Letter from Rep. Maloney's Office to Dr. Tim Johnson, GMA
From: O'Shaughnessy, Meghan
Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 5:42 PM
To: 'timothy.johnson@abc.com'
Subject: Autism report
Dr. Johnson,
Earlier this week on Good Morning America you said that studies of
vaccinated vs. unvaccinated children showed no difference in autism rates
(transcript below). I wanted to call your attention to the fact that no
such scientific study has even been done. The only thing that even came
close was a phone survey conducted last year by Survey USA and
commissioned by Generation Rescue, which showed that
vaccinated boys were more than twice as likely to have
autism than unvaccinated boys.
There have been studies comparing autism outcomes among children receiving different types of vaccines and different amounts of thimerosal, but not one scientific study of autism outcomes between vaccinated and unvaccinated populations.
My boss, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), has introduced
legislation that would require the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to
conduct a comprehensive comparative study of vaccinated and unvaccinated
populations, which may resolve the controversy about the possible link
between autism and mercury or other vaccine components:
http://maloney.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1383&Itemid=61.
I just wanted to call your attention to this important information. Please
let me know if you have any questions. Thank you very much for your
time,
-Meghan
Well, it's understandable why parents make that connection because
their kids get shots and they get Autism at the same ages.
But I have to tell you, Diane, every good study that looks at this has
found no increased risk from vaccines. They look at kids who get
vaccinated and kids who don't. There's
no increase in risk for autism among those who get vaccines verses
those who don't. The
Institute of Medicine, which I think is an impeccably independent
body, has looked at all the evidence and said there's no connection. I
think that's the truth.
-Dr. Tim Johnson
Good Morning America
February 28, 2008
_________________
Meghan O'Shaughnessy
Press Secretary
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (NY-14)
2331 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-7944 (o)
(202) 225-3703 (c)
meghan.oshaughnessy@mail.house.gov
ABC-TV Good Morning America
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Diane Sawyer interviews Dr. Timothy Johnson
http://abcnews.
TRANSCRIPT
DIANE SAWYER: The CDC says 22 children have already died this flu season, and a
federal panel now wants every child under the age of 18 to get a flu vaccine -
60 million. But is there enough vaccine to go around? When is it supposed to
begin? Joining us now from our Boston bureau is ABC's medical editor, Dr. Tim
Johnson. Good morning, Tim. The CDC now currently recommends a flu vaccine for
kids between the age of 6 months to 5 years, but they're moving it all the way
up to 18 now?
DR. TIM JOHNSON: That's right, initially it has been insistent on the age, as
you say, 6 months to 5 years, because those are the age groups, the kids that
are more likely to get complications, serious complications or even die from the
flu. But in fact the group from 5 to 18 is more likely to get the flu even
though it's not going to be as serious. It will keep them home from school, it
will disrupt family life, it may spread through their parents and grandparents
who may have serious chronic illness problems. So the whole idea is really to
eliminate flu from the family so that it doesn't start spreading around.
DIANE SAWYER: Yes, and we've seen the ravages of the flu already this year. Now,
this is supposed to start at the end of next year for the 2009 season. Why wait,
though? Should you go ahead and do it now, if this is going to be the
recommendation?
DR. TIM JOHNSON: Well, the reason for the wait is logistical. They've got to
give the companies time to gear up to produce more flu shots. It may be
available by next year in larger numbers for this age group. I would say for
this year we're almost through the flu season, and the vaccine this year as you
know has not been very effective. So I would advise parents personally to wait
until next year, when it should be somewhat available.
DIANE SAWYER: But if you're talking about 60 million, will there be enough
vaccine even by the end of next year? And how do they cover enough strains of
the flu to make it worth it?
DR. TIM JOHNSON: Well, they always pick 3 strains, and this year they didn't
guess very well. In previous years they've guessed better. They're gonna replace
all 3 for next year's vaccine, so hopefully we'll have better luck. And the
companies are being given fair warning, so I think they'll have time to gear up
for next year in part at least, and certainly by the following season.
DIANE SAWYER: And I know you want to point out that there are kids at any age
who should be getting the flu vaccine just automatically - kids who have asthma,
for instance?
DR. TIM JOHNSON: Well, we say that people at any age, kids or adults, who have
serious chronic disease like asthma or diabetes, any form of cancer, lung
disease, whatever, they should absolutely get the flu shot. We recommend it
routinely for people over 50, for health workers, etcetera. In fact, all the
recommendations that are now in place would cover about 75% of the population.
So there are a lot of people already who we think should get the flu shot.
DIANE SAWYER: And got to raise the question again, because as we know, there is
the, the, always the latent fear of some association possibly between vaccines
and autism. Your advice?
DR. TIM JOHNSON: Well, it's understandable why parents make that connection
because their kids get shots and they get autism at the same ages. But I have to
tell you again, Diane, that every good study that's looked at this has found no
increased risk from vaccines. They look at kids who get vaccinated, kids who
don't, there's no increase in risk for autism among those who get vaccines
versus those who don't. The Institute of Medicine, which I think is an
impeccably, uh, independent body, has looked at all the evidence and says
there's no connection, I think that's the truth.
DIANE SAWYER: All right. Well, Tim, thanks to you, and I want everybody to know
that you can log onto ABCNews.com, check out the special cold and flu center and
find more of what you need to know. Tim has a great website there, so check it
out for your family.
[END]