The
“14 Studies” commonly quoted in the press are corrupt
- Contrary to popular belief, to date, their have
only been a small amount of studies, most of those, if not all, are pharmaceutical
influenced, that only look at two possible vaccine induced causes of autism
--the MMR Vaccine and Mercury (one vaccine out of 36 and one ingredient out of
35)
- All of the 14 “studies” that are commonly spoken
about in the media are heavily influenced by the pharmaceutical industry and
often fraudulent.
- All of the 14 studies have serious, undisclosed
conflicts of interest, are influenced by pharmaceutical companies or have
serious design flaws.
- No independent vaccine-autism studies have been
conducted.
- No studies asking questions about long-term side
effects including health outcomes (like chronic illness and neurological
disorders) or comparing the vaccinated and unvaccinated community have been
conducted.
- No studies have been conducted to look at the present (or any)
vaccine schedule to monitor vaccine interactions in individuals.
Some examples of conflicts of interest from the www.14Studies.org website
Below please find a list of the studies used to support the
false assertion that vaccines do not cause autism. Please note that many of
these studies are being made available on the Web for the first time.
As mentioned in our The Right Question section, we contend
that not one of these studies asks the right questions to address the very
common issue that we hear reports of every day:
A parent takes their child to the pediatrician. The child
receives multiple vaccines. The parents report that the child changes after the
appointment, and the child is later diagnosed with autism.
By not trying to understand what is happening to these
children, these studies appear to have been done to provide "cover"
to the vaccine program, much the same way early studies of cigarettes and lung
cancer always showed no link, supporting the position of the tobacco companies.
In this section, we have divided the studies into two parts:
studies addressing Thimerosal (mercury) in vaccines, and studies addressing a
single vaccine, the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella). We have rank-ordered the
studies by our assessment of how commonly they are referred to in the press. To
read the entire study, click on the study title.
Below the title of each study, we have highlighted the
conflicts section of each study. Please note that in our next section, Studies
Ranked, we go into considerably more detail about each individual study.
Thimerosal
Studies – Conflicts of Interest
1. "Safety of Thimerosal-Containing
Vaccines: A Two-Phased Study of Computerized Health Maintance Organization Database”
Pediatrics, Thomas Verstraeten, MD (November 2003)
Conflicts:
Written by the Centers for Disease Control, the federal
agency in charge of the vaccine program. The lead author, Thomas Verstraeten,
left to take a job with Glaxo SmithKline — a vaccine manufacturer — after the
study was written and before it was published. The U.S. Congress later cited
this as an ethical violation.
2. "Thimerosal and the Occurrence of Autism:
Negative Ecological Evidence from Danish Population-Based Data" Pediatrics,
Kreesten M. Madsen, MD (September 2003)
Conflicts statement from the study:
"The activities of the Danish Epidemiology Science
Centre and the National Centre for Register-Based Research are funded by a
grant from the Danish National Research Foundation. This study was supported by
the Stanley Medical Research Institute." [Two of the seven authors were
employees of Denmark's largest vaccine manufacturer, Statens Serum Institute]
3. "Continuing Increases in Autism Reported to
California's Developmental Services System" Archives of General
Psychiatry, Robert Schechter, MD (January 2008)
Conflicts statement from the
study:
"This study was
supported through the California Department of Public Health."
4. "Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines Neuropsychological
Performance 10 Years After Immunization in Infancy With Thimerosal-Containing
Vaccine" Pediatrics, Alberto Eugenio Tozzi, Patrizia Bisiacchi
(February 2009)
Conflicts statement from the
study:
The study was supported in part by the US Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, through contract 2002-N-00448 with the Istituto
Superiore di Sanita.
5. "Autism and Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines:
Lack of Consistent Evidence for an Association" American Journal of
Preventive Medicine, Paul Stehr-Green, DrPh, MPH (August 2003)
Conflicts statement from the study:
"Financial support for the compilation of the data used
in this investigation and the preparation of this report was provided by the
National Immunization Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We
are grateful to Victoria Romanus of the Swedish Institute for Infectious
Disease Control, Ingrid Trolin of the Swedish Medical Products Agency,
Anne-Marie Plesner and Peter Andersen of the Danish Statens Serum Institut
[Denmark's largest vaccine company], and Roger Bernier and Susan Chu of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for their contributions in the
design and conduct of this investigation, and in the preparation and review of
this manuscript."
6. "Thimerosal Exposure in Infants and Developmental
Disorders: A Prospective Cohort Study in the United Kingdom Does Not Support a
Causal Association"
Pediatrics, John Heron and Nick Andrews, PhD
(September 2004)
Conflicts statement from the study:
"Financial support for the establishment of the ALSPAC
cohort was provided by the Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, the UK
Department of Health [the British CDC], the Department of the Environment, and
DfEE, the National Institutes of Health, and a variety of medical research
charities and commercial companies [vaccine makers]. Funding for this study was
provided by the Department of Health [the British CDC]."
7. "Early Thimerosal Exposure and
Neuropsychological Outcomes at 7 to 10 Years"
New England Journal of Medicine, Thompson WW et al.
(September 27, 2007)
Conflicts statement from the study:
"Dr. Thompson reports being a former employee of Merck;
Dr. Marcy, receiving consulting fees from Merck, Sanofi Pasteur,
GlaxoSmithKline, and MedImmune; Dr. Jackson, receiving grant support from
Wyeth, Sanofi Pasteur, GlaxoSmithKline, and Novartis, lecture fees from Sanofi
Pasteur, and consulting fees from Wyeth and Abbott and serving as a consultant
to the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee; Dr.
Lieu, serving as a consultant to the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization
Practices; Dr. Black, receiving consulting fees from MedImmune,
GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, and Merck and grant support from MedImmune,
GlaxoSmithKline, Aventis, Merck, and Novartis; and Dr. Davis receiving
consulting fees from Merck and grant support from Merck and GlaxoSmith- Kline.
No other potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was
reported."
[Seven separate vaccine manufacturers are mentioned — a
record!]
8. "Association Between Thimerosal-Containing Vaccine
and Autism"
Journal of the American Medical Association, Anders Hviid,
MSc (October 2003)
Conflicts statement from the study:
"Danish Epidemiology Science Centre, Department
of Epidemiology Research (Messrs Hviid, Wohlfahrt, and Dr Melbye) and Medical
Department (Dr Stellfeld), Statens Serum Institut [Denmark's largest vaccine
company], Copenhagen, Denmark."
9. "Mercury concentrations and metabolism in infants
receiving vaccines containing thiomersal: A descriptive study" The
Lancet, Michael Pichichero, MD (November 2002)
Conflicts statement from the study:
"The investigation was funded by the US National
Institutes of Health (NIH)."
From the lead author's website:
"Dr. Pichichero was a member of the discovery team at
the University of Rochester that invented, tested and licensed a Haemophilus
influenzae b (Hib) conjugate vaccine (HibTITER®) now universally given to
children in the U.S. [he makes vaccines, but didn't report as a conflict]"
10. "Thimerosal and Autism?" Pediatrics, Karen
Nelson, MD (March 2003)
Conflicts:
Lead author works at a government agency, National Institute
of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
11. "Lack of Association Between Rh Status, Rh Immune
Globulin in Pregnancy and Autism” American Journal of Medical Genetics, Judith
H. Miles and T. Nicole Takahashi (May 2007)
Conflicts statement from the study:
"This study was supported by a grant from Johnson and
Johnson Company and ongoing autism research support from the Leda J. Sears
Trust." [Note: Johnson & Johnson manufacturers the Rh Immune Globulin
vaccine, the subject of the study]
MMR
Studies – Conflicts of Interest
1. "Lack of Association Between Measles Virus Vaccine
and Autism with Enteropathy: A Case-Control Study" PLoS One, Mady Hornig,
Thomas Briese T, et al. (September 2008)
Conflicts statement from the study:
"This work was supported by CDC grant U50 CCU522351 to
AAP [American Academy of Pediatrics] and by National Institutes of Health awards
AI57158 (Northeast Biodefense Center-Lipkin), HL083850, and NS47537.
Role of Study Sponsors: Members of the funding
organization (AAP) and its sponsor (CDC) participated along with experts in
virology and neurovirology, autism pathogenesis, and vaccine design and safety;
representatives of the autism advocacy community; and study collaborators in an
Oversight Committee that reviewed and agreed to all aspects of study design
prior to data collection."
2. "MMR Vaccination and Pervasive
Developmental Disorders: A Case-Control Study" The Lancet, Liam Smeeth,
MRCGP, Eric Fombonne, MD (September 11, 2004)
Conflicts statement from the study:
"E Fombonne has provided advice on the epidemiology and
clinical aspects of autism to scientists advising parents, to vaccine
manufacturers (for a fee), and to several government committees. A J Hall
received a financial contribution from Merck towards research on hepatitis B
vaccination in 1998. He is also a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccines and
Immunisation (2002-present)."
3. "Pervasive Developmental Disorders in
Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Prevalence and Links With Immunizations” Pediatrics,
Eric Fombonne, MD (July 2006)
Conflicts statement from the study:
"In the United Kingdom, Dr Fombonne has provided advice
on the epidemiology and clinical aspects of autism to scientists advising
parents, to vaccine manufacturers, and to several government committees between
1998 and 2001. Since June 2004, Dr Fombonne has been an expert witness for
vaccine manufacturers in US thimerosal litigation."
4 . "No Evidence for a New Variant of
Measles-Mumps-Rubella-Induced Autism"
Pediatrics, Eric Fombonne,
FRCPsych (October 2001)
Conflicts statement from the study:
None noted, although Fombonne's conflict statement above
reads, "Dr Fombonne has provided advice on the epidemiology and clinical
aspects of autism to scientists advising parents, to vaccine manufacturers, and
to several government committees between 1998 and 2001. Since June 2004, Dr
Fombonne has been an expert witness for vaccine manufacturers in US thimerosal
litigation."
5. "No effect of MMR withdrawal on the incidence
of autism: a total population study” Journal of Child Psychology and
Psychiatry, Hideo Honda, Michael Rutter
Conflicts statement from the study:
None noted, an egregious omission given what is known about
Dr. Michael Rutter of the UK: Not only is Dr. Rutter a paid expert witness for
vaccine makers facing litigation regarding the MMR vaccine, he was also a board
member of the Wellcome Foundation, a front foundation for Glaxo Smithkline, a
vaccine maker. Dr. Rutter is also a primary witness in the case against Dr.
Andrew Wakefiled, a British doctor who published a paper implicating MMR
vaccine in autism.
6. "Measles Vaccination and Antibody Response in
Autism Spectrum Disorders"
Archives of Disease in
Childhood, Gillian Baird (February 2008)
Conflicts statement from the
study:
"Funding: The study was funded by the Department of
Health, the Wellcome Trust, the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR)
and Remedi. The sponsors of the study had no role in study design, data
collection, data analysis, data interpretation or writing of the report. The
corresponding author had full access to all the data in the study and final
responsibility for the decision to submit for publication.
Competing interests: MA and DB have given unpaid advice to
lawyers in MMR and MR litigation. GB has acted as an occasional expert witness
for the diagnosis of autism. AP receives royalties from SCQ and ADOS-G
instruments. PBS has acted as an expert witness in the matter of MMR/MR vaccine
litigation."
7. "Neurologic Disorders After
Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccination"
Pediatrics, Annamari Makela,
MD (November 2002)
Conflicts statement from the
study:
"Dr Makela was partially supported by a grant from
Merck & Co. [the manufacturer of the MMR vaccine]."
8. "Association of Autistic Spectrum Disorder and
the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Vaccine" Archives of Pediatrics
& Adolescent Medicine, Eric Fombonne, FRCPsych (July 2003)
Conflicts statement from the study:
"This study was supported by a grant from the Canadian
Institutes for Health Research, Ottawa, Ontario. Dr Wilson is a Canadian
Institutes for Health Research New Investigator."
The other conflicts of interest and more information about
the “14 Studies” visit www.14studies.org.
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