Samantha Pierce

Anti-Vaccine Doctor Planned to Profit from Scare . I always wonder how people who are invested in the claims that pharmaceutical companies are conspiring to harm kids with vaccines for the sake of increased profits feel about all of the money made by people selling high priced supplements and therapies as treatments/cures/whatever for parents to try on their kids.

This is why I was so glad when this blog was launched. It had people like this behind it; There are parents of children with autism (and a few adults with autism) who ardently and sincerely believe that vaccines somehow are implicated in autism. However, the evidence continues to mount exonerating vaccines. But my fellow editor, Shannon Rosa, said it most eloquently: ...there is one thing we all need to remember when speaking to parents who still believe their child's autism was caused by vaccines: those people are in real pain. They want answers and need support. They are likely not getting either, except through the anti-vaccination movement's mostly negativity-filled channels, which is why they become so entrenched and remain in denial. But they are also the ones responsible for the upbringing of a child with autism. We need to be mindful of those children, and help their parents gravitate towards towards positive communities and attitudes, plus pa...

I dislike appeals to scientific consensus preferring to peruse the research that current scientific opinion is based on for myself. Having said that, in light of Lancet finally getting around to retracting Andrew Wakefield's 1998 study that claimed that vaccines were linked to autism, Popular Mechanics is taking a look at some studies that have claimed a link between vaccines and autism. The Truth About 9 Anti-Vaccine Studies Now that the infamous 1998 Lancet study implicating vaccines for causing autism has been retracted, does the anti-vaccination movement have any scientific legs left to stand on? Here, we investigate the scientific merit of some of the other lightning-rod studies from over the last decade that anti-vaccination advocates say back up their claims.

Most people would recognise that Dr. Andrew Wakefield is an unethical user of autistic children and their parents but now it is official. MMR doctor Andrew Wakefield 'abused his position of trust' The doctor who first claimed that the MMR vaccine could cause autism has been found guilty of a series of misconduct charges, that include putting children through painful and unnecessary tests, a disciplinary hearing has ruled today. Dr Andrew Wakefield showed "a callous disregard" for the suffering of children and "abused his position of trust" as a doctor in carrying out a study which sparked the biggest vaccine scare in a generation and has been blamed for the resurgence of measles in Britain, the General Medical Council (GMC) found. He was also found to have brought the medical profession "into disrepute" after he took blood samples from youngsters at his son’s birthday party in return for payments of £5 and failed to disclose vital conflicts of inte...

Sullivan at Left Brain/Right Brain comments in the post Forbes on “Stars Vs. Science” once again the autism community looks bad Once again, the Autism community takes it on the chin that our representative in the public eye is, well, in a league of her own when it comes to understanding science. Even though the story is about celebrities and science in general, autism plays a big part in the story as a whole. Autism and the "controversy" over whether or not vaccines cause autism feature prominently in the Forbes article Stars Vs. Science that discusses the maddening phenomenon of people taking medical advice from Hollywood celebrities. When the medical journal Pediatrics released a consensus report early this year concluding that autistic children do not benefit from special diets, ABC News' Diane Sawyer knew just whom to call. Jenny McCarthy, former MTV game host, nude model and now mother of an autistic son Evan, enthusiastically denounced the study. "Until docto...

Kids have already died because people are afraid to vaccinate their children. A lot more are going to have to die before people put aside their paranoia about childhood vaccinations. An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All Consider: In certain parts of the US, vaccination rates have dropped so low that occurrences of some children’s diseases are approaching pre-vaccine levels for the first time ever. And the number of people who choose not to vaccinate their children (so-called philosophical exemptions are available in about 20 states, including Pennsylvania, Texas, and much of the West) continues to rise. In states where such opting out is allowed, 2.6 percent of parents did so last year, up from 1 percent in 1991, according to the CDC. In some communities, like California’s affluent Marin County, just north of San Francisco, non-vaccination rates are approaching 6 percent (counterintuitively, higher rates of non-vaccination often correspond with high...

Jim Carey says, The Judgment on Vaccines Is In??? Because I don't feel like repeating myself, Fire Marshall Bill discusses vaccines and autism on The Huffington Post . Anybody remember his Vera di Milo character from In Living Color? I won't post pictures. He used to be funny. Ah well.

I know I said I probably wouldn't do this but it was just so easy, so tempting, and I am so very weak. Some days I fear for the survival of humanity because we seem hell bent on self destruction. Since when did having an autistic kid entitle one to abandon sound reason and critical thinking in favour of conspiracy theories and instinct. Holly Robinson: Amanda Peet is 'Fearmongering' As a parent of an autistic child, Holly Robinson Peete has been a staunch advocate for children living with the disease and their parents. You know autistic children grow up right? Some people seem to not be aware of that fact. Autism is not a disease. Call it a neurological disorder, call it a different way of being, call it extreme maleness, but please do not call it a disease. That doesn't even come close to describing autism properly. Now, the actress, whose 11-year-old son developed autism after receiving vaccinations when he was just two-and-a-half years old, serves as the first Afri...

This child did not have to die. Only weeks after her birth Dana, the Lennox Head grand-daughter of former Kangaroo Ken McCaffery, contracted whooping cough. On Monday she died. She was only four weeks old. “We miss her so much and are devastated that such a beautiful, innocent child is the victim of ignorance. She never stood a chance against this epidemic.” Hat tip to Left Brain/Right Brain where it is also noted that this disease is on the rise in the US. How many more people have to die before we stop letting our actions be dictated by those spreading false fears about vaccines? We've been the "Great Satan" to Iran since at least 1979 so I'm not really surprised that this didn't go over too well. Iran’s Supreme Leader Dismisses Obama Overtures Iran's supreme leader rebuffed President Barack Obama's latest outreach on Saturday, saying Tehran was still waiting to see concrete changes in U.S. policy. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was responding to a video mess...

I need to stop listening to the political and economic news. The temptation to snark is near overwhelming. I'm trying to maintain on overall respectful attitude towards our elected officials but they sure don't make it easy. I heard parts of the soundtrack from Slumdog Millionaire on the news this morning. I like it. I may have to acquire the soundtrack. Unfriendly government workers who have apparently been instructed to find any excuse to refuse to help the people that they are supposed to be helping are annoying. Hubby and I now have the pleasure of requesting a fair hearing to keep our health insurance because our caseworker can't or won't understand the concept of fluctuating income. What is with the obsession with vaccines and autism?! Those crack pot theories have failed to stand up to rigorous scientific scrutiny time and time again. Go away already. Nation of cowards indeed. Does that include black folk who refuse to go somewhere because they just assume all ...

This is what comes of constantly harping on how awful autism is and how awful life is for you with your autistic kids and how your kids were poisoned and damaged by toxic vaccines and so on and so forth despite all evidence that such is not the case. From the comments section on this article : vaccines & autism People with autistic children are desperate, with good reason. It is spectacularly difficult to get good help with these children in most school systems. I have met many parents of autistic children, and it is gut wrenching. But something I also discovered, many of these people had autism in their family history. I don't know if there's a genetic test for these disorders (there are many disorders under the autism umbrella, so probably not) but it seems to me that we are getting more autistic children simply because our society manages to help people become mainstream who in past generations would not have been educated and would have been unlikely to end up married. ...

I got hooked up with a reporter for the local CBS affiliate station who is doing a story on local parent reactions to today's ruling by the autism omnibus. I'm hoping that I won't be the only parent he interviews who agrees with the ruling. The story will air during the 5:30 PMEST broadcast. I made sure to leave out the copy of Autism's False Prophets (excellent book I have a review in the works)that I got from the library as well as some of the Valentine's Day stuff that the kids have been bringing home from school this week. We had to bribe Sophia with markers and a colouring book to keep her from jumping in front of the camera. She is such a ham! The reporter got some shots of the boys school pictures (they're still at after school program), our messy bookshelves, and the copy of Autism's False Prophets . Update 6:16 PMEST: Well the 5:30 broadcast was short but to the point. For the 6:00 broadcast the anchor woman botched my name and misrepresented wha...

Court says measles vaccine not to blame for autism A special vaccine court ruled against parents with autistic children Thursday, saying that vaccines are not to blame for their children's neurological disorder. The judges in the cases said the evidence was overwhelmingly contrary to the parents' claims — and backed years of science that found no risk. "It was abundantly clear that petitioners' theories of causation were speculative and unpersuasive," the court concluded in one of a trio of cases ruled on Thursday. The ruling, which was anxiously awaited by health authorities, was a blow to families who have filed more than 5,000 claims for compensation through the government's Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. The claims are reviewed by special masters serving on the U.S. Court of Claims. Emphasis added. Can we move on and discuss something relevant to autism now? Something like how the current budgetary crisis in many states are going to affect services f...

The New York Times is covering the rising resistance to those who claim that vaccines cause autism. Book Is Rallying Resistance to the Antivaccine Crusade Dr. Offit’s book, published in September by Columbia University Press, has been widely endorsed by pediatricians, autism researchers, vaccine companies and medical journalists who say it sums up, in layman’s language, the scientific evidence for vaccines and forcefully argues that vulnerable parents are being manipulated by doctors promoting false cures and lawyers filing class-action suits. “Opponents of vaccines have taken the autism story hostage,” Dr. Offit said. “They don’t speak for all parents of autistic kids, they use fringe scientists and celebrities, they’ve set up cottage industries of false hope, and they’re hurting kids. Parents pay out of their pockets for dangerous treatments, they take out second mortgages to buy hyperbaric oxygen chambers. It’s just unconscionable.” It was fairly obvious to me even before we got an ...

After this experience this is rather unwelcome news, Mumps Outbreak in Vancouver . There are more details and commentary on the story here . The resurgence of diseases that were previously controlled by vaccination could make one consider questioning people about the vaccination status of their children. If we were more social types I might consider it. But it raises the question of, Mixing unvaccinated children with vaccinated children: Whose rights prevail? . For my part I'd really rather not run the risk of having an unvaccinated individual pass something on to my newborn or to one of the older kids who's vaccines didn't quite take. But how many people say, hey just in case you're immune-compromised or something, we don't vaccinate our kids? This response from the comment thread has a certain amount of appeal: Personally I solve the problem very simply. Simple scenarios. 1) Me: Do you vaccinate you children? Parent: UM, why? Me: Out! 2) Me: Do you vaccinate you...