Boycott the Quackage Dr. Michael Savage

In 2003, Dr. Michael "Weener" Weiner was fired from MSNBC after telling a caller who said he was a homosexual the following, "Oh, you're one of the sodomites! You should only get AIDS and die, you pig!" Today, he is widely known for this same invective. He's a disgraceful, venomous human being who has called for the assasination of former Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, said the Middle East should be turned into a parking lot, repeatedly has used radical factions throughout human civilization to paint a broad stroke on an entire demographic, and continues spewing bigoted comments at Muslims to spread a hyper-xenophobic mindset onto his listeners. No one has benefitted more after 9/11 than Savage. He's a vulgar fraud, but how ironic that his background as a plant nutritionist has led him to calling the "autism community" a "fraud and racket.

Come down here to Augusta, Ga. and let me show you what autism is. My family has endured 30 years of triumphs and travesties with my younger brother, Matt, who is on the severe end of the spectrum. One can't fathom what it has been like to tend to Matt's needs on a daily basis and just how fortunate so many others are who can bathe, clothe, feed themselves, and overall are self-sufficient. Matt needs supervision for the rest of his life. And this (sigh) plant nutritionist comes on the airwaves with no specialization in neurology and vaccination research to spew his venom once again for his own self-fulfillment.

Here is a transcript of what Savage said on his July 16 broadcast of the Savage Nation from Media Matters for America. Before reading this, let me preface by saying Savage has written several memoirs on his life. In one of his books, he recalls how his father used to call him a "sissy" for wearing a shirt deemed too bright and colorful. That repressed anger has inevitably carried over into adulthood (childhood for the vast majority of us).

"I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot.' " Savage concluded, "[I]f I behaved like a fool, my father called me a fool. And he said to me, 'Don't behave like a fool.' The worst thing he said -- 'Don't behave like a fool. Don't be anybody's dummy. Don't sound like an idiot. Don't act like a girl. Don't cry.' That's what I was raised with. That's what you should raise your children with. Stop with the sensitivity training. You're turning your son into a girl, and you're turning your nation into a nation of losers and beaten men. That's why we have the politicians we have."

"[W]hy was there an asthma epidemic amongst minority children? Because I'll tell you why: The children got extra welfare if they were disabled, and they got extra help in school. It was a money racket. Everyone went in and was told [fake cough], 'When the nurse looks at you, you go [fake cough], "I don't know, the dust got me." ' See, everyone had asthma from the minority community."
Talk Radio Network, which syndicates The Savage Nation, claims that Savage is heard on more than 350 radio stations. The Savage Nation reaches at least 8.25 million listeners each week, according to Talkers Magazine, making it one of the most listened-to talk radio shows in the nation, behind only The Rush Limbaugh Show and The Sean Hannity Show.

Autism -- everybody has an illness. If I behaved like a fool, my father called me a fool. And he said to me, "Don't behave like a fool. Don't be anybody's dummy. Don't sound like an idiot. Don't act like a girl. Don't cry." That's what I was raised with. That's what you should raise your children with. Stop with the sensitivity training. You're turning your son into a girl, and you're turning your nation into a nation of losers and beaten men. That's why we have the politicians we have."

Let me take you into a 360 degree direction. An Athens, Ga. girl and her family recently won a lawsuit proving that her autism was triggered by vaccination poisoning. People in the autism community are now beginning to believe there is a link between autism and vaccination harm. However, none of us are saying, "Don't vaccinate." Vaccinations should be administered to prevent fatal diseases -- mumps, measles, rubella, polio, etc. The problem is the vaccines are administered at high dosage levels and too many are given to infants in a very short time span.

Genetics and enviornmental factors are obviously the most accepted explanations to a disorder that has gone from 1 in 10,000 cases in 1987 to 1 in 150 today. The genetic component is triggered by what medical researchers and scientists say are a lack of protein in a woman's chromosome. Environmental factors that can trigger this disorder are exposure to high levels of mercury, aluminum, and other heavy metals. Here is an article I wrote for a local magazine-style publication a few years ago, taking the perspective of a grandmother who believes vaccination injury led to her grandson's autism:


Breaking Autism Silence: How a North Augusta woman and her grandson fight the biggest and most costly medical mistake in U.S. history

Joshua Murphy loves swimming. His grandmother, Maurine Meleck, takes the 8-year-old to the YMCA a few times a week.

In the pool, Joshua is at peace with himself. His lanky, olive-skinned body moves through the water with graceful, synchronized movements.

"He would swim all day," Meleck said.

For now, the water is clear. But Joshua knows what it’s like when everything around him isn’t clear. Meleck said this frustrates him. He repeatedly slaps his forehead or stares off into space. She wants him to tell her what’s wrong. Nothing. He has autism.

A boy who loves trains

Inside the second floor hallway of their two-bedroom apartment in North Augusta, Joshua runs upstairs with his friend. He swings open the door and flashes a beaming smile. He knows he’s going swimming later in the day. A toy train set lies on the den’s floor.

"His two favorite things are swimming and trains," Meleck said. "I went to the local library and received several videos about trains for free. He enjoys watching them, but I don’t want him to watch them too much."

Meleck walks towards her master bedroom. She sits in a black reclining chair beside her flickering computer monitor. Joshua and his friend continue playing with the toy train set.

Meleck’s happy-go-lucky visage suddenly turns solemn and focused. Her dark, brown eyes become fixated in thought. She points to a bookcase where shelves are filled with published books — books she continues to read to try to determine what caused Joshua’s autism and how to treat it.

"I’ve printed out so much information. Now, I have nowhere to put it," she said as she pointed to her computer’s printer.

Joshua’s friend eventually leaves and Joshua enters his mother’s room. He wraps his arms around his grandmother and emphatically says, "Grandma, I want to go to the new pool later." She pats his arm, gives him a kiss on the cheek, and reassuringly responds, "We’re going to the pool later."

Bad days and head bumps

This was a good day. But, there have been so many other days when Joshua’s autism takes over. Some of his outbursts would rattle the average observer. Meleck doesn’t approach it that way.

"I want to provide him with a stress-free environment as much as possible," she said.

Meleck said Joshua’s aggressive behavior troubles her the most. For example, he became very angry a few months ago. He couldn’t communicate what was troubling him. He threw one of her lamps on the floor and broke it. Later in the day, he threw his shoe across the room and hit Maurine.

"These are moments that truly test my patience. But we got past it," she said.

This is an obsessive-compulsive behavior, another characteristic of autism.
Joshua's one-day outburst pales in comparison to another alarming behavior, which occurred when he was younger, Meleck said. While outside when Meleck's attention was diverted, he would bang his head against the sidewalk. His stoic facial expression appeared as if he were in a trance. There was no painful cry or even a whimper, as his hands gripped the curb and he persistently banged his head. She tried to physically restrain him, he pushes her away.
Only her patience and calm tone of voice can break through to finally grasp his attention. At that point, he stops and continues showing a blank stare as if the whole incident never took place.

The Autism Society of America says, "Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and is the result of a neurological disorder that affects the normal functioning of the brain, impacting development in the areas of social interaction and communication skills.

The society says people with autism usually have difficulty with communication, social interaction and play. It advises people that autism affects each individual differently and in varying degrees.

"This is why early diagnosis is so crucial," the society says.

Vaccination Connection

Joshua began showing regressive developmental traits after receiving his vaccinations. When he was one day old, Joshua received a hepatitis-B shot. As Meleck recalls, "It was an easy birth for my daughter." There were no known problems.

Now looking back, Meleck sees the day Joshua received the shot as "simply crazy." The only way hepatitis-B is contracted is through the mother, sexual contact, or intravenous drug use.

"Well, of course they’re not sexually active or taking intravenous drugs while they’re still in the nursery."

Why is Meleck upset about this shot? The shots Joshua received are intended to protect him from a variety of potentially fatal illnesses. But Meleck believes these vaccinations had a life-altering effect on Joshua. And she believes a common additive in the vaccines may be to blame for why autism in America has dramatically increased over the past two decades, rising from one case in 10,000 children in 1987, to one in 166 today.

David Kirby, a contributing science and health writer for The New York Times, wrote a 2005 New York Times bestseller entitled "Evidence of Harm." In this book, Kirby documents several families who came to the conclusion. They believe their children were affected like Joshua — from Thimerosal.

Thimerosal is a toxic heavy metal used as a vaccine preservative. It contains 49.6 percent mercury. "Thimerosal had been developed by Eli Lilly & Company in the 1920s, though Lilly no longer made the product. But the company still licensed it to other producers, reportedly earning a profit in the bargain," Kirby reported. Thimerosal began appearing in vaccines in the 1930s.

Today, Thimerosal has been banned in the European Union and several states. These states include: California, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, New York, and Washington.

Kirby provides some relief saying, "Thimerosal has been removed from most routine vaccinations given to American children. But it is still found in the majority of flu shots, which the U.S. government now recommends for pregnant women and children between six months and 23 months of age. Mercury is also found in some tetanus, diphtheria-tetanus, pertusis, and meningitis vaccines, which are sometimes, though not routinely, given to children."

Many parents of autistic children no longer routinely vaccinate their children. But after his birth, Meleck said Joshua received whatever vaccinations were required at the time. Some DTP shots and 90 percent of the flu shots contain Thimerosal.

Signs of autism

Joshua was frequently sick up to age 1. Meleck said he had reflux, respiratory problems, and pneumonia. "He was on continual antibiotics."

Meleck was alarmed but didn’t think these early problems were connected to autism. He walked when he was nine months old and "was fine" after his first birthday. However, around 14 to 15 months of age, signs of autism appeared. He began exhibiting fussiness, more temper tantrums, and lack of appetite.

"After his second birthday, he was gone," said Meleck with a distressed tone.

Meleck lists the autistic symptoms she began observing by Joshua: " He started exhibiting other classic signs of autism, such as not pointing, not looking at us in the eye, being very unaware of his immediate surroundings, poor language skills, toe walking, hyperactivity, inability to sleep well, poor eating habits (wanting to eat the same two or three things over and over) repetition of words he did know, playing inappropriately with toys, difficulty making changes, hating his shoes, haircuts, (sensitivity to) touching, frequent tantrums, unhappy, crying all the time and aggressive behavior such as throwing toys."

Meleck went on to say the word "autism" passed through her mind long before Joshua’s diagnosis, which came before he turned 3. But she wanted to dismiss the thought. It was denial. Like any reasonable parent, she had faith and hope Joshua would be just fine. This wasn’t the case.

She began learning more and more about autism, specifically about the Thimerosal-autism connection, from local parents of autistic children and Internet groups. One Internet group is titled, Eoharm, which stands for evidence of harm.

She admits she didn’t obtain all the answers and says there is so much more she can learn about autism today.

"We probably know more than the doctors," she said, referring to all of the research she and other parents have done. "We had a very dreadful experience at MCG after the diagnosis. The psychiatrists there told us his IQ would never be more than 45 and that we should move elsewhere because the services in this area weren't very good."

There is still one lingering discovery that torments Maurine and many parents of autistic children. The nation’s most trusted and established medical governing bodies have dismissed the Thimerosal-autism connection.

Views of the FDA, CDC and AAP

To this day, the Food and Drug Administration, Center for Disease Control, and American Academy of Pediatrics all parrot the same line: "There is no evidence of harm" when children are exposed to mercury in vaccines.

Meleck and others were alarmed to read a document published in 1999 by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Public Health Service. It was a joint statement released dismissing any potential harm mercury can cause to children. The document was titled, "Thimerosal in Vaccines: A Joint Statement of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Public Health Service."

Kirby cites one statement in the document, "And there was no data or evidence of harm ‘by the level of exposure that some children have encountered.’" Although the document went on to say, there should be "a clear plan to eliminate or reduce (mercury content) as expeditiously as possible," it didn’t happen. Kirby found this to be double-talk and, more importantly, a cover-up.

The CDC released a question and answer forum to provide some insight into its view of thimerosal and its safety. Here's what the CDC wrote on Sept. 22, 2005:
"What is thimerosal?"
"Thimerosal is a very effective preservative that has been used since the 1930s to prevent contamination in some multi-dose vials of vaccines (preservatives are not required for vaccines in single-dose vials). Thimerosal contains approximately 49 percent ethyl mercury. There is no convincing evidence of harm caused by the low doses of thimerosal in vaccines, except for minor reactions like redness and swelling at the injection site."

Challenging the CDC’s convictions are Dr. Mark Geier and his son, David. The Maryland scientists have published more than 80 articles. Geier and his son are world-renowned in the autistic community as genetic and vaccination researchers. These are two of many experts Meleck has turned to.

"We have published 11 peer-reviewed epidemiology papers linking Thimerosal to the autism epidemic. Thimerosal is unnecessary in any vaccine. All except the Japanese encephalitis vaccine in use today can be obtained without Thimerosal. Thimerosal as an anti-bacterial additive does not even work and this has been published by the CDC themselves. It is highly toxic and there have been literally thousands of articles published on its toxicity. It is neurotoxic and is a carcinogen(causes cancer). (Also,) it is a teratogen (causes birth defects) and is far more toxic to human cells than it is to bacteria (numerous published papers on this)."

One of Mark’s most notable accomplishments is his 2004 article, "A Comparative Evaluation of the Effects of MMR Vaccination and Mercury Doses from Thimerosal-Containing Childhood Vaccines on the Population Prevalance of Autism" for the Medical Science Monitor. It was among the top 10 most frequently downloaded articles, totaling 1,998.

In Kirby's writing, he shows how easily young children could be given excessive doses of thimerosal. Kirby writes that the CDC and FDA estimated the safety limit for ethyl mercury (mercury in vaccines) between 0.3 and 0.4 micrograms per kilogram. The EPA sets it at 0.5.

"For example, a two-month-old weighing 5 kilograms could have been exposed to 62.5 micrograms of mercury in a single day," Kirby says. "This would have been 125 times more than the EPA limit for that child."

Meleck continues to move forward despite her fears of medical negligence on this issue. That's why she began trying new innovative treatments for Joshua to purge the mercury from his system. The treatments were recommended b y others in the autistic community, such as the Geiers. She continues to apply them today.

Joshua's treatments and his future

Meleck said Joshua has been on biomedical treatments for five years now. He has been on and off of chelation therapy for two years.

There are two steps to chelation therapy, as Kirby describes it. "First the loosely bound body mercury must be eliminated, usually with dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA). This is typically given orally, in a one-week-on, one-week-off pattern, with dosages administered every four hours. Excreted mercury levels are measured in the urine. Once urine levels have come down and stabilized, some doctors then chelate (scrape) the mercury that is tightly bound within the cells. This is typically done using a substance called lipoic acid."

Joshua's diet may seem crummy to him at times, but biomedical treatments have proven to vastly improve his cognitive behavior. Josh eats a starch-free and sugar-free diet. When autistic individuals absorb sugar and starch, they sometimes begin to act and behave like someone who is on a heroin high and can become comatose.

Meleck said she often visits the health foods store and serves Joshua an abundance of fruit, peanuts, chicken breasts and other foods, avoiding sugar and starch. Meleck said there is still so much more information to learn about biomedical treatment. However, chelation therapy and biomedical treatment provided Joshua with signs of improvement.

"The biggest improvements are an increase in language skills, cognitive skills and improvement in behavior -- less aggression and more cooperation with children and adults. It has really been a gradual process. For him, it was not something that came overnight. For most kids, it isn't, although there have been cases of recovered children who made drastic improvements over a period of weeks," Meleck said.

Meleck and others continue their fight to expose the dangers of thimerosal in vaccines. In February, the Republican-controlled Congress passed a bill requiring vaccines to be administered due to threats from bioterrorism. Its language leaned towards bioterrorism but it also has allowed pharmaceutical companies who produce thimerosal to be protected from liability. This was a battle Meleck and others lost.

But they believe the biggest loser has been the public.

"The Thimerosal caused epidemic is the worst catastrophe in U.S. history easily exceeding WWI, WWII, Vietnam, the AIDS epidemic, and the current war combined. The U.S. Congress has estimated the damage to exceed 20 Trillion dollars. There are currently and will soon be numerous lawsuits on this matter. I strongly believe a great many criminal acts have been committed in this epidemic and its attempted cover up," said Dr. Mark Geier.

In June of 2007, a causation hearing will be held in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims for the more than 5,000 families who have filed suit against vaccine makers accusing them of lacing children's vaccines with thimerosal (mercury) and thereby causing their children's autism.