SCHAFER AUTISM REPORT             “Healing Autism:

                             No Finer a Cause on the Planet”

   NOTE CALENDAR DEADLINE JULY 25 FOR AUGUST UPDATE http://home.doitnow.com/~subs/frm/calendar-form.htm

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Friday, July 18, 2003                        Vol. 7  No. 150

    ADVOCACY

   * Parents Seek State Aid In Autism Suit

    CARE

   * Videos Help Doctors Spot Signs Of Autism

    LETTER

   * Vaccine Choice

    ERRATA

   * Nine, not 11 Per Day in California

ADVOCACY

Parents Seek State Aid In Autism Suit

Scientist says mercury damage ‘a bigger epidemic than 9-11 and AIDS’

      [By Scott Rothschild, Journal-World.] http://www.ljworld.com/section/stateregional/story/139046

      Topeka — Backed by one of the nation’s biggest critics of the use of mercury in childhood vaccines, a group of Kansas parents on Thursday met with Atty. Gen. Phill Kline, seeking help from the state in getting compensation from pharmaceutical companies.

      “This is a bigger epidemic than 9-11 and AIDs, and no one knows about it,” Dr. Mark Geier, a geneticist who has been sounding the alarm about the dangers of thimerosal, a mercury compound that has been used for decades in vaccines.

      Geier and a growing number of scientists and parents are blaming the skyrocketing incidence of autism and other neurological disorders on the presence of thimerosal in vaccinations given to children.

      And they want the companies that put thimerosal in the vaccines to pay the state for the cost of treatment and care for the mercury-damaged children.

      Linda Weinmaster of Lawrence has an 11-year-old son, Adam, who is autistic. Weinmaster said she believed Adam’s disorder was caused by a Rogam injection she received while she was pregnant.

      “We want the kids taken care of when we’re gone, and we don’t want any more kids damaged by this,” Weinmaster said. “This is the biggest cover-up in medical history.”

      Geier said autism was an epidemic, increasing 714 percent nationally since 1992-93, and 904 percent in Kansas, according to government figures.

       He said health care for these children would cost $2 trillion over their lifetimes, including $10 billion in Kansas. “If this is allowed to continue, you will not recognize our society in 20 years. We’ll be like a Third World nation,” he said.

      Eli Lilly & Co., which had been the main manufacturer of thimerosal, denied any connection between the compound and autism.

      “There is no scientific, credible, causal link established between thimerosal and autism,” said Eli Lilly’s Rob Smith. “We need to let the science guide us. We don’t support politicians and trial lawyers demagoging the issue.”

      Smith said one reason for the dramatic increase in autism may be improved methods of diagnosing the condition.

      But Geier rejected that statement.

      He said numerous studies showed that the increase in autism was real. “Anyone who denies the existence of an epidemic is totally out of left field,” he said.

      The parents of children with autism who met with Kline said they wanted him and other attorneys general to join in a lawsuit against the pharmaceutical companies, in much the same way that attorneys general sued big tobacco companies that resulted in a $246 billion national settlement.

       Their meeting was scheduled to last one hour, but went three hours; Kline attended for about an hour.

      He said he was interested in the information and wanted to discuss it further with his assistants before deciding what course to take.

      Weinmaster said she was happy with how the meeting went. “They (Kline’s assistants) said it was well worth their time. That’s pretty positive,” she said.

      Next week, a group of scientists, physicians and parents of autistic children will travel to Washington, D.C., urging President Bush to hold a conference on the increase in autism. Weinmaster and another Lawrence resident, Bobbie Manning, whose son is autistic, will attend.

      “These kids are being damaged and the taxpayers cannot afford this anymore,” Weinmaster said.

      A provision in the Homeland Security bill originally shielded Eli Lilly from lawsuits brought by parents of autistic children. Congress repealed that provision earlier this year.

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CARE

Videos Help Doctors Spot Signs Of Autism

Early diagnosis, treatment of developmental disability essential, parents, doctors say

      [By Alicia Doyle, Correspondent.] http://www.insidevc.com/vcs/county_news/article/0,1375,VCS_226_2118648,00.ht

ml

      Videos distributed by the Ventura County Autism Society to pediatricians and family doctors are helping to raise awareness of this complex developmental disability and the early signs to look for when assessing a child.

      “Early diagnosis is critical,” said Jennifer McNulty of Thousand Oaks, a parent of a child with autism and an autism society board member. “Many doctors often take the ‘wait and see’ approach, and for many children, this is a disaster. When therapeutic interventions are started early, it can make all the difference.”

      In June, almost 200 Ventura County physicians received the video “First Signs,” as well as information about the increase of autism in California and current genetic studies, said Cathi Nye, Autism Society treasurer. The nonprofit organization spent nearly $15,000 on the endeavor and plans to conduct a follow-up survey in the fall, she said.

      Doctors need to know the early signs of autism so intervention can begin, said Dr. Robert Nopar of Tri-Counties Regional Center.

      “Frequently, the early signs can be subtle, and doctors these days often don’t have a lot of time to spend with apparently healthy children,” Nopar said. “The earlier treatment is started, the better results you can get.”

      The symptoms of autism typically appear during the first three years of life. Autism, the result of a neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain, and its associated behaviors is four times more prevalent in boys than girls and knows no racial, ethnic or social boundaries.

      Recent statistics show that as many as one in 250 children are being diagnosed with autism, compared to one in every 500 five years ago. A study recently released by the Mind Institute at the University of California, Davis, reports that the epidemic is real and not simply genetic, indicating that environmental factors are involved.

      At age 2, McNulty’s son, Kyle, had met all the developmental milestones. But nine months later, he started to lose much of the language he had learned and was chronically ill. A variety of doctors and specialists could not pinpoint the cause.

      It wasn’t until Kyle was just over 4 years old that McNulty found the right diagnosis, she said.

      “Had I known at age 21/2 that some of the symptoms he was displaying were signs of a very serious problem, I would have gotten Kyle the help he needed much earlier,” she said. “Every year, every month, every day that intervention is delayed is precious time lost.”

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LETTER

Vaccine Choice

      The Mum’s whose children have been ordered by the court to have the MMR vaccination in a recent court case are going to the High Court next week to ask for permission to appeal.  This is not the appeal itself, just the

pre-trial hearing.    Following the ruling last month by the Judge that

their children have to be vaccinated against the mother’s wishes, it is unsurprising to hear that these Mum’s are very stressed at the moment, understandably, and are looking for support in the form of parents willing to mount a demonstration outside the High Court.  They are Lone parents with beautiful children who do not want their children vaccinated and thereby placing the children at risk of developing vaccine-related illnesses.

        What ever your views on vaccination, it cannot be right to deny the caring parent responsibility for their own child’s medical decisions.  It is a slippery slope towards the loss of parental and human rights if we allow this to happen.

        If you can attend, the details are as follows:

The High Court The Royal Court of Justice High Holborn London

>From 10.00 a.m. next Thursday (the court case begins at 10.00 - people

>may

want to congregate earlier to set up their placards etc.)

      You may be interested to know that this case has been rushed through the normal legal process in order to avoid publicity as the parents were only notified YESTERDAY that this case was going ahead, which leaves them very little time to mount a legal defence.

        Thanks On behalf of Lone Parents battling vaccination damage everywhere

        - Nessie, UK

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ERRATA

      In a report in the Schafer Autism Report yesterday, it was incorrectly claimed that the rate of autism in California was 11 per day for the last six months.  The actual number is 9 per day.  Thanks to John Matthias, Jr. for bringing this error to our attention.

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