and are
essentially ignored. He didn’t make *any claims* in his original paper that has
gotten all the attention.
2. His original paper was simply a hypothesis, not a claim, of the connection to Autism. Be sure to read the original paper, it’s only 5 pages long.
3. Wakefield published 32 peer-reviewed papers since 1998. NONE of these were mentioned or retracted.
4. Wakefield’s most recent research incriminates the use of hepatitis B vaccines in newborns. The first phase of this monkey study was published three months ago in the journal Neurotoxicology, focused on the first two weeks of life. Baby monkeys received a single vaccine for Hepatitis B, mimicking the U.S. vaccine schedule, and were compared with matched, unvaccinated monkeys. The vaccinated monkeys, unlike their unvaccinated peers, suffered the loss of many reflexes that are critical for survival. Discrediting Wakefield’s work over a perceived “ethical” issue would serve to discredit this new research, protecting the vaccine industry once again.
5. Dr. Wakefield’s research was never questioned by the GMC. The ruling
focused on what was called “unethical behavior” – drawing blood at a children’s
party, even though the parent’s who were present had given their fully informed
consent. In fact, in an open letter to the Lancet, the parents of the 12
children in the study rebuke the GMC, politely calling them liars.
6. Dr. Wakefield has never been “anti-vaccine.” His work has always been focused
on finding an explanation for WHY so many autistic children have terrible bowel
disease.
7. Dr. Wakefield has always recommended single antigen vaccines. He hypothesized
that the three live viruses given together in the MMR vaccine are the source of
potential problems in at least SOME children.
Question #2: Do you have concerns over Dr. Wakefield’s
failure to disclose financial links to a malpractice attorney and to patents he
was working on to develop a single vaccine solution?
Answers: I was rather surprised at the question and my response is, no. I don’t
feel one bit concerned about that particular issue. I’m not even sure the
accusation is 100 percent true; it could be simply a pharma spin/smear. There is
so much impropriety among the Players in the vaccine business that any singular
accusation about Dr. Wakefield’s work toward developing a single-antigen vaccine
to make things safer for children TRULY amounts to “the pot calling the kettle
black.”
Consider this:
1. Dr. Paul Offit, who sat on the Advisory Committee of Immunization
Practices (ACIP) committee, the committee who approves all the vaccines given to
children and adults, holds the patent for the Rotavirus vaccine, (the one that
was withdrawn) AND a patent on the current Rotavirus vaccine which is known to
cause pneumonia and still some cases of intussusception. It is rumored that he
made millions on his vaccine patent and that big pharma bought all his books, so
he could make millions more.
2. Dr. Sam Katz sat for year on the ACIP committee having been the developer of
the MMR vaccine (particularly the attenuated measles vaccine). He simultaneously
consulted with all of the vaccine manufacturers.
3. Dr. D.A. Henderson, credited with smallpox vaccine eradication, consulted
simultaneously with all the vaccine manufacturers for year.
4. Dr. Julie Gerberding, after serving eight years as head of the CDC, was
recently named President of Merck vaccines. This is one of the most visible and
blatant examples of a gross conflict of interest. Resigning from the CDC on
January 20, 2009 and assuming her new position with Merck on January 25, 2010
was just barely past the 365 day mandatory “wait time” imposed on persons who
pass from public service into private sector jobs. Does anyone think she just
might have insider information to share with her new boss, and not just about
vaccines?
Question #3: Do you think the Lancet was justified in pulling the paper for pure scientific reasons?
Answer: It was inappropriate for the Lancet to retract his 1998 paper. What
did it prove? By focusing on this paper with such fanfare, the general public
has been lead to believe that Wakefield’s 1998 Lancet paper, a case report, was
the ONLY paper and the ONLY research Wakefield has ever done. They sure paint it
that way, don't they?
• NOT ONE mainstream reporter mentioned the 32 research papers published in
peer-reviewed journals since 1998.
• NOT ONE mainstream reporter interviewed Wakefield for "balanced reporting."
What does that say about the story...and the bought-and-owned, generally lazy
press?
• AND NOT ONE mainstream reporter dared to report that Wakefield's observation,
finding vaccine-strain measles in the gut of *some* autistic children, has been
replicated by other researchers.
> Japanese study: Detection and Sequencing of
Measles Virus from Peripheral Mononuclear Cells from Patients with Inflammatory
Bowel Disease and Autism
> NJ Medical School: Dysregulated Innate Immune
Responses in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Their Relationship
to Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Dietary Intervention
NO ONE has been told about the science that has been published supporting a connection between vaccines and autism and other disorders, and yet the list grows every day. Researchers studying vaccine-related illness have a hard task; their research is not funded by drug companies. The drug companies and the government don't want to know the answers.
It is the same reason the CDC refuses do a study of vaccinated vs.
unvaccinated kids, examining something solidly objective like number of drugs
they are on, number of days of school missed due to illness and number of doctor
visits between birth and 5 years of age for ear infections and asthma.
This “issue” with Dr. Wakefield is a pharma-driven, media-manipulated power
move, meant to embarrass Wakefield so they can negate and call into question his
new, incriminating research on the hepatitis B vaccine given at birth. No doubt
this "media frenzied heyday" has been orchestrated to squash the efforts of the
massively growing, Vaccine Choice/ Vaccine Awareness movement. The one-sided
accusations in magazines and blogs rambling on about the story even call the
retraction, "a blow to the anti-vaccine movement."
Here's a common example:
Just look at the title.
This was published in Popular Mechanics (a vaccine story in Popular Mechanics?)
At the end of the day, isn't that the point of all this rhetoric? The truth
about vaccine damage is gaining too much attention. The masses are listening and
questioning because they are (rightfully) suspicious of government and they
don't trust CDC, AAP, etc. Vaccination rates are falling, parents are rebelling.
They know that something is amiss as they watch their children get sick, and
even die, right before their eyes.
Question #4: Are you simply a blinded, “Dr. Andy
Groupie”?
Answer: No, I am not. I clearly understand the reason why this has happened.
Could he have done things better? Probably. Could he
have been more forthcoming about certain events that he has been accused of? Of
course.
But consider other scandals that have emerged in the scientific world, such as
research that was published using fake stem-cell lines. These studies used
fabricated data and were published in prestigious journals. Has anyone heard
Hwang Woo-Suk or Jan Hendrik Schön? Those were the researchers; they were not
publically crucified by the media.
I suspect that if any researcher's methods, associations and data were
scrutinized with a fine tooth comb like they have done for 12 YEARS with Dr.
Wakefield, the Lancet would be forced to retract many articles -- maybe all of
them. Looking at the Big Picture, one *has to see* that the issue with Dr.
Andrew Wakefield is a witch hunt with an agenda. When the twisted associations
of those who have been out to crucify Dr. Wakefield are mapped out, it is plain
that he had not a chance of exoneration.
The Results of the Vaccine-Illness Connection
We have exchanged chicken pox for autism, flu for asthma, ear
infections for diabetes...and the list goes on and on. In the zeal to eliminate
relatively benign microbes, we have traded temporary illnesses for pervasive,
life-long diseases, disorders, dysfunctions and disabilities. And all of the
Powers That Be – doctors, politicians, corporate heads, and government public
health officials – refuse to consider these expensive, pervasive diseases could
be caused by vaccines.
If we had an epidemic of blindness in 300,000 children, would doctors ignore it
and say, "We have no idea why it is happening. Guess we need to train more
seeing-eye dogs." But we have an epidemic of sick children losing their brains.
Doctors shrug and say, "It must be genetics.” This is the best they have to
offer, despite scientific confirmation that there is no such thing as a "genetic
epidemic."
There are nearly 300,000 sets of parents with sick, autistic children; the lion
share of them saw it happen, with their own eyes, and rightfully blame vaccines.
These children are ill; and conventional doctors don't even try to address their
illnesses. When non-conventional practitioners try to help, they are scoffed,
ridiculed and even raided by the Feds.
There is one unifying factor affecting children, from sea to shining sea. It’s
not genetics; genetics between families are different. It’s not environmental
exposures; some kids live in the projects, some live in gated communities. It’s
not food; some kids eat only organic, some eat mostly McDonalds. It’s not
exercise; some kids are athletes; others are couch potatoes. What touches
almost all children and is the most likely ‘smoking gun’ for the epidemic of
chronic illness and autism across North America (and beyond), are childhood
vaccinations.
What is it going to take?
At the end of the day, it is going to take a tragedy in a high
profile doctor or politician for the VACCINE-ILLNESS CONNECTION (not just
autism) to get serious examination. I have a friend in Maine who is a
nephrologist. She consults on patients who need dialysis. Just by asking the
question, "When was your last vaccine?” she has found nine patients – most with
previously normal kidney function – who developed acute renal failure within two
to 28 days of the shot. All but one needed kidney dialysis. All but two have
recovered, but to the tune of more than $200,000 in hospital bills -- EACH. We
pay and pay and pay for vaccines.
We pay drug companies to make them. We pay doctors and public health officials
to give them. We pay astronomical health insurance rates to cover the health
care costs of the illnesses they cause. Vaccines drive the industry -- if only
we were *willing* to look. WHAT other connections are we missing because we
don't want to know?
How conventional medicine can deny this is the real travesty. The Vaccine Court
(Federal Court of Claims) has awarded at least nine judgments in favor of
children who have become autistic or have had serious damage from MMR vaccine.
For heaven’s sake, aspirin, antibiotics, and many other drugs can be (and often
are) deadly. Why are vaccines always considered to be harmless and their side
effects a coincidence?
Repeating History
Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis was a Hungarian physician who was among the
first to perceive that birth-related deaths due to puerperal fever was caused by
doctors who didn’t wash their hands before childbirth. He dared collect
andpublish data which admonished his peers and indicted the existing Medical
System. Despite various publications that demonstrated hand washing reduced
birth mortality below one percent, Semmelweis’ practice was ignored by doctors
because his observations were in "conflict with established medical opinions."
Thousands of babies died as a result of arrogant doctors and their unwillingness
to change.
The tenacity of Semmelweis is a precedent for how Dr. Wakefield has been treated
by the GMC in the United Kingdom. Conventionally trained doctors around the
world have added thunderous applause, seemingly incapable of questioning the
lies they have been forced to swallow and have believed for two centuries about
vaccines.
The GMC, the press and the medical establishment have had their Inquisition. But
those of us who know the truth are not giving up. Like Semmelweis, our research
and evidence will eventually be proven correct. We must continue; the lives –
and brains – of the next generation of children are at stake.
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