NATIONAL AUTISM ASSOCIATION
GRASSROOTS CENTER

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February 9 is almost upon us so time is of the essence. Please contact the IOM now with your request for a postponement of this meeting!

ACTION:
On Feb. 9, 2004, the IOM (Institute of Medicine) will be having an Immunization Safety Review meeting on vaccines and autism. In a statement issued by Congressman Weldon, "Pressing forward with this meeting at this time, I believe, will further undermine the credibility of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on matters of vaccine safety and do damage to the reputation of the IOM. I believe the proposed date of this meeting, which you have the ability to change, is in the best interests of no one who is seeking the truth about a possible association between vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism."

It's a critical time to contact the IOM and request a postponement for a later date.

CONTACT INFO:
Call or email Dr. Kathleen Stratton at the Institute of Medicine at 202-334-1723 or kstratto@nas.edu.

The executive director of the IOM is Ms. Susanne Stoiber at 202-334-2177 or sstoiber@nas.edu.

SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear Ms. Stoiber and Dr. Stratton:

Based on discrepancies and inaccuracies in the CDC's published information concerning thimerosal and autism (Verstraeten et al., Pediatrics, Nov. 2003), I am requesting that the IOM's Feb. 9, 2004 meeting on Autism and Vaccinations be postponed. As you may know, the primary author of the CDC study is not a part of the CDC but instead has been employed by vaccine manufacturer Glaxo Smithkline since 2001. In fact, Verstraeten completed his second and third round of statistical analyses while at Glaxo. Additionally, as pointed out in the letter below from U.S. Representative David Weldon (R-FL), the Verstraeten study is riddled with several flaws which should have been fatal in the peer review process. Recently, one of the studies co-authors, Dr. Frank DiStefano, has admitted that the data were improperly handled and cohorts too young to receive an autism diagnosis were NOT excluded from consideration.

In light of this, I am requesting that the IOM postpone the Autism and Vaccinations conference until a proper investigation may be made of the CDC (National Immunization Program) activities towards the flawed Verstraeten publication.

Most respectfully,
Brian S. Hooker, Ph.D., P.E.
 

LETTER FROM CONGRESSMAN WELDON:

January 15, 2004

Julie L. Gerberding, M.D., M.P.H.
Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Road, N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30333

Dear Dr. Gerberding,

I am writing to ask that you post-pone the February 9, 2004, Institute of Medicine (IOM) Immunization Safety Review Committee meeting. Pressing forward with this meeting at this time, I believe, will further undermine the credibility of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on matters of vaccine safety and do damage to the reputation of the IOM. I believe the proposed date of this meeting, which you have the ability to change, is in the best interests of no one who is seeking the truth about a possible association between vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism.

Recent actions and statements by officials within the CDCs National Immunization Program (NIP) office, the timing of the IOM meeting, and the agenda for the IOM meeting raise serious questions about the purpose, value and objectives of this meeting.

Presently, the NIP is engaged in what amounts to an investigation of their own actions, which does not create an air of confidence.

The actions of the CDC regarding their November 3, 2003, article in Pediatrics raise serious concerns about the objectivity of the CDCs top vaccine safety officials and the value of their input on this issue. They are the very ones driving the IOM meeting and agenda.

On the day the Pediatrics study was released, a top CDC researcher and a coauthor of the study was quick to declare in news articles that appeared across this nation, The final results of the study show no statistical association between thimerosal vaccines and harmful health outcomes in children, in particular autism and attention-deficit disorder.

Unfortunately, the study does nothing of the sort, and when called to account eight weeks later, this CDC official was forced to recant. When asked if the children in the study were too young to have received an autism diagnosis, this coauthor stated that yes they were too young. He went on to admit that the study also likely mislabeled young autistic children as having other disabilities thus masking the number of children with autism. There are a host of other flaws in the study that are raised in the attached articles and letters to Pediatrics, which I urge you to personally review.

The CDCs top vaccine officials spent four years developing this study, and it is a seriously flawed study by their own admission. The fact that the CDCs top vaccine safety research officials produced such a seriously flawed study does not build confidence in the ability of the CDC to conduct proper vaccine safety monitoring or investigations of past decisions. Even worse, some critics have leveled serious charges that perhaps officials within the NIP manipulated data to disprove a theory they find objectionable. A review of the NIPs July 2000 Simpsonwood meeting, the various iterations of the Pediatrics study, and internal e-mails appear to give support to this claim.

In his December 17, 2003, letter to Pediatrics, Dr. Neal Halsey outlined a number of concerns about the study. Furthermore, in extensive discussions my staff has held with the CDC, your staff made it clear that the CDC will not hand over - to already approved independent researchers - the raw data used by CDC in developing the Pediatrics study. CDC is providing only limited access to the altered data. The NIPs failure to provide the raw data for reviewing only raises further suspicions.

It appears to me not only as a Member of Congress but also as a physician that some officials within the CDCs NIP may be more interested in a public relations campaign than getting to the truth about thimerosal. At present, I have lost confidence in the ability of officials at the CDC to give an honest evaluation of the matters at hand. It is not just me raising these concerns about public confidence, but also Dr. Neal Halsey who in his letter conveys his concerns about loss of confidence in the NIP.

Further eroding the CDCs objectivity is the apparent bias in the information shared with the public on the CDCs NIP website. A review of the information on the website regarding possible associations between thimerosal and autism and the MMR and autism demonstrates a clear bias towards building confidence in the safety of vaccines rather than providing an objective presentation of the data. The CDCs website presents a very selective reporting of the science. The information provided to the public generally ignores and discounts studies raising safety concerns while focusing instead on highlighting epidemiology studies favoring their position.

Given these concerns, the CDCs contributions to the IOM discussion would be viewed as suspect and non-objective. Furthermore, the fact that this meeting is being held at this time and according to the parameters put forth by the NIP officials is disturbing. I have already heard concerns expressed by those in the general public that the timing of this meeting is being driven by a desire to short-circuit important research and draw premature conclusions. If the purpose of this meeting is to seriously consider and address these concerns, then this will not be accomplished.

I have reviewed the research recommendations set forth in the IOMs earlier reports on these issues. The federal government has invested very few resources into examining these areas of research. Furthermore, the research that has been conducted to date by the NIP seems to be tainted by a desire to disprove a theory that they find objectionable.

Additionally, I am concerned that the agenda set forth in the meeting is inadequate and incomplete. With respect to the MMR/autism concerns, the IOM is dedicating one hour. Two witnesses are woefully inadequate to update the committee on the research to date. The time set aside for a discussion of epidemiology relating to thimerosal and autism is heavily biased against those who have raised these concerns and will not allow for a fair and balanced discussion of the literature. The time set aside for a discussion of the biological mechanisms of thimerosal and autism is inadequate to allow a full discussion of the issue. To consider two issues of such significance in only seven hours does not serve the public interest. To the outside observer it does not appear to be a serious effort to examine these critical issues. Any conclusions drawn from this meeting, including any report issued, will be viewed as suspect given the very limited time dedicated to examining very incomplete information.

Again, I am very concerned that the drive to conduct this meeting at this time and force a report by this summer may not only further undermine confidence in the CDC, but it may also harm the IOMs very good reputation.

I ask that you give these concerns your highest consideration and that you postpone the meeting until after additional research has been conducted. Given the slow pace of research and lack of federal support for this research, conducting this meeting prior to late 2004 to early 2005 is premature. The value of any such report at this time would be very limited. We must give the research time to progress if the report is to give meaningful insight into this matter.

Sincerely,

[signed]

Dave Weldon, M.D.
Member of Congress

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