SCHAFER AUTISM REPORT "Healing Autism:

No Finer a Cause on the Planet"

LOOK FOR DECEMBER CALENDAR UPDATE THIS WEEKEND! ________________________________________________________________

Friday, November 29, 2002

RESEARCH

* Research Puts MMR Autism Link In Doubt

* Mercury in Vaccine Found To Be Safe Study: Was Too Low To Cause Harm

* COMMENTARY: Mercury in Vaccines--Reassuring News

* COMMENTARY: Anti-Mercury Advocates Rebut New Thimerosal Study Conclusions

* Massachusetts Statewide Study Of Autism Rate Underway

EDUCATION

* Boys Dominate 'Special Needs'

* B.C. to Appeal Ruling On Funding Autism Treatment to Supreme Court

COMMENTARY

* Why Judges Should Make Court Documents Public: NY Times OpEd

LETTERS

* Sad We're Angry Over Mercury

* Dear Mr. President

* Readers' Posts

RESEARCH

Research Puts MMR Autism Link In Doubt

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Children with autism are not more likely than other children to have had a stomach or bowel disorder before their diagnosis, according to an American study.

The research, by academics from Boston University's Collaborative Drug Surveillance Programme, also found no time link between vaccination for measles, mumps or rubella and the onset of gastrointestinal symptoms.

The findings cast further doubt on the claimed link between the MMR vaccine and autism.

Four years ago Dr Andrew Wakefield and colleagues at the Royal Free Hospital, London, started the MMR controversy when they suggested a link between the triple injection, bowel disease and autism in children.

The Boston researchers looked at 96 British children with autism and 449 without. Nine per cent of children in each group had a history of gastrointestinal problems before the first sign of autism.

They say in the British Medical Journal: "No evidence was found that children with autism were more likely to have had defined gastrointestinal disorders at any time before their diagnosis with autism."

The researchers say they cannot rule out the existence of symptomless early bowel or stomach problems. © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2002.

* * *

Mercury in Vaccine Found To Be Safe Study: Was Too Low To Cause Harm

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An analysis of blood-mercury levels in infants immunized with vaccines containing a preservative with traces of the element showed the mercury was cleared within a month and caused no developmental problems, scientists reported yesterday.

Thimerosal a vaccine preservative that has been in use globally for more than a half-century, had been at the core of a debate in this country about vaccine safety.

In 1999, thimerosal, which contains ethyl-mercury, was banned from vaccine production in the United States. It was removed as a precautionary measure to cut down on exposure to mercury from all sources. However, it is still used in the manufacture of vaccines abroad.

Dr. Michael Pichichero, a pediatrician and immunologist at the University of Rochester, said he and his team studied 61 infants between 1999 and 2000 who had received thimerosal-containing vaccines. While traces of mercury showed up in initial blood tests, the element was completely cleared within 30 days.

"These results are very encouraging," Pichichero said. He added that the investigation confirms a previous medical hypothesis that the amount of mercury in the vaccines was far too low to cause harm.

Thimerosal was added to multi-dose vials of a variety of vaccines, explained Dr. John Treanor, a University of Rochester vaccine expert and member of the research team. The preservative helped maintain the potency of the doses by preventing contamination from bacteria. "Contamination can be a problem because someone uses these vials over and over," Treanor said.

Results of the study, which focused on children between the ages of two months and six months, is reported in the British medical journal The Lancet.

The report was previewed by experts at the World Health Organization, which issued a statement endorsing the continued use of thimerosal in vaccines elsewhere in the world. Vaccines can be difficult to maintain in some regions of the globe where refrigeration is undependable. WHO officials underscored that while the cost of switching to single-dose vaccines does not pose a problem for a country as wealthy as the United States, poorer nations cannot afford the production costs. Copyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc.

Research Referenced:

research.23350.1#summary <- - address ends here.

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COMMENTARIES

Mercury in Vaccines--Reassuring News

[See above item for references.]

The mass media and alternative-medicine publications increasingly report that exposure to and the build-up of mercury within the body is associated with chronic ill-health, particularly conditions such as myalgic encephalitis. [Moi? –ed.]

Mercury is widespread in the environment; it is found naturally in rocks, soils, and plants and as a contaminant in air, water, and food. The element is used a lot in the electrical industry, and in many domestic products, including paints, pesticides, fabric softeners, waxes, and polishes. Mercury is often used as a preservative in vaccines, skin creams, cosmetics, and other medications. Mercury is the major component of dental amalgams and there is a growing lobby against its use.1 Everyone is exposed to small amounts of mercury as elemental metallic vapour from dental amalgams or organic mercury from fish, sea foods, and vaccines, or to inorganic salts from other food stuffs, water, and air. Faecal excretion is the major route of elimination of inorganic or organic mercury.

Elemental mercury from amalgams is lipid-soluble and freely passes through cell membranes.2 By contrast, organic and inorganic mercury from the diet and other sources are charged and must be complexed with other counter-ions or low-molecular-weight sulphur compounds to pass through cell membranes. The major targets in proteins susceptible to binding of metals, including mercury, are the sulphydryl group of cysteine and the iminonitrogen of histidine. The aromatic ring nitrogens of the nucleotide bases form mercury complexes, with thymine and uracil being more reactive than cytosine, guanine, and adenine.3,4

The most abundant single nucleophile reactant is the antioxidant glutathione, typically present at concentrations of 5 mmol/L in cells, serum, and bile.5 Glutathione mops up ionised mercury derived from oxidation of elemental mercury and from organic and inorganic mercury. There may be an inverse relation between the concentration of intracellular glutathione and mercury toxicity.6 Once bound to glutathione, mercury can leave the cell and circulate freely in serum and lymph from where it can be deposited in other organs and tissues. Glutathione-complexed mercury is eventually eliminated via the kidney or downloaded via bile into the intestinal lumen from where it is excreted in faeces. After mercury is released from tissues, faecal excretion is the predominant route for elimination.

In this issue of The Lancet, Michael Pichichero and colleagues investigate mercury levels and excretion in infants receiving vaccines containing thiomersal (ethyl mercury). Little is known about the harmful effects of mercury in infants and children and at what level these effects occur. At between 12·5 and 25 mg mercury per vaccine dose, the infants may be receiving over 100 mg ethyl mercury in the first 6 months of life. Pichichero and colleagues show that the levels in blood are much lower than the prescribed limits and that much of the ethyl mercury appears to be eliminated rapidly in faeces. This study gives comforting reassurance about the safety of ethyl mercury as a preservative in childhood vaccines. D C Henderson

* * *

Anti-Mercury Advocates Rebut New Thimerosal Study Conclusions Safe Minds and Mercury Policy Project Statement on "Mercury concentrations and metabolism in infants receiving vaccines containing mercury: a descriptive study"

E-Wire - According to Safe Minds and Mercury Policy Project, two anti-mercury advocacy groups, few, if any, definitive conclusions can be drawn from this latest thimerosal study.

”An initial analysis of the Pichichero et al. study of blood mercury concentrations in infants after vaccination with thimerosal-containing vaccines clearly demonstrates that this is a poorly designed study”, said Sallie Bernard, president of Safe Minds.

Nevertheless, in the article and accompanying commentary, the authors make the following sweeping statements:

1. "Overall, the results of this study show that amounts of mercury in the blood of infants receiving vaccines formulated with thimersol are well below concentrations potentially associated with toxic effects." 2. "Administration of vaccines containing thimerosal does not seem to raise blood concentrations of mercury above safe values in infants." 3. "This study gives comforting reassurance about the safety of ethyl mercury as a preservative in childhood vaccines."

“This report looks very much like agenda research and not an unbiased study,” said Michael Bender of the Mercury Policy Project.

According to the groups, these statements cannot be supported by the study design and results, for the following reasons.

1. The blood mercury concentrations found in the study are not necessarily below the established safety limits: the authors cite a 1994 study by Grandjean to provide a safety level for methylmercury of 29 ppb (parts per billion) and state that this level is ten times lower than the mercury level needed to see a decrease in cognitive performance in children. However, this comparison does not utilize the latest safety data research. In 1998, Grandjean published an article (Grandjean et al., "Cognitive performance of children prenatally exposed to "safe" levels of methyl mercury", Environmental Research, 1998) in which he rejected the conclusions of his earlier research and found performance declines when the average cord blood mercury concentration was 59 ppb. His later study was validated as the "gold standard" by the National Academy of Science in their 2000 report "Toxicological Effects of Methyl mercury" in which they found that the lowest dose for which adverse neurological effects are found is when cord blood is 58 ppb. In the Pichichero study, there was one infant out of 33

(3%) in which blood mercury was measured who has a mercury concentration of 20.55 ppb. This infant was exposed to 37.5 micrograms of mercury, and the blood draw was taken on day 5. The authors state that the half-life of ethyl mercury is probably about 6-7 days. Thus, this infant's peak mercury concentration would be much higher than 20.55 ppb. Many infants in the 1990s were exposed to 62.5 micrograms of mercury at age 2 months, or nearly double what the study infant received. Therefore, it is probable that the blood levels of some infants given the full regimen of thimerosal vaccines in the 1990s would exceed the 58 ppb threshold for adverse effects. Therefore, the results from the Pichichero study can hardly be seen as "reassuring" to any parent.

2. Samples of blood were taken at various time points after exposure, but each study subject only had one apparent blood draw. Standard study design for a pharmacokinetic study, even a simple one, is to obtain multiple draws from each subject. Otherwise, it is not possible to make definitive statements about distribution, elimination, and half-life, which this study seems to do.

3. The reference point that they use to establish safety levels for thimerosal is methyl mercury, a different compound than the ethyl mercury in thimerosal. Simply because a compound is similar does not mean it is as safe. A good example is thalidomide, a sedative drug that was prescribed to pregnant women from 1957 into the early 60's. It was present in at least 46 countries under different brand names. When taken during the first trimester of pregnancy, Thalidomide prevented the proper growth of the foetus, resulting in horrific birth defects in thousands of children around the world. The reason is the Thalidomide molecule is chiral, with left and right-handed versions. The drug that was marketed was a 50/50 mixture. One of the molecules was a sedative, whereas the other was found later to cause foetal abnormalities. The tragedy could have been avoided had the physiological properties of the individual thalidomide [molecules] been tested prior to commercialization. Molecules that look almost exactly alike can behave very differently. The FDA is very rigid about testing the precise molecule being approved.

4. The conclusions are based on blood draws from 33 exposed children, which is a small sample upon which to draw far-reaching conclusions. It is also a convenience sample without random assignment of subjects and not even an attempt to make sure that comparison groups were age-sex matched.

5. There was variability in the thimerosal doses given, and little attempt to incorporate dose differences in the half-life model or safety assessment.

6. With a claimed half-life of 6-7 days, it is remiss that there is no collection within 3 days of exposure, when peak mercury levels would be obtained. It would be impossible to make any conclusions about safety without these measures.

For these reasons alone, Safe Minds and the Mercury Policy Project believe that the conclusions of this study should not be used in deliberations of thimerosal safety. Rather, more and better research is needed.

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Massachusetts Statewide Study Of Autism Rate Underway

research.23350.1#summary

For years, parents and teachers in Massachusetts have quietly compared notes on the increasing number of children being diagnosed with autism, and the increasing demand they will place on an already strained social service system.

This week, public health officials initiated the first statewide study of the incidence of autism, a developmental disorder that can prevent children from communicating or forming relationships. A similar study by the California Department of Developmental Services reported a startling increase in the disorder of 272 percent from 1987 to 1998, prompting urgent demands for state services and stepped-up research.

Advocates hope the data will have a similar effect here.

"We couldn't go to the Legislature and say, `This is the scope of the problem. We need funding,"' said Gail Kastorf, director of the Autism Support Center in Danvers. "Anyone at [the Department of Mental Retardation] will say they are being flooded. The school system is certainly flooded. Everybody's talking about it, but we don't have those numbers." If the study supports the increase that activists describe, it will venture into controversial territory. Common scientific thinking holds that autism is predominantly caused by a genetic defect, and specialists caution that the number of cases could be rising because parents are more aware of the disorder and doctors diagnose it more frequently.

Many parents, however, are convinced that their children's illnesses were triggered by environmental influences, and that the rising number reflects childrens' exposure to chemicals or vaccines.

Increasingly, educators and state officials have lined up behind parents' groups in noting the sheer change in numbers - and warning that legislators must acknowledge the growth when tailoring future state budgets. State services for a person with autism can cost as much as $4 million over his or her lifetime, according to a study published in 1988 in the journal Behavioral Interventions.

"There's no question that if you're looking for over the next several years, you're talking about an issue that involves tens of millions of dollars," said Representative William M. Straus, a Democrat from Mattapoisett, who pushed to include the survey on the Department of Public Health's mandate for this year.

The stir that resulted from the California study this fall underlined how little is known about the prevalence of autism. Early epidemiologists described it as a rare disease, affecting 4 or 5 children in 10,000, but estimates have crept steadily up and now range between 2 and 6 children per 1,000. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which studied the community of Brick Township, N.J., reported an even higher rate there, of 6.7 children per 1,000.

In Massachusetts, anecdotal evidence suggests that there is a true rise in numbers. Within certain communities, advocates describe clusters of babies born with the disorder and school officials complain of the crippling cost of providing educational plans. State officials, too, have watched autism cases increase with their own eyes, said Larry Tummino, assistant commissioner for field operations at the Department of Mental Retardation.

"It is our perception; it's been recognized nationally and internationally," said Tummino, whose agency serves about 4,000 citizens with autism. "I think we're already acknowledging it" by participating in the DPH study.

The study, requested by legislators as part of DPH's budget last year, has lost much of its original funding in a 40 percent cut to the agency's budget, said Suzanne Condon, assistant commissioner of public health, who is overseeing the study. Much of the census information will come from the Department of Education, which will give researchers access to school health records, she said.

When the data is ready, it could prompt a reorganization of state responsibilities, which are now divided between school systems and the Department of Mental Retardation, Tummino said. Other states have created partnerships or separate agencies to deal with the manifold needs of families whose children have developmental disorders.

For years, though, advocates asking for a head count got little response from state or federal officials, said Jerry Silbert, parent of an autistic boy and president of the Massachusetts chapter of the Autism Society of America. Silbert believes that cases have increased "20- to 30-fold" in recent years and now represent 1 percent of births.

"No one says, `You know, 20 years ago, we missed this,'" said Anke Kriske of the Autism Society of America, whose 13-year-old has the disorder. "They say, `You know, 20 years ago, we didn't see this."' © Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.

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EDUCATION

Boys Dominate 'Special Needs'

Schools in England are identifying vastly more boys than girls as needing special help with their education.

New statistics on the gender of those with special needs reveal for the first time that 64% are boys and 36% girls.

The gender gap is even wider in the most severe cases - those with formal "statements" of need: 72% are boys and 28% girls.

The figures dwarf the gap of a few percentage points between boys' and girls' exam performance which has caused so much consternation.

Experts say the reasons are unclear but that - controversially - a large factor might be teachers' perceptions of what constitutes problematic behaviour.

Exclusions

A report published on Friday by the Audit Commission says children with special educational needs are being turned away from schools because of worries that they could affect their position in exam league tables.

Children with SEN account for almost nine-tenths of permanent exclusions from primary schools and six-tenths of those from secondary schools.

Almost five times as many boys as girls are expelled from school.

The Audit Commission says early intervention can make a great difference, but funding for this is "incoherent and piecemeal".

Girls outperform boys in tests throughout their schooling.

The special needs figures might tend to confirm anecdotal and research evidence, but this is the first time that the annual official statistics for the whole country have been broken down by gender.

One in five

Overall there were more than 1.5 million children defined as having special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream primary and secondary schools.

That represented almost one in five of all pupils.

Of those, 961,784 were boys and 540,770 were girls.

The proportion of boys among the 88,000 children in designated special schools was 68%.

The Audit Commission report laments the lack of information in England on the type of need - although the Department for Education is working on a way to cover this in the annual census from 2004.

In Wales and in Scotland the pattern of children who have statements of need is much the same.

This is that girls and boys are more or less equally likely to have physical disabilities, but boys are far more likely than girls to have specific learning difficulties, autistic disorders or emotional or behavioural problems.

Medical reasons

An SEN expert in Cambridge University's faculty of education, Richard Byers, said some forms of special need - notably autism - were diagnosed much more often in boys than in girls.

More and more cases of autism were being identified, so more boys were said to have SEN.

But there was a bigger, "greyer" aspect to the issue, especially where children in mainstream schools were identified as having social, emotional or behavioural difficulties - again, many more of them boys.

"It is much less likely that there is a underlying medical reason for that," he said.

And non-medical

"Lots of commentators feel that we identify one kind of social, emotional or behavioural difficulty - florid demonstrations - which tend to be in boys more often than girls."

It was controversial, he said, but it might be that "for all kinds of social and cultural reasons" teachers perceived boys to be more problematic than girls.

So there was an over-identification of boys with SEN - and probably an under-identification of girls' needs, which were more likely to involve withdrawal or self-harm.

The Department for Education said there were likely to be a range of factors.

"Boys are medically more vulnerable during birth.

"There appears to be some evidence that professionals, including teachers, are likely to identify boys as having SEN particularly in relation to behaviour."

More work needed

The department was "taking forward work on tackling boys' underachievement which will help address some of the difficulties experienced by boys, including those with SEN".

The editor of The Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, Lani Florian, said the gender gap might be as high as 10 to one in the case of emotional and behavioural problems.

People had put forward various theories, to do with genes and hormones, for instance - but none had been conclusive.

"It has been said that the classroom is just a more friendly environment for girls - but that's just a theory too," Dr Florian said.

"We really don't know."

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B.C. to Appeal Ruling On Funding Autism Treatment to Supreme Court

-C1F4571D57A2%7D <- - Address ends here.

Victoria - The B.C. government is taking a dispute over funding treatment for children with autism all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The government will ask the court for permission to appeal a B.C. Appeal Court ruling that said the province is obligated to provide the children with special treatment.

The government says the dispute is not over funding itself, but over how the government decides to pay for and deliver health care and social programs.

It says the B.C. court ruling is an intrusion into government policy-making because it affects the government's ability to decide which services it will pay for.

The government also says it is providing funds to treat children with autism and the number of children getting early intervention therapy has increased from 75 to more than 500 in the past year.

The B.C. Court of Appeal upheld a previous ruling that declared the government had violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by not providing funds for specialized care.

The original lawsuit was brought by four families with autistic children who want the Lovaas treatment used.

© Copyright 2002 Canadian Press

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COMMENTARY

Why Judges Should Make Court Documents Public: NY Times OpEd

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The Justice Department asked a federal judge this week to seal documents that might otherwise aid parents in lawsuits against the maker of a mercury-based vaccine preservative called thimerosal, which the parents claim caused their children's autism. The department has the right to make the request, but if the court grants it, parents could be prevented from getting evidence that might prove their claims. The court should refuse.

Courts occupy a borderland between the private and the public. In resolving disputes, they gain control of information that litigants wish to keep private. Some of this information deserves privacy, like trade secrets or details of a divorce. But information that alerts the public to danger or that might help prove responsibility for injuries should be publicly available once it is filed in court.

Similarly, a judge should not suppress information that enables the public to evaluate the performance of the courts, government officials, the electoral process and powerful private organizations. A federal appeals court was correct to unseal a letter that prosecutors had submitted to a trial judge last May in support of a lenient sentence for a political contributor who had aided their investigation of Senator Robert G. Torricelli of New Jersey. The letter, which contained evidence supporting the contributor's claims that he had given Mr. Torricelli thousands of dollars in cash and gifts, was initially sealed at the request of the prosecutors and the senator, who was seeking a second term. Within days after the court unsealed the letter, Mr. Torricelli was forced to withdraw from the race.

This is how things are supposed to work. In 1978, the Supreme Court noted that it was "clear that the courts of this country recognize a general right to inspect and copy . . . judicial records and documents." Yet judges often seal records and order litigants to conceal what they may have learned in discovery before trial. By doing so, judges give the parties protection from public scrutiny that they could not get at a trial in open court. This benefits defendants by shielding possible misconduct. Plaintiffs benefit, too, because the prospect of court-imposed secrecy makes it more likely that defendants will offer more generous settlements. And courts benefit because cases are resolved more quickly.

Of course, the public pays for secrecy by losing the information that the trial would have revealed. Worse, even the request for sealing documents occurs in secret.

There is evidence that court-ordered secrecy is increasing, especially in defective products cases. A study in Dallas County, Tex., found that between 1920 and 1980, only 80 cases had sealed records. Between 1980 and 1987, the study found 200 sealed cases.

Not all judges comply with the wishes of the litigants. This week, Constance M. Sweeney, a state judge in Massachusetts, rejected the Boston archdiocese's motion to suppress 11,000 documents concerning the church's responses when priests were accused of sexually abusing children. The archdiocese had been ordered to give the documents to a lawyer representing four men suing the church, but it wished to keep them from public view while it sought to have the case thrown out. But Judge Sweeney properly refused to hide documents that contained information about a scandal involving serious harm and a powerful institution.

Defenders of court-imposed secrecy argue that it encourages settlements and avoids the costs of a trial. Some even argue that the courts' only job in private disputes is to help the parties resolve their differences and that the public interest enters the equation hardly at all. But when, as with thimerosal, a court is asked to suppress information that might help vindicate legal claims, or that reveals a continuing public danger or unethical behavior by powerful people or institutions, secrecy is intolerable. The harm is made worse when a judge, a public official, is asked to use public power to inflict it.

Stephen Gillers, vice dean of New York University School of Law, teaches legal ethics.

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LETTERS

Sad We're Angry Over Mercury

I am very sad to hear all the anger directed at the vaccine/mercury issues. I too was in that state but soon learned this would not help my son. My anger was zapping what little energy I had to work with my son.

At this same time my friend whose son had a bad reaction to DPT was diagnosed autistic. She always blamed the shot.

But now her two younger sons have been diagnosed also.

They have not received one vaccination and she had natural childbirth.

I did not vaccinate my younger son and he is 2.5 years old with few words we are starting ABA.

I also found Dr. Goldberg who believes all of this is barking up the wrong tree and not going to get us anywhere (fighting the vaccination/mercury issue), he believes, and has lots of peer-reviewed research papers to back this up (see neuroimmunedr.com and nids.net) that it all starts with a break down with the immune system then all kinds of things become problems, the vaccinations, the mercury, foods, allergens, toxins, etc.

We can drive ourselves crazy looking at all the triggers and trying to fight each one (ex: new carpeting) but the main cause is not being addressed, the immune system break down.

When their immune systems heal, their own bodies will take care of the metals, viruses, yeast, allergies, etc. and then they won't need medicines.

What causes the immune system to break down? This we don't know.

For every person it could be something different.

Some theories are we are being exposed to much more environmental toxins then the body was ever intended to handle, some think the ozone layer might have something to do with it.

We may never find the cause but we can treat the symptoms so lets all jump on the same wagon and get this nightmare over.

- Jerri Gann

[EDITOR: Not worrying about the source of the assault, in favor of treating the weakened/battered immune system is akin to not looking to see who is shooting at you, while instead taking good care of the bullet wounds. The "main cause" is not about our bodies being too genetically weak to withstand all the speeding bullets in the environment, I would suggest. Better to duck and avoid the hospital altogether. And when appropriate, shoot back.

Dr. Goldberg believes that the herpes virus or other viruses trigger autism and other immune disorders. There is some research in support of this theory. His unpublished treatment protocols avoid the use of any supplements in favor of prescription medication.

We welcome the opportunity to reprint any recent peer-reviewed papers Dr. Goldberg may have published on these subjects. -LS]

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Dear Mr. President

I would appreciate it if you would take into consideration the lost children of America. I have read your "No Child Left Behind" and thank you for your call not to leave any child behind, and I support you in this cause 100%.

But I must ask you, what are you, my government, thinking when you call for vaccine manufactures to be lawfully exempt from possible damages caused to children from the products they manufacture? What do you mean to accomplish by asking the courts to seal their vaccine records? Is it so the public can not use and access the notable information formed against these manufacturers for future cases against them?

Why are you not waiting for the results of scientific research to answer the question "Do vaccines, in anyway cause are aid in the on set of autism spectrum disorders and other disabilities?" Or, do you and your colleges know the answer already, and are trying to cut loses before hand at the expense of these children and their families? If the vaccines have indeed caused or aided to the onset of any disabilities, do these children and families deserve any type of compensation from the manufacturer or government?

Mr. President, please ask yourself these questions. Are children with Autism Spectrum Disorder's American? Do they disserve our consideration, understanding, aid and compassion to the injuries that may or may not have been done to them through the injections of the vaccinations? Do these children need, deserve and demand equal protection under the law? Mr. President, are you not leaving these children behind?

- Vivian Haug

>>>>> CONGRESSMAN DAN BURTON IS CALLING ON THE PRESIDENT <<<<<

TO HAVE A WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON AUTISM. YOU

CAN SUPPORT REP. BURTON BY SENDING YOUR LETTER

URGING HIM TO DO SO AS WELL:

President George W. Bush

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20500

EMAIL: President George W. Bush: president@whitehouse.gov

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Readers' Posts

Did anyone else see the Hannity and Colmes broadcast with Rep. J C Watts from Okla? His reference to impending lawsuits against pharmeceutical companies as being frivolous angered me immensely. I cannot be the only one that feels this way. Terri & Larry jrichmadison@alltel.net

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Does anyone know how to join the lawsuit against Eli Lilly & Company on behalf of their thimerosal damaged child? roxannespring@earthlink.net

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William Stillman, author of the newly-published book, "Demystifying the Autistic Experience," wishes to thank those individuals who so bravely and graciously shared their stories about their loved ones possessed of spiritual, multi-sensory capacities in response to my first post. I am still soliciting anecdotes about persons with autism and clairvoyance, premonition, and communion with spiritual entities and angels for my next book. Anonymity and discretion assured if desired. Please respond to: Billstillman2@aol.com

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You parents should get Michael Moore (Awful Truth) on your side, take many of your children, and the press, to the President. Active Advocate Father of 6 year old ASD son in Austarlia. richardblack@austarnet.com.au

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We have video's available of the Oct. 12th conference, with Dr.'s Singh and Shaw! Dr. Singh delivered his amazing research and is in desperate need for funding, so please spread the word. There are two tapes, one for each doctor and are $35 for the set ($20 each). Please mail payment to Casi's Quest: PO Box 293144 Davie, FL 33329, pay online thru paypal or call us at 800-939-TAAP (8227)/ 954-583-4860 (Locally). April

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