- Gebundene Ausgabe: 480 Seiten
- Verlag: St Martin's Press (April 2005)
- Sprache: Englisch
- ISBN-10: 0312326440
- ISBN-13: 978-0312326449
- Größe und/oder Gewicht: 24,4 x 15,2 x 4,6 cm
- Durchschnittliche Kundenbewertung: 5.0 von 5 Sternen Alle Rezensionen anzeigen (1 Kundenrezension)
- Amazon Bestseller-Rang: Nr. 715.839 in Englische Bücher (Siehe Top 100 in Englische Bücher)
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Evidence of Harm
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Avoiding hyperbole while writing about a possible medical catastrophe is no easy task, but David Kirby has created a fine balance of investigative and personal detail in Evidence of Harm. Combining stories from the parents of autistic children with reports, speeches and studies from researchers, pediatricians and government officials, he creates a picture that is as terrifying as anything dreamed up by Hitchcock.
The topic at hand is determining whether high levels of organic mercury present in an inexpensive preservative used in vaccinations can cause either autism or autism-like symptoms. Kirby's in a delicate position, searching for the truth between frantic parents (he focuses on the founders of political action group Safe Mind) and the self-protective pharmaceutical industry (the author thanks the nameless person who placed a pro-Eli Lilly litigation rider into the Homeland Security Act of 2002). He's also honest enough of a reporter to admit to the temptation of deciding mercury is the culprit behind a range of disorders, even in light of some inconclusive test results. The ultimate truth isn't clear, and Kirby is direct about each of the reasons his sources have for their biased opinions.
While some of the straight research reports will likely to go over the head of anyone not well versed in the terminology, the book is never dull--there is a continual urgency in the material that resists pedantry. However undecided the experts, readers will likely land firmly in one angry camp or the other. Jill Lightner
From Booklist
Science Times journalist Kirby addresses the burgeoning number of U.S. children diagnosed with autism, ADHD, and speech delays with as much detachment as possible, given what appears to be overwhelming, though anecdotal, evidence of a connection between those diagnoses and a mercury-based preservative. Long considered a genetic disorder, autism was recently reclassified because its incidence has reached epidemic proportions; from 1 in 5,000 infants in the 1980s to 1 in 166 in two decades. With that increase, more parents began taking matters into their own hands when previously healthy infants suddenly began to radically regress. Conducting their own research and demanding scientific information, these parents eventually sniffed out mercury, "the second most toxic substance on earth" and an additive to vaccines. The more they pressed for explanations, the more vehemently government agencies and pharmaceutical companies, supported by their own data, denied a connection. Some facts Kirby asserts seem hard to refute, however, and the juxtaposition of heartrending parents' stories and disengaged rhetoric of official agency and company documents makes anything but refutation unconscionable. Donna Chavez
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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This is a book that everybody needs. A good portion of Mr. Kirby's thesis is that pharamceutical companies continue manufacturing drugs that have caused harm. The bottom line is dollars and cents as opposed to common sense.
People who were born prior to 1988 have most likely been subjected to mercury in other medications, as well as tuna. Again, that possible causal link. Robert Kennedy Jr., a long established environmentalist has worked tirelessly to clean the Hudson River as contaminants that fish ingest also affect people who eat those fish. Many articles and current studies and examples and accounts are showing a high incidence of autism after repeated ingestion of mercury.
Kirby has found allies in the forms of Robert Kennedy, Jr. and former DJ, now morning TV-host, Don Imus. Kennedy has appeared on talk shows, discussing the rise in autism in recent years, quoting this book. According to him and other experts, the current statistics show that one in 166 children has autism whereas in 1960 one in 2,500 showed some form of autistic behavior. California is one state that has discontinued the use of thimerosal in vaccines and the autism rate has dropped drastically. That in and of itself supports the high positive correlation between autism and thimerosal, which contains mercury. The question about mercury causing and/or exacerbating existing autism has also been brought to the forefront.
Kennedy, Jr., like Imus challenged pharmaceutical companies in re thimerosal. Their position is that thimerosal contributes nothing of a curative, preventive or preservative nature; therefore there is no need to include it in vaccines. It has only been included in vaccinations since 1988.
Many recent articles and documents citing cases have strongly supported Kirby's findings. The FDA and the CDC cannot be counted on to present unbiased findings to the public nor can these giants be expected to act in the best interests of all. Politics and money underscore these corporate behemoths and it is always at the cost of the individuals AND their children. The children end up being sacrificial lambs in a manner of speaking because it is their very health, interests and quality of life that is being compromised at great expense.
This empowering work includes lists of people who are part of the FDA and CDC including politicians who have received major contributions from huge pharmaceutical corporations. That porkbarrel repast does not a healty balance make!
While this book does not include more scientific components to back the claims stated herein, it is replete with many examples where it is so plain, so obvious and so clear-cut that the currently reported research and results have been slanted to favor the pharmaceutical giants. The sad, cruel irony is that people have entrusted their very lives and those of their children to such organizations that purport to have everybody's collective health and best interests in mind. Scary! What is so frustrating is that studies that show what Kirby, Kennedy and others are coming forward with are NOT being made public and available. That is why we need this book!
Why on earth this information has not been made accessible to people, especially in the United States where the Freedom of Information Act exists is downright negligent. The worst irony of all is that the very scientific organizations who claim to be reputable researchers have worked to alter the data and keep their findings from the world at large. That is acting at cross purposes with everybody! That is disgraceful!
While California has taken a giant step forward by eliminating thimerosal from vaccines, hope springs eternal that thimerosal will no longer be used. In recent months, TV-host Don Imus has banged on the drum about autism and said that since he doesn't have to answer to any pharmaceutical companies, he's going to say whatever he wants about finding causes for autism. Thanks to his tireless efforts, NBC newscaster Brian Williams has included segments about autism on his show throughout the summer of 2005. The unending refrain in Imus' autism awareness talks is why on earth are so many people terrified of the pharmaceutical companies?!! People who were born prior to 1988 have most likely been subjected to mercury in other medications, as well as tuna. Again, that possible causal link. His position has been that these companies take responsibility for conducting impartial research; making those findings accessible to the public and working on behalf of those they claim to be helping.
After reading this book, one will certainly think there is indeed a causal link between autism and mercury. Although this is not to say there is, evidence certainly leans in that direction. Sadly, one sees how trust issues regarding the FDA and the CDC have been compromised. Politics and corporate greed have infected the very agencies whom many have placed their trust regarding their health.
This is a MUST READ for everybody. It is an enlightening look at polictics; the health industry; autism and possible causes. We need this book!
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Thorough Account of a Complex Issue
3. Juni 2005
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
As the parent of a very high-functioning autistic child, I used to discount any relationship between vaccines and autism. This all changed as I gradually realized how dismal and pharmaceutical-dependent the conventional approach to autism really is. I put aside all preconceptions and reexamined the issue. Each day I found another study implicating mercury in vaccines, including very recent work by researchers such as Jill James, Mady Hornig and Thomas Burbacher. I also found very serious flaws in the studies used to reassure parents that there is nothing wrong with injecting mercury into an infant. I found disturbing similarities between the rhetoric used to defend mercury in medicine today and the rhetoric used 70 years ago to defend lead in paint. While I do not claim that the case has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, I have seen enough to act on the assumption that it is valid. My child's response to the conservative measures we have used in the past few months have only solidified my persuasion.
Kirby's book is an extremely thorough compilation of all the studies, political ramifications, and personal stories that make up the mercury-autism controversy. His research paralleled my own explorations and added some behind-the-scenes information as well. He also made every effort to present both sides of the issue but was hampered in this by the refusal of the CDC, AAP, pharmaceutical companies and others to grant interviews. He is in no way, shape, or form anti-vaccine. I would also like to point out that he did not confuse the MMR and thimerosal issues--perhaps another reader missed Kirby's full explanation of the theoretical interplay between the two as well as his full explanation of what happened with Andrew Wakefield's study in the Lancet, which is much more complex than a simple retraction.
It strikes me as odd if not suspect that any physician would argue that research into the thimerosal issue should be halted when the CDC itself has called for more study, when more and more autistic children are responding to treatment for mercury poisoning and when many of the key players in the research effort are medical doctors who also happen to be parents of autistic children. These are people who have put their names out in the open, people such as Alan Clark, MD, of Missouri, who runs the (...)website with his wife and who has a child who developed Asperger's following two flu shots.
Kirby shows nothing but respect for autistic children and adults. One of the key characters in the book is a researcher with Asperger's and he warmly depicts her creative and non-conformist approach to life. I think it is important to note that there are many wonderful autistic people who are brilliant, creative, free-thinkers, but there are also many non-autistic people who are brilliant, creative, free-thinkers. My child is extremely bright, imaginative, honest, intense and funny, but this is because that's who he is not because he's autistic. In fact, these positives only shine when he is not burdened by anxiety, overwhelmed by normal sensory stimuli or caught in a pattern of inflexibility as he is sometimes due to autism. I'm sure autism has left some indelible mark on his personality and it is true that it is not ALL bad, just as a blind person's vivid sense of hearing is not bad. And of course we must all respect and honor differences, as Kirby does so very well. That is not to say that autism is benign. I imagine the parents of a severely autistic child would find this idea alternately infuriating and laughable.
I strongly recommend reading this book. If you're a health care provider, it will explain where parents are coming from. If you're wanting a summation of the issue, it is a great source. If you have nothing to do with autism or mercury, it's still a compelling story. If you have a child with autism, well . . . I can't recommend it enough; however, I would also recommend that you do your own research. Don't take my word for it--or anyone else's--until you've read the actual primary studies, not the spin that gets reported in much of the media. You may encounter something quite unexpected. I certainly did.
Kirby's book is an extremely thorough compilation of all the studies, political ramifications, and personal stories that make up the mercury-autism controversy. His research paralleled my own explorations and added some behind-the-scenes information as well. He also made every effort to present both sides of the issue but was hampered in this by the refusal of the CDC, AAP, pharmaceutical companies and others to grant interviews. He is in no way, shape, or form anti-vaccine. I would also like to point out that he did not confuse the MMR and thimerosal issues--perhaps another reader missed Kirby's full explanation of the theoretical interplay between the two as well as his full explanation of what happened with Andrew Wakefield's study in the Lancet, which is much more complex than a simple retraction.
It strikes me as odd if not suspect that any physician would argue that research into the thimerosal issue should be halted when the CDC itself has called for more study, when more and more autistic children are responding to treatment for mercury poisoning and when many of the key players in the research effort are medical doctors who also happen to be parents of autistic children. These are people who have put their names out in the open, people such as Alan Clark, MD, of Missouri, who runs the (...)website with his wife and who has a child who developed Asperger's following two flu shots.
Kirby shows nothing but respect for autistic children and adults. One of the key characters in the book is a researcher with Asperger's and he warmly depicts her creative and non-conformist approach to life. I think it is important to note that there are many wonderful autistic people who are brilliant, creative, free-thinkers, but there are also many non-autistic people who are brilliant, creative, free-thinkers. My child is extremely bright, imaginative, honest, intense and funny, but this is because that's who he is not because he's autistic. In fact, these positives only shine when he is not burdened by anxiety, overwhelmed by normal sensory stimuli or caught in a pattern of inflexibility as he is sometimes due to autism. I'm sure autism has left some indelible mark on his personality and it is true that it is not ALL bad, just as a blind person's vivid sense of hearing is not bad. And of course we must all respect and honor differences, as Kirby does so very well. That is not to say that autism is benign. I imagine the parents of a severely autistic child would find this idea alternately infuriating and laughable.
I strongly recommend reading this book. If you're a health care provider, it will explain where parents are coming from. If you're wanting a summation of the issue, it is a great source. If you have nothing to do with autism or mercury, it's still a compelling story. If you have a child with autism, well . . . I can't recommend it enough; however, I would also recommend that you do your own research. Don't take my word for it--or anyone else's--until you've read the actual primary studies, not the spin that gets reported in much of the media. You may encounter something quite unexpected. I certainly did.
49 von 58 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
The consequences are too great for Kirby not to be silenced
13. Juni 2005
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
I just finished reading this book over a 2 day period this weekend, and reviewed all the reviews here at Amazon before posting my review. The reviews fall into 2 catagories: parents of autistic children appreciative for Kirby's efforts in exposing the thimerosal controversy, and those, who for various reasons, are opposed to the suggestion that this mercury-based derivitive could have caused or contributed to the autism epidemic. For those who left Kirby with a single star, were you criticizing the book itself or the message conveyed therein? Beause, it is clear that the message in this book is extremely disturbing, and a damning indictment for those in charge of assuring the safety of our children.
While it is true that Kirby paints a very sympathetic picture of those affected by autism, it is also clear from my reading of the book that those in a position to respond to many of the allegations raised were not interested in participating in an open evaluation of this issue. And then, why should they, when the CDC, IOM and FDA have already discounted the evidence that would suggest a link between mercury and autism.
Contrary to what some of this book's detractors would have you believe, Kirby does not suggest that any of the opponents of mercury are opposed to vaccines in general. The book makes it clear that the critics just want their vaccines to be safe, which means removing what can only be considered a neurotoxin from the vaccines. It should be remembered that mercury does not contribute to the efficacy of any vaccine, but only helps the manufacturer extend the shelf life of its product.
Kirby lays out some damning evidence, including the fact that only one repudiated study by Lilly was done in 1930 on the safety of thimerosal, and all the people in the study died of the disease being treated so that researchers could not point to any proof of safety. From that point forward, the question should have been where is the proof that thimerosal is safe, not where is the proof that it is not? Also unanswered by the critics of the autism-mercury connection is the question of what is causing the autism epidemic if not mercury?
Kirby's book raised this and many other critical questions, and is a must read for anyone affected by autism. Unfortunately, the main stream media has to date demonstrated very little interest in this book, so that the only people likely to hear about it or read it are those who have been affected or know someone who has been affected.
Kirby does an excellent job of outlining the issues in this controversy, and also proposed treatment methods for those who believe that their child has been poisoned and could benefit from removing mercury from his/her system. I strongly recommend it.
While it is true that Kirby paints a very sympathetic picture of those affected by autism, it is also clear from my reading of the book that those in a position to respond to many of the allegations raised were not interested in participating in an open evaluation of this issue. And then, why should they, when the CDC, IOM and FDA have already discounted the evidence that would suggest a link between mercury and autism.
Contrary to what some of this book's detractors would have you believe, Kirby does not suggest that any of the opponents of mercury are opposed to vaccines in general. The book makes it clear that the critics just want their vaccines to be safe, which means removing what can only be considered a neurotoxin from the vaccines. It should be remembered that mercury does not contribute to the efficacy of any vaccine, but only helps the manufacturer extend the shelf life of its product.
Kirby lays out some damning evidence, including the fact that only one repudiated study by Lilly was done in 1930 on the safety of thimerosal, and all the people in the study died of the disease being treated so that researchers could not point to any proof of safety. From that point forward, the question should have been where is the proof that thimerosal is safe, not where is the proof that it is not? Also unanswered by the critics of the autism-mercury connection is the question of what is causing the autism epidemic if not mercury?
Kirby's book raised this and many other critical questions, and is a must read for anyone affected by autism. Unfortunately, the main stream media has to date demonstrated very little interest in this book, so that the only people likely to hear about it or read it are those who have been affected or know someone who has been affected.
Kirby does an excellent job of outlining the issues in this controversy, and also proposed treatment methods for those who believe that their child has been poisoned and could benefit from removing mercury from his/her system. I strongly recommend it.
51 von 61 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
Thank you David Kirby for writing such an honestly!!!
23. April 2005
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe|Von Amazon bestätigter Kauf
I am the father of a 5 year old autistic boy, who actually right now would not be diagnosed as autistic. I saying this to convey that there is hope if you know where to look. We were lucky enough to get on the right track pretty quickly after my son was diagnosed. My wife, along with many mothers of autistic kids, is amazing in her search for answers to unravel this mystery. I am extremely confident to say that she knows more about metabolic issues than 99% of doctors. We have known from almost the beginning that thimerasol had some role in triggering my son's autism (maybe it wasn't the only environmental trigger, but it was a major one nevertheless). Now David Kirby has exposed what we have known all along. This book is a MUST read for ALL parents of young children, not just ones that have been affected by this horrific illness. If you take anything from this book, then take this. DO NOT PUT YOUR BLIND TRUST IN THE MEDICAL ESTABLISHMENT. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH AND EDUCATE YOURSELF. The medical establishment can and is wrong on many issues (and is DEAD WRONG on this one) and is slow to accept something that goes against what they've been taught.
I actually don't understand how people who don't have a vested interest in this issue cannot at least accept that it is credible that thimerasol could be the environmental trigger that is causing autism in our kids (not in all cases, but in many of the 1 in 166). After all, mercury is a known neuro-toxin and thimerasol is nearly 50% organic ethylmercury (which is even more toxic that methylmercury because of its ability to bind itself at the cellular level). How can anyone think that putting a known neuro-toxin in amounts up to 100 times the levels deemed safe for full grown adults into infants with immature immune systems can be safe? And then repeating this several times in the first two years of a childs life. Also, is it a coincidence that the symptons of autism are the same for mercury poisoning? I would love to see someone from the CDC, FDA or NIH inject themselves with the equivalent amount of thimerasol that were given to our children (based on weight and taking into account the immature immunity systems that our kids had when they were injected immediately after birth). I bet you that even if offered a million dollars, that no one would do it because they know they're wrong (or at the very least aren't sure that they're right), but yet thimerasol is still safe to be in some vaccines that kids get.
Whether or not you believe thimerasol is the culprit, it is obvious that the government is trying to cover it up. The government has 2 conflicts of interest when it comes to this issue. One is obviously the money our representatives are getting from big pharma and the other is to protect the vaccine policy of this country. It would be ignorant of us to discount these major conflicts of interests. By the way, many people don't realize this, but this is also a foreign policy issue. We are now exporting many of our vaccines overseas to Third World countries. If you think the rest of the world hates us now, what do you think they will think of us when the truth comes out and they realize that we've exported autism to undeveloped countries. Anyway, I've gotten way too political here, all I can say is buy this book and buy one for your pediatrician and tell your friends that are pregnant or have young children to buy this book. As another poster noted, this book does read like a Grisham novel, but unfortunately it's true.
I will end this by quoting an interaction which is in Kirby's book. A well known pediatrician just gave a speech on the safety of vaccines and thimerasol. A father of an autistic child approached him and said "You know something, doctor? If it turns out that you are right, then I will personally come down to your office and apologize to you with every fiber of my being. But if it turns out that you are wrong, then you are going to hell". Well I think this story is going to end with alot of people going to hell and they will deserve it!!!
I actually don't understand how people who don't have a vested interest in this issue cannot at least accept that it is credible that thimerasol could be the environmental trigger that is causing autism in our kids (not in all cases, but in many of the 1 in 166). After all, mercury is a known neuro-toxin and thimerasol is nearly 50% organic ethylmercury (which is even more toxic that methylmercury because of its ability to bind itself at the cellular level). How can anyone think that putting a known neuro-toxin in amounts up to 100 times the levels deemed safe for full grown adults into infants with immature immune systems can be safe? And then repeating this several times in the first two years of a childs life. Also, is it a coincidence that the symptons of autism are the same for mercury poisoning? I would love to see someone from the CDC, FDA or NIH inject themselves with the equivalent amount of thimerasol that were given to our children (based on weight and taking into account the immature immunity systems that our kids had when they were injected immediately after birth). I bet you that even if offered a million dollars, that no one would do it because they know they're wrong (or at the very least aren't sure that they're right), but yet thimerasol is still safe to be in some vaccines that kids get.
Whether or not you believe thimerasol is the culprit, it is obvious that the government is trying to cover it up. The government has 2 conflicts of interest when it comes to this issue. One is obviously the money our representatives are getting from big pharma and the other is to protect the vaccine policy of this country. It would be ignorant of us to discount these major conflicts of interests. By the way, many people don't realize this, but this is also a foreign policy issue. We are now exporting many of our vaccines overseas to Third World countries. If you think the rest of the world hates us now, what do you think they will think of us when the truth comes out and they realize that we've exported autism to undeveloped countries. Anyway, I've gotten way too political here, all I can say is buy this book and buy one for your pediatrician and tell your friends that are pregnant or have young children to buy this book. As another poster noted, this book does read like a Grisham novel, but unfortunately it's true.
I will end this by quoting an interaction which is in Kirby's book. A well known pediatrician just gave a speech on the safety of vaccines and thimerasol. A father of an autistic child approached him and said "You know something, doctor? If it turns out that you are right, then I will personally come down to your office and apologize to you with every fiber of my being. But if it turns out that you are wrong, then you are going to hell". Well I think this story is going to end with alot of people going to hell and they will deserve it!!!
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