Florida Dad Pushing To Ban ALL Thimerosal in Vaccines
I’m already prepared for what “Dr. Gary” is going to say to this post.
Because the chiropractor friend of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and father of two autistic children isn’t listening to anyone in his bid to have the state ban all vaccines that contain thimerosal.
All of them. Even those not administered to kids.
The proposal by Dr. Gary Kompothecras would be the strictest in the nation, and doctors say it would keep vaccines like the one that prevents the flu, from saving people most at risk of dying. Kompothecras’s response? He calls everyone who dares disagree with them “dirt bags.”
The argument over vaccines and autism is at an all-time fervor of late, spurred by last week’s revelation by the London Times that the “study” that started all the hubub about autism and thimerosal back in the nineties was bogus. As in fabricated. Made up. Nonsense. Then came the report from a special court here in the states that says the measles vaccine didn’t cause three children’s autism. All of that was preceded by another study, this one in Italy, that determined thimerosal itself is safe.
What’s concerned me most in the responses here on Babble to each reporting of these incidents is not that parents are concerned about autism or concerned about vaccines. That’s natural. Autism is real. Autism is terrifying. And there is still a lot about vaccinations that we don’t know.
It’s the all-consuming nature of the focus on vaccinations. It’s the refusal to home in on anything else. It’s the assumption that disagreement means another parent doesn’t care about your plight. We have written dozens of stories here on the ‘Derby about other studies that have been linked to autism. The environment. Aged parents. Prematurity.
But there are still parents like Kompothecras who are blind to any other suggestions. Dare disagree with him, and he calls you a “dirt bag.” The trouble is, they are not only doing a disservice to their own kids, but a disservice to other people. In Kompothecras’ case, his proposed ban of the flu vaccine would put the thousands of Florida residents who are at highest risk for the flu – ie. the elderly, the asthmatic – at permanent risk. People die from the flu. But he doesn’t care.
He is doing this because, as he told the Herald Tribune, “If I can do this, my son won’t go down for nothing.”
How can you argue with that? How can you argue with the parent of an autistic child who only wants an answer? Because I do believe autism is real. And I do believe that the parents of autistic children need an answer. The fact that I am pro-vaccination because I’ve seen it save lives does not mean I am unfeeling or that I refuse to see the forest for the trees. Autism diagnoses are up, and there are children in trouble. Somewhere, some scientist has to break this code.
But I don’t see how taking the flu vaccine out of the hands of people who need it, people who choose to use it, is going to help the parents of autistic children. I don’t see how ignoring existing science and accusing parents who are “pro-vax” of being “dirt bags” or “not caring,” is going to provide an answer.
Might there be something else in a vaccination that might lead to autism? Maybe. There might also be a link in the environment. In aged parents. In prematurity.
So let’s get started on those. Thimerosal is a dead horse. It doesn’t deserve another beating.
Image: Herald Tribune
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I wonder how many of you parents who bash parents that say they noticed there children regressing after a vaccination would feel if the same thing happened to you. Any body that has children, know there children better than anybody else. I think what frustrates them so much is that when they tell there story, they are told it’s a coincidence. Do you know how many of these parents felt the same way as people who bash them before it happened to them. I wonder how you would feel if it happened to you and you were powerless. I can’t believe that people would believe studies that are actually put on by people who become obscenely rich off of them. They could do a study on totally unvaccinated children and vaccinated children, but they don’t do it, not because it would cost too much money, but because they are afraid of what it would show. How long did they battle over whether tobacco caused cancer, and why, because the cigarette people had so much power and had so much to loose. Let’s hope you aren’t one of the people that believe it’s safe only to be proved wrong.
Sarah: Please keep in mind that it’s a pretty small step from “desperate parent of an autistic child” to “ignorant zealot” convinced that vaccinations triggered this disorder. Most of the parents I know aren’t interested in getting a big check from the courts; their interest is in making sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else’s child.
I’m personally not anti-vaccine, but many of the people I’ve met with autistic children are. Listening to their stories, I have to say that they make compelling cases and it’s difficult to dismiss this sum of their personal experiences and anguish with “oh but studies say…” etc.
Much as I’m not anti-vaccine, I’m not convinced that there isn’t a connection between SOME children’s inoculations and their onset of ASD. That’s the thing of it; it would be impossible to set up clinical tests on children who more sensitive to the vaccinations or who have a genetic predisposition towards ASD.
“This of all things should prove thimerosal has no affect on autism. I can’t believe anybody would still be pushing this idea.”
Some (perhaps many) of them have tried chelation therapy to remove mercury from their autistic child, saw improvement, and thus concluded that the therapy worked, and that it working proves that mercury causes autism. They’ll refuse to consider that it might have just been a coincidence that their child got better after chelation therapy started, and thus come up with reasons why autism rates are continuing to increase after thimerosal was removed from pediatric vaccines, like:
1) In addition to mercury, something else in the vaccines can also cause autism, and either the amount of the non-mercury culprit is being increased, or the rate of vaccination is increasing. I’ve seen at least one person blame the aluminum in vaccines who claimed that the amount of aluminum in vaccines was increased to “compensate” for the decrease in thimerosal, even though thimerosal and the aluminum in vaccines do completely different things.
2) That, coincident with the removal of thimerosal, the net cast to find autistic children was thrown wider, and that if this was compensated for they’d find that actual rate of autism was decreasing.
3) That, after the removal of thimerosal, the pharmaceutical companies pushed for more mothers to be vaccinated with flu shots containing thimerosal and/or increased the amount of thimerosal in such shots, so that the mothers would have elevated levels of mercury, so their babies would be born with an elevated level of mercury, leading to an increase of babies born with autism even though they were no longer directly being injected with thimerosal. All a conspiracy to make it look like mercury wasn’t responsible for autism, so as to avoid being sued over it.
Thank you. Well said.
Here in California, thimerosal has been removed from pediatric flu vaccines (along with all other childhood vaccines as is federally mandated). However, the autism rate continues to rise. This of all things should prove thimerosal has no affect on autism. I can’t believe anybody would still be pushing this idea.
I think you may want to double check the background on Wakefield, MMR, and thimerosal. I’m pretty sure Wakefield implicated low level infection from vaccination and bowel trouble as together causing autism. I don’t think his work had to do with thimerosal. That said, no research bears out a connection between thimerosal and autism either, which is why many anti-vax types have moved on to blaming other “toxins” in vaccines. Still, looks like this Kompothecras fellow is even a bit behind the curve on anti-vax talking points.
I have nothing but compassion for people with autism and their parents.
HOWEVER,
The moment ignorant zealots put any child in danger because of their own misfortune, I lose any and all sympathy. Lets hope this chap doesn’t get his ill-conceived wish.
Great post! You have captured so much of what goes through my head, but have a hard time putting into words. I am so frustrated that those of us who are pro-vaccination (and pro-science) are being viewed as anti-autistic children. That is so bogus. And I find those who still argue about a vaccine/autism link resort to name calling (or the all-famous conspiracy theory) because they have no other argument to make.
btw, Charlie Crist is kind of a nut job, so it is no surprise this is his friend.
Jeanne, this is a wonderful post. I completely agree with everything you say here, especially the part about it not meaning that I don’t care if I think the focus on vaccines may be misguided. Thank you!