Letter from Sandy Mintz, M.A. to Time Magazine re: NEJM MMR/autism study:

Perhaps you are unaware of this, but this study did not actually compare vaccinated to unvaccinated children. It merely compared MMR vaccinated to non-MMR vaccinated children. (See report of Congressional autism hearing: http://www.vaccinationnews.com/Scandals/Sept_27_02/Scandal35.htm.) Consequently, while this study may provide evidence that MMR alone does not cause autism, this study says nothing about whether or not vaccinations in general contribute to autism and may merely show that other vaccines are equally culpable. If, however, it is MMR combined with previous exposure to mercury in vaccines which leads to some autism, this study would not show that since the Danish children in this study did not receive vaccines containing mercury. Because Danish children have not received vaccines containing mercury, the results of this study may not be applicable to countries, like the United States, where they have.