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The Today Show website has posted an excerpt from the beginning of Dr. Paul Offit’s Autism False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure.
At the Parengs Bloggers Network, some parents describe a “feeling of betrayal” in regard to the “overwhelming fears and sadness surrounding autism and the still hotly-debated autism-vaccine link” discussed in Dr. Offit’s book. Excerpts from some parents’ reviews of the book are here
And if you’re watching the Today Show in the 8:00 half-hour tomorrow (Thursday, October 30th) morning, there’s a segment on vaccines and autism. I was interviewed for it, and I think there should be some footage of a certain boy riding his bike.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of Merck & Co. vaccine Zostavax in 2006, with the purpose to prevent this painful disease in as many as 50 percent of adults, about half of people 60 years of age and older.
Dan your amazing! I’m really glad that there are MD’s out there like you who recognise and agree there are many unanswered questions surrounding vaccines.
I am a mother who’s doctor said I’m irrisponsible parent and that my daughter will most probably die because I haven’t had her vaccinated. My mother in law is even saving for my daughter funeral…nice!
We need more bulls like you to lead the way and less sheep who only think inside the box!
Go Dan, ps can I have you email address?
1240 days ago
[...] be some references to how a parent can change the schedule of vaccines (despite the fact that vaccines don’t cause autism). Also, sounds like Generation Rescue is extending its concerns/campaign/rescue operations beyond [...]
Hey ladies, Your favorite troll is back to forward you an interesting article on vaccine layering. Couldn’t stay away from my favorite students for too long.
Vaccine Layering Extra Risky
You’re planning a trip to Central Africa so you need a vaccination for Yellow Fever… your doctor has urged you to get immunized against shingles… and you still haven’t gotten a flu shot this season. Getting all three at once may seem efficient — but not so fast. Multiple simultaneous vaccinations are commonly given to people of all ages, but there’s little evidence that this is safe to do — and in fact, a growing list of research studies indicates it’s actually quite dangerous. Having more than one vaccine at a time increases the risk you’ll have a reaction, possibly a severe one.
There are significant safety concerns regarding multiple simultaneous vaccinations, cautions Vicky Debold, PhD, RN, volunteer director of patient safety at the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), a non-profit dedicated to the prevention of vaccine injuries and deaths. We talked about why this may be risky.
VACCINES: NOT JUST FOR KIDS
In addition to immunizations needed for certain types of travel, many adults assume that the vaccinations they received as children are sufficient — but, in fact, immunity may have faded over the years. Newer and stronger vaccines are available today, and as people grow older they become more susceptible to infections such as flu and pneumonia. The CDC now urges adults age 50 and over to get an annual flu shot (younger adults as well, depending on work, health or lifestyle) … a tetanus-diphtheria or diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis booster shot every 10 years… and vaccinations against pneumococcal pneumonia and varicella (the virus that causes chickenpox).
For the sake of convenience, it has become commonplace to administer more than one vaccine at a time, but unless a vaccine is licensed as a combination it may not have been tested for interaction with other ones — and there are no regulations requiring evidence that administering it with another is safe. Once a vaccination is licensed by the FDA, safety issues are primarily evaluated through reporting of adverse reactions to the government’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS, http://vaers.hhs.gov/) and Dr. Debold estimates at best 10% of adverse effects are reported.
Another issue: Drug company clinical trials (which is how vaccines are studied) typically test them on healthy adults. Little is known about vaccine effectiveness or safety when vaccines are given in combination… especially to older adults who may also be taking other medications or have multiple chronic illnesses, says Dr. Debold.
WHY ARE WE WORRIED?
Several studies highlight the risks of co-administration of multiple vaccines…
In an NVIC analysis of Gardasil (HPV or human papillomavirus vaccine) reports submitted to VAERS through May 31, 2007, investigators found that people who were vaccinated with Gardasil and the Menactra meningococcal vaccine simultaneously were at least twice as likely to experience serious adverse events, such as seizures and Guillain-Barré syndrome, a paralyzing neurological disorder that has been linked to vaccinations.
Joint research from the CDC and the FDA found an association with seizures when DTP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) and MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) were administered on the same day or even within 14 days of one another.
In a study of adverse reactions to vaccines in travelers, researchers found that the rate of local (skin) reactions increased from 45% with one injection to 78% in people who had more than three.
In Japan, where multiple vaccination is uncommon, people who had simultaneous vaccinations reported significantly more frequent adverse events than those who had single vaccinations.
Awareness is growing and leading to more research on the problem, which is good news. But there are many nuances that must be explored as well. For instance, many vaccine clinical trials are small and conducted over a short time, sometimes only a few weeks or months — which means not much has been studied about the relationship between vaccines and unexpected and rare events, as well as to chronic illness. Dr. Debold believes many more studies of this type are needed.
PROTECT YOURSELF
Multiple vaccinations should be avoided if at all possible, as they may indeed magnify the likelihood of problems. And for all vaccinations, even single ones, Dr. Debold recommends…
Educate yourself about the risks and benefits — Web sites such as http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines and http://www.nvic.org are a good place to start.
Be aware that there are scientists who believe that the immune system actually benefits from experiencing illness — in a way that is more robust, providing complete and life-long immunity from the disease, compared with the vaccine that may provide only partial and time-limited immunity, Dr. Debold explains. Note: For vulnerable seniors, for whom the risk of complications from illness is greater than risk from vaccines, immunization may still be advisable.
Check on reports of reactions to a vaccine at the government’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) Web site at http://vaers.hhs.gov/. Also the National Vaccine Information Center at http://www.nvic.org/Report/report.htm, has maintained a vaccine adverse event database, which is based on VAERS data, since 1982.
If you have a personal or family history of reactions to vaccinations, discuss the risks and benefits of immunization with your physician before coming to a decision, and avoid having multiple vaccinations at the same time. If you have a history of seizures or neurological disorders, severe allergies or immune system disorders, likewise carefully consider which vaccines you need and weigh their risks and benefits.
Consider rescheduling if you are ill. Reason: You are more apt to suffer a reaction.
Always try to spread out vaccines by one or two months.
There’s nothing to be lost and likely much to be gained by spacing vaccines out by one or two months or even longer, Dr. Debold notes — it’s a way to increase the likelihood you will stay healthy.
Source(s):
Vicky Debold, PhD, RN, volunteer director of patient safety at the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), a national non-profit organization dedicated to vaccine education and the prevention of vaccine injuries and deaths.
My apologies to you all for not recognizing Dr. DAN as a troll. After a week of migraine headaches, his bragging and grandiosity were grating on my nerves.
1283 days ago
[...] (and onto this blog). Turning to the topic I prefer to devote my energies to (despite what may seem to be the case), it seems that Colin Powell has been mentioned as a possible education [...]
Hj wrote:
“It’s curious that an MD would use a made-up word by a homeopath.”
Indeed, he gives it away every third paragraph or so and that doesn’t include the woeful reasoning. Not too shabby as trolls go but not all that brilliant.
“…use poor judgement practicing medicine in BOTH allopathic and alternative medicine.”
“…in the holistic medical community that most allopathic doctors haven’t embraced.”
It’s curious that an MD would use a made-up word by a homeopath.
Hey Storkdoc, Wow! Where did that come from? Good for you on the accomplishments – I’m sure mommy is proud of her baby girl! You win.
I’m not trying to brag or impress anyone, including you. You’ve tried to discredit me as a “quack” and someone else tried to do the same regarding their disrespect for DO’s. It’s important for people to know that not all respectable physicians walk around with blinders. Sorry I’m not the lame duck you’re looking for. I never listed specific awards or initials outside of my MD; I was simply noting that I’m not coming from left field.
And furthermore, I don’t expect someone like you to respect anyone that disagrees with your super self. I’m not a shrink either, but I can’t help mentioning that you sound incredibly insecure and could probably benefit from rereading your notes on the spiritual and social side of medicine. And before you trim your cuticles tonight grumbling to yourself – think about how much negative energy your hot head is giving off (Hey mine can get pretty steamy too baby girl). As much as I underwhem you – I still care about you and your patients…. so I’ll give you some more advice – blogging is fun – after you’ve reread your notes and Kirby’s book try meditating a few moments on opening your mind to the ideas of a BRILLIANT, board certified, physician/surgeon like myself. Love is the answer. Ta Da
P.S. I was never one of those surgeons who called OB/Gyns “midwives with knifes”. And that wasn’t only because I respect midwives.
It’s funny how all of the education in the world can’t give you a lick of common sense. I guess there are some things you just can’t pay for!!! Sorry guys, I’ll take my common sense any day over your awards, travels, and degrees! Please Dr. Dan, don’t stoop to this level. Storkdok doesn’t realize how egotistical he sounds himself!!! It’s really quite nauseating!
Dr. Dan, you are a legend in your own mind! Glad to see your super-sized Ego is intact, or is that your Super-Ego, with some Id thrown in? I never was much into psychiatry.
I’ll hazard a guess, you are probably a Harvard man or a Yale man, or something close. Good for you! I’m just one of those west-coast trained MDs, I know how your type likes to look down on us. Funny though, all my (school’s) USMLE scores in medical school were on average above Harvard’s. So were our specialty tests in OB/GYN in residency. And as my medical school had/has an emphasis on the whole person, “to make man whole”, we did have more training in nutrition than any other medical school in the US at that time, as well as additional training in the social/spiritual side of patients, and one of the first to use these in patient simulation exams.
Well, thanks for sharing how intelligent and accomplished you are. Funny, I guess my Dean’s awards and NATO awards for my MS in Microbiology/Immunology to travel to Europe to present my research for the USA don’t really measure up to your standards. And my acceptance to study with a full scholarship (for a PhD in Immunology) at the Max Planck Institute in Germany probably doesn’t mean much, either, although they rarely offer this to someone outside of Germany. I often wonder at the road not taken. Decided to come home and go into medical school.
You underwhelm me.
@Ann,
You wrote “Autism is not one size fits all. Every child with Autism is different.”
This post is regarding the very statement you make.
Very best—–
Other than hurting her wallet, what has she really got to lose.
I am trying to find a polite way to describe that statement briefly.
For now, let’s just point out that alternative medicine has caused regression in an autistic child, was linked to seizures in another (see David Kirby’s book. Yes, I did read it), has caused worsening of symptoms in another child (per Jenny McCarthy’s new book).
Tell me, how do you screen for which children will react poorly to a given therapy?
Where do you report the adverse reactions? Can I access that database and do a study on adverse reactions in alternative medicine as applied to autism?
Thank you for your clarification Ann. I agree that there are dishonest people or those who mean well but use poor judgement practicing medicine in BOTH allopathic and alternative medicine. And clearly, since any Joe can practice alternative medicine, simply due to the numbers and untested treatments, people are probably being taken advantage of more often in the area of alternative medicine. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t wonderful theraputics out there in the holistic medical community that most allopathic doctors haven’t embraced.
I performed both basic science and clinical research at the highest level and I can tell you that I was shocked at how easy it can be to “prove” that your hypothesis or drug is effective using the “scientific method” when reality says otherwise. It often takes a very astute individual reading through the study to catch the errors. Although I am in favor of the scientific method, it should be known that it is FAR from infalible and can’t always be used.
There is a strong motivation to be published or be accepted for more drug studies on the part of the researcher which can dangerously taint the data. There are numerous large studies being used as the basis of allopathic treatments with bad data and may be hurting patients, however, very few people have the courage to step up to the plate and criticize these well known physicians or institutions. And even when they do, it is often brushed under the table until enough physicians speak up or the treatment hurts enough people. As much as these large studies can be very helpful, there are many that hurt. SO……What does this say besides the scientific method is extremely inportant but far from perfect?……That there are a lot of alternative treatments available that can be judged on the PROBABILITY of their benevolence by looking at the case studies and scientific data surrounding them. Trying to prove nutritional treatments using the scientific method is nearly impossible unless you synthesize the information surrounding that theory or find someone you trust who did that for you.
Hey Storkdoc – Don’t forget it was Hipocrates who said let food be your medicine and medicine be your food. I can’t wait for you to trash that statement. What do you even know about nutrition? Why do most medical schools ignore nutrition? Please don’t tell me because diet doesn’t influence our health or can’t be used to target specific diseases. That ignorant thought has often been played by allopathic medicine as ridiculous as it seems.
I think it’s fantastic that Ann has tried an alternative treatment that has seemed to work. Other than hurting her wallet, what has she really got to lose. You can often use common sense when trying a nutritional or other alternative treatment regarding how dangerous it may be. The same isn’t true of pharmaceuticals – including vaccines. The politics within the pharmaceutical industry has bred significant mistrust over recent times. And Storkdoc – As much as you try to play others as foolish – if you’re saying that you trust a book written by a politically motivated doctor or researcher more than a writer who is staking his reputation on his accuracy and carefully supports each statement many times over such as Kirby – who also plays BOTH sides of the argument – I think you’re sadly mistaken. With that being said – I don’t believe you read his book. Even if a tenth of what he says is accurate, one could say that there is controversy regarding a connection between autism and vaccines.
Storkdoc and many others on this site….A closeminded attitude breeds a much more dangerous duck. As I said before – in contrast to an earlier comment…. Progress in medicine is made through the back and forth tug of different ideas and theories and not blindly holding onto static principles. By stating conclusively that vaccines are NOT related to autism in any way – you stand to hurt many more people than those treating the condition with oxygen and nutrition or the “quackery” that you mention. What if you’re wrong by even the smallest possibility? And opening that possiblity doesn’t mean that everyone is going to stop vaccinating their children. But it may take changing the rate of the schedule or being more discriminatory. Not every newborn needs to be immunized against hep B at birth – that’s insane when you look at the real stats. And when do you stop adding every potentially lethal disease to the list? If you can tell me that this isn’t irresponsibly messing with mother nature – I believe common sense (study or no study) alone says your dead wrong.
I didn’t say it would work for everyone…..I just said that it has worked for my child and when he eats something with gluten, casein, or soy it hurts his tummy and he cries for most of the night.
As for the supplements these doctors recommend….you can get them at any HFS or most of them at your local pharmacy even. Our DAN doc doesn’t even sell them.
You are right everyone should have their input. It just makes me mad when one person b/c of their experience tries to make everyone else look like they are lying about their experiences with their child. I don’t try to discredit the fact that you say your child’s autism was not triggered by vaccines, all I would like is that same respect. Autism is not one size fits all. Every child with Autism is different. I think we should all be able to agree on that. What helps one child may or may not help another. And that is all I have to say on this subject.
@Dan, regarding alternative medicine being a business: It seems that if one is going to talk about “the medical profession” as interested in garnering profits, it might also be well to consider the costs of various alternative and biomedical treatments that families turn to? When such a practitioner suggests or insists that a family purchase some sort of vitamin or other supplement in order to help a child, and the family purchases said vitamin etc. from the practitioner’s office regardless of cost, should there not be some concerns raised?
@Ann, we noted what we thought were significant results in first taking my son off the diet.
He no longer is on the gluten free diet and there are no changes.
Coincidence is hard to dispute, and yet requires further reflection, with the thoughtful input of others considered to?
Haha storkdork…you are too funny! I wouldn’t dare try to change YOUR mind. I’ve had lots of experience with your kind! I’m just trying to get my story out too (for other people who are interested, so that BOTH sides are heard….not for your benefit!) I’ve given up on trying to talk to people like you!!!
As far as your comment saying doctors don’t profit from vaccines….I only recall saying that SOMEONE was getting the money. I never said it was the doctors. I’m aware that doctors don’t profit from the vaccines themselves. And no, $400 dollars isn’t much to pay when you only have to pay it once a year, but that’s only b/c insurance picks up the rest otherwise you’d be paying thousands to those doctors too. Just ask anyone who is uninsured. They are making their money too….they just get it from other sources.
I’m so sorry that people in your area are being taken to the cleaners, but that’s just not so in all cases. Luckily our pediatrician is an older man with his own practice, so he can afford to take the cut. As far as the ignorant statement that my child would have improved anyway…I almost fell on the floor LMAO at that comment!!!!! Our son hadn’t made much progress at all up to the time we started doing biomedical(and he was 10). No big improvements anyway. Once we started the GFCFSF diet his speech teacher came up to me and said I don’t know what you are doing with him, but he is started to reach his goals in speech(he rarely reaches any of his goals and he’d already reached three or 4 of them)….then she said, “I can tell that he is actually grasping what I am saying to him for a change”. She had no idea we were doing this diet. We saw huge progress and we went from spending 2 or three hours a night doing homework with him just not getting it to him doing his homework by himself in around 30 minutes with no meltdowns within 7 days of starting the diet. He actually told me that if I tried to help him he was going to go into another room and do his homework. He stopped lining up his cars and started playing with his brother and sister. He started listening to other people’s conversations and even started joining in. And that’s only for starters. It’s funny though how you guys always think everything is coincidental!!! Thanks for the laugh anyway! I needed that today!!!!
Ann,
The DAN quacks in our area charge $300-$400 per hour, then they rent out the hyperbaric oxygen chambers (that don’t really give more oxygen than what a 2L nasal canula of 02 would give) for several hundred dollars per session, the parents have stated between 10 and 20 sessions per month. Then there is the chelation they give in the office that costs several hundred dollars each month, and the several hundred dollars of vitamins and homeopathic remedies they sell for each child every month.
The parents using the DAN protocol tell me that they are paying several thousand dollars every month for all this. That is well more than $400 once a year.
It is well know amongst physicians that providing vaccinations in the office is a money loser, you can’t even break even if you do so. I paid $119 per child yesterday to vaccinate for the flu in our pediatrician’s office. I consider that quite cheap compared to the $3,000 or more a month the families pay for the DAN “treatments”.
As for the rest of your post, go and embrace your quackery and anecdotes, they aren’t going to change anybody’s minds here. Having an “open mind” doesn’t mean believing everything you hear or read. It means using a framework of the scientific method and reproducible science for evaluating evidence. It also means not getting your “scientific information” from unqualified individuals, like Kirby or other journalists with no background in the science, or fringe doctors who seem very caring because they hold your hand and let you talk, but with the other hand empty your pockets.
Oh, and my anecdote for the day is, my son is doing much better than most of the kids with autism in our area without the “benefit” of DAN doctors. All children with autism develop skills. Just because you see progress doesn’t mean it is due to the DAN protocol. It probably would have happened anyway. Maybe “in spite of” the DAN protocol is a better way to put it.
Wow Storkdork!! It’s great that you don’t have to pay for your children’s vaccines…We on the other hand had to shell out $400 b/c our insurance has decided not to cover but a portion of our vaccines anymore. So, don’t tell me there is no profit in the vaccine industry! Because someone sure as heck got that money and that was only our cut of it!
We’ve only been seeing our DAN doc for about 6 months, but the most I’ve had to pay him is $15. Yes, as in any profession, there are those out there ready to take you through the wringer, but in my experience our DAN only wants to help our kids feel better. He was just a local pediatrician who had many children on the spectrum. Many of his patients started going out of the state to DAN doctors and he actually noticed improvements with them. They were all complaining of the same thing….”I vaccinated my child and he was never the same after that”. He actually LISTENED to his patients, did some research of his own and that’s when he decided to get DAN certified. Like I said he’s never charged me over $15 and I have seen more improvements in my child with him than with any other pediatrician, neurologist, psychologist, gastroenterologist (I could keep going) that he has seen in his 11 years of life. My son will even tell you that he feels better. His stomach doesn’t hurt anymore, he’s more clear headed, more aware of his surroundings(he’s finally starting to make some friends), and because of this, he is finally starting to show some progress in school. He’s also had a lot of strange conditions (that I won’t get into because they are kind of gross) that none of his doctors could explain that have just went away in the past 6 months.
I quite frankly don’t give a crap about which studies are credible and which are not. You can believe all of that hogwash if you want to. I believe what I have seen happen to my child with my own two eyes. I didn’t think it was possible at first, but when I opened my eyes and really started to watch I saw my child regress, and I saw both of my NT children develop sensory issues immediately after receiving the shots they needed for school. They just weren’t the same for quite some time after those shots. They became withdrawn and developed sensory issues. It was awful. Luckily, they came out of it, although my middle child still has some sensory issues….3 years later. When you see something like this it makes you begin to question EVERYTHING and EVERYONE. All I am saying is that it may not be true in your case, but it is the case for many of these kids. I remember telling my mom 10 1/2 years ago before any of this “controversy” came out that my son just hadn’t been the same since he had his shots when he was about 6 months old…and then I remember saying. That’s just crazy. They wouldn’t give shots to a baby if it would hurt them. I too once believed as all of you do. But when I opened my mind….and my eyes and really started watching I realized there was a lot more to all of this than anyone wants to see and there is for some unknown reason whether it be gentics, or environment, or both….. a group of kids that just can’t handle these shots. Do I care about these studies or the pharmaceutical companies that run them??? NO The only thing that I care about is what I’ve seen and getting my child the help that he needs so that he is able to live a long, fullfilling, and independent life long after I am gone.
Dan,
Please stop saying there are many physicians who believe as you do. You do not represent physicians any more than I do.
I have read your “sources”. I do find it pathetic that you would actually quote Kirby as a source of medical knowledge, coming from a physician.
I do not find these “sources” an indictment against vaccines. I believe there is more money being made by the DAN/alternative/quack industry than by the pharmaceutical companies. Of course, that is just my opinion after speaking with quite a few parents, and them telling me how much they spend per month and year on the search for a “cure”, as compared to my kids pediatrician’s costs for the vaccines they get. Not a real study, but you can quote me if you like, I am at least as credible as Kirby.