A Comprehensive Review of Vaccines: Part 9 of 12
Vaccines and Autism
The vaccine autism argument can be confusing when debating the facts, because from our research, there are several different factors at play when it comes to autism, not just the mercury based compound, Thimerosal. The reason for the ambiguity is because our health officials tell us that they have removed Thimerosal from vaccines and we still see autism cases on the rise, so it cannot be the Thimerosal (or vaccines) causing autism.
They also present the public with several dubious studies in which we are told concludes that there is no evidence linking the two. Case closed. No further testing needed. Which is one of the problems we see in our health officials’ approach to autism. We have an autism epidemic in this country where more than 1 out of every 50 children is being diagnosed. Unfortunately, vaccine manufacturers and health officials are more interested in excluding vaccines as the cause than trying to find a remedy to stop this national tragedy.
To put the rise in autism in the proper perspective, very few, if any of the infectious diseases that our children are being vaccinated for, come even close to a 1 in 50 prevalence rate. While they are certainly not as bad as an autism diagnosis, they are called “outbreaks” and “epidemics.” The real epidemic we are witnessing is the catastrophic rise in autistic children in our country. It’s not childhood infectious diseases that pose the biggest threat to our children, and our health officials know this.
This rise in autism is not due to better diagnoses like we are told, either. If that were the case, we would see scores of 50 and 60 year old people with autism in our population. How many people over 50 years old do you know with autism? Certainly not 1 in 50, or even 1 in 5,000, for that matter. The truth is, the spike in autism is a recent phenomenon and has become a real threat to our society. If left unaddressed, we can expect millions of people in our country to not only become non-productive members of our community, but to be unable to care for their own basic needs. In part 9 of this article we take a comprehensive look at the many links between vaccines and autism, as well as our health officials’ attempts to cover up the evidence.
Autism: Not on the Agenda
When we look at the evidence, it is clear that our health officials know more than they are telling us. Judging by recent developments involving fraud, data trashing and cover-ups, it appears that they actually know a lot more. Unfortunately, vaccine manufacturers and health officials are fully engaged in agendas that center on self-protection and profit-making. By necessity, they are deeply committed to maintaining the message that vaccines are safe and effective. It would be in direct conflict with these agendas to try to identify causes or find remedies for the autism epidemic we face. This sad truth is in striking contrast to the image they each project — namely, that public health organizations are truly concerned with public health and that pharmaceutical companies are in the business of health care. Neither could be further from the truth.
Autism Epidemic
We have an autism epidemic in this country, with a prevalence rate of 2.24%. This means that 1 in every 45 children is diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). To put an ASD diagnosis in perspective, consider some of the childhood diseases vaccines are designed to prevent like chicken pox, measles, polio, pertussis or mumps. In first world conditions, children have an overwhelmingly good chance of recovering fully from any one of these illnesses and, in so doing, their immune systems become strengthened. When your child is diagnosed with measles, for example, it is not a life sentence. You don’t go home and figure out how to rearrange your lives forever. While it is unpleasant and frightening, it is also typically a mild illness of limited duration. If your child is diagnosed with any of the childhood illnesses we vaccinate for, the prognosis is vastly better than for those receiving a diagnosis of ASD. There is no cure, per se, for autism and children do not generally recover from it.
When we look at the first chart below we see that the rise in autism has increased in lockstep with the timeline of CDC’s increasing vaccine schedule, shown in the second chart. Since the 1970’s the recommended vaccine schedule in the U.S. has increased by more than 400%. Over the past 40 years, there has been no uptick, no epidemic and no new knowledge uncovered to warrant such a drastic increase in vaccines in order to protect public health.
Please note that 2009 is the last year reflected on the graph below. If you add the numbers from the last 6 years, you would see the blue line continue its steep upward trajectory, reflecting an autism epidemic. The CDC conducted a national health interview and, based on data from 2011-2014, CDC reports that the incidence of ASD is actually 1 in 45 children, or 2.24%. This information is taken directly from the CDC National Health Reports Statistics Bulletin 87, published in November, 2015.
Autism’s Parabolic Rise
Spike in the CDC Vaccine Schedule
While the graph below illustrates the history of a remarkable increase in vaccines, keep in mind that there are almost 300 new vaccines in the development pipeline. Imagine how this graph will look in a few short years, if left unchecked.
How Can Officials Be So Quick To Rule Out Vaccines?
What is the effect of combining dozens of vaccine ingredients in our children’s developing immune systems in such a concentrated time-frame? Answer: we don’t know. This may seem shocking to most people, but after almost 30 years of an increasingly aggressive vaccine schedule and scores of children developing autism and many other health issues, our health officials have not done studies of the combined effect of even 3 vaccines, let alone 8-13 that they can receive in one visit. All the studies about vaccines are only based on receiving one vaccine at a time.
How can our health officials say that vaccines do not cause autism in the absence of the fundamental knowledge needed to make such a statement? They can’t! It’s not possible. Without performing studies on the combined effects of multiple vaccines at once, it is impossible to rule out vaccines as a possible cause for autism or any other diseases our children have developed over the last few decades. And anyone who says that vaccines don’t cause autism cannot be considered as credible, plain and simple. As you will see from the evidence presented in this part, our officials know there is a link between vaccines and autism but they are doing everything in their power to hide the facts.
CDC Stance on Vaccines and Autism
You have heard it over and over: our public health officials are taking a blatantly anti-scientific stance on the topic. They don’t care to elaborate much beyond citing the ‘overwhelming number of studies’ showing that vaccines don’t cause autism. In perhaps their most defensive stance to date, our public health officials tell us the case is closed and no further testing is needed. Vaccines do not cause autism, it has been decided. What true scientists would ever say that their findings are definitive and that no further research is warranted? The very nature of science is to gather information on an ongoing basis and to allow new findings to influence and redefine what we thought we knew. The CDC, the FDA, the WHO all tell us: ‘case closed’. Really? Taking a suspiciously unquestionable perspective, CDC tells us not only that vaccines don’t cause autism but that there is not even a connection. Such a distinct and concerted effort to shut down the conversation would make it appear that perhaps much more is at stake than scientific truth.
Vaccine and Autism Talking Points
There are a number of talking points on the un-publishable public health agenda regarding vaccines and autism, which are recited over and over by our media and by the multitudes of those on the payrolls of the pharmaceutical industry, including our public health officials. The talking points are listed below, along with a refutation of each of them.
- ‘Autism isn’t really on the rise: we are just getting better at diagnosing it.’
False. One of the arguments you might hear from public health officials is that the huge rise in ASD is due to better diagnosis. Once data from the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) was finally released by the US Department of Health and Human Services, however, this argument was found to be invalid. Think about how many people you know over 50 who have autism. Our guess is none. The truth is that the spike in autism is a recent phenomenon and has become a real threat to our society. If left unaddressed, what can we expect from the next generations of adults? What about their children? In part 9 of this article we take a comprehensive look at the many links between vaccines and autism, as well as our health officials’ collective determination to end the conversation.
- ‘Mercury was removed from all childhood vaccines over a decade ago.’
False. We are told by people like Dr. Richard Pan, co-author of the SB277 bill that Thimerosal is not in childhood vaccines but that is not true. Thimerosal was not eliminated from all childhood vaccines. In 1999, the the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended removing Thimerosal from vaccines routinely given to infants. Instead of removing all existing vaccines that contained Thimerosal, which drug makers said they could do and have new batches in short order, the CDC opted to let the existing stock run out before ordering new ones, which took two to three years. CDC reports that in 2001, “(e)xcept for influenza (flu), thimerosal is removed from or reduced in all vaccines routinely recommended for children 6 years of age and under manufactured for the U.S. market.”
Thimerosal Never Left
To this day, the influenza vaccine still has toxic amounts of mercury, in the form of Thimerosal and the flu shot is most definitely on the CDC Childhood Vaccine Schedule. Around the time that Thimerosal-laden vaccine stock was being used up from the other vaccines, the influenza vaccine was being recommended for use in infants and pregnant women. In spite of the fact that the influenza vaccine has not ever been shown to be safe for either group. Also, as Thimerosal was phased out of some vaccines, increasing and equal amounts of aluminum were replacing the mercury. More on aluminum in vaccines later in this part.
- ‘If mercury were that dangerous, we’d all be dead from eating tuna.’
False. Actually, this is a clever retort but fairly devoid of any real meaning. The truth is that the fish we consume has far, far less mercury than a single flu vaccine (see graphic below) and yet our health officials warn moms to be to avoid eating too much fish when pregnant. Vaccines contain methylmercury while ethylmercury is the type found in fish. A 2013 study points out the absurdity of public health officials’s stance on mercury: “Although ethylmercury (eHg) is considered a hazardous substance that is to be avoided even at small levels when consumed in foods such as seafood and rice (in Asia), the World Health Organization considers small doses of Thimerosal safe regardless of multiple/repetitive exposures to vaccines that are predominantly taken during pregnancy or infancy.” The study goes on to find that the two types of mercury appear to have similar dangers and that, in combination, they have a ‘distinct toxokinetic profile’, which is particularly dangerous. Another critical point is that when consumed in food, our bodies have processes for limiting absorption and excreting a portion of heavy metals like the mercury found in Thimerosal. This is not true for injected mercury, which may leave the bloodstream but reside in the brain and tissues throughout the body. Blood samples, therefore, will likely not tell the whole story about mercury exposure. Unused/expired vaccines that contain Thimerosal are considered hazardous waste and must be disposed of according to specific safety guidelines due their mercury content.
False. When our health officials make such a definitive statement, we expect that they have lots of irrefutable evidence to back it up. CDC actually says that when used in vaccines, Thimerosal is no longer a toxin, but actually just becomes a preservative. Their boldness in this statement alludes to conclusive evidence (and some kind of strange alchemy) which, unfortunately, has translated into unmerited public confidence in the message and the messenger. When our public health officials say something with such certainty, we expect to find an abundance of supporting evidence for their claim. Let’s delve deeper, considering that evidence firsthand.
- Here is the 2011 report cited by CDC as evidence that “… with rare exceptions, these vaccines are very safe.” This report is the result of a committee looking at existing studies and epidemiological data to try to determine if evidence supports a causal relationship between particular vaccines and particular adverse events. Their conclusion was that, for 135 relationships they looked at, (the majority of cases) “… the evidence was inadequate to accept or reject a causal relationship.” The committee was, however, able to conclude that “… evidence favors rejection of five vaccine-adverse event relationships, including MMR vaccine and autism.” Far from definitive, far from the best they could do, it is clear that our public health officials rely on the fact that we’re not all scientists. This report bears no resemblance to real scientific research when it comes to publication standards, methodology, transparency or bias. Although the committee could conclude absolutely nothing regarding the majority of the adverse side effect-vaccine pairs they considered, they were somehow still able to conclude: “Overall, the committee concludes that few health problems are caused by or clearly associated with vaccines.” How could they possibly conclude this based on their inability to conclude so little about so much? It’s like magic.
- The second source cited by CDC regarding the nonexistent link between vaccines and autism is their own 2013 study. This study involved a regressive analysis of amount of antigens children were exposed to at one time and over different periods of time early in life, via vaccines, and the incidence of autism. The study found that there was no connection. Unfortunately, the study was not designed to test for the singular or cumulative effects of mercury or aluminum and their role in causing autism. No one is alleging that the antigen (virus) is causing autism. It’s the heavy metal adjuvants that are most concerning and this study didn’t address these at all. If you’d like to read more about the many problems with this research, you can check out this critique by Brian S. Hooker, Ph.D., P.E, who found that this study was “… based on data from 2010 and is basically a rehash of a “fraudulent” study published then.” Of course, if CDC were truly interested in answering this question, they certainly know how to design research accordingly.
- Overall, CDC cites 9 studies, which they say support their assertion that vaccines do not cause autism. You can access each of these studies on the internet and review them for yourself and you can also read this paper, titled Methodological Issues and Evidence of Malfeasance in Research Purporting to Show Thimerosal in Vaccines Is Safe, in which the CDC’s evidence is thoroughly reviewed and deemed lacking at best, and corrupt at worst.
- One study CDC have historically referenced to support their assertion about the safety of vaccines is the ‘Danish Autism Study‘, co-authored by Dr. Poul Thorsen. Thorsen authored or co-authored numerous other studies for CDC over the years. In April, 2011, Dr. Thorsen was indicted by a federal grand jury on 13 counts of wire fraud and 9 counts of money laundering. It appears that Thorsen embezzled around $2 million of CDC (taxpayer) grant money. His Danish Autism Study has recently been shown to be invalid and has long been criticized as fraudulent.
Conclusive Links Between Vaccines and Autism
Despite what the media and our healthcare officials constantly tell us, the fact of the matter is, we have conclusive evidence that links vaccines and autism, but it cannot be admitted by anyone in any official capacity. If this connection is admitted, it will open a Pandora’s box, signaling a cascade effect whereby more and more people decline vaccines and demand safety research before granting their consent. It will set a precedent. If the general public knows there is a link between vaccines and autism, vaccine uptake will drop precipitously, litigation will dramatically increase and the vaccine mandate itself will be in serious jeopardy. Not to mention the profound effect it will have on the pharmaceutical industry. This is why it must be viciously defended at all costs.
All one would need to do is look at the Hannah Poling case or the Bailey Banks case in which the government conceded that vaccines were, in fact, the reason for their children’s autism like symptoms (or autism). They parse their words carefully in their decisions and press releases, but that’s essentially their rulings. The Poling and Banks cases are not unique. Here is an article titled “Vaccine Court Awards Millions to Two Children With Autism” which addresses these cases which were compensated for “autism like symptoms.” The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has since been very careful about how they define autism for the exact reason I stated above, to avoid setting precedent.
Other Cases That Link Vaccines and Autism
But there are a lot more than just four cases. Now we hear terms like ‘encephalitis’ (brain swelling) and “vaccine induced encephalopathy” (brain disease) because the autism term is just too emotionally and politically charged. In the end, these are all forms of brain injuries to varying degrees. In fact it is common knowledge to those close to NVICP that if you are seeking compensation for your vaccine-injured child, you had better not mention the word autism, or you will never ever get a hearing.
A May, 2011 study published in the Pace Environmental Law Review concluded that the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) compensated 83 cases in which the court acknowledged vaccine induced encephalopathy and seizure disorders that included autism or autism-like symptoms. Here are 30 scientific studies that show vaccines can cause autism from the whale.to site.
U.S. Health Officials Are Well Aware of the Link
Dr. Thomas Verstraeten – CDC Epidemiologist
In June, 2000, a secret meeting was convened at Simpsonwood Conference & Retreat Center in Norcross, Georgia, near CDC headquarters. In attendance were CDC, FDA and WHO scientists and consultants, as well as those representing pharmaceutical companies. Participants were warned that the information under review was ’embargoed’, meaning that no papers were allowed to leave the room and copying documents was prohibited. The meeting was titled “Scientific Review of Vaccine Safety Datalink Information.”
The meeting was scheduled in response to a CDC epidemiologist’s findings six months earlier, which showed conclusive evidence of a link between vaccines and autism. The CDC epidemiologist was Dr. Thomas Verstraeten and he was the lead researcher tasked with determining the link between neurodevelopmental disorders and the mercury-based Thimerosal in vaccines. After analyzing the massive CDC database, Vaccine Safety Datalink, (VSD) Dr. Verstraeten found a clear correlation between vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism. (We cite this unpublished study later in this article.)
We have found statistically significant relationships between exposure [to mercury in vaccines] and outcomes. At two months of age, developmental delay; exposure at three months, tic; at six months, attention deficit disorder. Exposure at one, three and six months, language and speech delays — the entire category of neurodevelopmental delays.
-Dr. Thomas Verstraeten
It was only through many FOIA requests (freedom of information act) that the public was able to discover what went on at the Simpsonwood Conference. Putchildrenfirst.org has compiled extensive information on the events leading up to this meeting which includes the transcript of the meeting itself as well as much of the internal communications among the people directly involved. When we look at the internal correspondence leading up to the meeting, it’s clear that they are far more concerned about concealing the vaccines-autism link that about the children who were injured. Dr. Coleen Boyle, who was the Assistant Director for Science at the CDC, sent an email to Dr. Frank Destefano from the CDC asking if he considered excluding the data with highest risk age group for autism from the study. As Dr. Healy points out in part one of this article, this is called data mis-coding and although it is scientific misconduct, it is a common practice used to manipulate a study’s findings to show favorable results.
As a result of Dr. Verstraeten’s findings, the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) and Public Health Service put out a joint statement asking for the elimination of Thimerosal from vaccines, among a list of additional necessary actions. Here is what they stated in the joint release:
The key actions being taken are:
- A formal request to manufacturers for a clear commitment and a plan to eliminate or reduce as expeditiously as possible the mercury content of their vaccines.
- A review of pertinent data in a public workshop.
- Expedited FDA review of manufacturers’ supplements to their product license applications to eliminate or reduce the mercury content of a vaccine.
- Provide information to clinicians and public health professionals to enable them to communicate effectively with parents and consumer groups.
- Monitoring immunization practices, future immunization coverage, and vaccine-preventable disease levels.
- Studies to better understand the risks and benefits of this safety assessment.
The Simpsonwood Conference
After the joint release from the AAP and PHS, CDC went into damage control mode and commissioned the Simpsonwood Conference. It seems clear that the meeting was convened in an effort to devise a game plan for how to deal with Dr. Verstraeten’s findings. As we see from WHO’s Dr. John Clements’ quote below, the fundamental reason for the meeting was to determine how to spin this information to the public. Here is an excellent article written about the conference by Dr. Russell Blaylock.
Some Quotes From the Simpsonwood Conference:
“the number of dose related relationships [between mercury and autism] are linear and statistically significant. You can play with this all you want. They are linear. They are statistically significant.”
– Dr. William Weil, American Academy of Pediatrics. Simpsonwood, GA, June 7, 2000
“But there is now the point at which the research results have to be handled, and even if this committee decides that there is no association and that information gets out, the work has been done and through the freedom of information that will be taken by others and will be used in other ways beyond the control of this group.”
“And I am very concerned about that as I suspect that it is already too late to do anything regardless of any professional body and what they say…My mandate as I sit here in this group is to make sure at the end of the day that 100,000,000 are immunized with DTP, Hepatitis B and if possible Hib, this year, next year and for many years to come, and that will have to be with Thimerosal containing vaccines unless a miracle occurs and an alternative is found quickly and is tried and found to be safe.”
– Dr. John Clements, World Health Organization, Simpsonwood, GA, June 7, 2000
“Forgive this personal comment, but I got called out at eight o’clock for an emergency call and my daughter-in-law delivered a son by c-section. Our first male in the line of the next generation and I do not want that grandson to get a Thimerosal containing vaccine until we know better what is going on. It will probably take a long time.”
” In the meantime, and I know there are probably implications for this internationally, but in the meanwhile I think I want that grandson to only be given Thimerosal-free vaccines.”
– Dr. Robert Johnson, Immunologist, Simpsonwood, GA, June 7, 2000
CDC Whitewash
These doctors are clearly troubled about Dr.Verstraeten’s findings and in their own words, each of them acknowledges that there is a link between vaccines and autism. After all this, what do you think happened to the study’s conclusion? It took Dr. Verstraeten three years to publish the findings from his research but, true to form regarding CDC treatment of non-conforming research, they suppressed it. The final published study was a whitewash, removing or minimizing all autism-vaccine links.
Here is how Safe Minds described the CDC’s handling of this:
“The CDC’s approach to analysis of the VSD database demonstrates a pervasive pattern of bias and conscious manipulation of samples, statistics and findings to produce a negative finding regarding the dangers of thimerosal exposure to children.”
“Despite significant problems with study design and data quality and contrary to public statements by the CDC, the VSD analyses of autism, NDDs and speech delay provide support for a causal relationship between thimerosal exposure and childhood developmental disorders.”
“Comparisons at a population level across HMOs suggest that compliance with the recommended vaccine schedule of thimerosal exposure was associated with high rates of neurological disorders and developmental delay.”
Even with the CDC’s “conscious manipulation” of the study’s findings, the evidence was so overwhelming that the link between vaccines and autism could not go undetected.
To see how the CDC removed vaccines’ association to autism click here.
The CDC Does It Again
Dr. William Thompson, CDC Whistle-blower
Dr. William Thompson, a senior epidemiologist employed by the CDC, has admitted that he and his co-authors destroyed data at the behest of his superiors at CDC, which conclusively links Merck’s MMR vaccine to an over 300% rise in autism for African-American males under age 3. The only reason we know about this is that Dr. Thompson was secretly recorded confessing to the deed. Fortunately, Dr. Thompson saved all the original hard copies of the study claiming he knew it would be a crime to destroy the data, just in case of a DOJ inquiry. These documents (100,000 of them) have been handed over to congress and a select few news outlets. The conclusion of this study was obviously a problem for the CDC scientist from the beginning, as evidenced by his letter (shown below) to the then head of the CDC, Dr. Julie Gerberding.
It’s all there. This is the lowest point in my career, that I went along with that paper. I have great shame now when I meet families of kids with autism, because I have been part of the problem.
What Happened to the Study Co-Authors?
It is important to note that CDC came out with a statement essentially admitting that they omitted the data referred to by Dr. Thompson. So what happened to Dr. Thompson’s co-authors and his superiors at CDC? His co-authors were promoted within CDC and Dr. Julie Gerberding, head of CDC at the time, went on to head up the Merck vaccine division, where she has held almost $5 million of stock and where she enjoys a substantial pay increase. Quid pro quo?
Merck: Suppressing Vaccine Data
Here we have a Merck employee who reported to his superiors his research showing that Thimerosal did not even work as an anti-microbial component and feared that Merck could be poisoning infants who received vaccines containing Thimerosal. His research was passed on as high as scientists at the vice presidential level. He was told not to publish his findings. Here is a PDF file of a draft of a letter sent to the Chief Investigative Counsel, Lauren Fuller.
The Autism – Aluminum Link
Mercury, in the form of Thimerosal, remains a deeply concerning adjuvant in relation to autism, but it is not the only culprit. Aluminum is also a heavy metal and pharmaceutical companies use increasing and equal amounts of aluminum to replace the toxic mercury based Thimerosal. Lest you get the impression that aluminum is a kinder or gentler adjuvant, you should know that like mercury, aluminum is also a known neurotoxin. It has been proven to cause devastating brain and central nervous system damage in mice in recent studies.
Current ideology is suggesting a more complex connection between vaccines and autism than a simple causal relationship. True enough, Thimerosal, aluminum and any number of vaccine additives are cause for serious concern in and of themselves, but researchers are now talking about a more nuanced, dynamic interaction than what was historically suspected.
Below is a short, 8 minute video of an interview with Stephanie Seneff, PhD. She is a senior research scientist at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. She is not a medical doctor and this may be precisely why she has been so free to explore and research the question of autism as it relates to environmental toxins, including aluminum in vaccines. Not trained or funded by the pharmaceutical or chemical industries, she is not beholden to them. Obviously inquisitive and brilliant, Dr. Seneff has a world-class skill set with which to tackle some obvious questions about the cause of the autism epidemic we face. Listen as she explains her theory regarding the role of vaccine adjuvants, and aluminum in particular, in causing autism.
Dr. Seneff also talks about the synergistic effects vaccines have when combined with the compound glyphosate. Glyphosate is found in the pesticides used throughout our agriculture industry, particularly with genetically modified foods. Dr. Seneff has found an additional correlation between the combination of the chemicals in vaccines and glyphosate.
The Replacement Of Thimerosal With Aluminum
After the controversy in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s regarding Thimerosal in vaccines, instead of removing it from vaccines like the AAP recommended, the CDC opted to let the stock run out. What is seldom talked about is that when the CDC phased out the vaccines containing mercury, pharmaceutical companies replaced it with increasing amounts of an equally deadly and toxic substance called aluminum sulfate. There are researchers who have studied the amount of aluminum in combined vaccination doses who say that it is even more dangerous than Thimerosal. Health officials will tell you that we ingest a certain amount of aluminum through our environment, but there’s a big difference between ingesting and injecting. Dr. Chris Shaw conducted research on the effects of injected aluminum in lab mice.
Dr. Chris Shaw
Dr. Chris Shaw conducted a study on aluminum’s effects in a biological organism by mimicking the vaccine schedule using lab mice. After the mice were injected with the aluminum, they were studied. The mice showed deteriorating motor skills as well as cognitive damage soon after being injected. When the animals brains were studied they showed massive damage to motor neurons.
To make matters worse, with the aggressive vaccine schedule we are now adhering to, mercury and aluminum are often combined along with a whole host of other chemical vaccine ingredients. We have no idea and no research about how all of these vaccines and additives are interacting with each other.
The University of Pittsburgh Study: There is a study (one of the very few of its kind) from the University of Pittsburgh that was presented in 2008. The research involved injecting monkeys with the same vaccine schedule children received from 1994-1999. The vaccinated monkeys developed autism like reactions. The control group of un-vaccinated monkeys displayed no such symptoms. The principal researcher, Laura Hewitson, has been scrutinized for not revealing that her own child is vaccine injured and that she filed a claim with the VICP. This has been characterized as an irreconcilable conflict of interest and has been the subject of a robust attempt to discredit her and this research. To my knowledge, there have been no attempts to replicate her findings but many attempts to bury the story. Dr. Hewitson’s case is an example of a stunningly effective astroturf campaign that made a big story appear to be irrelevant in the public eye. She is a prime example of what happens when your research findings are out of alignment with the powers that be.
When Did Autism Start?
This short video explains the first 11 cases of autism in the 1930’s and traces their relationship to the commercial use of mercury, via Thimerosal.
Thimerosal was added to vaccines in 1931. The very first case of autism in the U.S. was diagnosed in the mid 1930’s by Dr. Leo Kanner. When Thimerosal was tested back in the 1930’s it killed animals in very small doses. Even so, they still added it to a number of medical products, including vaccines.
Now that we know the the dangerous effects of Thimerosal, it’s no coincidence that soon after Eli Lilly invented and patented this new mercury compound called Thimerosal and added it to vaccines, as well as various other medical products, that we see the very first case of autism in this country.
Most people are unaware of the fact that there have been no studies on the safety of Thimerosal since the original ones done almost 80 years ago. Does it seem right that we are injecting ourselves and our children with a known neurotoxin, classified as a hazardous material, which hasn’t been safety tested since the 1930’s? What about the fact that the only existing safety tests on Thimerosal showed it to be lethal? The following is an excerpt from the Mercury in Medicine Report, by Indiana Representative Dan Burton in 2003:
Manufacturers of vaccines and Thimerosal …. have never conducted adequate testing on the safety of Thimerosal. The FDA has never required manufacturers to conduct adequate safety testing on Thimerosal and ethylmercury compounds.
If you want to learn more about the history of autism and its relation to Thimerosal, there is an excellent slideshow made by Focus Autism that illustrates the relationship between the two. I have only included a few slides, but I would recommend that you review the whole slideshow, which can be viewed here.
More Studies That Show Thimerosal-Autism Link
Boyd Haley is Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at University of Kentucky and a strong and knowledgeable voice about the dangers of mercury.
According to Neil Z. Miller, in his 2016 book Miler’s Review of Critical Vaccine Studies, there are at least 180 studies showing that Thimerosal is harmful. Below are just a few of these studies, with quotes from the findings in red.
- This 2015 critical review concludes:
The culmination of the research that examines the effects of Thimerosal in humans indicates that it is a poison at minute levels with a plethora of deleterious consequences, even at the levels currently administered in vaccines.
- This 2012 study looks at parallels between mercury intoxication and the brain pathology of autism. The study found no fewer than 20 striking parallels between the two.
The evidence suggests that mercury may be either causal or contributory in the brain pathology in ASD, possibly working synergistically with other toxic compounds or pathogens to produce the brain pathology observed in those diagnosed with an ASD.
- The findings of this study from 2010 foreshadowed the results CDC covered up regarding the increased risk of autism for non-white boys who received Thimerosal-containing vaccines.
Findings suggest that U.S. male neonates vaccinated with the hepatitis B vaccine prior to 1999 (from vaccination record) had a threefold higher risk for parental report of autism diagnosis compared to boys not vaccinated as neonates during that same time period. Nonwhite boys bore a greater risk.
- **This unpublished study conducted by CDC in 2000:
This analysis suggests that high exposure to ethyl mercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines in the first month of life increases the risk of subsequent development of neurologic development impairment.
**This exact same study was published almost four years later, but the findings had changed. The findings were changed to reflect the opposite of the initial findings, although the data was the same.
How many parents will tell us “it happened right after the vaccines” before we can acknowledge that it is no coincidence?
Summary
As the overwhelming evidence clearly shows, there are many links between vaccines and autism but as we mentioned earlier, it cannot be admitted by our health officials for the reasons we stated. The medical establishment, media, and pharmaceutical companies have spent too much time and energy trying to convince us otherwise and an admission now would only prove that vaccine skeptics were correct all along and that is a Rubicon they just cannot cross. This is a very unfortunate situation that we are at the point where our health officials have blatantly lied to us when they know the truth about autism and vaccines. What this also shows us is that our health officials are willing to put the safety of children at risk in order to carry out their own agendas, so we will have to excuse vaccine skeptics if they do not trust the recommendations of these agencies.
It is quite ironic because Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s research pointed to the same conclusions as all this evidence linking vaccines and autism, yet he was viciously attacked for it. Looks like he was right all along. Maybe that’s why his co-author was completely exonerated on all the charges that were brought in conjunction with their study.
This is Part 9 in the 12 part series: A Comprehensive Review of Vaccines
Part 1: Why Are So many People Choosing Not To Vaccinate?
Part 2: A Closer Look at Pharmaceutical Companies
Part 3: Vaccine Policymakers and Conflicts of Interest
Part 4: How The CDC, FDA and WHO Lost the Trust of Vaccine Skeptics
Part 5: Are Vaccines Safe & Effective?
Part 6: What Are The Real Risks of Not Vaccinating in the U.S.?
Part 7: Herd Immunity, Shedding and the Questionable Science Behind Vaccines
Part 8: Did Vaccines Really Eradicate Infectious Diseases in the 20th Century?
Part 9: The Conclusive Evidence Linking Vaccines and Autism
Part 10: Why Don’t We Hear The Whole Story About Vaccines?
Part 11: What Are Independent Experts Telling Us About Vaccines?
Part 12: Vaccines: The Greater Good or Greater Greed? – Conclusion
Speed the Shift is an independent group of researchers on a mission to find the truth about controversial topics. We utilize alternative information sources that are often ignored or outright censored by the corporate media in an effort to gain a broader awareness of relevant issues.
