Family's experience sparked activism

JUDY L. THOMAS, "Family's experience sparked activism", Kansas City
Star, October 9, 2005,
Link: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...l/12854558.htm

In second grade, Devon Clark got a flu shot. A month later, he got
another.

"It was my idea, because he had asthma," said Devon's father,
Alan Clark, who is a physician.

Within weeks, Devon's behavior changed dramatically. He had been
diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in first grade,
but this was much worse.

"He became more obsessive and compulsive, angry, paranoid," Clark
said. "He would yell and bang his fists on stuff. He would say, 'I
don't feel like me.' "

A series of visits to a neuropsychologist yielded a startling
diagnosis: Devon had Asperger syndrome, which often is referred to as a
high-functioning form of autism.

"I was in shock," said Devon's mother, Lujene Clark, a former
nurse. "I thought, 'My normal, healthy child has an autism spectrum
disorder?' "

Lujene Clark said that before getting the flu vaccine, "this child
walked on time, talked on time, met all his developmental milestones
- even exceeded them." But afterward, "it was like we were in
'The Twilight Zone.' We watched our child slip away from us
virtually before our very eyes."

The Clarks, like thousands of other parents nationwide, think that
thimerosal in the vaccine caused their son's disorder. Thimerosal is
a compound that is 49.6 percent ethylmercury by weight. It has been
used for decades as a preservative in vaccines and other medical
products.

Though concerns about thimerosal's toxicity have prompted its removal
from almost all recommended childhood vaccines in the past few years,
the substance remains in some flu shots that will be administered this
fall to American children. Thimerosal also remains in some tetanus
boosters and meningitis vaccines that older children receive.

Officials with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
don't think mercury and autism are linked, saying "there is no
conclusive evidence that any vaccine or vaccine additive increases the
risk of developing autism or any other behavior disorder."

The CDC cites a 2004 report by the Institute of Medicine that concluded
that there was no association between autism and vaccines that contain
thimerosal as a preservative.

The CDC also maintains that it is safe for children to receive a flu
shot that contains thimerosal because the compound has been removed
from all other recommended childhood vaccines. The agency says that the
benefits of getting a flu shot outweigh the theoretical risks of
thimerosal.

But the Clarks are not convinced, noting that the government's
statistics reveal that 1 in 6 children today have neurodevelopmental
disorders.

Devon was 7½ when he got his first flu shot in November 2002. A second
followed in December, as recommended by health officials.

"By Christmastime, we were noticing marked changes," Lujene Clark
said. "His asthma got worse, his allergies got worse, his ADHD
symptoms got dramatically worse. Everything went into warp speed."

Devon began seeing a specialist, and in September 2003 he was diagnosed
with Asperger's. Desperate for information, Lujene Clark read
everything she could about the disorder. On a hunch, she did an
Internet search for "heavy-metal toxicity and autistic children."

"And Google just went nuts," she said. "My body went numb when I
found the part about the vaccines."

Alan Clark, former president of the Greene County Medical Society, said
he was flabbergasted when he learned that several of the vaccines Devon
had received contained mercury, and at levels many times higher than
the amount considered safe.

The Clarks said they think Devon's flu shot was the "toxic tipping
point" that sent him over the edge.

After Devon's diagnosis, Lujene Clark embarked on a crusade to get
mercury out of vaccines. She has testified before congressional
committees and in state legislatures and was instrumental in getting
laws passed in Missouri and Iowa that ban mercury in vaccines.

The Clarks' organization, No Mercury, does not have members or
mailing lists. It doesn't accept donations and hasn't filed
lawsuits. The Clarks operate a Web site, www.nomercury.org , where they
post articles and scientific research.

The Clarks want to make one thing clear: They are not
"anti-vaccine."

"We think vaccines are important," Lujene Clark said. "But they
should not contain a neurotoxin. Introducing mercury into children is
just stupid."

Devon, who turned 10 in July, now is in the fifth grade. He takes
medications and vitamins and undergoes other medical treatments that
his parents say have helped his condition.

"We still have some bad days, but it's a dramatic jump in
improvement," Alan Clark said.

Last January, Alan and Lujene Clark had lunch with Devon at school. The
pupils had been learning about Martin Luther King Jr. and made "I
Have a Dream" posters.

"There, among all the 'I want to be president, I want to be a
soldier, I want to be a dancer' - all the childhood dreams - at
the very end was our son's," Lujene Clark recalled, her eyes
welling with tears.

On Devon's poster was a drawing of a vial of thimerosal with a skull
and crossbones on the label.

Above the picture, Devon had written: "My Dream ... Stop Mucry
Poisoning Kids."

On 9 Oct 2005 10:02:12 -0700, "Roman Bystrianyk"
wrote:

Devon began seeing a specialist, and in September 2003 he was diagnosed
with Asperger's. Desperate for information, Lujene Clark read
everything she could about the disorder. On a hunch, she did an
Internet search for "heavy-metal toxicity and autistic children."

"And Google just went nuts," she said. "My body went numb when I
found the part about the vaccines."

Ah, I'm glad to see this former nurse and wife of a physician knows
how to find all the crackpots and loons on the Internet. Go Google!

PF

"PF Riley" wrote in message
...
On 9 Oct 2005 10:02:12 -0700, "Roman Bystrianyk"
wrote:

Devon began seeing a specialist, and in September 2003 he was diagnosed
with Asperger's. Desperate for information, Lujene Clark read
everything she could about the disorder. On a hunch, she did an
Internet search for "heavy-metal toxicity and autistic children."

"And Google just went nuts," she said. "My body went numb when I
found the part about the vaccines."

Ah, I'm glad to see this former nurse and wife of a physician knows
how to find all the crackpots and loons on the Internet. Go Google!

PF

Sad that we have *organized medicine* who call family experience crackpots
and loons.

Just one more reason people are turning to alternative medicine and
*organized medicine* doesn't know it.

They are all about E G O.

Keep up the good work, Roman!

JUDY L. THOMAS, "Family's experience sparked activism", Kansas City
Star, October 9, 2005,
Link: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...l/12854558.htm


In second grade, Devon Clark got a flu shot. A month later, he got
another.


"It was my idea, because he had asthma," said Devon's father,
Alan Clark, who is a physician.


Within weeks, Devon's behavior changed dramatically. He had been
diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in first grade,
but this was much worse.


"He became more obsessive and compulsive, angry, paranoid," Clark
said. "He would yell and bang his fists on stuff. He would say, 'I
don't feel like me.' "


A series of visits to a neuropsychologist yielded a startling
diagnosis: Devon had Asperger syndrome, which often is referred to as a
high-functioning form of autism.


"I was in shock," said Devon's mother, Lujene Clark, a former
nurse. "I thought, 'My normal, healthy child has an autism spectrum
disorder?' "


Lujene Clark said that before getting the flu vaccine, "this child
walked on time, talked on time, met all his developmental milestones
- even exceeded them." But afterward, "it was like we were in
'The Twilight Zone.' We watched our child slip away from us
virtually before our very eyes."


The Clarks, like thousands of other parents nationwide, think that
thimerosal in the vaccine caused their son's disorder. Thimerosal is
a compound that is 49.6 percent ethylmercury by weight. It has been
used for decades as a preservative in vaccines and other medical
products.


Though concerns about thimerosal's toxicity have prompted its removal
from almost all recommended childhood vaccines in the past few years,
the substance remains in some flu shots that will be administered this
fall to American children. Thimerosal also remains in some tetanus
boosters and meningitis vaccines that older children receive.


Officials with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
don't think mercury and autism are linked, saying "there is no
conclusive evidence that any vaccine or vaccine additive increases the
risk of developing autism or any other behavior disorder."


The CDC cites a 2004 report by the Institute of Medicine that concluded
that there was no association between autism and vaccines that contain
thimerosal as a preservative.


The CDC also maintains that it is safe for children to receive a flu
shot that contains thimerosal because the compound has been removed
from all other recommended childhood vaccines. The agency says that the
benefits of getting a flu shot outweigh the theoretical risks of
thimerosal.


But the Clarks are not convinced, noting that the government's
statistics reveal that 1 in 6 children today have neurodevelopmental
disorders.


Devon was 7½ when he got his first flu shot in November 2002. A second
followed in December, as recommended by health officials.


"By Christmastime, we were noticing marked changes," Lujene Clark
said. "His asthma got worse, his allergies got worse, his ADHD
symptoms got dramatically worse. Everything went into warp speed."


Devon began seeing a specialist, and in September 2003 he was diagnosed
with Asperger's. Desperate for information, Lujene Clark read
everything she could about the disorder. On a hunch, she did an
Internet search for "heavy-metal toxicity and autistic children."


"And Google just went nuts," she said. "My body went numb when I
found the part about the vaccines."


Alan Clark, former president of the Greene County Medical Society, said
he was flabbergasted when he learned that several of the vaccines Devon
had received contained mercury, and at levels many times higher than
the amount considered safe.


The Clarks said they think Devon's flu shot was the "toxic tipping
point" that sent him over the edge.


After Devon's diagnosis, Lujene Clark embarked on a crusade to get
mercury out of vaccines. She has testified before congressional
committees and in state legislatures and was instrumental in getting
laws passed in Missouri and Iowa that ban mercury in vaccines.


The Clarks' organization, No Mercury, does not have members or
mailing lists. It doesn't accept donations and hasn't filed
lawsuits. The Clarks operate a Web site, www.nomercury.org , where they
post articles and scientific research.


The Clarks want to make one thing clear: They are not
"anti-vaccine."


"We think vaccines are important," Lujene Clark said. "But they
should not contain a neurotoxin. Introducing mercury into children is
just stupid."


Devon, who turned 10 in July, now is in the fifth grade. He takes
medications and vitamins and undergoes other medical treatments that
his parents say have helped his condition.


"We still have some bad days, but it's a dramatic jump in
improvement," Alan Clark said.


Last January, Alan and Lujene Clark had lunch with Devon at school. The
pupils had been learning about Martin Luther King Jr. and made "I
Have a Dream" posters.


"There, among all the 'I want to be president, I want to be a
soldier, I want to be a dancer' - all the childhood dreams - at
the very end was our son's," Lujene Clark recalled, her eyes
welling with tears.


On Devon's poster was a drawing of a vial of thimerosal with a skull
and crossbones on the label.


Above the picture, Devon had written: "My Dream ... Stop Mucry
Poisoning Kids."

"LadyLollipop" wrote in message
news:nRm2f.415742$x96.295163@attbi_s72...

"PF Riley" wrote in message
...
On 9 Oct 2005 10:02:12 -0700, "Roman Bystrianyk"
wrote:

Devon began seeing a specialist, and in September 2003 he was diagnosed
with Asperger's. Desperate for information, Lujene Clark read
everything she could about the disorder. On a hunch, she did an
Internet search for "heavy-metal toxicity and autistic children."

"And Google just went nuts," she said. "My body went numb when I
found the part about the vaccines."

Ah, I'm glad to see this former nurse and wife of a physician knows
how to find all the crackpots and loons on the Internet. Go Google!

PF

Sad that we have *organized medicine* who call family experience crackpots
and loons.

I haven't seen any posts signed "Organized Medicine."

Do you have any evidence that this entity exists to point out crackpots and
loons?




Just one more reason people are turning to alternative medicine and
*organized medicine* doesn't know it.


Of course, "*organized medicine*" "doesn't know it." There's no organized
medicine in existence to know such things.




They are all about E G O.

Keep up the good work, Roman!

And you, LadyL, are all about ID.
--


--Rich

Recommended websites:

http://www.ratbags.com/rsoles
http://www.acahf.org.au
http://www.quackwatch.org/
http://www.skeptic.com/
http://www.csicop.org/

On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 05:19:15 GMT, "LadyLollipop"
wrote:

Sad that we have *organized medicine* who call family experience crackpots
and loons.

I am "organized medicine"?

Just one more reason people are turning to alternative medicine and
*organized medicine* doesn't know it.

I don't?

PF

"PF Riley" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 05:19:15 GMT, "LadyLollipop"
wrote:

Sad that we have *organized medicine* who call family experience crackpots
and loons.

I am "organized medicine"?

Of course you are if you disagree with Jan about anything.


Just one more reason people are turning to alternative medicine and
*organized medicine* doesn't know it.

I don't?

PF

LadyLollipop wrote:

Just one more reason people are turning to alternative medicine and
*organized medicine* doesn't know it.

We still do not know the definition of *organized medicine* since you
have steadfastly refused to provide a clear and concise definition.

Further, we still have not heard your denial of the allegation of how
you contacted someone outside of usenet about Mark Lowery.

Rich wrote:
"PF Riley" wrote in message
...

On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 05:19:15 GMT, "LadyLollipop"
wrote:

Sad that we have *organized medicine* who call family experience crackpots
and loons.

I am "organized medicine"?


Of course you are if you disagree with Jan about anything.

I see, so it is your position that Jan defines OM as anything that
disagrees with her. Hmmm...that is awfully convenient for her.




Just one more reason people are turning to alternative medicine and
*organized medicine* doesn't know it.

I don't?

PF