CoMeD, Inc., a non-profit corporation, filed declarations from pregnant women harmed by Thimerosal-containing influenza shots in the US District Court for the District of

Columbia (case: 1:2009cv-00015). These declarations report that health care providers seemed to be largely unaware of the continuing presence of mercury in vaccines and that these providers often failed to accurately disclose the known risks to the patient from these Thimerosal-containing vaccines, which are specifically recommended for pregnant women and children.
      Thimerosal, used as a preservative in vaccines without the required proofs of safety, is half mercury by weight and a known bioaccumulative human poison, neurotoxin, carcinogen, mutagen, teratogen and immune-system disruptor. In order not to exceed the EPA’s safe daily reference dose (RfD) for mercury ingestion from the mercury contained in one 0.5-mL Thimerosal-preserved flu shot, a pregnant woman or child would have to weigh more than 550 pounds. Worse, the Material Safety Data sheets for Thimerosal list: fetal death, miscarriage, mental retardation and gross motor impairment as possible outcomes of in utero exposure to Thimerosal.
      CoMeD, Inc. originally sought injunctive relief regarding the use of Thimerosal-preserved flu shots for pregnant women in August 2009. In oral arguments, CoMeD’s attorneys detailed the danger posed by Thimerosal and the denial of informed consent accompanying its administration in most cases.
      CoMeD’s attorneys also argued that federal regulations mandating that “any preservative used shall be sufficiently nontoxic so that the amount … will not be toxic to the recipient” [21 CFR § 610.15(a)] have been illegally ignored in the case of Thimerosal. To establish that Thimerosal used as a preservative is “sufficiently nontoxic…”, toxicity studies must prove its safety. Yet, as the US Food and Drug Administration and the drug manufacturers have repeatedly admitted, they have not conducted the toxicity studies required to prove the Thimerosal in a single vaccine dose is “sufficiently nontoxic …”.
      Half a year after CoMeD filed a request for a preliminary injunction, which has not yet been granted, to stop the administration of mercury-preserved flu shots to pregnant women, CoMeD members now seek to establish with this filing, that damage they predicted to unborn children sadly has occurred. Declarations filed today detail fetal deaths, miscarriages, stillbirths and premature births following the administration of Thimerosal-preserved/containing flu shots. In addition to personal declarations, CoMeD has filed copies of records from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, maintained by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, documenting reports of more than one hundred fetal deaths, miscarriages, stillbirths, and premature births attributed to flu shots in the period from September through December of 2009 alone, as well as an additional sixty-plus personal accounts of similar flu-shot-related harm.
      With safer alternatives to Thimerosal and the proven ability to make vaccines without any preservative, the use of Thimerosal or any other mercury compound in vaccines without the toxicological proofs of safety required by drug law is both indefensible and illegal, according to CoMeD.

      By Shannon Mullen app.com is.gd/aP2vp

      Kim Vaccaro of Brick wasn't aware that last year's federal stimulus package included a $2.4 million grant to help her district enhance its special education program.
      So it was news to her that Brick spent just half of the money on new initiatives for special education kids. The rest went to pay the health benefits of some 250 special education teachers and staff.
      "That's pretty outrageous," said Vaccaro, 45, who is president of the Brick Township Special Education Parent Teacher Association.
      "That is totally unfair to our kids," said Vaccaro, whose 12-year-old son Joel has autism. "Once again, they get shortchanged."
      An Asbury Park Press investigation found that school districts in Monmouth and Ocean counties used the special aid to pay legal bills, expand non-special education programs and pay benefits for non-special education teachers.
      What Brick and other districts did is perfectly legal, however. In fact, about 40 percent of the New Jersey school districts that received $360 million worth of special education grants from the stimulus spent as much as half of their windfall on general school purposes, compared to 44 percent nationwide, a survey by the U.S. General Accounting Office found.
      The redirection of funds was possible thanks to a previously little-used provision in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the federal statute that guarantees children with disabilities the right to a "free and appropriate" education.
      The law allows districts to use up to half of any annual increase in such federal aid to replace local tax dollars earmarked for special education, freeing up those funds for other uses.
      Few districts have exercised this option in the past because the increases are usually paltry, but last year was a different story.
      The historic $787 billion economic stimulus included an extra $11.3 billion in federal aid for special education, more than twice what districts normally would receive. The aid was in the form of IDEA Part B grants. The stimulus also included an additional $400 million in Part B preschool grants.
      Districts were quick to take advantage of the wiggle room in the law to steer funds to other things besides special education.
+ Read more: is.gd/aP2vp

• • •

Gigi Jordan, Mom Accused of Killing Autistic Son, May Have Had Munchausen's Syndrome

      By Shayna Jacobs, DNAinfo. is.gd/aP8eY

The NY mom charged with murdering her autistic son at the Peninsula Hotel had been diagnosed with a controversial illness whereby parents exaggerate the severity of their children's illness and forced them to undergo unnecessary treatments, prosecutors said Friday.       Assistant District

Gigi Jordan's son, Jude.

Attorney Kerry O'Connell told a judge that Jordan had a history of Munchausen's syndrome by proxy, a mental illness that causes parents or guardians to inflate symptoms and seek medical attention for their children as a way to elicit sympathy. O'Connell cited old medical records that mentioned Munchausen's, but did not go into detail.
      "We still don't know what she's suffering from," said O'Connell.
      Friday's hearing was the second half of a bail hearing to determine whether Jordan, 49, can leave the East Elmhurst Hospital jail and voluntarily commit herself to the psychiatric ward at St. Vincent's Hospital.
      Jordan's lawyer Gerald Shargel wants his client released on $5 million bail. Her assets would be frozen and she would wear a GPS tracking device on her ankle.
      He claims she needs more medical attention than what is provided by the Department of Correction.
      "Putting Ms. Jordan there is essentially warehousing her," Shargel said.
      Prosecutors are opposed to Jordan being voluntarily committed because they say the multimillionaire is a flight risk.
      "They are not going to have armed guards sitting outside her door 24/7," O'Connell said.
      The parties are due back in court on April 8 for a decision.

• • •

      By MSN NZ  is.gd/aNPc2

      A Chinese man has been arrested after he allegedly killed a boy and ate part of his brain in a failed attempt to cure his epilepsy.
      Wang Choaxu, 29, allegedly believed a myth that eating a child's brain can cure people of fits, the Sun reported.
      Li Xuetang, 11, disappeared from his village late at night before being found several hours later in a grain field 5km away.
      According to reports the top of the boy's head had been peeled back with a part of his brain missing.
      Choaxu allegedly told police he believed he could cure his epilepsy if he ate the brain with earthworms and ants.
      He is also accused of killing a three-year-old girl who was found dead on the same day in a public toilet with a knife cut to her head.
     
• • •

Can Strep Throat Lead to Behavior Problems?
      By The New York Times  is.gd/aPizM

      Can a bout of strep throat lead to serious behavioral problems like obsessive hand washing or odd tics in children?
      The condition, known as Pandas, for pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infection, remains a controversial topic among child health experts. Dr. Robert King and Dr. James Leckman of the Yale Child Study Center, who recently joined the Consults blog to answer readers’ questions about Tourette’s syndrome, here respond to readers concerned about the link between strep and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
      Q.
      If your child shows symptoms of a tic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder or Tourette’s syndrome, you should have them checked for strep. Pandas, could be the cause. A simple blood test will tell if your child’s “strep titers” are at an abnormal level.
      This can be treated with antibiotics. Worth checking out before you subject your child to psychiatric medications. Not all doctors believe in Pands. But let me tell you, it’s worth finding a doctor who does.
      For more info check out the Web site Saving Sammy: Curing the Boy Who Got O.C.D. is.gd/aPiGK
+ Read more: is.gd/aPizM

The Autism Community Supports the Schafer Autism Report . . . Read, then Forward the Schafer Autism Report. $35 for 1 year - or free! www.sarnet.org

Some Bullies Are Just the Shy Type
New Research Shows a Darker Side to Social Anxiety Disorder sciencedaily.com

is.gd/aPhJW

       ScienceDaily — When you think of people suffering from social anxiety, you probably characterize them as shy, inhibitive and submissive. However, new research from psychologists Todd Kashdan and Patrick McKnight at George Mason University suggests that there is a subset of socially anxious people who act out in aggressive, risky ways -- and that their behavior patterns are often misunderstood In the new study published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, Kashdan and McKnight found evidence that a subset of adults diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder were prone to behaviors such as violence, substance abuse, unprotected sex and other risk-prone actions. These actions caused positive experiences in the short-term, yet detracted from their quality of life in the longer-term.
      "We often miss the underlying problems of people around us. Parents and teachers might think their kid is a bully, acts out and is a behavior problem because they have a conduct disorder or antisocial tendencies," says Kashdan. "However, sometimes when we dive into the motive for their actions, we will find that they show extreme social anxiety and extreme fears of being judged. If social anxiety was the reason for their behavior, this would suggest an entirely different intervention."
+ Read more: is.gd/aPhJW

• • •