Update August 4, 2011

Autism The "It" Disease: Dr. Al of the DSM-IV Scores One for Pharma

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Goes...about your son..." "Yes...yes? What is it doctor?"  I was ready to practically jump out of my skin with excitement.  My husband and I were holding court with the tippity-top, bestest of the best pediatric neurologists in the whole of Chicago and she was about to hand down our son's diagnosis.  "Clearly, you already know...your son has Autism."

"Sweet!" Simultaneous high fives, fist pumps and mid-air chest bumps ensued.  "I knew it!" My husband exclaimed!  "I am so psyched!"  We hurriedly thanked the celebrated doctor, bundled up our totally cool kid and headed for the car to start texting and facebooking the good news.  "Oh the Johnstons are going to be green with envy." I remarked, my voice teeming with satisfaction.

"Yeah," my husband said--"and the Smiths. Man, they think they are so great with those twin Mercedes...and that whiny kid of theirs with that annoying asthma. Always complaining, "maaahmmmy, daaaaddy, I can't breathe." I can't wait for the next barbecue to show off that--what do you call it? That, IEP thing our son is going to need. Totally trumps an inhaler. That's right Smith kid, our kid is so much better than you he get's to go to a special school!  Bwaahahaha!"

"Oh look, babe!  He smeared his diarrhea all over the window!  Hang on...I'm gonna tweet this, the girls are going to flip!  Hey, can you hand him that strip of tin foil he likes to chew on, that screaming is driving me nuts."

My comment:

The medical community is at its most ridiculous when dealing with (or, more accurately, NOT dealing with) issues relating to vaccine injury such as the explosion of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). This excellent article written by Lisa Goes of the Age of Autism, describes that absurdity when a doctor who is supposed to be an ‘expert’ states that parents who say their children are autistic are only doing it to bodge the system and get services they don’t deserve. He says that autism is now considered fashionable and that this is a ‘fad’ that  is all the rage in polite society. Of course, this ‘expert’ should get his head out of his posterior and take a look at what families with autistic children are dealing with on a day to day basis. There is nothing ‘fashionable’ about having a child who is in pain 24/7, who can’t process information in a neurotypical way, who doesn’t sleep, eat or behave the way we expect children to and who requires help that the medical community is incapable of giving them.

'Can't Afford Tuition? Sell an Organ!' Says Scottish Academic

If you thought that selling kidneys only happens in poverty-stricken nations, here's a heads-up: It's now being pushed here. A high-ranking UK doctor now advocates that students sell their organs to pay for tuition. Lest it seem like a bit of a joke, note that the publisher is the so-called "prestigious" British Medical Journal!

This is disturbing enough, but the role she has played in making ethics determinations in the UK's medical system is downright frightening. Sue Rabbitt Roff is currently a senior research fellow with the Dundee University Medical School. She is on the Investigation Committee and Registration Decision Panels for the General Medical Council of the UK. For those outside the UK, this is the same agency that took Dr. Andrew Wakefield's license to practice medicine—and the panels Roff serves on make the decisions on whether to revoke licenses.

My comment:

The absurdity of someone actually suggesting that students pay for their university education by selling their internal organs should be obvious to just about everyone. The fact that someone in Dr Roff’s position is making this suggestion - and is serious about it - is downright scary! 

Bodies of infants turned blue, say parents

Parents of Vikas and Sunita, who died after they were administered the measles vaccines on Friday, had hardly imagined the life-saving drug to turn out to be a life-taking one.

Both of them had been administered the vaccine for prevention of measles under doorstep vaccination programme in Bajna and Akhepura villages of Nagaur district on Friday.

Both of them had fever followed by diarrhoea after the vaccination and died on Saturday. The family members of both the victims claimed that their bodies turned blue.

My comment:

One of the major differences between deaths following vaccination in Australia and those following vaccination in developing countries is that in Australia, the connection is routinely denied or ignored. That said, I well remember a case about 10 years ago - also in India - where many children had died almost immediately upon receiving MMR (measles mumps and rubella) vaccines. The original article from the Times of India stated that the children had died from the vaccine. Luckily, I copied the entire article on my computer as did several other people who were following the story. Luckily because within a couple of hours, the original story was removed and another one put in its place saying that it was not actually the vaccine that had killed these children but the vitamin A drops that were given in conjunction with the shots. Amazing the lengths to which the medical community and media will go to prevent anyone from ever suspecting that vaccines are anything other than totally safe and incredibly efficacious!