The IOM disregarded parents, scientists, doctors, and scientific studies showing a link to the mercury in vaccines and autism and instead relied 100% on easily flawed epidemiological studies that had been admittedly altered through five generations to downplay the link with neurodevelopmental disorders. The IOM would say no further research into this seems warranted. But this study, this TV causes Autism study, you would request demands further research and study.
While the Combating Autism Act with its millions of research dollars lies locked in a congressional ego pissing match, you seriously suggest that someone should waste more time, money, and effort on what it took many of us days to realize was not some cruel and evil joke on the part of a few bored economic researchers.
This devastating epidemic has gone beyond the level of such thoughtless, immature games of throwing out simplified and idiotic theories that pop into someone's brain. No defense you can throw out can justify this level of pseudo-scientific crap. No apologies can make up for the glib nature of this attempt at your 15 minutes of fame. We can only hope you have all enjoyed yourselves at the expense of devastated families and children that will needlessly suffer for a lifetime from a very serious ailment. The media that gave this any serious time or space while they easily dismiss the fact that the second most toxic element on earth is being injected into infants has their own share of culpability in this.
This is a serious disease, a serious issue, and it deserves some serious study and attention. It is causing a devastating loss to our nation of an entire generation of children, and leading to the death of 100s of these children through drownings, traffic accidents, as well as being murdered by family members. This is not a non-fatal disease. The numbers are 1000x worse than the polio epidemic of the 1950s but receives 1/100th of the attention, resources, research, and even media and federal government attention. You have made your contribution to the trivialization of the misery and struggles of these families and their children, and there is just no other way to put this than; please just shut up and go away.
As the 1 in 166 start filling the Social Security rolls, receiving Medicaire and Medicaid the crisis will reach a whole new level, and maybe then, just maybe someone will actually do some real and credible research into the real causes of the Autism epidemic. Until then, we parents can only pray and hope that you are the last to so carelessly throw out such a thoughtless mockery of real science.
I did a simple search on the ask Jeeves website. I typed in "inventions" in the 1980s and below is what appeared from that search (just wondering if you had ruled out Cabbage Patch Dolls or disposable contact lenses before you jumped on the TV bandwagon?)
1980 The hepatitis-B vaccine invented.
1981 The first IBM-PC invented.
1982 Human growth hormone genetically engineered.
1983 First Cabbage Patch Kids sold.
1984 The CD-ROM invented.
1984 The Apple Macintosh invented.
1986 A high-temperature super-conductor invented by J. Georg Bednorz and Karl A. Muller.
1986 Synthetic skin invented by G. Gregory Gallico, III.
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