E-NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL VACCINE INFORMATION CENTER

Vienna, Virginia              http://www.nvic.org

 

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    UNITED WAY/COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN

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"Protecting the health and informed consent rights of children since 1982."

 

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Barbara Loe Fisher Note:

 

The attached October 31 letter written by Congressman Dave Weldon, M.D., to the director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) contains serious charges of vaccine study data manipulation and potential coverup of the true health risks associated with mercury preservatives (thimerosal) in vaccines. Congressman Weldon details the evidence supporting possible scientific fraud at the hands of former and current CDC officials who appeared to have employed flawed methodology and subsequently altered data in an epidemiological study investigating the association between thimerosal containing vaccines and the development of neurodevelopmental delays in some children, including autism. The lead author of the study, published in the November 2003 issue of Pediatrics, was a former CDC employee who has been employed by GlaxoSmithKline, a major manufacturer of childhood vaccines.

 

If an investigation into what appears to be scientific fraud turns out to be true, then the government health officials involved should be required to resign their positions. The public cannot have trust in mass vaccination policies promoted by health officials who are not telling the truth about vaccine risks and are not doing everything in their power to reduce those risks. The time has come for accountability by those individuals who are responsible for insuring the safety of mandated childhood vaccines. The public deserves and should accept nothing less than total honesty on the part of those to whom we entrust our children's lives.

 

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=104-11042003

 

U.S. Newswire

 

Weldon, Major Autism, Speech Disorder Organizations Voice Concern Over CDC's Use of Vaccine Safety Datalink to Investigate Thimerosal

 

11/4/03 8:17:00 AM

 

 

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To: National Desk, Health Reporter

 

Contact: Cheri Jacobus of Capitol Strategies, 202-547-7358, or CheriJacobus@aol.com; Sallie Bernard of Safe Minds, 970-429-1460, sbernard@safeminds.org

 

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 /U.S. Newswire/ -- U.S. Congressman Dave Weldon, a physician, and groups representing children with autism and speech/language disorders have raised concerns over the use of the Vaccine Safety Datalink

(VSD) by the CDC's National Immunization Program (NIP) and others involved in promoting childhood immunization. An NIP paper published in the November 2003 Pediatrics uses the VSD to investigate associations between thimerosal in vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and speech/language delay. The Pediatrics study represents the fourth version of the data analysis by the NIP team.

 

In an Oct. 31 letter to CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding, Congressman Weldon, MD, stated, "I have reviewed the article and have serious reservations about the four-year evolution and conclusions of this study." The letter continues to say, "There may have been a selective use of the data to make the associations in the earliest study disappear" and remarks "how easily the authors could manipulate the data and have reasonable sounding justifications for many of their decisions."

 

Rules established by the CDC have made access to the VSD by independent researchers virtually impossible. Representative Weldon has called for opening the VSD to independent analysis. Echoing these sentiments, major organizations representing families affected by autism or speech/language delay have issued the following joint statement:

 

Vaccine Safety is an important public health issue. The Vaccine Safety Datalink database must be made available to all qualified research scientists in a timely manner. The current practice of restricting access to the database to a limited group of possibly biased individuals is not acceptable.

 

The organizations signing the joint statement are: Apraxia Kids, Autism Research Institute, Autism Society of America, Cherab Foundation, Cure Autism Now, Safe Minds, Speechville Express, and Unlocking Autism.

 

The letter from Congressman Dave Weldon to Dr. Julie Gerberding can be accessed at http://www.house.gov/weldon/issues/autism.pdf. The autism and speech organizations' joint statement and background information can be accessed at http://www.safeminds.org.

 

 

http://www.usnewswire.com/

 

 

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