Generationrescue.org was launched today, with the help of somebody who knows public relations. The premise is that the cause of autism and myriad other neurological disorders is known - it's mercury poisoning, caused primarily by the injection of thimerosal into small children when they're vaccinated.
Nonesense, says the medical and scientific “establishment” - we don't know what it is, but it “isn't proven” that any causal relationship between thimerosal and autism.
The arguments on both sides quickly get involved and require knowledge of epidimiology, biology, and critical reasoning.
Now, it's easier to deny the link - you simply say, like tobacco companies did until recently, that the evidence isn't conclusive, or persuasive, given any number of factors that widen the margin of error. This can and probably will go on for years.
Those who seek to prove the link are taking several avenues, and here they are:
1. Common sense: injecting an organic mercury compound straight into the bloodstream of children has to be risky at best and most likely reckless.
2. In vitro tests to examine the effects of ethylmercury on living cells.
3. In vivo test on lab animals to test for reactions.
4. Mass data analysis of actual populations to discern patterns, ideally with a control group.
5. Trend analysis following the gradual abolishment of thimerosal in vaccines, staring a few years ago.
6) Proven cures. Autistic children who are treated for mercury poisoning recover.
Those who reject a link claim that studies of type 4) are inconclusive, dispute the “science” of those who argue 1), and seek to discredit thosr who have done studies based on 2) and 3). 5), everyone agrees, is too early to tell. 6), they say, is a result of quackery and a placebo effect.
If you point out that a link hasn't been disproven and may very well be possible, you're told that you can't' prove a negative [sic]. In other words, we are fools for examining a possible hypythesis when none other is offered. The hypothesis that thimerosal causes mercury should be treated like someone convicted of a crime: any reasonable doubt leads to a rejection of the charge.
The question the thimerosal-lovers refuse to answer is what it would take to convince them that they're wrong. Parents of afflicted children are obviously delusional, the results they cite are coincidental, the scientists who are coming up with new findings are incompetent, etc.
I have a couple of ideas, though. Those who think that thimerosal is safe enough to inject into babies should put some skin in the game: they should all accept an injection of pure thimerosal in a weight-adjusted dosage equivalent to what babies got, over the same period of time. If they do that, they can continue to denounce the parents who think ethylmercury is harmful. If they don't, they should shut up or suffer abuse and scorn they deserve.
Sent wirelessly from my Blackberry.
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