American Academy of Pediatrics Abuses Informed Consent Ethics and Threatens Parents

In March the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) was requested by six organizations (Autism One, Generation Rescue, National Autism Association, SafeMinds, Schafer Autism Report and Unlocking Autism) to uphold their statements of 1999 and 2000 for the removal of mercury from vaccines inclusive of influenza vaccine and to support the Vaccine Safety and Public Confidence Assurance Act of 2007, the Comprehensive Comparative Study of Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Populations Act of 2007 and toxicity testing of ethylmercury (from vaccines) according to modern standards. Click here to read the letter.

This scenario is the backdrop for the AAP's latest insult to parents' right to discuss with their pediatricians any concern, or modification to vaccines administered to their child(ren). Julie Deardorff of the Chicago Tribune recently criticized the AAP for their abusive tactics to coerce parents into a one-size-fits-all immunization schedule under the threat of being kicked out of their doctor's practice. The AAP's response to Ms. Deardorff and to the autism community's request (hyperlink response to us) that vaccines are safer today than ever before, and stating that the study of the vaccinated vs. unvaccinated populations for total health outcomes as unethical, is at odds with purporting to protect our children.

The CDC's Director, Dr. Gerberding, has clearly stated that a study of this type should and could be done. Generation Rescue was able to quickly identify through their survey an unvaccinated population with only $200,000 and a few months, while CDC has an immense database of over 5 million individual medical records and a budget of $8 billion. This begs a few obvious questions, why hasn't the CDC commissioned a study that would cost so little in both time and money and does the AAP view the CDC's statements on conducting such a study as unethical?

As parent Lin Wessels posted on the Chicago Tribune's website, founding father Thomas Jefferson would cringe at these actions. Jefferson's stated "Reason and free enquiry are the only effectual agents against error. Was the government to prescribe to us our medicine and diet, our bodies would be in such keeping as our souls are now." It is as true today as it was in 1784 and was certainly echoed recently by Dr. Bernadine Healy, former NIH Director, who has stated that the autism-vaccine link science should be pursued without fear of where it will lead. These actions call into question bioethics, informed consent and the right to refuse treatment in light of confirmed compensated vaccine induced autism cases and an untested vaccine schedule.

The pursuit of defeating infectious disease is desirable; however, it cannot be at the cost of sound science and the mandate to prove safety and minimal adverse long-term health outcomes. Vaccines, like any drug, contain additives, are potent and have long lasting effects and should be used judiciously against major diseases. With the expansion of the vaccine schedule to include chicken pox vaccine for children and Hep B for babies, it is clear that the schedule is no longer about major disease or reason. The reality is that no government agency, or organization can truthfully state that the immunization schedule is safe to administer, because the science has not been conducted.

It is very reasonable to question its safety and allow parents to pursue and decide their best course of action based on the information that is available. The AAP's tyrannical stance violates "do no harm" and informed consent ethics and serves only to increase public distrust, while promoting a widening of the existing and acknowledged gap in vaccine safety research.

Shortsighted Legislation Follow Up

Due to a technical problem in our last issue, the link to U.S. Representative Ted Poe of Texas speaking before Congress on the issue of compact fluorescent light bulbs was omitted.

Please visit the link below: http://youtube.com:80/watch?v=e-LOtKIIKcg

While this 5-minute video also speaks to broader issues, it makes a solid case regarding the questionable safety of compact fluorescent lighting in people's homes.

Information on cleaning up a broken fluorescent bulb is available on the Maine DEP's website at www.maine.gov/dep/rwm/homeowner/fluorescent.htm. Our next newsletter will focus further on recycling and cleanup protocols.

WHAT IS THIMEROSAL?

Thimerosal contains ethyl-mercury, a documented and dangerous neurotoxin. It is used as an inexpensive preservative in vaccines. Developed in the 1930's and marketed by Eli Lilly, thimerosal has never been tested using modern safety standards.

WHAT AMOUNT OF MERCURY IN VACCINES IS SAFE?

The National Academies of Science set the safe standard for thimerosal based on The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) guidelines for methyl-mercury, 0.1 micro-grams per 2.2 pounds of body weight per day. Some vaccines, like the flu shot, contain as much as 25 micro-grams of mercury, over 10 times the safe limit for an infant.

ARE MERCURY FREE VACCINES AVAILABLE?

Many vaccines in the 1990s contained mercury. Today most vaccines in the U.S. are mercury free, except the flu shot. Most flu shots contain mercury, however, mercury free versions are available. (see www.vaccinesafety.edu) Vaccines in developing countries continue to contain mercury.

Letters American Journal of Public Health | August 2008, Vol 98, No. 8

Baker's recent article1 presented fascinating insights and perspectives on the intertwined stories of mercury, vaccines, and autism. As a researcher in mercury with some involvement in the autism issue (as a participant in expert committees for the National Institutes of Health, the National Research Council, and the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] as well as an invited reviewer of a proposed clinical trial of mercury chelation in autism), I would like tooffer some additions to an excellent article.

First, it is not entirely correct to suggest that there is no medical knowledge of the potential hazards associated with thimerosal apart from a convergence with the history of knowledge about methyl mercury. Baker omits the separate (but convergent) history of toxicities associated with thimerosal in topical medicines, such as contact lens solution, eye drops, and other products. The literature on this history (first reviewed in 19812) prompted restrictions on the use of thimerosal in these products by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1998.

Second, most methyl mercury exposure occurs because of the consumption of fish that has been exposed to environmental biomethylation. Methyl mercury has not been used in paints or pesticides; the organomercurials hat have been used in these products are methoxy ethyl mercury chloride and phenyl mercury compounds.3

Third, although there is experimental evidence that ethylmercury behaves differently from methyl mercury in terms of toxicokinetics,4 it appears to have qualitatively similar effects on the nervous and immune systems.5.6

Finally, an additional force for convergence not mentioned by Baker is the coincidence of the increasing number of early childhood vaccinations with the increasing knowledge of low-level organomercury toxicity.

Although Baker's article is informative, I read history somewhat differently. I believe it illustrates an additional lesson not noted in the article: much trouble could have been avoided if the FDA had made a prudent decision early in the controversy to reduce infant exposures to mercury compounds by removing thimerosal from medications. Such a decision should have been made at least by 1997, when the EPA issued its report to Congress on mercury.7

This path would have emulated the voluntary cessation of lead soldering in food cans, which the FDA encouraged and the food industry undertook in the early 1970s withouta prolonged debate on whether this specific use was associated with specific neurotoxic outcomes in children. To quote my former mentor J. Julian Chisolm, "one should not shy from introducing interim measures" even if they are partial.8 Mercury, like lead, is a chronic and accumulative toxin, and reductions in any source have a public health benefit.

No discussion of specific associations with autism would have been necessary, and much heartache could have been avoided. The increased suspicion of the public toward the biomedical profession, the drug industry, and the regulatory community could have been avoided as well.

Moreover, the intensity of the advocacy response, particularly by parents of children with autism, should be seen in the context of the lack of attention to preventable risk factors for autism, which is clearly not a genetically determined disease although genetic susceptibility may play an important role in modulating response to acquired risks In this sense, mercury may be seen as symbolic of the importance of environmental risk factors (defined broadly and not just chemically) as well as of the lack of a research agenda at the national level for autism despite its status as a major neurodevelopmental disorder of children.

The Autism Research Institute, a leading non-profit organization, has launched a mobile Internet Web site, http://autism.mobi, designed specifically for users of mobile devices and mobile phones, including the Apple iPhone.

According to Steve Edelson, director of the San Diego-based research and education group, this is the first .mobi Web site created and maintained by a national autism organization, and is in response to consumers' desire for "practical" mobile content. "There are almost two billion mobile Internet users today, and we're tailoring our organization's services to better serve those needs," said Edelson.

Many of the major papers and published studies from the Autism Research Institute's popular website, www.autism.com, have been reformatted for easy, on-the-go reading on http://autism.mobi.

The site also includes advice for parents, treatment tips, and answers to frequently asked questions. One especially valuable feature is the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC), which is designed to evaluate cognitive, communication, sensory, and social skills - as well as the physical health - of individuals on the autism spectrum. Parents and specialists can complete the ATEC on their mobile phones at any time, such as when waiting in the doctor's office, and they can immediately forward the results to their child's or patient's physician for review. Amy Mischler, dotMobi's Vice President of Identity and Brand Services said, "dotMobi recently released the results of a study that showed consumers want useful, practical content available for their mobile phones. Autism.mobi is an excellent example of that, as well as being a site which is designed to serve the needs of a community. Globally, people are more likely to have a mobile phone with Internet access than a computer with Internet access, and having a .mobi site available allows an organization to reach a greater population who will be able to benefit from its services."

AutismCares is a consortium of leading autism organizations who have united to support individuals with autism and their families during natural disasters and other crises. The consortium is comprised of Autism Speaks, the Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation, the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation, The Help Group, TACA, Talk Autism, Unlocking Autism, SafeMinds and SARRC.

AutismCares provides Family Support Awards of up to $1,500 to help families coping with autism who have experienced a natural disaster; a death, critical illness or injury of an immediate family member; a loss of home; or a loss of job. The funds may be used to pay for housing, utilities, insurance premiums, prescriptions, daycare, automobile repairs, funeral expenses or other approved items. Eligible families may apply for an AutismCares Family Support Award online.

That's right, go ahead and buy something for yourself -- a new CD, the latest bestseller, everyday essentials like pet food or vitamins, even a computer. But first join www.iGive.com/SafeMinds.

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Remember, donating to SafeMinds won't cost you a thing. But we'll miss out on a lot of extra dough, if you don't join. So visit www.iGive.com/SafeMinds now. Membership is free and your privacy is guaranteed.

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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.