NO BAD SCIENCE
At a town hall meeting Friday in Texas, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., declared that “there’s strong evidence” that thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative that was once in many childhood vaccines, is responsible for the increased diagnoses of autism in the U.S. — a position in stark contrast with the view of the medical establishment…
The Centers for Disease Control says “There is no convincing scientific evidence of harm caused by the low doses of thimerosal in vaccines, except for minor reactions like redness and swelling at the injection site.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics says”No scientific data link thimerosal used as a preservative in vaccines with any pediatric neurologic disorder, including autism.”
The Food and Drug Administration conducted a review in 1999 — the year thimerosal was ordered to be removed from most vaccines — and said that it “found no evidence of harm from the use of thimerosal as a vaccine preservative, other than local hypersensitivity reactions.”
The Institute of Medicine’s Immunization Safety Review Committee concluded “that the body of epidemiological evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism.”
And a study of California Department of Developmental Services data published last month indicated that there was “an increase in autism in California despite the removal of thimerosal from most vaccines.”
On the one hand you have the combined opinion of the scientists who actually know what they’re talking about. And on the other you have the candidate of the know-nothing anti-science party. Hmmm. Who should I believe?
2 Responses to “NO BAD SCIENCE”
 Comment by Jen March 4th, 2008 at 10:42 am |
As I said on the earlier post on autism, most parents are desperate for a cause of this developmental disorder. Personally I believe that genetics and (possibly) some enviromental factors is responsible. |
 Comment by Anonymous July 22nd, 2008 at 7:54 pm |
Ah, I don’t know that all those “scientific” panels were doing good science. I have my doubts. Because the govt. has been requiring people to inject these materials into their children, it would really suck for them (and the APA and several other organizations who strongly support the requirement) if anything in the vaccines were proven to be harmful. Having read many, many studies about this topic, it seems that the results are more inconclusive than anything. And several independent studies did find that a percentage of the population are highly sensitive to some of the ingredients found in vaccines. Exposure through immunization can trigger a variety of problems. Some researchers have found evidence that these individuals are genetically predispositioned to disorders like autism and such disorders can be triggered by exposure to ingredients in vaccines. However, this is likely a small percentage of the total number of kids & adults with autism and related developmental disorders. I don’t think all the autism cases are caused by one particular thing, there are probably numerous causes and in each case there are probably many overlapping factors. At some point down the road autism will probably have subcatergories — i.e. the autistic symptoms in this group are due to biological issues like diet, this group has environmental irritants, etc. As a mom of 2 kids who were diagnosed with autism, I looked high and low for answers within the medical community, too. Personally I grew tired of looking at autism from that angle – so many parents are waiting for the wonder pill and aren’t willing to use what’s available now in terms of gentle therapy and biological intervention to help their kids. These things may not cure autistic kids, but it might give them a better quality of life. On the other hand, chasing the idea of “healing” your child from autism is a slippery slope. It’s too easy to fall into the trap of trying to fix what’s broken, while ignoring the child as a person. I agree with Jen — there is definitely a genetic component, at least for some. |