The MMR Vaccine & Its Alleged Risks

[Renigirl]

I hate to just jump in and bump an old thread, but I've really found this one fascinating, as I was completely unaware of any controversy about the MMR shots.

Most American schools do require proof of first MMR before you're allowed to enroll for Kindergarten, as is said earlier in the thread. I think there are ways to get around this, even in public schooling, if you would happen to have a religious objection, but I'm not entirely sure about that. I do know that at my school we were administered our second MMRs at school in the sixth grade, which is an additional age option.

Anyway, the CDC offers a lot of information on the subject, albeit it's obvious what they believe about the matter. I assume you can search for all their studies and read them ifyou like. They do provide studies that give links between MMR and autism, but note weaknesses in those studies. Again, I have no conclusion, just offering the information.

Here's what the CDC has to say.

 

[Anonymous]

I hate to just jump in and bump an old thread, but I've really found this one fascinating, as I was completely unaware of any controversy about the MMR shots.

Most American schools do require proof of first MMR before you're allowed to enroll for Kindergarten, as is said earlier in the thread.

I think that you need to show proof that you're vaccinated against measles, mumps, and rubella, rather than show that you were vaccinated using the triple shot. Some paediatricians prefer to give the vaccines as individual shots, not on the grounds of a perceived risk from the MMR per se, but because it is easier to identify the cause of any adverse reaction.

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

This looks to be pretty clear cut - the problem has always been that you might be able to show a correlation between two things but unless you can show cause and effect you are out in a grey area - this whole affair has spread an awful lot of heartache and anguish amongst parents and its good to see it is safe after all:

March 04, 2005


Clean bill of health

Research suggests the MMR injection is, and was, safe

The political parties have spent much of the past two days arguing about the medical condition of Margaret Dixon, the pensioner whose urgent operation at Warrington General Hospital has been cancelled on several occasions. Mrs Dixon is more than entitled to be angry at her treatment (or lack of it), although the typicality of her plight is debatable. It is a pity that a similar intensity of publicity has not been devoted to a study of the link (or lack of it) between the MMR vaccine and autism in Japanese children. That survey should finally convince parents that not only is this jab safe, but it is also essential that parents take their babies to have this vital injection.

Japan has had an unusual experience with MMR which makes it an especially valuable location for research. The vaccine was introduced in 1988 but triggered cases of mumps-related meningitis and lost favour. Between 1988 and 1993 its use declined, until it was finally “suspended” in 1993, to be replaced by single vaccines. This type of MMR was never used elsewhere.

The Japanese exercise is, therefore, a stark test of whether the replacement of MMR by single vaccines reduces the risk of autism. Far from this being the outcome, this investigation into the health of 30,000 children born in Yokohama at this time reveals that the figure for diagnosed examples of autism actually rose, and sharply.

This is a profound conclusion. It is as close to compelling evidence in favour of the MMR jab as is likely to be produced. It strongly suggests that the fears, genuinely held, of many parents, particularly those with autistic children, and some of the wilder theories are unfounded. Parents and future parents should respond, as this newspaper has asserted throughout this controversy, by vaccinating their children. The cynicism that is often expressed towards public health initiatives is itself damaging to public health. The mainstream medical profession in this case has been right.

It is unlikely, alas, that this verdict will be universally accepted. There is understandable concern at the apparent explosion in autism and a natural desire to identify a cause of it. The worries that have been aired will remain. Further reassurance will be required.

The balance of probability, nonetheless, is that it is the diagnosis of autism that is surging and not the condition itself. Those who would, only two decades ago, have been deemed a little strange, or categorised as mentally subnormal or even, shamefully, been condemned to an asylum are today being assessed as autistic. This is correct, but it also means that autism has become a term that covers a wide territory. It has led to the search for a scapegoat. In Britain, MMR was put in the dock. In the United States, mercury additives have been the supposed cause.

The emerging research, though, indicates that genetic factors play a significant role. Fourteen times more boys than girls develop autism. This striking statistic should make the notion of an external cause, such as an injection applied to children of each gender, implausible. It is time to learn the lessons of this most human of tragedies.

Source

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

U.S. Autism Rates Rise Sharply

Mon Mar 7, 5:02 PM ET

Add to My Yahoo! Health - HealthDay

By Karen Pallarito
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, March 7 (HealthDay News) -- The apparent rise in the proportion of children in the United States with autism appears to be real, a new analysis suggests.

Autism prevalence is increasing with successively younger children, particularly those born between 1987 and 1992, epidemiologists report in the March issue of Pediatrics.

It's a worrisome trend, experts said, magnifying questions on the causes for the increasing rates while placing a tremendous strain on the nation's special education resources.

"The financial burden that this will place on our society is going to be just stunning, and that is really the wake-up call here," said Andy Shih, director of research and programs at the National Alliance for Autism Research in Princeton, N.J.

Autism is a complex disorder affecting the ability to communicate and socialize with others; many children engage in repetitive behaviors, such as rocking, self-abuse or obsessive behavior.

Most experts agree that autism actually is a variety of separate but related disorders, Shih said.

The disability usually strikes by age 3, and lasts a lifetime. Boys are three-to-four times more likely than girls to be affected, according to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

What causes autism isn't known, but some research points to a genetic origin. Scientists also are exploring neurological, infectious, metabolic, immunologic and environmental factors.

To assess prevalence trends in autism, researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the University of Minnesota used data reported to U.S. Department of Education (news - web sites)'s Office of Special Education Programs. The study included children who were aged 6 to 17 between 1992 and 2001.

Prevalence refers to the proportion of people in a given population affected by a disease at a point in time, yielding a snapshot of the impact of the disease.

Researchers compared the results for autism with trends for other disabilities, including traumatic brain injury, mental retardation and speech/language impairment.

"The analysis shows that the number of children receiving a special ed classification of autism has increased drastically over the past decade," said Craig J. Newschaffer, director of Johns Hopkins' Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Epidemiology.

While the exact number of autism cases in the United States in not known, estimates range from one in 500 to one in 1,000 diagnosed cases each year, according to government statistics.

Difficulty in pinning down the actual number of causes stems from changes in how autism is diagnosed, what is considered autism and how cases are reported.

Some people have attributed the rising rate of autism to "diagnosis shifting," meaning children who in past years might have been classified as having mental retardation or speech/language difficulties are now being diagnosed as having autism.

This study refutes that theory.

"By looking at trends in other classifications, we see that this increase is not seen across the board in all [special] ed classifications," Newschaffer said. "This is not a rising tide lifting all boats."

Increases in autism prevalence were greatest for kids born from 1987 to 1992. And while prevalence continued to increase among kids born after 1992, the increases were not as great.

"This may represent a slowing of the rate of increase -- not a decrease," Newschaffer reasoned. It may also be the result of a 1997 change in federal law allowing special ed agencies to classify kids over age 5 as having a "developmental delay," he added. It could mean more children will be classified as being autistic at a later age.

All of this presents a major challenge to the nation's special education system. And to parents of kids with autism, it means either qualifying for financial assistance or paying for special therapists themselves.

"It's not uncommon for me to hear parents spending $30,000 to 40,000 a year," Shih said.

He added, "If this trend continues, it could be possible that we would no longer be able to care for everyone who deserved the care."

Meantime, controversy continues to swirl over a hypothetical link between the childhood vaccine given to prevent measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) and autism.

That possible connection, first raised in a widely reported 1998 study in The Lancet, led by British gastroenterologist Dr. Andrew Wakefield, has been discredited in several prominent studies since then.

A May 2004 report from the Institute of Medicine (news - web sites) concluded that neither the mercury-based vaccine preservative thimerosal nor the MMR are associated with autism. And last week, Japanese and British researchers again disproved the connection in a study of 30,000 Japanese kids that was published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

Yet, many parents and patient advocates remain suspicious. The National Autism Association, for one, insists that vaccines have not been cleared as a cause of autism.

"There is a great deal of evidence supporting a link between vaccines and autism," the association said in statement reacting to a report on NBC Nightly News. "Even [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites)] CDC director Julie Gerberding has not ruled out that possibility, as she indicated in her statement on the Today show, 'Right now, the scientific evidence doesn't provide any framework for concluding that thimerosal or immunizations in any way affect autism, but we have to have an open mind about that.'"

Journalist David Kirby explored the issue in his new book Evidence of Harm. "No one can say with certainty that thimerosal, the vaccine preservative made with 49.6 percent mercury, helped fuel the explosion in cases of autism, attention-deficit disorder, speech delay and other disorders over the past decade," he wrote. "But no one can say for certain that it did not."

-------------------
More information

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development can tell you more about autism.

Source

The statement by the NAA is telling as the quote the CDC director's statement which doesn't appear to say what they think it says at all.

 

[Anconite]

I have identical twin half brothers who are autistic. Not much is know as to what causes autism, but According to thier mother, they were normal until the age of three when they got thier immunizations. Back in the day (they are approx 17 now) vaccines contained mercury. She believes that this caused or had a role in the development of autism. The government denies this, but some parents of autistic children from that generation believe it to be so.

The strange thing is, that while the boys are identical twins, they have differing degrees of autism. One is "higher functioning" than the other.
They do not handle strange situations or people well. They are not expressive of thier feelings or "loving" towards thier mother except on very rare occasions, or if they get overwhelmed and angry.

Both are very sensitive to body "pressure". Regardless of the weather, they wear long pants and hoodies. When they go to bed they wrap themselves head to foot in blankets. The constant contact on thier skin calms them. The brother who does not do so well at school brings a security blanket that he can wrap himself in so that he can calm himself.

They share a common, almost "rain man" interest in Pokemon. Everything that there is to know about Pokemon the game, the cartoon, the movies, etc. they know. They also are extremely adept with computers. Common to many autistic kids, they are very very private. Not that they have anything to hide, but they do not like thier mother or each other touching thier things. They are always passwording the family computer from each other, which drives thier mom nuts.

It would be interesting to know if some cases of autism were caused or accelerated by the mercury vaccines of the early 80s. Nobody really wants to do the research on it... especially since if it was found to be the case, the US government would have some 'splainin to do.

 

[rynner2]

Anconite, have your half-brothers got into Sudoku at all?
It strikes me as something that an autistic savant might well excel at.

 

[Anconite]

No, not that I am aware of. I should mention it to my mother next time we talk. It is difficult to get them to do anything outside of thier current interest area. For example they will not read, absolutely refuse to, unless the book is a Pokemon book (or similar.)

Like i said before they do not like new things.

They did however do well swimming, autistic children respond well to water because of the pressure and the way it feels is calming. there have been several autistic children on my sons swimming team as well, and they do quite good.

 

[Anonymous]

I would recommend, if you are interested, looking at a psychopathological development book (Wenar and Kerig) for an undergraduate perspective on autism - it is written (sadly quite American - if you get my drift) in an accessible style and offers a reasonable amount on the latest perspectives pertaining to autism.

 

[Anconite]

next time i go to the library i will look for it, i would love to learn more.
I'm sure my mother has read it, she's quite the activist for her boys and stays on top of the latest information.

 

[Anonymous]

She might not be happy in that most psych text books show that the correlation between vaccines and autisms is...not very strong at present.

 

[Anconite]

Yes she knows. I dont believe she blames their autism entierly on the vaccines. Its just that there is a possibility that it did affect the children and that it isnt being pursued as she and others believe that it should.

 

[Anonymous]

Always good to pursue other lines of enquiry - but from what I have read, it appears that vaccines aren't to blame - indeed, it appears that autism is genetically transmitted; however, in some people it needs an environmental trigger (or usually two plus) and there is, of course, a slim possibility that a mutliple vaccine may be that cause. More importantly, people forget how important vaccines are, and that the death and illness count from banning these medicines (or allowing a parental choice of 'no' - which is wrong) would increase infant mortality.

People (naturally) want to find a 'cause' elsewhere and these avenues should be investigated - however, people should not call for bans etc when the evidence has not been fully researched.

 

[Bullseye]

(or allowing a parental choice of 'no' - which is wrong)

So the medical proffesion is never wrong and we should just let them do what they want ?. ,great idea,let's just allow all those in "authority" to tell us what we must do with our kids !

 

[MaxMolyneux]

Seems it's mostly mothers that feel the MMR vacine it causes it they don't know why they just feel their kids are fine until they get there needles. I got them when I was a younger and didn't affect me, well I hope not.

 

[Kondoru]

My mother was suspicious of ALL jabs and so I didnt have any.

(you will be glad to know that I have had them all in adulthood.)

But I have mild Aspergers. (to my knowlege, no one else in the family has ASD)

Im female having a condition which is prevalently male...so where does that leave me?

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

My mother was suspicious of ALL jabs and so I didnt have any.

(you will be glad to know that I have had them all in adulthood.)

But I have mild Aspergers. (to my knowlege, no one else in the family has ASD)

Im female having a condition which is prevalently male...so where does that leave me?

It looks like the MMR vaccine doesn't cause autism and I have heard no claims that people think it causes Aspergers nor that it was prevalently male (I know more women with it than men but thats not a large scientific survey I suppose).

 

[Bullseye]

Only about 1 in 10 Autistics are female,similar stats for Aspergers, as for the MMR not causing autism...........well I'm just not going to fucking bother with that !

 

[ghostdog19]

We've taken our advice from my mother who is a health visitor, as a result we're definitaly taking our son for his all in one jab when the time comes (spring).

The press does a great job heightening fears while apparently telling the public what it apparently needs to know (in the interest of selling papers).

It should be remembered that parents are knocked from pillar to post with all manner of contradictory advice from the moment their child is born. It surprised me how bewildering such a responsibility could be. We're given far too much information, and I say far too much, because its like my mum pointed out, we're presented with options, because we demand them. And those options can sometimes be costly.

One example of what I mean by too many options and too much information:
When my wife was 10 weeks she was asked if she wanted Amniocentesis to determine if our child had downs or spinabifida (well, actually, the test is inconclusive, it just indicates chances of). The procedure is risky because it involves amniotic fluid being extracted from the amnion around a developing fetus. the risk is 1 in 400 and 1 in 200 fetal death. Odds far greater than those that tell you the chances of what you're baby may or may not have. It's a procedure conducted between weeks 14 to 16 of the pregnancy.

The risk of miscarriage due to the procedure is greater for women younger than 35, than the risk of carrying a child with chromosomal abnormalities.

My wife was 29 at the time. We had the most fraught 24 hrs trying to decide what to do. You want the best for your baby, so what do you do? We didn't have the Amniocentesis procedure. But boy does all the info play on your insecurities.

I asked the health visitor if this was an option my wife would have had four years ago. According to our health visitor, no. the procedure then was only offered to women 35 and over. But in these times of choice, anyone can have it. Just one more thing to worry about when you're carrying a child is the way my mum sees it. But sadly, its a sign of the times.

 

[Kondoru]

Its called balanced reporting.

Which is good in some ways, not in others

 

[crunchy5]

I heard this on the rad this morn so looked it up



* Massive rise in number of secondary pupils with autism in past six years
* Campaigners say investigation needed into potential link with MMR vaccine
* They claim parents should have the choice of single vaccinations instead

Key quote
"The number of young children who have this previously very rare diagnosis is reaching epidemic proportions and it is being ignored by the medical establishment." - Bill Welsh, chairman of Action Against Autism

Story in full
A MASSIVE surge in the number of autistic schoolchildren in Scotland has been exposed after figures showed an increase of more than 600 per cent in secondary pupils with the condition in the past six years.
Advert for The Scotsman Digital Archive

Official statistics show 825 pupils were diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder in state secondaries in 2005, compared with 114 in 1999 - an increase of 623 per cent. Over the same period, the number of autistic youngsters in primary schools more than quadrupled, from 415 to 1,736.

The increases emerged in a written parliamentary answer to be made public today.

Campaigners last night said the figures were further proof that an urgent investigation was needed into the rise in the condition and its potential link with the triple mumps, measles and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

Although no link has ever been clinically proven, campaigners say parents should have the choice of giving their children single vaccinations instead.

Bill Welsh, the chairman of Action Against Autism, said: "Nobody has offered a plausible explanation as to why this has happened.

"This is not a Scottish problem; it is a developed world problem, because the same thing is happening in America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. One common factor affecting children throughout the developed world is the vaccination issue.

"The number of young children who have this previously very rare diagnosis is reaching epidemic proportions and it is being ignored by the medical establishment.

"This is a tragedy for every child concerned and yet our politicians concentrate on soft areas like obesity and ignore the difficult questions, like why we have so many children with neurological problems."

Mr Welsh said the situation amounted to an apparent "public health crime". He added: "We need truly independent, clinical research into why these children withdraw into the world of autism."

The figures break down autism cases by local authority and show wide variations across the country.

Aberdeenshire, for instance, recorded a 533 per cent increase among primary pupils over the six-year period, while in the Borders the rise was a relatively small 137 per cent.

Christine Grahame, the SNP MSP whose written question led to the publication of the figures, accused ministers of negligence by failing to take action to address the problem. She said: "I am concerned that ministers must have taken their eye off the ball, as these figures have risen year on year.

"Autism-specific inspections, for example, have been negligible, with no inspections carried out in mainstream schools at all last year.

"Although there has been some limited specialist support in education, there is no evidence that this has been matched amongst the key, allied, supporting health professionals.

"The growing numbers are bound to add to the pressure on front-line teaching staff, and those pupils with autism deserve to have the right level of support in place, not just from educational staff but also from supporting health professionals."

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Executive said the rise could partly be explained by increased awareness of the condition.

She also said the introduction of the Additional Support for Learning Act would improve education provision for children with special needs.

"We give local authorities £25 million a year for inclusion and we've also funded more classroom assistance to give teachers extra support," she said.

 

[rynner2]

The trouble with correlations is that they may not be proof that A causes B, merely that conditions are such that both A and B happen to be on the rise simultaneously.

So this rise in numbers of autistic kids (if real, and not due to a change in diagnostic methods), may well match other changes, like the number of kids with mobile phones, or playstations, or skateboards, etc.

The price of beer keeps going up, but so, it appears, does the amount of drink related crime! There's a correlation there, but few people would argue that dearer beer causes drunken crime! 8)

 

[zarathustraspake]

The trouble with correlations is that they may not be proof that A causes B, merely that conditions are such that both A and B happen to be on the rise simultaneously.

Well, yes, absolutely.

One thing about autism is that the age at which it tends to be identified is also roughly the age when children tend to have the MMR jab. But that does now appear to be coincidental rather than a causality.

As far as the evidence goes, the idea of an Autism-MMR link seems to be pretty much dead in the water now - at least among the scientific comunity, if not in the pages of the Daily Mail.

 

[Kondoru]

<Nods>

Why dont these people bother to go read the National Autistic Societys website??

Or is it preferable to be a new ager and blame conventional medicine?

 

[rynner2]

Doctor who sparked MMR scare could face misconduct charges
By Nic Fleming, Medical Correspondent
(Filed: 13/06/2006)

The doctor whose research sparked a worldwide scare over the safety of the MMR vaccine could be charged with serious professional misconduct.

Dr Andrew Wakefield is being investigated over a number of allegations after he published a report linking the triple jab, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella, with autism.

Draft charges being brought by the General Medical Council were reported yesterday to include publishing "inadequately founded" research, failing to get ethical committee approval, obtaining funding "improperly" and subjecting children to "unnecessary and invasive investigations".

In February 1998, Dr Wakefield and 12 other doctors published in The Lancet the results of a study into a bowel disease that might cause autism and which, the researchers suggested, could be triggered by the MMR jab. Just 12 children were involved in the research. The resulting controversy led to a slump in immunisation rates and cases of measles, mumps and rubella rose.

In April a 13-year-old boy died in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, of an infection caused by a reaction to the measles virus. He was the first person in 14 years in the UK to die after being infected with measles and had not received the MMR vaccine.

The GMC stressed that while an investigation was under way, initial charges could be dropped or added to before any future public hearing.

A spokesman said: "The GMC is currently investigating Dr Wakefield, and he has previously expressed his desire to co-operate with the investigation. During the course of an investigation, charges are drafted, and these charges are then investigated. As the investigation proceeds, these charges will evolve, and may be added to or dropped depending on what evidence comes to light.

"A doctor is formally charged when the charges are read out against him at the start of a hearing. No formal charges have been laid against the doctor, and no hearing date has been confirmed."

If found guilty at a hearing, Dr Wakefield, who was previously based at the Royal Free Hospital in north London, could be struck off the medical register, suspended, have restrictions placed on his practice or reprimanded, or there could be no penalty.

It was discovered in 2004 that at the time that he was preparing the Lancet paper, Dr Wakefield, 50, was being paid to look for evidence that could be used by parents who believed their children had been damaged by the MMR vaccine in order that they could take legal action.

Dr Richard Horton, the editor of The Lancet, said if he had known of the conflict of interest at the time he would not have published the original paper.

In October, an analysis of 31 MMR studies by the authoritative Cochrane Library, a collection of medical databases, concluded that there were no credible grounds for claims that the jab could cause serious harm.

The MMR vaccine was introduced in the UK in 1988. By 2005, the number of annual measles infections had dropped to 77, from over 100,000 in the 1960s. There were about 100 in the first three months of this year.

Simon Dinnick, of the lawyers Radcliffesbrasseur, said: "Dr Wakefield strongly contests the allegations. There is an investigation in train. The allegations such as we know of are being strongly resisted."

http://tinyurl.com/eadee

 

[Qestia]

"The MMR vaccine was introduced in the UK in 1988. By 2005, the number of annual measles infections had dropped to 77, from over 100,000 in the 1960s. There were about 100 in the first three months of this year. "

This is also tangetial but why do they not tell us how many measles cases were in 1987--before the MMR was introduced--vs. 2005? Why--because the incidence of measles started dropping before the vaccine was introduced. If we found out that hygiene, etc., had played a greater role in the elimination of measles than this non-completely-safe vaccine, we'd probably be less likely to want to inject our kids with it.

That said I did just have my son get his MMR.

 

[Min Bannister]

This is also tangetial but why do they not tell us how many measles cases were in 1987--before the MMR was introduced--vs. 2005? Why--because the incidence of measles started dropping before the vaccine was introduced.

There was a measles vaccine pre-MMR.

 

[George_millett]

Article from the Times Website:

MMR vaccine scare 'must be dismissed
By Mark Henderson

MORE children are likely to die from measles unless a line is drawn under the discredited link between the MMR vaccine and autism, 30 leading paediatricians said yesterday.
Parents had been “confused and dangerously misled” over the risks of the triple jab against measles, mumps and rubella, they said in an open letter to media, politicians and health professionals.

There is no evidence to support the theory, advanced by Andrew Wakefield, that it can trigger autism or bowel disease, they said. The scare, however, has contributed to the return of measles, which this year killed a child for the first time since 1992.

“The time has come to draw a line under the question of any association between MMR vaccine and autism,” the doctors said. “The UK’s children are in danger of serious illness or death if left unimmunised. The number of confirmed cases of measles has increased dramatically this year.

“A large body of scientific evidence shows no link between the vaccine and autism or bowel disease. Confidence in the safety of MMR had been returning and its uptake slowly increasing. It would be tragic if it is once again shaken by ill-informed reporting of inadequate, preliminary research and supposition.

“It is not too late to avert this predictable tragedy. It is time that due weight is given to the overwhelming body of scientific evidence in favour of the vaccine.”

The letter was organised by David Elliman, of Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London, and Helen Bedford, of the Institute of Child Health in London. Signatories include Patricia Hamilton, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

The letter was prompted by recent reports of a conference presentation in which scientists in the US purported to have found measles virus in the guts of children with autism. Though the scientist behind the work explicitly said that this did not show the MMR vaccine had caused the condition, and the study had no control group, it was widely claimed to be fresh evidence of a link.

 

[rynner2]

MMR deception doctor struck off

A doctor whose clinics gave more than 1,000 children potentially faulty vaccines has been struck off.
The single-dose vaccines against measles, mumps and rubella were given at two private practices run by Dr David Pugh in Elstree and Sheffield.

One doctor told the General Medical Council (GMC) he feared children would be "poisoned" by the vaccines.

The GMC ruled Dr Pugh, who ran Lifeline Care Ltd, was guilty of "a serious breach" of professional standards.

It decided that his name should be immediately erased from the medical register because of the "serious nature" of its findings.

'Abuse of trust'

The GMC cited four areas in which his behaviour was "fundamentally incompatible" with remaining on the register: failure to provide an acceptable level of care, exploitation of vulnerable patients, repeated dishonesty and abuse of trust.

Dr Pugh had earlier admitted instructing one of his staff on how to prepare multiple doses of the vaccinations despite them having no medical or pharmaceutical qualifications.

He also admitted that the two clinics had decanted individual vaccines into multi-dose containers.

Dr Joel Bonnet, director of public health at Hertsmere Primary Health Trust, previously told a GMC panel he had had a number of meetings with Dr Pugh to discuss concerns about how the clinics administered the vaccines.

Dr Bonnet said Dr Pugh was told he would need to carry out a "recall procedure" for all 1,013 children vaccinated at the clinics since 2003.

The panel found that the letters he sent out to parents made a "number of misstatements" about his actions and the "possible consequences".

Children at risk

Dr Bonnet told the hearing he had been concerned about the potential for the children to have been "poisoned" or given an infection from the vaccines, and that the youngsters were at "greater risk" of contracting measles, mumps or rubella.

The panel had also heard that a number of parents had asked for tests to be carried out to discover if their children were effectively immunised.

Blood samples were sent to an independent laboratory, but in four of the reports received back Dr Pugh falsified the results and passed them on.

In December 2004, Pugh was sentenced to a nine-month jail term by Cambridge Crown Court after pleading guilty to four counts of using a false instrument with intent.

Dr Pugh, formerly of Bradmore Green, Brookmans Park, Hatfield, Herts, did not attend the hearing and is thought to be living in Runaway Bay, Queensland, Australia. He has 28 days to appeal against the GMC's decision.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sout ... 216258.stm

Runaway Bay.... 8)

 

[MrRING]

Mercury Mom Vs. Autism

New Book Examines Autism Debate

A medical controversy is getting new attention with the publication of a book that explores the possible link between autism and childhood vaccines containing mercury. It's an issue that 11Alive's Investigators examined three years ago after a metro Atlanta mother began leading the push for more research.

Lyn Redwood of Fayette County is known as a "mercury mom." She was one of the first in the country to suspect that her child's autism was caused by mercury poisoning."Every physical and developmental symptom that he had is found in the mercury literature, from the problems with speech, communication, sensory problems," Redwood said.

She found her first clue in 1999, when the FDA revealed that babies who received multiple doses of vaccines containing a mercury preservative called thimerosal may have been exposed to more mercury than recommended by federal guidelines.

In his first 18 months, Will Redwood received 15 vaccines with thimerosal. Years later, his mom had a lock of his baby hair tested. "EPA's action level for mercury in the hair is one part per million. Will's levels were 4.8 parts per million. Five parts per million is diagnostic for mercury toxicity," Redwood said.

Redwood now plays a leading role in a new book called "Evidence of Harm," which explores the battle between parents and the medical establishment. "I'm not telling people how to think," said author David Kirby He told 11Alive Investigator Jennifer Leslie that he wants readers to draw their own conclusions. His book analyzes research on both sides of the debate, including a report issued last May by the Institute of Medicine that rejects a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism.

Other more recent studies suggest there is a link.

"Whether and when causation will be either determined or completely refuted, I don't know," Kirby said. "Maybe in a court of law, perhaps in the vaccine court, perhaps in the medical journal. It's going to take awhile more." And Redwood plans to keep the debate going, as president of a group called "Safe Minds" that's already spent almost half-a-million dollars on research.

She said her son, who's now 11 years old and doing remarkably well, deserves answers. Officials with the CDC based in Atlanta insist there is no connection between thimerosal and autism based on the best science available today.

But as a precaution, beginning six years ago, manufacturers stopped using thimerosal as a preservative in childhood vaccines. With the exception of the flu shot, vaccines for today's children contain either no thimerosal or only trace amounts.

 

[gl5211]

i had all of the required vaccinations as a child and i still had almost all the "childhood" diseases. mumps, measles and rubella. though the funnyu thing was i never had chicken pox and my mother "exposed" me more than once and even my sister got and i didn't get it until i was 20 omg it was horrible. Also it is a myth you can't get that one over again my mother has had it three times. And her doctor told her while it is rare it is possible to get that one again so beware. I was quite worried though that the vaccinnes might not work on my daughter thankfully she has not had any of those diseases but we have had enough problems with her juvenille arthritis and allergies. Though I will say her health problems are minor compared to many of the children she attends school with. Her school has a fulltime registered nurse and many children with health issues or special needs are sent to her school. I don't know if they do this in the UK but here there aren't "special" schools all the children are mainstreamed. My little girl has an austic boy in her class last year. He was the sweetest little boy you could imagine and all the children love him so much. Her teacher told me she never once had to ask the children to help him or look out for him they just did if he would start to wander off they would just take his hand and say come on chris this way. I will say everyday i go to her school i am always amazed by the compassion the children have for each other, helping each other and looking out for each other, i will say it does give me hope for the future.