May 15th, 2008
Paul Offit, M.D., chief of infectious diseases at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He is frequently quoted regarding the controversy over a vaccine-autism link; he emphasizes the importance of vaccines for public health. Dr. Offit is, accordingly, not exactly a beloved figure among […]
By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 19 comments
May 1st, 2008
On April 11th, a new document in the case of Hannah Poling was filed. The document—Order Deferring Ruling on Petitioners’ Motion for Complete Transparency of Proceedings—-can be read here. The petitioners are Terry Poling and Jon Poling, the parents of “Hannah Poling, a minor.” The respondent is the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The […]
By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 19 comments
April 28th, 2008
In the past several months, more and more scientific studies have added evidence that disputes a link between thimerosal and rising autism rates, and that link autism to mercury. Concurrently, a number of studies offer further evidence about genetic of factors and autism. Also at the same time, proponents of the view that some external, […]
By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 25 comments
April 23rd, 2008
According to an April 22nd Scientific American piece about the case of Hannah Poling—the 9-year-old Georgia girl whose “pre-existing mitochondrial disorder…. was ‘aggravated’ by her shots” according to a concession by the federal government and who was awarded a settlement:
“….. scientifically, from the documents presented in the vaccine court, the Polings did not make a […]
By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 42 comments
April 18th, 2008
What causes autism is a question to be answered by science, or so one would think rather than by, for instance, any legal decisions or court cases. Just in the past year, there have been more and more studies refuting a link between the MMR vaccine and autism and also between thimerosal and rising autism […]
By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 15 comments
April 13th, 2008
Researchers at Medical Neurogenetics have found that there may be a genetic link between autism and mitochondrial disease, “a muscle-weakening disorder,” today’s Reuters reports. Dr. John Shoffner, a neurologist and geneticist and one of the owners of the Atlanta-based company, reported at the American Academy of Neurology meeting in Chicago that 37 autistic children were […]
By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 17 comments
April 13th, 2008
This past Friday, a government-appointed working group met for the first time to discuss research about the safety of immunizations. Federal health officials said that the meeting is not in response to the recent concession by the government that vaccines aggravated an underlying mitochondrial condition in 9-year-old Hannah Poling and led to symptoms of autism; […]
By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 14 comments
April 11th, 2008
From an op-ed in today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution by neurologist Jon S. Poling, the father of Hannah Poling, with a proposal for more research in the “mitochondrial autism”:
Emerging evidence suggests that mitochondrial dysfunction may not be rare at all among children with autism. In the only population-based study of its kind, Portuguese researchers confirmed that at […]
By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 23 comments
April 5th, 2008
The latest post about a hypothetical vaccine-autism link by journalist David Kirby argues that the CDC has “lost control of the autism argument.” Kirby suggests that the CDC—a government agency—is “out of touch” with the real concerns of “anxious and alarmed” Americans who are worrying about their children receiving “5 or more vaccines in one […]
By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 43 comments
April 1st, 2008
“Environmentally-acquired Neuroimmune Disorder” or “E.N.D.”: That was a new term that journalist David Kirby suggested that should be used for autistic children with numerous gastrointestinal problems, over a year ago.
More recently—in writing about the case of Hannah Poling—Kirby has suggested that some type of “vaccine aggravated mitochondrial disorder” is “mimicking” autism. And then there’s the […]
By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 26 comments
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