On November 19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its website to address the vaccine and autism controversy.
“The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim,” the website now states, “because studies have not ruled out the possibility,” and health authorities have intentionally “ignored” studies supporting a link. This action violates the Data Quality Act and must be addressed, the page says.
The website also reiterates Health and Human Services’(HHS) initiatives to investigate possible causes of autism and determine the safety of the pediatric vaccine schedule, as addressed in HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again initial report.
The website includes a footnote stating, the header includes the phrase “Vaccines do not cause autism” because there was “an agreement with the chair of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee that it would remain on the CDC website.”
Correlation and Causation
For years, some physicians and parents have expressed concern over the rising number of injections on the American pediatric vaccine schedule. Today, the CDC vaccine schedule recommends 29 injections by one year of age, up from three in 1986.
Since birth year 1992, the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder has risen from one in 150 children to one in 31, for children born in 2014.
In one survey, half of parents of autistic children believed vaccines had a causal effect.
Before his appointment, Kennedy advocated publicly for greater scrutiny of vaccines and the potential relationship between vaccines and pediatric illness. His foundation, Children’s Health Defense, has published studies linking vaccine components and autism.
The updated CDC website states the cause of autism is “likely…multi-factorial,” and the notion that there is no connection between vaccines and autism is unfounded and unscientific. The site states at least one study has found a correlation between aluminum adjuvants in vaccines and increased rates of autism, and while “correlation does not prove causation…it does merit further study.”
Quality Control Concerns
In August, HHS announced the reinstatement of a federal task force on pediatric vaccine safety after a nearly three-decade hiatus. The task force would “advance vaccine safety and support innovation that protects children without compromise,” and would make recommendations on the “development, promotion and refinement of childhood vaccines that result in fewer and less serious adverse reactions,” states an HHS press release.
For thirty years, quality control regulation of pediatric vaccines has had legal limitations. That has created major conflicts of interest, states the initial MAHA report.
“The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 was enacted in response to liability concerns surrounding injuries linked to the three routine childhood vaccines in use at the time,” the report states.
Rather than enacting a law to ensure routine vaccine safety and reparations for injury, the law “shields vaccine manufacturers from liability for vaccine-related injuries…This framework creates financial disincentives for pharmaceutical companies to identify safety issues either pre- or post-licensure.” The report points out, HHS “has the conflicting duty” to both promote and defend vaccines against injury claims.
Limited data
The lack of data on pediatric vaccine impact led Peter McCullough, M.D., to research a potential link to autism.
Several weeks before the CDC updated its website, the McCullough Foundation published a landmark autism study. In a review of 136 pediatric vaccine studies, 107 “inferred a possible link between immunization or vaccine components and ASD or other neurodevelopmental disorders,” states the study.
One problem has been the lack of a control group consisting of unvaccinated children. Major medical groups, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, have published hypotheses regarding the rise in autism, but exclude vaccines as a potential driver.
Parents Trust Doctors
Recognition of vaccine injuries in the pediatric population on the CDC’s website may help parents receive compensation, but it will not likely change parents’ minds about whether or not to vaccinate, says Jane Orient, M.D., the executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.
“I suspect that very few parents look at the CDC website before their child gets the shots,” said Orient. “They believe what their doctor says and the dumbed-down ‘vaccine information sheets,’ if they read those.”
Change May Empower Parents
Parents, however, may take note of the CDC position change and may now have the power to challenge vaccine mandates, says Chris Downey, founder of VaxCalc, an online site to help parents make vaccine decisions.
“When the CDC softens language on a topic they’ve treated as settled for 20 years, parents immediately feel the ground move,” said Downey.
“It tells them the science is far less absolute than they were led to believe, and their instincts were never ‘misinformation,’ they were valid questions all along,” said Downey. “Parents make better decisions when the messaging becomes honest instead of absolute. This change invites parents to pause, look at the evidence themselves, and choose what makes sense for their child, not ‘children in general.’”
The medical establishment has pushed the idea that multiple vaccines in a single visit are safe, that vaccines are safe and effective for everyone, the United States sets standards globally, and that reports of vaccine reaction are parental overreaction, says Downey.
“The CDC has multiple major dogmas to clarify,” said Downey.
Mandate Regime
Risk of serious adverse reactions to vaccines ought to result in a repeal of all vaccine mandates, but manufacturers’ powerful lobbying will strenuously oppose it, says Orient.
“In the United States, it should be self-evident that people have the right to make their own medical choices,” said Orient. “However, this right is frequently violated by authorities citing ‘public safety’ or concerns about child abuse or neglect. Due to the decline in educational standards and failure to teach critical thinking, fewer people are capable of making good choices or have the confidence to assert themselves.”
Ashley Bateman ([email protected]) writes from Virginia.
