ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style3 { height: 68px; } .MsoNormal {} h1 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style4 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style5 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> &nbsp;<table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="79"> <td width="133" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" height="79" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="624" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style3"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td width="133" height="2"></td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style4">Autism&#39;s Finger Pointing</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curtis</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b><a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright Feb. 3, 2010<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="style5">A</span>dding to the growing controversy surrounding childhood vaccines and autism, the British General Medical Council admonished 53-year-old British physician and researcher Andrew Wakefield for acting  dishonestly and irresponsibly for his groundbreaking 1998 study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Twelve years after conducting his study at London s Royal Free Hospital, linking the early childhood Measles, Mumps and Rubella [MMR] vaccines with autism, the GMC ruled Jan. 28 that Wakefield acted with  callous disregard for the child-subjects in his study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Wakefield paid $8 a child at his son s birthday party and took blood samples for his research.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>British authorities accused Wakefield of  callous disregard for the distress and pain the children might suffer, moving to revoke his medical license.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Wakefield, who heads  Thoughtful House autism research center in Austin, Texas, expressed  no regrets. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Wakefield skirted conventional restrictions on conducting medical research on children, obtaining colonoscopies, blood and spinal samples to find scientific proof of compelling anecdotal data showing a close link between childhood vaccines and an increase in autism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Wakefield called the GMC s findings  unfounded and unjust, citing the possibility that his research gave families second thoughts about taking conventional MMR vaccines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While disputed by the medical community and vaccine makers, Wakefield believed the MMR vaccine provided too much viral load to vulnerable immune systems, contributing to the alarming rise in autism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Citing a lack of scientific proof, physicians and vaccine makers have second thoughts about giving the triple-dose childhood vaccines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>More spacing between individual vaccine doses has become more commonplace in the U.K. and U.S.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Publicly rebuking Wakefield or discrediting his methods or ethics, doesn t automatically reverse the common sense behind reducing the viral loads in vaccines to young children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Saying there s no  scientific proof doesn t undo the heavy burden of anecdotal evidence indicating that MMR vaccines deal a damaging blow to young immune systems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Suggesting that there s something fishy, the GMC heavily criticizes Wakefield for not revealing his funding sources while conducting research at London s Royal Free Hospital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Wakefield s research was ostensibly supported by plaintiffs law firms litigating claims against vaccine makers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While there s value to identifying the funding sources, most scientific biotech or drug research today fails to disclose funding sources.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Drug and device makers routinely hide funding behind nonprofit associations and medical groups.<![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>While there s nothing wrong with questioning Wakefield s methods or ethics, there something very wrong with ignoring the same problem with scientists working at universities, research institutions or private medical groups receiving money directly from drug and device makers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Before tar-and-feathering Wakefield, British authorities should look into who filed the original complaint about his research.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>It should surprise no one to learn that vaccine makers have a vested interest in discrediting anyone that suggest their products cause harm, no less autism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While Wakefield s findings didn t specifically identify the mercury-based preservative Thimerosal in causing autism, vaccine makers have been quick to discredit that theory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Common sense tells you that adding a triple-dose virus in the MMR with a heavy metal, like mercury, could cause adverse side-effects.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>British authorities should stop pointing fingers at Wakefield and take closer look at the alarming rate of autism, now at one-in-a-hundred births.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>British authorities cited only 56 cases of measles in 1998, compared with 1,370 in 2008, blaming a 20% drop in MMR vaccines by 2003.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Attributing the increase to Wakefield s research shows the reckless way British authorities have singled him out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Many other factors, including South Asian and African immigration patterns, could also explain an increase in measles or any other communicable diseases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Medical authorities on both sides of the Atlantic are hard-pressed to explain the disturbing increase in autism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Focusing on childhood vaccines is a logical place to start for parents and physicians who saw no observable signs in children until receiving MMR vaccines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Wakefield s research, while not perfect, was groundbreaking.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>British and U.S. authorities need to take a deep breath before killing, or at least silencing, the messenger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whether Wakefield s research was flawed or not, it doesn t detract from the novel idea of questioning the advisability of injecting young children with toxic levels of virus, with or without mercury preservatives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>U.S. and British authorities need to look into the vaccine makers motives in discrediting research or clinical reports, no matter how feeble, implicating childhood vaccines as a preventable factor in autism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>In 1986, the U.S. Congress passed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, forcing vaccine makers to endow a multibillion-dollar trust fund to settle vaccine-related injuries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Wakefield s findings, however flawed, mirror the alarming increase in autism over the last 20 years. Discrediting one doctor s research doesn t change the growing body of clinical evidence supporting his findings.</p> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>John M. Curtis</b> writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author <i>of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a></i> and <i><a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a></i>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;</p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td width="133" height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="133" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Homecobolos> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>