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Zurama - Autistic by Injection

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Member since: Sep 23, 2007
Last logged in: Sep 05, 2008

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Parent, ABA, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Biomedical Intervention

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Zurama's Bio

I am the mother of five children, the youngest Michael or Mickie as we like to call him, was diagnosed with Autism at 22 months old.After years of early intervention therapy, which didn't work. I learned through trial and error that he had underlying biomedical problems that culminated in Autism like symptoms, including, chronic digestive problems since the age of one, when he received the MMR vaccine.
With biomedical interventions, gfcf and SCD diets, Mickie's body is starting to heal. Some of the most severe symptoms, head banging, night waking, self injurious behaviors are almost gone.
He lost all speech by the age of three. He is now 10 years old and has just started to say mama, for the first time in almost 8 years.

Favorite Blogs (1)

IQ Testing for Nonverbal Abilities

February 21, 2006
IQ Testing for Nonverbal Abilities Yields Dramatically Improv...Read more

By 4muskateers on 04.23.08
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Zurama's Blogs

Autism group: Advertisers dropping Savage

by Zurama on 07/25/2008

Advocates from Autism United gathered in lower Manhattan Friday to announce a host of advertisers have pulled out of nationally syndicated radio talk ...

Oxytocin increases thresholds of colonic visceral perception in patients with irritable bowel syndrome

by Zurama on 07/24/2008

D Louvel, M Delvaux, A Felez, J Fioramonti, L Bueno, Y Lazorthes, J Frexinos

Laboratory of Digestive Motility, Gastroenterology Unit, CHU Rangueil,...

Autistic Man Recovering After Rescue In Wis.

by Zurama on 06/25/2008

Autistic Man Recovering After Rescue In Wis.

By Steve Karnowski Associated Press. tinyurl.com/52vweo

Keith Kennedy's parents figure ...

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Autistic Man Recovering After Rescue In Wis.

By Steve Karnowski Associated Press. tinyurl.com/52vweo

Keith Kennedy's parents figure they'll never know why their autistic 25-year-old son wandered away from a camp for developmentally disabled adults and spent a week lost in the woods. They're just grateful rescuers found him in time.
      And Bruce and Linda Kennedy, as well as their son's doctor, say they likely will never know how he managed to survive without the skills to fend for himself, and with a failing transplanted kidney.
      Keith Kennedy was dehydrated, suffering from hypothermia, naked, filthy, and covered with ticks and bug bites when a St. Paul firefighter found him Sunday evening. He was in thick brush next to a creek bed on swampy ground about a mile from the camp in northwestern Wisconsin. He had been missing for just a half-hour shy of a full week, and didn't take his anti-rejection drugs.
      "How did he survive? He's a very lucky young man," Dr. Timothy Whelan of the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview, told reporters Monday. He probably had just hours left to live by the time he was found, the doctor said.
      But by Monday morning, Kennedy's condition was stable and improving. His temperature was back to normal from a low of around 84 and he was getting fluids. The ticks weren't the type that carry Lyme disease, but Kennedy was getting antibiotics as a precaution.
      "Right now his kidney function is not very good, but he is making urine," Whelan said. He said it hadn't been necessary so far to put him on dialysis, and the doctor said he was optimistic that the kidney Kennedy received from his father in a 1995 transplant would recover well enough.
      Kennedy's clothes weren't immediately found. Whelan noted that it's not unusual for hypothermia victims to think they're hot and take their clothes off. But Linda Kennedy said it wouldn't have been unusual for her son to take his clothes off "if they were wet or awful." Fortunately, temperatures were mild.
      The 13 campers at the Trade Lake Camp in Grantsburg, Wis., had just been given their nighttime snacks and the others were heading off to bed when Kennedy disappeared June 15. Staffers speculate he sneaked back to the cafeteria to get more popcorn, then ran off because he was afraid of getting in trouble.
      Hundreds of volunteers joined law enforcement officers, firefighters and medics in the search that followed. His parents prayed for a miracle and refused to give up hope, but by Sunday evening had begun discussing with authorities whether to scale back the search. When they heard shouts that he had been found, they got in the sheriff's car so quickly they didn't get confirmation that he was alive until they were en route to the scene.
      "I can't even put it into words," Linda Kennedy said, choking up with emotion. "You can only imagine what we've been going through. It's parents' worst nightmare, it's my definition of hell on earth. It's a nightmare that just wouldn't end. And it's just so incredible how everything came together and we're at this point now. We're just so grateful and so hopeful."
      Bruce Kennedy said it would have been fascinating to have followed his son on his journey. But his son, who can speak only four words, isn't likely to provide any insights on what happened.
      "We're not anticipating him communicating anything about this," he said. "He's never spoken in the past tense in his life."
      Keith Kennedy had been a "runner" since he was 3 years old, his mother said. The parents kept their Minneapolis home where he grew up tightly secured. "Our house really, truly was like Fort Knox," she said. They tried constantly to make sure someone knew where in the house he was, but he would still manage to escape go to nearby stores or factories, they said.
      "I think he bit off more than he could chew," Bruce Kennedy said. "I think he got overwhelmed and he lost his bearings and somehow landed in a horrible spot. But maybe we'll never know."
      Whelan said there's no good way to know if Kennedy ate or drank anything in the woods, though his mother said he would have known enough to drink from a stream if he was able. He probably lost a lot of weight, though his doctor and parents didn't know how much.
      Searchers had passed near the spot where he was found at least a couple times, but it wasn't clear if he was there yet or ended up there later. Linda Kennedy said the lesson is that it's imperative for searchers to keep going back over areas that have already been checked.
      The Kennedys, who live in Roseville while their son lives in a group home in Shoreview, said they'll likely stay glued to either side of him when they take him out in public again. Bruce said he was going to do some research into GPS tracking devices. And they weren't sure if they'll let him go to camp again.
      "When hell freezes over," Linda Kennedy joked.

DO SOMETHING ABOUT AUTISM NOW
SUBSCRIBE. . . !

. . . Read, then Forward the Schafer Autism Report.

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Helping HANDS for Autism Act Introduced in the House

by Zurama on 06/24/2008

Helping HANDS for Autism Act Introduced in the House
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By Carin Yavorcik

Bill provides for lifespan au...

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Helping HANDS for Autism Act Introduced in the House
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By Carin Yavorcik

Bill provides for lifespan autism services and awareness

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a companion to the Helping HANDS for Autism Act this week.

The Helping HANDS for Autism Act (HR 6282) is a three-part legislative package designed to support families dealing with autism spectrum disorders, increase awareness among first responders and public safety officials and provide housing options and services for adults with autism. It was introduced by Reps. Kay Granger (R-TX), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Mike Doyle (D-PA), Dan Burton (R-IN) and Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX). The bill is a companion to S 2950, introduced in the Senate last April.

An estimated 30 million people in the world have an autism spectrum disorder, 1.5 million in America alone. Every day in America, 60 families learn their child has autism. These families face challenges of care, support, education, financial hardship and medical and health care issues that make autism a national public health issue. Though there is no cure, autism is treatable and individuals with autism have tremendous potential. What the Bill Does:

1. Creates a grant program to provide "autism navigator" services to help families navigate the web of services and care they need. Navigators will help guide families to current health, education, housing and social services that are often available to individuals on the autism spectrum. Too often, families feel overwhelmed after diagnosis and often lost as to where to turn for help. The program will help connect families to important treatment options soon after diagnosis, help families identify education options, and help coordinate individuals' care and community support.

2. Provides for the development, demonstration and dissemination of a standard curriculum for the training of first responders (police, fire departments, emergency medical technicians and other volunteers) in assisting individuals with autism and other cognitive behavioral disabilities. It provides grants to states and local governments to support training of first responders. People with developmental disabilities, including autism, have up to seven times more contact with law enforcement officers than others, according to an article in the F.B.I. Law Enforcement Bulletin in April 2001. That is why training is so important. Something as simple as first responders turning off flashing lights and sirens on a police car could make the difference between a peaceful or chaotic encounter.

3. Creates a HUD task force comprised of appropriate national and state autism advocacy groups, community-based organizations and parents who are charged with developing a housing demonstration grant program for adults with autism. The goal of the grant program is to provide individualized housing and services to adults with autism spectrum disorders.

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CNN: Should I Vaccinate My Baby?

by Zurama on 06/24/2008

By Elizabeth Cohen

Five years ago, Kathye Petters-Armitage's first child received the exact vaccinations on the exact schedule recommended by her ...

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WHAT DISEASE DO YOU WANT YOUR CHILD TO GET?

by Zurama on 06/24/2008

By Julie Obradovic
Reprinted from Age of Autism

In the aftermath of the Green the Vaccines Rally, the inevitable criticism of the participants and...

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By Julie Obradovic
Reprinted from Age of Autism

In the aftermath of the Green the Vaccines Rally, the inevitable criticism of the participants and their purpose swooped in with the force of the thunderstorm that struck DC that afternoon.

In the recent years of being an "Autism activist", I have found it much easier to simply steer clear of this criticism. Message boards, Bloggers and editorials that paint me as a fear-mongering fool who uses her child as an experiment only put me in a bad mood.

Initially I was compelled to argue, fighting for my dignity and looking for compassion. What I realized is that is exhaustive work, and frankly, quite fruitless, especially when the bully you're battling is anonymous.

And so it has been that I have chosen to ignore the negativity and focus on the task at hand: finding a way to help families with Autism improve the health and well-being of their children, themselves, and their finances.

None-the-less, occasionally it becomes necessary to stand up and be heard. It's as if the opposition got a new memo on how to belittle one of "us", and frankly, it's annoying.

For starters, as JB Handley addressed in his essay "Moving the Goal Posts", we are now guilty of "changing the game". Evidently we can't make up our minds about what part of the vaccine or vaccines cause Autism.

Is it the mercury? Is it the aluminum? Is it both? Is it too many vaccines in combination? Somehow our inability to stick to one story makes us inauthentic.......

http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/06/what-disease-do.html

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What Autism Does to a Mother

by Zurama on 06/24/2008

From Redbook Magazine

Nicole Kalkowski knows that beyond the stress, fear, and family turmoil that come with learning that your child has this deva...

SICK HAMSTERS: MORE EVIDENCE THAT THIMEROSAL HARMS INFANTS

by Zurama on 06/24/2008

By Mark F. Blaxill

In his best-selling book Evidence of Harm, our Age of Autism colleague David Kirby saved his “final note” for a comment on the g...

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By Mark F. Blaxill

In his best-selling book Evidence of Harm, our Age of Autism colleague David Kirby saved his “final note” for a comment on the global legacy of thimerosal exposure in vaccines. In the book’s closing passage, he wrote:

“If thimerosal is one day proven to be a contributing factor to autism, and if U.S. made vaccines containing the preservative are now being supplied the world over, the scope of this potential tragedy becomes unthinkable.

“The United States, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, is not exactly the most beloved nation on earth. What if the profitable export of our vaunted medical technology has led to the poisoning of hundred of thousands of children? What then?”

As Bush Administration officials have moved with surprising determination to defend the safety both of the current flu vaccine program (which targets expectant mothers with injections of ethyl mercury) and past vaccine program recommendations (which permitted the injection of unintentionally excessive amounts of ethyl mercury in infants), one often overlooked implication of the Administration’s policy has been to make Kirby’s nightmare suggestion a reality. U.S. vaccine manufacturers have continued to ship thimerosal containing vaccine formulations all over the world, in effect offering a defiant double standard of mercury risk for infants from rich countries as compared to poor countries.........

http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/06/sick-hamsters-m.html

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2008 Annual Family Picnic

by Zurama on 06/24/2008

Thank you! 5th Annual TACA Picnic Raises $110,000 and Counting!

More than 2,200 people turned out for the fifth annual TACA family picnic presente...

Green Our Vaccines Rally

by Zurama on 06/24/2008

On June 4, 2008 the Green our Vaccines March & Rally occurred in Washington DC with hosts Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey. Rally speakers included: Rob...

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Autism on "Days of Our Lives": Is This a Good Thing?

by Zurama on 06/15/2008

Autism on "Days of Our Lives": Is This a Good Thing? Your Opinion Requested!

I think I watched two episodes of the soap opera Days of Our Lives bac...

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Autism on "Days of Our Lives": Is This a Good Thing? Your Opinion Requested!

I think I watched two episodes of the soap opera Days of Our Lives back in the 1970's. I haven't seen the show since then. So I have no clue whether this press release from Autism Speaks (which is working with the show's writing staff) represents a breakthrough or a pitfall for the autism community. Here's what the release has to say:
http://autism.about.com/b/2008/06/11/autism-on-days-of-our-lives-is-this-a-good-thing-your-opinion-requested.htm?nl=1
    The growing autism crisis – which has recently drawn increasing national attention -- is addressed in a personal manner beginning in the June 24 episode of NBC's daytime drama “Days of our Lives” in an insightful story based on the experiences of the series' head writer, Dena Higley, who, with her husband has raised Commisioner Abe Caver, Dr. Lexie Carver and Theo an autistic child of their own. NBC joins with Autism Speaks, the nation's leading autism advocacy organization, to help convey a message of hope and useful information during the course of the storyline.

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Letter to Pediatricians about GI Symptoms in Autistic Patients

by Zurama on 06/13/2008

In October 2006, the organization “Autism Speaks” convened a group of pediatric gastroenterologists and autism specialists to review the available evi...

TEACHING A CHILD WITH AUTISM

by Zurama on 06/13/2008

Products and Services
Materials to teach children
Our goal is to increase language and communication of skills of children who fall on the auti...

Kids Clear™ Detoxifying Clay Baths

by Zurama on 06/13/2008

Kids Clear™ is a 100% pure pharmaceutical grade bentonite clay that has a very high cation exchange capacity (a 98-107 meq/100g on the CEC scale), whi...

AUTISM SUPPORT PROJECT

by Zurama on 06/13/2008

Discovery Toys has sensational products that encourage multiple levels of learning for all children. For children with autism, the diversity and bread...

Hidden CDC Data Confirms Vaccine-Autism Link

by Zurama on 06/12/2008

Hidden CDC Data Confirms Vaccine-Autism Link

Press Release Contacts:

For Immediate Release CoMeD President [Rev. ...

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Hidden CDC Data Confirms Vaccine-Autism Link

Press Release                 Contacts:

For Immediate Release           CoMeD President [Rev. Lisa K. Sykes (Richmond, VA) 804-364-8426]

June 12, 2008                       CoMeD Sci. Advisor [Dr. King (Lake Hiawatha, NJ) 973-263-4843]

WASHINGTON, DC – A newly published study in the Journal of the Neurological Sciences,[1][1] the official journal of the Worl d Federation of Neurology,[2][2] links mercury from the Thimerosal in vaccines with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders.

This study represents six years worth of effort by independent researchers to gain access to hidden US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data in the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD).  In 2003, the Government Reform Committee of the US House of Representatives asserted, “(a)ccess by independent researchers to the Vaccine Safety Datalink database is needed for independent replication and validation of CDC studies regarding exposure of infants to mercury-containing vaccines and autism.”

Nonetheless, this new analysis of some of the data in the carefully guarded VSD database, documenting the mercury poisoning of a generation of American children, would never have been possible without the intervention of Congressional leaders, parent autism advocacy groups, and legal experts.  Ironically, only a few independent researchers have gained even this limited level of restricted access to the VSD database, despite the fact that the VSD Project is funded by hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.

The new study, led by Dr. Heather Young, Ph.D., a professor of epidemiology at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, examined the CDC-supplied medical vaccination records from the VSD of 278,624 children, born from 1990 through 1996.

This study calculated the average mercury exposure children incurred from routine childhood Thimerosal-containing vaccines, by year of birth, during their first year of life.  After calculating average mercury exposure by year of birth, the study then estimated the prevalence rates of various medical diagnoses for children born in each of the years examined.

The prevalence rate of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders correlated with the average mercury exposure children received: increasing/decreasing levels of mercury exposure from routine childhood Thimerosal-containing vaccines resulted in corresponding trends in prevalence rates of these diagnoses.  By contrast, medical outcomes presumed to be unrelated to mercury exposure did not correlate with the average levels of mercury exposure from routine childhood Thimerosal-containing vaccines.

Depending upon the specific neurodevelopmental disorder examined (autism, autism spectrum disorder, tics, emotional disturbance, attention deficit disorder-hyperactivity disorder, and developmental/learning disorder), the observed overall risk of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders was significantly higher (about 2- to 6- fold) following an additional 100 micrograms of mercury exposure.  For autism alone, the overall risk was about 2.5-fold higher following an additional 100 micrograms of mercury exposure.

These results demonstrate that the suspicions of those serving on the Government Reform Committee were correct: “…(t)o date, studies conducted or funded by the CDC that purportedly dispute any correlation between autism and vaccine injury have been of poor design, under-powered, and fatally flawed.  The CDC’s rush to support and promote such research is reflective of a philosophical conflict in looking fairly at emerging theories and clinical data related to adverse reactions from vaccinations.”

To financially support further research conducted by independent investigators in the VSD, please use the PayPal link on CoMeD’s website, http://www.mercury-freedrugs.org, for your tax-deductible contributions.  CoMeD, Inc. is a not-for-profit 501(C)(3) corporation actively engaged in legal, educational and scientific efforts to stop all use of mercury in medicine, and to ban the use of all mercury-containing medicines.

[1][1]      Young HA, Geier DA, Geier MR. Thimerosal exposure in infants and neurodevelopmental disorders:  An assessment of computerized medical records in the Vaccine Safety Datalink. J Neurol Sci. 2008 May 1 4. [Epub ahead of print] Article available at: http://www.pharmalot.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/thimerosal-vaccine-study.pdf

[2][2]      The World Federation of Neurology is a non-governmental organization associated with the World Health Organization (WHO).

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Child Experts Fail to Reveal Full Drug Pay

by Zurama on 06/09/2008

Pass the word: Only 287 signatures needed to reach 27,000 Against
TeenScreen! Click here:
http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html Pass t...

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Pass the word: Only 287 signatures needed to reach 27,000 Against
TeenScreen! Click here:
http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html Pass the word!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/us/08conflict.html?
ex=1213502400&en=23737184f344c4

ca&ei=5070&emc=eta1

New York Times
Child Experts Fail to Reveal Full Drug Pay
By Gardiner Harris and Benedict Carey
June 8, 2008
A world-renowned Harvard child psychiatrist whose work has helped
fuel an explosion in the use of powerful antipsychotic medicines in
children earned at least $1.6 million in consulting fees from drug
makers from 2000 to 2007 but for years did not report much of this
income to university officials, according to information given
Congressional investigators.

Senator Charles E. Grassley pushed three experts in child psychiatry
at Harvard to expose their income from consulting fees.

Dr. Joseph Biederman belatedly reported at least $1.6 million in
consulting fees.
By failing to report income, the psychiatrist, Dr. Joseph Biederman,
and a colleague in the psychiatry department at Harvard Medical
School, Dr. Timothy E. Wilens, may have violated federal and
university research rules designed to police potential conflicts of
interest, according to Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of
Iowa. Some of their research is financed by government grants.

Like Dr. Biederman, Dr. Wilens belatedly reported earning at least
$1.6 million from 2000 to 2007, and another Harvard colleague, Dr.
Thomas Spencer, reported earning at least $1 million after being
pressed by Mr. Grassley's investigators. But even these amended
disclosures may understate the researchers' outside income because
some entries contradict payment information from drug makers, Mr.
Grassley found.

In one example, Dr. Biederman reported no income from Johnson &
Johnson for 2001 in a disclosure report filed with the university.
When asked recently to check again, he reported receiving $3,500. But
Johnson & Johnson told Mr. Grassley that it paid him $58,169 in 2001,
Mr. Grassley found.

The Harvard group's consulting arrangements with drug makers were
already controversial because of the researchers' advocacy of
unapproved uses of psychiatric medicines in children.

In an e-mailed statement, Dr. Biederman said, "My interests are
solely in the advancement of medical treatment through rigorous and
objective study," and he said he took conflict-of-interest
policies "very seriously." Drs. Wilens and Spencer said in e-mailed
statements that they thought they had complied with conflict-of-
interest rules.

John Burklow, a spokesman for the National Institutes of Health,
said: "If there have been violations of N.I.H. policy — and if
research integrity has been compromised — we will take all the
appropriate action within our power to hold those responsible
accountable. This would be completely unacceptable behavior, and
N.I.H. will not tolerate it."

The federal grants received by Drs. Biederman and Wilens were
administered by Massachusetts General Hospital, which in 2005 won
$287 million in such grants. The health institutes could place
restrictions on the hospital's grants or even suspend them
altogether.

Alyssa Kneller, a Harvard spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed
statement: "The information released by Senator Grassley suggests
that, in certain instances, each doctor may have failed to disclose
outside income from pharmaceutical companies and other entities that
should have been disclosed."

Ms. Kneller said the doctors had been referred to a university
conflict committee for review.

Mr. Grassley sent letters on Wednesday to Harvard and the health
institutes outlining his investigators' findings, and he placed the
letters along with his comments in The Congressional Record.

Dr. Biederman is one of the most influential researchers in child
psychiatry and is widely admired for focusing the field's attention
on its most troubled young patients. Although many of his studies are
small and often financed by drug makers, his work helped to fuel a
controversial 40-fold increase from 1994 to 2003 in the diagnosis of
pediatric bipolar disorder, which is characterized by severe mood
swings, and a rapid rise in the use of antipsychotic medicines in
children. The Grassley investigation did not address research quality.

Doctors have known for years that antipsychotic drugs, sometimes
called major tranquilizers, can quickly subdue children. But
youngsters appear to be especially susceptible to the weight gain and
metabolic problems caused by the drugs, and it is far from clear that
the medications improve children's lives over time, experts say.

In the last 25 years, drug and device makers have displaced the
federal government as the primary source of research financing, and
industry support is vital to many university research programs. But
as corporate research executives recruit the brightest scientists,
their brethren in marketing departments have discovered that some of
these same scientists can be terrific pitchmen.

To protect research integrity, the National Institutes of Health
require researchers to report to universities earnings of $10,000 or
more per year, for instance, in consulting money from makers of drugs
also studied by the researchers in federally financed trials.
Universities manage financial conflicts by requiring that the money
be disclosed to research subjects, among other measures.

The health institutes last year awarded more than $23 billion in
grants to more than 325,000 researchers at over 3,000 universities,
and auditing the potential conflicts of each grantee would be
impossible, health institutes officials have long insisted. So the
government relies on universities.

Universities ask professors to report their conflicts but do almost
nothing to verify the accuracy of these voluntary disclosures.

"It's really been an honor system thing," said Dr. Robert Alpern,
dean of Yale School of Medicine. "If somebody tells us that a
pharmaceutical company pays them $80,000 a year, I don't even know
how to check on that."

Some states have laws requiring drug makers to disclose payments made
to doctors, and Mr. Grassley and others have sponsored legislation to
create a national registry.

Lawmakers have been concerned in recent years about the use of
unapproved medications in children and the influence of industry
money.

Mr. Grassley asked Harvard for the three researchers' financial
disclosure reports from 2000 through 2007 and asked some drug makers
to list payments made to them.

"Basically, these forms were a mess," Mr. Grassley said in comments
he entered into The Congressional Record on Wednesday. "Over the last
seven years, it looked like they had taken a couple hundred thousand
dollars."

Prompted by Mr. Grassley's interest, Harvard asked the researchers to
re-examine their disclosure reports.

In the new disclosures, the trio's outside consulting income jumped
but was still contradicted by reports sent to Mr. Grassley from some
of the companies. In some cases, the income seems to have put the
researchers in violation of university and federal rules.

In 2000, for instance, Dr. Biederman received a grant from the
National Institutes of Health to study in children Strattera, an Eli
Lilly drug for attention deficit disorder. Dr. Biederman reported to
Harvard that he received less than $10,000 from Lilly that year, but
the company told Mr. Grassley that it paid Dr. Biederman more than
$14,000 in 2000, Mr. Grassley's letter stated.

At the time, Harvard forbade professors from conducting clinical
trials if they received payments over $10,000 from the company whose
product was being studied, and federal rules required such conflicts
to be managed.

Mr. Grassley said these discrepancies demonstrated profound flaws in
the oversight of researchers' financial conflicts and the need for a
national registry. But the disclosures may also cloud the work of one
of the most prominent group of child psychiatrists in the world.

In the past decade, Dr. Biederman and his colleagues have promoted
the aggressive diagnosis and drug treatment of childhood bipolar
disorder, a mood problem once thought confined to adults. They have
maintained that the disorder was underdiagnosed in children and could
be treated with antipsychotic drugs, medications invented to treat
schizophrenia.

Other researchers have made similar assertions. As a result,
pediatric bipolar diagnoses and antipsychotic drug use in children
have soared. Some 500,000 children and teenagers were given at least
one prescription for an antipsychotic in 2007, including 20,500 under
6 years of age, according to Medco Health Solutions, a pharmacy
benefit manager.

Few psychiatrists today doubt that bipolar disorder can strike in the
early teenage years, or that many of the children being given the
diagnosis are deeply distressed.

"I consider Dr. Biederman a true visionary in recognizing this
illness in children," said Susan Resko, director of the Child and
Adolescent Bipolar Foundation, "and he's not only saved many lives
but restored hope to thousands of families across the country."

Longtime critics of the group see its influence differently. "They
have given the Harvard imprimatur to this commercial experimentation
on children," said Vera Sharav, president and founder of the Alliance
for Human Research Protection, a patient advocacy group.

Many researchers strongly disagree over what bipolar looks like in
youngsters, and some now fear the definition has been expanded
unnecessarily, due in part to the Harvard group.

The group published the results of a string of drug trials from 2001
to 2006, but the studies were so small and loosely designed that they
were largely inconclusive, experts say. In some studies testing
antipsychotic drugs, the group defined improvement as a decline of 30
percent or more on a scale called the Young Mania Rating Scale — well
below the 50 percent change that most researchers now use as the
standard.

Controlling for bias is especially important in such work, given that
the scale is subjective, and raters often depend on reports from
parents and children, several top psychiatrists said.

More broadly, they said, revelations of undisclosed payments from
drug makers to leading researchers are especially damaging for
psychiatry.

"The price we pay for these kinds of revelations is credibility, and
we just can't afford to lose any more of that in this field," said
Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, executive director of the Stanley Medical
Research Institute, which finances psychiatric studies. "In the area
of child psychiatry in particular, we know much less than we should,
and we desperately need research that is not influenced by industry
money."

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Vaccine Injured March on Capitol Hill

by Zurama on 06/06/2008

ADVOCACY

A Day of Remembrance:
Vaccine Injured March on Capitol Hill

By Barbara Loe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center. www.nvic...

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ADVOCACY

A Day of Remembrance:
Vaccine Injured March on Capitol Hill

By Barbara Loe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center. www.nvic.org

Barbara Fischkin, left, with Lujene Clark, a parent activist and founder of No Mercury, See Fischkin's commentary about the rally on the Huffington Post blog. tinyurl.com/4kot2l Photo by Christine Heeren of Lighthouse Studios.

They came by the thousands from all over the America. On June 4, 2008, mothers and fathers with vaccine injured autistic children marched down the middle of Independence Avenue and rallied at the foot of the nation's Capitol. Some parents walked with, held or pushed their children in strollers while others, whose children were too severely brain injured to attend, carried signs and photos. They had come to witness, in one way or another, what had happened to their children after vaccination.
      The day broke hot and humid with a threat of torrential rains that would have drenched the marchers. But then, the skies cleared and the sun came out in time for the determined parents and their children to gather on the grounds of the Washington Monument and line up behind Hollywood celebrities Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy leading the march and the "Green Our Vaccines" rally that would follow.
      Although the primary message of the march was to call on government health agencies to "remove toxins" from vaccines and "adjust the vaccine schedule" by reducing the numbers of vaccines given to infants simultaneously, NVIC supporters carried signs declaring "No forced vaccination. Not in America." As NVIC co-founder Kathi Williams and I walked past the long line of families waiting to begin the march, we and our now-grown children held up the signs featuring the American flag and statue of liberty. All the way down the line, the families of vaccine injured children clapped and cheered the message of freedom we carried to honor and empower them as we passed.
      And while many at the front of the line marching down Independence Avenue chanted "Too many, too soon," those of us bringing up the back of the line chanted "Hey, hey, Ho, ho - forced vaccines have got to go!" with an African American father urging us to shout louder and louder as we approached the Department of Health and Human Services. "Let them hear you," he yelled. "Tell them what you want."
      I looked at my 30-year old son, who became multiply learning disabled after a neurological reaction to his fourth DPT shot in 1980 when he was two and a half, as he walked beside me resolutely holding up our sign and shouting in a deep voice "Forced vaccines have got to go." When he was eight years old, I remembered marching in Atlanta in front of the Centers for Disease Control in 1986 with Kathi and the young mothers of babies who had been brain injured or died after DPT vaccination in the 1980's. We were the first generation to march in protest against toxic vaccines and one-size-fits-all government vaccine policies justified by the utilitarian premise that it is ethical to throw a minority of children under the bus in service to others.
      The second generation, whose children were born in the 1990's and developed autism after vaccination, held a series of rallies on Capitol Hill sponsored by Unlocking Autism beginning in 2000 when Congressman Dan Burton initiated congressional hearings on the link between autism and vaccines. In the summer of 2005, parents protesting mercury in vaccines marched and rallied on Capitol Hill. Today, the third generation knows that vaccine damage is about more than mercury. It is also about too much vaccination: 48 doses of 14 vaccines given by age six and 69 doses of 16 vaccines federal health officials now say children must get by the time they graduate from high school.
      At the rally podium, Jim Carey delivered a remarkable address that was also a sweet love letter to his partner, Jenny McCarthy. He said "Autism is everywhere. It is on every street and in every town" and he asked the CDC "How stupid do you think we are?"
      Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and physicians such as Jay Gordon, M.D. and professor of chemistry Boyd Haley, Ph.D. called for removal of toxins from vaccines. Jenny McCarthy, who is the celebrity spokesperson for Talk About Curing Autism Now (TACA), held up the government's childhood vaccine schedule and said "Parents need to know it is called a recommended schedule, not a mandatory schedule."
      Unfortunately, that may not be true in many states in the future. Lobbyists for drug companies making vaccines, medical organizations representing doctors who give vaccines and government health officials are pressing state legislators in every state to pass legislation that would automatically turn CDC new vaccine "recommendations" into state mandatory vaccination laws.
      This kind of proposed legislation was beaten back in the California legislature by the education efforts of autism activist Rick Rollens last year. But right now, the New York State legislature is about to capitulate to the Forced Vaccination Lobby and force children in New York to use every vaccine the CDC "recommends" or face punishment, including loss of the right to get an education.
      A rally of families protesting the proposed legislation will be held in Albany, NY at the Capitol Building at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 10. For more information, go to www.mykids mychoice.com
      I will never forget marching with parents and their vaccine injured children in Washington, D.C. on June 4, 2008. Just as I will never forget all the marches that have gone before during the past quarter century that parents have been asking those who operate and profit from the mass vaccination system to make vaccines and vaccine policies safer.
      Three decades of begging is long enough. Now it is time for all Americans - both those with vaccine injured children and those with healthy children - to  Stand Up and Be Counted for the human right to make informed, voluntary decisions about vaccination. Our freedom and the biological integrity of this and future generations is on the line. Without the legal right to say "no" to vaccination, the people have no economic or political leverage to protect themselves and their children from toxic vaccines and dangerous vaccine policies.
      The next march on Capitol Hill talking about vaccines should be all about freedom.
      (To view wonderful photos of the rally, go to the blog Adventures in Autism). adventuresinautism.blogspot.com/

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• • •

Other Media Coverage

Green Our Vaccine Rally

CBS: Led by actors Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey, they're marching against the medical establishment that says there's no evidence vaccines cause autism, CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook reports.
      "We want to send the message to the CDC and our federal government that vaccinations schedules are not one size fits all for all children and that each child is different," said concerned parent Michael Williamson.
      Their new battle cry: Spread out the vaccine schedule.
      "Thirty-six vaccines in the first few years of the life are too many too soon," Carrey said.
      By the time a child is two years old, the CDC recommends 14 different vaccines in as many as 28 doses. That may sound like a lot - but these shots have helped to wipe out diseases like smallpox, polio and measles, saving an estimated 33,000 lives a year, according to the CDC.
      Even so, some are asking: Why give so many vaccines over a relatively short period of time? Dr. Paul Offit helped invent one of those vaccines.
      "There is no advantage to spacing out, delaying or withholding vaccines," Offit said. "The only thing that will come of that kind of behavior will be allowing for a period of time to occur when children are at risk of vaccine preventable diseases."
      The activists are also worried about the preservatives used to keep vaccines sterile.
      Safety concerns about a mercury-based preservative called Thimerosol led to its removal from most childhood vaccines almost a decade ago. But since then autism rates have gone up, not down. Still, parents are asking lots of questions.
      "I would say that as a pediatrician I spend about 50 percent of my day talking about vaccines," said Pediatric Dr. Bruce Brovender.
      He insists his patients be vaccinated, but he's willing to compromise with parents - up to a point.
      Brovender warns them about the risks if they don't follow the schedule recommended by the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics.
      "They are 100 percent warned that by delaying or spacing them out they are not going to get the protection they need," Brovender said. "It's better to follow the academy's schedule, but it's better to get something than nothing."
      He says the marchers have forgotten the consequences of failing to vaccinate properly.
      "The child who didn't get the whooping cough vaccine and is now on a respirator and now may have permanent brain and lung damage," he said.

• • •

Washington Post: Marching for the Children

You never truly know what's real with any Hollywood couple, but when Jim Carrey travels cross-country to support Jenny McCarthy-- well, the relationship looks like a keeper. They've been together for two years, so there might be one of those ugly breakups around the corner -- but right now they seem so happy that it's hard to be snarky.
      The two came to Washington yesterday asking for changes in vaccines that some have linked to autism. McCarthy has been an activist since her 6-year-old son, Evan, was diagnosed, and the stars led a march and rally for 8,000 parents at the Capitol wearing "Green Our Vaccines" T-shirts (she paired hers with black jeans and black Converse sneakers, he wore khakis), reports our colleague Marissa Newhall.
      "Today I am not the celebrity," McCarthy told the crowd. "Today I am a mom of a child who had autism, who has a voice that is willing to shake the ground of those responsible until all of our children are safe."
      Organizers want to reduce what they say are harmful toxins in children's vaccines. Autism has increased dramatically along with the number of mandatory vaccines over the past 25 years; activists want the feds to study both vaccine requirements and ingredients.
      Carrey skipped the jokes and went straight to the heartstrings. "My daughter Jane, Jenny and Evan are the greatest things that ever happened to me, and learning how to love them has made me a man. So dads, hang in there. You need these kids as much as these kids need you."

Here are some links to media coverage regarding the event:

tinyurl.com/6orl9d

tinyurl.com/3ko5vh

abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=4987758

tinyurl.com/3ko5vh

www.people.com/people/article/0,,20204466,00.html
      
www.ageofautism.com/

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Mother Who Caged Teen Son Gets 20 Years in Prison

by Zurama on 06/03/2008

A Florida mother kept her 17-year-old adopted son in a cage in her home and starved him. She was sentenced to 20 years in jail for it, the Associated ...

Vaccine-Injury Advocates Gathering in Washington for June 4 Rally

by Zurama on 06/02/2008

News Release Contacts:
For immediate release Wendy Fournier (Portsmouth, RI) 401-8...

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News Release                                       Contacts:
For immediate release                        Wendy Fournier (Portsmouth, RI) 401-835-5828
6/2/08                                                    Rita Shreffler (Nixa, MO) 401-632-6452

Vaccine-Injury Advocates Gathering in Washington for June 4 Rally
Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey to hold largest ever rally on vaccine-autism link

Washington, DC – The National Autism Association (NAA) will join nearly forty other advocacy organizations in the June 4 “Green Our Vaccines” rally planned by Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey to draw attention to the vaccine-autism link.  Organized by Talk About Curing Autism (TACA), Generation Rescue, HEAL and Moms Against Mercury, the rally is generating enthusiasm among parents and caregivers who have long believed that their children’s autism symptoms were triggered by exposure to toxic vaccine components.

“It’s time for our nation’s health agencies to put our children first and get toxins out of vaccines,” said NAA vice-president Ann Brasher, grandparent of a vaccine-injured child diagnosed with autism. “Known poisons such as mercury and aluminum should never be injected into humans, especially infants and young children.  The needlessly aggressive vaccine schedule plus toxic vaccine ingredients have wreaked havoc on the health of an entire generation.”

The rise in autism and related diagnoses over the past 20 years is alarming, with one in 150 children now diagnosed with autism.  Additionally, one in six children has a learning or behavior disorder.  A growing number of parents and medical professionals believe increased exposure to toxic vaccines and the rise in children’s health issues are not coincidental.

Following the rally, thousands of parents will visit with their legislators to relay their personal stories of vaccine-injury and ask that legislation be supported on behalf of their vaccine-injured children.  NAA encourages its members and chapter leaders to ask for support for several specific pieces of legislation including:

* The Comprehensive Comparative Study of Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Populations Act of 2007, HR 2832
    * The Mercury-Free Vaccines Act of 2007, HR 881
    * The Vaccine Safety and Public Confidence Assurance Act of 2007, HR 1973

“This is a unique opportunity for parents to impact the direction of legislation that will make a difference in the lives of so many children that were injured simply because they followed the vaccine schedule,” commented Ms. Brasher.  “We are their voice, and we’re not going away until their injuries are recognized and appropriately addressed by our government and the medical community.”

For more information on autism, visit www.nationalautism.org.

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Two men walk in Nevada for autism awareness

by Zurama on 06/02/2008

Two men are walking their way across the country to raise awareness for autism.

Bobby Genese and his friend Robert Williams started their journey a...

Biomedical Autism Treatments

by Zurama on 06/01/2008

Did Your Doctor Tell You There Was, “Nothing You Could Do” To Help Your Child With Autism?

That Simply Isn't True.

I am among a group of physici...

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Did Your Doctor Tell You There Was, “Nothing You Could Do” To Help Your Child With Autism?

That Simply Isn't True.

I am among a group of physicians and other health care providers who understand that for many children with autism there are true underlying medical conditions at the root of their problems. Autism is not just a brain (neurodevelopmental) disorder, but rather a multi-system disorder, involving the immune, digestive, hormone, biochemical and detoxification systems in the body. The imbalance in these systems has profound effect their brain. When you treat a child’s underlying medical problems their autism symptoms may either disappear or get better.

For the past 10 years, I have treated hundreds of children in my private practice. Following my biomedical treatment program, many parents of these children have seen great success and have, “brought their children back” from autism. Others have seen their children improve in their health, behavior and quality of life – which ultimately translates into a happier and healthier family.
http://www.autismactionplan.com/

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Gastrointestinal Pathology in Autism: Description and Treatment

by Zurama on 05/31/2008

This paper adapted from a conference presentation, describes various lesions found in the gastrointestinal tracts of children with autism spectrum dis...

Thoughtful House Annual-Report-2007

by Zurama on 05/31/2008

Thoughtful House Annual-Report-2007
http://thoughtfulhouse.org/annual-report-2007.pdf...

Thoughtful House Newsletter-April/2008

by Zurama on 05/31/2008

Letter from Dr. Wakefield,
Thoughtful House Library,
Read more here,
http://thoughtfulhouse.org/newsletters/04-2008.pdf...

Share the Cause

by Zurama on 05/31/2008

Natural Cellular Defense with active Liquid Zeolite is a non-toxic mineral proven to remove heavy metals, balance pH and it may even prevent and/or cu...

The IEP Meeting

by Zurama on 05/31/2008

The School District Must Find an Appropriate Program for Your Child or Create One.

Once your child qualifies for special education, the process bec...

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What is a Parent Attachment and How Do You Make One?

by Zurama on 05/31/2008

Many times, parents do not intend to sign the papers at the IEP meeting, but everything looks acceptable and they sign. Then, that night, they see som...

A Few Sample Goals and Objectives from Dave Sherman's Book Autism:

by Zurama on 05/31/2008

A Few Sample Goals and Objectives from Dave Sherman's Book Autism: Asserting Your Child's Rights to a Special Education coming out Fall of 2006.

Sa...

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Assertiveness and Effective Parent Advocacy

by Zurama on 05/29/2008

This is a simple, but helpful advice.

Advocacy helps you get services for all special education children............
http://www.autismeducation.ne...

Advocating for your Child

by Zurama on 05/29/2008

Another great site I found while preparing for Mickie's IEP on Monday.

As the parent of a child with a disability, you have two goals:
To ensure t...

Wrightslaw Yellow Pages For Kids with Disabilities

by Zurama on 05/29/2008

I found this while doing a search on google.
Find educational consultants, psychologists, educational diagnosticians, health care providers, academic...