Autism and Childhood Vaccines When health topics become controversial, the human voice sometimes gets lost in all the ruckus. In the e-Alert "Stepford Consumers" (6/21/04), I told you about a report from the National Institute of Medicine that found no link between autism and childhood vaccines. In particular, I examined NPR coverage of this topic that treated the issue as a closed case, which it certainly is not. In response, I received an e-mail from an HSI member named Annette who had this reaction to the e-Alert: "Today I was out of my seat, pumping my fist in the air and shouting, 'YES!' at the top of my lungs! As the parent of TWO children with Autism I am so entirely disgusted with the effort to denigrate the link between Thimerosal and Autism. I'm not about law suits or what not. At this point all I want is to figure out how to stop this raging syndrome and spare future children from becoming so afflicted. Autism is a terrible thing for anyone who has it in their life. The important thing right now is not to assign blame so much as it is to figure out where things went wrong so it won't happen again. "I thank you SO VERY MUCH for taking this nonsense to task." Thank you, Annette, for giving us such an eloquent perspective. If the National Institute of Medicine would only see this situation from your point of view, the safety of children would be a priority, rather than the interests of giant drug companies. | 
