Archive 2001-2005
Media Articles and Books
The Secret Truth
By Dr. Darshak Sanghavi
The Boston Globe Magazine
(Subscription Required)
December 4, 2005
Parents used to accept routine vaccinations for their children without a second thought. But as more parents weigh the benefits of vaccination against the possible risks, some are hesitating, even resisting, those shots, as doctors struggle to persuade them of their safety. At stake is the health of a nation.
When quackery kills
By Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick
Spiked Health
November 4, 2005
The tragic death of a five-year-old autistic boy in the USA this summer following mercury chelation - a treatment now being promoted by groups of parent activists on both sides of the Atlantic - reveals the dangers of alternative therapies...
Of autism and vaccines: It's time to debunk the mercury myths
By Dr. Paul A. Offit
The Free Lance Star
September 25, 2005
At the time that Dr. Kerry injected Abubakar with EDTA, epidemiologic studies performed in three continents by four separate groups had found that vaccines don't cause autism. The findings were clear, consistent and reproducible.
MMR scare doctor faces list of charges
By Brian Deer
Times Online
September 11, 2005
10 Vaccine Myths — Busted
By Beth Howard
Baby Talk
September 2005
Why are immunizations under fire? Here's a hard look at the facts behind the hype.
Distrust Feeds Ignorance of Health Facts
By Mike King
The Atlanta Journal Constitution
July 28, 2005
A recent survey by the Atlanta-based American Cancer Society found that roughly half of Americans believe that surgery causes cancer to spread. And about 25 percent think that science has already found a cure for cancer, but it is being held back by a profit-driven health care industry.
Feds Again Dispute Vaccine-Autism Link
By Lauran Neergaard
July 19, 2005
The government assembled some leading scientists Tuesday to try again to lay to rest public suspicions that a mercury-based preservative once used in childhood vaccines causes autism. A day before parents who blame the chemical were to complain to Congress, federal health officials stressed that the only childhood vaccines that still contain the preservative are some, but not all, flu shots – and that there's no credible evidence that it caused the brain disorder anyway.
Meet the Press
Transcript for August 7
Mario Cuomo, former Governor, D - New York; Douglas Kmiec, Prof. of Constitutional Law, Pepperdine University, former Dean, Catholic University School of Law; David Kirby, author, "Evidence of Harm: Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic"; Dr. Harvey Fineberg, president, The Institute of Medicine
No Vaccine-Autism Link, Parents Are Told
By Gardiner Harris
New York Times
July 20, 2005
Top officials from three of the nation's premier public health agencies held an unusual news conference on Tuesday to say that childhood vaccines are life-saving medicines with no proven link to autism.
On Autism's Cause, It's Parents vs. Research
By Gardiner Harris and Anahad O'Connor
June 25, 2005
...Public health officials like Ms. Ehresmann, who herself has a son with autism, have been trying for years to convince parents like Ms. Rupp that there is no link between thimerosal - a mercury-containing preservative once used routinely in vaccines - and autism. They have failed.
Experts Reject Some Therapies
By Gardiner Harris and Anahad O'Connor
June 25, 2005
Practitioners are using nutritional supplements, sauna baths and powerful 'detoxification' drugs to treat autism in the belief that it is caused by thimerosal, a vaccine preservative that contains mercury. But health experts say such therapies are not effective and can be harmful.
Deadly Immunity
By Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Rolling Stone
Salon.com
June 16, 2005
When a study revealed that mercury in childhood vaccines may have caused autism in thousands of kids, the government rushed to conceal the data -- and to prevent parents from suing drug companies for their role in the epidemic...
Sticking Up for Thimerosal; Read the studies—it's safe.
Slate
By Arthur Allen
August 2, 2005
Bobby Kennedy Jr. accuses government vaccine scientists and their academic advisers of covering up what for him is an uncontestable fact: the causal link between a mercury-containing preservative called thimerosal in vaccines and a massive increase in childhood autism in America.
Debate over vaccines, autism heats up ; Parents plan rally today; health officials reject link
By Anita Manning
USA Today
July 20, 2005
On the eve of a scheduled rally in Washington by parents of children with autism, leaders of federal health agencies and medical societies called a news briefing Tuesday to emphasize their message that childhood vaccines are safe and don't cause autism.
Sensationalistic charges (Letter to the Editor)
By Kathleen Seidel
July 12, 2005
With his sensationalistic accusations of incompetence and deception, conspiracy and coverup, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. functions as yet another public relations rep for a subset of the 'autism community' that seeks to hold pharmaceutical companies, doctors and public agencies liable for a disability that is an enduring aspect of the human condition with a well-documented genetic component.
Mistrust rises with autism rate; Role of vaccines still disputed
By Anita Manning
July 7, 2005
The argument over what is causing soaring rates of autism has reached a boiling point with furious parent groups and their famous allies accusing scientists and public health officials of hiding information to cover up their own mistakes.
Agencies lack credibility (Op-Ed)
By Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
USA Today
July 6, 2005
The success of our vaccine program rests firmly on the credibility of public health agencies. But the once sterling reputations of agencies such as the CDCP, FDA and the IOM have been badly damaged...
Autism link unproven (Editorial)
July 6, 2005
Thanks to vaccines, diseases that killed or maimed millions throughout most of human history have been virtually eradicated. This remarkable achievement is periodically threatened by suspicions about vaccines that might prompt parents to resist getting their children inoculated.
Childhood Vaccines Pose No Extra Risk for Diseases, Study Finds
By Rob Stein
Washington Post
August 10, 2005
Contrary to some fears, childhood vaccines do not appear to overwhelm the immune system and make youngsters prone to other infections, according to the largest study to examine the issue.
Vaccines Have Eliminated Many Childhood Diseases (Letter to the Editor)
By Dr. Monica Martin Globe, M.D.
Wall Street Journal
July 27, 2005
(subscription required)
True, true and unrelated. That seems to fit the proposed autism-vaccine link when one examines the data. Yes, reported rates of autism have increased since the late 1980s and yes, that was when thimerosal first appeared in childhood vaccinations. But there are no reliable data to prove a cause-and-effect relationship.
There Is No Thimerosal-Autism Conspiracy (Letter to the Editor)
By Michael Fumento
July 14, 2005
(subscription required)
What unfortunate timing for Mr. Kennedy! His letter appeared at the same time the vaccine conspiracy group Safe Minds -- his own allies -- posted the full transcript of the 'secret' Simpsonwood Conference that he used in his article to allege the existence of a massive conspiracy to cover up the connection between thimerosal-preserved vaccines and autism.
There Is No Thimerosal-Autism Conspiracy (Letter to the Editor)
By Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Wall Street Journal
July 8, 2005
(subscription required)
Michael Fumento bases his defense of thimerosal on the assurances by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM), but these are the same government agencies that green-lighted thimerosal for use in children's vaccines and that have ignored biological, toxicological and epidemiological studies linking thimerosal to a wide range of neurological disorders.
Immune to Reason (Op-Ed)
By Michael Fumento
Wall Street Journal
June 24, 2005
(subscription required)
Other than UFOs, there may be no hotter topic for conspiracy theorists than the claim that childhood vaccines cause autism.
Autism and Vaccines (Editorial)
Wall Street Journal
February 9, 2004
(subscription required)
For the past few years, a small coterie of parents has taken to loudly claiming that thimerosal, a preservative used in vaccines for 60 years, is the cause of autism in their children. We felt someone ought to point out that nothing currently exists in the medical world to justify this furor...
Infectious Politics (Editorial)
Wall Street Journal
October 14, 2004
(subscription required)
Americans are angry about the sudden shortage of flu vaccine, and well they should be. The problem is that vaccine companies face tremendous obstacles everyday. Any company brave, or foolish, enough to make vaccines has had to run an obstacle course of price controls, regulation and tort lawyers.
Vaccine Vindication (Editorial)
Wall Street Journal
May 19, 2004
(subscription required)
The IOM’s definitive report disavowing any link between childhood shots and autism will provide welcome reassurance to millions of parents, and should also head off a growing liability mess.
When Judges Play Doctor (Op-Ed)
By Dr. Paul A. Offit
Wall Street Journal
February 9, 2004
(subscription required)
In the spring of 2001, thimerosal was removed from all routinely recommended vaccines given to young infants. As a consequence, lawsuits claiming that vaccines cause neurological damage, specifically autism, are now quietly amassing across the country.
The Politics of Autism (Editorial)
Wall Street Journal
December 29, 2003
(subscription required)
For any parent, there are few more traumatic diagnoses than that a child suffers from autism. The claim is that thimerosal, an organic mercury compound, can cause neurodevelopmental disorders.
Where's My Flu Shot? (Editorial)
Wall Street Journal
December 9, 2003
(subscription required)
The reason for today's shortage -- as well as seven previous preventive vaccine shortages since 2000 -- is that there are just five vaccine makers. This lack of suppliers is partly thanks to Hillary Clinton, who as first lady turned government into the majority buyer of vaccines and pushed prices so low as to make business unsustainable.
Hillary's Vaccine Shortage (Editorial)
Wall Street Journal
August 15, 2003
(subscription required)
The panel from National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine issued a report on vaccines last week. But they identify as a fundamental cause of the problem the fact that the government purchases 55% of the childhood vaccine market at forced discount prices. The result has been 'declining financial incentives to develop and produce vaccines.'
Those Immoderate `Moderates' (Editorial)
Wall Street Journal
January 20, 2003
(subscription required)
Consider the way the three Senate GOP 'moderates' -- Maine's Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and Rhode Island's Lincoln Chafee -- recently arm-twisted new Majority Leader Bill Frist into repealing the vaccine liability provision that passed in last year's Homeland Security bill.
The Truth About Thimerosal (Editorial)
Wall Street Journal
December 5, 2002
(subscription required)
The story of thimerosal begins in the 1930s, when it was introduced into vaccines to prevent infections from fungus and bacteria. The preservative, an organic mercury compound, was so safe and uncontroversial that nobody even noticed it for 60 years. By 1999, researchers realized that kids were getting more shots these days, and that the thimerosal combined from all the vaccinations could, theoretically, slightly exceed an EPA mercury guideline.
Study Fuels Debate Regarding Vaccines, Autism
By Rachel Zimmerman
Wall Street Journal
November 29, 2002
(subscription required)
Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center found that infants given several common vaccines containing the preservative thimerosal had blood mercury levels that were 'comfortably' below current safety limits.
Compensating a Must For Vaccine Injuries (Letter to the Editor)
Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D., Calif.), Ranking Minority Member, Committee on Government Reform
Wall Street Journal
November 25, 2002
(subscription required)
In reaction to your Nov. 18 editorial 'Politicizing Vaccines': The homeland security bill contains several liability protection provisions. One provision concerns the smallpox vaccine. It limits the liability of manufacturers and health-care providers for injuries caused by this vaccine -- but does nothing to compensate the Americans who we know will be injured by the vaccine...
Politicizing Vaccines (Editorial)
Wall Street Journal
November 18, 2002
(subscription required)
The production of vaccines against bioterrorism hardly seems like a partisan idea. But all of sudden it's emerged as a hot political controversy, as Democrats object to an effort to offer liability protection for companies that could protect Americans from smallpox or the West Nile virus.
Immune to Reason (Editorial)
Wall Street Journal
October 23, 2001
(subscription required)
A rational public-health system would judge such fears against the proven benefits of vaccination. But in modern risk-phobic America, public agencies bend to the nearest political pressure. So in the wake of the FDA report the Centers for Disease Control recommended that vaccine makers remove mercury 'as rapidly as possible.'