As a medical doctor who has treated hundreds of autistic children and as a father of an autistic child, I found your recent article by Harris and O’Connor entitled “On Autism’s Cause, It’s Parents vs Research” to be both offensive and inaccurate. The number of false or misleading statements in the article is too large to list in this response. That said, I do wholeheartedly agree with the premise of the article that “the science is being ignored.” I have never before witnessed firsthand such a blatant disregard for science as has been shown by the organizations whose charge it is to protect the public. It is clear to everyone who looks deeply at the issue that the motive behind the decisions of these individuals is not the discovery of truth. Rather, it is to create “scientific studies” to give the answers that keep them safely from liability for failing to perform their most important task, “first, do no harm.” Dr. Steven Black, the director of Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center, said it best (although he was referring to the Geier research), “the problem . . .is that they start with the answers and work backwards.” This was never more apparent than in the transcripts from Simpsonwood when the data of the Verstraeten study were clearly manipulated and diluted until the obvious link between thimerosal and neurodevelopmental disorders was washed away. In February 2004, the IOM used this and several other faulty epidemiological studies, ignoring very compelling biological evidence, to conclude that no further research should be done on this issue. Why would a supposedly impartial institute ever make that conclusion based off of the strength of the evidence that was presented to them? To quote Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the CDC, “it doesn’t seem to matter what the studies and the data show. . .and that’s really scary for us because if science doesn’t count, how do we make decisions.” In this age of Freedom of Information, the true colors of those who have hidden behind ivory towers have become apparent. Maybe this is the reason for the increasing number of parents, physicians and researchers that believe that thimerosal has contributed to the autism epidemic. The efforts of those individuals to prevent the loss of public confidence in the national vaccination program will continue to backfire until they begin an honest look at this issue, with appropriate funding for independent scientists to have access to the data that will allow the science to shine forth.

Bryan Jepson MD