Autism and Vaccine by Tim O'Shea,DC
 

http://www.chiroweb.com/archives/18/25/02.html

Perhaps one of the most shocking pieces ever to appear on television this
past April: a six-hour taping of a Congressional investigation into the
relationship between vaccines and autism among American children. This
footage appeared on C-SPAN and was then archived on their website for a
entire month.

On April 6, Rep. Dan Burton convened the Congressional hearing in which
parents repeatedly told similar stories - how their normally developing
babies, after MMR or DPT vaccinations, began displaying autistic behaviors,
conditions that are often permanent. Happy, bright children were suddenly
losing their abilities to learn, communicate or even recognize their
parents.

Amazing testimony was given by experts in the field of autism:

Mary Megson,MD, explained how autism has gone from being rare (about one
incident per 10,000 children in 1978), to epidemic proportions in 2000 AD:
one case in every 300-500 children in many areas! Megson's research has
shown total deficiency of vitamin A in almost all autistic children. What
depletes the body of vitamin A at 15 months? The MMR vaccine. In addition,
Megson found that pertussis toxin from the DPT shot disrupted a certain
protein that is necessary for retinal formation. This would account for the
prevalence of night-blindness and loss of 3D vision so common among
autistics.

John O'Leary,PhD, a world-class researcher and molecular biologist from
Ireland, using state-of-the-art sequencing technology, showed how he had
found the measles virus in the gut of 96% of autistic children, compared to
6.6% in normal children. This virus did not come from the natural disease,
but from the measles vaccine. Dr. O'Leary found measles virus present in 75%
of children with Crohn's disease. Crohn's has traditionally been an
intestinal disease of adults, following years of dietary abuse. Its
appearance in children is a new event, and Dr. O'Leary's work points to the
measles virus from vaccines as the likely cause.

V. Singh,MDM, a specialist from Utah State who has studied over 400 cases of
autism, found that these children had experienced an autoimmune episode, in
which their own bodies had been made to attack the linings of their nervous
systems. Dr. Singh characterized the epidemic as a "hyperimmune response to
the measles virus." He stated that 55% of the families said that autism
appeared soon after an MMR shot, and that 33% of families said it appeared
soon after a DPT shot. Such neurologic damage is a well-established
side-effect of the mercury, aluminum, and formaldehyde used in these
vaccines.

Andrew Wakefield,MD, a brilliant researcher from the UK, noted an almost
100% incidence of "lymphoid nodular hyperplasia" or swollen lumps throughout
the intestinal tissue of autistics. Such a condition is rare in normal
children. Intestinal pathology is characteristic of the autistic child, and
the condition generally follows soon after the MMR shot. Dr. Wakefield
explained that as the fragile, newborn intestine cannot function because of
its swollen condition, undigested toxins from vaccines and drugs are allowed
to get into the liver, which is also in a formative stage. Liver pathology
is very common among autistics. Wakefield's hypothesis is that these same
"undegraded toxins," having not been halted by the intestine or the liver,
as normally happens, that these toxins are then free to attack the nervous
system, and that autism may well be the result.

Kathy Pratt,PhD, director of the Indiana Center for Autism, stated that 1 in
400 children in Indiana were autistic! With 500,000 cases reported in the
U.S., Dr. Pratt stated that autism is now more common than Down's syndrome.
Dr. Pratt points out that autism presently may disqualify a person for
medical coverage for other, unrelated conditions.

Michael Goldberg,MD, a California pediatrician and researcher, explained how
it was impossible to have an epidemic based solely on genetics. That's the
standard excuse the CDC and the NIH have been using to explain how autism
has grown from 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 300 in just 22 years.

Seeing the American democratic system in action in a live Congressional
hearing, it soon becomes apparent how the control of information operates,
even in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence that we may well be
poisoning our own children!

The requisite defenders of the status quo robotically read their predictable
prepared statements, denying the possibility of any connection between
autism and vaccines. These included MDs Paul Offit, Edwin Cook, Brent Taylor
and others. After they uniformly denied the vaccine/autism connection, it
was most illuminating when Burton asked each one of them point-blank about
the money each received from the vaccine manufacturers. And these are
members of the advisory committee who make the decisions about which
vaccines are to be included in the mandated vaccination schedule.

Colleen Boyle was there to represent the Centers for Disease Control. After
stumbling through her prepared statement in which she denied any connection
between autism and vaccines, Boyle stated the present incidence to be "12 in
10,000." Burton then stopped her cold by asking her one simple question: Did
she think it was a conflict of interest for the same people who were funded
by the vaccine manufacturers to be on the advisory board making decisions
about which vaccines should be given to American children? Boyle was
dumfounded and speechless. Burton repeated the question. Still no answer.
Boyle's mute portrayal of the career bureaucrat spoke volumes.

Equally inept and ill-prepared was Deborah Hirtz, MD, representing the
National Institutes of Health. Losing her place in her written statement,
Hirtz forgot what she was saying, and it seemed obvious she had not written
it. Finally, she just barely managed to put across what she was sent there
to say - that there could be no connection between vaccines and autism, but
that the NIH was "looking into it." The NIH has already spent some $40
million per year of taxpayer money "looking into it." (Hirtz) Their answer:
It needs further study. The performance of these representatives from the
two government agencies who have almost sovereign power in the area of
vaccines was frightening - their indifference; lack of information;
condescension; and low level of intelligence. They gave no sign of having
understood one word of the critically important breakthrough research that
had just been so brilliantly expounded by Drs. Megson, O'Leary, and
Wakefield. This is what power looks like - people who have been in their
position so long that they know they don't have to justify themselves to
anyone lower down on the food chain.

Government agencies have the same answer to every problem: more committees;
more money; more study; and more meetings. Meanwhile, 22 years have gone by,
and all these people say is "we don't know." After 22 years and $100
million, we don't know the incidence, the cause or the cure for autism. But
we'll definitely "look into it." And, oh yes, it's definitely "not
vaccines."

The shocking scientific findings of Wakefield and O'Leary obviously demand
more research. So then, why are the vaccines not suspended until that
research is done? The underlying assumption is that the vaccines will
continue as normal until enough "research" proves it is dangerous, as with
rotavirus and Quadrigen. Only then will MMR be suspended. This is the
thinking that passes as logic. The key point here that no one seems to be
pointing out is that research should be done before mandating a vaccine into
the bloodstream of American children! You don't just start mass-injecting
something into a population and then stand back and defy independent
scientists to prove it isn't safe! That's exactly what we've done here.

As a nation, as a government, and as parents, Americans should be very
certain, beyond a reasonable doubt, that any substance being injected into
an unformed little nervous system is absolutely safe and does no harm. That
shoul be the minimum requirement. Drs. Wakefield, O'Leary, and Megson have
shown startling results from some of the only scientific research on autism
and vaccines in the entire world that has not been funded by the vaccine
manufacturers. This research also shows a high likelihood that MMR and DPT
vaccines may cause permanent intestinal destruction, liver damage, and
autism. It presents a very plausible hypothesis for the horrific increase of
autism since 1978. So, until we know for certain if they're right, why are
the vaccines not suspended?

Researcher Gary Null's pert answer comes swimming to the surface; "It's the
money, stupid." By the end of the hearing, Burton's room was polarized into
three groups:

* those who were convinced of a connection between autism and vaccines

* those who admitted the possibility

* those who angrily denied the possibility, affronted that anyone would
question their "scientific" opinions

It was amusing to see which people in the room were trying to discover the
truth, and which were trying their best to cover it up.

Despite Burton's heroic efforts to bring these matters into public view,
it's an uphill struggle. The big money's on the side of vaccines. Big money
controls research, the press, "scientific" journals, and politicians. Seeing
all these forces clash together in one room in just six hours has been the
most instructive display of confusing the issues perhaps since the OJ trial.
Watching a live congressional hearing like this, it soon becomes clear that
for them, the real priority isn't necessarily finding the truth, but rather
showing who's really in charge here. The viewer begins to understand how
autism could have gone from being unknown in 1978 to being a household word
in just 22 years with so little fanfare.

Without undue pessimism, the prospects for unbiased, objective scientific
logic to prevail in deciding the future of MMR and DPT vaccines do not look
bright. The mentality of the CDC and the NIH was well characterized in this
videotape. The control of research and information by drug manufacturers was
pervasive. Burton's co-chairman, Henry Waxman, did his best to divert
attention from the issues to himself, to waste time on "points of order,"
and to prevent anyone who disagreed with him from being heard. Waxman's
science champion, researcher Brent Taylor,MD, has recently had an article
published in Lancet that supposedly shows no possible connection between
vaccines and autism. Now Taylor has refused to provide his data for the
study when repeatedly asked by other researchers, like Dr. Bernard Rimland.
Such a request is standard, and researchers commonly share their data when
requested, unless they have something to hide. Taylor's combination of fear
and arrogance is characteristic of the way that research, and ultimately,
decision-making on vaccines by the advisory committee. The researchers who
have unlimited funding may 'prove' whatever they wish, get it published in
the best journals, which are heavily advertised in by the drug companies,
and then refuse to respond to valid objections, because they know that those
opposing points of view will probably not be published.

Despite these formidable obstacles, doubts are creeping into the overall
public "consciousness" from many different directions about the safety of
vaccines. At one in 500, the fact of autism as an epidemic can no longer be
covered up. The work of Wakefield, O'Leary, and Megson is going to be very
difficult to explain away. The massive advertising campaign about the safety
of vaccines in the popular media, which is certain to be stepped up in the
next few months, is going to look very hollow in the light of clean,
unbiased research that is not funded by parties who stand to make billions
from certain predetermined results.

Author's note: Excerpted from forthcoming third edition of the Sanctity of
Human Blood, New West, Publisher.

References

http://www.c-span.org . Government Reform Committee hearing on vaccines and
autism, 6 Apr 2000, Chairman: Representative Dan Burton.

Testimony before U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government
Reform, 6 Apr 2000:
. Hirtz D, National Institutes of Health . Megson M, MD, American Academy of
Pediatrics . Wakefield A, MD, Royal Free University College Medical
School. . O'Leary J, PhD, Coomb's Women's Hospital, Dublin. . Singh V, PhD,
Utah State University . Boyle C, MD, National Institutes of Health . Offit
P, MD, University of Pennsylvania . Taylor B, MD, Royal Free University
College Medical . Rimland B, PhD, Autism Research Institute, San Diego .
Goldberg M, MD, NIDS Research Institute
Reprints of testimony are available from the Office of Government Reform,
Washington, DC (202) 225-2276 Videotape available from http://www.c-span.org

Tim O'Shea
San Jose, California


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