BREAKING: CDC Whistleblower Confesses to MMR Vaccine Research Fraud

OP Fail! Prev thread fail! Anti-vaxxers caught being intellectually dishonest. AGAIN.

They say that truth is stranger than fiction. I never really necessarily believed it, but today is a day that might well serve as anecdotal evidence to support that adage. Indeed, the day was perfectly bookended by two major developments in the case of the so-called “CDC whistleblower,” the senior CDC scientist who, if you believe Andrew Wakefield and Brian Hooker (always a bad idea), over ten months unburdened himself to Hooker, a biochemical engineer with an autistic child whose autism he blames on vaccines, specifically mercury-containing vaccines. Because I’ve gotten a lot of new readers who might not have been following my posts, I’ll provide a brief recap. Those of you who know what’s going on can skip ahead a couple of paragraphs. (Or you can read my peerless prose because it’s so awesome.)

The claim from the antivaccine movement at the core of this story is that the CDC covered up data from a study (Destefano et al) published ten years ago that allegedly showed an elevated risk of autism in African-American males due to receiving the MMR vaccine early. Supposedly, or so the story went, this “whistleblower” advised Hooker in writing a “reanalysis” of that data, and the perfidy was revealed. Meanwhile, Wakefield and Hooker made a truly despicable video in which they compared this “coverup” to the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, the Holocaust, Stalin’s crimes, and the killing fields of Pol Pot. I kid you not. The first version of the video obscured the voice of this “whistleblower” and did not identify him, but portrayed him criticizing his colleagues, expressing shame, and in general sounding bad, although it’s hard to tell what, exactly, he was talking about because of selective editing. Then, last Thursday night, a new video was posted that identified the “whistleblower”: William Thompson, PhD, a senior epidemiologist at the CDC.

I told the tale over the course of four posts. In the first installment, I described how vile Wakefield’s video was and how incompetent Hooker’s reanalysis was. I also couldn’t resist pointing out that Hooker had actually proven Wakefield wrong. The second installment put this development into context as part of the central conspiracy theory of the antivaccine movement. In the third installment, I described the increasing desperation of Wakefield’s supporters as the mainstream media, despite their best efforts, did not pick of the story, despite Mike Adams over at NaturalNews.com releasing a “bombshell” e-mail from Thompson that wasn’t. In the fourth installment yesterday, I had a bit of fun with a final desperate gasp in which The Not-So-Thinking Moms had a Twitter party to promote the #CDCWhistleblower hashtag and succeeded only in embarrassing themselves, as well as another “bombshell” e-mail revelation that wasn’t.

So, finally, a week and four blog posts later, we hear from the whistleblower himself. Through his lawyer, Thompson has released a statement, which I shall quote in full:

scienceblogs.com...

I've told my story before on ATS but I will say it here again, since it relates to this thread.

My son was a completely normal, healthy lad who was ahead of the curve on many things. At 2.5 years old he received his MMR shot and, within 2 weeks, started to lose EVERYTHING.

By the time 1.5 months had passed, he had lost his speech, potty training, ability to manipulate small things and was completely withdrawn. A total mess.

He was then diagnosed as autistic (specifically Childhood Disintegrative Disorder). His doctor, as well as our family members, all attribute the MMR to his autism.

Don't think me anti-vaccine. I am not. There are many benefits of them overall, and I later had my daughter vaccinated, as well (she, luckily, was unaffected by the vaccine, but we did, at our doctors urging, wait until she was 3.5 years old before doing it).

However, the fact does remain that I have seen it for myself. There HAVE been cases in the "vaccine courts" settled to the benefit of the plaintiffs, and there HAS been a MAJOR increase in the amount of autism cases over the past 20 years, currently, completely unexplained.

Questions remain and with something like this information being released, it raises even more. Who knows what, why, and who benefits from it all?

originally posted by: GetHyped
Anti-vaxxers caught being intellectually dishonest. AGAIN.

Your choice of words is quite interesting. Here we have a senior scientist at the CDC saying his research team "omitted statistically significant information", and the people who exposed it (with or without consent) are the ones we need to crucify for being intellectually dishonest? Your article says everything whilst saying nothing, just like the article posted by boncho. "oh he didn't really admit to fraud or discarding important data, it was a simple scientific disagreement, now he should be ostracized from the scientific community to never be heard of again". The skeptics writing these articles are like spiteful little children living under the delusion they are geniuses.

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

You cite NaturalNews. That alone speaks volumes about your credulity and ulterior motivations. Read one of the many scientific blogs discussing the matter, not NaturalNews.

originally posted by: GetHyped
a reply to: ChaoticOrder

You cite NaturalNews. That alone speaks volumes about your credulity and ulterior motivations. Read one of the many scientific blogs discussing the matter, not NaturalNews.

I have cited NaturalNews no where. That quote is directly from the Thompson's official press release. I have read both articles from the "scientific blogs" posted in this thread so far and they are laughable.

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

My mistake, OP cited natural news. Only the anti-vaxer blogs are making this out to be some grand conspiracy. Read what the scientists across the board have to say for a more sober analysis.

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

The scientist is not being ostracized, and he believes the vaccine is good and should be taken. I am interested in why the data was omitted, but what information we have right now does not match the claims being made.

a reply to: Metallicus

This thread is about the actual admission of the wrong-doing at the CDC. He has released a statement through his lawyer. This is NEW information. Why should it be closed? The truth needs to be told.

Ah, you're right. It should be closed and thrown in the Hoax Bin for the misrepresentation of information though. And reposted linked to the law office website with the notice by Dr. Thompson himself:

I regret that my coauthors and I omitted statistically significant information in our 2004 article published in the journal Pediatrics. The omitted data suggested that African American males who received the MMR vaccine before age 36 months were at increased risk for autism

I want to be absolutely clear that I believe vaccines have saved and continue to save countless lives. I would never suggest that any parent avoid vaccinating children of any race. Vaccines prevent serious diseases, and the risks associated with their administration are vastly outweighed by their individual and societal benefits.

Source

originally posted by: Metallicus

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04
a reply to: Metallicus

The CDC has not admitted anything.

Best case scenario is the vaccine only causes autism if you are Black, Male...

I guess if it doesn't affect you it doesn't matter then. Who cares about black males, right? Regardless, this isn't a anti-vaccine thread it is anti-corruption thread.

Really? Your first conclusion is that... "Black males must be the only ones who get autism from MMR vaccines and the CDC is trying to cover it up" instead of, comparative to many more comprehensive studies, this one has an obvious problem with the interpretation of data, especially when in the hands of Hooker et al, in the anti-vax crowd pushing their agenda.

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

The ones that "exposed it" are making false claims about it. At minimum, claims that are not backed by supportive information or claims that have not been reviewed to consensus. They are pushing their own agenda, no worse than a pharmaceutical company lying to push one of its drugs to market without proving efficacy.

Everyone thinks a rational head towards vaccines here is burying a head in the sand.

In truth, we do know that pharmaceutical companies can be dishonest at times, to the point of fraud and criminal liability, but, simply because of that reason, is not reason enough to believe anyone who claims ill against them, without having sufficient reason to back the claims

In other words, simply because you don't like something, isn't reason to believe the first lie against them.

What Hooker and Mike Adams have done is take something entirely out of context and twisted it to fit their own agenda, stating that the evidence is much more damning than it is, and that it is "proof" of something. For autism to be caused by vaccine only in African American males, is really odd first, and second it would be very hard to cover up throughout an entire industry forgetting a single paper which may have problematic issues to begin with, or been misinterpreted. A single paper cannot make a sweeping determination, even if its conclusions were that black people get autism from vaccines, it would have to be repeatable to find the same conclusion, before it would become fact.

There are plenty of papers that say "We found XYZ, it needs to be studied more" and if the following studies find the same thing, it becomes a fact. Fortunately we do not rely on Mike Adams and Hooker to make facts for us.

I'd hate to be walking around believing in everything Natural News has to say (one of the most notoriously dishonest internet outlets).

I have had many discussions with Dr. Brian Hooker over the last 10 months regarding studies the CDC has carried out regarding vaccines and neurodevelopmental outcomes including autism spectrum disorders. I share his beliefthat CDC decision-making and analyses should be transparent. I was not, however, aware that he was recording any of our conversations, nor was I given any choice regarding whether my name would be made public or my voice would be put on the Internet.

I am grateful for the many supportive e-mails that I have received over the last several days.
I will not be answering further questions at this time. I am providing information to Congressman William Posey, and of course will continue to cooperate with Congress. I have also offered to assist with reanalysis of the study data or development of further studies. For the time being, however, I am focused on my job and my family.

Reasonable scientists can and do differ in their interpretation of information. I will do everything I can to assist any unbiased and objective scientists inside or outside the CDC to analyze data collected by the CDC or other public organizations for the purpose of understanding whether vaccines are associated with an increased risk of autism. There are still more questions than answers, and I appreciate that so many families are looking for answers from the scientific community.

My colleagues and supervisors at the CDC have been entirely professional since this matter became public. In fact, I received a performance-based award after this story came out. I have experienced no pressure or retaliation and certainly was not escorted from the building, as some have stated.

originally posted by: boncho
a reply to: Murgatroid

A video filled with lies you mean?

Shouldn't this thread be closed.

Previous thread here.




Also, No whistleblower, and nothing new. The real story...

The article you quoted at the bottom is just obfuscation. The article at that link doesn't even discuss Thompson. It focuses on some guy Brian Hooker - basically to misdirect the issue. Is that what you're trying to do here?

This is the link to Thompson's statement posted on the law firms site - Link

People, make your own decision about what this all means.

a reply to: Bilk22

You failed to read my following posts. I posted that article because the OP link is natural news and Hooker and Adams are responsible for the dissemination of Thomspon's misquotes.

If this thread solely linked Thompson's words from the law website, a few of our reactions would have been different I surmise.

originally posted by: ChaoticOrder

originally posted by: GetHyped
a reply to: ChaoticOrder

You cite NaturalNews. That alone speaks volumes about your credulity and ulterior motivations. Read one of the many scientific blogs discussing the matter, not NaturalNews.

I have cited NaturalNews no where. That quote is directly from the Thompson's official press release. I have read both articles from the "scientific blogs" posted in this thread so far and they are laughable.

You did cite Natural News in this post, indirectly.

You can't say:

...and the people who exposed it (with or without consent) are the ones we need to crucify for being intellectually dishonest?

And not say you weren't referring to Hooker and Adams because you were. And while you are defending them, you are supporting their kind of deceit, no better than if someone at the CDC is omitting data.

It would have been much better if Thompson was weary to who he was talking with in the months past. If he raised his concerns through a legitimate outlet like the law office he ended up going to, Adams, Natural News and all the rest would be making their claims, but without him and without being the ones breaking the issue, they'd have a lot less clout and their usual drawl would be washed out like it normally is.

Unfortunately, this caused a snap reaction from anyone privy to their tricks. Not to say those people themselves wouldn't be interested in any misdoings at the CDC or otherwise, but because of how it unfolded it of course became a divided issue down the centre.

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04
Why just black children though? Why not White children?

In that study, but we're seeing all Autism rates going up, larger studies would no doubt show that it's happening to all children, but that black children are at a greater risk.

I've just been at a local Mom's meeting, we were discussing this and we've all agreed to NEVER VACCINATE our children ever again, these people cannot be trusted with the health of our little ones.

a reply to: Metallicus

If they would put more money and research into when the appropriate times are for vaccines, this might not be an issue. Increased risk of autism BEFORE 36 months if given the MMR vaccine…So why not wait until age 4 for this to be administered? Small things like this could really save many children from developing autism around age 2-3…Vaccines are needed but it would be nice if they found out what the ideal age is needed in development before giving them out like candy! In my opinion of course…

Why does everyone consider "us" conspiracy theorists nutters when a lot of what we speak about actually comes true? Yes, there are issues that not only make us sound like nutters but also don't come "true" immediately, but the issues we speak about that do come true should give credibility back to us....

How could anyone high up cover up something this big? Anyone with a child that has autism should file a lawsuit against this man and his company ASAP! Once the money is attacked and the cases start to win, there will be a lot more federal guidelines to vaccines and more research that is MUCH NEEDED apparently!

originally posted by: hiddencode

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04

Why just black children though? Why not White children?

In that study, but we're seeing all Autism rates going up, larger studies would no doubt show that it's happening to all children, but that black children are at a greater risk.

False. Either the study is correct, and there is no link between vaccines and autism unless you are black with no birth certificate, or the study is wrong and thus can't be used at all to show any link for any group.

originally posted by: hiddencode
I've just been at a local Mom's meeting, we were discussing this and we've all agreed to NEVER VACCINATE our children ever again, these people cannot be trusted with the health of our little ones.

That is just really stupid.

Ever heard of measles? Polio? . . . And the list goes on.

Yes, many people going into denial about the information which has just been released, they don't want to admit to themselves or anyone else that they've been wrong for the last 10 years. For those who've missed the recent announcement, it's now been confirmed that vaccines are causing Autism.

originally posted by: ChaoticOrder

originally posted by: GetHyped
Anti-vaxxers caught being intellectually dishonest. AGAIN.

Your choice of words is quite interesting. Here we have a senior scientist at the CDC saying his research team "omitted statistically significant information", and the people who exposed it (with or without consent) are the ones we need to crucify for being intellectually dishonest? Your article says everything whilst saying nothing, just like the article posted by boncho. "oh he didn't really admit to fraud or discarding important data, it was a simple scientific disagreement, now he should be ostracized from the scientific community to never be heard of again". The skeptics writing these articles are like spiteful little children living under the delusion they are geniuses.

Any parents would prefer their child to have Measles or Polio rather than Autism

originally posted by: Annee

originally posted by: hiddencode
I've just been at a local Mom's meeting, we were discussing this and we've all agreed to NEVER VACCINATE our children ever again, these people cannot be trusted with the health of our little ones.

That is just really stupid.

Ever heard of measles? Polio? . . . And the list goes on.