Fwd: Wakefield: Advances in medical science demand ongoing scrutiny

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http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/05/27/0527wakefield_edit.html

Wakefield: Advances in medical science demand ongoing scrutiny

Dr. J. Wakefield, LOCAL CONTRIBUTOR

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Do vaccines cause autism?

According to the former head of the National Institutes of Health, the question remains unanswered.

Bernard Shaw once said that science never solves a problem without creating ten more. For every advance in medical science, in particular for vaccines given to healthy children, there must be ongoing scrutiny to look for those inevitable problems. This is a duty of modern science.

However, in a recent interview on CBS News, Dr. Bernadine Healy, the former head of the National Institutes of Health and member of the Institute of Medicine, acknowledged that public health officials have failed to fulfill that duty when it comes to the problem of autism.

Regarding the possibility that vaccines might contribute to autism, Dr. Healy acknowledged that many of her colleagues " don't want to pursue a hypothesis because that hypothesis could be damaging to the public health community at large by scaring people. " Dr. Healy said that the government has been too quick to dismiss the concerns of these families without studying affected children.

Many others share this concern. Along with the many universities and research institutions that have published research investigating the safety of vaccines, she now joins all three presidential hopefuls, as well as many hundreds of thousands of parents worldwide, in insisting on an honest examination of this theory.

Faced with an epidemic of developmental disorders in children and increasing evidence of a link with childhood vaccines, Dr. Healy reiterated the position taken by parents and doctors for many years: that there may be a subset of children who, for genetic or other reasons, are susceptible to developing autism following vaccination.

Like many others, Dr. Healy had initially dismissed the vaccine-autism link based on a 'superficial' understanding of the evidence gleaned from newspapers. However, as she looked deeper into the science, she realized that no study exists that demonstrates that our current recommended vaccine schedule is safe. She supports the kinds of studies that doctors and scientists at Thoughtful House Center for Children have advocated from the outset – meticulous investigations of affected children, and detailed testing of the childhood vaccine schedule in an appropriate animal model. She also endorsed strategies such as modifying the vaccine schedule in the vulnerable children to reduce the risk of complications, should this subset of children be identified.

Amazingly, animal safety testing has been applied to individual vaccines, but it has never been used to assess the real-world risks—that is, the cumulative effect of what is now as many as 38 vaccines in the recommended schedule before the age of 5 years.

Far too often doctors and researchers have been unfairly criticized for asking the very questions Dr. Healy is articulating. We and others in the autism community hope that Dr. Healy's revelation will go far deeper than the expression of an individual's opinion in a matter of public debate. It could be the tipping point for many in the public health community who have remained silent. We do not yet have the scientific answers, but as Dr. Healy confirms, we should not live in fear of asking the right questions.

The stakes are too high. If, after adequate studies, no link is found, then public confidence will be restored and the debate will be put to rest. If a link is established, then we can focus on identifying the subset of children that are vulnerable and be able to save them. It is the responsibility of the public health community and physicians to develop a safe vaccination schedule that protects everyone, without exception.

J. Wakefield is executive director of Thoughtful House Center for Children in Austin.

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