Ruling against parents of autistic children


There's been a lot in the news over the past year or so about how some people are connecting vaccines (especially MMR) and the mercury that may be in them with the origin of autism in some children.

Medical organizations and (naturally) the vaccine manufacturers disagree and say there is no connection.

What do you think?

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"My male roommate and I mixed up our nicotine and testosterone patches. He got cranky and hungry. I got a raise and a corner office" -- Karen Ripley
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Phenytoin and Calcium Supplements
Sometimes the old-fashioned cures DO work the best!

I doubt it. There was a lot more mercury in the world around people 50 years ago, when there was a real lack of regulation and water pollution in large cities was a serious problem (but people drank it). People were a lot more careless with chemicals in general in 1950 or 1960 they are today, partly because they didn't know better and plus society overall just wasn't as risk averse as it is today. I've never seen a study of it but I would bet that we are exposed to less mercury today than a person 50 years ago, certainly no more of it.

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35 year old Chicagoan with complex partial and grand mal seizures. Apparently controlled (for now, at least) with trileptal and topamax combo. Fingers crossed!

People have put 2 and 2 together and come up with 5. The thing is that Wakefield had to leave the country and the last I heard he was been investigated by the GMC over certain unethical behaviour. It is a good day for justice the parents have lost.

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Multiple studies have found no link between vacines and autism. An upcoming study in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases refutes the three hypotheses of a causal relationship between vax and autism. It's a metastudy, or an analysis of data from more than 10 large studies conducted in different places using different methods.

The doctor who first proposed the theory has since examined the data from his study and admitted he was wrong; the journal (a UK one; I don't remember the name right now) did a review of his methods and ended up retracting the article.

The only TENUOUS link between vaccines and neurological problems (a relationship exists, but it's just *barely* statistically significant and is not related to autism) is through a preservative called thimerosal, which has not been used in pediatric vaccines since 1999. As far as autism goes, there have been something like seven (I think) studies that have shown NO link btwn thimerosal and autism.

Also telling: (as observed in several British towns)
When vaccination rates plummet, the autism rate doesn't change.

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Proud captain of the Battlestar Epileptica
Seizing the day since 2002
"You should see the way my brain works sometimes." "You have a brain?" (Battlestar Galactica)
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To date there have been no studies out there that have proved that vaccines have caused Autism.

Mercury levels in vaccines are much lower now, and we are better at identifing children (and at eailer ages) with Autism.

So the question may be 'Are there really more children with Autism now?' or 'Are we just better at identifing them?'

Autism is a very hard disability to live with, I think it's one of the hardest.
Parents are wanting to find the reason and are desperate to find a cause.

You can not identify a newborn with Autism, there is just no way. Signs of Autism, if you know what you are looking for can be identified around 19 month, maybe a bit eairler.

Jenny MCcarthy (sp?) says that her child has been cured, I also feel that by saying that, she has, at the same time, slaped other parents in the face who also have tried everything that they could, just has she has, and their child still remains on the spectrum.

I truely question her idea of 'being cured' is.

I have done work with children that have Autism for many years (12 years) and it is a huge disservice to dangel a magical carrott infront of parents of children that have Autism and tell them that their children can be cured. I also heard a proffesor tell a mom the date that will happen for their child, can you imagine?

This same family believed this man and took their child out of school, payed huge amounts of money to get their child cured. it is not a disease.
I saw this family about 3 years later at a store, her then, child of 9 had to be contained inside the cart, not walking beside her like her younger children were.

I also believe in hope, and understand the need for that in families with special needs.

Shay

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Mom to a 21 yr/old sweety Dx 5/23/08 with Cyclin-Dependent Kinase like 5, Keto-diet, meds Topamax, Phenobarb, & Lyrica, Oct 9' 2003 had CC surgery.
Dx: CVI, Kyphosis, Non-ambulatory/verbal, Choreoathetosis, Osteo, G/ J mickeys. Kiera's Photo Album
pls check out my blog http://cdklklc5.blogspot.com/

It was the Lancet one of the big medical journals. The only thing that happens when the vaccine is stopped is that more kids get horrible diseases.

As for that case I fail to see why they even heard it in the first place as it had no evidence.

Autism is a complex disorder it is identified at the same time that children get MMR and people have misunderstood the research and through their ignorance have believed a man who is not fit to practice medicine. He has left the country to work in Texas.

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It is a tossup on whether or not the preservatives in vaccines, like mercury, causes autism in children.
My parents told my doctor to stop issuing vaccinations to me after kindergarten because they were afraid of the possible, but not proved, onset of austim from vaccines.
Now that I look back, even if there was the slightest chance, I thank my parents for making the decision they did when I was 5 years old. I would do the same when I have kids.
I have autsim and I have had at least two vaccinations that I can remember: polio and tetnaus. In my kindergarten year, my parents found out I had Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autsim. This was discovered because of my inability to interact with my cl*****mates very well; I was very, very resistent to chang and I spent more time in my own little world instead of the one we all live in today.
Going on twenty-one this spring, I think my autsim is on its way out.
Now that I think of it, it is kind of like epilepsy: the majority of cases cannot pinpoint a cause for it, and like some cases, it could be a condition that people can grow out of.

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Have you read this article (or watched the video)?

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Jen, mom to 4 y/o with epilepsy, ehlers danlos syndrome & left hemiplegia from stroke. Past meds include Lamictal & Trileptal. On LGIT since 2006.



Epilepsy.Com Dietary Therapies

I tend to think that most causes of autism will prove to be related to malfunctioning genes, especially since they have already isolated several different genes that seem to be related to different forms of autism. I think autism, like epilepsy, is a blanket term that describes a certain set of symptoms, but probably has many different causes. My son has Aspergers Syndrome, and his is caused by Tuberous Sclerosis. TS is a neurological disorder caused by a faulty gene, not an immunization. Many kids with TS have autism, and they fall everywhere within the autism spectrum, from mild to severe. But not ALL kids with TS have autism.

Vaccines tend to get blamed for all kinds of problems. I think the problem is that most kids who have these disorders do not always show symptoms from birth. Many of these disorders do not become symptomatic until later, coincidentally around the time that they are vaccinated. That's not to say that vaccines never cause problems, they do. Like any other pharmaceutical, they can have side effects. Most kids tolerate them well, other kids do not and they suffer harm. But to blame vaccines for the rising number of autism diagnoses without any proof is putting kids at risk for a return of the childhood diseases. And some of those diseases would be very risky for kids who already have underlying disorders. I just heard on the news tonight that measles outbreaks are on the rise in Europe, because of the anti-vaccine hysteria that has become prevalent. Measles can be a nasty illness, especially for anyone who already has compromised health. Because of my personal experience with measles when I was a kid, I never had to think twice about vaccinating my own son. He got the vaccine. Most of these childhood diseases had been wiped out because of m***** vaccinations, and most younger people have no idea just how deadly they can be.

Shay, I think we are in trouble if we start taking advice about our kids health from people like Jenny McCarthy. If someone is miraculously "cured" of something like autism, we should first question whether or not the child actually had autism. There is no definitive diagnosis that exists for autism, and certainly no cure. The diagnosis is based solely on observed behavioral symptoms that can be misinterpreted depending on the level of experience and/or education of the persons observing them. IOW, it can be easily misdiagnosed, or overdiagnosed just because of the current media publicity surrounding the disorder. Remember ADHD? Some kids really do have attention deficits, but it got to the point where every fidgety, rambunctious kid had a diagnosis, and a script for Ritalin.

Retroman, you are absolutely right about the mercury. Mercury was not hard to find when I was a kid. You need go no further than your medicine cabinet, it was available even in home thermometers. Mercury was even used as a toy by kids. And I can only remember one kid who probably had autism, even though autism was not recognized or diagnosed then.

Arwen

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Mom to Jason. Jason has brain lesions that are the focus for his complex partial seizures, polycystic kidney disease and hypertension, all caused by Tuberous Sclerosis Complex. Jason is developmentally disabled and has Aspergers Syndrome. TSC is one of the leading genetic causes of seizures and autism.

Arwen,
Again, very well said.
You are right about it not being a medical diagnosed, it is a educational diagnosis.

I had 2 children out of the many that I served that their families came back to the school where I worked antd told me that their child no longer falls on the spectrum, they were thrilled, but it is up to interpretation and expertise. Although it might not always be good to have the same person do all the observations on one child, but that might be a factor that changes the diagnoses.

As far as I know Jenny does not parade her son to the world, nor should she, but I would love to see a short video of him playing with other children, I can guess that might show a child that does well, but still a child with Autism.
If I remember right this is her only child right?

Shay

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Mom to a 21 yr/old sweety Dx 5/23/08 with Cyclin-Dependent Kinase like 5, Keto-diet, meds Topamax, Phenobarb, & Lyrica, Oct 9' 2003 had CC surgery.
Dx: CVI, Kyphosis, Non-ambulatory/verbal, Choreoathetosis, Osteo, G/ J mickeys. Kiera's Photo Album
pls check out my blog http://cdklklc5.blogspot.com/

What about the mercury found in our lovely silver tooth fillings? Man, if mercury were to blame, my whole family would be autistic! I'm not saying mercury is good...it's poison!

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Mom of Jennie (26- initially diagnosed with absence seizures since 4th grade) "rediagnosed" with idiopathic generalized seizure disorder...(okay, I admit it, I cannot keep up with her meds). Also, mother to Terri (25), Joe3 (22) and Tom (21)...and now, M-I-L to Major Collin Coatney (Terri) USAF :D

Without sorrow you cannot really know joy.

Thank you Arwen and Shay for your thoughtful views. As for those parents who took the case they should be charged for wasting everyone's time. The lawyers who took it should be disbarred for taking such a hopeless case in the first place.

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Lafora discussion group
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A while ago many people thought they were related. Many people think we need to "clean up our vaccines." My mom works with autistic kids, so does my sister, and I do during the summer time. Actually shots generally have less mercury than a piece of fish. It is true that mercury is bad for us, but the vaccines aren't what is going to cause it. Thats why my whole family is really against Jenny McCarthy, because she advocates for autism saying that her son is cured. When really autism is just based on a spectrum, and most kids, grow more out of it, but will always have symptoms of it, just go towards the better end of the spectrum. She also is convinced that her son got it from a vaccine. But most experts have disproved that theory.

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Carrie
JME and Occasional GMs since 2001
Fribromyalgia and JRA as well
3000 Keppra, 50 Topamax, Lexapro

I agree....I think there is a risk to almost any medical intervention. You can have adverse reactions to vaccines, you can have bad reactions to drugs (as more than a few of you know), and surgery of ANY kind is always risky. But we have to weigh the risks to the benefits, and most of the time, the potential benefit far outweighs the potential risk. I think vaccinations are one of those instances.

Every time I hear these stories of people who are resistant to vaccinating their children, I think about things similar to what Arwen says.....if MOST people felt that vaccinations were too risky, we would still be dealing with things like polio and smallpox. But because vaccination programs have been so aggressive over the last ~50 years, these diseases are now unheard of. Progressive vaccination programs have not only protected the people who were at high risk for infectious diseases when the vaccines were first developed, it has helped to erase these disease off the map.

I don't have first-hand knowledge of most of these diseases, but I think Arwen's right......if more people DID understand how serious these diseases are, the risks involved with any vaccinations would not be their first concern.

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"My male roommate and I mixed up our nicotine and testosterone patches. He got cranky and hungry. I got a raise and a corner office" -- Karen Ripley
====================================
Phenytoin and Calcium Supplements
Sometimes the old-fashioned cures DO work the best!

Edited: 02/13/2009 at 08:48 AM by KathysChance

guess I will move the spam of the main page by bumping up a few things....

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Brian

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Pushin spammers off screen is kinda fun!!!

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Brian

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