Overweight and obese children is a cause for parents to be aware, but
i truly believe that society must take some of the blame. Especially
the super sized  portions that is available now. Why must we have
everything supersized ?

BlankIt depends really _how_ your baby is looked after.  I mean if they are
picked up, handled and get lots of attention then I’m sure thats benificial.
If they are left in a crib all day and only "serviced" when they are
wet/hungry then that’s quite another matter.

He rented this documentary called "Children Underground" about
street kids living in a subway station in Romania’s capital,
Bucharest. Of course it was sad to see 8, 9 and 10 year olds
hooked on paint fumes, living like rats, etc. Their lives were
very violent and full of despair.  Apparently the streets are
full of these kinds of children. They run away from homes
where their parents are too poor to feed them, or they run
away from orphanages. He could vaguely remember hearing about the
horrific overcrowded orphanages that were discovered when
Ceausescu was overthrown and then killed in 1989 but he never
knew how those orphanages became so crowded.

When Ceausescu was in power he banned abortion and contraceptives
so he could increase his workforce — don’t you love communism?
The result was a disaster. Orphanages soon filled up as the
working poor (most of the country) could not feed or support
their unwanted children.  The consequences are still felt today
as there are an estimated 20,000 street children in Romania.
Anyway, I just found it interesting that this was mostly the
result of the banning of abortion and contraceptives.

He highly recommends the movie, too. You can rent it from Netflix.

From today’s Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO  USA):

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_32…

Questionable medicine

Criminal charges focus spotlight on alternative healing

By Sue Lindsay, Rocky Mountain News
September 25, 2004

No more.

"God, please, no more," 19-year-old Sean Flanagan gasped, the last
words he spoke before he died after a treatment from naturopath Brian
O’Connell that went terribly wrong.

 Dave and Laura Flanagan had turned to O’Connell in desperation after
doctors told them their son would be dead in a year from cancer that
ravaged his bones and lungs.

O’Connell promised to save Sean.

But during a Dec. 18 treatment that involved taking blood from Sean’s
body, his blood oxygen plummeted to 17. A healthy level would be in
the high 90s.

"O’Connell did nothing but pace back and forth, take Sean’s pulse and
look scared," Dave Flanagan said. "I could tell by the blank, scared
look in his face that this man didn’t know what to do. He didn’t have
a clue."

Sean Flanagan died the next day.

The Flanagan family believes the last precious months of Sean’s life
were stolen by O’Connell, who faces criminal charges for allegedly
lying to them and other patients about his medical credentials.

O’Connell is charged in Jefferson County with practicing medicine
without a license, criminal impersonation, fraud and theft.

For all the charges and accusations mounting against him, however,
O’Connell has supporters who say he helped them when traditional
medicine failed and that he is being unfairly targeted merely for
offering alternative treatments.

Steve Colton, president of the Colorado Naturopathic Medical
Association, in which O’Connell holds office, questions the source of
the complaints.

"I really don’t know him personally and don’t know much detail about
his actual practice," Colton said. "But these complaints were
generated from medical doctors, not patients. It just seems kind of
strange that he has been there five years doing this – if he’s been
doing such a poor job and injuring people, we would have known about
him a long time ago."

O’Connell and his attorney have declined comment while the criminal
case is pending.

But in a letter soliciting defense funds from members of the
naturopathic association, O’Connell said, "The case goes far beyond
just me as an individual being arrested and charged. Our right to
practice naturopathy is being challenged.

"In short, we are being used to set a precedent that naturopaths are
dangerous and it is my feeling that the MDs are trying to use my case
to shut down naturopathy in Colorado altogether."

Naturopathy, the practice of healing through herbal medicines, diet
supplements, sunlight, acupuncture and other natural treatments is not
regulated in Colorado.

Some say O’Connell’s case shows why it should be.

Diplomas and certificates

The Flanagans say O’Connell misrepresented his qualifications.

"He told us he was a pharmacist for 10 years and we thought he was a
physician," Laura Flanagan said. "He was wearing surgical scrubs and a
white coat with ‘Dr. O’Connell’ on them. We thought he had all these
degrees."

O’Connell’s office was filled with diplomas and certificates that
seemed to verify his training.

"We were so desperate, we didn’t take time to research his
background," Laura Flanagan said. "We were praying for a miracle and
felt he was an answer to prayer."

The family turned to O’Connell in December after Sean’s doctors told
them there was nothing more they could do.

His cancer had returned after two surgeries, a bone marrow transplant
and courses of radiation and chemotherapy.

While Sean’s physicians offered a bleak outlook, O’Connell was
optimistic.

"He told us, ‘I can save him,’ " Laura Flanagan said. "He said, ‘I’m
not having an Irish kid die on my watch.’ "

O’Connell recommended "photoluminescence" treatments in which small
amounts of Sean’s blood was removed, exposed to ultraviolet light and
then returned to his body. A small amount of hydrogen peroxide
solution also was injected into the bloodstream.

The treatments are promoted as fighting disease and cancer by killing
toxins and mutated cells in the blood and by stimulating the body’s
immune system to fight disease.

O’Connell assured the Flanagans the treatment was sterile because "the
ultraviolet light kills everything," Dave Flanagan said.

Fighting for licensing

 After the first treatment, though, Sean wound up in the hospital with
an infection in his IV tube that led to pneumonia in his weakened
lungs.

After he was discharged, he had three more blood treatments from
O’Connell. Each time, the meter Sean wore showed his blood oxygen
content plummeting and then gradually coming back up, Dave Flanagan
said.

"The treatments were supposed to oxygenate the blood, so I asked
(O’Connell) why Sean’s oxygen levels were dropping after every
treatment," Dave Flanagan said.

O’Connell went to the Flanagan’s home on Dec. 18, assuring them he
could fix the problem by adding more hydrogen peroxide solution to the
treatment, Dave Flanagan said.

Instead, this time Sean’s blood oxygen dropped to 17 and his mother
said he turned gray.

"God, please, no more," Sean said.

When O’Connell asked what he said, Sean repeated loudly, "No more."

"That was the last thing he said," Laura Flanagan said.

"He never really recovered from that," said his father.

Sean died the next day.

The Flanagans blame O’Connell’s treatments for hastening their son’s
death. They now are fighting for state licensing of naturopaths to
ensure they are properly trained.

"More hydrogen peroxide – that was his fix and that’s when Sean
crashed," Dave Flanagan said. "Maybe these treatments help some
people, but the man needs to have the medical background to know when
what he’s doing is causing more harm than good. That’s what happened
to Sean. What he did speeded the process of his death."

Sean Flanagan isn’t the only patient to react badly to O’Connell’s
therapies.

O’Connell was arrested in May after two patients wound up in the
emergency room after receiving treatments at his clinic, Mountain Area
Naturopathic Associates in Wheat Ridge.

A 55-year-old cancer patient was rushed to the hospital from his home
March 23 after a treatment in O’Connell’s office earlier that day.
Terminally ill with colon cancer that had spread to his liver, Roy
Gallegos later died.

Two days after Gallegos was taken to Lutheran Medical Center, a
17-year-old girl suffered a heart attack after undergoing
photoluminescence therapy at O’Connell’s clinic.

But the parents of the girl stand behind O’Connell and say he’s been
wrongly accused.

"I don’t believe he brought any harm to my daughter," said Catherine
Bresina. "Whatever they’re accusing him of they’re falsely accusing
him. It breaks my heart. He did everything he could possibly do to
help my daughter."

Bresina, who lives in Wisconsin, took her family to see O’Connell to
be evaluated while they were in Colorado in March.

"I don’t believe she had a heart attack," Bresina said. "She had an
allergic reaction to a B12 shot."

While at the hospital, Bresina said she felt her family was in a tug
of war between conventional and alternative medicine.

"They’re after him," she said. "They wanted him stopped. What they’re
doing with this man is not justice. It’s not right."

Bresina said she sought care for her daughter from O’Connell because
he offered the treatments she wanted. "I’ll go to Europe or Mexico to
get it, if I have to," she said.

Bresina said it’s unfair to accuse O’Connell of causing harm to
patients, many of whom turned to him for help after therapies offered
by traditional medicine failed.

"A lot of people who come to him are very, very ill and on their end,"
she said. "I believe he did more to help them than regular medicine."

Treatment backfires

But other patients don’t share her view.

Donna Taylor took her 88- year-old mother to O’Connell for treatment
of skin cancer on her nose.

Taylor said O’Connell boasted of his success rate treating various
cancers and said he had treated more than 100 cancer patients.

"I asked how many were successful and he said, ‘Oh, every single one,’
" Taylor said.

O’Connell recommended that Taylor’s mother use Black Salve, an
ointment he said would remove tumors, even internal tumors such as
those caused by liver cancer, Taylor said.

"He said you could take it orally or apply it topically to the skin
area next to the tumor. It might pass in the bowels or pop out of your
skin," she said.

Taylor’s husband, Robert Arnold, said he found O’Connell’s claims to
be preposterous.

"He told her it would pull the cancer right out," he said. "He said it
was like an octopus that reaches its tentacles down in there and pulls
it right out. My experience was that he was a quack from day one."

Arnold said they decided against using the salve after he did some
research on the Internet.

"I told my wife, ‘We don’t want to use that stuff on her. It’s like
battery acid and it’s going to burn her nose off,’ " he said.

"This guy is very disarming and preying on these older people who are
desperate, just desperate to get a cure," Arnold added. "They’re ripe
for the picking."

"He’s very smooth," Flanagan agreed. "He could sell a bucket of sand
to a man in the desert."

Correspondence courses

Prosecutors contend O’Connell was using medical procedures he had no
license to perform and presented patients with misleading or
fraudulent credentials.

"There is a huge amount of benefit to be gained by alternative
medicine," said naturopath Jacob Schor, "but when I see someone using
credentials that are not true, I ask myself, when does he draw the
line and start telling the truth?

"It’s for the courts to figure out if what he did was right or wrong.
I can only question the deception. It give me the creeps."

O’Connell claims to hold a doctorate in naturopathy, but his training
came from a correspondence course from the
…

We’d like to invite you to participate in the current
misc.kids.family-life policy assessment before the creation team goes
back
to news.groups to petition for Big 8 status later in the Fall.  If
there
are any suggestions on how we can create an even better lightly
moderated
group for the misc.kids hierarchy, please let us know.  All
suggestions
and criticisms of the group are taken seriously by the creation team
and
the community.

And for those of you who have concerns about any of
misc.kids.family-life’s policies, we’d enjoy hearing from you.  If you
would like to check out the discussion (or the group) please feel
welcome.
You need not be a regular poster to ask a question or express an
opinion.
Any issue you want can be raised. Just please, if it has to do with
the
running of the group, put a [MOD] tag in the subject line.

The group is lightly moderated (for civility but not subject) but
designed to be self governing. These assessments are one of the ways
that
people will be able to make some of the changes they want to see.

It is important to point out that the group is currently being hosted
on a
private site ( www.gweep.ca ) and is not an official member of the
Usenet
"Big Eight" like the rest of the misc.kids groups with which you are
familiar. It is in a "testing" stage right now and, hopefully, will
eventually be successful in joining the Big-8.

You can read it either as an e-mail mailing list or as you do other
newsgroups on your browser. To find the group you can plug
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in as the news server in your newsreader program and search for the
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To learn more about the group, read the charter, review past archives,
and sign up for the e-mail list go here:

http://www.gweep.ca/~robomod/misc.kids.family-life/

The Misc.kids.family-life Policy Board

http://www.healthsentinel.com/news.php?event=news_print_list_item&id=275

"Malnutrition is key to half of deaths among Africa’s under-fives",
Yahoo, September 24, 2004,
Link: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1508&ncid=751&e=9&u=/…

More than half of African children who die before the age of five are
malnourished, a top African Health Organisation (AHO) official said at
a west African regional meeting on nutrition.

"More than 50 percent of deaths among children in Africa from birth to
the age of five are caused by malnutrition," Ismael Thiam, the
nutrition and child health chief in the AHO, told AFP on the sidelines
of the forum in Benin.

Thiam added that more than half of Africa’s children suffer from
malnutrition between birth and the age of three, and said poor diet
was "an important factor in mortality rates."

The AHO is the health organisation set up within the 15-nation
Economic Community of West African States, which has since Monday been
holding its ninth forum on nutrition in Benin’s economic capital.

Thirty percent of African children under five have insufficient food
intakes, according to figures from the United Nation’s World Health
Organisation, "representing 30 million malnourished little children."

"In Africa, deficiencies in micro-nutrients, such as vitamin A, iodine
and iron is a problem in nutrition, which affects productivity levels
and socio-economic development," Micheline Ntiru of the Helen Keller
International Africa non-governmental organisation said.

In Benin’s big eastern neighbour, Nigeria, about 300,000 children risk
death by 2014 unless vitamin A intake is increased in their diet, the
UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF (news – web sites)) has warned.

Ntiru said that children under five "are the most vulnerable to
malaria, diarrhoea and respiratory infections", with mortality rates
among the very young pushed upwards by malnutrition.

"You can’t talk about disease in public health without mentioning
malnutrition," Ntiru said.

Benin, the small host country for the gathering, provides a sorry
illustration of the problem.

"Studies carried out by the Beninese ministry of public health show
that between now and 2013, we will register almost 120,000 deaths of
children under five caused by malnutrition in protein and energy
sources," Health Minister Celine Kandissounon told AFP.

"Malnutrition is increasingly regarded as a public health problem
across sub-Saharan Africa," she added.

The aim of the forum was to develop joint policies and identify major
problem areas, such as encouraging prolonged breastfeeding to avoid
nutritional deficiencies in infants.

Despite recommendations from UNICEF and the WHO that mothers
breastfeed their infants until the age of six months, an AHO study has
shown that in Benin and many other countries, "six out of 10 children
do not benefit from this practice."

ECOWAS was set up in 1975. Its current members are Benin, Burkina
Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast,
Liberia (news – web sites), Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra
Leone and Togo.

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/329/7463/411#74010

 DO VACCINES KILL BEFORE MEASLES CAN? 13 September 2004

Clifford G. Miller,
Lawyer, graduate physicist & former university examining lecturer
Beckenham Kent England BR3 3LA
Send response to journal:
Re: Re: DO VACCINES KILL BEFORE MEASLES CAN?

Email Clifford G. Miller

 I am grateful to Adam Jacobs (Director, Dianthus Medical Limited
pharmaceutical consultancy) for a further opportunity to assist him. His
prior and latest interventions (1) taken together are welcome as they
tacitly acknowledge that CDR and CD applied to clinical case histories are
proof MMR causes autism. He further asks if a list of safe vaccines could
be provided.

First, a related but privately sent email (2) demands reply. A Mr ‘Mike
Gringo’ is concerned, and rightly so, about children dying from measles.

If there were a measles epidemic in a postulated unvaccinated UK population
today, there would be 100 deaths – not per annum but if and when there was
an epidemic. One of the commonly made claims for MMR is that is has very
substantially reduced and in some cases eradicated measles and that there
are no deaths from ‘wild’ measles.

Similar claims are made for other vaccines where death was a possible
consequence of the naturally occurring relevant disease.

SIDS and SBS (sudden infant death and shaken baby syndrome) were rare prior
to 1940 but have now become common (4).

Is it is possible that for well nourished children in western economies
with good living conditions, vaccines may have taken over a part of the
contribution measles’ and other childhood diseases have in causing death in
infants? A recent review (4) of SBS in US VAERS data concludes:-

"A diagnosis of Shaken Baby Syndrome must not be made lightly. It should
only be entertained when all other causes for the findings, vaccines
included, have been thoroughly examined and ruled out. Any future research
on child abuse and specifically Shaken Baby Syndrome must include a
discussion of recent vaccinations."

In the UK SIDS affects one baby in a thousand (5), which puts the annual UK
death rate at approximately 620 (6). Accurate figures for UK annual ‘shaken
baby’ deaths are not currently available to the writer. However, it is only
now becoming accepted that SBS is being wrongly diagnosed in some cases
including when the infant death followed from a very recent vaccination.

Baroness Helena Kennedy’s working group, specifically set up by the Royal
College of Paediatrics and Child Health and the Royal College of
Pathologists to consider the problem in the context of wrongful murder
convictions of parents reported recently (7). Key recommendations are for a
nationwide protocol for the investigation of unexpected baby deaths and
greater scrutiny of expert witnesses by the courts. The report highlighted
the shortage of paediatric pathologists.

That this is not a UK phenomenum is shown in that two fathers in different
parts of the USA and jailed at different times have just been released
after serving 21 years and 5 years respectively (8). A US news item (9)
carried by The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons records:
‘Jury consultant Toni Blake states that there are about 2,800 cases of
alleged "shaken baby syndrome," and that 95 percent of the accused are
convicted. If a child dies and has the findings attributable to shaken
baby, anyone who was alone with the child is in serious danger of
conviction.’

How many of the annual UK SIDS and SBS deaths wrongfully attibuted to
parental abuse are linked to recent ante mortem vaccinations? If the figure
approaches or exceeds the average for measles, based on 100 for a full
epidemic as and when such occurred, then this will help to put the risks
and benefits of vaccination into perspective.

Regrettably, we cannot rely on government and medical establishment
research. Despite the strong CDR and CD scientific proof that MMR causes
autism (10), the government insists on rolling out and relying on weaker
epidemiological papers which are prone to error. Epidemiology is only
acceptable in US courts as evidence that a drug may or may not have caused
an adverse reaction but is not acceptable to prove it did or did not cause
it in any particular case (11). In contrast CD and CDR are well accepted
and are part of the pharmacological ‘furniture’ and are strong proof of
causation, including for regulatory decision making.

Despite this, even when whatever happens to be the latest ‘last word’
government backed epidemiology paper is shown to be flawed, the government
uses its well oiled media machine to roll out yet another one, as we have
seen this week in the case of the paper by Dr Liam Smeeth and colleagues.

It is almost as if the establishment is buying time. How long will it be
before the latest jewel in the crown is shown to be flawed?

Flawed it must be as CDR and CD demonstrate. The CDR and CD issue cannot be
something that Dr Smeeth and his team are strangers to, so it would be
interesting to see them comment.

As regards Mr Jacobs’ request that I identify for him a list of safe
vaccines, I would be delighted to have the opportunity to advise him which
vaccines are safe. If he would be so kind as to contact me, we can work on
what an initial programme of independent research should comprise in order
to ascertain the extent of the full programme required and outline budgets.

However, in view of establishments’ religious fervour in the crusade to hit
95 percent take up of vaccination regardless, and their unwillingness to
provide reliable and wholly independent research and figures, it is
unlikely any agency would provide the necessary funding to research the
matter.

But the offer is made notwithstanding.

(1) ‘Confused’ http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/329/7463/411#73573

‘Response to Clifford Miller’
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/329/7463/411#73787

(2) Mr Gringo’s email is prompted by ‘Confused – Aren’t we all – Including
those who can still do their sums’ (3).

(3) ‘Confused – Aren’t we all – Including those who can still do their sums’

(http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/329/7463/411#73636)

(4) SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME IN VAERS: A REVIEW

http://www.redflagsweekly.com/conferences/vaccines/sept22_Yazbak.html

SIDS, VACCINES AND VAERS: A FOLLOW-UP

http://www.redflagsweekly.com/conferences/vaccines/oct10_Yazbak.html

(5) ‘Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Problems, Progress and Possibilities’
Eds Roger W Byard, Henry F Kraus.

Pub: Arnold ISBN 0 340 75917 8

(6) There were 621,469 live births in England and Wales in 2003 – Source:
Office for National Statistics

(7) Nationwide protocol is needed for investigating baby deaths – BMJ
2004;329:587 – http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/329/7466/587

(8) Yurko in Florida and Marsh in California, both freed in the last two
months

(9) News of the Day … in Perspective 8/17/2004
http://www.aapsonline.org/nod/newsofday82.htm

(10) MMR KIDS – LIVING SCIENTIFIC PROOF MMR CAUSES AUTISM
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/329/7459/239#68276

(11) Epidemiologic Evidence Is Insufficient To Prove There Is No Link
Between The MMR Vaccine And Autism: Clifford G. Miller August 4, 2004

http://redflagsweekly.com/conferences/vaccines/2004_aug11.html

Competing interests: Close relative with life threatening food allergy.

MMR KIDS – LIVING SCIENTIFIC PROOF MMR CAUSES AUTISM23 July 2004

Clifford G. Miller,
Lawyer & graduate physicist
Beckenham Kent BR3 6QX
Send response to journal:
Re: MMR KIDS – LIVING SCIENTIFIC PROOF MMR CAUSES AUTISM

Email Clifford G. Miller
Dear Sir,
MMR KIDS – LIVING SCIENTIFIC PROOF MMR CAUSES AUTISM
I challenge the Honourable Lord, Dick Taverne, to a scientific duel on his
view (‘The legal aid folly that damages us all’ BMJ 2004;329:239 (24 July),
doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7459.239).
For credibility he leans on chairmanship of a charity claiming to promote an
‘evidence based approach’.
Evidence? It is before him and the entire medical scientific community. The
MMR children are living proof of challenge-dechallenge- rechallenge
reactions. Challenge-dechallenge-rechallenge is well established science and
accepted as the strongest scientific proof existing of a causal connection
between a pharmaceutical preparation and an adverse drug reaction (‘ADR’)
(1).
A major omission from the published scientific papers which are cited as
purported evidence of no link between MMR, autism and other ailments is the
absence of any attention to test/re-test or
challenge/de-challenge/re -challenge tests as a drug research and
development tool. United States Congressman Dr Dave Weldon MD heavily
criticised the US Institute of Medicines’ partisan 2004 report on
vaccination. Congressman Weldon specifically raised the issue (2) that
challenge-dechallenge-rechallenge studies have been ignored and studies in
that regard went unheeded:-
"In 2001 you found that cases of MMR "rechallenge" would provide evidence in
favor of causality. It is my understanding that Dr. Wakefield has developed
such a case series. The lack of an invitation is puzzling."
If challenge-dechallenge-rechallenge were to be applied to the two medical
case histories which the noble Lord can read in detail in Hansard (3) (4)
they should be recognised as living scientific proof of a causal connection
between their ailments and the MMR vaccine. The pharmaceutical companies
have failed to apply this scientifically valid study of cause and effect
which is used particularly in the psychopharmacological world. Instead, most
drug companies focus on the controlled clinical trial and epidemiological
studies. It is well known the latter, in particular, can be highly limited
and not necessarily strong or good evidence and the former have been shown
to be susceptible to manipulation, such that fraud is alleged by the US New
York Attorney-General in a prosecution undertaken currently in the US.
The case histories of all the MMR children are repeatedly and wrongfully
dismissed by pro MMR science as valueless ‘anecdotal’ evidence whereas
direct oral parental evidence supported and corroborated by documentary,
photographic and video evidence is the gold standard of our legal system
(5). Because of the high standard of proof science sets, viz, irrefutability
and the failure of scientific method to have any mechanism to test this kind
of evidence, it dismisses it as unverifiable. The consequences of this are
that science can only be relied on to prove a fact positively: the absence
of scientific evidence in science is not evidence of absence, especially
when there is other strong evidence available which should not be but is
ignored.
And the MMR childrens’ real sin? Being such powerful living proof that
vaccination is dangerous and a deadly medical practice applied en masse to
the human population. These children threaten a pharmaceutical market grown
over the past twenty years to be worth billions and a blindly followed
conventional wisdom that vaccination is generally something the evidence
shows it is not, a ‘good thing’ and safe. Is the entire medical community
intent on putting these children down and sweeping this shameful issue under
the carpet, even to the extent of continually relying on scientific papers
based on very shaky ‘evidence’ (6)?
This does not happen just in relation to vaccines. It is a scandal across
the board, that even sweeping the Augean Stables of the MHRA would still not
correct (although that is not an excuse for not getting the broom out).
It is troubling to see, as here, such a view expressed by a Peer of the
Realm, former barrister and Queen’s Counsel. I entreat the noble Lord to be
so kind as to consider heeding the admonition I set out on a previous
occasion (7).
The questions the noble Lord might consider asking himself and the
government are ‘what kind of government poisons its own kids’, why are
Liberal Democrats so involved, as MP Evan Harris also is, and exactly what
was going on between Whitehall and the LSC when legal aid was withdrawn?
___________________________________________________________________________
(1) Edited extracts from Professor David Healy”s evidence in the US Forsyth
SSRI litigation in the US Courts – another of many other pharmaceutical
scandals:-
"Pharmaceutical companies focus on the controlled clinical trial and
epidemiological studies. This ignores a scientifically valid study of cause
and effect used particularly in the psychopharmacological world, known as
test/re-test or a challenge/de-challenge/re-challenge test. This is well
established science and strong scientific proof of a causal connection
between a pharmaceutical preparation and an ”adverse event”. A major
omission in all of the papers published as purported evidence of no link
between MMR, autism and other ailments is the absence of any attention at
all on rechallenges as a drug research and development tool. If this were to
be applied to the MMR children, then each and every one of them could well
be recognised as the conclusive living scientific proof of a causal
connection between their ailments and the MMR vaccine.
The literature discussing the tools available for the development of drugs
refers to rechallenges as one of the most effective, most persuasive, most
cost-effective means for determining the side effects of drugs.
The Guide to Clinical Studies and Developing Protocols, published in 1984,
states on page 163:-
"In evaluating whether an adverse reaction is related to a specific test
drug, one should consider the following points: … 6. Rechallenge, i.e.,
what happened if the drug was restarted after the adverse reaction had
disappeared? … Definitions are given below for a five-category system that
may be used to classify the relationship between adverse reactions and drug.
These are adapted from Karch and Lasagna (1975). 1. Definite. A reaction
that follows a reasonable temporal sequence from administration of the drug
or in which the drug level has been established in body fluids or tissues;
that follows a known or expected response pattern to the suspected drug, and
that is confirmed by improvement on stopping or reducing the dosage of the
drug, and reappearance of the reaction on repeated exposure (rechallenge)."
Drug Epidemiology and Post-Marketing Surveillance, contains several
references to the value of rechallenges in determining the relationship
between drugs and their side effects. In Drug Development, Regulatory
Assessment, and Postmarketing Surveillance, the author also refers to the
value of rechallenges, citing a work by Irey and Karch and another by
Lasagna.
The Detection of New Adverse Drug Reactions has a full chapter describing
the importance and the use of rechallenges as a tool to investigate drug
reactions. On page 208, the text describes the positive rechallenge as
"probably the strongest proof of a causal relationship," despite its
shortcomings.
A pharmaceutical company”s own research scientists have validated the use
of test-retest designs for the determination of cause and effect
relationships in regards to adverse effects. Dr. Charles Beasley, an Eli
Lilly senior scientist wrote in the British Medical Journal in a letter to
the editor on November 9, 1991, "Healy and Creaney’s suggestion of using
rechallenge to determine causality of rare events is scientifically
appropriate." (Charles M. Beasley, Fluoxetine and Suicide, British Medical
Journal, Col. 304, November 9, 1991, p. 1200).
In December of 1991, Anthony J. Rothschild published a report of three
rechallenges which established a link between akathisia caused by Prozac and
emergent suicidal tendencies (Anthony J.Rothschild, et al., Reexposure to
Fluoxetine After Serious Suicide Attempts by Three Patients: The Role of
Akathisia, Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Vol. 52, No. 12 (1991), pgs.
491-493.). The authors described a series of cases wherein Prozac caused
emergent suicidality associated with akathisia. In order to test whether the
emergent suicidality was coincidental or was associated in a cause and
effect way with Prozac, the researchers first withdrew the Prozac, then
re-administered it (the re-challenge step). All three cases who were
re-exposed to Prozac after having made a previous serious suicide attempt on
Prozac experienced the exact same effect on rechallenge. "All three patients
developed severe akathisia during treatment with fluoxetine and stated that
the development of the akathisia made them feel suicidal and that it had
precipitated their prior suicide attempts." The emergence of the same side
effect upon rechallenge is powerful evidence of cause and effect.
(2) Statement of Rep. Dave Weldon, M.D. Member of Congress Before the
Institute of Medicine February 9, 2004
(3) Health Select Committee Sixth Report 1998/99 – David Thrower’s
Memorandum Appendix I – Degeneration of Oliver Thrower Into Autism – Case
History
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199899/cmselect/cmhealth/5…
(4) Hansard 19th November 2003 – Norman Baker MP – debate regarding MMR and
the effects on Michael and Terry Thomas, two of the four sons of Isabella
Thomas:-
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmhansrd/cm031119/d… –
42.htm#31119-42_head0
(5) ‘UNRELIABILITY OF SCIENTIFIC PAPERS AS EVIDENCE’
…

NEW INFORMATION by Yazbak & Goldman & by Stott/Blaxill/Wakefield in Journal
of American Physicians & Surgeons
Volume 9, Number 3 – Fall 2004

Dear Friends,

The "Denmark MMR Study" by Madsen and Associates (NEJM- November 2002) was
co-funded by the CDC. It was considered the "last word" by the vaccine
authorities and often quoted  to "prove" that the introduction of MMR
vaccination did not play any role in the recent increase in autism. The
study also clearly influenced the conclusions by the authors of the recent
IOM Special Committee Report (May 2004).

Early on, I had some issues with ithe Madsen study and expressed them in
several articles on the TAAP site. My concerns greatly increased recently
when certain data became available to me. I consulted Dr. Gary Goldman who
analyzed the figures and found conclusive evidence that the prevalence of
autism in Denmark did increase after 1987 when  MMR vaccination was
introduced..

Our Original Investigation can be found at
http://www.jpands.org/vol9no3/goldman.pdf
An Investigation of the Association Between MMR Vaccination & Autism in
Denmark – G.S. Goldman, PhD.; F.E. Yazbak, MD

The Editor of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons asked Stott,
Blaxill and Wakefield, who are recognized authorities in the field, to
comment on our publication.

In their commentary, Stott et al agreed with us that the prevalence of
autism had increased after the introduction of MMR vaccination in Denmark
and that there were problems with the Madsen study. Because they had access
to more detailed data, including listings by date of birth, they were able
to study different aspects of the reseach.

Their Commentary can be seen at
http://www.jpands.org/vol9no3/stott.pdf
MMR & Autism in Perspective: The Denmark Story – Carol Stott, PhD; Mark
Blaxill; Andrew J. Wakefield, M.B., F.R.C.S

Please note the reference in the Stott Commentary to the findings by
Professor S. Suissa, an epidemiologist at McGill University. Professor
Suissa used Madsen’s specific data and disagreed with his conclusions in
that original study.

A related Investigative Report published in the Summer issue of the Journal
of American Physicians and Surgeons also deserves attention. It reveals the
identification by Bradsteet and Associates of measles genomic RNA in the
cerebrospinal fluid and intestinal wall of children with autism.
http://www.jpands.org/vol9no2/bradstreet.pdf

All this new evidence should justify a serious review by the CDC and the
IOM plus further independent investigation into the MMR-autism link.

F. E. Yazbak, MD

http://www.whale.to/b/cherry3.html