On the 5th May a Letter from Kenneth P Stoller appeared in Pediatrics.
UW-Madison researcher Paul Shattuck concludes that special education figures being used are “faulty and do not substantiate such a claim” (that there is an autism epidemic). Paul Shattuck seems to be saying that all the reported autistic children have always been here, they were just called something else.
Shattuck makes no such conclusion. In a clarifying comment on Scienceblogs, Paul Shattuck stated:
Unfortunately, the media and some advocacy groups have distorted what my article was all about. I was quite explicit in the article that A) my work does not prove or disprove the existence of an epidemic and I think that is still an open issue….My number one goal was to raise awareness about the limitations of the special ed. data.
As a pediatrician, who has been in practice for over two decades, I find it more than a little insulting as well as disturbing to have someone say that these children were always there.
Several pediatricians do not find it insulting. Suniti Chakrabarti for example – who diagnosed my own daughter – co-authored a paper with Eric Fombonne which confirned a high but stable prevalence for autism. There are also several interesting studies that indicate that ASD has historically been very underdiagnosed.
In 2004, an ‘autism audit‘ was performed in Scotland. One of the questions the audit asked was how accurate they thought the prevalence rate estimates were for their area. 45% of authorities who responded made a point of noting that they felt diagnosis for adults was very underrepresented. For example, Perth and Kinross council stated
Figures for adults reflect the national findings that the numbers known to services/diagnosed represent a significant underestimate of those individuals likely to be affected. For example day centre managers locally consider a number of people to be on the spectrum who have had no formal diagnosis.
Also, in a New Scientist piece last year, the findings of the University of Nottingham were reported. The team reexamined data from the 1970’s which resulted in five diagnosis. Using modern diagnostic criteria, the team found 56 cases, a ten-fold increase.
Lastly, earlier this year, Health Minister Liam Byrne reported figures that demonstrated autism diagnoses for children have nearly doubled in 8 years from 3100 to 6170. Meanwhile adult diagnoses have nearly tripled in the same period from 1120 to 3000.
The idea of ‘insult’ is irrelevant to the substantiation of a case. And yet again, Shattuck made no claim that ‘these children were always there’. Such purposefully misleading statements entirely invalidate Stoller’s case.
As a scientist, I find the current approach to the autism epidemic – “The Emperor’s New Clothes†approach – to be deeply disturbing.
Appeals to authority do not make one automatically correct. I’m sure there are several people who could say that ‘as scientists’ they question the idea of there being an epidemic of autism at all. That wouldn’t automatically make them right either. What does lend their viewpoint some weight as the fact that the science supports their opinions.
For years the vaccine division at the CDC and others have said the reason for the dramatic increase in autism is due to “better diagnosing” and “greater awareness.””They have encouraged those like Paul Shattuck to manufacture uncertainty.
This is quite simply yet more purposefully misleading rubbish. This study was funded largely by the Autistic Society of America. Paul Shattuck has also stated his affiliations with the CDC quite clearly:
As for the $540,000 from the CDC…it’s not entirely clear what they are talking about. I certainly don’t have a grant that big from anyone. They are probably talking about the autism surveillance grant that our center received from the CDC…a proposal which I helped prepare but am not listed as a co-investigator and am not funded from….I do have a small grant for about $12,000 from the CDC to investigate racial and socioeconomic disparities in the timing of autism diagnosis and service utilization.
Why Stoller indulges in such flagrant misrepresentation is not apparent. I am forced to conclude in the absence of a good reason, that Stoller has nothing to fall back on other than annoyance that Shattuck’s conclusions did not meet his beliefs and thus he felt it necessary to resort to distortion and spin.
There are no studies that have found the previously undiagnosed or misdiagnosed autistic individuals among older Americans. They simply aren’t there.
Mr Stoller is once again making assumptions. I have found no studies in PubMed that even attempt to pose this question, let alone answer it. How Stoller concludes there are none when no studies have sought an answer to this question is bewildering. I would like to suggest Mr Stoller examines the evidence from the three UK sources I quote from above. The US and the UK have a near identical autism prevalence. It seems reasonable that older patterns of prevalence might follow suit.
Now, the increase of autism has been linked to the increase in mercury exposure through fish and industrial sources, amalgam and additionally, through increased parenteral exposure to ethylmercurithiosalicate.
Its also been linked to alien invasion and plastic cups. Surely a scientist understand the concept of correlation not equaling causation?
A recent study, using infant Macaca fascicularis primates exposed to injected ethylmercury or those exposed to equal amounts of ingested methylmercury, showed that ethylmercuy was retained twice as much inorganic mercury in their brains in comparison to the methylmercury exposed primates.(Burbacher T, et al. Comparison of blood and brain mercury levels in infant monkeys exposed to methylmercury or vaccines containing thimerosal. Environmental Health Perspectives, 2005 Aug:113(8):1015-21.)These primates were exposed to mercury levels at a rate equal to what children in the United States received via standard childhood vaccines from 1991- 2003.
What’s not often discussed about the Burbacher study is the interesting point that the group did not use thiomersal containing vaccines. They used non-thiomersal containing vaccines and then added thiomersal to them. It is difficult to know how this fresh preparation compares with vaccine formulas when thimerosal is part of the manufacturing process and may have suffered some degradation to inorganic Hg in the vials before administration.
Cysteine and glutathione synthesis are crucial for mercury detoxification, and are reduced in autistic children, possibly due to epigenetic polymorphisms.
The Deth paper made no such claim. The basic gist of the Deth paper is that various toxins, including thimerosal, affect methionine synthase activity (a process that helps in building proteins) and that this can adversely affect children. In short, the Deth paper alleges that thimerosal causes methionine synthase dysfunction (MSD). However, autism and MSD are entirely dissimilar.
Therefore, autistic children have 20% lower levels of cysteine and 54% lower levels of glutathione, which adversely affect their ability to detoxify and excrete metals like mercury. (James, S.J. et al.: Metabolic biomarkers of increased oxidative stress and impaired methylation capacity in children with autism. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 80, 1611-1617 2004).This leads to a higher concentration of free mercury in blood, which then transfers into tissues and increases the half-life of mercury in the body, as compared to children with normal levels of cysteine and glutathione. As was shown by Bradstreet et al (Bradstreet, J et al.: A case control study of mercury burden in children with autistic spectrum disorders. J. Am. Phys. Surg. 8, 76-79 2003) in a study involving 221 autistic children, vaccinated autistic children showed about 6 fold elevation of urinary mercury than normal controls after appropriate mobilization with the chelating agent DMSA.
And so we get down to it – Bradstreet and JAPANDS. A man who recommends exorcism and a journal who don’t publish errata or retractions. Great. Next!
Stoller then goes on to describe a whole host of things thiomersal apparently does without ever stating the fact that none of these things appear in the diagnostic criteria for autism.
This is an unconscionable oversight failure at best, at worse it is an example that we have left consensus reality to be created by the liars, thieves, cheats, killers, and the PR junk scientists they employ.
Quite a statement from someone who has actively misled people regarding Paul Shattucks connections with the CDC. I would put forward the idea that a PR junk scientist is one who isn’t even able to research the simplest of facts and instead concentrates solely on misrepresentation and spin. As for killers, its my opinion that Dr Roy Kerry is a great example of a DAN! protocol follower.
We are living in a time where an incredible overplay and lies and self-aggrandizing behavior and non-science is the norm.
Stoller has no argument from me there. He would seem to me to be living embodiment of that statement. He cites studies from people like Burbacher who’s ‘science’is funded by SafeMinds – a group whos mission statement is to establish a causal relationship between vaccines and autism. He cites people like Deth who are listed as expert witnesses for the prosecution in the omnibus proceedings against vaccine manufacturers.
Is it stretch to realize that by putting our heads in the sand about the autism epidemic we have made it possible for the groundwork to be put in place for Marshal Law?
Er, yes. Yes it is.
No something easy to contemplate? Then ask why haven’t pediatricians come forward to demand the end of the use of ethylmercurithiosalicate once and for all, and to advocate for the treatment of these children before it is too late?
Simple: they realise that the science doesn’t support your beliefs Mr Stoller. They understand the massive societal benefits of vaccination – a benefit being well demonstrated now that vaccine uptake is falling thanks to your scare mongering as Mumps epidemics sweep your country and measles epidemics resulting in 12% hospitalisation and at least one death so far sweep mine.
Stoller declares no conflicts of interest and yet in his signature he describes himself as a member of the International Hyperbaric Medical Association. This treament is a favourite of DAN! practitioners – people who profit by ‘treating’ autism – and yet there have been no published randomized controlled trials for low-pressure hyperbaric oxygen therapy as an autism treatment yet. Only one paper exists in Pub Med relating to HBOT and autism which blogger Dad of Cameron found at least one significant error in.
Mr Stoller establishes once more his propensity to bend or totally shatter facts by claiming no conflict of interest when it is clear he supports a therapy being widely utilised for profit on autistic children. Throughout this whole letter he willfully and (one must assume) knowingly misrepresents people like Paul Shattuck, relationships between people and institutions. He quite clearly has little knowledge of the limitations of the science he quotes as backing up his beliefs and then goes on to rage about ‘PR junk scientists’ whilst he promotes the use of a very expensive treatment with no established – or even reliably investigated- appreciable effect on autistic children.
Left Brain Right Brain 
[…]we have made it possible for the groundwork to be put in place for Marshal Law?
Who is this Marshal Law guy and what does he want with our groundwork?
I am always surprised at how the DAN-types interpret Burbacher’s paper. When I read it, it tells me ethyl Hg has a much more rapid clearance than MeHg, and that much less crosses into the brain. A greater portion of that small amount that gets in the brain decomposes to inorganic mercury than with methyl Hg, but the total body burden is less. I guess you can always convince yourself that your results are consistent with your forgone conclusions.
As for the ‘insulting’ idea that autistics have always been here-reminds me of “Horton Hears a Who” that I read last night. Do all of the adults on the spectrum need to shout “we are here!” really loud at the next DAN conference?
Stoller claims to rebutt Shattuck’s paper without even addressing the science of the paper. Have you seen anything more ridiculous? And then this:
There are no studies that have found the previously undiagnosed or misdiagnosed autistic individuals among older Americans. They simply aren’t there.
I hereby publicly challenge Stoller to argue this point in the comments section of my latest blog entry titled Autism “Missed” Often, Even Today.
Here’s an interesting study following up your point Joseph:
_”Baltimore, MD (AHN) – A new study finds few pediatricians screen patients regularly for autism and autism-spectrum disorders (ASD) as part of their overall look at possible developmental delays.”_
Yes, I believe Kristina posted about that as well. They speak of “screening instruments”. I noted that screening instruments do miss autistics. For example, the AQ test at a threshold of 33 misses at least 20% of autistics.
Stoller on mercury
Now, the increase of autism has been linked to the increase in mercury exposure through fish and industrial sources, amalgam and additionally, through increased parenteral exposure to ethylmercurithiosalicate.
Does anyone have the study mentioned by Ben Goldacre in his column in the Guardian?
Well, the first large scale randomised control trials on the safety of mercury fillings were published just two weeks ago, and I’ve been waiting to see these hotly awaited results pop up in the newspapers, but nothing doing so far. They studied more than 1,000 children, some were given mercury fillings and some mercury-free fillings. Then they measured kidney function and various neurodevelopmental outcomes such as memory, coordination, nerve conduction, IQ, and so on, over several years. There were no significant differences between the two groups.
In 2004, an ‘autism audit’ was performed in Scotland. One of the questions the audit asked was how accurate they thought the prevalence rate estimates were for their area. 45% of authorities who responded made a point of noting that they felt diagnosis for adults was very underrepresented.
That did not stop Ken Aitken lifting tables from the audit to prove that there was no “hidden horde” and that Scotland was experiencing an autism epidemic, in direct contradiction to the statements that where contained in the audit and that he must have read. Someone once told me that Geier rhymes with liar. It seems that Aitken rhymes with faking.
You won’t ever see a group of adult autistics shouting anything…unless they were wearing heavy ear protection…
and they aren’t much on gathering in crowds. 🙂
But here’s the virtual version of the cry of the the Whos of Whoville.
http://www.isn.net/~jypsy/auspin/a2p2.html
We are here, we are here, we are here!
I just found out that a man who I had done my amateur autism diagnosis(I said to myself, “Self, that’s an ASD adult!) on a few years ago when he and his family lived here, just had 2 out of 3 of his kids dxd as on the spectrum. The oldest child, a girl, about 7 and one of her little brothers just got dxd as ASD kids in Oregon. I told one of my friends that I wasn’t surprised that the had autistic kids ‘cuz the dad is a really good example of AS. But does he have an official dx. No. Of course, not.
I did my same amateur dx on my former boss who had 2 dxd teens at the time (slam dunk for me). I told him he was on the spectrum and he was a little surprised, but he went and got it made official. He paid for the dx out of pocket, I’m sure. He keeps it a secret from his employers and people in general. Though, it’s hard to miss if you know anything about ASDs.
We are here! The older (even gray headed) ASD adults, some with recent dxs have shown up at the MIND institute and I’ve met some of them. Is the MIND insterested in them? No way.
As was said before, it’s rather poetic that the idiot actually declares no conflicts of interest. This guy is a real piece of work. He appears to be a dumber version of the Geiers, which I would think actually takes effort. I can see it now, his $$ overlords likely got together and said,
“we gotta counter this Paul guy because he doesn’t support our beliefs.”
“did you read the paper?”
“no, since when does that matter? Ha ha ha ha.”
“ok, let stroller do the article because when it gets slapped down at least we can distance ourselves from someone who’s an obvious idiot.”
“do you think the public will see the conflict of interest?”
“as long as the dollars keep flowing, who cares?”
“heh, heh, I like that.”
And speaking misundertanding epidemiology, Kev, have you seen Heart vs Head reccently. I really have someone’s knickers in a bunch. i have been called a number of naughty things now, but I was just accused of working for (gasp) the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal.
I suppose I am not worthy of being called a full scale Illuminatus yet.
Dang, I actually would like to do some work for CSICOP (or perhaps The James Randi Educational Foundation or The Center for Inquiry), and no one’s ever accused me of that. Some guys have all the luck.
In any case, nice fisking, Kev. You beat me to it.
I stepped out after Coprenicus’ hissy fit. One comment I can reply to – 4 or 5 long winded rants I simply can’t be bothered with…kudos to your patience ;o)
Our Jonathan wrote
“I suppose I am not worthy of being called a full scale Illuminatus yet.”
You’ll just have to work harder then. ” If at first you don’t succeed…….
>hugs
Jonathan,
We can just refer to you as an “it” (illuminatus trainee).
🙂
My aspie boy has an official paper dx, but I don’t. Were an AQ test all it took, it’d be a slam-dunk with a 45. Oh well. Mostly I just present between “normal” and “slightly weird” (like my uncle, the engineer), but I suspect that with her skills, Camille would spot me across a crowded floor in less than a minute. Oh we’re here all right, here, there, and everywhere!
andrea
Were an AQ test all it took, it’d be a slam-dunk with a 45.
In Baron-Cohen (2001) they find that about 60% of scorers above 33 meet threshold criteria for a DSM-IV diagnosis. So you’re likely correct.
My score is 38, btw, and I have a brother who claims to score 40.
My AQ now is 32, but if I had been tested at age 4 or 5, I would have met criteria for some form of PDD. And how many 13 year olds have read all of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky? Plus Russian history to put it all in context? This did not help making small talk in the school cafeteria.
Ruth, I hear you. I still have somewhat high scores and very eccentric tendencies, but as a child I was significantly impaired in some areas (I was well beyond “socially awkward” and right on into “utterly clueless” with regards to reading social cues and so on), but highly gifted in others.
You were into Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky? Heh. I was into Tudor history, an interest that is not only still with me, but which has expanded into many other areas of historical interest.
But, yeah, how many twelve year old girls go to England on holiday and want to buy as many historical tourist books as possible?! LOL!
Joseph: “For example, the AQ test at a threshold of 33 misses at least 20% of autistics.”
Yes, but this is the reported cut-off for reduction of false +ve results to a rate approaching zero.
I was, as was my ex-wife, in the norming group fo the Baron-Cohen ASQ Questionnaire.
MsC: “We are here! The older (even gray headed) ASD adults, some with recent dxs have shown up at the MIND institute and I’ve met some of them. Is the MIND insterested in them? No way.”
Why am I not surprised…..?!
Jonathan: ” i have been called a number of naughty things now, but I was just accused of working for (gasp) the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal.”
WTF????????
Ruth and bonni,
Have you read Saki?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saki
/tangent
I read an article in today’s New Scientist about autism. It explained it a bit better to me. Perhaps they have it wrong, but I feel I have a slightly better understanding. It talked about mirror neurons, and then about the amygdala and gating information, and how perhaps the assignation of high/low importance to incoming information was getting screwed up.
Assuming they have the science right, it was very readable.
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/mg19025516.700.html
Ms. Clark-
Yes I read Saki, I read Chekhov, Austen, Eliot and Camus. I think I was trying to understand NT’s by reading fiction, where the omniscient author would just tell you what the characters were thinking. And of course I loved Emily Dickenson, my favorite recluse poet.
K-
Mirror neurons are really cool. I wonder about their role in evolution. If the alpha baboons start to run, the baboons that copy them stand a better chance of survival than the one sitting looking at pretty rocks. Most brain structures are set in the 1rst 30 days of pre-natal life. I gave up coffee and my glass of wine before we tried for kids, since I knew damage can be done before the indicator window turns pink. Of course, because of genetic tendencies, I have 2/3 kids on the spectrum anyway.
Have you read Saki?
No, actually. Literature wasn’t much of an interest until I was older (I preferred reading bodice ripping romance novels from a fairly young age, as they were nominally historical settings). Saki looks quite intersting, though. Might have to look into this.
Thanks for the nudge!
I have read Saki, he’s great. The first Saki story I read was “The Lumber Room.”
Speaking of pediatricians, I found this:
Dosreis (2006):
“Most pediatricians (71%) believed that ASD prevalence has increased, and nearly all attributed this to changes in diagnostic criteria and treatment.”
GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) Friday said it hasn’t yet been confirmed whether its pediatric vaccine Priorix was administered to a child who later died, and to five others who were hospitalized, following vaccination in Vietnam.
“We are still waiting for confirmation on whether it’s Priorix,” a spokeswoman told Dow Jones Newswires.
Priorix is a vaccine administered to children to immunize them against measles, mumps and rubella.
Earlier Friday, a report by the Associated Press quoting Vietnamese authorities said the six children were among more than 100 children in a district of Ho Chi Minh City who were given Priorix.
The GlaxoSmithKline spokeswoman said the Vietnamese authorities have suspended the use of all types of this vaccine, also known as MMR.
“Priorix has been on the market since 1997 and no similar events have ever been reported. The safety record of Priorix would lead us to believe it was not our vaccination,” the spokeswoman added.
MMR vaccines contain a mixture of live, but weakened viruses, and work by provoking the body’s immune response, without causing the diseases.
This vaccine is given in two doses as part of the childhood vaccination schedule.
There have been several media reports over a possible link between the vaccine and autism or bowel disease.
The U.K. Medical Research Council, after reviewing current evidence and research, has concluded there is no link between the MMR vaccine and these disorders.
And you say what , Crazy? At least the dead children aren’t atuistic? Is that what you say? That’s what Hugh Fudenberg would say and he’s the mentor of Andrew Wakefield.
cra-z is from Englewood, Colorado which I don’t think is Sue’s stomping grounds.
We can learn from cra-z’s post. What we can learn is that this whole situation has moved beyond autism to rapidly become pure anti-vaccination. The story cra-z reports on has no link whatsoever with autism.
This is increasingly part of a pattern – the mercury militia are moving beyond mercury and beyond autism and thus their true zealatory is becoming clear – the true ‘tipping point’ is here: the anti-vaxxers now overshadow the autism parents.
Could it be that many of the mercury militia are turning into anti-vaxxers because they are beginning to see how completely foolish our vaccine recommendations were and continue to be. That should be more reason for the morons in the CDC/FDA/AAP to get their act together and start telling the truth. Pretty simple.
This is not Sue M. Really. Truly. I must say though, good job on your last post Kev with the Burbacher talk… hee hee. Good try!
And where is Sue, BTW? I get the feeling we’re practically debating without opposition against a worldview that is already dead.
Joseph: “And where is Sue, BTW?”
Looking for spelling mistakes and typographic errors, methinks.
Sallie/Sally lives in Colorado, near Denver, I think. She seems to be a closeted antivaxer. Could be anyone who hates vaccines and is visiting Colorado, though. Where’s David Ickes these days?
!http://static.flickr.com/49/145433239_b1f962d2a4_o.jpg!
testing: this should be a quote from the brand new Ashwood paper. Tony Ashwood works at the MIND and has been a co-author on one or two Andrew Wakefield papers. The context of this is that right before this quote he was talking about the Hornig mouse study and how it (heh) showed some mice are sensitive to thimerosal and show ASD behaviors, never mind that that is not what the paper showed. Then he cites a Geier paper, probably published in JAPandS, I haven’t looked yet, but we know what Geier rhymes with. Apparently, Ashwood hasn’t heard of all the Geier escapades, with Lupron and all, otherwise, he probably wouldn’t have cited them. Then he says that the majority of research finds no correlation between vaccines and autism…
!http://static.flickr.com/45/145433237_5f4dbd9c7c_m.jpg!
Above is the title of the new Ashwood paper
and heres’ a page of corrections that were left on the paper for some reason. I don’t know if the corrections were ever made, it’s just funny to see the editor’s notes.
!http://static.flickr.com/53/145433238_a065af37c3_m.jpg!
I think if you click on the photo it will give you the bigger version.
ooops, It’s Paul Ashwood and Tony Attwood…. different guys.
That’s the URL for the page of corrections at a readable size.
Hi Mrs Clark
you say
and heres’ a page of corrections that were left on the paper for some reason
This is a non-corrected version of a galley proof, therefore it includes the corrections done by the editors of the manuscript after the acceptation of the paper. The final version would have the corrections addressed by the authors ( I imagine).
MarÃa Luján
Kev wrote:
“you have an irrational dislike of vaccines”.
– Irrational or critical thinker?
Then he cites a Geier paper, probably published in JAPandS, I haven’t looked yet, but we know what Geier rhymes with.
No, I think he’s referring to Geier & Geier (2004), which I’ve outed here. That’s one paper the thimerosal camp should be ashamed to have on their side, just as Geier & Geier (2006). And that’s not just because it’s flawed.
_”Irrational or critical thinker?”_
Here’s how to tell what someone means Sue: read what they wrote.
Just to make it easy for you: ‘irrational’.
Kev: “Here’s how to tell what someone means Sue: read what they wrote.”
Ah, come one, Kev….. you know SueM can’t do that! She’s pathologically inclined to read… well, nothing much of any use, really….
*We* know that getting a handle on what someone means involves reading what they wrote, but SueM has a serious learning disability here… she can’t do that. She either reads paranoid fantasy into it, or shedoesn’t read it at all.
Kev: “Just to make it easy for you: ‘irrational’.”
Siis niinku – Dah!
Joseph,
You are right, that Geier paper was published in Medical Science Monitor. Sounds like a magazine.
Speaking of the Hornig thimerosal mouse paper. The MIND insitute was involved in replicating that ridiculous study. The actual study was done on the UCD campus, I don’t think they have mice, autistic or otherwise at the MIND institute (in Sacramento). I had put the question to someone in the Office or Research asking for information on whether or not the mice in this replication chewed their feet and tails off or chewed throught their cage mates’ skulls as Dr. Mady Hornig (mercury mom) described in the book, Evidence of Abuse of Lab Animals at Columbia University by David Kirby.
The person with whom I was exchanging emails got the answer from the lab animal protection guy a few weeks ago and he forgot to relay the info to me.
At any rate, I have the name of the lab animal protection guy now, and what he said was there was no incidents of the SJL/J mice dosed with thimerosal as chewing through their feet or their cage mate’s skulls.
Which begs the question, who did what differently between the two experiments. The strains of mice are all related to each other all the SJL/J mice are decended from the same mice. They all should have the same tendency to chew through their feet and to kill each other, which is a known trait of all SJL/J mice if you house them in a certain way at a certain age…
So what it looks like is that Mady Hornig left her mice together after the study was over so that they would get to the age where they were likely to chew through their feet and kill their cage mates… but that the UCD gang didn’t do that, they separated the mice the way they are supposed to or they put the mice to sleep when the experiment was over.
You should have seen Sue M on EoHarm defending the mispelling by Stoller in his letter to Pediatrics. It’s so funny. She says that the CDC people who used an alternate spelling not a mispelling, were evil for using that alternate spellilng, but that Stoller was merely making a typo when he mispelled ethylmercurothiosalicilate (??) I’m not sure who spelled what how, but Stoller wrote “-salicate” instead of “-salicilate” I’m pretty sure. Sue? Is that the spelling mistake that Stoller made? Of course, Sue M defends Stoller as being in a hurry or whatever.
I have some ointment with thimerosal in it merthiolate ointment for the eyes. hmmm. Think of all the people who were destroyed by all the bottles of merthiolate they had in their cupboards, bottle after bottle swabbed on the open wounds of small children. And none of them made autistic by it. Think of the moms who were nursing and putting merthiolate and mercurochrom on their own cuts. It’s not a poison, deary. It’s a medicine. It kills germs. It’s only a poison if you overdose on it. Just like all other medicines.
Stoller wrote:
ethylmercurithiosalicate…. but it’s really spelled
ethylmercurithiosalicylate
I spelled it wrong in the above message because I was going on memory. If I write a letter to be published on the Internet associated with a medical journal, I’ll double check the spellings.
Camille wrote:
“You should have seen Sue M on EoHarm defending the mispelling by Stoller in his letter to Pediatrics. It’s so funny. She says that the CDC people who used an alternate spelling not a mispelling, were evil for using that alternate spellilng, but that Stoller was merely making a typo when he mispelled ethylmercurothiosalicilate (??) I’m not sure who spelled what how, but Stoller wrote “-salicate†instead of “-salicilate†I’m pretty sure. Sue? Is that the spelling mistake that Stoller made? Of course, Sue M defends Stoller as being in a hurry or whatever”.
– Apparently Camille needs a lesson in Reading Comprehension skills. My kindergartener has better skills than her. Seriously. Here’s Sue M.’s direct comment on EoH:
“If the spelling thing does come up… Please refer them to
http://www.putchildrenfirst.org. They will be able to see that 2 years AFTER the removal of thimerosal from vaccines (wink, wink), many of the supposed “experts” in the government could not spell thimerosal. Dr. Robert Chen (Chief of Vaccine Safety of the NIP) and Diane Simpson (Deputy Director of the NIP) were “spelling challenged” when it came to thimerosal. It’s a tricky word don’t get me wrong (don’t point out the misspellings of the word on this list)… I get it… however, those people in the positions that they were in should have been able to spell thimerosal on command in Pig Latin if asked 🙂 It tells me that they still didn’t know their
ass from their elbow on this topic. Hint to moles:
ASS – Right below the lower back. Can be big or little. Can go
from pasty white to black or anywhere in between. Crack down the
middle.
ELBOW – Mid Arm. Part that bends.
Have a nice day!
Sue M.
– Here’s a few questions for you Camille.
1) Where does it state that the people from the CDC were EVIL?
2) Where does Sue M. state that Stoller was merely making a typo?
3) Where does Sue M. defend Stoller for “being in a hurry or whatever”.
Please answer these questions Camille. I have yet to see Camille properly communicate other people’s commentary. It is always twisted. Unfortunately it tells me a lot about her. You can’t trust her analysis of anything. That is very clear. What else are you missing Camille. Alot. Wake up!
p.s. Do you need help with the ass/elbow thing as well?
Camille wrote:
“I spelled it wrong in the above message because I was going on memory”
– Get some help with that.
Camille wrote:
“If I write a letter to be published on the Internet associated with a medical journal, I’ll double check the spellings”.
– Ethylmerc…. whatever is waaaaay trickier than thimerosal 🙂 . Plus, Stoller is smart enough to know that injecting infants with a neurotoxin (however you spell it) is not a good idea. He’s 10 steps ahead of the CDC.
injecting infants with a neurotoxin […] is not a good idea
Children being raised by conspiracy theorists and zealots also isn’t a good idea, but nobody’s doing anything about that. At least thimerisol is being removed from vaccines.
_Back in April I registered to attend a presentation_ *featuring David Kirby sponsored by Autism today*. _The event was scheduled for today_, 5/13/06,_ to be held at the Windsor Casino_ (_in Ontario, Canada_). _I reserved 2 seats and paid $149 for each_.
_Well today, after having my husband take the day off work_ (_without pay_) _hiring a babysitter, and crossing the border (_we live in a burb of Detroit_) we get to the casino and THERE WAS NO CONFERENCE_! _The staff at the casino called every department in the place and they knew nothing about any conference, David Kirby, or Autism Today. As a matter of fact the casino is currently undergoing remodeling and had no events scheduled for today AT ALL._
_Does anyone know about the credibility of Autism Today? _ *The link I followed was from Davids EOH website.* _They charged my bank account the day I registered, yet i received no info about a cancellation or anything. I called the phone # listed on Autism Today’s website and just got a recording that was dated back in April._
_Needless to say I am a bit worried about getting a refund. I am not only out 300 bucks for the registrations, but also about 200 bucks for hubbys lost pay as well as having to pay a sitter for her time._
_I was in tears at the casino. This is $$ we could not afford in the first place, then to get there and have people look at you like you’re an idiot because they have no clue what you’re talking about_ (_thank God I had my confirmation with me_), _not to mention the sheer dissapointment of not being able to attend the conference I looked forward to._
_So anyway, i guess this is a rant as well as a cry for any info
anyone might have regrding this event and/or Autism today. As of today the Autism Today website still lists this event with no mention of it being canceled._
Maybe the strangest part of this mystery is that she seemed to be the only person who showed up for the event.
David Kirby himself posted his list of tour dates to the EoHarm list in February and it generated a little bit of discussion:
————————–
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 23:45:41 -0000
From: “tmiktliu” …
Subject: Re: Canada tour – please share with anyone you know in Canada, thanks!
I want to register my better half for the DK engagement at the Windsor casino – she gets to hear DK live + the trip doubles as a kind of a “break-away” for her for a couple days. Any of you ladies out there thinking of heading to this gig (May 13th, Windsor, Ontario) and possibly looking for a roomie for a night (maybe 2 nights – friday and possibly saturday)? if so email me offline and I’ll let her know –
thanks
-randy
— In EOHarm@yahoogroups.com, “D Kirby” wrote:
>
> EVIDENCE OF HARM IN CANADA
>
> David Kirby will appear at a special series of SIX speaking
engagements in Canada this spring, sponsored by Autism Today.
These day-long seminars will cover all aspects of the mercury-autism connection, including pertinent information pertaining to autism and mercury exposures in Canada.
Autism Today, with over 2,500 pages of content which is growing daily, is the largest autism resource online and one of the leading autism and Aspergers resource distributor in the world.
The speaking tour schedule will be as follows:
March 25, 2006 – London (Best Western London)
April 1, 2006 – Winnipeg (Winnipeg Convention Centre)
> April 29, 2006 – Ottawa (Ottawa Congress Centre)
May 6, 2006 – Montreal (Centre Mont Royal)
May 12, 2006 – Toronto (Pearson
Convention Centre) May 13, 2006 – Windsor (Windsor Casino)
>
> FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT:
> http://www.autismevents.com ”
———————————–
Why would Mr. Kirby, author of Evidence of Harm, announce that he would be in Windsor Ontario at a casino on May 13, and then end up speaking in Washington (state?) on May 13, but not, apparently announce the change?? And why weren’t there lots of people there at the casino complaining about Kirby not being there? hmmmmmmm. Must be the illuminati at work.
Because even inside a cult people get tired of hearing the same old rubbish.
Or maybe it’s because there has been no mercury in routine Canadian vaccines since 1994, and Canadians know that Kirby’s book doesn’t apply to them. It’s kind of silly to try to sell your message in a country where the situation disproves your theory.