"Perhaps a lawsuit would teach these people inthe medical community to stop abusing their authority?"
I believe this would teach them a lesson but the drug companies are using all of their influence to make sure that this does not happen. There are four bills they are hoping to see passed that will protect them from all liability. The National Autism Assocation, of which I am a member, posted the following alert regarding these bills:
- Over the last few weeks, our community has been dealing with S.3, a bill that would remove children's rights, remove already-passed bans on mercury and protect drug companies from liability.
- What's happened is that pieces of language in S3 have ended up in smaller, multiple bills. They're using sort of a "shot-gun" approach to get the language passed.
- THERE ARE THREE NEW BILLS INTRODUCED: HR650, S366 AND HR 534. ALL hurt our children's rights and impede efforts to protect other children.
- THEY WILL NOT OUTSMART US. THEY WILL NOT REMOVE OUR CHILDREN'S RIGHTS! We must tackle these smaller bills, or our children's rights will be in jeopardy. This is not an action alert, rather a Parents-taking-back-control alert. IT IS BEYOND URGENT, BEYOND IMPORTANT...WITH YOU, WE WILL WIN!
PROFILE OF FIRST BILL:
NAME: HR650...the `Vaccine Accessibility for Children and Seniors Act of 2005'
INTRODUCED IN: House.
COMMITTEE: Judiciary.
MAIN PURPOSE: Will REMOVE children's rights to fair vaccine litigation.
FULL BILL CAN BE READ AT: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/query
PROFILE OF SECOND BILL:
NAME: S 366...the `Healthy Mothers and Healthy Babies Access to Care Act of 2005'
INTRODUCED IN: Senate.
COMMITTEE: HELP (Health, Education, Labor, Pensions)
MAIN PURPOSE: Will LIMIT fair compensation for vaccine-related injuries. Will LIMIT rights following injuries from medical malpractice.
FULL BILL CAN BE READ AT: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/query
PROFILE OF THIRD BILL:
NAME: H.R. 534...the `Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2005
INTRODUCED IN: House.
MAIN PURPOSE: Will LIMIT punitive damages.
FULL BILL CAN BE READ AT: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/query
What are the best ways to get this information out to the masses? Other parents like me are trying to get this information out through the press with mixed success. Here is a link (you'll need QuickTime to view it) to an interview that happened yesterday on a local NBC affiliate in CA: http://homepage.mac.com/rogereng/Autism/iMovieTheater24.html
There was a great local story that ran on Fox in NY over the past couple of weeks. Here is a link to where you can view it: http://www.autismnetworks.com/
The Wall Street Journal had some good articles a couple of weeks ago and you've obviously all seen some of the recent talk on NBC and affiliates.
But these reports are making numerous mistakes. They say vaccines did not contain mercury after 1999 or they say we have conclusive proof that thimerasol did not contribute to autism (one gov't report even says that thimerosal can PROTECT you from autism... ouch!).
So us informed parents are talking to the media, faxing our politician's not to pass those bills I mentioned earlier but it is an uphill climb given what we are up against.
How can we get this message out there? Any open minded doctor or scientist, with no ties to vaccine makers, the FDA or CDC, that takes the time to review the information I have summarized here will surely come to the conclusion that thimerosal contributed to autism or that at the very least it is plausible and needs more research. I'm confident that no one could reach the conclusion offered up by the CDC, FDA & AAP.
Are there other blogs I can join that receive attention by the media and/or politician's?