►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.'"

►March 2, 2004 - Breastfeeding Lowers Blood Pressure - Circulation via Ivanhoe

►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 - Panel Urges Stricter Limits on Acne Drug - Reuters via Yahoo! News 

►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 - 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 

Conferences, workshops, seminars, courses

*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 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)

AIDS/HIV/AIDS vaccine

►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

Asthma/allergies

►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

Autism

►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."