Integrity and Honesty, Part 2

J.B. Handley

Integrity and honesty are pretty important to me. If someone gives their word about something, I expect them to keep it. If, through no fault of their own, they fail to follow through on their word, that's one thing. But if they make a promise to do (or not do) something and then break that promise, well, let's just say that it does not reflect well upon them. Even worse when that breach of trust comes amidst other comments that demonstrate a disregard for ethical conduct.

I try to give people the benefit of the doubt unless I have really good evidence otherwise. Even if I disagree with someone, my first response, in general, is to assume that they have good intentions and mean well. Perhaps it's a naive approach, but I would rather approach others how I would like to be approached. I don't want to be prejudged, so I try not to do so to others. But that can only last so long in the face of contradicting evidence.

Such is the case recently with J.B. Handley, founder of Generation Rescue.

Interview with Dr. Paul Offit at NECSS 2014

Source: NIH Record

A couple weeks ago, I shared my review of this year's Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism (review of Day 1 is here and review of Day 2 is here). While I was there, I had the opportunity to talk with Dr. Paul Offit, Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and the Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Offit is the author of a number of books, largely focusing on vaccines and the anti-vaccine movement, most notably Autism's False Prophets and Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All. His most recent work, Do You Believe In Magic?, which came out last year, focuses on complementary and alternative medicine.

After a couple shifts around in scheduling, Dr. Offit graciously sat down with me during the lunch break on the first day of the conference. My thanks to Chris Brown and the rest of the NECSS staff for helping arrange this opportunity.

An Outing at IMFAR

The International Meeting For Autism Research, or IMFAR, is coming up pretty soon. May 12-14, to be precise, at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, CA. This will be the eleventh year for the conference, where Autism Spectrum Disorder researchers will gather from around the world. Much like other specialty conferences, IMFAR gives scientists an opportunity to share their ASD findings with colleagues and to promote further research. Researchers submit their abstracts and, if selected, present them to attendees.

One such abstract is scheduled to be presented at 9:00am on Friday, May 13. The presentation is titled Parent Reported Status and Expectations for Their Autistic Student Children: An Analysis of the 2007 National Household Education Survey, presented by M. J. Carey.

Comedy Central's Vaccine Two-fer

Last night, January 31, 2011, Comedy Central had a rather refreshing two-fer regarding vaccines. With all of the media attention surrounding the fraud allegations against Andrew Wakefield, stories about communicable, vaccine-preventable diseases popping up and now this double-whammy, it seems that there is a sort of tide shift taking place in the popular media and public opinions. True, the anti-vaccine movement really represents a fringe group of individuals, loud and extremely vocal though they may be, but this shift, I think, is a very good thing, raising public awareness of just what is happening and, hopefully, swaying fence-sitters toward reason and reality.

Now, on to the videos, after the break.

I am Bonnie Offit!! - Followup

There has been quite a response to JB Handley's ill-conceived rant over at AoA, titled Is Paul Offit's Wife Internet Troll/Autism Father "Sullivan"?. Quite a number of bloggers have taken up the "I am Bonnie Offit" mantel. A list of them can be found over at I Speak of Dreams.

Almost all of the responses have mentioned many of the same points, as summarized by this comment that, amazingly, made it past the editors at AoA:

I am Bonnie Offit!!

Yes, It's true. I am, in reality, the wife of Dr. Paul Offit. JB Handley, one of the heads of Generation Rescue and Age of Autism, has put forth a challenge to blogger Sullivan, accusing him of actually being me in a post titled "Is Paul Offit's Wife Internet Troll/Autism Father 'Sullivan'?" In response, other bloggers, like Orac and Kev Leitch have tried to claim that they are me, but don't be fooled. I've finally decided to come clean, to keep Sullivan from unwarranted attacks.

How did this all start, though?

Censored on Forcing Flu Shots on Health Care Workers: Who Is Next?

If you have made comments on the Age of Autism article Forcing Flu Shots on Health Care Workers: Who Is Next?, please copy your comment here, including the date and time you posted at AoA.

Censored on Paul Offit, Rotateq, Pig Viruses, and the Rest of the World

If you have made comments on the Age of Autism article Paul Offit, Rotateq, Pig Viruses, and the Rest of the World, please copy your comment here, including the date and time you posted at AoA.

For more information on the FDA's actions, see Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee Meeting Background Material: Porcine Circovirus and Rotavirus Vaccines.