FEAT DAILY NEWSLETTER
Sacramento, California http://www.feat.org
December 11, 2001
News Morgue Search www.feat.org/search/news.asp
·
US Research On Controversial Vaccine May Vindicate
·
Committee to Hold 2nd Hearing on The Nat Vax
Injury
Compensation Program
·
Recent Autism Research by Teresa Binstock
·
Overcoming Autism by Georgiana Thomas
US Research On Controversial Vaccine May Vindicate
Consultant Who Was Forced
To Resign
[Exclusive by Lucy Johnston, In the December 9, 2001
Sunday Express. Despite the headline,
this is spin and is inaccurate. Dr.
Buie’s research does not vindicate Dr. Wakefield’s work. Buie’s work does not address the Vaccine –
MMR connection. His work, showing a
connection between gastro-intestinal disorders and autism, does lend some
weight to Dr. Wakefields work, but not vindication.}
New tests back expert who sounded alarm over triple
jab for children.
Controversial vaccine research which led to the
resignation of a
senior consultant from a British hospital has been backed by
fresh findings from the United States.
Andrew Wakefield, a former consultant at London’s Royal
Free and University College Medical School, said last week he was forced to
resign from his post because of his work linking the measles, mumps and rubella
vaccine with gut damage and autism.
The new US study provides further evidence to support his
view, indicating a strong correlation between autism and stomach problems in children.
The research was carried out by Dr Timothy Buie, a
specialist at Harvard Massachusetts General Hospital, who examined stomach
samples from 400 autistic children. His findings, announced last week at the
Conference for Autism in Portland, Oregon, showed that 55 per cent of autistic
children had a long-term stomach disorder.
His work has been welcomed by Wakefield, whose own studies
blamed the gut problems and autism on MMR.
Wakefield had been working with 200 children with such
problems - and there was an 18-month waiting list for new patients. His theory
is that the measles component of the vaccine may damage the gut wall, causing
toxins to leak out to the brain and leading to brain damage.
His theory has been echoed by thousands of parents who say
their children were developing normally but began to lose skills such as speech
and play after they were given the jab. Many also say their children started to
develop bowel or digestive problems at this point.
Despite this evidence, the Government refuses to
acknowledge any possible link between MMR and autism and insists the jab is
perfectly safe.
Wakefield, who is currently talking to experts in America
about his research, told the Sunday Express he was glad his work had been corroborated.
“These findings are extremely significant and provide
important evidence that reinforces the need for a proper investigation,” he
said. “No one else in the UK has been prepared to look at this issue because of
the controversy it attracts.
“The tragedy is these children may only be ill because of
the vaccine they were given and we should take responsibility for the fact this
may have caused them to suffer a dreadful form of autism.” He added: “I was
forced to resign because my work is controversial and politically sensitive. It
had become immersed in loads of conflict of interest - the Government and the pharmaceutical
industry are inextricably linked and there was clearly a lot of pressure on
this work.
“It is very, very sad and there is no excuse for what as
happened to me.” But he added that he intended to continue his work - now
funded by private donors.
“The medical establishment may not have the stomach for
it, but I cannot abandon these children. But I’m not going to whinge, I am
going to move on.”
A spokeswoman at the Department of Health said: “The
advice of our independent experts remains that, on the scientific evidence
available, there is no causal link between MMR and bowel disease or autism.
“This reseach does not affect the Department of Health
advice that MMR remains the safest way to protect children against three
potentially serious illnesses, measles, mumps and rubella.”
* * *
Committee to Hold 2nd Hearing on The Nat Vax
Injury Compensation Program
New Mexico, New Jersey & Tennessee families to testify
about a program that
has grown too adversarial
WHO: House Government Reform Committee
Dan Burton (R-IN), Chairman
WHAT: Full
Committee Hearing -
“The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program:
Is It Working as Congress Intended? Part II” WHEN: Wednesday, December 12, 2001 1:00 p.m.
Washington D.C. - The House Government Reform Committee
will hold its second hearing to review the U.S. Department of Justice’s and the
Department of Health and Human Services’ implementation of the Vaccine Injury Compensation
Program (VICP) on Wednesday, December 12, 2001.
Lori Barton, of New Mexico, will testify Wednesday about
her eight-year ordeal seeking compensation from the federal government for her son
Dustin’s vaccine-related injuries.
Following a childhood vaccination, Dustin suffered a severe reaction,
including seizures and blindness. After
the family endured hostile cross-examinations from government attorneys and years
of delays, her son died of a massive seizure in 1997. When the court agreed to award compensation to the family in
1999, the government insisted that the ruling not be published so that the
precedent could not help other families with similar cases.
Joseph Holder, of Denville, New Jersey, will testify
regarding his son, Brandon, who received his 2nd DTP vaccination on
July 10, 1992. Within 6 hours he had
his first grand mal seizure. (His
seizures continue to this day uncontrolled).
It took the Holder family two years to find an attorney who would take a
vaccine injury case. The case was filed
in October 1994. Although the case was
a classic “table injury case” which should have lead to a quick resolution, it
was not settled in the family’s favor until September 1999. The family received compensation in July
2000.
Tara Dyer, of Knoxville, Tennessee, will testify that in
1992, her two-month-old son, Andy suffered an adverse reaction shortly after
receiving the DTP vaccine. He developed a residual seizure disorder, and will
require care the rest of his life. The
Dyer family filed a claim in 1994.
Several years later, the claim was rejected after the Government argued
that the evidence of a causal relationship was inconclusive.
On November 1, the Committee held its first hearing on
this subject, at which Members heard testimony from three other witnesses who
had sought compensation through the program.
In each case, Government attorneys vigorously opposed offering
compensation, and were overruled by Special Masters overseeing the cases. In two of the cases, the Government appealed
the rulings. Each case dragged on for
more than eight years. The witnesses testified
about the difficulties they experienced seeking compensation through the
program.
Panel 1: Lori Barton,
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Tara Dyer, Knoxville, Tennessee
Joseph Holder, Denville, New Jersey
Robert Block, M.D., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Chairman,
Vaccine
Advisory Commission
Panel 2: Thomas Balbier, Director, Vaccine Injury
Compensation Program, HHS Paul Harris, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil
Division, DOJ John L.
Euler, Deputy Director, National Vaccine Injury
Compensation Program, DOJ
* * *
Medical Hypotheses
Tables of Contents and Abstracts Online
Anterior insular cortex: linking intestinal pathology and
brain function in
autism-spectrum subgroups
T. Binstock
p 714-717, Volume 57, Number 6, December 2001
Abstract
Autism includes deficits in communications skills and is
associated with intestinal pathology. Numerous parents and some physicians
report that an autistic child’s attention and language improve in response to
treatments which eliminate certain dietary antigens and/or which improve
intestinal health.
For at least some autism-spectrum children, the link
between
intestinal pathology, attention, and language may derive
from shared
neuroanatomic pathways within the anterior insular cortex
(aIC); from a
neurotrophic virus such as herpes simplex (HSV) migrating
within afferents
to the insular cortex; and/or from synaptic exhaustion in
the aIC as induced
by chronically inappropriate neuronal activity in the
enteric nervous system
and/or its vagal efferents. Copyright 2001 Harcourt
Publishers Ltd
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* * *
Recent Autism Research by Teresa Binstock
Medical Hypotheses
Tables of Contents and Abstracts Online
Anterior insular cortex: linking intestinal pathology and
brain function in
autism-spectrum subgroups
T. Binstock
p 714-717, Volume 57, Number 6, December 2001
Abstract
Autism includes deficits in communications skills and is
associated with intestinal pathology. Numerous parents and some physicians
report that an autistic child’s attention and language improve in response to
treatments which eliminate certain dietary antigens and/or which improve
intestinal health.
For at least some autism-spectrum children, the link
between
intestinal pathology, attention, and language may derive
from shared
neuroanatomic pathways within the anterior insular cortex
(aIC); from a
neurotrophic virus such as herpes simplex (HSV) migrating
within afferents
to the insular cortex; and/or from synaptic exhaustion in
the aIC as induced
by chronically inappropriate neuronal activity in the
enteric nervous system
and/or its vagal efferents. Copyright 2001 Harcourt
Publishers Ltd
* * *
Anterior insular cortex: linking intestinal
pathology and brain
function in autism-spectrum subgroups
T. Binstock
p714-717, Volume 57, Number 6, December 2001 http://www.harcourt-international.com/journals/mehy/previous.cfm?art=mehy.20
01.1440 <-- address ends here.
GABA-transaminase, the liver and infantile autism (p
673-674) B. I. Cohen http://www.harcourt-international.com/journals/mehy/previous.cfm?art=mehy.20
01.1350 <-- assdress ends here.
The ratio of 2nd to 4th digit
length: a proxy for testosterone, and susceptibility to HIV and AIDS? (p
761-763)
J. T. Manning, P. Henzi, P. E. Bundred http://www.harcourt-international.com/journals/mehy/previous.cfm?art=mehy.20
01.1487 <-- assdress ends here.
Other possibly important articles are in the December
issue. http://www.harcourt-international.com/journals/mehy/latest.cfm
<-- assdress ends here.
* * *
Overcoming Autism by Georgiana Thomas
Desk-top published in paperback, 1999
To order: Contact:
Georgiana Thomas
2840 NW Skyline Drive
Corvallis, OR 97330
Telephone: 541-752-7406
Email: thomas777@proaxis.com
Georgiana Thomas was born in 1965 and was autistic from
birth. She was officially diagnosed with the disorder in 1968 by Steve
Focious, M.D., a psychiatrist in New
York City. At this point she was non-verbal, with behaviors typical of children
with severe autism. She had no eye contact and had never bonded with or related
to anyone in a normal way. She was unable to express affection and was largely
indifferent to The interest, requirements and affection of others. Although she
could build three-story card houses, draw elaborate designs and tie her shoes,
she showed no interest in playing with toys appropriately. She spun herself,
rocked, and flapped her hands, and was generally described as being in her own
world. She appeared to be entirely self-sufficient.
Just after her fourth birthday, she entered an early
intervention program for autistic children in New York which stressed behavior modification,
and which was supervised by psychiatrist Magda Campbell, M.D., a leading
authority in the field of autism. “Georgie”
responded exceptionally well to one-on-one therapy and became verbal. Although
her speech was fundamentally garbled and echolalic, within a few months she was
able to answer simple multiple choice questions by choosing among answers.
Although Georgie progressed in special education programs
and learned to read when she was eight, she was unable to handle mainstream situations,
and her family was told that she would require constant supervision in a
protected setting for the rest of her life.
When she was eleven, her parents removed her from
conventional treatment and took her to Annecy, France, where she received
Auditory Integration Training, a new technique developed by Ear, Nose and
Throat Specialist Guy Berard, M.D., which would eliminate the painful
frequencies in Georgie’s hearing which had made communication and learning so
difficult for her. The treatment was
successful, and within a year, Georgie was mainstreamed into a private Swiss
day school where the work of Dr. Berard was known and respected. She excelled academically and developed a
normal social life. After two years in Switzerland, Georgie and her family
returned to the United States, and she went on ultimately to receive a BFA
degree Magna Cum Laude from University of Hartford, Hartford Art School,
winning the University’s coveted Regents Honor Award for academic
excellence. She entered graduate school
at The University of Arizona, and later worked as a clerk at an art supply
store in Westport, CT. In 1991 she married Thomas J. Thomas, a contractor from Norwalk, CT, and a year later they
moved to Corvallis, Oregon, where she currently resides and enjoys a normal
life.
In generously detailing her feelings and experiences as an
autistic child, Georgie provides a carefully drawn map of one person’s journey
to normal-range functioning which should be of value to anyone faced with dealing
with this baffling disorder. It is written with a loving hand and is her gift
to the special needs community. Since she can’t pay back all the love and care
she received along the way, she can pay it forward, adding her story to the
recovery literature in order than others may see that OVERCOMING AUTISM is
sometimes an achievable goal.
>> DO SOMETHING ABOUT AUTISM NOW <<
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