Vaccination NewsLetter: Top Stories - posted March 1-7, 2004
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Picks of the week - added 3/11/04
The Newsletter is now linked to the new Hot Topics section here and to specific categories and sub-topics below
Alternative treatments/prevention/nutrition/diet
►March 2004 -
Effectiveness of an Herbal Preparation Containing Echinacea, Propolis, and
Vitamin C in Preventing Respiratory Tract Infections in Children - A
Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-Controlled, Multicenter Study - journal
article (Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent
Medicine) - "Conclusion A preventive effect of a product
containing echinacea, propolis, and vitamin C on the incidence of
respiratory tract infections was observed."
►March 5, 2004 - Will
an Apple a Day Keep the Doctor Away? - Saint Louis University Health
Sciences Center via Newswise
►March 4, 2004 -
Vitamins
Don't Prevent Pneumonia in Male Smokers - Reuters via Yahoo!
►March 4, 2004 -
Kids Who Eat Too Much Fat, or Too Little, Prone to Weight Gain - And too
many aren't eating enough dairy products, study finds - HealthDay via USA Today
►March 3, 2004 - New
Exam May Improve Treatment of Lung Disease - HealthDay via
www.kpho.com
►March 2, 2004 -
Editorial: Food fights - journal article
(Canadian Medical Association Journal)
►February 26, 2004 - Iron eating bacteria - Novel bacteria could clean up heavy metal- and chlorine-contaminated environments - The Scientist via www.biomedcentral.com
►March 3, 2004 -
Alternative therapists to face new controls in government crackdown - The
Independent, UK - "Rogue practitioners of alternative medicine who try to
exploit patients will be driven out of business under plans announced by the
Government yesterday...One in five people uses alternative medicine regularly,
and there are more therapists than orthodox doctors but no control on standards
of training, ministers said."
►March 2, 2004 -
Researchers Rewrite First Chapter for the History of Medicine (requires
registration or subscription) - The New York Times
►March 2, 2004 - Nutrition: For Babies, Going With the Grain (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times
►March 8, 2004 - Physician
looks at what keeps people slim - With a grant to study thin people, an
endocrinologist seeks an answer to why most Americans are overweight. -
www.ama-assn.org
►February 26, 2004 - Vitamin
B2 may help treat sepsis - Vitamin's anti-bacterial effect fights blood
poisoning in mice - journal article (Nature)
►February 29, 2004 -
Too Much
Weight Tugs at Kids Hearts - HealthDay via Yahoo!
►March 2, 2004 -
How sweet it isn't - San Francisco Chronicle via The Miami Herald
►March 2, 2004 - Regulations on practice of herbal medicine - The Scotsman
►March 1, 2004 -
Gluten
may trigger schizophrenia - More evidence of that wheat and gluten
sensitivity may be a factor in the development of schizophrenia - Times Online,
UK
►March 1, 2004 -
Antioxidants: A radical departure - Are the millions spent on antioxidants
wasted, as a new study suggests? - Times Online, UK
►March 1, 2004 - Scientists
discover increased benefits of Vitamin D - Chicago Tribune via
www.kentucky.com
►February 29, 2004 -
NHS
scornful of Charles on alternative medicines -
www.independent.co.uk - "National
Health Service managers yesterday dismissed calls by Prince Charles for more
complementary medicines to be made freely available on the NHS, saying most of
them did not work...Dr Gill Morgan, chief executive of the NHS Confederation,
the umbrella body for managers, said the NHS could use only those medicines that
had been proven effective, ruling out the majority of complementary therapies."
►February 29, 2004 -
Nil by mouth - For thousands of Britons battling the debilitating effects of
cancer, depression, even eczema, diet is crucial. They view the vitamins and
minerals they take as vital in their fight against sickness. So why does the EU
want to cut off their supply? Rose Shepherd makes the case for rescuing remedies
- The Observer via The Guardian, UK - "In the 21st century we live under siege.
There are concerns about pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, GM, mobile phones,
microwaves, amalgam fillings, falling sperm counts, mad cows, MMR - even milk.
Farmed salmon is a Trojan horse for carcinogens. Obesity and diabetes are on the
march. There is a mass of documentation on all this. So what is the European
Commission's big idea? 'Let's clamp down on vitamins and minerals.'...It would
be funny if it weren't so tragic. While the EU has been busy drafting
legislation, we seem to have been sleepwalking into a situation where chemists
and health stores will be purged of hundreds of nutritional supplements."
►February 28, 2004 - Netherlands to crack down on complementary medicine - journal article (BMJ) - "The Netherlands is considering tougher laws on practitioners of complementary medicine after government health inspectors who were investigating the death from breast cancer in 2001 of the actress and comedienne Sylvia Millecam severely criticised her treatment...The investigators found that alternative practitioners contradicted the diagnosis of breast cancer made by her doctors and offered her instead the prospect of a cure with 'unfounded methods of treatment.'"
Comment: Would that unfounded allopathic methods of treatment and misdiagnoses were eyed with the same level of scrutiny.
►March 2, 2004 - Breastfeeding Lowers Blood Pressure - Circulation via Ivanhoe
►March 1, 2004 - Report: Standard Tests Not Enough for Baby Formula - Reuters via Yahoo!
►January 8, 2004 - Review in Advance - Isoflavones in Soy Infant Formula: A Review of Evidence for Endocrine and Other Activity in Infants - journal article (Annual Review of Nutrition)
Big pharma - includes drug development, funding, FDA oversight, PR/advertising, and research conduct
►March 4, 2004 -
Group Seeks Ban of Anti-Cholesterol Drug - AP via Yahoo!
►March 3, 2004 - Analysis:
More vaccine makers needed - UPI via
http://interestalert.com - "Health officials say the recommendation that
doctors withhold doses of a childhood vaccine because of shortages underscores
the need for more pharmaceutical companies to enter the vaccine-making
field...In a hastily assembled news briefing during the 4th International
Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases, officials at the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention advised U.S. doctors to hold off administering the third
and fourth doses of the popular and effective vaccine that had slashed
incidences of pneumococcal disease in children."
►March 4, 2004 -
4 subjects
challenge Lilly over drug trial - Outside overseer says he found no
indication that suicide victim was depressed - Indianapolis Star via
www.indystar.com - "Four participants in
an Eli Lilly and Co. drug trial in California said the clinic's staff told them
that Traci Johnson, who committed suicide last month during the same study in
Indianapolis, had a history of depression...But Dr. Rafat Abonour, chairman of
the institutional review board that reviews all Lilly drug trials at Indiana
University-Purdue University Indianapolis, said his review of Johnson's records
showed no such history."
►March 4, 2004 -
U.S. Lawmakers Push for Drug Monitoring Systems - Reuters via Yahoo!
►Healthy Skepticism -
Improving health by reducing harm from misleading drug promotion -
www.healthyskepticism.org
►December 1997 -
MaLAM, a medical lobby for appropriate marketing of pharmaceuticals - We can
protect scientific medicine from misleading promotion - journal article
(Medical Journal of Australia)
►March 6, 2004 -
Watchdog keeps drug firms true - The Australian -
"PETER Mansfield is an unlikely
revolutionary...Sitting in his 'office' in his southern Adelaide home, the
quiet, bespectacled man seems more like a university lecturer than a man who has
spent 20 years fighting an unequal battle against drug companies around the
world...His chosen fight?...Targeting the elimination of inappropriate marketing
of drugs by pharmaceutical companies...Dr Mansfield, a part-time GP, leads
Healthy Skepticism, an organisation with core funding of $8000 a year, facing an
industry whose annual Australian promotional budget is believed to be more than
$1 billion."
►March 4, 2004 - Animal instincts - Duluth-based Merial invents drugs, vaccines - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - "Other companies have file cabinets. Merial has freezers...Make that deep-freeze freezers. Where else would you stash the creepiest infections known to the world of fur and feathers?..."
►February 28, 2004 - Genuine concern or corporate greed? - opinion - Broomfield Enterprise via The Daily Camera - "Does Senate Bill 139 represent genuine concern or corporate greed? Follow the money...SB 139 will set forth a statewide database of all Colorado's children. The system will be used to call parents and coerce them to have their children "fully" vaccinated. This means the child must have every single recommended vaccine...When I was a child I only had two immunizations: polio and smallpox. These shots were for serious diseases that affected large populations. I am truly grateful for advances in modern medicine that have eradicated deadly diseases. Today, though, Colorado's children are required to receive 29 vaccinations by the age of 4. The risk of children contracting some of these diseases is miniscule."
►February 21, 2004 - GlaxoSmithKline staff told not to publicise ineffectiveness of its drug - journal article (BMJ)
►March 2, 2004 -
U.N.: Drug
Producers Target Middle-Class - AP via Yahoo!
►March 2, 2004 - New
Acambis CEO Announces Four-Fold Increase in Profits - press release -
Acambis plc via PRNewswire-FirstCall via Yahoo! - "In developing new vaccines
against infectious diseases, Acambis is aiming to maximise the value of its
products by retaining rights to those vaccines for as long as possible. This
means not only developing, clinically testing and licensing the vaccines but
also, where possible, manufacturing, selling and distributing the product
ourselves...The first of these primarily involves the development of our two key
franchises: the smallpox vaccine franchise; and the travel vaccines franchise."
►March 8, 2004 - FDA
boosts efforts to find fake drugs - Electronic "track and trace" methods are
examined as a way to halt the growing problem of counterfeit pharmaceuticals. -
www.ama-assn.org
►March 8, 2004 - Doctors
protest 400% price hike in HIV medication - An AIDS group has filed a
lawsuit alleging antitrust violations. Two state attorneys general are
investigating, but Abbott says all complaints are without merit. -
www.ama-assn.org
►March 2, 2004 -
Crackdown on Prescription Abuse - U.S. Officials Want Better Monitoring,
Control of Painkillers (requires registration) - The Washington Post
►March 2, 2004 - MedImmune Looks to Boost FluMist Sales - Company Hopes New Version Will Fix Problems Faced by Nasal Vaccine in Its Debut (requires registration) - The Washington Post
►March 1, 2004 - Troubled
FluMist Vaccine to Remain in Production - Status of Saatchi on $40 Million
Account Still Unknown - www.adage.com - "MedImmune
today said it will continue producing troubled nasal flu vaccine FluMist,
despite slumping sales and the possibility of a $75 million write-off if Wyeth
bows out of a co-marketing agreement on the drug."
►March 1, 2004 -
FluMist Flop Dogs MedImmune -
www.thestreet.com - "Medimmune
said Monday that it would stick with FluMist, its inhaled flu vaccine, conceding
that the product wouldn't produce meaningful financial results until the
2007-2008 flu season. FluMist has been a flop, but the company insisted that an
improved version of the drug launched in September could eventually produce
annual U.S. sales of $500 million."
►March 1, 2004 - MedImmune Plans to Keep FluMist Alive - MedImmune to Keep FluMist Alive Despite Dismal Sales, Lowering Outlook for the Coming Year - AP via ABC News
►March 1, 2004 - Injecting New Life into the Vaccine Industry - Harvard Business School - "Vaccines for preventable diseases save millions of lives every year, yet as an industry, the vaccine business suffers a host of ailments, the CEO of Merck & Co. contends...Speaking at a Harvard Business School forum recently, Raymond V. Gilmartin (HBS MBA '68) said the vaccine industry needs to overcome hurdles that include a feeble distribution infrastructure, a thin pipeline of competition to inspire more innovation, and a poor diet of incentives for the development of vaccines for which there is no natural market such as vaccinations against anthrax or ricin."
►February 29, 2004 - Dirty tricks drug firms use to get publicity - The Scotsman - "SHOCKING tactics including bribery, fabrication and plagiarism are being used by unscrupulous drug companies to get their research published in influential medical journals, according to a damning new report...Only a week after controversial research on the MMR vaccine was discredited by the journal which published it following a 'fatal conflict of interest', an influential committee has revealed the widespread use of underhand tactics by researchers."
►February 28, 2004 - Only 6% of drug advertising material is supported by evidence - journal article (BMJ)
►February 28, 2004 - Panel Urges Stricter Limits on Acne Drug - Reuters via Yahoo! News
►February 29, 2004 - Is Biotechnology Losing Its Nerve? (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "AS a founder of four biotechnology companies, Dennis A. Carson can practically write an encyclopedia entry on risk. After all, his first start-up, a gene therapy and vaccine company called Vical, still does not have a product on the market after 16 years and more than $100 million spent...But now Dr. Carson, who is also the director of the cancer center at the University of California at San Diego, is playing it safe, or at least safer. Rather than develop radical new technology or invent new medicines, his latest venture, Salmedix, plans to sell drugs licensed from other companies - drugs that are already on the market or that have at least gone through some clinical trials."
Big Trouble - was Science, government, industry, medicine clearly 'run amok' - includes "errors"
►March 4, 2004 -
4 subjects
challenge Lilly over drug trial - Outside overseer says he found no
indication that suicide victim was depressed - Indianapolis Star via
www.indystar.com - "Four participants in
an Eli Lilly and Co. drug trial in California said the clinic's staff told them
that Traci Johnson, who committed suicide last month during the same study in
Indianapolis, had a history of depression...But Dr. Rafat Abonour, chairman of
the institutional review board that reviews all Lilly drug trials at Indiana
University-Purdue University Indianapolis, said his review of Johnson's records
showed no such history."
►March 5, 2004 -
In Texas, Hire
a Lawyer, Forget About a Doctor? (requires registration or subscription) -
The New York Times - "As domestic security director for 16 north Texas counties,
Greg Dawson of Fort Worth has many dealings with doctors and hospitals,
preparing for a terrorism emergency he hopes will never come...So, Mr. Dawson
said, he was stunned this week to find that his name had been added to a
little-known Internet database for doctors attacking "litigious behavior." His
offense: filing a medical malpractice lawsuit against a Fort Worth hospital and
doctor over the death of his 39-year-old wife, whose brain tumor was missed, and
winning an undisclosed settlement."
►March 5, 2004 -
Traces of Bt
toxin found in lumads blood samples - Mindanao News via
www.mindanaotimes.com.ph
►March 7, 2004 - Report on
Bt corn toxin confirmed - Norwegian bares results of lab test on blood
samples - A Norwegian scientist claimed as “conclusive” the traces of Bacillus
Thuringiensis (Bt) toxin found in the blood samples of several residents living
near a Bt corn field in a remote village of South Cotabato. - PNA via The
Manilla Bulletin Online
►March 4, 2004 -
‘Bt’ toxin found in B’laans’ blood - Today via
www.abs-cbnnews.com - "A Norwegian
scientist disclosed here on Thursday an alarming finding that Bt (Bacillus
thuringiensis) toxic traces were found in the blood samples of several
persons living near a Bt-corn field in a remote village of South Cotabato...Sister
Susan Bolanio, director of the Social Action Center of the diocese of Marbel,
said the residents claimed that their sickness was a result of the planting of
Monsanto’s Bt-corn variety in their village."
►February 21, 2004 -
GlaxoSmithKline staff told not to publicise ineffectiveness of its drug -
journal article (BMJ)
►March 8, 2004 - Safety
reporting now in Senate's hands (opinion) - Congress should finish
what it started and pass medical error reporting legislation this year. -
www.ama-assn.org
►March 8, 2004 - Hospitals
hang on to money-losing medical practices - Many hospitals and systems
derive benefits, such as referrals and stable physician networks, that outweigh
practice losses. - www.ama-assn.org
►March 1, 2004 -
HRT Risks Could Have Been Found Earlier - British Medical Journal via
Ivanhoe Newswire
►February 29, 2004 - Nil by mouth - For thousands of Britons battling the debilitating effects of cancer, depression, even eczema, diet is crucial. They view the vitamins and minerals they take as vital in their fight against sickness. So why does the EU want to cut off their supply? Rose Shepherd makes the case for rescuing remedies - The Observer via The Guardian, UK - "In the 21st century we live under siege. There are concerns about pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, GM, mobile phones, microwaves, amalgam fillings, falling sperm counts, mad cows, MMR - even milk. Farmed salmon is a Trojan horse for carcinogens. Obesity and diabetes are on the march. There is a mass of documentation on all this. So what is the European Commission's big idea? 'Let's clamp down on vitamins and minerals.'...It would be funny if it weren't so tragic. While the EU has been busy drafting legislation, we seem to have been sleepwalking into a situation where chemists and health stores will be purged of hundreds of nutritional supplements."
►February 29, 2004 - Dismal payout record for radiation-induced illnesses - Government programs aimed at compensating cancer-stricken nuclear-era workers or survivors criticized for complexity and heavy denial rate - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
►February 27, 2004 -
HRT risks 'were known
years ago' - Women could have been told about the risks of taking hormone
replacement therapy years ago. - BBC
►February 22, 2004 - WHO
‘suppressed’ scientific study into depleted uranium cancer fears in Iraq -
Radiation experts warn in unpublished report that DU weapons used by Allies in
Gulf war pose long-term health risk - Sunday Herald, UK
►February 29, 2004 - Health bosses deny MMR deception - Health bosses have denied university students' claims that they were tricked into having the MMR vaccine without their knowledge. - BBC - "A mass inoculation programme against mumps took place at the University of Kent at Canterbury earlier this month after six students caught the disease...Now some students have told a national newspaper they were not told they were being given the MMR vaccine."
Conferences, workshops, seminars, courses
►Treating the
Biology of Autism: an approach to interventions for spectrum disorders (pdf)
- conference alert - ASA/OCC Biology of Autism
Treatments - April 3 & 4, 2004 in Pontiac, Michigan
►American Academy of
Neurology 56th Annual Meeting -
www.aan.com -
meeting alert - April 24 to May 1, 2004 at the Moscone Convention Center
in San Francisco, CA.
►Success in Autism: Filling in the Gaps - This conference is designed to educate both parents and professionals in breaking through plateaus and helping individuals with autism reach their optimal potential by "filling in the gaps." Consistency is promoted between the school and the home environments. Valuable information is for individuals at all levels, and information given is functional. - Autism Resources - conference alert - March 20-21, 2004 in Rutgers University, New Brunswick NJ
►"Recent Advances in the Biology of Autism" - Bassett Healthcare / National Autism Association Teaching Day - conference alert - May 1, 2004 at Clark Medical Education Auditorium in Cooperstown, NY
*For most of the Wakefield "conflict of interest" articles posted on the site, click here (check periodically for updates)
►March 5, 2004 -
Companies
Facing Ethical Issue as Drugs Are Tested Overseas (requires registration or
subscription) - The New York Times -
►March 3, 2004 -
MMR has always been safe - Doctors - 'OUR policy has been that MMR is and
has always been safe.' - Isle of Man Online - "'In other words Dr Wakefield had
been paid by the Legal Aid Board to investigate if there was a case linking MMR
and autism and he did not disclose this to the editors of the journal, as is
required,' said Dr Kishore...'It is hoped that this new revelation will help to
dispel any lingering doubts which members of the public have about the safety of
MMR and that parents would ensure that their children are vaccinated with MMR.
It is also worth recalling that in the past there had been serious problems
resulting from use of single vaccines.'"
Comment: The failure to disclose the possible conflict of interest does not in and of itself mean that there was anything wrong with Wakefield's research. The research may or may not have been influenced by the alleged conflict. If there was as much attention being paid to those with clear conflict of interest re: the vaccine manufacturers as re: someone investigating the issue for a legal aid board, the furor over this might seem fair and reasonable. As it is, the furor appears to be more political than anything.
►February 13, 2004 - Fraud
spurs Cell paper retraction - Postdoc fabricated data, leaving his career in
tatters and embarrassing his boss - The Scientist via BioMed Central
►February 23, 2004 -
Doctors pressure human guinea pigs - MDs are paid up to $5,000 per patient
to sign up volunteers for drug trials - CanWest News Service via The Vancouver
Sun via www.canada.com
Comment: Wow. If that isn't a conflict of interest, I don't know what is. This article is chock-full of disturbing information.
►February 29, 2004 - MMR docs' links with drugs firms - Sunday Mercury via http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk - "Four leading Midland doctors who deemed the controversial MMR vaccine safe have links to the drug giants who make or supply the jab...Campaigners have called for the General Medical Council to investigate the senior Government advisors, who all hold scientific posts in the Midlands and sat on key committees which declared the vaccine safe."
►February 29, 2004 - Twisted conflicts - (letters) The Observer via The Guardian, UK - "It seems a scientist, such as Dr Andrew Wakefield (News and Leader, last week), who uncovers genuine concerns about the safety of a vaccine has to be 'squeaky clean'...In contrast, scientists who are vocal in support of the vaccine, and are responsible for checking its safety, are allowed to receive research funding from the company that produces it and to hold shares in the company, or act as consultants." (sent by Dr Milton Wainwright, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield)
►February 29, 2004 - Doctor demands apology for MMR claims in Lancet - Telegraph, UK - "Andrew Wakefield, the doctor who first raised fears of a link between autism and the MMR vaccine, has hired a libel lawyer to demand an apology from The Lancet after claiming that the medical journal has cast doubt on his honesty...Dr Wakefield's decision to enlist the support of Carter-Ruck, the London law firm that specialises in defamation suits, follows the denunciation of his work last week by The Lancet."
►February 29, 2004 - Dirty tricks drug firms use to get publicity - The Scotsman - "SHOCKING tactics including bribery, fabrication and plagiarism are being used by unscrupulous drug companies to get their research published in influential medical journals, according to a damning new report...Only a week after controversial research on the MMR vaccine was discredited by the journal which published it following a 'fatal conflict of interest', an influential committee has revealed the widespread use of underhand tactics by researchers."
►February 29, 2004 - Autism is a mystery, not a medical conspiracy - opinion - The Scotsman - "In contrast to Wakefield, I intend to declare an interest at the outset. My son Josh is autistic. Like most children, he was given the MMR vaccine at around 18 months. Shortly afterwards, he began exhibiting the first signs of what we now identify as autistic behaviour. The link between these two events is tempting, but, for reasons of sanity, I have resisted it...In the vast majority of cases, autism manifests itself at around two years, or, in other words, just after the MMR is administered. This coincidence inspired Wakefield’s study. In 1998, his team reviewed reports of children with bowel disease and autistic symptoms. Their research led them to conclude that the MMR shot caused developmental regression, in some cases within 24 hours of vaccination."
Comment: A temporally related relationship alone does not prove causation. But a recent event raises a red flag and is, in fact, the most likely cause. Moreover, the fact that autism didn't used to occur at two years old, nor did it result in the loss of skills as does the new, "regressive" form of autism, means cavalierly dismissing the temporal relationship as "coincidental" is neither wise nor scientific. Sadly, however, this is characteristic of what happens re: the vaccine issue. The fact that others are beginning to corroborate Wakefield's findings, in spite of the difficulty finding funding to do so, and the potential risks to one's reputation and livelihood, make easy answers like the ones voiced in the opinion piece above even harder to swallow.
►February 26, 2004 - Leslie Burke is terminally ill. Today he will ask a court for the right to live - www.independent.co.uk
►February 29, 2004 - Health bosses deny MMR deception - Health bosses have denied university students' claims that they were tricked into having the MMR vaccine without their knowledge. - BBC - "A mass inoculation programme against mumps took place at the University of Kent at Canterbury earlier this month after six students caught the disease...Now some students have told a national newspaper they were not told they were being given the MMR vaccine."
Diseases and their vaccines (current and in the pipeline)
►March 3, 2004 - Ancient Virus May Help HIV Patients Live Longer - HealthDay via Yahoo!
►March 3, 2004 -
Mysterious
virus may thwart HIV - New England Journal
of Medicine via New Scientist
►March 4, 2004 -
CDC Reports That OraQuick Test Produces Fewer False Positive HIV-1 Results Than
Other Available Tests - OraSure Technologies, Inc. via Business Wire
Comment: Avoiding a false HIV positive result is certainly important given the regimen of toxic drugs that HIV positive people are pressured to get.
►March 3, 2004 -
Persistent Hepatitis G Virus Infection in HIV-Positive Men May be Associated
With Prolonged Survival - New England
Journal of Medicine via Doctor's Guide
►March 8, 2004 - Doctors
protest 400% price hike in HIV medication - An AIDS group has filed a
lawsuit alleging antitrust violations. Two state attorneys general are
investigating, but Abbott says all complaints are without merit. -
www.ama-assn.org
►Polio
vaccines and the origin of AIDS: some key writings -
www.uow.edu.au
►The Origin Of Aids -
A Scientific Controversy - Tuesday March 2nd at 7.30pm - Special
Broadcasting Service Television via
www.sbs.com.au - "In his 1999 book The River, author Edward Hooper, a former
BBC journalist, charts a remarkable journey to the possible origins of AIDS. He
presents strong circumstantial evidence that points to the inadvertent
contamination of an experimental oral polio vaccine administered in Africa in
the late 1950’s. Hooper argues that this vaccine most likely became the vehicle
by which a simian precursor of HIV/AIDS carried by chimpanzees was able to jump
the species barrier into humans. If his conclusions are correct it would
indicate that the very people who were working to save lives were themselves
responsible for unleashing this terrible disease."
►September 25, 1999 -
A controversial HIV/AIDS hypothesis - The River - A Journey Back to the
Source of HIV and AIDS (requires registration) - journal article
(The Lancet)
►February 29, 2004 -
Activists get help in fight on AIDS - Grant: Maryland groups receive $335
million, part of the president's pledge to fight the disease and help victims in
Africa and elsewhere. - Baltimore Sun
Alzheimer's disease/vaccine
►March 5, 2004 -
Monkeys May Speed Alzheimer's Vaccine - Animal Model Shows Promise to Speed
Plaque-Removing Vaccine - Alzheimer Disease and
Associated Disorders via WebMD
►March 8, 2004 - Alzheimer's
deaths on rise - Mortality related to this disease increased more than for
any other of the top 10 killers, prompting concern about the ever-increasing
burden on caregivers. - www.ama-assn.org
Anthrax/anthrax vaccine/Gulf
War Syndrome
►March 4, 2004 - BioPort Supplies FDA-Licensed Anthrax Vaccine to Taiwan - BioPort via Business Wire
►March 3, 2004 - Justice Seeks Dismissal of Anthrax Lawsuit (requires registration) - AP via The Kansas City Star - "The Justice Department wants a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by six members of the military who are challenging the Pentagon's use of a vaccination against anthrax...Court papers filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court contend the suit has no merit because the Food and Drug Administration ruled on Dec. 30 that the vaccine was safe and effective."
Comment: Never mind the fact that the FDA miraculously found reason to approve it just days after the judge declared the vaccine experimental, and put a (what turned out to be) temporary hold on the military's anthrax shot program.
►March 4, 2004 -
Criticism, skepticism surround anthrax vaccine - BioPort defends product
despite lawsuits, studies - The State News - "BioPort
Corp. executives are the first to admit that a cloud of doubt seems to linger
above their anthrax vaccine...Critics relentlessly question if the Lansing-based
company's product would be effective against a bioterrorist attack. Others
contend the immunization is harmful to those who receive it...Company
executives, however, maintain that scientific fact and a series of medical
studies vouch for the safety and effectiveness of the nation's only federally
licensed anthrax vaccine."
►March 2, 2004 -
Anthrax vaccine inquiry soldiers demand - Medical News Today
►March 4, 2004 - Drug to treat hepatitis B proves useful in blocking anthrax toxin - The University of Chicago Chronicle - "'These toxins pack a one-two punch that makes inhalational anthrax extremely harmful,' said Tang, Associate Professor in the Ben May Institute for Cancer Research at the University. 'For the first time, we have a clinically approved drug that, at least in tissue culture, completely eradicates half of that toxic team, and does it at non-toxic doses.'"
Comment: That is good news. In my opinion, it is far better to develop drugs to treat those exposed to anthrax, rather than expose everyone to the known and unknown risks of anthrax vaccination, whether they need it or not.
►March 2, 2004 -
Soldiers demand anthrax vaccine inquiry -
www.abc.net.au
►March 2, 2004 -
Scientists: Device rids air of anthrax, other biological dangers - AP via
Newsday
►October 12, 1999 -
Anthrax Vaccine: Safety and Efficacy Issues (Testimony, 10/12/1999,
GAO/T-NSIAD-00-48). - U.S. GAO via
www.gpoaccess.gov
►September 20, 2004 -
Anthrax Vaccine: GAO's Survey of Guard and Reserve Pilots and Aircrew
(20-SEP-02, GAO-02-445). - U.S. GAO via
www.gpoaccess.gov
►July 21, 1999 -
Medical Readiness: Issues Concerning the Anthrax Vaccine (Testimony,
07/21/1999, GAO/T-NSIAD-99-226). - U.S. GAO via
www.gpoaccess.gov
►June 30, 1999 -
Contract Management: Observations on DOD's Financial Relationship With the
Anthrax Vaccine Manufacturer (Testimony, 06/30/99, GAO/T-NSIAD-99-214). -
U.S. GAO via www.gpoaccess.gov
►April 29, 1999 -
Medical Readiness: Safety and Efficacy of the Anthrax Vaccine (Testimony,
04/29/99, GAO/T-NSIAD-99-148). - U.S. GAO via
www.gpoaccess.gov
►March 29, 1999 -
Gulf War Illnesses: Questions About the Presence of Squalene Antibodies in
Veterans Can Be Resolved (Letter Report, 03/29/99, GAO/NSIAD-99-5). - U.S.
GAO via www.gpoaccess.gov
►March 2, 2004 - VaxGen reports Phase I clinical trial results of anthrax vaccine candidate - VaxGen, Inc. via www.eurekalert.org
►March 2, 2004 - Troops
‘gagged’ over anthrax jab concerns - The Herald, UK - "SOLDIERS
calling for an inquiry into the possible effects of Iraq war anthrax
vaccinations on the health of their unborn children have accused the Ministry of
Defence of attempting to gag them."
►March 2, 2004 -
Vaccinated GIs spread infections - Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer - "Thirty
people in the military have transferred infections to other people after being
vaccinated for smallpox, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention."
►March 1, 2004 -
Anthrax Vaccine Paralyzes Soldier - WVLT via
www.volunteertv.com
►Military
Vaccine Dangers - CBS News Video
►March 1, 2004 -
Anthrax Jabs Blamed for Baby Deaths - PA News via The Scotsman
►March 1, 2004 -
Soldiers link baby deaths to jabs - Some UK Soldiers who served in Iraq have
expressed fears for their unborn babies after claiming a number of child deaths
are linked to anthrax jabs. - BBC
►March 1, 2004 -
Military Vaccine Flattens GI, 17 - CBS News - "Amid all the war
stories that have come out of the conflict with Iraq, Tyran Duncan's hasn't been
widely told. The willing soldier became an unwitting victim to the vaccinations
he was required to take to deploy. And as CBS News Correspondent Sharyl
Attkisson reports, he's not the only one."
►February 28, 2004 - Anthrax: Vital fact the diggers weren't told - The Australian
►February 29, 2004 - Campaign: Scandal of the Anthrax Babies: A Deadly Chemical Weapon - The Sunday Mirror, UK
►February 29, 2004 - Campaign: Scandal of the Anthrax Babies: Our Worst Nightmare - Baby Kye died: 5 weeks - The Sunday Mirror, UK
►March 2, 2004 -
Children in
Shelters Hit Hard by Asthma (requires registration or subscription) - The
New York Times
►March 4, 2004 -
New
inhalers: Breathe easier - New inhalers will help the environment - Times
Online, UK
►March 3, 2004 -
Anyone
have a tissue? - Carolina Morning News via Lowcountry NOW - "At night, my
romantic husband is very prone to whisper in my ear, between sniffles (snorts),
'Honey, where are the tissues? I think you used the last one and I need
more.'...Yes, we are just two of the some 30 million Americans who suffer from seasonal
allergies. The most difficult season for allergy sufferers is the spring. Why is
that?"
►March 1, 2004 -
Breathing easier - New medication shows promise for severe allergic
asthmatics - The Flint Journal via www.mlive.com
►March 2, 2004 - Asthma Study: Waiting to Exhale - 40 percent of homeless children in shelters in New York City have the respiratory disease, but many are not getting help, authors say - Newsday
►March 4, 2004 -
Autism? Dyslexia? Try Mozart - www.wnep.com
►March 5, 2004 - Men,
Empathy, and Autism - A British researcher offers a new theory about the
developmental disorder that has skyrocketed among children -
http://chronicle.com
Comment: For some insight into the furor that this theory has caused, go to Scandals: Adding Insult to Injustice to Injury Redux.
►March 6, 2004 - When autism causes aggressive behavior - www.king5.com
►March 6, 2004 -
The Geek Theory of Autism - At university, William K. met for the first time
people with exceptional skills like his own - National Post via
www.canada.com
►Treating the
Biology of Autism: an approach to interventions for spectrum disorders (pdf)
- conference alert - ASA/OCC Biology of Autism
Treatments - April 3 & 4, 2004 in Pontiac, Michigan
►October 2002 -
What's in a face? - Novartis Foundation Bulletin
►March 3, 2004 -
Autism complaints heading to tribunal - Rights commission forwards 121 cases
Families call treatment discriminatory - The Toronto Star
►March 3, 2004 -
Parents of Kentuckiana boy say he's part of rising incidence of autism -
www.whas11.com - "Evan
Riggle's autism is a puzzle – a puzzle his parents say is being pieced together
by doctors, therapists, prayer warriors and family. His sister and brother help
with his speech...'He hasn't even spoken a word, but he has the potential to
change more lives than we ever could,' Evan’s father David says...Emlyn says
Evan's system couldn't handle a mercury preservative in vaccines called
thimerosal. She says once those vaccines had worn down Evan’s immune system, his
one-year measles, mumps and rubella or MMR shot was a knockout punch."
►March 2, 2004 -
UK autism research 'is lacking' - UK research into the
causes and treatment of autism is seriously behind that of other countries, a
report says. - BBC News - "It
says the row over a possible link with the MMR jab has over-shadowed the fact
that little is known about the behavioural disorder...And it calls for wider
research into all aspects of the condition."
►March 1, 2004 - One of Largest Ever Genetic Studies of Autism Launched - Schafer Autism Report
►New report calls for more research into causes of autism - National Autistic Society, UK - ""Mapping Autism Research" is the first-ever comprehensive overview of the UK research field. It outlines a surprising lack of research into the causes of autism and successful interventions compared with other countries. The review also concludes that research into how families cope and into autism support services is extremely scant."
►March 3, 2004 -
Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario 121 autism related complaints - Medical
News Today - "The Human Rights Tribunal of
Ontario, Canada, is receiving a record 121 autism-related complaints by
Ontario’s Human Rights Commission...The average number of complaints the
commission refers to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario is around 90, and that
includes all types of complaints, not just one type...The complaints say the
province is cutting funding for the treatment of autism for children over six
years of age. People say this is discriminatory."
►"Recent
Advances in the Biology of Autism" - Bassett Healthcare / National Autism
Association Teaching Day - conference alert - May
1, 2004 at Clark Medical Education Auditorium in Cooperstown, NY
►March 1, 2004 -
Autism Goes Public (requires registration) - The Washington Post - "Last
year an employee of a Fairfax movie theater asked the Ortega family to leave a
matinee of 'Finding Nemo.' The problem: Every time characters in the movie
screamed, so did 4-year-old Nicholas Ortega...While some members of the audience
found the cries objectionable, the child's behavior wasn't all that startling
for his parents, Fidel and Gretchen Ortega. The Fairfax couple understood such
outbursts to be fairly common for Nicholas, as they are for other children with
autism."
►March 2, 2004 -
Harrowing tale of one father's struggle against autism - Borneo Bulletin via
www.brunei-online.com
►March 2, 2004 - Parents urge more autism research - Manchester Online
►February 23, 2004 - Termites,
Crayfish and Autism - www.about.com
►March 1, 2004 -
Autism research falls behind - The Western Mail via
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk
►March 2, 2004 - 'I had
to become an autism expert' - As experts call for more UK research into the
causes and treatment of autism, BBC News Online talks to the mother of a
nine-year-old autistic boy. - BBC - "Anna Parton, from Bromley, Kent, had to
spend £12,000 and devise her own care plan to give her son Robert the help she
felt he needed."
Comment: It is a disgrace that so much of the cost of research and care falls so squarely on the shoulders of parents already over-burdened by the needs of their precious children.
►Voyages In Autism: Behaviors and Advocacy (pdf) - conference alert - March 20, 2004 in San Pablo, CA
►February 29, 2004 - One of largest ever genetic studies of autism launched - Arizona Republic via www.awares.org
►March 2004 - My life with Asperger’s syndrome - journal article (Archives of Disease in Childhood)
►February 29, 2004 - Research slowly helping despair give way to hope (requires registration) - The Arizona Republic - "'Your child has autism.'...More than 10 families contact the Phoenix-based South- west Autism Research & Resource Center every week after hearing that devastating diagnosis...I say 'family' because autism not only affects your child, but every member of the family. How you feel, what you do, where you eat, how and where you sleep largely depend upon your child with autism."
Autism and vaccines (mercury/thimerosal, MMR, in general) - was Autism/mercury, Autism/MMR, Autism & vaccines
*For most of the Wakefield "conflict of interest" articles posted on the site, click here (check periodically for updates)
►March 5, 2004 -
Injection
of sense (requires subscription) - Times Online, UK
►March 5, 2004 -
MMR: the
controversy continues - Even though Dr Andrew Wakefield, the leading
protagonist of the MMR-autism link, has been discredited, and the Lancet paper
that launched the scare in 1998 has been repudiated by 10 of its 13 co-authors,
the controversy continues. This suggests that the key factor in the scare is not
Dr Wakefield's flawed science, but the wider climate of fear of environmental
dangers and suspicion of scientific, medical and political authority. -
www.spiked-online.com
►March 5, 2004 -
Researchers Reject Famous MMR-Autism Study - Experts Say Likely to Close the
Door on MMR Vaccine Controversy - WebMD
►March 7, 2004 - Single
MMR jag demand soars despite claims - The Scotsman - "Accusations
that research linking the triple jag to health risks was 'fatally flawed' has
only served to further entrench public scepticism over the jag’s safety,
according to doctors providing single-vaccine alternatives."
►March 6, 2004 -
Key ally
of MMR doctor rejects autism link (requires subscription) - Times Online, UK
►March 7,
2004 -
Sick children untreated due to MMR
fears - Families seek care in US as UK doctors dismiss complaints to avoid
triple jab controversy - Sunday Herald, UK - "AUTISTIC children in Britain are
being forced to fly to the US for treatment because of the ongoing political
controversy surrounding the MMR jab...Up to 10 British children, including a
seven-year-old from Edinburgh, have been treated at a specialist centre in
Florida for painful bowel diseases after the NHS refused to recognise their
symptoms...An investigation by the Sunday Herald has revealed that despite
medical evidence of a link between the disorder and autism, NHS doctors are
ignoring or dismissing the connection because they fear becoming embroiled in
the triple jab controversy. Instead of acknowledging a previously unknown
condition that inflames the children’s bowels, they say the painful symptoms are
caused by constipation."
►March 7, 2004 - Autism debate underscores research difficulty, cost of disproving bad science - CP via www.canada.com - "When Dr. Noni MacDonald starts talking about the debate over whether childhood vaccinations cause autism, her words are steeped in anger. She thinks the public ought to be angry, too...The source of the emotion? The years of time, effort and research funding that has been spent disproving a piece of British research that last week was repudiated by most of the team responsible for it."
Comment: Do any of those who are using this opportunity to discredit the research linking the MMR to autism care that the research has not actually been disproved? Do they care that all that has happened is that a potential conflict has been raised? Do they care that, although regrettable, a potential for conflict of interest does not in and of itself disprove research, but merely raises the specter that the research has been tainted and/or influenced by the conflict? Have any of these self-righteously angry decriers ever once complained about the clear and obvious conflicts of interest in support of the MMR vaccine?
►March 7,
2004 - Leading article:
The MMR superstition
(requires subscription) -
The Times Online
►March 6,
2004 -
Autism link claim took vaccine from hero to
villain
(requires subscription) - The Times
Online
►March 7, 2004 - The needle and the damage done - opinion - Scotland on Sunday - "THE hours after her one-year-old son Victor was injected with the MMR vaccination were among the longest of Iustina Del Veneziano’s life...After an agonising decision process before deciding to go ahead with the jag, the Edinburgh mum was watching for any small indication that she might have made the wrong move. She didn’t have to wait long."
►March 6, 2004 -
Retraction of an interpretation (requires registration) - journal article
(The Lancet)
►March 6, 2004 -
A statement by the editors of The Lancet (requires registration) - journal
article (The Lancet)
►March 6, 2004 -
A statement by Dr Simon Murch (requires registration)- journal article
(The Lancet)
►March 6, 2004 -
A statement by Professor John Walker-Smith (requires registration) - journal
article (The Lancet)
►March 6, 2004 -
A statement by Dr Andrew Wakefield (requires registration) - journal article
(The Lancet)
►March 6, 2004 -
A statement by The Royal Free and University College Medical School and The
Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust (requires registration) - journal article
(The Lancet)
►March 4, 2004 - Shots
across the bow - Innocuous inoculation? -
www.haaretz.com
►March 4, 2004 - Minnesota Senate: Bill offering bounty for mercury advances - Pioneer Press via www.twincities.com
►March 3, 2004 - Debate Festers Over Autism & MMR - First Coast News - "Bradstreet is also pro-vaccine, despite the results of his research. 'Responsible vaccine policy is the mandate. For example, a nasal measles vaccine is being developed that would be inhaled instead of injected. That's perhaps two years out. Since that's the way the virus is naturally introduced into the body, I'm in favor of that.'...'And whatever cases of regression may be attributable to MMR, we haven't been able to prove enough of them yet for a change in vaccine policy to be necessary. The weight of the evidence still falls squarely on the benefits of vaccination. I think eventually we'll have the data to determine who's at risk, how do we come up with safer vaccines, and how do we make sure all children are protected.'"
►March 3, 2004 - Clinic dismisses attack on MMR doctor - News Shopper - "STAFF at an Eltham clinic offering single measles, mumps and rubella vaccines have dismissed claims that research linking the MMR vaccine to autism is 'poor science'...However, staff at the Direct 2000 clinic, in Grove Market Place, Eltham, believe the revelation is an attempt to influence a judicial review into the withdrawal of legal aid for families suing vaccine manufacturers."
►February 29, 2004 - Now Andrew Wakefield demands apology from The Lancet - Sunday Telegraph via www.awares.org
►March 2, 2004 -
Mercury:
Enough! - White House shouldn't delay controls on toxic pollutant (requires
registration) - The Charlotte Observer
►March 3, 2004 -
MMR has always been safe - Doctors - 'OUR policy has been that MMR is and
has always been safe.' - Isle of Man Online - "'In other words Dr Wakefield had
been paid by the Legal Aid Board to investigate if there was a case linking MMR
and autism and he did not disclose this to the editors of the journal, as is
required,' said Dr Kishore...'It is hoped that this new revelation will help to
dispel any lingering doubts which members of the public have about the safety of
MMR and that parents would ensure that their children are vaccinated with MMR.
It is also worth recalling that in the past there had been serious problems
resulting from use of single vaccines.'"
Comment: The failure to disclose the possible conflict of interest does not in and of itself mean that there was anything wrong with Wakefield's research. The research may or may not have been influenced by the alleged conflict. If there was as much attention being paid to those with clear conflict of interest re: the vaccine manufacturers as re: someone investigating the issue for a legal aid board, the furor over this might seem fair and reasonable. As it is, the furor appears to be more political than anything.
►March 1, 2004 - Toxin combo common in fish appears capable of impairing motor skills - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign via www.eurekalert.org - "Pups of female rats exposed to a combination of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and methylmercury (MeHg) slip and fall more often trying to maneuver on a rotating rod than do pups from non-exposed moms, scientists say."
►March 3, 2004 - MMR researchers issue retraction - Ten doctors who co-authored the study which sparked health fears over the MMR jab have said there was insufficient evidence to draw that conclusion. - BBC - "In a statement, to be published in The Lancet, the doctors say: 'We wish to make it clear that in this paper no causal link was established between MMR vaccine and autism as the data were insufficient...However, the possibility of such a link was raised and consequent events have had major implications for public health...In view of this, we consider now is the appropriate time that we should together formally retract the interpretation placed upon these findings in the paper.'"
Comment: To read the always fair-minded and insightful Nicholas Regush on this and other breaking news stories, go to www.redflagsdaily.com
►March 2, 2004 - Thimerosal Concerns for Pets (includes video) - First Coast News - "Lamoureux wants pet owners to know there is a risk out there when getting pets vaccinated. She is not advocating the refusal of vaccinations, she says she just wants pet owners to become educated about their choices...Veterinarian "Dr. Skip Hightman says he's seen cases of animals having bad reactions to vaccines. 'As far as anaphylactic reaction, cellulitis, sarcomas and many other problems and sometimes even death.' Dr. Hightman's own cat died of cancer shortly after receiving a rabies vaccination. He says there is one company that's responded to concerns from veterinarians and taken Thimerosal out of its vaccine."
►March 2, 2004 - MMR research poser - letters - The Scotsman
►March 3, 2004 - Legal aid verdict for parents in MMR fight - http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk - "Parents who believe the MMR vaccine caused their son's autism will find out next week if they will have to abandon legal action against a drugs company...Roy and Sue Pargetter are appealing against a decision made last September which resulted in their legal aid being withdrawn."
►March 3, 2004 -
Autism debate goes on - Liverpool Echo via
http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk
- "Today scientists and parents called for more research into the causes of
autism, which has been overshadowed by the debate over MMR...They now want a
broad range of issues connected to autism to be examined...Ms Tierney, 37, said:
"I welcome anything that looks into autism - and the sooner the better...'And it
should be done by a research team that has no ties whatsoever and is totally
independent.'"
►March 3, 2004 -
Tell
EPA to cut mercury pollution - opinion - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
►March 4, 2004 -
Researchers retract autism link - AP via The Australian
►March 3, 2004 -
Scientists Retract Vaccine-Autism Link - AP via
www.wtopnews.com
►March 2, 2004 - Doctor's diary: a jab in the dark - The truth about MMR must be revealed, says Dr James Le Fanu - "The Government finds itself in an invidious situation over the MMR/autism controversy, having painted itself into a corner by denying parents the option of the single measles vaccine. They, thus, have no alternative other than to insist the MMR is totally safe - irrespective of evidence that might emerge to suggest the contrary."
►February 10, 2002 - Dogma on MMR does not work - Parents need information and choice - The Observer via The Guardian, UK - "The MMR debate goes to the heart of the relationship between the individual and society. This is an age in which people expect to exercise choice; but there are times when the collective good must prevail. The great programmes against cholera, polio and smallpox could never have taken place had they not been enforced. Yet here we have the makings of a public health disaster, with drift, fear and confusion. The unconfirmed findings of maverick scientists such as Dr Andrew Wakefield prey upon a public which has grown at once more consumerist and more sceptical of authority, with good reason after the BSE and foot and mouth fiascos."
►March 1, 2004 - Misreporting Measles Research - National Electronic Library for Health (archive) - www.nelh.nhs.uk - "The research study found that a higher proportion of children with developmental disorder and new variant inflammatory bowel disease had measles virus in their gut tissue than healthy children."
Comment: This analysis tries to make it appear as if there is no evidence linking MMR vaccine to the measles virus in these children or good reason to believe they might be connected. As for research, there is research evidence linking the two. As for good reason, these children were vaccinated and had never had the measles. So the presence of measles virus in their gut probably either means that a) it is measles vaccine virus or b) vaccinated children who get the measles can suffer gastrointestinal problems which may or may not be related to autism.
►February 29, 2004 - Autism is a mystery, not a medical conspiracy - opinion - The Scotsman - "In contrast to Wakefield, I intend to declare an interest at the outset. My son Josh is autistic. Like most children, he was given the MMR vaccine at around 18 months. Shortly afterwards, he began exhibiting the first signs of what we now identify as autistic behaviour. The link between these two events is tempting, but, for reasons of sanity, I have resisted it...In the vast majority of cases, autism manifests itself at around two years, or, in other words, just after the MMR is administered. This coincidence inspired Wakefield’s study. In 1998, his team reviewed reports of children with bowel disease and autistic symptoms. Their research led them to conclude that the MMR shot caused developmental regression, in some cases within 24 hours of vaccination."
Comment: A temporally related relationship alone does not prove causation. But a recent event raises a red flag and is, in fact, the most likely cause. Moreover, the fact that autism didn't used to occur at two years old, nor did it result in the loss of skills as does the new, "regressive" form of autism, means cavalierly dismissing the temporal relationship as "coincidental" is neither wise nor scientific. Sadly, however, this is characteristic of what happens re: the vaccine issue. The fact that others are beginning to corroborate Wakefield's findings, in spite of the difficulty finding funding to do so, and the potential risks to one's reputation and livelihood, make easy answers like the ones voiced in the opinion piece above even harder to swallow.
►February 26, 2004 - MMR medics challenged over child spinal taps - Times Online - "NEW questions about the ethics of the controversial study that linked the MMR vaccine to autism in children will be raised in Parliament today, The Times has learnt..Less than a week after the doctor who pioneered the research was accused of failing to disclose a £55,000 payment, ministers are to be asked whether he had received proper ethical approval. The fresh doubts centre on whether the lumbar punctures to which autistic children were subjected by Andrew Wakefield’s team at the Royal Free Hospital were clinically justified."
►February 29, 2004 - Wakefield unlikely to be charged over MMR scare - www.independent.co.uk
►February 29, 2004 - MMR docs' links with drugs firms - Sunday Mercury via http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk - "Four leading Midland doctors who deemed the controversial MMR vaccine safe have links to the drug giants who make or supply the jab...Campaigners have called for the General Medical Council to investigate the senior Government advisors, who all hold scientific posts in the Midlands and sat on key committees which declared the vaccine safe."
►February 24, 2004 - This carefully orchestrated campaign must not be allowed to stifle real debate on MMR (requires subscription) - www.independent.co.uk
►February 29, 2004 - Twisted conflicts - (letters) The Observer via The Guardian, UK - "It seems a scientist, such as Dr Andrew Wakefield (News and Leader, last week), who uncovers genuine concerns about the safety of a vaccine has to be 'squeaky clean'...In contrast, scientists who are vocal in support of the vaccine, and are responsible for checking its safety, are allowed to receive research funding from the company that produces it and to hold shares in the company, or act as consultants." (sent by Dr Milton Wainwright, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield)
►February 29, 2004 - Doctor demands apology for MMR claims in Lancet - Telegraph, UK - "Andrew Wakefield, the doctor who first raised fears of a link between autism and the MMR vaccine, has hired a libel lawyer to demand an apology from The Lancet after claiming that the medical journal has cast doubt on his honesty...Dr Wakefield's decision to enlist the support of Carter-Ruck, the London law firm that specialises in defamation suits, follows the denunciation of his work last week by The Lancet."
►February 29, 2004 - Dirty tricks drug firms use to get publicity - The Scotsman - "SHOCKING tactics including bribery, fabrication and plagiarism are being used by unscrupulous drug companies to get their research published in influential medical journals, according to a damning new report...Only a week after controversial research on the MMR vaccine was discredited by the journal which published it following a 'fatal conflict of interest', an influential committee has revealed the widespread use of underhand tactics by researchers."
►March 8, 2002 - Serial letter writer, Dr. Elphinstone exposed - Private Eye via www.whale.to
Autism therapies/education/medicine (including the cost of care)/support
►March 4, 2004 - Autism victims to get Capital support centre - Evening News via The Scotsman
►March 3, 2004 -
New therapy for Autism
- www.wfsb.com - "You
can't get a sense of how incredible sensory learning is until you see a before
and after example of it."
►Success
in Autism: Filling in the Gaps - This conference is designed to educate both
parents and professionals in breaking through plateaus and helping individuals
with autism reach their optimal potential by "filling in the gaps." Consistency
is promoted between the school and the home environments. Valuable information
is for individuals at all levels, and information given is functional. -
Autism Resources - conference alert -
March 20-21, 2004 in Rutgers University, New
Brunswick NJ
►March 3, 2004 -
Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario 121 autism related complaints - Medical
News Today - "The Human Rights Tribunal of
Ontario, Canada, is receiving a record 121 autism-related complaints by
Ontario’s Human Rights Commission...The average number of complaints the
commission refers to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario is around 90, and that
includes all types of complaints, not just one type...The complaints say the
province is cutting funding for the treatment of autism for children over six
years of age. People say this is discriminatory."
►March 3, 2004 -
Boost for autism sufferers -
http://icscotland.icnetwork.co.uk - "Autism sufferers in Glasgow and Lothian
are to benefit following a £2m funding boost for improving services...The cash
will be spread over three years to develop "one-stop shops" for adults with
autism, and for families struggling to cope with the disorder...The Greater
Glasgow and Lothian health boards will receive £750,000 each in funding, the
Scottish Executive said."
►2004 - Work with
autism gets £750,000 boost - Evening Times, UK
►February 27, 2004 - Parents gather at State Capitol to protest autism-treatment cuts - Green Bay Press-Gazette
►March 1, 2004 - Parents: Autism curable - San Mateo Daily Journal
Autoimmunity/autoimmune disease (in general)
Behavioral disorders, chronic disability
►March 6, 2004 - Move
to Florida Began Tailspin for Mother and Daughter - The Ledger - "It was the
frigid weather and high rent in New Jersey that got Valerie Lowe thinking about
a move to Florida...As a single mother caring for a daughter with profound
cerebral palsy, Lowe, 41, said she couldn't afford $850 a month for a
two-bedroom apartment in a decent part of town...Not while working as a sales
associate for Old Navy...Lowe loved her job, so after asking her employer to be
transferred to a sunny, Florida location, she wound up at Lakeland Square
mall...That was August 2002, and the beginning of Lowe's tailspin into
joblessness and welfare."
Bioterror-related,
other than smallpox and anthrax
►March 5, 2004 - Safeguarding
science - A new government panel will attempt to prevent research data from
falling into the hands of terrorists - Newsday
►March 4, 2004 - HHS
Will Lead Government-Wide effort to Enhance Biosecurity In "Dual Use" Research
- New Advisory Board Established To Provide Guidance - HHS News U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services
►March/April 2004 - The
Next Worst Thing - Is the federal government's expansion of biodefense
research paving the way for the bioweapons of the future? -
www.motherjones.com - "It has been
called a modern-day Manhattan Project—a spending spree so vast and rapid that it
might change the face of biological science. In the wake of 9/11, the U.S.
government is funding a massive new biodefense research effort, redirecting up
to $10 billion toward projects related to biological weapons such as anthrax.
The Pentagon's budget for chemical and biological defense has doubled;
high-security nuclear-weapons labs have begun conducting genetic research on
dangerous pathogens; universities are receiving government funding to build
high-tech labs equipped to handle deadly infectious organisms; and Fort Detrick,
Maryland, once the home of America's secret bioweapons program, is about to
break ground on two new high-tech biodefense centers."
►March 2, 2004 -
Scientists: Device rids air of anthrax, other biological dangers - AP via
Newsday
►Bio-Terrorism
Countermeasures – Requirements & Funding - King
Publishing Group -
conference alert
- March 9-10,
2004 at The George Washington University in Washington, DC
►March 6, 2004 - Prognosis for teenagers and young people with cancer fails to improve - journal article (BMJ)
►March 2, 2004 -
Cancer coincidence? - An overwhelmed state office tries to connect disease
clusters to pollution -- but some say the agency is wasting time - The Boston
Globe via www.boston.com
►March 1, 2004 -
Teens
and young adults - the new frontier in cancer says US cancer specialist -
Teenagers and young adults - the orphans of the cancer world - Teenage Cancer
Trust via www.eurekalert.org
►March 1, 2004 -
Cancer rates in teens and early 20s rising - More research needed to
understand causes - Teenage Cancer Trust via
www.eurekalert.org - "A new analysis of cancer figures for England[1] shows
that the overall incidence among teenagers and young adults is rising, with the
biggest increase among 20 to 24-year-olds, particularly in lymphoma, melanoma
and germ cell tumours, including testicular germ cell tumours."
Comment: If those who question sunscreen use are
correct, the rise in melanoma could be attributed to
increased exposure to
the sun, (and the "fact" that sunscreen only prevents
burns and not cancer).
►March 2, 2004 -
Fast
growth increases teenage cancer risk - The Independent - UK
►March 2, 2004 - Improving treatment of medulloblastoma, a common childhood brain tumor - Pilot study demonstrates that presence of ERBB2 protein might identify medulloblastoma patients who are more resistant to treatment - St. Jude Children's Research Hospital via www.eurekalert.org
Comment: SV40 has been associated with childhood medulloblastoma. For more on SV40 and cancer, go to Scandals: The Institute of Medicine Review Of SV40 Contamination of Polio Vaccine and Cancer.
►March 2, 2004 -
2 drugs open a new front in cancer war - Avastin, Erbitux herald revolution
that targets cells (requires registration) - The Chicago Tribune
►March 2, 2004 -
Women found twice as susceptible to lung cancer -
www.newsday.com
►March 1, 2004 -
Vaccine Could Stop Breast Cancer in its Tracks - Primes the body to fight
altered cells that precede disease - Journal of
Clinical Investigation via
www.betterhumans.com
►March 1, 2004 -
Greek Scientists Find Way to Weaken Cancer Cells - Reuters
►February 27, 2004 - Drugs limit deadly side effects of graft-versus-host disease - Could make bone marrow transplants an option for more cancer patients - University of Michigan Health System via www.eurekalert.org
►March 3, 2004 - Elk
River Clinic Announces Chickenpox Vaccine Recall - PRNewswire via
http://interestalert.com - "The RiverWay
Clinic in Elk River today announced that it is contacting approximately 1,200
patients who received immunizations with varicella (chickenpox) vaccine at the
clinic between Dec. 1998 and Dec. 2003 to ensure that they are adequately
protected from the chickenpox...An audit of vaccine freezers at the clinic in
January found a temperature variance in one freezer containing varicella
(chickenpox) vaccine that may have resulted in the loss of effectiveness of the
vaccine stored inside."
►March 2004 -
Chickenpox Outbreak in a Highly Vaccinated School Population - journal
article (Pediatrics) - "Conclusions. A
chickenpox outbreak occurred in a school in which 97% of students
without a prior history of chickenpox were vaccinated. Students
vaccinated >5 years before the outbreak were at risk for breakthrough
disease. Booster vaccination may deserve additional consideration."
Comment: Or maybe we should start reexamining the wisdom of vaccinating children for this what at least used to be benign disease. For more on why this might be the case, go to Scandals: When is an oops not really an oops? When you get to solve the problems you cause, and make money doing both!.
►March 1, 2004 - Booster May Be Needed For Failing Chicken Pox Shot - Researchers Study Lake Oswego Outbreak - www.koin.com - "In 2001, 18 children at Forest Hills Elementary School in Lake Oswego developed the illness -- despite previous chicken pox vaccinations...Researchers who studied the outbreak found that the big jump in cases came five years after vaccination. Now they believe that a booster shot may be needed after five years."
Comment: Maybe it would be better to let children get the chickenpox. For more on this, go to Scandals: When is an oops not really an oops? When you get to solve the problems you cause, and make money doing both!, Scandals: Playing With Fire - It's Not EASY To Fool Mother Nature, and Scandals: Prescription For Disaster - Is Vaccine Policy A "House of Cards"?
►February 29, 2004 - Study: Vaccine benefit fades - Less effective after a year - The Cincinatti Enquirer - "A new study might spark debate among pediatricians and parents about the effectiveness of the chickenpox vaccine and when it should be given to children...Researchers at Yale Medical School say the effectiveness of the vaccine fades significantly in the first year after vaccination. And the vaccine also doesn't appear to be as effective in children younger than 15 months."
Comment: Prior to the vaccine being developed, chickenpox was universally considered a benign disease. If it has become more serious since that time, why might that be?
►February 27, 2004 - Diabetes
may be linked to early hearing loss - Studies point to danger of deafness
and mental decline in old age - journal article (Nature)