Read the excerpt: The story of four prominent doctors connected to the autism debate

Andrew Wakefield

Dr. Thomas Verstraeten

Poul Thorsen

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If you'd like to pick upfor yourself:The stories of four prominent doctors connected to the autism debate -- Brian Hooker, Andrew Wakefield, Thomas Verstraeten, and Poul Thorsen -- help to explain the powerful forces that suppress criticism of vaccinations.Brian Hooker holds a doctorate degree in biochemical engineering and has a teenage son with autism . Motivated by his son's condition and with the help of two congressmen, Hooker spent almost ten years submitting over one hundred Freedom of Information Acts requests to the CDC for data linking mercury-filled thimerosal in vaccines to various disorders. He received thousands of documents, but with many key components blacked out. These documents included five CDC studies on thimerosal and autism written prior to 2004 that rejected the connection between thimerosal and autism.Yet the heavily redacted documents Hooker received revealed the CDC had access to data linking thimerosal in vaccines to autism, nonorganic sleep disorders, and speech disorders but had concealed this from the public. Today, flu shots containing thimerosal still are administered to pregnant women and infants.According to Hooker, a 2009 study hid data regarding the only valid part of the study (i.e., prenatal thimerosal exposure), which showed that children exposed to just sixteen micrograms of mercury in thimerosal in utero were up to eight times more likely to receive a diagnosis of regressive autism.Hooker said his FOIA requests specifically sought information on five CDC studies on thimerosal and autism prior to 2004. These studies led to an Institute of Medicine (IOM) Immunization Safety Review Committee report, "Vaccines and Autism," released in May 2004. Denying any link between thimerosal in the MMR vaccine and autism, this report effectively shut down government funding for any independent research. "Given the constant reference that the CDC and others make to the 2004 IOM report, most of the key components of the [CE1] FOIAed information have been completely redacted by the CDC," said Hooker, adding that much of the information sought in his FOIA requests has yet to be released by the CDC."I would challenge anyone who would rely on the veracity of the CDC studies," said Hooker. "They've repeatedly, purposefully withheld data that clearly show a link between thimerosal and autism (among other NDDs [neurodevelopmental disorders]). They've obfuscated the main issue via obviously biased statistical manipulation. Clearly, the CDC's conflicted role of vaccine advocate and vaccine safety guardian has contributed to this whole problem."Hooker also noted that other countries that vaccinate less and have banned thimerosal have not experienced comparable autism rates to the United States. He added his belief that thimerosal has not been removed from U.S. vaccines because of "various issues in a concerted effort toward the globalization of vaccines."Andrew Wakefield, a British former surgeon and medical researcher, supported Hooker in his effort to find the truth. Wakefield is a controversial figure who has been castigated by the medical establishment and the mainstream media. His Wikipedia page states that the doctor is "known for his fraudulent 1998 research paper in support of the now-discredited claim that there is a link between the administration of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism and other ailments." And in 2010, a five-member tribunal of the British General Medical Council (GMC) found Wakefield guilty of dishonesty and twelve counts involving the abuse of developmentally challenged children. He was barred from practicing medicine and the British medical journal The Lancet retracted his 1998 paper.Yet Wakefield's claims are not nearly as outlandish as they have been made to seem by the media. In late 2011, the Strategic Autism Initiative (SAI), an autism research foundation, announced an investigation into Wakefield's claims headed by Dr. David Lewis, former senior-level research microbiologist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and a member of the National Whistleblowers Center (NWC) board of directors. The SAI rejected the assertion that Wakefield's claim was fraudulent. Further research has continued to support the doctor. More than twenty-six studies in the U.S., Canada, Venezuela, and Italy replicated Wakefield's 1998 findings but have not been widely publicized.As director of the MRC's Research Misconduct Project, Lewis explained that important areas of scientific research are increasingly being manipulated by government agencies, large corporations, and leading universities in order to promote and protect their own interests. Suppressing independent research that threatens their interests is critical to their interests. While most scientists are rarely targeted for retribution by government, industry, or academia, some have faced false allegations of research misconduct. "Scientists who are targeted in this manner suffer lifelong consequences, and the chilling effect it has on other scientists is profound. Few, if any, scientists are willing to step into the firing line of government or big industry and risk being martyred," explained Lewis.The outside pressure the pharmaceutical industry brings to bear on anti-vaccine advocates explains why many doctors are wary of making any controversial statements about the effects of vaccines. Dr. Thomas Verstraeten is one such case. Verstraeten entered the vaccine fray when he authored a 2001 study whose initial phase seemed to indicate a potential link between thimerosal and autism. However, by 2003, Verstraeten said his study ultimately did not support such a link, and he became a supporter of the vaccines. He was accused of yielding to outside pressure to alter studies indicating a link between thimerosal and autism. One internal CDC document obtained after a FOIA request, showed Verstraeten sent an email that many have interpreted as referring to his difficulty in making the statistical association between thimerosal and autism disappear with the words, "It just won't go away."In June 2005, Rolling Stone published an article written by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. entitled "Deadly Immunity," which claimed that the federal government and the pharmaceutical industry colluded to withhold information concerning vaccine safety. Kennedy also accused Verstraeten of modifying his data to fit the CDC's claim that there is no link between thimerosal and autism, an accusation that Verstraeten has vehemently denied. Yet his personal career choices suggest something sinister: shortly after publishing his findings, Verstraeten left the CDC for a position with the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline.Verstraeten's jump is just another illustration of the "revolving door" policy between government regulators and the corporate world. In 2009, for instance, CDC Director Julie Gerberding left the organization for a job as president of the $5 billion vaccine division of Merck.Poul Thorsen is another pro-vaccine doctor whose legitimacy has been called into question. Thorson coauthored some of the most frequently cited CDC studies denying the link between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism. Much of the data cited in these studies remain unavailable to the public. Yet despite the lack of transparency, Thorsen's research has been hailed by the corporate mass media, public health establishment, and Big Pharm as "proof" that there is no connection between vaccines and autism.In 2014, Thorsen was indicted for fraud and stealing grant money while working for the CDC. The CDC had awarded him grant money for research in Denmark involving infant disabilities, autism, genetic disorders, and fetal alcohol syndrome. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' inspector general, Thorsen reportedly diverted more than $1 million of the CDC grant money to his own personal bank account and submitted fraudulent invoices on CDC letterhead to medical facilities assisting in the research for reimbursement of work allegedly covered by the grants.In order to find out who is in the right in the vaccine debate, one need only follow the money. Mass inoculations bring more than $25 billion in revenues to the giant pharmaceutical firms and their hirelings while physicians and researchers who question mass vaccinations make nothing. In fact, many of them risk loss of income and ostracism from the conventional medical establishment. Meanwhile, those who trumpet the benefits of vaccines and downplay their risks can profit enormously.