"A little inaccuracy sometimes saves tons of explanation." -
H. H. Munro (Saki) (1870-1916)
Institute of Medicine - Immunization Safety
Review Committee
The Institute of Medicine - Meeting
One
Immunization Safety Review Committee
Meeting One -
Organizational Meeting and Charge to the Committee
January
11-12, 2001
The transcript for the January
12, 2001 closed meeting is VERY important
and could prove very damaging to the credibility of the IOM
Immunization Safety Review Committee and its reports.
The transcript seems to clearly indicate the CDC was in charge
of the scope and direction of the Committeeand
heavily influenced the bias and predetermination of null or
negative findings.
Select quotes from Closed Meeting Transcript of January 12, 2001
Dr. Marie McCormick,
Chairman of the Immunization Safety Review Committee, stated…
“[CDC] wants us to declare, well, these things are pretty safe on a
population basis.”
(see page 33 of transcript but is viewed on page 34 of the pdf file
above).
Kathleen Stratton, Ph.D., a member of the IOM Staff and Study
Director of the Immunization Safety Review Committee, stated…
“We
said this before you got here, and I think we said this yesterday,
the point of no return, the line we will not cross in public policy
is to pull the vaccine, change the schedule. We could say it is time
to revisit this, but we would never recommend that level. Even
recommending research is recommendations for policy. We wouldn’t
say compensate, we wouldn’t say pull the vaccine, we wouldn’t say
stop the program.”
(see page 74 of transcript but is viewed on page 72 of the pdf file
above).
Dr. Marie McCormick, Chairman of the
Immunization Safety Review Committee,
stated...
“we are not ever going to come down that
it is a true side effect,”
although the committee had not yet
considered any evidence on the issue of whether vaccines and autism
could be associated. (see pg 97 of transcript
but viewed on pg 95 of the pdf file above)
Dr. Kathleen Stratton,
IOM Study Director of the Immunization Safety Review Committee,
stated...
“Chances are, when all is said and done, we are still
going to be in this category. It is just a general feeling that we
probably still are not going to be able to make a statement,"
indicating that despite not having heard any of the evidence, the
probable conclusion was going to be that the evidence was
“inadequate to accept or reject a causal relation.” Notice in
referring to "Walt" in this section and what "Walt wants,"
she is referring to
Walter A. Orenstein, MD, Director of the National Immunization
Program at The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in
Atlanta, Georgia.
(see pg 123
of transcript but viewed on pg 121 of the pdf file above).
The biggest irony of this whole debacle can be found in the words,
engraved in stone on the National Academy of Sciences building in
Washington, D.C. (home of the National Institutes of Health and the
Institute of Medicine). It states:
"The right to search for truth implies also a duty. One must not
conceal any part of what one has recognized to be true." Albert
Einstein
Select
quotes from Autism One
Conference in Chicago on May 27, 2004
“The Committee never said mercury is good for you…certainly they
don’t believe that. Mercury is a known neurotoxin. Mercury can’t
be good for the developing body. The question was, ‘Is there
evidence that the mercury in vaccines causes autism?’ The
committee believes that that remains a theory.”
Kathleen Stratton – presentation at
Autism One Conference in Chicago, May 2004 (01:54 on the wma file
counter)
As Dr. Andy Wakefield is standing to ask her a question in the
Q & A session she remarked,“I’m glad I have a plan to catch!”(this is clearly audible on tape and DVD) (03:19 on the wma
file counter) “Material was subpoenaed by Congressman Burton. And it is the
understanding of the Institute of Medicine legal counsel that that
would not be shared with outsiders so perhaps we can discuss that
in some other setting, perhaps I’ll find a legal answer to that.
It was not to be shared with you.”
Kathleen Stratton –
exchange with Andrew Wakefield at Autism One Conference in
Chicago, May 2004 (08:31 on the wma file counter)
Having personally witnessed this exchange, from the seat
directly behind Dr. Andrew Wakefield, it was easily discernible
that she was nervous and defensive during the entire presentation
but the most illuminating portion was during the very tense
exchange with Dr. Wakefield at the end of her talk regarding a
transcript of a closed IOM meeting. Presumably, Dr.
Wakefield is referring to a transcript regarding MMR from the
second IOM meeting on March 8, 2001).
The Institute of
Medicine - Meeting Three
Immunization Safety Review Committee
Meeting Three -
Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines and
Neurodevelopmental Outcomes
July 16, 2001
Published
study by Deth, Waly, et al
**
**Dr. Richard
Deth, a pharmacy professor from
Northeastern University
and his colleagues from the University of Nebraska, Tufts and John
Hopkins University have made startling discoveries between
Thimerosal and neurological disorders. Their findings were
published in the April 2004 issue of the peer-reviewed journal of
Molecular Psychiatry. Dr. Deth traveled to Washington, D.C. of
his own accord to present this landmark study to the IOM
Immunization Safety Review Committee on Monday, February 9,
2004. However, Dr. Marie McCormick, chairman of the IOM
Immunization Safety Review Committee, attempted to thwart efforts
by Dr. Deth to bring this information to the attention of the
committee, attendees and media. A parent who had traveled over
1000 miles to address the committee voluntarily relinquished her
time (two minutes) during the Public Comments portion of the
agenda to allow Dr. Deth the opportunity to speak to the
Committee. Additionally, Dr. Jeff Bradstreet utilized a portion
of his allotted time to bring this vital information to the
attention of the committee, as well as the work of Dr. Andrew
Wakefield and Dr. Jill James who were also excluded from the
agenda. This begs the question, if the IOM truly wanted to
ascertain if any association or causality between Thimerosal and
neurodevelopmental disorders existed, wouldn't it be prudent to
review ALL of the latest scientific evidence?
Perhaps you should ask
your U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative this question!
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Institute of Medicine - Immunization Safety
Review Committee
The Institute of Medicine - Meeting
One