FEAT DAILY NEWSLETTER
Sacramento, California http://www.feat.org
January 9, 2002
News Morgue Search www.feat.org/search/news.asp
·
Wakefield: ‘My Stand on MMR Cost Me My Job. . .’
·
Vaccine Maker Hit For Plant Problems
·
Vitamin B Supplements Exceed Safe Levels: Report
·
Rimland Responds to Vitamin B Scare
·
Immune System Protein Linked to ADHD
Wakefield: ‘My Stand on MMR Cost Me My Job. . .’
But I’ll Fight To Tell The Truth
Doctor who warned of autism fear over controversial
baby jab
criticises British Prime Minister Tony Blair and takes his
research battle
to America
[From the Mail, UK on Sunday, January 6, 2002 -
reprinted on the JABS
website.]
Last year, after 13 years, I left my job as a
gastroenterologist at the Royal Free Hospital and University College in London,
largely as a result of the measles, mumps rubella vaccine controversy.
Now that I have left, there is one overriding priority: to
ensure that children with autism and bowel disease get the investigation and
treatment they need and deserve.
Prior to my departure, the situation had become very
difficult. During the course of our investigations, my colleagues and I had at
all times followed the rules of scientific hypothesis testing, peer review and publication.
Despite this, not only was our research programme under
threat, but also the provision of clinical care for these children was under
increasing pressure, in large part because of the political baggage that the
MMR issue brought with it.
However, I have made it clear that I have no intention of
stopping the work. Parents should be reassured that the current research programme
will be completed. Thereafter, I will go wherever I have to go to continue it.
There are other people in the United States doing this
work and one possibility is to continue there. One problem for such work,
however, is that within the conventional university structure it is vulnerable. Universities are susceptible to external
pressures because they are increasingly financially dependent upon the
pharmaceutical industry.
The clinical issue - autism, bowel disease, and possible
links with MMR - is a relatively simply story that has become obscured by
layers of personal, political, financial and other imperatives that threaten to
subvert the issue of how to help these children. This must be resisted if we are
to separate fact from wishful thinking.
From the outset, parents have, in good faith, reported
their children’s symptoms linking bowel symptoms to developmental and
behavioural regression. Their concerns have been almost universally dismissed
by health care professionals. Some had to wait many years before getting their
child investigated.
As doctors we must first listen and then act upon what we
have heard. This is one of the tenets
of conventional clinical medicine. I was fortunate enough to work with
paediatricians who share this belief and are also world leaders in the field of
childhood intestinal diseases.
Early in our investigations it became clear that the
parents were right. They have helped us to identify what appears to be a new
bowel disease in a group of children with autism.
Since our first report came out in 1998, we have
investigated more than 200 children with autism, the majority of whom have a
strikingly consistent pattern of intestinal inflammation. There is also growing
support from other doctors. People are coming off the fence and acknowledging
that genuine questions need to be answered. Unfortunately, the Government’s determination
to exonerate the MMR vaccine has led to research data being used
inappropriately. Conflicts of interest abound, scientific arguments have been
misconstrued, and what remains amounts to little more than propaganda.
Latterly the spotlight has fallen on Leo Blair. I entirely
respect the Blairs’ right to privacy. Nonetheless, Tony Blair’s response to
media questions, while full of sound and fury, was neither convincing nor very helpful.
To the more cynical it was reminiscent of the ambiguity of other Presidential
denials, such as when Bill Clinton made the infamous remark: ‘I did not have
sexual relations with that woman’.
I believe that the Government’s response has been
inadequate, at times inappropriate, and will ultimately be deemed
irresponsible.
This is, in my opinion, made inevitable by a structure
where politicians, in the face of a controversial medical issue, are dependent
on their mandarins at the Department of Health. The latter represent a polarised
and rarefied view point, making politicians extremely vulnerable. The Government and its representatives in
the Department of Health rely upon epidemiological studies that, among many
flaws, have tested hypotheses that have little or no bearing upon the children
we have investigated.
Meanwhile, the tragedy for these children continues.
Denied appropriate health care already, they continue
to be ignored
because acknowledgement of their plight could raise the
spectre of an association between their disease and the vaccine.
Until we have sufficient evidence, parents should be in a
position to choose how they protect their children from these diseases.
The parents’ dilemma is shared by my wife Carmel and me.
Two of my four children, now four and seven, have not received the MMR vaccine
and have yet to receive the single vaccines.
When we were trying to work out what to do for the best,
the data were only just coming to light. Now, they are beyond the age where
measles is really an issue. It is children under two years of age who are at
greatest risk if they get measles, and for this reason I would strongly
recommend protection with the single vaccine at the recommended age of 15
months.
At times, the criticism over my work has been fierce.
My wife has been very supportive. It would have been
impossible to
continue if she hadn’t. We are of a like mind. She reminds
me that we have four healthy children and that one can’t walk away from the
issue saying:
‘This is uncomfortable for me so I’m off to a career in
liposuction and removing ingrowing toenails.’
The debate should not be polarised into pro or
anti-vaccine. The issue is one of how best to protect children. Clearly, if
children were to die because there was a measles epidemic and there was no
available effective alternative to the MMR jab, that would be enormously
regrettable.
For this to happen when an effective alternative has been
denied would be completely unacceptable.
There should be no reason to raise fears about
complications of measles epidemics and measles deaths because the alternative -
the single measles vaccine - is there. I regret the message has been distorted
and that we have been unable to establish the kind of dialogue that we sought
with the Department of Health.
I have no personal regrets; rather it has been a privilege
to be involved. Any gratification is however tempered by a knowledge that
precious time has been lost for these children to territorial and political imperative.
In the end, for doctors, it may stand as a lesson in
humility, reinforcing the roots of clinical medicine. And also humility in
deference to the powerful evolutionary forces of parental instinct and
recidivist micro-organisms like measles that will return to haunt you if you
fail to accord them the greatest respect.
It is also a lesson that there is no substitute for
listening.
* * *
Vaccine Maker Hit For Plant Problems
FDA cites Merck after Pa. plant inspections
[By Ed Silverman in the Star-Ledger. Thanks to Ray Gallup.]
http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/index.ssf?/business/ledger/1580e88.html
Merck & Co. has been cited by federal regulators for
numerous quality-control problems at a manufacturing plant where several
important vaccines are made.
The Food and Drug Administration issued two enforcement
reports— extensive reviews of manufacturing practices—following inspections of
a Merck plant in Pennsylvania this past summer and fall, according to documents
obtained by The Star-Ledger.
After the second report was compiled in November, the
Merck executive in charge of vaccine operations at the West Point, Pa., plant
took early retirement, according to a company memo.
The FDA found Merck improperly performed procedures for
sterility, testing and documentation, among other things. They were noticed by regulators
at the same time Merck bid on—and lost—a $428 million contract to make smallpox
vaccine for the federal government.
Such inspections are routine in the pharmaceutical
industry, but lengthy enforcement reports aren’t—the second report was 22
pages. Ultimately, Merck could face
stiff fines if enough serious violations are found over a prolonged period.
·
Article continues:
http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/index.ssf?/business/ledger/1580e88.html
* * *
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20020108/hl/vitamins_2.html
Reuters Health - Some vitamin B supplements may contain
more than the recommended amount of the nutrients, according to a new report by
ConsumerLab.com.
ConsumerLab.com, a commercial testing company in White
Plains, New York, conducted the study. For a fee, the company licenses its
flask-shaped “Seal of Approved Quality” to companies whose products pass
testing.
“Consumers should be aware that more than 40% of the
products that we evaluated exceeded levels at which they are known to be safely
tolerated—some having more than 10 times the upper limit,” said Dr. Tod Cooperman,
ConsumerLab.com’s president, in a prepared statement from the company.
ConsumerLab.com tested 21 B vitamin supplement products.
Some contained a single dose of a particular B vitamin while others included several.
The eight B vitamins are thiamine (B-1), riboflavin (B-2), niacin (B-3),
pantothenic acid (B-5), pyridoxine (B-6), cyanocobalamin (B-12), folic acid
(folate) and biotin.
Nine of the 21 products exceeded established Tolerable
Upper Intake Levels (ULs) for adults—“above which there is increased risk for
side effects with regular use,” according to the report.
ULs are established by the Institute of Medicine of the
National Academies.
The report notes that three of the niacin-only products
exceeded the UL for niacin as did six of the seven B complex products. The UL
for niacin is 35 milligrams (mg), while these products included recommended
daily doses ranging from 400 mg to 510 mg.
“There may be good medical reasons for exceeding these
levels, but there may also be significant side effects,” Cooperman warns. “People
interested in using high doses of B vitamins should consult with a healthcare
professional.”
In addition to those findings, ConsumerLab.com reports
that one of the B complex products contained amounts of the nutrients lower
than what was stated on the label.
The findings underscore the fact that vitamin supplements
may benefit from tighter regulation.
Vitamin B dietary supplements are becoming increasingly
popular due to last year’s decision by the US Food and Drug Administration
(news - web sites) to allow manufacturers to tout recent findings about the
ability of B vitamins to reduce vascular disease risk.
* *
[Dr. Bernard Rimland of the Autism Research Institute in
San Diego has been a long-time proponent of higher doses of B – vitamin
supplements for children with autism.
Here he responds to the above article attempting to warn people off of them.]
I am delighted to learn of the recent report that
supplements containing the B-vitamins sometimes contain more generous amounts
of the vitamins that the labels indicate.
Having studied B-vitamin safety for almost 40 years, and
having read numerous nonsensical articles about the supposed harm done by “excessive”
intake of B-vitamins, I can state firmly that there is an almost zero possibility
that anyone will experience harm from “overdosing” on these vitamins.
There are, on the other hand, reasons to believe that many
people would benefit by increasing their intake.
The Reuters News Service typifies the media’s echoing of
the medical establishment anti-vitamin bias.
Reuters used the word “tout” to describe the nutritional supplement
industry’s long-overdue attempt to bring to public attention the extraordinary
lifesaving benefits of taking extra vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid as a
preventive measure against heart attacks.
The benefits have been long known, and long suppressed. Drugs and surgery are far more profitable
than vitamins.
Bernard Rimland, Ph. D.
Autism Research Institute
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* * *
Immune System Protein Linked to ADHD
[By Emma Young. Could this play a role in autism as
well?]
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991754
A common variation in a gene for an immune system protein
increases a child’s risk of developing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
(ADHD)
ADHD affects between four and 10 per cent of school age
children and is characterised by inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity.
The causes are unknown. But stimulant drugs such as Ritalin, which boost levels
of the neurotransmitter dopamine, have been shown to reduce symptoms in many patients.
Other researchers have also found evidence linking ADHD to
variations in certain genes exclusively involved in the dopamine system.
Ronen Segman of the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical
Center in Jerusalem and colleagues studied 86 families with children diagnosed
with ADHD. They found a significant association between a variation in the gene
for the immune system protein interleukin-1 (IL-1) and ADHD.
IL-1 is involved in the immune inflammatory response. But
recent work has shown that it also has other roles in the body. IL-1 helps
control the release of dopamine and another neurotransmitter called
norepinephrine in several brain regions. It also helps promote the growth of dopamine-producing
brain cells in the developing embryo.
“If replicated, these findings point to the importance of
immune factors acting as neuromodulators,” Segman told New Scientist. “This
might form a basis for future new interventions for ADHD based on neuroimmune modulation.”
However, the causes of ADHD are complex, he adds. “A
number of environmental factors such as maternal smoking, high levels of family
problems and emotional stress during pregnancy have also been linked with the
risk for ADHD.”
Journal reference: Molecular Psychiatry (vol 7, p 72
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