by Jennifer Stella
Leaked scientific data has been disclosed showing that links between autism and vaccines were covered up by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — the nation’s leading public health agency. In his July 29 statement on the House floor, Congressman Bill Posey, R-Florida, reported that CDC vaccine safety researcher William Thompson, Ph.D. witnessed his colleagues destroying data demonstrating a clear association between the Measles Mumps and Rubella vaccine and autism. Thompson retained copies of these and thousands of other documents, which he has turned over to Posey’s office.
Thompson, a senior scientist at the CDC, co-led three major vaccine safety studies while working at the Immunization Safety Branch of the CDC, including a study on measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and autism that has been heralded by vaccine proponents as “definitive.” Now, more than a decade after the study’s 2004 publication in the Journal of Pediatrics, Thompson admits that he and his co-authors “intentionally withheld controversial findings” and that statistically significant correlations were found, but that these controversial findings went “into a huge garbage can.”
Last August, Thompson retained a well-known whistleblower lawyer, Frederick M. Morgan, Jr., of Morgan Verkamp, LLC in Cincinnati, Ohio. Posey is offering Thompson’s whistleblower documents to members of Congress for review and is calling for Congressional hearings to investigate CDC fraud and misconduct.
In May, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. testified before the Vermont House Health Care Committee, warning that the CDC is a, “cesspool of corruption, mismanagement, and dysfunction with alarming conflicts of interest suborning its research, regulatory, and policymaking functions.”
Kennedy, speaking in support of maintaining Vermont’s philosophical vaccine exemption, advised lawmakers that, “Ending exemptions is premature until we have a functioning regulatory agency and a transparent process.” Lawmakers and policy officials failed to ask questions of Kennedy and there was no investigation.
Despite Kennedy’s warnings, the legislature accelerated the issue, resulting in an 85-57 vote to repeal Vermont’s philosophical exemption. Governor Shumlin signed the bill weeks later, despite protests.
In light of alleged CDC research fraud, the Vermont Coalition for Vaccine Choice is calling for an immediate, independent investigation and reinstatement of Vermont’s philosophical vaccine exemption. As coalition spokesperson, I believe, as citizens, we should demand nothing short of transparency, honesty and ethical conduct from the government agencies charged with the health and safety of our children, our families and our communities.
The Vermont Coalition for Vaccine Choice is a non-partisan, grassroots advocacy group that defends vaccination choice as a human right. The group advocates for the freedom to make informed health choices whether as parents or as individuals, without coercion or interference.
