First there was the world tour (well, to London). Then there was the national tour (well, around a day’s drive from NYC, or thereabouts). Now, we had David Kirby, live by phone on the radio!
The talk is broken into two hours. Mr. Kirby starts at about 50 minutes into the first hour. And, he doesn’t waste time. He instantly moves into getting it wrong.
First he says that anyone who thinks that the science is on the side of saying there is no link isn’t keeping up with the science. This is because (un-supported assertion coming up) “new stuff comes up virtually daily” coming in from major universities around the world.
Well, yes, new stuff is coming in daily from major universities around the world. There’s all sorts of stuff coming in on a multitude of areas, so, I guess he’s right. But, there isn’t stuff coming in daily to support the vaccine/autism concept. Take the last 5 years. With stuff coming in virtually daily, there should be over 1,000 “stuffs” (nice that he didn’t say “research” or “papers” or “results”, but “stuff”). Did anyone else listen to the Autism Omnibus? Did you notice over 1,000 stuffs being presented, or did you, like me, hear a few studies that may or may not support the idea?
OK, that isn’t a biggie. He moves on quickly into…come on we all can all guess….that’s right! Mitochondria! And, right off the bat, he gets it wrong.
He brings up that just yesterday from the UMDF (good group from what I can see) about the research from the Newcastle and Virginia Polytechnic Institute that Kev and Kristina noted recently.
Mr. Kirby mentions that the study noted that 1 in 200 have a “DNA mutation that may confer mitochondrial dysfunction” and “..this is exactly what Hannah Poling had when she got 9 vaccines in one day.”
OK. Now the facts. The study indicates a number of specific, measurable mtDNA mutations that might lead to mitochondrial disorders. Only one mtDNA mutation has yet been found with Hannah Poling–and this is not one of those studied in the recent paper. A major piece of David Kirby’s arguments so far has been that the mtDNA mutation that Hannah Poling and her mother have is benign. The dysfunction results, according to David Kirby’s interpretation of his source, is in Hannah Poling’s nuclear DNA.
As an aside, Mr. Kirby’s stance has been that the Hannah Poling type of dysfunction is inherited from the father (an apparent misinterpretation of it’s own). I bring this up to point out even more–David Kirby knows that there are major differences between the recent study and the kids in the upcoming 30-kid study that describes children with conditions similar to Hannah Poling (with the exception of any vaccine trigger, but that gets glossed over by Mr. Kirby too).
It is worth reading this comment yesterday from Prometheus.
One thing he notes is that a number of the people identified in this study had mtDNA mutations linked to Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON). You don’t have to go farther than the name to realize that an “optic neuropathy” isn’t “exactly what Hannah Poling had…”
Do I dare listen to hour two?
Left Brain Right Brain 
For what it’s worth, the station is WKBN
Take a look at their main website: http://570wkbn.com/main.html
The proudly show Michael Savage as one of their on-air “talent”.
Nice.
Hmmm,
in hour two he notes that Hannah Poling’s case is linked to nDNA. Why, then, did he claim that the 1 in 200 was “..exactly what Hannah Poling had..”
Is being consistent even within an hour asking too much?
I think David Kirby has taken a page from the climate change deniers- using dubious “science” and outright lies to get the general public to believe that there’s a serious debate within the medical community about the safety of vaccines when in fact there is not.
Why is this guy even invited to appear on these shows? He’s not even a scientist or a doctor. He doesn’t even know how to interpret scientific material. He s*cks.
Kirby has gotten to the point where he just lies with a straight face. Nothing to lose, I guess. He’s too deep in it at this point.
Thanks for the comments–the use/misuse of information is really bothersome. I was annoyed enough to write this before I heard Mr. Kirby state in the second hour the facts that show that, yes, this is not the same as Hannah Poling.
From my listen, it sounds like the parents drove this. They were present at Mr. Kirby’s Ohio lecture and probably made contact there or in preparation for that lecture. They then got the radio host to put on this show.
I do hope he does a followup with some mainstream medical people and parents who are not subscribers to the vaccine/autism concept.