Memo to those who wanted the autism-vaccine contretemps to just go away: You lost.

Exactly five years ago, I began research for my book Evidence of Harm, which looked into the possible link between mercury, vaccines and the tsunami of autism that now overwhelms our education system.

Along the way, I have encountered many people -- in the government, in medical circles, in the media, on the Internet - who are furious at my attempts to shed light on this controversy, and utterly contemptuous of parents, doctors and anyone else who supports research into the hypothesized link between autism and vaccines.

Many of these people, incredibly, still insist that autism is purely a genetic disorder with no known "cause" and probably no cure. They blithely claim that autism has always been with us, in the same epidemic numbers we see today, (If you're the parent of a young boy in New Jersey, by the way, you now face 1-in-60 odds of a diagnosis), we just never noticed, or else counted those kids as "quirky," or possibly retarded.

Even officials at the CDC, who traced an e-coli outbreak to a single patch of California spinach within months, cannot say if autism is actually on the increase or not.

Some experts, however, are beginning to understand that autism is clearly on the rise and, thus, must have an environmental component, coupled with a genetic underpinning. But they insist that vaccines or their ingredients (ie, mercury, live measles virus, aluminum) have nothing to do with the epidemic.

They really, really want this vexing vaccine chatter to cease. But it won't.

Click here to read the full article.

Lyn Redwood, RN, MSN, was recently appointed to the Department of Health and Human Services' new Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee.

This committee coordinates efforts within the department to combat autism spectrum disorder through research, screening, intervention, and education. The committee will facilitate the efficient and effective exchange of information on autism activities among member agencies, and coordinate autism-related programs and initiatives.

Authorized under the Combating Autism Act of 2006, the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee advises the HHS Secretary and the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Secretary Leavitt delegated the authority to establish the committee to the NIH, which designated its National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to lead this activity.

The committee chair is Thomas R. Insel, M.D., director of NIMH.

"The committee's first priority will be to develop a strategic plan for autism research that can guide public and private investments to make the greatest difference for families struggling with autism," Dr. Insel said.

Vicky Debold, RN, PhD has recently been appointed to a two-year term representing consumers on the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The VRBPAC votes on scientific evidence presented by vaccine manufacturers who seek to license and market new vaccines in the United States. Appointments to this committee are made after being selected by an independent consumer's representative nominating group and the FDA, at their discretion, may extend the term of appointment to four years. The FDA nominating group is comprised of representatives from the Center for Medical Consumers, Consumers Union, National Women's Health Network, National Consumers League and Consumer Federation of America.

VRBPAC meetings are open to the public and allow for public comment during the meeting. The next meeting will be held February 20-21, 2008 at the Hilton Gaithersburg Hotel, Gaithersburg, Maryland. Online transcripts and background materials for VRBPAC meetings is available at http://www.fda.gov/cber/advisory/vrbp/vrbpmain.htm. These materials include discussions of the pre-licensure scientific evidence for safety and efficacy presented by vaccine manufacturers for experimental and previously licensed vaccines from 1998 to the present.
(excerpted from National Vaccine Information Center announcement.)

On December 7, 2007 Senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman requested that the Senate HELP Committee hold a hearing on the federal research efforts regarding factors affecting the incidence and treatment of autism spectrum disorders.

In their letter to HELP Committee Chairman, Edward Kennedy, they state:

"Families of children with autism and their health care providers depend on the federal autism research agenda in hopes of preventing futures cases and identifying treatment methods. We have heard the concerns of many Americans that a number of environmental exposures, such as thimerosal, pesticides, metals, organic pollutants and other ambient factors, may be linked to autism. Our research efforts should support broad approaches to understanding the wide range of etiological factors in our environment that may be related to autism for both prevention and treatment purposes."

Please support the Autism Research Institute by taking their Treatment Effectiveness Survey.

Parent experience is an extremely valuable, yet rarely used, source of information for assessing alternative means of treatment. The Autism Research Institute needs your help in evaluating the various forms of therapy, including drugs, which are used in treating autism.

ARI will summarize the results in easy-to-understand form, for publication on the Internet, the ARI newsletter, the ASA Advocate, and elsewhere. The more data we collect, the more meaningful the results will be.

Click here to complete ARI Treatment Effectiveness Survey.

Tom Bernard, the father of a child with autism, is publishing his first book, Wall and Mean. Proceeds from the sale of the book will benefit SafeMinds and Autism Speaks.

Book Description

"Captures the tone and feel of Wall Street better than anything I've ever read. A snapshot of the trader's soul."-Michael Lewis

Wholesome Pennsylvania kid and Wall Street phenom George Wilhelm is poised to become one of the most successful young bond traders in the business. A gambler at heart, George has turned his old poker skills into big profits on the Emerging Markets desk. Now those same skills have got him trying to out-trade the sports bookies in Vegas, and George's hard-won security is in jeopardy as he racks up a ruinous gambling debt. When the Brooklyn mafia sends two hitmen to collect, things turn ugly in a hurry: these boys have clearly never heard of a fair fight. George must scramble to keep his pursuers away from the bank and his family, while risking everything on an all-or-nothing trade. Set in the glitter and grime of New York City during the bond-market boom of 1993, Wall and Mean is a fast- paced and surprising debut from a veteran of The Street.

Click here to order your copy now.

Deidre Imus, a board member of SafeMinds, recently published the following article on the Huffington Post.

Several important findings affecting our children's health were reported in the past few months. All of them raising questions about the unintended consequences of widely accepted medical treatments.

In September news reports about Prevnar, a vaccine developed to protect against pneumonia in children, along with the overuse of antibiotics, was "having the unfortunate effect of promoting new superbugs that cause ear infections" that are resistant to all antibiotic drugs approved for children.

A month later it was announced that once routinely recommended infant and cold medications were being immediately and voluntarily recalled by many of the country's largest drug companies because the products were being "misused leading to overdosing," particularly in children 2 years and younger. In addition, physicians and public health officials expressed concern that there were no studies demonstrating the effectiveness of the medications.

In responding to the recall, Dr. Steven Czinn, chair of the department of pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine stated, "In the 21st century, it is unacceptable to be marketing medication to infants and children that may not work."

Are they kidding me? "No studies demonstrating the effectiveness of these cold medications"? Don't we have a whole federal agency; the Food and Drug Administration, whose job it is to make sure drugs are safe and effective? If this data was available, why did it take 35 years to notify parents the medications they were giving their sick children may not work? Where is the evidence-based science that should have been here to prove safety and efficacy?

Just a few weeks ago another study called into question long prescribed vaccination recommendations and added more "fuel to the fire" in the on going controversy over our nation's immunization policies.

Published in the New England Journal of Medicine [Nov. 8, 2007] the study, funded by the U.S. Public Health Service, suggests we may want to reevaluate and adjust our nation's current vaccination recommendations.

Scientists from the Oregon Health & Science University found many of the vaccines administered to millions of American's may be providing immunity longer than what was first believed, making the need for some booster shots unnecessary.

"Surprisingly, we found that immunity following vaccination with tetanus and diphtheria was much more long-lived than anyone realized, and that antibody responses following viral infections were essentially maintained for life," stated lead author Dr. Mark Slifka, a scientist at the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute. The study also found similar longer than expected immunity for several other vaccines.

Click here to read the remainder of this article.

Click here for information on Deidre Imus' book, Green This - Greening Your Cleaning.

On December 11 Barack Obama released his plan to empower Americans with disabilities.

"We must build a world free of unnecessary barriers, stereotypes, and discrimination .... policies must be developed, attitudes must be shaped, and buildings and organizations must be designed to ensure that everyone has a chance to get the education they need and live independently as full citizens in their communities," Obama stated in a video announcement on his website.

Click here to read the presidential candidate's plan and view his video announcement.

SafeMinds will link to other candidates statements in future issues.

Click here to visit the A-CHAMP website and read Representative Burton's statement and see his letter to the vaccine court.

The Age of Autism is the nation's first daily Web newspaper for the environmental-biomedical community - those who believe autism is an environmentally induced illness, that it is treatable, and that children can recover. For the most part, the major media in the United States aren't interested in that point of view, they won't investigate the causes and possible biomedical treatments of autism independently, and they don't listen to the most important voices - those of the parents. Visit the website at www.ageofautism.com.