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Amanda Peet vs. the Medical Establishment

Posted July 19, 2008 | 01:26 PM (EST)
www.BreastImplantAwareness.org/Snake-oil.htm
Vaccination Industry  Liars

This week, actress Amanda Peet called parents who don't vaccinate
their kids "parasites," and then essentially went on to lie when she
announced that scientists have concluded there is "no association
between autism and vaccines."

Peet saw fit to blast "the media and journalists" and "a few fringe
medical groups and parent advocacy groups" for "presenting vaccine
safety as a controversy." She thinks the debate, save for a few
dangerous holdouts, is over.

I thought that Ms. Peet (and her ill-advised advisors such as Dr. Paul
Offit) might want to see from whence these parasitic, fringey parents
and doctors have been getting their cues of late.

Here are just a few recent examples:

July 15, 2008 - A workgroup report of the IACC (the Interagency Autism
Coordinating Committee, which includes HHS, CDC, NIH and others) says
that some members want "specific objectives on vaccine research"
included in the new, multimillion-dollar national autism research
program, as mandated by Congress in the Combatting Autism Act.

Notes from the meeting indicate that workgroup members want federal
researchers to consider "shortfalls" in epidemiological studies cited
as proof against a vaccine-autism association (by Offit, Peet, et al);
as well as a specific plan "for researching vaccines as a potential
cause of autism." The workgroup also says that the final research
agenda should "state that the issue is open."

July 14, 2008 - Rep. Brad Miller (R-NC), Chairman of the House
Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, (Committe on Science and
Technology) writes to HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt to complain that
current federal autism research "shows a strong preference to fund
genetic-based studies," even though there is, "growing evidence that
suggests a wide range of conditions or environmental exposures may
play a role" in autism. He cites a recent study on vaccines and
monkeys, presented as a poster (unreviewed) at the International
Society for Autism Research, which, "suggests that research on
primates is about to emerge that will provide additional evidence of
environmental contributions to ASD."

Rep. Miller specifically cites the case of Hannah Poling as "just one
example that is suggestive of very important lines of inquiry," and he
recommends some "very suggestive writings along these lines," such as
the April 5, 2008 letter from Terry Poling, (Hannah's mother, an
attorney and former nurse) to The New York Times titled, "Vaccines,
Autism and Our Daughter, Hannah."

Finally, Rep Miller writes that HHS "has lost much of the public's
trust," and urges Mr. Leavitt to form a Secretarial-level Autism
Advisory Board to provide public feedback, liaise with parents groups,
and "assist in reestablishing the public trust" that Ms. Peet herself
said was lagging. Miller recommends tapping groups such as Safe Minds,
Generation Rescue, Autism Speaks and the Autism Research Institute for
their, "experience evaluating research' and an "in-depth knowledge of
the current body of ASD research." All four groups support
vaccine-autism research, and thus presumably fall within the rubric of
what Ms. Peet terms as "fringe."

May 12, 2008 - Dr. Bernadine Healy, former head of the NIH and the
American Red Cross and current Health Editor of US News & World Report
tells CBS News that, "Officials have been too quick to dismiss the
hypothesis as irrational," and says they "don't want to pursue a
hypothesis because that hypothesis could be damaging to the public
health community at large by scaring people."

But, unlike Amanda Peet, Dr. Healy believes that, "the public's
smarter than that. The public values vaccines. But more importantly, I
don't think you should ever turn your back on any scientific
hypothesis because you're afraid of what it might show."

April 21, 2008 - Presidential Candidate Sen. Barack Obama, speaking at
a rally in Pennsylvania, answers a question about autism by saying:
"We've seen just a skyrocketing autism rate. Some people are
suspicious that it's connected to the vaccines. The science right now
is inconclusive, but we have to research it."

April 11, 2008 - The HHS Vaccine Safety Working Group (comprised of
the nation's leading vaccine experts) meets to review the CDC's draft
research proposal for vaccine safety issues. Among the top vaccine
questions that CDC wants answered: "Are neurodevelopmental disorders,
including autism, clinical outcomes of vaccine injury?" And, "Is
immunization associated with increased risk for neurological
deterioration in children with mitochondrial dysfunction?"

March 29, 2008 - Dr. Julie Gerberding, Director of the CDC, speaking
about the Hannah Poling case on CNN says: "If a child was immunized,
got a fever, had other complications from the vaccines, and was
pre-disposed with the mitochondrial disorder, it can certainly set off
some damage (including) symptoms that have characteristics of autism."
And she adds: "I think we have to have an open mind about this."
Meanwhile, the CDC website lists autism studies it currently funds on
thimerosal and the MMR vaccine.

March 11, 2008 - The CISA Network (Clinical Immunization Safety
Assessment), headed by the CDC, receives a report from top researchers
at Johns Hopkins University that 30 typically developing children with
mitochondrial dysfunction all regressed into autism between 12 and 24
months of life. At least two of them (6%) showed brain damage within
one week of receiving simultaneous multiple vaccinations.

Included in this vaccine safety network is the US health insurance
industry - which is now being forced by many states to cover autism
treatments, and wants to know what possible role vaccines are playing
in the neurodevelopmental health of children. A month later, the CISA
network announces it has "formed a working group to study methods
related to mitochondrial disorders and immunization."

February 25, 2008 - Presidential Candidate Sen. John McCain says at a
rally in Texas that "It's indisputable that (autism) is on the rise
amongst children, the question is what's causing it. And we go back
and forth and there's strong evidence that indicates that it's got to
do with a preservative in vaccines." McCain notes that there's
"divided scientific opinion" on the matter, with "many on the other
side that are credible scientists that are saying that's not the cause
of it."

February 22, 2008 - Medical Personnel at HHS concede an autism case
filed by the family of Hannah Poling in the federal Vaccine Injury
Compensation Program, before the claim can go to trial as a "test
case" of the theory that thimerosal causes autism. Though portrayed by
some (ie, Dr. Offit) as a legal decision, it is in fact a medical
decision. HHS doctors admit that the "cause" of Hannah's "autistic
encephalopathy" was "vaccine-induced fever and immune stimulation that
exceeded metabolic reserves," which exacerbated her underlying
mitochondrial dysfunction. At 19 months of age, Hannah was given 5
injections containing nine vaccines.

January, 2008 - Presidential Candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton,
responding to a questionnaire, says that autism is "epidemic," and
that she is, "committed to make investments to find the causes of
autism, including possible environmental causes like vaccines." When
asked if she will support an autism study of vaccinated vs.
unvaccinated children, she replies: "Yes. We don't know what, if any,
kind of link there is between vaccines and autism - but we should find
out."

So there you have it. Since the beginning of the year, we have heard
from:

1) Three United States Senators
2) The next President (and possibly Vice President) of the country
3) The Director of the CDC (and her "open mind")
4) The former head of the NIH and the American Red Cross
5) The Chairman of a House Science Subcommittee on Investigations and
Oversight
6) A respected Pediatric Neurologist and Resident at Johns Hopkins
University Medical School (Dr. Jon Poling)
7) The HHS Vaccine Safety Working Group
8) The CDC's Vaccine Safety Research Agenda authors
9) Medical personnel at the HHS Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
10) The Strategic Planning Workgroup of the Interagency Autism
Coordinating Committee
11) The Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Network
12) Leading autism researchers at Johns Hopkins University Medical
School
13) America's health insurance companies

Virtually all of the above advocate, or have at least considered,
exploring the possible links between vaccines and autism.

I am not a parent, and I am not anti-vaccine. But if I were going to
listen to experts on this subject, I would be more likely to consult
some of these people, rather than a well-meaning but grossly
misinformed actress who is guided by a doctor who will likely make
money from his own work helping to develop a childhood vaccine.

Ms. Peet apologized for calling parents "parasites," and that's nice.
But it is her continued use of the "fringe" label, I believe, that
will ultimately come back to bite her the hardest.

The vaccine-autism debate may be over in the firmly closed minds of
Peet and Offit, but for serious, rational thinkers such as those
listed above, this debate (and the real work that lies ahead) has only
just begun.

Incorrect. There were no ad hominem attacks in the text. And no
political rants either unless quoting or mentioning a politician
qualifies as a political rant. Did the previous poster read before posting?
(link to the article restored, it was cut off by the software used by
the previous poster)