A Confession

This post was very hard for me to write. For four years, now, I've been writing this blog. Four years putting out post after post refuting the claims of "anti-vaxers". For several years before that, I was active in the comments of a few different sites, trying to be quick to respond anytime someone questioned vaccines. All this time, so many hours pushing the pro-vaccine angle. But I just cannot, in good conscience, continue. Not any more. The little bit of income I earn for my efforts just isn't worth the guilt. Not after this past weekend.

What happened? What changed my mind? Last weekend, I attended the Pharma-sponsored Midwest Conference on Vaccines. This is the first time I've been to this conference, now in its sixteenth year, and the first time I've met many of my blogging colleagues face-to-face. Normally, all of my dealings with the inner workings of the pro-vaccine machine have been through email or snail mail. I get my orders. I write. I get paid. Simple, easy money. To say that this conference was an eye-opening experience is an understatement.

CBS Sympathizes with Murderers

Back in June, I wrote a post in which I tried to understand the murder of Alex Spourdalakis by his mother, Dorothy Spourdalakis, and his caretaker, Jolanta Agatha Skrodzka. In particular, I noted how those who do not blame vaccines for autism properly blamed Dorothy and Jolanta for the murder, expressing sympathy and horror on behalf of Alex. Yet among the biomed and "vaccines cause autism" communities, the general spin to the story was that Dorothy was oh so distraught and just couldn't cope any more; because she had supposedly been failed by the system, poor woman that she is, she resorted to murder, putting Alex out of his misery. That is a horrible, horrible insult to a boy who suffered the ultimate abuse by those who were supposed to care for him.

That sentiment, sympathizing with a child murderer, disgusted me then and disgusts me now. Part of the tragedy of this whole thing is that we only have Dorothy's voice being heard. HIPAA regulations block any revelations from the medical professionals being vilified by murder apologists at Age of Autism, Autism Media Channel and so on. Alex's voice has been permanently silenced. To make matters worse, CBS This Morning has decided to lend their support to Alex's killers.

Why Do I Do This?

The other day, I received an email from someone via my other site, asking why I do this. Why do I speak out against anti-vaccine myths and put so much time and effort into that site (and this blog), when I state I have no financial ties to any pharmaceutical companies. Is it just a "labour of love because [I am] concerned for humanity"? Where does my passion come from? What intrigued me about this was that it came shortly after my experience with the Vermont Digger and the Vermont Coalition for Vaccine Choice, the latter of whom, along with Laura Condon of the National Vaccine Information Center, accused me of being a Pharma Shill^TM and/or paid by Dr. Paul Offit. And certainly there are hints that the non-vaccinating individual who emailed me suspected that, my honest statements notwithstanding, I really was paid to write and comment.

Just to reiterate, I receive no money or any other compensation from a pharmaceutical company to write about vaccines in any manner. I hold no stocks (unless there happen to be some in the mutual funds in my retirement account, over which I have no control). I receive no checks, dinners, or quid pro quos. A kind fellow by the moniker Eric TF Bat kindly provided me with hosting space on his domain for my AntiAntiVax site for free after several fellow commenters at Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy blog recommended I turn one of my comments into a web site so people would have a permanent place to point people to when countering anti-vaccine myths. I don't know Eric outside of that context. As for my blog, well, it's hosted by Blogger (clearly), which is also free. I have paid for my domain name out of my own pocket. And I use my own free time to write. Some people garden. I blog. So there's my financial situation regarding my countering of myths and misinformation regarding vaccines. I don't get squat, and I would not accept any money from a pharmaceutical company, either, even if they offered it to me.

So, if I don't get paid, why the hell do I do this?

Happy (Belated) Blogiversary

So, I missed my own blogiversary yesterday. At least I remembered it was sometime in February. At any rate, three years ago, on February 5, 2010, I started this blog. Back then, it was name Silenced by Age of Autism. It was an apt name at the time, since my primary intention was to give people a voice to post their comments that the editors at Age of Autism blog censored. I had attempted to engage Kim Stagliano and some of the other commenters over at AoA in reasonable discussion. I followed their commenting guidelines. I kept my tone civil, even though I disagreed with what they were saying, and yet they saw fit to ban me. And even though I asked, I still have not received any answer.

Not that I need one. Age of Autism is an echo chamber of anti-vaccine conspiracy-think. The editors want to give parents who mistakenly believe that vaccines cause autism a "safe" and "comfortable" place to gather. By that, they mean no dissenting opinions; no questioning of the status quo. Such things might make people feel uncomfortable (having their beliefs questioned) and, horror of horrors, it make them actually think, and no one enjoys that. So instead, if it looks like someone can pose a serious threat to the calm, tranquil, hate-fueled environs of AoA, they are silenced. That's how it all started, but things have changed.

Calling on Congress to Do the Wrong Thing

Oh, Age of Autism. Once again, this rag that calls itself a web newspaper of the autism epidemic ignores science and providing real help and support for families with autism in favor of unsubstantiated hyperbole and appeals to politics. Since they do not have actual science behind their claims, they try to use political means to get their way, freely ignoring reality.

Feeling that, perhaps, they made some small victories after the recent Congressional hearing on autism, the fact-challenged are making some demands suggestions to our legislative body. In a post titled Top 10 List for Congress Post Autism Hearing, contributor Laura Hayes addresses Congressman Bill Posey (R-FL) and includes a list of ten things she would like Congress to do. I'm not quite certain whether to chuckle at how inane it is or worry, since the hearing included more than one science-challenged Congresscritter.

One Size Fits All Vaccination

There are a number of frequent refrains heard from those opposed to vaccines. There are too many. Oh, the toxins! If vaccines work, then what are you worried about? Vaccination laws take away parents' rights. The list goes on and on. They get repeated so often that it becomes very easy to just gloss over them and ignore the strident ululations of anti-vaccine activists. Between posting here and commenting on various blogs and news stories, I feel like I've addressed these arguments (if you can call them that) more than enough times. But then I remember that as long as the noise keeps going, there will be a need for reality-based individuals to speak out against them.

Recently, one such complaint caught my interest a little more than usual. Perhaps it was because I happened to be rereading the CDC Pink Book at the time. Much is made among anti-vaccine types of personal liberties and how each person is different. Every little snowflake is precious and unique, they opine, so how can anyone support a "one size fits all" vaccination schedule?

Censored on Dan Olmsted at Autism One on The Wakefield Inquisition

It's been a while since I've put one of these posts up. One of my readers tried to leave a comment over at Age of Autism on the post Dan Olmsted at Autism One on The Wakefield Inquisition. I'm putting this up so that any comments which the moderators at AoA censor can still see the light of a computer screen. If you have tried to leave a comment on that post but were censored, feel free to copy your comment below. Include the date and time that you tried to post, if you can.

You Have No Voice

It's been a while since I've written about something I've read over at the Age of Autism blog. Frankly, I haven't frequented it nearly as much lately, partly because they have steadily drifted more and more into the fringe, with posts that simply boggle the mind. I will readily admit that I do admire the passion that they bring to the table, but that is no justification for the vitriol, misinformation and outright quackery they frequently promote. What drew me over there this morning was learning that an autistic adult, writing under the 'nym Autistic Lurker, had made some comments there and, as is usual with the AoA crowd, getting piled on, criticised and accused of not being who they said they were. This was on a post by Dan "I can't find the Amish autists" Olmstead titled The IACC (I Am Completely Clueless) Meets Again . The post basically amounts to a diatribe about how the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee is a horrible bureaucracy (granted) that is wasting its time and money following scientific evidence rather than, as all the folks at AoA just know is true, doing research proving that vaccines did it.

If you're interested in a long, long wall of text that amounts to, "Why won't you do what a very small portion of the autism community wants you to do!?", click on the link above and take a gander. I'm not going to go into detail about it. Rather, I'm going to talk about one of the comments on the post. It's a comment that, when I read it, I was, quite literally, stunned. For several moments, I could do nothing but stare at my monitor. This was followed in quick succession by feelings of disbelief, disgust and outrage. The comment encapsulates the derogatory view that, it seems, many in the AoA echo chamber have of disabilities in general and autism in particular.

New Report from HHS on Vaccine Storage

I heard something on the news this morning that I figured would get the anti-vaccine crowd into a fervor of excitement. It is something that they could spin to make it seem like vaccines really are dangerous or that they really don't protect people. Images leapt to mind of writers and commenters alike over at Age of Autism crying out, "See! We're not dumb for refusing vaccines!" Barbara Loe Fisher at the National Vaccine Information Center floated before my eyes, declaiming that vaccines are not safe. I could almost hear Mike Adams or Gary Null snidely claiming that this report proves (proves, I tell you!) that vaccines are ineffective. And so, I figured I should probably take a closer look into it before the wacky misinterpretations and outright lies began to flow.

What brought all this to mind? As reported by ABC news, some doctors may not be storing vaccines properly. The story is based on a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General (OIG), titled Vaccines for Children Program: Vulnerabilities in Vaccine Management (the PDF of the full report can be found here). Briefly, the OIG found that providers of vaccines made available through the CDC's Vaccines for Children Program (VFC) (a program that provides free vaccines to kids whose families might otherwise be unable to afford to get their child immunized) were frequently storing vaccines in inappropriate conditions, potentially reducing their potency and efficacy.

There are a couple ways that I could see this report being spun by opponents of vaccination. Let's take a look...

Pox by Post

Something came to light today that made me despair for the human race. I first read it at Mike the Mad Biologist's blog. It was also covered by Emily over at The Biology Files, where Emily took a look at just who the people were that were involved. Reuben wrote about it at The Poxes Blog and Tara discussed it at Aetiology.

What could have gotten the medical and skeptical blogosphere in such an uproar? This story.

Censored on Best of Age of Autism: Paul Offit and the Original Sin

A while back, JB Handley made a deal. He bet that if the author Sullivan over at Left Brain/Right Brain was not Bonnie Offit, wife of Dr. Paul Offit, he would never write about Dr. Offit again.

Well, it seems he is, at the very least, passively violating that agreement, as evidenced by a new post up at Age of Autism titled "Best of Age of Autism: Paul Offit and the Original Sin". If Handley has any integrity, as one of the editors/contributors at Age of Autism, he will take the post down. I've left a comment over there to that effect, which I copy here:

Click to enlarge.

Readers, head on over there and let yourselves be heard. Be sure to save a copy of any comments you leave, which you can post here. If you do comment there, however, be sure to follow their commenting policy, so that they have no real excuse to moderate your comment out of existence.

A Virus Poes an Anti-vaccine Band

This is too rich. As some of you may know, there is a group of viruses and bacteria on Twitter that are part of a group known as the #pathogenposse. One of those, @Rubeola, sent a tweet to a, for lack of a better term, rock band known as The Refusers. As Orac has pointed out over at Respectful Insolence, The Refusers are unapologetically anti-vaccine. They liken Big Pharma^TM and anyone who supports vaccines to Nazis. They equate vaccines with toxic sludge. They make absolutely no bones about it that they hate, hate, hate vaccines and believe them to be part of a grand conspiracy to maim and kill the populace.

So what did @Rubeola have to say to them and how did they answer?

That's right. The Refusers, a group adored by anti-vaccine groups like Age of Autism, appear to be quite proud that they are helping a dangerous virus spread.

Classy.

Help! I have Polio!

I thought it was just after effects of exercising. I figured that I would be fine, that I would recover without any ill effects. In fact, I thought that my health would improve a fair bit overall: improve strength and stamina, more flexibility, improved balance. That's what I expected. But then I started doing some research and that's when I found out: I have polio. I mean, I have polio-like symptoms:

• Headaches
• Back pain
• Neck pain
• Muscle tenderness
• Fatigue

Based on this, I must clearly have polio. I mean, there is no meaningful distinction between "polio" and "polio-like symptoms." A recently published study by Holland, et al. (PDF), in the Pace Environmental Review stated the same thing for autism:

there is no meaningful difference between "autism" and "autism-like symptoms." (p. 493)

Now, there are some who might argue that there is a distinction, medically speaking, between polio and polio-like symptoms, but they are clearly held in the grip of Big Pharma^TM. Don't let them fool you. I know I have polio because I have polio-like symptoms. And since there is no meaningful distinction between the terms "polio" and "polio-like symptoms," then the only possible answer is that the cause of my distress is nothing else but polio. I'm sure the folks at Age of Autism will back me up on this one.

So, if you have any of the symptoms above, start planning out your last days, because you, my friend, have polio.
____________________________________
It should go without saying that all of the above is satire. But, just in case someone didn't get it, it's satire! I do not have polio. Do not take any of the above as medical advice. If you have medical questions, ask your doctor instead of going by some faceless text on the internet.

Integrity and Honesty

There have been several updates since I originally wrote up this post. Please scroll to the end for the final word on the matter.

Integrity and honesty. Two traits that everyone should strive to obtain. I put quite a bit of value on them. If someone says they will do something, they should do it. They should not lie about it, nor should they weasel out of a promise made. It speaks volumes about a person if they do not deal with others honestly or keep their word. Such actions make them untrustworthy. If you cannot trust someone in relatively small matters, then it becomes difficult to trust them with larger matters. This is particularly important when it comes to dealing with businessmen who have managed equity investments and specialize in mergers and acquisitions. You would expect them to honor their contracts.

There was one person in whom I really did want to see a glimmer of integrity and honesty. Despite his callous, abrasive nature, I really did hope that when he made a promise, he would keep it. I'm speaking, of course, about Generation Rescue and Age of Autism's Mr. Jonathan B. Handley.

Got to Hand It to JB

Two days ago, I posted that Sullivan, from Left Brain/Right Brain, had outed himself, letting the world know his real name. I also mentioned that Age of Autism's J. B. Handley had made a promise last November that, if Sullivan turned out not to be Bonnie Offit, as Handley opined, that J. B. would hand over ownership of the domain name www.pauloffit.com and never utter Dr. Paul Offit's name ever again, nor even to write about him.

Well, at 5:44 am today, April 29, 2011, J. B. Handley posted on Age of Autism, stating that he will keep his word and hand over the web site. He also went so far as to say that, while he does not understand why Sullivan "reveres" Dr. Offit, he will not go after Mr. Carey, since he is also a parent of an autistic child. You can head over to Age of Autism to read Handley's words. But, just in case, I also grabbed a screen shot (after the break). At any rate, J. B., if you read this, just wanted to say thanks for keeping your word and having some integrity. I still think you're rather crass and something of a bully, but at least in this, you showed some honor.

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.

Notes from Andrew Wakefield's talk at Brandeis

This is a guest post by John Santos, who was able to attend Andrew Wakefield's recent talk at Brandeis University. The talk was also covered by the Brandeis Hoot (with an additional editorial) and the Boston Globe.

On April 13, 2011, I attended a talk by Andrew Wakefield at Brandeis University. The talk was sponsored by a student organization Spectrum, which is concerned with autism. The student who hosted the talk was Jake Crosby, who blogs at Age of Autism. I estimate there were about 75-100 people present.

Wakefield spoke for about 2 hours, followed by about 15 minutes of Q&A. I took notes, though it was hard to keep up and there may be many gaps here. Despite that, I hope it will be useful, especially as preparation for anyone attending one of his lectures in the future.

The talk was recorded (I saw at least one person with a video camera), and Crosby said it would be available on the web, at the AoA site, I think.

The talk raised many questions in my mind, some of which I've had a chance to do some research on. I'm at least passably familiar with the vaccine controversy, but many of the references went by too fast for me to fully understand. I imagine to someone with no background at all, it would have completely snowed them. I agree with what Steven Novella has pointed out many time, if you are going to debate with a pseudoscientist, you really need to be on top of your game. I didn't feel capable of doing this, so I didn't ask any questions.

Climbing Numbers in Minnesota Measles Outbreak

Note: For further updates on the numbers, follow the post Minnesota Measles Outbreak by the Numbers: A Timeline.

Update: As of the morning of April, 2011, the total cases are up to 15. See the link above for the total numbers. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, 12 of the cases are linked to the index case of the infant who acquired the measles infection in Kenya. One case was infected in Florida, and one person was infected in India.

Update: As of the morning of March 30, 2011, there have been 14 confirmed cases of measles in Minnesota. The latest case is a 51-year-old of unknown vaccination status. For those keeping track, there have been, to date, 5 infants too young to be vaccinated, 6 children old enough to be vaccinated but who were not and 3 people (two adults) with unknown vaccination history. Of the 14 confirmed cases, 8 have been hospitalized.

Update: On the afternoon of March 29, 2011, the outbreak has reached 13 confirmed cases, and 2 more have been hospitalized. The newest case was too young to be vaccinated. The totals are now: 5 too young to be vaccinated, 6 of age for the vaccine but not vaccinated and 2 of unknown vaccination status. A total of 8 have been hospitalized.

Update: As of March 28, 2011, there are 12 confirmed cases of measles in Minnesota. Four children were too young to be vaccinated, 6 were old enough but were not vaccinated and two have unknown vaccination status. There have been 6 hospitalizations so far.

Update: On March 25, 2011, the MDH stated that the total number of hospitalizations in the outbreak has risen from 5 to 6. Thankfully, there are still no deaths.

Update: As of this afternoon, MDH has reported an 11th case of measles in a 35-year-old. The latest case has unknown vaccination status.

This morning, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) updated their information page on the current measles outbreak. Since February, there have been ten confirmed cases of measles in the Minneapolis area. According the the MDH, the outbreak most likely began when an infant returned from a trip to Kenya. The infant, too young to be vaccinated, had contracted the infection. Since then, it has spread to nine others. The ages of the children range from 4 months to 4 years.

I decided to look at the history of measles cases in Minnesota. Thankfully, the MDH has a handy table and links to the details of past outbreaks.

More Cases of Measles in Minnesota, 3 of 4 Hospitalized

UPDATE: On Wednesday, 3/23/11, a 10th case of measles has been confirmed in Minnesota. Like 4 of the other cases, the latest was in a child old enough to be vaccinated but had not been. The current tally is: 4 too young to be vaccinated, 5 old enough but unvaccinated and 1 of unknown vaccination status. Half of the cases have been hospitalized and there are, as yet, no deaths from this outbreak.

UPDATE: On Tuesday, 3/22/11, the Minnesota Department of Health announced that the measles outbreak now includes 9 cases. 4 in children too young to have received the vaccine, 4 in children old enough, but who had not been vaccinated and 1 whose vaccination status is unknown. To date, 5 of the 9 have been hospitalized, but are recovering.

UPDATE: On Monday, 3/21/11, a seventh case of measles, in a 7-month-old, was confirmed. That brings the tally to 3 too young to be vaccinated, 3 old enough but unvaccinated due to fear and 1 with unknown vaccination status.

UPDATE: According to the Star Tribune today, March 18, 2011, the total number of cases is up to six. Three are Somali children. Two of the six were too young to be vaccinated. Four of the six have been hospitalized.

Last Friday, one week ago, I wrote about a Minnesota infant contracting measles. That child, too young to be immunized, was hospitalized. In that post, I also called out Dr. Jay Gordon who, on his own web site, states that he does not give or recommend the MMR vaccine. Well, in the past week, three more cases of measles have been reported in Minnesota. Two of the three new cases, like the initial case, were also hospitalized.

And now it looks like I'm going to have to call out Age of Autism's J.B. Handley and disgraced gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield, because two of the latest cases are in the Somali community. Two children who, although old enough to be vaccinated, were not because of the fears that Handley and Wakefield fueled in their parents. Two children in a community with declining vaccination rates, thanks to the callous and flat-out wrong nonsense spouted by Handley and his ilk.

Four kids, one too young to be vaccinated, two unvaccinated because of fear of the vaccine and one of unknown vaccination status. Four children, three hospitalized.

Some people, like the aforementioned Dr. Gordon, would suggest that four cases is nothing to worry about, that it is not an outbreak:

The problem here is that we shouldn't be seeing any cases of measles in the U.S. We have an extremely effective (95% or higher) and safe product to prevent measles. Not only that, but measles only infects humans, which means that if enough people worldwide are vaccinated, then, like with smallpox, we would no longer need to use the vaccine.

However, until measles is eradicated worldwide, then, as I've said before, a new infection is just a plane ride away. People like J.B. Handley, Wakefield and the goons at Age of Autism and pediatricians who should know better and do a grave disservice to their patients, like Dr. Gordon, must stop. Through their actions, they promote outbreaks like the ones in Boston and Minnesota. Although currently small, these cases could almost certainly have been prevented through vaccination, either of the children themselves or, in the case of the infant too young to be vaccinated, of those around the kids. Behavior such as suggesting the erroneous notion that vaccines cause autism or actively choosing to tell people that the risks of vaccines outweigh the benefits, despite mountains of scientific evidence to the contrary, is not only reckless and irresponsible, it is abhorrent and despicable.

Vaccinate your children. Protect them, their friends, their families and everyone around them. Do what is right.

Update: Just to put this in perspective, in the past 5 years, there have been six cases of measles. In the past week, there have been 4 6 cases. Let me repeat that: in the past 5 years, only 6 cases; in the past week, 4 6 cases. Got that, Dr. Jay "4 cases is an outbreak?" Gordon?

Update 3/21/11: If there was any doubt that Dr. Gordon displays an amazing level of callousness, he had this to say about the Minnesota measles outbreak and how an outbreak is defined:

Yep, taking "a few extra cases" seriously is "pointless." Stay classy, Dr. Gordon. I'm sure the families of those 6 kids think that it's pointless to take the outbreak seriously.

Age of Autism Owes Me a New Irony Meter

So, I heard about some rumors that Age of Autism had their Facebook account removed. Out of curiosity, I wandered over to their main blog page. As I scrolled down just a bit, I saw something that caused my irony meter to go sproing!

There was a post title "Even the Kids Know" consisting solely of a picture and a caption.

Here's a screen shot: