Dr. Mercola April 26 2008 105,756 views
13-year old Michelle Cedillo is at the center of a court case pitting thousands of families of children with autism against the medical establishment. While a number of prestigious medical institutions say there is no link between vaccines and autism, the families believe vaccines caused their children‘s autism, and have taken their case to court.
Theresa and Mike Cedillo, Michelle‘s parents, believe the MMR vaccine, which at the time contained a mercury-based preservative, drastically altered the course of their daughter‘s development. Within days of receiving the injection, Michelle suffered from a high fever, persistent vomiting and problems with her digestion -- and also stopped speaking and no longer responded to her name.
Dr. Paul Offit, chief of infectious diseases at the Children‘s Hospital of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, claims the apparent connection between vaccines and autism is “nothing more than a sad coincidence.”
But families who believe vaccines can trigger autism point to the case of 9-year-old Hannah Poling; the U.S. government conceded that vaccines "significantly aggravated" her underlying illness, predisposing her to symptoms of autism.
The court heard testimony in the Cedillo claim in June of 2007. Testimony in other test cases is scheduled for 2008.
The debate over whether or not vaccines contribute to the onset of autism is heating up.
I commented on another vaccine-autism article just a few days ago. If you missed it, please review it now to find out more about common sense prevention strategies, and how you can treat autism if your child has it.
But today, I’d like to talk about misinformation, deception, and personal agendas.
Who is Dr. Paul Offit?
Some of you may recognize the name of Dr. Paul Offit, as he is a fairly frequent commentator for the pro-vaccination camp. But what do you know about Dr. Offit?
Dr. Offit, a.k.a. Paul “For Profit” Offit, by some vaccination opponents, is not just a doctor who believes that vaccinations save lives.
Dr. Offit is also one of the patent holders of the rotavirus vaccine (Patent Application number 353547), and the recipient of a $350,000 grant from Merck for its development. Additionally, he is a consultant to Merck Pharmaceuticals.
Talk about conflict of interest. Jeesh! But that's not all.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is a 15 member panel of immunization experts, selected by the Secretary of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. They provide advice and guidelines to the Secretary for Health the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on vaccine-preventable diseases.
As a member of the ACIP, starting in 1998, Dr. Offit voted “yes” three times out of four on issues pertaining to the ACIP’s rotavirus statement, including, voting for his own vaccine to be included in the immunization schedule.
He is also the doctor whose incomprehensible statement, “an infant can safely receive up to 10,000 vaccines at once,” will live on in infamy.
So the question is: if YOU held a patent for a product of enormous income potential, would you even consider the possibility that your cash-cow might be doing more harm than good? Would you admit that a similar product might be the cause of needless suffering?
And if you WERE able to consider it, would you admit there might indeed be a problem?
Here’s the deal, folks. It’s not enough to look at the obvious credentials of your spokesmen, whether they’re pro- or anti- an issue. Today, you also have to consider the hidden motivations behind their recommendations. Where is their loyalty? How do they feed themselves? And by that I don’t mean, “what’s their nutritional type?” I mean, who pays for their lifestyle? Where is the money coming from?
Do you believe Dr. Offit is an independent, neutral expert on the vaccination issue? Do you believe he’s looked at both sides and made an educated and honest judgment call?
I guess that depends on just how independent and honest you believe a man can be when there’s pharmaceutical patent money at stake.
Hilleman’s Confidential Memo
To give you another glimpse of the reality behind the Big Pharma curtain, Maurice R. Hilleman, Ph.D. is another leading expert on immunization, in the sense that he developed more than 40 vaccines and published close to 500 articles on virology, infectious diseases, epidemiology and immunology.
In 2005, a confidential memo was discovered that was written in 1991 by then senior Merck Vice-President, Maurice Hilleman, to Dr. Gordon Douglas, then head of Merck's vaccine division. (Douglas is now a consultant for the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institutes of Health.)
In the memo, Dr. Hilleman wrote:
“The regulatory control agencies in some countries, particularly Scandinavia (especially Sweden) but also UK, Japan, and Switzerland have expressed concern for thimerosal, a mercury preservative, in vaccines. Some countries require absence of thimerosal from single-dose package. This trend will probably spread… Sweden is requiring thimerosal free single-dose packaging of all products as soon as can be reasonably achieved. The deadline for DT is January, 1992… “ The focal point for present concern is in Scandinavia… The immediate Merck concern is to be able to qualify for sale of single-dose products in Sweden and in Norway and Denmark… The public awareness has been raised by the sequential wave of experiences in Sweden including mercury exposure from additives, fish, contaminated air, bird death from eating mercury-treated seed grains, dental amalgam leakage, mercury allergy, etc… In some instances, public immunization programs may be endangered by public refusal to accept vaccines with thimerosal.” Dr. Hilleman went on: “For babies: The 25 µg of mercury in a single 0.5 ml dose and extrapolated to a 6 lb baby would be 25X the adjusted Swedish daily allowance of 1.0 µg for a baby of that size… If 8 doses of thimerosal-containing vaccine were given in the first 6 months of life (3 DPT, 2 HIB and 3 Hepatitis B) the 200 µg of mercury given, say an average size of 12 lbs would be about 87X the Swedish daily allowance of 2.3 µg of mercury for a baby of that size.”
“The regulatory control agencies in some countries, particularly Scandinavia (especially Sweden) but also UK, Japan, and Switzerland have expressed concern for thimerosal, a mercury preservative, in vaccines. Some countries require absence of thimerosal from single-dose package. This trend will probably spread… Sweden is requiring thimerosal free single-dose packaging of all products as soon as can be reasonably achieved. The deadline for DT is January, 1992… “
The focal point for present concern is in Scandinavia… The immediate Merck concern is to be able to qualify for sale of single-dose products in Sweden and in Norway and Denmark…
The public awareness has been raised by the sequential wave of experiences in Sweden including mercury exposure from additives, fish, contaminated air, bird death from eating mercury-treated seed grains, dental amalgam leakage, mercury allergy, etc… In some instances, public immunization programs may be endangered by public refusal to accept vaccines with thimerosal.” Dr. Hilleman went on: “For babies: The 25 µg of mercury in a single 0.5 ml dose and extrapolated to a 6 lb baby would be 25X the adjusted Swedish daily allowance of 1.0 µg for a baby of that size…
If 8 doses of thimerosal-containing vaccine were given in the first 6 months of life (3 DPT, 2 HIB and 3 Hepatitis B) the 200 µg of mercury given, say an average size of 12 lbs would be about 87X the Swedish daily allowance of 2.3 µg of mercury for a baby of that size.”
And finished off the memo with the statement:
"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration ... does not have this concern for thimerosal."
So, in 1991, the premier U.S. vaccine expert told the chief of the largest U.S. vaccine manufacturer that they had to immediately produce mercury-free vaccines for Scandinavian children because the Scandinavians refused to expose their children to these unacceptable levels of mercury, which would eliminate Merck’s Scandinavian market share.
(It should also be noted that the Swedish maximum daily allowance of mercury from fish is roughly the same guideline used by the U.S. FDA.)
Meanwhile, the U.S. continued to produce and administer mercury-containing vaccines to American children throughout the 90’s. It wasn’t until 1999 that U.S. federal health officials admitted that infants were in fact being exposed to mercury through their vaccinations.
Are ALL Vaccines Now Mercury-Free?
NO! They’re NOT!
That’s another cry you hear over and over again: that “we’ve now removed mercury from all vaccines.”
But a more accurate statement would be that mercury has been removed from MOST vaccines – not all – and several still contain traces of mercury, at a level so low the actual amount doesn’t have to be stated.
Here is the most current schedule (updated January 28, 2008) disclosing the amount of thimerosal and mercury contained in U.S. vaccines. It’s also available as a printable PDF.
The following vaccines still contain 25 mcg of mercury per 0.5 ml:
Interestingly, as they’ve removed mercury from most childhood vaccinations, the flu shots still have plenty of it – courtesy of a 2007 Presidential veto against its removal. And guess what? Now the standard recommendation is to vaccinate your child against the flu EVERY YEAR. Come on!
Why the persistent insistence on injecting mercury into our children?
How Much Does Conventional Medicine Know?
That’s actually a great question, and it was originally posed, not by me, but by the journal BMJ Clinical Evidence.
They found that of about 2,500 treatments offered in conventional medicine:
States BMJ: “…the figures above suggest that the research community has a large task ahead and that most decisions about treatments still rest on the individual judgments of clinicians and patients.”
So, in conclusion: if you believe conventional medicine is based on scientific, cold hard facts, think again. It’s a crap shoot -- a 64 percent chance that the treatment will be either harmful, ineffective, or “gee, we have no idea what might happen.”
There’s no more scientific proof of the safety and effectiveness of drugs and vaccinations than there is for natural treatment methods against the same ailments. The only real question is: how high is your risk tolerance?
The day when Dr.'s were atually considered "Healers" has sadly long been gone.
I ran into a couple of doctors in the Air Force who were clearly there because it had paid their tuition. They were resentful and cruel. On the other hand, I also ran into two of the best doctors I've met, too. One was there because she could help many people; the other was there for the challenge of treating conditions you don't normally encounter in civilian life. In Japan, I'd say the ratio of lazy pill-pushers to doctors you can have an intelligent conversation with is about 10-1. You have to go out and search for a decent doctor, but it is worth it.
Unfortunately that's how most people choose their career path these days, based on greed and power, instead of how they could best serve their fellow man. Consequently we have real lack of professionalism out there from the person who cleans public toilets all the way up to president.
I understand your frustration, but your statement is generally untrue.
Psychological screens of pre med and pre chiropractic students showed considerable similarity, including a desire to "do good".
As Medical school progresses, the students are taught that "this is how you heal people". There is a philosophy here. If you don't have it or get it, you won't make it.
Residencies demand highly conformed clinical decision making under sleep deprivation and stress. Highly effective programming.
Any Medical Doctor doing any treatment that is conventional will have 100% support at any malpractice litigation.
Any Medical Doctor varying from "standards of care" will be left hanging out to dry when it comes to court time.
How would you behave, if that was your professional training?
I wouldn't necessarily say that. A lot of doctors jump on the so-called greed bandwagon to pay off their medical school bills, and by the time that's done they are so used to it they can't get off. Most GP docs are woefully ignorant of this type of information. My son's pediatrician dropped us because we refuse to vaccinate, and when I asked why I was told it was because "they didn't want to assume the malpractice risk of him because he was not vaccinated." I told them that they were nuts, that there was no malpractice risk if the parents refuse (implied release of liability on refusal, Tort Law 101), and that if anything, the malpractice risk was from actually injecting those posions in the first place. They refused to hear the facts of what's in those shots, so we left and never came back.
But the researchers in this up to their eyeballs have no such excuse. They *know* the risks and problems. They cover it up to make a buck. And we suffer. Hilleman and Offuit are in that department.
Dr. Rik,
I appreciate your point about the legal necessity to conform. However, how many people manage to do the "right thing" while still appearing to buy into and support whole-heartedly the conditioned norms? I'm not an MD and don't think I could handle the rigors necessary to become one. Just thinking philosophically, is all. Your reasoning, while completely and totally understandable, seems to be a bit of a an excuse. If you're going to lie, why not do the right thing and then lie about it?
Samuri: Sadly this statement is true, and there is no way with the red tape in the profession today to weed them out. We have all heard the horror stories, GPs doing Plastic Surgery, or eye surgery, done by those who have absolutely no training for these proceedures, but they want the money. Then when something goes wrong, their fellow Doctors close ranks.
Some doctors may indeed be motivated by greed and ego, but many others have probably chosen their profession because they want to help people. At medical school they are however thoroughly brain-washed to accept medical dogma so they won't ever question it, especially vaccinations, which is the sacred cash cow of medicine. The many and widespread reactions and disorders caused by vaccinations are therefore swept under the proverbial carpet by relegating them to the realm of "coincidence" or "anecdotal evidence". They simply can't afford to look at let alone admit that vaccinations maim and kill children
Autism is a gut problem. Most children's intestinal bacteria are out of wack ( lots of bad bacteria) therefore the gut is compromised. So when they receive the vacines their bodies just can't handle it. But Autism can be reversed, lots of children are back to normal. I read on the internet about a boy who after receiving high amounts of coconut oil(coconut oil if anti- fungal,bacterial, and viral) became mainstreamed in school. Most children nee more than that. They need to be on a casin and gluten free diet, with super probiotics (like bio-kult probiotic) put into their gut.. To learn how children are overcoming autism go to www.youtube.com and search for "autism diet". There you will come across Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, author of "Gut and Psychology Syndrome" and Donna Gates of Body Ecology whose sons were autistic and now are not due to a change in diet , probiotics, etc. Dr. Campbell-McBride will present an all day workshop on the Gut and Psychology Syndrome at Wise Traditions 20008, the ninth annual conference of the Weston A. Price Foundation, to be hald at the Hyatt San Francisco Airport, Burlingame, California, November 7-10, 2008. There is also an excerpt ( about 10 pages) of her book about the cause and cure for Autism - It is very very informative, in Weston A Price Foundation catalog. Volume 8 Number 4 Winter 2007. The catalog is called Wise Traditions. You may find it on the Westion A. Price Foundation website at www.westonaprice.org.
Unless we stop the vaccines they will take down America. We are very close to the tipping point right now. It is not only autism, but the explosion of CNS, immune, and cognitive disorders that is destroying this latest generation. Along with the accelerating death of the planet's eco-systems, the vaccine destruction is creating a one two punch wherein gargantuan environmental jobs will have to be done by brain damaged individuals. Why the great mass of sheeple don't revolt is a source of constant amazement to me.
Hulda Regehr Clark, "The Cure for all Disease" has information on removing the mercury(and other toxins)from the body and case studies on Autism. I don't agree with her reccomendation on milk, but I think everyone would greatly benefit from reading her books.
Mary Tocco, thank you for your comment.My young dauther had a baby boy 5mos ago. Before the baby came to this world, I recommended her not to have the baby vaccinated. Unfortuantly it was done, too bad she did not take me seriosly. Soo, please hook me up to your web site. The more input parents get from caring folks like you the more we will be able to make intelligent desisions.
Mary- You could add the name of my youngest to your list. Unfortunately, my oldest was the victim of me caving in to scare tactics and extreme pressure from family, friends, pediatricians. I was afraid of tetnus since we are hikers and backpackers and go places where oxidized metal is exposed to cattle, etc. I thought I could put off the pressure by asking for single does vaccines. Well, after months and months the Dr office said they couldn't order the single dose and I eventually had them give him the DTaP shot. He did pretty well after the first shot, but after the second, he go a fever and was too worried to give him the third. Now, he has sensory and cognitive issues requiring extra help for reading and I will always wonder if the vaccine was the cause. I wish I had just stayed away from teh MD and gone to a natural health Dr.
I have 6 children and have NEVER had them poisoned (vaccinated). They are very healthy and rarely suffer from any illness. Fortunately my daughter is listening to me and not poisoning her son either.
Mary I have heard you speak in Michigan and I just wanted to thank you for all your hard work, and all the information you have given out over the years. I really admire you for taking a stand.
Mary,
You could also add the names of my three children now young adults (22,20 & 17) to your list. My eldest had the first vaccination but then I wised up and no shots were ever given to the others. Here in Australia it is not mandatory to have them for school attendance so that makes things slightly easier.
Im a vaccine researcher too and I am now against vaccines. I read about how the CYS takes children off their parents and Im scared! My baby mary is eight months old and I had her vaccinated twice...then came to my senses. What if she gets ill with one of the diseases and the CYS tries to take her away? What can a concerned parent do who is just trying to keep her baby safe?
Please add my 2 to your list. We have not vaccinated nor will we. I work in a hospital and see the other side. I have not told anybody I work with that my kids are not vaccinted for fear of the treatment I would face. In my state, thankfully, there is an immunization waiver for my children to attend public school.
Hi Mary,
My granddaughter has only been vaccinated once -- right under my nose minutes after she was born, for hepB, against the family's express wishes. I was my daughter-in-law's birth attendant and almost did the nurse serious bodily harm and I know I really frightened her. I was in a cold white rage when I backed her against the wall to express to her what SHOULD have been on the chart.
No more vaccinations for this little one -- over my cold, dead body. God help anyone who tries.
As an autistic, autistic liaison, I discovered a number of autistic people became autistic only after they were vaccinated over the age of ten. I am left with no option but to understand the inoculation was the prime instigator of their slide into the abyss of autism. One parent challenged the medical fraternity in NZ re vaccination of her child and it becoming autistic to be told shut your mouth or we take your children away, yet another received a six figure payout to keep quiet. The link exists and is known about hence the secrecy, we the autistic people receive much abuse and have to work many times harder to achieve so much less, it is a pity they that caused our severe anti-social life long, poorly or misunderstood bother, what we have to experience 24/7. To us autism is a huge curse, let them have all our autistic lifestyle effects: Those reality drifts, the staccato reality, ultra sensitivities, allergies, alienation, processing bothers, gut disorders, themselves to finally do something constructive. This bother is life long, even if we get shut in an institution, we still have the blasted autism and its attendant effects. Their misguided attempts to help us via medication often makes the curse of autism far worse; yet the evil inoculation drama continues seemingly unchecked. Thank you Dr Mercola for providing materials for parental informed choice, highlighting the facts and dangers of the flawed inoculation industry. Inoculations thanks but no thanks mate.
Autist at large
Thank you- I have found so many autistics are offended at the notion that vaccines cause autism symptoms. While I believe there is a clear genetic link, I am not only autistic but am also a mother of four autistic children and I have seen first hand the damage vaccines can do. I believe that children pre-disposed to autism cannot handle the vaccines and have neurological damage because of it. People keep shouting that the majority of children who are vaccinated have no complications but what about those children who do react? Children need to be able to have evaluations to determine the safeness of vaccines for the individual and then only vaccinate (without thermisol and on a better schedule!!) those children they believe are safe from complications. My children are clearly not in that group of children who can be safely vaccinated. Parents also need to be well and accurately informed about the risks.
springolife@trostfamily.org
I love my autism and wouldn't give it up for anything... not everyone 'suffers' and has a 'life-long bother' - don't let it bring you down; let the autism make you a stronger, more determined person... there is so much good to be gained from the traits. Treat the allergies and the sensitivities (which I know all too well about), learn how to deal with them, and then utilise the many positives that come from this disorder. It doesn't have to be all doom and gloom!
something else to be considered... sometimes it's NOT autism. through searching for answers to my own health issues (sinusitis - the "fungal" kind) i was shocked to learn (after about 5 years of being left in the dark) that my child actually has what is known as "systemic candida".... and that it was never "autism"
the symptoms for candida are in direct alignment with those mentioned for autism... and the "candida free diet" goes the extra mile in doing what the casein and gluten free diet proposes. in my child's case, it was not only vaccinations, but also antibiotics that played the role in causing these symptoms... but, now that i know the truth, he is literally symptom free.
I'm not a dr and not saying your child is not autistic, but many autistic children DO have yeast problems. It does not mean they are not autistic. Autism does not mean mercury poisoning either, as some autistic children do not have too much mercury in their system. Autism, I believe, is genetic which makes the child more sensitive to yeast, foods (for my oldest daughter it is gluten especially) chemical, heavy metals...there are a variety of environmental factors that can worsen a child's autism.
That's wonderful your child is so much better! So many parents never find what to do for their child and remain hopeless.
Sarah, autistic from birth, mom to four autistic children
I HOPE YOU ARE LOOKING INTO PROBIOTICS AND FIND A HOMOPATHIC SOLUTION/I PERSONALLY BELIEVE THERE IS HOPE/ GOOD LUCK'/hELP WITH YOUR FINDS! !!!
It's time we realize that the powers that be know all of this, and it's intentional. The medical/pharmaceutical complex is a complicit tool the government is using for population control. There is no other ration explanation. Alternative health care practioners and concerned parents have been scratching their heads for decades, wondering when the insurers, the policiticians would realize their egregious policy errors. Its naive to think that they don't know all of this, and haven't known this all along. Their actions speak loud and clear.
speaking of population control, my mom was recently trained by Homeland Security how to give vaccinations to people in the event of a national emergency (biological warfare ect.) They told her and the other volunteers that there will be border patrols and quarunteening and people won't be able to leave their sections except those with badges and their families (she has one.)Those with the badge and their families also get emergency medical care and first chance at the inoculations. That's why she volunteered (that and so she can be privy to information she knows won't likely be given to the media.)
I didn't tell her this, but I will be very cautious about the inoculations they will be doling out. I just don't trust the government and I'm not sure I would let them inject anything into my family.