Congressman’s bill asks for study of autism rate in vaccinated vs. unvaccinated
In a Health Impact News Daily article dated today, it was mentioned that Michael Belkin of the activist band The Refusers reported that United States Congressman Bill Posey of Florida is taking the step of introducing a bill requiring the study of vaccinated versus unvaccinated children. Along with his colleague Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Congressman Posey introduced H.R. 1757, The Vaccine Safety Study Act which would direct the National Institutes of Health to conduct a retrospective study of health outcomes, including autism, of vaccinated versus unvaccinated children.
Belkin writes, “The CDC has refused to study the autism rate in vaccinated vs. unvaccinated kids, because they are a captive agency of vaccine manufacturers. The former head of the CDC is now the head of Merck vaccines, the largest US vaccine manufacturer.” Belkin and many others believe that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are reluctant to compare autism rates in unvaccinated vs. vaccinated because it will show a huge increase in autism risk in the vaccinated.
HON. Bill Posey participated in a November 2012 House Oversight and Government Reform hearing on the Federal Response to Autism which was a much anticipated hearing from many parents of children suffering from autism who want clear and unbiased answers to questions surrounding the epidemic. Congressman Posey was frustrated with the”lackluster response from the federal witnesses, particularly the CDC witness that was evasive and took more than five months to respond to the Committee’s questions.” In a letter written last month to the US House of Representatives, he wrote, “The responses that finally arrived this month were incomplete, often evasive, and showed a complete lack of urgency on the part of the CDC. I was also disappointed that the federal government witnesses did not have the courtesy to remain at the hearing to listen to the testimony of the public panel representing non-profit organizations and academic institutions focused on Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome.”
Congressman Posey noted some believe that toxins like thimerosal, which is 50% ethylmercury, have played a role in the rise in autism and neurodevelopmental disabilities. He wrote, “In 2000 there was near universal agreement that mercury should be removed as a preservative for vaccines. Yet, today, nearly half of all annual flu vaccines, which are recommended for children and pregnant women, still contain mercury as a preservative – not simply trace amounts of mercury. It’s 2013! Why are we still injecting ethylmercury into babies and pregnant women?”
He also added that he was, “deeply disappointed in the failure of the CDC and the Department of Justice to see that Dr. Poul Thorsen is extradited to the United States to stand trial for orchestrating an elaborate scheme stealing more than $1 million from the CDC-Denmark grant. That money was supposed to be used to investigate the causes of autism and developmental disabilities. Instead it was diverted to personal use by Dr. Thorsen. Thorsen was a key author on 22 of the CDC’s key studies related to autism and developmental disabilities.”
Congessman Posey has heard from some in the autism community who have advocated for a retrospective study to examine whether there are different health outcomes when comparing vaccinated children and unvaccinated children, including autism and chronic conditions and has continued to hear these requests over the past four years. A recent study they published compared fully vaccinated children to those who were not fully vaccinated, but for some reason it did not include data on completely unvaccinated children. The CDC has never looked at a comparison of vaccinated versus unvaccinated, however.
