#CDCwhistleblower Issues Statement

Update Friday October 3, 2014:  Measles-mumps-rubella vaccination timing and autism among young African American boys: a reanalysis of CDC data has been retracted by Translational Neurodegeneration.  Download Retraction

This just in: 

William W. Thompson Ph.D, Regarding the 2004 Article Examining the Possibility of A Relationship Between MMR Vaccine and Autism

(click to enlarge; text below)

 

 

http://www.morganverkamp.com/

Source: http://www.morganverkamp.com/august-27-2014-press-release-statement-of-william-w-thompson-ph-d-regarding-the-2004-article-examining-the-possibility-of-a-relationship-between-mmr-vaccine-and-autism/

Public statement by William Thompson, Ph. D. The Autism Action Network received the following document today and we believe it to be a genuine statement from William Thompson, Ph. D.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—AUGUST 27, 2014

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM W. THOMPSON, Ph. D., REGARDING THE 2004 ARTICLE EXAMINING THE POSSIBILITY OF A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MMR VACCINE AND AUTISM

My name is William Thompson. I am a Senior Scientist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention where I have worked since 1998.

I regret my co-authors 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 36 months were at increased risk for autism. Decisions were made regarding which findings to report after the data was collected, and I believe that the final study protocol was not followed.

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.

My concern has been the decision to omit relevant findings in a particular study for a particular sub-group for a particular vaccine. There have always been recognized risks for vaccination and I believe it is the responsibility of the CDC to properly convey the risks associated with the receipt of those vaccines.

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 belief that CDC decision-making 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 emails that I have received over the last several days. I will not be answering 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 of 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 outside of 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 out of the building as some have stated.

Dr. Thompson is represented by Frederick M. Morgan, Jr., Morgan Verkamp, LLC, Cincinnati, Ohio.

http://www.morganverkamp.com/

Image source. Click to embiggen

Comments

[Carlee]

Do you want to read something scary? Really, really, really and truly horrifyingly scary?

Read this post - which is written by a mom with graduate degree who works with brain-injured kids, who has is smart, capable of research and rational thought and yet decides against vaccinating her kid:

http://www.marvelousloveblog.com/2012/07/to-vaccinate-or-not-to-vaccinate.html?m=1

This is somebody who should know better, but doesn't.

Someone who has access to pretty much any kind of research her little heart desires, who works in a HOSPITAL with DOCTORS and RESEARCHERS and yet somehow decides to not vaccinate her kids.

(So scary, so very very very that people who should know better don't. The author of that blog is now officially scarier than the art history grad student I hired to be my field assistant -- I'm a geologist/archeologist -- on a dig at a newly-discovered part of a pyramid in Egypt 15 years ago. Who turned out to be a literal creationist. The "God created the earth on a Tuesday precisely 6,452 years ago" kind. Twelve weeks excavating stuff older than that , carbon dating stuff older than that, well, didn't change her mind. She had God on her side).

[Motek42]

Read this analysis of the statement by an epidemiologist
http://www.epidemiological.net/dr-brian-s-hooker-gets-the-andrew-wakefield-treatment/

[Chris]

Carlee, scary anecdotes do not supersede epidemiological evidence even your appeal to authority (especially with the hard to read centered text). Also, the DTaP is not the same as the MMR.