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Andrew Wakefield: Pushed out by the board of directors at Thoughtful House?

Last night, it came to light from a posting on the Thoughtful House Yahoo! discussion group that Andrew Wakefield has apparently resigned from Thoughtful House. I have yet to see confirmation anywhere, although Brian Deer has chimed in that this comes as no surprise to him and that he suspects that Dr. Arthur Krigsman, Anyssa Ryland, and Jane Johnson are behind Wakefield’s ouster. However, more interesting is this comment from Liz Ditz. In it, she points out a couple of interesting bits of background.

Tidbit #1 from 2008:

In 2007 alone, Thoughtful House saw 1,500 new patient requests — or about 60 percent of the center’s current total patient load — and almost a 50 percent increase in new patient requests in the last six months, says Anissa Ryland, director of operations. Thoughtful House’s funding, which comes largely from foundations and private donors, has also been rising steadily in the last two years. From 2005 to the end of 2007, the nonprofit saw a 48 percent increase in private donations and an 84 percent increase in donations from foundations and trusts, Ryland says. In the past two years, the nonprofit raked in $5.5 million in donations.

Tidbit #2:

A number of celebrities and “prominent central Texans” are supporters of Thoughtful House. Former Dell Inc. executive Charlie Ball and his wife, Troylyn, are among the founders of Thoughtful House; their son has “struggled with physical and developmental problems.” The co-managing director of Thoughtful House’s board is Jane Johnson of New York, part of the family of the Johnson & Johnson health care products and services company. Johnson (who co-authored Jepson’s book, Changing the Course of Autism) and her husband, Chris, donated $1 million to lay the groundwork for Thoughtful House in 2004:

Naturally, I can’t resist suggesting that, given that a member of the Johnson family of the J & J pharmaceutical and health products company is a founding donor of Thoughtful House and sits on its board of directors, that, by Jake Crosby’s logic on Age of Autism, Wakefield has clearly been a minion of big pharma at least since 2004. Add to that his having been in a paid minion of the trial lawyers when he did his infamous and now retracted 1998 Lancet paper, and the inevitable conclusion is that, given how AoA frequently calls Dr. Paul Offit “Dr. PrOffit” and a “biostitute,” perhaps it should start calling Andrew Wakefield the same thing.

Of course, that will never happen because the anti-vaccine movement sees Wakefield as being on the side of angels.

The hypocrisy of Generation Rescue and the merry band of anti-vaccine propagandists at Age of Autism aside, though, although I had heard that Jane Johnson is on the board of directors of Thoughtful House, I had forgotten about it. Knowing that, I think that my speculation last night was very likely on target in that Wakefield has become too toxic for Thoughtful House and needed to be chelated away. What I missed is that, if the announcement on the Yahoo! list is true, then very likely it was the board of directors who decided that Wakefield had to go. His reputation is now so damaged that, his cult of personality notwithstanding, he had become a liability. My best guess is that he had become a liability when it came to fundraising (after all, wealthy donors don’t want to be associated with someone who has been found guilty of a variety of research misconduct charges by the British General Medical Council).

The retraction of Wakefield’s 1998 Lancet paper then became the last nail in the coffin of whatever zombie of Wakefield’s scientific respectability remained to shamble about and eat the brains of journal editors, like those at NeuroToxicology, who had accepted his “monkey business” study and then apparently later withdrew it. Those two developments guaranteed that Wakefield will almost certainly not be able to fool a respectable journal into accepting one of his manuscripts again for the forseeable future and that he will be relegated to publishing in crank journals like JPANDS and Medical Veritas. The stream of seemingly respectable “research” would thus dry up and further compromise Thoughtful House’s ability to raise cash and attract patients not belonging to the anti-vaccine fringe.

The confluence of those factors appear to me the reason that the board of directors appear to have decided that Andy Wakefield must go. It will, however, be very interesting to see the spin that AoA and other anti-vaccine groups will put on this development, assuming that the news is true. If it’s not true, the story might become even more interesting. Perhaps it’s a clever fishing expedition, although for what I have a hard time imagining. In any case, if the story is indeed true (and we do not yet know whether it is yet, given that there has been no confirmation from Thoughtful House or any of the usual suspects), I see a clinic in central America or someplace with similarly lax regulation of medical clinics in Wakefield’s future. Or maybe someplace as close as Tijuana. He could even still live in the U.S. and commute across the border.

ADDENDUM: It looks as though it’s true. Wakers is toast. Andy Wakefield has been removed from the list of research staff at Thoughtful House.

By Orac

Orac is the nom de blog of a humble surgeon/scientist who has an ego just big enough to delude himself that someone, somewhere might actually give a rodent's posterior about his copious verbal meanderings, but just barely small enough to admit to himself that few probably will. That surgeon is otherwise known as David Gorski.

That this particular surgeon has chosen his nom de blog based on a rather cranky and arrogant computer shaped like a clear box of blinking lights that he originally encountered when he became a fan of a 35 year old British SF television show whose special effects were renowned for their BBC/Doctor Who-style low budget look, but whose stories nonetheless resulted in some of the best, most innovative science fiction ever televised, should tell you nearly all that you need to know about Orac. (That, and the length of the preceding sentence.)

DISCLAIMER:: The various written meanderings here are the opinions of Orac and Orac alone, written on his own time. They should never be construed as representing the opinions of any other person or entity, especially Orac's cancer center, department of surgery, medical school, or university. Also note that Orac is nonpartisan; he is more than willing to criticize the statements of anyone, regardless of of political leanings, if that anyone advocates pseudoscience or quackery. Finally, medical commentary is not to be construed in any way as medical advice.

To contact Orac: [email protected]

63 replies on “Andrew Wakefield: Pushed out by the board of directors at Thoughtful House?”

I am actually surprised by this move.
Jane Johnson is listed as a director of Defeat Autism Now! so it would seem that her acceptance of woo is quite high as would be her support of the ‘brave maverick doctors’. In a subtle, but not unnoticed move, Thoughtful House removed their listing of their Board Members and Advisors back on 12, January; signifying a pre-emptive move in light of the then, pending, GMC ruling. I wonder if Wakers will be removed as executive director for PR’s sake but be quietly left on as a ‘consultant’.

Jane Johnson is listed as a director of Defeat Autism Now! so it would seem that her acceptance of woo is quite high as would be her support of the ‘brave maverick doctors’.

Actually, it’s just the opposite. With all of this publicity (much, much more than any of them can effectively counter), it’s going to put a significant dent in DAN!s business model. They want publicity, but not this kind of publicity – and I don’t believe it for one minute that they are in it for the principle. As many here predicted, Wakefield is now a liability, so he will be disowned. They won’t burn him or it would risk business, they simply will not reference him anymore.

Only those that are true believers and not simply trying to turn a buck will keep supporting him.

1.Perhaps Andy can relocate to lovely,green,health-freedom friendly Ecuador, where he can serve as medical director for Mike Adams’ growing *colonia* of like-minded,English speaking ex-pats.Wakefield would certainly be valuable as an educator: he can regale students with endless,*sincere* stories about how truely global the Medical Industrial Complex and Big Pharma have become and how “truth-telling”(sic) “brave maverick doctors” who “dare to stand up to the Machine”…are persecuted and dispatched post haste.Indeed, he can now “grow” his practice beyond GE and autism to include sports medicine,gerontology,cardiology.2.Anti-vaxxers need not fear that their “arsenal” of studies is now depleted: there are plenty more- remember when Thimerisol was discounted as a multi-tasking culprit, they discovered *Aluminum*. Right now, a group is trying to link H1N1 vacines and miscarriage.Janine Roberts’ tome,”Fear of the Invisible” similarly provides many other contaminants with which to frighten the public.

It looks like he has gone to keep the sponsors happy. But will he stick around in another capacity as Science Mom suggests? He has taken a serious hit off the GMC and if he is struck off the medical register at the final hearing in April it is difficult to see how anyone could employ him in any capacity that relates to the medical treatment of autism.

I think Wakefield’s reputation has taken a huge hit from the retraction of the Lancet paper, especially among the general population. While it’s easy in our insular world to view the two extremes of those who claim it is either a conspiracy or those who have said it is bullshit all the time, more important is the interpretation of the casual observer, who sees the news story that says, “The paper that claimed vaccines caused autism has been retracted.” They aren’t thinking, “poor Andy Wakefield,” but are responding as one would hope, saying, “Mmm, maybe there was something not right about that. I don’t want my kids to get the measles for no good reason.”

They don’t view it as anything sinister, but as Science(tm) correcting a mistake.

Of course, they don’t realize that this is an almost unprecedented approach for correcting a mistake, but as long as they see what happened, it’s fine.

I should also mention that the retraction has raised some awareness of the issue, and more the general public asks the question, gee, why was it retracted? That gives knowledgeable people the chance to chime in and actually tell them some of the actual details of what they did, stuff the Cult of St Andy won’t tell them. And people are smart enough to realize that a guy hawking is own private vaccine in the pockets of anti-vax lawyers doing lumbar punctures on kids doesn’t make sense. Their response is usually of the, “Is that what he really did?” variety.

So the retraction has basically pulled back the curtain and now everyone sees the humbug that he is.

Nothing is going to change the mind of the true believers, but the normal crowd sees the problem

Perhaps Andy can relocate to lovely,green,health-freedom friendly Ecuador, where he can serve as medical director for Mike Adams’ growing *colonia* of like-minded,English speaking ex-pats.

I thought Mike Adams had moved to Central America, per some posts by Orac. Ecuador is in South America, of course.

So Mike Adams actually lives in Ecuador? Is that Quito, Ecuador by chance or no one knows?

@ Joseph: It is Vilcabamba( a/k/a the “Valley of Logevity”), Ecuador.He leads tours,shills for a land company and a resort.Speak of the( effing)devil,today Mikey has an article “Big Pharma researcher admits faking dozens of research studies for Pfizer,Merck”(NaturalNews).This is a counter to all the Wakefield news: Woo circles the wagons and tries to get followers to focus on how *corrupt* drug companies are( similar reactions by Null)

@ Joseph: It is Vilcabamba( a/k/a the “Valley of Logevity”), Ecuador.

Interesting. I happen to know a thing or two about Ecuador. Vilcabamba, near the border with Peru, is basically a rural region. I’m not sure how Mike Adams is able to get internet access in Vilcabamba. I doubt it’s broadband. Maybe he actually lives in Loja.

I can see why he went there. The place is legendary for its elderly. I understand quite a few Americans and Europeans go there and stay, hoping to live longer I suppose. I’d bet Mike Adams targets these woo-prone tourists and sells them all kinds of stuff.

@ Joseph- check out his websites- there is more info,plus tons of photos; ads & links to land companies( @NaturalNews;@HealthRanger)

More good news:

Author and infomercial king Kevin Trudeau was sentenced to 30 days in prison Wednesday after a federal judge last week found him in criminal contempt.

“This was an attempt by Mr. Trudeau to harass, intimidate and influence the court,” said U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman, who was flooded with hundreds of “harassing, threatening and interfering” emails, locking up the judge’s email system and shutting down his Blackberry for part of the day.

Last week, Gettleman found Trudeau in criminal contempt of court and nearly threw him in jail after Trudeau asked his supporters to email a federal judge overseeing a pending civil case brought by the Federal Trade Commission.

I understand that “Not a Medical Doctor” Hulda Clark’s office is available in Tijuana. I would love to hear that the renowned Dr. Wakefield has moved his sorry ass out of Austin.

Does anyone know if Ben Stein’s been alerted? He may want to make a sequel to “Expelled”. “Repelled”, maybe.

Liz Ditz,

I found it odd too that the Thoughtful House returns show so little income outside of donations.

Is the clinic a separate business?

I think the GMC’s findings must have come as an appalling shock to the directors at Thoughtful House. Wakefield, as ever, had been denying everything and explaining how he would get off with a slap on the wrist, and all the stuff he’s been saying on TV.

Then, with the hearing itself, Wakefield was working with a professional liar, a really creepy character who has latched onto vulnerable people for years. I’ve written about him at my site:

http://briandeer.com/mmr/mli-information.htm

He sat through much of the GMC hearing and then published false accounts of the proceedings: making it look like this statutory tribunal were fools, and the GMC’s lawyers incompetents. He’s basically a loser who is so financially broke he has no choice but to put together self-published books which he sells back to the people who are in them (the college yearbook principle). In this case it was mothers of children with developmental disorders. Mmm, nice work. Age of Autism ran his junk endlessly, of course.

But, despite my warnings, they didn’t realize that the GMC case against Wakefield was absolutely overwhelming. It was embarrassing at times, especially when he was questioned by the panel. Once the GMC acted, the Lancet had to act. I knew that in February 2004 when I set out the evidence of what would become the charges. Horton had no choice. And, now he too probably faces a GMC case.

As for the TH board, having been fed a pack of lies for years from two different sources, you can imagine how they felt when they got hit by that raft of proven dishonesty and child abuse findings. They might be bonkers. But they ain’t that bonkers.

I quite feel for poor old Jane Johnson. I know that Krigsman and Jepson said they were going to quit, so once that happened Wakefield was done for.

Re: Wakefield: I could not have hoped to see him thrown under the bus. But I got what I wanted, finally. I’m amazed at how quickly they’ve moved to disavow him.

Freespeaker@ 18: Trudeau deserves all that and more.
Unfortunately he has found the key to scamming people.
Get in, sell as much junk as you can before they catch you, then pay your fine and get out. The fines Trudeau has paid amount to little more than overhead in his scam.

I see that Wakefield made was paid by thoughtful house ($270,000) in 2008, but nothing in 2007.

Something strange is going on.

At the Autism Omnibus Krigsman made great play of the fact that he was an associate of Wakefield and not an employee. Krigsman bills the parents for his services – the invasive colonoscopies and endoscopies. I imagine the whole set up is a collection of franchises with them all lining up to take a slice of the pie. If you read the TH email group on Yahoo there are lots of threads complaining about the expense. some parents of course think it is worth very penny to recover their child from autism. Others feel ripped off. One trick is not to take insurance. You pay up front and then claim the costs back yourself from your health insurer. If your insurer says no, you lose out, not the clinic.

No matter what Jane Johnson’s relationship to J&J, it doesn’t seem to be affecting RWJF’s grants. Nothing wooful about autism seems to show up.

Well, he still has Jenny & Jim on his side. Perhaps they can create a position for him somewhere.

I had no idea about the J&J connection, that seems really odd to me.

Mike Stanton,

The TimesOnline are reporting that Dr. Krigsman has left Thoughtful House (or has at least “stepped down” as director of the GI clinic).

Sullivan,
The TimesOnline are reporting that Dr. Krigsman has left Thoughtful House (or has at least “stepped down” as director of the GI clinic).

If that is true it is good news. But I would like some independent confirmation.

Some additional news from the TH yahoo group:

Posted by Kecia:

Will TH be providing a statement other than the email put out by Jane on Dr. Wakefield’s resignation? The weasel, Brian Deer is already jumping to conclusions about this decision and using it to his advantage. One can say to ignore his opinion and spouting of the mouth but I fear this will be damning to Thoughtful House in the long run if the fires aren’t put out immediately.

This was posted by Brian Deer earlier today according to Autism Today Online.

Yes, I heard this was coming some days ago. Apparently, Jane Johnson, Krigsman and Anissa Ryland are among those behind it. I always wondered what the reaction to the GMC verdict would be. As the Neurotoxicology withdrawal (taking with it a big chunk of Liz Birt’s hard-raised money, which Wakefield still controls) shows, no reputable journal editor will now accept his data. What he did to autistic children is just shocking. And what he’s been saying to people around him over the last few years is now seen for what it was: beyond belief. Paul Offit has pointed out that, with the vaccine scare Wakefield created, you can’t “unring the bell”. With Wakefield himself there is an analogous phenonmenon. The penny can’t undrop. Once you get it with him, you see it all with such a new clarity that you wouldn’t trust him to truthfully tell you the day of the week. He has, sadly, another problem too. Last year, he made a complaint to the UK Press Complaints Commission about a story by me revealing that he rigged his research. I’ve been pressing for that complaint to be heard, but his publicist James Moore (who sometimes poses as a journalist at Huffpo) has asked the PCC for it to be delayed until some unspecified date in the future when Wakefield will be “vindicated”. In short, he’s in full flight. Part of me isn’t surprised by this apparent new development. The simple math of Thoughtful House’s board suggests that there will be at least one or two people of calibre and integrity, who know that all the cranksite stuff about a witchhunt, sinister forces and all that shit, are just that: shit. Wakefield has been nailed, absolutely fairly, properly, but belatedly, with no hidden agendas or vested interests. Apart, that is, from the public interest. Posted by: Brian Deer | February 18, 2010 3:55 AM

I have much respect for Dr. Wakefield and his research. I wish him and his family all the best. What has been made of his career is an atrocity. The GMC should be ashamed of themselves.
Kecia

___

Response from Jane:

Kecia,
There really isn’t anything else to say–Dr. Wakefield feels he needs to
pursue the GMC issue, and he’s concerned that the continued press
coverage will hurt Thoughtful House. Those who know Dr. Wakefield will
not find it implausible that he would step aside in order to protect an
institution he helped found.
Best.
Jane

___

I add that their ISP for some time now has been state.tx.us. I know this because they use it to visit my blog. Why their ISP is a gov’t server has only a few possible explanations.

Emily — they might be accessing you through a privacy program or from a public library ?

Emily & DLC:

DLC, you beat me to it. A state ISP often relates to a public library’s public computer.

According to http://www.whoishostingthis.com, thoughtfulhouse.org is hosted by Rochen (www.rochenhost.com).

My hypothesis is that they visit “enemy” blogs at the public library so that they remain anonymous from the blogger. But maybe that’s just the conspiracy theorist in me talking.

Does not compute here. They’re identified as Thoughtful House in the data (that’s how I know it’s them), but the ISP is state.tx.us. It’s also the ISP on the email they sent me. And they initially accessed my blog through a Web search on “Thoughtful House.” Since then, they’ve returned repeatedly, throughout the day as “Thoughtful House” from the state.tx.us server. So…I don’t think they’re at the library, unless somehow the library gets id’d as “Thoughtful House.”

Sorry…should clarify. The domain name is Thoughtful House. The IP address I can’t recall–and now I can’t remember if it’s one local to me–they’re very close to where I live, as would be any public library they’d use. And the ISP, with the domain “Thoughtful House” is the gov’t ISP.

Hey, look at me–I’m triple posting! One last thing: I get visits from other state.tx.us domains, and the domain is always identified. One is from my husband and clearly IDs the domain as the agency for which he works. I’ve had visits from a local library, and it’s ID’d as such, as well.

@Liz –

TH has (or, had, anyway, I’m not seeing anything about it now) a hippotherapy program.

I couldn’t get to the info on the tax return without registering, which I really didn’t want to take the time to do right now, but does what I’ve just told you mesh with anything on the returns?

I know a little bit more about it, if you wanted that information. I’ll check back for new comments tomorrow or the next day.

While Wakefield may have been removed from the list of staff at Thoughful House they face a much more difficult task when it comes to sanitising their research papers – every paper, except for the most recent includes Wakefield as an author, some he is the sole author of and other the lead. In any case if in the view of Thoughtful House Wakefield is too hot to handle then surely his research is likewise radioactive?

I haven’t had a chance to print out & pour over the TH IRS form 990s for the years they are available.

TH’s 2008 990 did list expenses of $22,294 and income of $15,528 for the equestrian program. No info is available at the TH website, but North American Riding for the Handicapped Assn (NARHA) still lists:

Thoughtful House Equestrians
Penni Bozadzis, director, CCC SLP

Instruction offered at
Cornerstone Farm
6734 Spicewood Springs Rd,
Austin, TX
(512) 784-8255

A story about his resignation was up yesterday at the Austin American Statesman webpage. I happened to see it when I was following the coverage of the plane crash into the IRS building.

I think I may have solved the ISP question:

Texas apparently allows “qualified entities” to purchase ISP services through a program it has. See http://www2.dir.state.tx.us/ict/overview/Pages/customereligibility.aspx

It seems, now that I have more evidence, that they may use this to buy ISP services at a discount from the State of Texas. They may be an “assistance organization” because they “enter[] into a financial or nonfinancial agreement with a health or human services agency to provide services to that agency’s clients” (language is from the statute). They probably serve children through Medicaid or children in foster care and qualify that way.

I resigned my post as one of the oldest board members of Thoughtful House… so did Sarah Swindell…. Another “woman of principle”…
Below is my personal story of why I will always support Dr. Andrew Wakefield…. my whole family is so thankful to him and Dr. Lenny Gonzalez!

My AUTISM or shall I call it NON-AUTISM story is as follows: I met Dr. Andrew Wakefield in May of 2004, BY THE GRACE OF GOD!! I MET HIM THE DAY BEFORE my brand new baby was supposed to have his 2-month old vaccines. Welcome to 2004… no doctor warned me about eating too much fish, or the new vaccine protocol. Trying to stay “fit” during my pregnancy, I ate a lot of cooked tuna and swordfish!!! DUH, double DUH!!! Also, from 1999 to 2004, the pediatric vaccine protocol had changed A LOT… from a triple and a single to 2 triples and 2 singles… “DOUBLE THE BACTERIA, DOUBLE THE FUN.” My 2-month old, Roguey, was about to get 8 different live bacteria shot into his little body, plus mercury…. INSANITY! Thank God for Dr. Wakefield’s warnings…
Well, because of Dr. Wakefield’s flashing red lights about slowing the vaccine process, the fact that children’s vaccines STILL contained MERCURY, and some ALUMINUM…and the wisdom that lots of live bacteria going to be mainlined into my child’s immune system, I WOKE UP. Another piece of information, my baby Roguey had a horrible case of eczema at birth which is a HUGE WARNING SIGN OF GUT, ALLERGY AND MERCURY POISONING ISSUES IN HIS GUT made me really think! Now I realize, the tuna and swordfish I consumed heavily was a major issue. Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s advice about “GETTING TO KNOW THE CHILD AS AN INDIVIDUAL” along with all the above information are all the reasons why my sweet boy (who is almost 6 yrs old now) didn’t fall into the pit of autism. He had the PERFECT STORM HAPPENING INSIDE HIM. Allergies, the inability to process gluten and casein, major assorted allergies that affected his immune system, and a BRILLIANT COMPLEX MIND, IS A PERFECT AUTISTIC STORM. All this would have made him collapse, crash, implode and even more significantly, SHORT-CIRCUITED HIS BRAIN by the time he was 18-24 months. Does this sound familiar? IT SHOULD TO YOU MOTHERS OF AUTISTIC CHILDREN. Dr. Wakefield and his beautiful wife Carmel Wakefield (also a physician), Venezuelan Dr. Lenny Gonzalez’s guidance (to a mother of 6 children, 5 boys and 1 girl) made sure that my beautiful HIGHLY INTELLIGENT son grows up, develops, and he is (along with his brothers and sister) an amazing scholar and athlete at the age of 5. He has had his major struggles — delayed speech, debilitating asthma, and major allergies diagnosed by a major mainstream allergist: he is allergic to gluten, casein, egg whites, PEANUTS, soy… Also allergic to Oak, Elm, Johnson and Bermuda grass– but I have created a safe haven of diet and asthma protocol around him. Most of this has been found out in the past 3 months! November 2009- February 2010 on his 5th year of life. AGAIN, Dr. Wakefield’s words, GET TO KNOW YOUR CHILD IS MY UTMOST PARENTAL MOTTO! NOW I REALLY KNOW DR. ANDY WAKEFIELD HELPED ME AND MY BOY DODGE THE HUGE AUTISM BULLET! I will forever be grateful and indebted to Dr. Andy Wakefield!
Best!
ea

My AUTISM or shall I call it NON-AUTISM story is as follows: I met Dr. Andrew Wakefield in May of 2004, BY THE GRACE OF GOD!! I MET HIM THE DAY BEFORE my brand new baby was supposed to have his 2-month old vaccines. Welcome to 2004… no doctor warned me about eating too much fish, or the new vaccine protocol. Trying to stay “fit” during my pregnancy, I ate a lot of cooked tuna and swordfish!!! DUH, double DUH!!! Also, from 1999 to 2004, the pediatric vaccine protocol had changed A LOT… from a triple and a single to 2 triples and 2 singles… “DOUBLE THE BACTERIA, DOUBLE THE FUN.” My 2-month old, Roguey, was about to get 8 different live bacteria shot into his little body, plus mercury…. INSANITY! Thank God for Dr. Wakefield’s warnings…
Well, because of Dr. Wakefield’s flashing red lights about slowing the vaccine process, the fact that children’s vaccines STILL contained MERCURY, and some ALUMINUM…and the wisdom that lots of live bacteria going to be mainlined into my child’s immune system, I WOKE UP. Another piece of information, my baby Roguey had a horrible case of eczema at birth which is a HUGE WARNING SIGN OF GUT, ALLERGY AND MERCURY POISONING ISSUES IN HIS GUT made me really think! Now I realize, the tuna and swordfish I consumed heavily was a major issue. Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s advice about “GETTING TO KNOW THE CHILD AS AN INDIVIDUAL” along with all the above information are all the reasons why my sweet boy (who is almost 6 yrs old now) didn’t fall into the pit of autism. He had the PERFECT STORM HAPPENING INSIDE HIM. Allergies, the inability to process gluten and casein, major assorted allergies that affected his immune system, and a BRILLIANT COMPLEX MIND, IS A PERFECT AUTISTIC STORM. All this would have made him collapse, crash, implode and even more significantly, SHORT-CIRCUITED HIS BRAIN by the time he was 18-24 months. Does this sound familiar? IT SHOULD TO YOU MOTHERS OF AUTISTIC CHILDREN. Dr. Wakefield and his beautiful wife Carmel Wakefield (also a physician), Venezuelan Dr. Lenny Gonzalez’s guidance (to a mother of 6 children, 5 boys and 1 girl) made sure that my beautiful HIGHLY INTELLIGENT son grows up, develops, and he is (along with his brothers and sister) an amazing scholar and athlete at the age of 5. He has had his major struggles — delayed speech, debilitating asthma, and major allergies diagnosed by a major mainstream allergist: he is allergic to gluten, casein, egg whites, PEANUTS, soy… Also allergic to Oak, Elm, Johnson and Bermuda grass– but I have created a safe haven of diet and asthma protocol around him. Most of this has been found out in the past 3 months! November 2009- February 2010 on his 5th year of life. AGAIN, Dr. Wakefield’s words, GET TO KNOW YOUR CHILD IS MY UTMOST PARENTAL MOTTO! NOW I REALLY KNOW DR. ANDY WAKEFIELD HELPED ME AND MY BOY DODGE THE HUGE AUTISM BULLET! I will forever be grateful and indebted to Dr. Andy Wakefield!
Please read all the articles on this subject. Your intuism will guide you as it has guided me!
xo EAvellan

My AUTISM or shall I call it NON-AUTISM story is as follows: I met Dr. Andrew Wakefield in May of 2004, BY THE GRACE OF GOD!! I MET HIM THE DAY BEFORE my brand new baby was supposed to have his 2-month old vaccines. Welcome to 2004… no doctor warned me about eating too much fish, or the new vaccine protocol. Trying to stay “fit” during my pregnancy, I ate a lot of cooked tuna and swordfish!!! DUH, double DUH!!! Also, from 1999 to 2004, the pediatric vaccine protocol had changed A LOT… from a triple and a single to 2 triples and 2 singles… “DOUBLE THE BACTERIA, DOUBLE THE FUN.” My 2-month old, Roguey, was about to get 8 different live bacteria shot into his little body, plus mercury…. INSANITY! Thank God for Dr. Wakefield’s warnings…
Well, because of Dr. Wakefield’s flashing red lights about slowing the vaccine process, the fact that children’s vaccines STILL contained MERCURY, and some ALUMINUM…and the wisdom that lots of live bacteria going to be mainlined into my child’s immune system, I WOKE UP. Another piece of information, my baby Roguey had a horrible case of eczema at birth which is a HUGE WARNING SIGN OF GUT, ALLERGY AND MERCURY POISONING ISSUES IN HIS GUT made me really think! Now I realize, the tuna and swordfish I consumed heavily was a major issue. Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s advice about “GETTING TO KNOW THE CHILD AS AN INDIVIDUAL” along with all the above information are all the reasons why my sweet boy (who is almost 6 yrs old now) didn’t fall into the pit of autism. He had the PERFECT STORM HAPPENING INSIDE HIM. Allergies, the inability to process gluten and casein, major assorted allergies that affected his immune system, and a BRILLIANT COMPLEX MIND, IS A PERFECT AUTISTIC STORM. All this would have made him collapse, crash, implode and even more significantly, SHORT-CIRCUITED HIS BRAIN by the time he was 18-24 months. Does this sound familiar? IT SHOULD TO YOU MOTHERS OF AUTISTIC CHILDREN. Dr. Wakefield and his beautiful wife Carmel Wakefield (also a physician), Venezuelan Dr. Lenny Gonzalez’s guidance (to a mother of 6 children, 5 boys and 1 girl) made sure that my beautiful HIGHLY INTELLIGENT son grows up, develops, and he is (along with his brothers and sister) an amazing scholar and athlete at the age of 5. He has had his major struggles — delayed speech, debilitating asthma, and major allergies diagnosed by a major mainstream allergist: he is allergic to gluten, casein, egg whites, PEANUTS, soy… Also allergic to Oak, Elm, Johnson and Bermuda grass– but I have created a safe haven of diet and asthma protocol around him. Most of this has been found out in the past 3 months! November 2009- February 2010 on his 5th year of life. AGAIN, Dr. Wakefield’s words, GET TO KNOW YOUR CHILD IS MY UTMOST PARENTAL MOTTO! NOW I REALLY KNOW DR. ANDY WAKEFIELD HELPED ME AND MY BOY DODGE THE HUGE AUTISM BULLET! I will forever be grateful and indebted to Dr. Andy Wakefield!
Please read all the articles on this subject. Your intuism will guide you as it has guided me!
xoxo
Elizabeth Avellan

Here is my Autism or shall I call it my NON-AUSTISM story:
I met Dr. Andrew Wakefield BY THE GRACE OF GOD!! THE DAY BEFORE my brand new baby, Rogue, was supposed to have his 2-month old vaccines! Welcome to 2004… my doctor wasn’t warning pregnant women about eating too much fish, or the new vaccine protocol. DUH!!! Double DUH!!! Also, from 1999 to 2004, the pediatric vaccine protocol had changed A LOT! From a triple and a single to 2 triples and 2 singles….”DOUBLE THE LIVE BACTERIA, DOUBLE THE FUN AND MADNESS!” Thank God for Dr. Wakefield’s warnings of getting to know the child as an individual and suss out any auto-immune issues or genetics. Well, because of Dr. Wakefield’s advice and flashing red lights about slowing the vaccine proccess, I WOKE UP! My Rogue’s perfect storm has been turned around because of their parents’ love

Typography is by no means an infallible indicator of psychology, but I can only think that the resignation of a board member who is so careless that she would type 3.5 variations on the exact same story in the same post and not even notice before she hit the “Post” button would generally be to the benefit of said board. That is, if this person really is an “E. Avellan” who was previously on the board of Thoughtful House, and not simply a Poe.

Antaeus,
the scary thing is that we can’t be sure someone with this…er…particular skill set (CAPSLOCK DRAMA, random scare quotes, and fun, made-up words like “intuism”) wouldn’t have been an influential board member of Thoughtful House. That uncertainty speaks volumes.

E. Avellan:

Welcome to 2004… no doctor warned me about eating too much fish,

That warning has been around for at least a decade. Why do you expect your doctor to tell you everything?

My 2-month old, Roguey, was about to get 8 different live bacteria shot into his little body, plus mercury.

There are no “live” bacteria vaccines (yet). Any vaccine that used to contain thimerosal would not have contained live antigens (it would have killed them!), which was removed from all pediatric vaccines (including some influenza vaccines) by 2001. Can you please tell us which vaccines still had thimerosal in 2004?

From the CDC Pink book on pertussis: “Acellular pertussis vaccines are subunit vaccines that contain purified, inactivated components of B. pertussis cells.” Not even whole bacteria, but bacteria bits.

And from their chapter on Hib: “Conjugation is the process of chemically bonding a polysaccharide (a somewhat ineffective antigen) to a protein “carrier,” which is a more effective antigen. This process changes the polysaccharide from a T-independent to a T-dependent antigen and greatly improves immunogenicity, particularly in young children.”

The one other bacterial vaccine given at two months is pneumococcal (which uses bits, not live bacteria). That is a total of five bacterial disease vaccines. The other vaccines at two months are polio, rotavirus and hepatitis B… all viruses. None of them live virus vaccines (the more recent ones are just virus bits, and the I in IPV stands for Inactivated).

Also, you breathe in and eat more aluminum per day than what is in any vaccine. It is one of the most abundant elements in the earth’s crust. The dirt, the dust and even the plants you eat have bits of aluminum. I hope Thoughtful House does not allow aluminum soda cans, or aluminum in any of its construction (windows, wallboard corner guards, light fixtures, pans, computer cases, etc). From the above link:

Virtually all food, water, air, and soil contain some aluminum. The average adult in the U.S. eats about 7-9 mg aluminum per day in their food.

Also, you cut and pasted your story at least three times. I now understand the mind set of the board of “Thoughtful House” and am very very glad that my son’s family doctor and neurologists were competent.

I am a PhD epidemiology student who began working part-time in a preschool in a midwestern US state to offset my tuition. My teenaged son is “typically developing”, so I was not aware of the high prevalence of children affected by autism spectrum disorders, ASD, and other pervasive developmental disorders, PDD, until I began working at the public school.

I observed many of these ASD/PDD children had chronic digestive and/or bathroom compliance issues too. The issue is not just “potty training”, but explosive diarrhea, chronic constipation and just plain “poor pipes”. I am a chemist/scientist and concerned mother, parent and teacher’s aide and it was clear there was a pattern.

As I began a literature review, I was drawn to Dr. Wakefield’s papers, since he, and several other brave scientists had hypothesized there was an association between digestive disorder and ASD. Unfortunately, he derived his theory based on an initial hypothesis about vaccine association- whereas I saw it only as a biologic phenomena from my naive observations.

Three years later, I’m still combing the research, watching/observing children come and grow, and go in the preschool and still I am inclined to believe Dr. Wakefield’s basic observations are relevant. It’s unfortunate the interpretation of his work went “viral” thru a media machine and whipped up fear and frenzy over the assocation with vaccines.

There are several experimental and methodological issues with studying autism, in part due to the paradigms about how studies need to be completed in “rare disease” states. But there are also theories and constructs about how to approach ASD research which were not articulated in 1995- another “series of unfortunate events” that affected Dr. Wakefield’s career. However, according to a recent interview he did on the TV show Dateline News (May 30, 2010), Dr. Wakefield appeared determined to stay true to the science and study of ASD etiology- and I respect his bravery.

There is a concerted need which affects millions of children and families, affected by diagnosis defined by pyschologists, teachers and medical professionals, but which have life-course altering impacts on all of us. Families need a champion and truth-seeker to help distinguish social defintions of ASD and biological disorders which may be a precursor to ASD diagnosis.

Obvious troll is obvious.

Biggest clue: Posting silly anecdote and Wakefield Fan Boy hand waving with absolutely no real evidence on an old article when there are more recent relevant articles.

Chris,

Would appreciate professional, courteous feedback rather than emotional snippits; the latter doesn’t progress science. I presume people posting here have some knowledge of the original Wakefield papers written in 1995. He essentially states there tends to be illeal disfunction, unique from allergic or celiac response in ASD kids. (The plausible consequences of that relate to inability to biochemically modify heavy metals to inorganic forms which are excreted- something normal kids can do when consuming mercury in fish, subjected to thimerisol, etc.)

The “definition” of ASD has widened with the adoption of DCM-IV criteria rather than earlier Kanner criteria or DCM-III criteria which is a another variable “shifting the sands” of Wakefield’s theories and interpretation of his studies.

There are several papers suggesting compromised immune and GI systems in autistic children. What is less clear is “which happened first?” The association is plausible and there is more evidence to prove that; the causation between variables is not readily proved.

The recent observational survey results reported by Schultz et al (2009) were useful in obtaining observational data about the association of ASD with acetaminophen use and the measles-mumps-rubella vaccination. Discussion by the authors reviewed the initial hypothesis that sulfation metabolism of acetaminophen may be somehow associated with autism diagnosis. Schultz et al (2008) implied autistic children may also be frequent users of anti-inflammatory drugs, which reduces sulfate production. The authors speculated reduced sulfate production may alter normal sulfation production. The authors speculated reduced sulfate production may alter normal sulfation mechanisms upon acetaminophen administration which may trigger release of neurotoxic effects or byproducts thereby causing autism (ASD). However, the authors acknowledged the potential sources of bias in identifying and surveying US parents which may affect representative quality of the study and its leverage globally.

There are concerns regarding the reliability and validity of the definition of ASD (Barbaresi et al 2009, Coo et al 2008, Croen et al 2002), which is further complicated by the fact the study subjects (infants, toddlers and pre-school children) are each experiencing highly accelerated and somewhat unique cognitive, physical and social developmental growth even among tightly defined age-cohort strata.

While longitudinal panel studies are lacking, there are several categorical or nominal definitions of autism used (Volkmar 2005) wherein childhood populations pre-defined as at-risk by parental or professional judgment. These definitions meet the construct criteria of autism spectrum disorder by Kanner, DSM-III, ICD-9 or the more generalized assessments of DSM-IV and ICD-10 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Community Report from the Autism & Developmental Disabilities Monitoring [ADDM] Network, 2007).
However, even the CDC admits their sampling has not been representative, random and of adequate scale to truly monitor incidence (first expression) of autism.

References:

Barbaresi, W., Colligan, R., Weaver, A., Katusic, S. (2009). The incidence of clinically diagnosed versus research-identified autism in Olmsted county, Minnesota, 1976-1997: Results from a retrospective, population-based study. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 39(3):464-470

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (December 18, 2009). Prevalence of autism spectrum disorders-ADDM, United States 2006. Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report Surveillance Summaries 58(No. SS-10): 1-20.

Coo, H., Oullette-Kuntz, H., Lloyd, J.E.V., Kasmara, L, Holden J.J.A., Lewis, M.E.S. (2008). Trends in autism prevalence: Diagnostic substitution revisited.
J. Autism Dev. Disord. 38:1036-1046.

Crane, J.L. & Winsler, A. (2008). Early autism detection: Implications for pediatric practice and public policy. Journal of Disability Policy Studies 18(4):245-253

Croen, L.A., Grether, J.K, Hoogstrate, J., Selvin, S. (2002). The changing prevalence of autism in California. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 32(3):207-215.

Erickson, C.A., Stigler, K.A, Corkins, M.R., Posey, D.J, Fitzgerald, J.F, McDougle, C.J. (2005). Gastrointestinal factors in autistic disorder: A critical review. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 35(6):713-726

Fombonne, E. (2003). Epidemiological surveys of autism and other pervasive developmental disorders: An update. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders 33(4):365-382

Schultz, S.T, Klonoff-Cohen, H.S, Wingard, D.L., Akshoomoff, N.A, Macera, C.A, & Ming, J. (2008). Acetaminophen (paracetamol) use, measles-mumps-rubella vaccination and autistic disorder: The results of a parent survey. Autism 12(3):293-307

Volkmar, F., Chawarska, K., Klin, A. (2005).Autism in infancy and early childhood. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 56:315-336

@DSullivan

Re: Wakefield’s 1998 (not 1995) paper, I recommend reading the GMC’s findings (click on my name – a link to the GMC findings can be found on the linked site). There were a number of ethical and methodological flaws with it. Further, properly controlled studies attempting to replicate his findings have failed.

I would also suggest paying a visit to Science-Based Medicine blog and reading through the materials on their Vaccines and Autism section of Topic-Based Reference (tab located in the upper right when you first get to the SBM page).

And, for a better picture of Wakefield in general, do a search of articles both here and at Science-Based Medicine, as well as the materials found on Brian Deer’s web site. When interviewed, he does come across as very charming, but his actions reflect a rather narcissistic, callous individual.

There are several papers suggesting compromised immune and GI systems in autistic children. What is less clear is “which happened first?” The association is plausible and there is more evidence to prove that; the causation between variables is not readily proved.

@ DSullivan, you are conflating issues here. The most recent works have strongly suggested that the prevalence GI pathologies in ASD children are no different than those in the general population. Additionally, those pathologies are not unique in presentation as Wakefield has tried to peddle.

http://adc.bmj.com/content/94/7/497.full
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/124/2/680

Gastrointestinal findings in ASD children are mainly comprised of constipation and/or diarrhoea which are, most likely, due to neurobehaviours rather than organic.

The recent observational survey results reported by Schultz et al (2009) were useful in obtaining observational data about the association of ASD with acetaminophen use and the measles-mumps-rubella vaccination. Discussion by the authors reviewed the initial hypothesis that sulfation metabolism of acetaminophen may be somehow associated with autism diagnosis.

I find it very hard to believe that a graduate epi student could have read Schultz et al (2009) and lend any credence to it. There were insurmountable biases and lack of confounding in that survey that render it, essentially useless. Acknowledging bias and doing nothing to control for it does not legitimise it.

I observed many of these ASD/PDD children had chronic digestive and/or bathroom compliance issues too. The issue is not just “potty training”, but explosive diarrhea, chronic constipation and just plain “poor pipes”. I am a chemist/scientist and concerned mother, parent and teacher’s aide and it was clear there was a pattern.

You should know that mere observations, i.e. anecdotes cannot and do not replace proper epidemiological studies right?

However, according to a recent interview he did on the TV show Dateline News (May 30, 2010), Dr. Wakefield appeared determined to stay true to the science and study of ASD etiology- and I respect his bravery.

What else would you expect a pathological liar to say? There is nothing brave about that man, don’t mistake bravery with selfish self-preservation and massive ego.

This is a blog, not a science conference. Get off your high horse, Wakefield Fan Boy. Especially since you chose to post your inane pondering on a several months old article, when there are more relevant recent articles here on Respectful Insolence. Why not post on the still active article “Andrew Wakefield: Another one bites the dust…”, where it is noted that another Wakefield paper has been retracted? Go over there and defend St. Andy.

In the mid 1990s Wakefield tried to connect Crohn’s to measles virus, and failed (though it did bring him to the attention of an ambulance chasing lawyer). Face it: Wakefield is a self serving fraud and absolutely none of his “research” can be taken seriously. Not any of it, even the stuff he published earlier. This is especially evident when looking more closely at his “patent”, which is discussed here: Wakefield and the colostrum nostrum.

If you have any paper independently replicating any of his work, feel free to share. Just remember the criteria: no involvement by Wakefield, Walker-Smith or Murch (as per the definition of “independent”), published in a real peer reviewed journal (Medical Hypothesis, Autism Insights, Medical Veritas and Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons), not editorials, not case studies on adults. Which you should know if you really are a student in epidemiology. You would also get the hint to go to a more recent article.

None of the papers you listed qualify. Schultz is a dentist with an agenda, and his “research” was either his self-published thesis or in Medical Hypothesis (Med Hypotheses. 2010 Jan;74(1):7-11. Epub 2009 Sep 11.), and I did notice you did not actually list the paper. The one paper on autism and GI disorders (J Autism Dev Disord. 2005 Dec;35(6):713-27.), actually says “While much literature is available on this topic, a dearth of rigorous study was found to validate GI factors specific to children with autism.” I suggest you look up the word “dearth” if you think that it supports Wakefield in anyway.

The rest of the papers have nothing to do with Wakefield and his theories, and are showing that vaccines really are not correlated to autism. So you are trying to change the subject.

I really do not understand how anyone could still try to defend Wakefield. You guys really have to explain yourselves. It is a total waste of time, money and effort. Not to mention that in Thoughtful House Krigsman and Wakefield caused more children to undergo invasive procedures (in the recent rehash of Wakefield on Dateline, Part 5, one kid treated by Thoughtful House was prescribed daily laxatives and monthly enemas!). Do the Wakefield defenders have some visceral need to torture children? Especially at the laughter in the video when Wakefield talks about a kid throwing up at the infamous blood draw birthday party. Do you guys really like seeing kids go through measles, mumps, rubella, pertussis, Hib and the rest?

Now stop whining, and come up with some real research that does not have anything to do with Wakefield on an active comment thread. Or provide actual evidence that Wakefield’s results are actually relevant and independently replicated.

Until then:
The science has been done, the link between vaccines and autism does not exist. It is a dead link… “It’s not pinin’! ‘It’s passed on! This link is no more! It has ceased to be! It’s expired and gone to meet its maker! It’s a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn’t nailed it to the perch it’d be pushing up the daisies! Its metabolic processes are now ‘istory! It’s off the twig! It’s kicked the bucket, it’s shuffled off its mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin’ choir invisible!! THIS IS AN EX-LINK!! ” (hat-tip to Monty Python and the dead parrot sketch)

Or, Wakefield Fan Girl. Whatever, no one knows who you really are on the internet. You could be Wakefield himself. He has sunk that low.

Do enlighten me or superior scientist, on the most relevant and persistant etiological theories of autism please.

DSullivan (not a boy)

Science Mom,

I realize the limitations and biases of Schultz’s work, but only referenced it to explain there are numerous variables which at this time are not known whether they are confounding, antecedants, etc.

Please provide references and rationale for the proof that ASD and associated GI disorders are due to neurobehaviors.

Again, my interest has nothing to do with vaccines and ASD, just trying to understand basic etiology of ASD.

Thanks in advance for pointing me in a constructive direction, Todd W.

Science Mom:
“don’t mistake bravery with selfish self-preservation and massive ego”
I’m inclined to scratch “self-preservation”. If Wakefield was even amoral but rational, he would have retracted the 1998 paper by ca. 2004, which it seems to me could have headed off the investigations which exposed outright fraud.

DSullivan,
I am an autistic adult with GI issues, including nonstop, low-grade abdominal pains. I have kept an open mind whether my experiences are representative of other autistics. I don’t believe these issues have anything directly to do with autism. For better or worse, I’ve never disrupted my life with medical procedures or experimental diets to get rid of something which I can mostly just ignore. I loath the idea that problems like mine could be offered as justifying Wakefield’s virtual abuse of autistic children.

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