Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure

Paul Offit describes Andrew Wakefield's claim of vaccines causing autism very well. Offit describes how because of what Wakefield wrote in the 1998 version of the Lancet, there has been an outbreak in measles. With someone in my family having autism, it was a very interesting read on how autism can be obtained. Offit describes how one's body can handle as many vaccines as it needs, at times there is a development of autism following these vaccines that are not related. Offit talks about the misconception of too much mercury in vaccines causes autism. However, he says that Wakefield only submitted this claim due to a certain amount of money he got from a lawyer who had clients in Wakefield's group that he first diagnosed. In addition, Offit gives ways that autism can be battled in the early stages and how to hopefully have it under control at a later date. He gives the science behind how autism is actually obtained and then he gives reasons as to why Wakefield's claim is not true. In addition, for the skeptics, he gives accounts of people who believe that autism is obtained from vaccines. He then gives reasons as to why their argument is false. For anyone who has done countless research on this topic, this book will prove to you why autism is not caused by vaccines. It is important to read this book due to an increase in parents choosing to not vaccinate their kids. This is the best book I have read on autism and I encourage people who are curious about the topic to take a look.

As a person who knew very little about autism before reading this book, I am very pleased with the improvement of my own understanding of this "disease."Offit has deftly articulated the primary obstacles to positive change in the lives of austistic people and their families. He clearly lays out which, and how, faulty theories about causes and false cures have been impediments to getting real results. What I commend him most about is the fact that he first lays out the information of the opposition's argument first, as it happened in real time. The reader is left coming to the same false conclusions first, and then being presented with the information that demonstrates its faults. The effect is that the reader cannot demonize anyone who was drawn in by the initial information. This movement from darkness and ignorance to the truth being brought to light plays out in the reader's mind as it did in the real history of autism research and treatment. The reader cannot then demonize the opposition, nor pity them as merely ignorant, but sympathizes with the factors that led them to their decisions, if not based in legitimate science or ethical medical practices.What was most striking in this work was the call to stop the invalidation of the cognitive experience of autistic persons. Offit calls us all to remember that we are talking about human beings, and to continue to treat them as "damaged goods," as he puts it, is a terrible degradation.Offit's book is a credit to his expertise and to his devotion to the truth. One only hopes that people will ignore the temptation of quick fixes and blame games, and work for positive results in the lives of autistic people.

In my review of Paul Offit's "Autism's False Prophets", I have described it as a "must read" book. But this is only true for some people.For those in the medical and allied professions who understand the scientific process, hypothesis, testing and study results (a group I am a part of) this book makes a fascinating summary of a very controversial topic.For those who have decided that the real causes of Autism are being hidden and denied by the medical profession, the Government and corporate interests; in other words, people who have made up their minds about Autism and refuse to accept current medical thinking: don't waste your time- this book will only make you angry.But for those readers who are unsure...who think there may be some truth in the assertion that vaccines cause Autism...or that mercury preservatives cause Autism...or that there are some alternative therapies that can cure Autism but are shunned by mainstream medicine: this book is a MUST read for them.Paul Offit takes the reader through the whole sad saga of the Autism debate and presents a cogent and reasoned argument for why the evidence overwhelmingly points to the fact that vaccines or their components do not cause Autism. The sad fact is that the Autism debate has been hijacked by parents who, while deeply loving their children, and wanting to do anything to help them, have been swayed by emotive and unscientific pronouncements, all of which can cause more heartache. Paul Offit presents the scientific facts about Autism: and for such an emotive topic, arguments free of emotion or vested interest, other than the truth, are sorely needed.Very highly recommended.

A very well written and important book for anyone wandering why the field of autism contains so many quacks and frauds. Dr Offit's book is often hilarious in the way he explains how scientists keep proving certain dubious people's ideas about autism wrong. Chiefly the arch fraud and stuck off doctor, Wakefield. But there is more to it all than him.I strongly recommend this great read.

Excellent. Read about the real science behind vaccines and how charlatans have fooled some people into thinking they cause harm.

This splendid book exposes the dangers of backing faith-based medicine over evidence-based medicine. Dr Offit is the director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.Andrew Wakefield's first paper in The Lancet was based on tests by his research assistant Nicholas Chadwick, who later testified that he had found no measles RNA in the guts of any of the autistic children tested. Yet Wakefield claimed that they had found measles RNA there. (See pages 173-5.)Wakefield later falsely claimed to have found measles virus in the intestines of 150 autistic children, in tests done by Unigenetics Laboratories, an unaccredited company, now thankfully defunct. 16 epidemiological studies found that vaccines do not cause autism. Even then, Melanie Phillips of the Daily Mail defended Wakefield, accusing `the medical establishment' of `continuing to misrepresent the evidence'!As Offit writes, "the false alarm about vaccines and autism continues to harm a lot of children - harm from not getting needed vaccines, harm from potentially dangerous treatments to eliminate mercury, and harm from therapies as absurd as testosterone ablation and electric shock. ... the feared vaccine-autism link, which has now been disproved, diverts research dollars from more promising leads."A false alarm about thimerosal, a mercury derivative, harmed the USA's hepatitis B immunisation programme. The number of children diagnosed with autism increased after thimerosal had been taken out of vaccines. Offit points out, "there wasn't an epidemic of autism; rather, broadening the definition of the disability to include mildly affected children, as well as heightened awareness among parents and doctors, has accounted for the increase."Five epidemiological studies found that thimerosal does not cause autism. Offit notes, "After examining the records of hundreds of thousands of children, investigators working in both North America and Europe couldn't find any evidence of a relationship between thimerosal and autism. It wasn't that their studies were poorly designed or that they had been part of a vast international conspiracy to hide the truth. They couldn't find a relationship because it wasn't there to be found."The lobby opposing vaccination often accuses doctors of making money from backing vaccination, so it is worth noting that Wakefield got £435,643 from Richard Barr, a personal-injury lawyer representing parents who were suing pharmaceutical companies. Wakefield later took a US post at a salary of $280,000 a year.

Es wird sehr gut auf die ganze Story der Impfentwicklung und der Inhaltsstoffe eingegangen.Wirklich sehr gutes Buch und angenehm zu lesen :)5*

I am a mum of two severely autistic children and have just finished this excellent and compelling book. I would love to issue a copy of it to every parent whose child is diagnosed with autism.