IACC Continues to Debate Vaccine Objectives in Updating Autism Research Agenda
By SafeMinds President Theresa Wrangham
 The
October 23rd meeting of the Interagency Autism Coordinating
Committee (IACC) produced little in the way of progress in updating the IACC's
strategic plan for autism research. This
was largely due to lack of direction provided to IACC scientific panel chairs
and the 2 hours identified in the agenda to complete the task.
Overviews
of changes the strategic plan for the committee's consideration were given for
questions (panel) 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 with discussion of question three ("What
Caused This to Happen and Can It Be Prevented?')being tabled due to Lee
Grossman's (IACC panel three chair) unplanned absence.
During
the course of the committee's discussion, the science panels that met in
September to assist the updating of the strategic plan were noted by IACC panel
chairs as lacking in the expertise needed to update aspects of the research
agenda. During panel three discussions,
members of the scientific community on the panel noted that toxicological and
environmental expertise was missing in this panel. This absence of expertise
was noted by SafeMinds to the IACC and is in fact the second year that
expertise has not been present in this panel to inform discussion and updating
of the plan.
Surprisingly,
IACC members Alison Singer, Ellen Blackwell and Cindy Lawler were very vocal in
stating their concern during the meeting on the 23rd that edits submitted to the committee
relating to panel three didn't reflect the panel's consensus. Ms. Singer went
so far as to ask for notes she believed that Dr. Story Landis submitted prior
to her resignation from the IACC in the belief that they would provide a more
accurate account of panel deliberations. After obtaining a copy of the draft
edits under consideration by the IACC, I believe that vaccine objectives
inserted into the plan were likely the focus of Ms. Singer, Ms. Blackwell and
Ms. Lawler's concerns. Read more.
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Cleansing the Air at the Expense of the Waterways
SafeMind s is concerned that the mercury-laden waste products from cleaning coal plant air emissions are causing more pollution on the ground. Check out these two recent stories on the subject.
Cleansing the Air at the Expense of the Waterways
Coal Ash Causes Significant Risk: EPA Report Says
The solid and semi-solid wastes that are produced from coal plants are referred to as Coal Combustion Products or CCPs (for a quick overview of CCPs, see Wikipedia).
CCPs contaminate waterways, ground water, and soils, and many are recycled into products that end up in your homes, schools, streets and yards. There are ways to limit this pollution through a more progressive energy policy. SafeMinds will be posting its energy policy statement soon.
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Rat On a Hot Tin Plate: New Evidence Shows Ethyl Mercury from Vaccines Causes Abnormal Brain Development in Infants
By SafeMinds Board Member Mark Blaxill for Age of Autism
As we enter the heart of flu season, industry pressure to rehabilitate thimerosal (the ethyl mercury-based vaccine preservative) has been escalating. Just last week, The Wall Street Journal ran an opinion piece blaming swine flu vaccine shortages on the demand for mercury-free formulations. According to the author, venture capitalist Scott Gottlieb, one of the main reasons you can't get the swine flu vaccine is that the Obama administration has been "too cautious" in managing vaccine safety. He blamed three "fateful policy decisions" for restricting swine flu production, one of which was that "the government demanded single-dose syringes because they contain smaller amounts of thimerosal than multi-dose vials." According to Gottlieb, "This mercury-containing vaccine preservative continues to stir concern it can trigger childhood autism, even though this has been firmly disproven."
Coming from Gottlieb, this argument should be taken with a grain of salt (Gottlieb has acknowledged relevant conflicts. As a former FDA official in the Bush administration, see (HERE), he had to recuse himself from decisions involving Eli Lilly drug approvals; Eli Lilly sponsored research led to the invention of thimerosal). But Gottlieb was merely the point man for a commonly held view in the vaccine and medical industries. And over the last few months the vaccine industry has shifted their promotional activities into overdrive, eagerly exploiting the opportunity to market the novel threat of the swine flu. In the process they have bundled their full throttle marketing of flu vaccines with a renewed push to eliminate what they see as unnecessary obstacles to flu vaccine production (what others might call prudent product safety measures). Read more.
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Flu  Vaccines: Pregnancy and Children
What You Need to Know
Help us spread the word about this - please download the SafeMinds flu brochure or request copies mailed to you at no charge to distribute in your community.
Send a SafeMinds flu vaccine e-card.
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The Environmental Protection Agency has just released a
terrific video, geared towards kids, to teach them about the dangers of mercury
and what to do when they encounter it.
The press release includes some additional background information.
Read the press release here.
View the video here.
Please be sure to watch this with your
kids!
Then send it to relatives, teachers, doctors and anyone else
who might help spread the word. Let's
make sure kids know that mercury is dangerous!
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Four Perspectives on H1N1 Virus and Vaccine
From Healthy Child Healthy World Blog
 Healthy Child Healthy World doesn't typically address the vaccination debate, but we know it's important to our audience of parents. And, it's become especially important with the pandemic spread of the H1N1 virus. Parents are scared and we want to help. We don't have a recommendation for whether you should vaccinate or not, but we do believe you should have easy access to expert insights that can help you make an informed decision. Here are four perspectives you should take into consideration. Four perspectives are from Dr. Robert Sears, Dr. Jay Gordon, SafeMinds board member Jackie Lombardo, and Dr. Greene. Read more.
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Support SafeMinds through iGive!
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Click here to sign up.
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