"You've had a definitive test as far as I'm concerned regarding Thimerosal safety. I mean, that study that Bill Thompson performed at the CDC in 2007. It was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. (It) was a wonderful study. I think that stands as a definitive study."
Dr. Paul A. Offit
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
“That’s the deal… , that’s what I keep seeing again and again and again … where these senior people (at CDC) just do completely, unethical vile things and no one holds them accountable.”
--Dr. William Thompson to Dr. Brian Hooker in a recorded phone call, June 12, 2014
From the Introduction of Vaccine Whistleblower: Exposing Autism Research Fraud at the CDC:
"As Dr. William Thompson explains to Dr. Brian Hooker in a series of telephone calls legally recorded in 2014, no one has held the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) accountable for wrongdoing that implicates the safety and efficacy of the US vaccine program. The result of this lack of accountability may well be a government enabled pharmaceutical industry scandal of unprecedented scope.
Vaccine Whistleblower: Exposing Autism Research at the CDC contains transcripts of four telephone calls between Dr. William Thompson, a longtime researcher and Senior Scientist involved in vaccine research at the CDC and Dr. Brian Hooker, an academic with a strong interest in vaccine safety. Dr. Hooker has a vaccine injured son with autism.
What Thompson says about the way science is really conducted inside the CDC is alarming. He is not the only person who is talking about the CDC’s ethical problems:
“There are four federal studies that have looked at CDC and said the vaccine program at CDC is a cesspool of corruption.” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Newsmax, 6/1/15
What you will read are the words of a CDC insider. Dr. Thompson acknowledged that it is his voice on the recordings in a statement released 8/27/14 by his attorney, Rick Morgan of Morgan/Verkamp, one of the nation’s leading law practices specializing in whistleblower cases (see below).
STATEMENT OF WILLIAM W. THOMPSON, Ph.D., REGARDING THE 2004 ARTICLE EXAMINING THE POSSIBILITY OF A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MMR VACCINE AND AUTISM (August 27, 2014)
My name is William Thompson. I am a Senior Scientist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where I have worked since 1998.
I regret that my coauthors and I omitted statistically significant information in our 2004 article published in the journal Pediatrics. The omitted data suggested that African American males who received the MMR vaccine before age 36 months were at increased risk for autism. Decisions were made regarding which findings to report after the data were collected, and I believe that the final study protocol was not followed….
I have had many discussions with Dr. Brian Hooker over the last 10 months regarding studies the CDC has carried out regarding vaccines and neurodevelopmental outcomes including autism spectrum disorders. I share his belief that CDC decision-making and analyses should be transparent. I was not, however, aware that he was recording any of our conversations, nor was I given any choice regarding whether my name would be made public or my voice would be put on the Internet….
I am providing information to Congressman William Posey, and of course will continue to cooperate with Congress. I have also offered to assist with reanalysis of the study data or development of further studies. For the time being, however, I am focused on my job and my family.
Reasonable scientists can and do differ in their interpretation of information. I will do everything I can to assist any unbiased and objective scientists inside or outside the CDC to analyze data collected by the CDC or other public organizations for the purpose of understanding whether vaccines are associated with an increased risk of autism. There are still more questions than answers, and I appreciate that so many families are looking for answers from the scientific community.
Omitting data to cover up an undesirable outcome in order to reach a predetermined result is research fraud. Dr. Thompson strongly suggests that the CDC staff involved in vaccine safety studies withheld data to bury a connection between vaccine injury and autism.
If Dr. Thompson is correct, scientific truth was placed second to policy interests. The health of children was compromised to protect the vaccine program. The American public has been lied to and children have been unnecessarily injured due to the corruption at the CDC. The financial cost of this corruption to tax payers is staggering. The human cost is incalculable.
On the call with Dr. Hooker dated May 24, 2014, Dr. Thompson is remorseful about his participation in the studies and actions taken by CDC researchers and wishes he had spoken out earlier.
I have great shame now when I meet families with kids with autism because I have been part of the problem .... Here’s what I shoulder. I shoulder that the CDC has put the (autism/vaccine) research 10 years behind. Because the CDC has not been transparent, we’ve missed ten years of research because the CDC is so paralyzed right now by anything related to autism. They’re not doing what they should be doing because they’re afraid to look for things that might be associated. So anyway there’s still a lot of shame with that.
Dr. Thompson is a coauthor on seminal vaccine safety research papers on the MMR vaccine (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) and thimerosal, a mercury preservative still used in some flu vaccines, including vaccines which are still given to pregnant women and children. Only one vaccine (MMR) and one component of vaccines (thimerosal) have ever been studied by the CDC in relation to autism risk.
Dr. Thompson was a co-author on both.
Regarding the MMR paper, Dr. Thompson says in his public statement that he and his coauthors “omitted statistically significant information” which showed an increased risk of autism for African American boys who got the MMR vaccine before age 3. The paper, which Dr. Thompson says “did not follow the final study protocol,” was published in February 2004. If Dr. Thompson and his coauthors had honestly reported the results, additional research would have been required.
Instead, three months later in May 2004, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) used Dr. Thompson’s MMR paper to slam the door on future autism and vaccine research.
Immunization Safety Review: Vaccines and Autism (2004)
“This eighth and final report of the Immunization Safety Review Committee examines the hypothesis that vaccines, specifically the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and thimerosal-containing vaccines, are causally associated with autism. The committee reviewed the extant published and unpublished epidemiological studies regarding causality and studies of potential biologic mechanisms by which these immunizations might cause autism.
The committee concludes that the body of epidemiological evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between the MMR vaccine and autism. The committee also concludes that the body of epidemiological evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism. The committee further finds that potential biological mechanisms for vaccine-induced autism that have been generated to date are theoretical only.
The committee does not recommend a policy review of the current schedule and recommendations for the administration of either the MMR vaccine or thimerosal-containing vaccines. The committee recommends a public health response that fully supports an array of vaccine safety activities.
In addition, the committee recommends that available funding for autism research be channeled to the most promising areas (emphasis added). The committee makes additional recommendations regarding surveillance and epidemiological research, clinical studies, and communication related to these vaccine safety concerns.”
In May 2014, Dr. Thompson told Dr. Hooker that the CDC had put the research ten years behind. Ten years earlier, in May 2004, the IOM issued its report blocking additional federal research funding for autism and vaccines, stating that “available funding for autism research (should) be channeled into the most promising areas”, meaning something other than vaccine research. One year has passed since that phone call. Now the CDC has put the research 11 years behind.
From comments made by IOM staff at a closed door meeting in 2004, which later became public, the result of the IOM safety report appears to have been predetermined. In transcripts from the beginning of IOM’s “Safety Review” the Committee Chair, Dr. Marie McCormick, informed other committee members what was expected. Dr. Kathleen Stratton acknowledged McCormick’s statement noting that the IOM was instructed to declare vaccines safe, to not change the vaccine schedule and to not come down that autism was a true side effect.
Dr. McCormick: ...[CDC] wants us to declare, well, these things are pretty safe on a population basis (p. 33).
Dr. Stratton: ...The point of no return, the line we will not cross in public policy is pull the vaccine, change the schedule. We could say it is time to revisit this, but we would never recommend that level. Even recommending research is recommendations for policy. We wouldn't say compensate, we wouldn't say pull the vaccine, we wouldn't say stop the program. (p. 74)
Dr. McCormick: ...we are not ever going to come down that [autism] is a true side effect...(p. 97) ”
The statistically significant data, which Dr. Thompson and his coauthors did not report, did not fit with the CDC and IOM’s predetermined result that autism was not a true side effect of vaccination. The authors found a way to alter the study protocol to fit the predetermined result.
Dr. Thompson’s revelations about dishonest vaccine safety research to Dr. Hooker are critically important to policymakers, pediatricians and parents.
Tens of thousands of parents have reported that their children regressed into autism after adverse vaccine reactions. Parents are forced to rely on the honesty of the CDC about vaccine safety when deciding how to vaccinate their children. Pediatricians are forced to rely on the honesty of the CDC about vaccine safety in deciding how to treat their patients. Policy makers are forced to rely on the honesty of the CDC about vaccine safety when deciding whether to mandate vaccines.
Based on the words of Dr. William Thompson, the CDC has lied to everyone involved in administering and receiving vaccinations.
Dr. Thompson now says “there are more questions than answers” about “whether vaccines are associated with an increased risk of autism.” Given Dr. Thompson’s revelations, no state legislature should pass another vaccine mandate bill, and no Governor should sign one until these questions are answered. No state legislature should pass a bill that removes vaccine exemptions or restricts a person’s right to decide what vaccines to take or allow children to receive. Any Governor who receives such a bill should refuse his or her signature. Elected officials should call on the President and Congress to take action to protect the safety of children.
Dr. Thompson describes a culture of corruption within the CDC regarding vaccine safety research, which should give pause to any elected official who has placed blind trust in the CDC.
Dr. Hooker legally recorded four calls with Dr. Thompson in 2014. The calls occurred on May 8th, May 24th, June 12th, and July 28th. The transcripts of the calls match with the audio recordings of the conversations here (Link to audio).
With this excerpt from Dr. Thompson’s statement, he verifies that it is his voice on the recordings:
I have had many discussions with Dr. Brian Hooker over the last 10 months regarding studies the CDC has carried out regarding vaccines and neurodevelopmental outcomes including autism spectrum disorders. I share his belief that CDC decision-making and analyses should be transparent. I was not, however, aware that he was recording any of our conversations, nor was I given any choice regarding whether my name would be made public or my voice would be put on the Internet."
For additional sources and documentation on the Thompson scandal, visit HealthChoice.org.
Dr. Paul A. Offit
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
“That’s the deal… , that’s what I keep seeing again and again and again … where these senior people (at CDC) just do completely, unethical vile things and no one holds them accountable.”
--Dr. William Thompson to Dr. Brian Hooker in a recorded phone call, June 12, 2014
From the Introduction of Vaccine Whistleblower: Exposing Autism Research Fraud at the CDC:
"As Dr. William Thompson explains to Dr. Brian Hooker in a series of telephone calls legally recorded in 2014, no one has held the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) accountable for wrongdoing that implicates the safety and efficacy of the US vaccine program. The result of this lack of accountability may well be a government enabled pharmaceutical industry scandal of unprecedented scope.
Vaccine Whistleblower: Exposing Autism Research at the CDC contains transcripts of four telephone calls between Dr. William Thompson, a longtime researcher and Senior Scientist involved in vaccine research at the CDC and Dr. Brian Hooker, an academic with a strong interest in vaccine safety. Dr. Hooker has a vaccine injured son with autism.
What Thompson says about the way science is really conducted inside the CDC is alarming. He is not the only person who is talking about the CDC’s ethical problems:
“There are four federal studies that have looked at CDC and said the vaccine program at CDC is a cesspool of corruption.” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Newsmax, 6/1/15
What you will read are the words of a CDC insider. Dr. Thompson acknowledged that it is his voice on the recordings in a statement released 8/27/14 by his attorney, Rick Morgan of Morgan/Verkamp, one of the nation’s leading law practices specializing in whistleblower cases (see below).
STATEMENT OF WILLIAM W. THOMPSON, Ph.D., REGARDING THE 2004 ARTICLE EXAMINING THE POSSIBILITY OF A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MMR VACCINE AND AUTISM (August 27, 2014)
My name is William Thompson. I am a Senior Scientist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where I have worked since 1998.
I regret that my coauthors and I omitted statistically significant information in our 2004 article published in the journal Pediatrics. The omitted data suggested that African American males who received the MMR vaccine before age 36 months were at increased risk for autism. Decisions were made regarding which findings to report after the data were collected, and I believe that the final study protocol was not followed….
I have had many discussions with Dr. Brian Hooker over the last 10 months regarding studies the CDC has carried out regarding vaccines and neurodevelopmental outcomes including autism spectrum disorders. I share his belief that CDC decision-making and analyses should be transparent. I was not, however, aware that he was recording any of our conversations, nor was I given any choice regarding whether my name would be made public or my voice would be put on the Internet….
I am providing information to Congressman William Posey, and of course will continue to cooperate with Congress. I have also offered to assist with reanalysis of the study data or development of further studies. For the time being, however, I am focused on my job and my family.
Reasonable scientists can and do differ in their interpretation of information. I will do everything I can to assist any unbiased and objective scientists inside or outside the CDC to analyze data collected by the CDC or other public organizations for the purpose of understanding whether vaccines are associated with an increased risk of autism. There are still more questions than answers, and I appreciate that so many families are looking for answers from the scientific community.
Omitting data to cover up an undesirable outcome in order to reach a predetermined result is research fraud. Dr. Thompson strongly suggests that the CDC staff involved in vaccine safety studies withheld data to bury a connection between vaccine injury and autism.
If Dr. Thompson is correct, scientific truth was placed second to policy interests. The health of children was compromised to protect the vaccine program. The American public has been lied to and children have been unnecessarily injured due to the corruption at the CDC. The financial cost of this corruption to tax payers is staggering. The human cost is incalculable.
On the call with Dr. Hooker dated May 24, 2014, Dr. Thompson is remorseful about his participation in the studies and actions taken by CDC researchers and wishes he had spoken out earlier.
I have great shame now when I meet families with kids with autism because I have been part of the problem .... Here’s what I shoulder. I shoulder that the CDC has put the (autism/vaccine) research 10 years behind. Because the CDC has not been transparent, we’ve missed ten years of research because the CDC is so paralyzed right now by anything related to autism. They’re not doing what they should be doing because they’re afraid to look for things that might be associated. So anyway there’s still a lot of shame with that.
Dr. Thompson is a coauthor on seminal vaccine safety research papers on the MMR vaccine (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) and thimerosal, a mercury preservative still used in some flu vaccines, including vaccines which are still given to pregnant women and children. Only one vaccine (MMR) and one component of vaccines (thimerosal) have ever been studied by the CDC in relation to autism risk.
Dr. Thompson was a co-author on both.
Regarding the MMR paper, Dr. Thompson says in his public statement that he and his coauthors “omitted statistically significant information” which showed an increased risk of autism for African American boys who got the MMR vaccine before age 3. The paper, which Dr. Thompson says “did not follow the final study protocol,” was published in February 2004. If Dr. Thompson and his coauthors had honestly reported the results, additional research would have been required.
Instead, three months later in May 2004, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) used Dr. Thompson’s MMR paper to slam the door on future autism and vaccine research.
Immunization Safety Review: Vaccines and Autism (2004)
“This eighth and final report of the Immunization Safety Review Committee examines the hypothesis that vaccines, specifically the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and thimerosal-containing vaccines, are causally associated with autism. The committee reviewed the extant published and unpublished epidemiological studies regarding causality and studies of potential biologic mechanisms by which these immunizations might cause autism.
The committee concludes that the body of epidemiological evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between the MMR vaccine and autism. The committee also concludes that the body of epidemiological evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism. The committee further finds that potential biological mechanisms for vaccine-induced autism that have been generated to date are theoretical only.
The committee does not recommend a policy review of the current schedule and recommendations for the administration of either the MMR vaccine or thimerosal-containing vaccines. The committee recommends a public health response that fully supports an array of vaccine safety activities.
In addition, the committee recommends that available funding for autism research be channeled to the most promising areas (emphasis added). The committee makes additional recommendations regarding surveillance and epidemiological research, clinical studies, and communication related to these vaccine safety concerns.”
In May 2014, Dr. Thompson told Dr. Hooker that the CDC had put the research ten years behind. Ten years earlier, in May 2004, the IOM issued its report blocking additional federal research funding for autism and vaccines, stating that “available funding for autism research (should) be channeled into the most promising areas”, meaning something other than vaccine research. One year has passed since that phone call. Now the CDC has put the research 11 years behind.
From comments made by IOM staff at a closed door meeting in 2004, which later became public, the result of the IOM safety report appears to have been predetermined. In transcripts from the beginning of IOM’s “Safety Review” the Committee Chair, Dr. Marie McCormick, informed other committee members what was expected. Dr. Kathleen Stratton acknowledged McCormick’s statement noting that the IOM was instructed to declare vaccines safe, to not change the vaccine schedule and to not come down that autism was a true side effect.
Dr. McCormick: ...[CDC] wants us to declare, well, these things are pretty safe on a population basis (p. 33).
Dr. Stratton: ...The point of no return, the line we will not cross in public policy is pull the vaccine, change the schedule. We could say it is time to revisit this, but we would never recommend that level. Even recommending research is recommendations for policy. We wouldn't say compensate, we wouldn't say pull the vaccine, we wouldn't say stop the program. (p. 74)
Dr. McCormick: ...we are not ever going to come down that [autism] is a true side effect...(p. 97) ”
The statistically significant data, which Dr. Thompson and his coauthors did not report, did not fit with the CDC and IOM’s predetermined result that autism was not a true side effect of vaccination. The authors found a way to alter the study protocol to fit the predetermined result.
Dr. Thompson’s revelations about dishonest vaccine safety research to Dr. Hooker are critically important to policymakers, pediatricians and parents.
Tens of thousands of parents have reported that their children regressed into autism after adverse vaccine reactions. Parents are forced to rely on the honesty of the CDC about vaccine safety when deciding how to vaccinate their children. Pediatricians are forced to rely on the honesty of the CDC about vaccine safety in deciding how to treat their patients. Policy makers are forced to rely on the honesty of the CDC about vaccine safety when deciding whether to mandate vaccines.
Based on the words of Dr. William Thompson, the CDC has lied to everyone involved in administering and receiving vaccinations.
Dr. Thompson now says “there are more questions than answers” about “whether vaccines are associated with an increased risk of autism.” Given Dr. Thompson’s revelations, no state legislature should pass another vaccine mandate bill, and no Governor should sign one until these questions are answered. No state legislature should pass a bill that removes vaccine exemptions or restricts a person’s right to decide what vaccines to take or allow children to receive. Any Governor who receives such a bill should refuse his or her signature. Elected officials should call on the President and Congress to take action to protect the safety of children.
Dr. Thompson describes a culture of corruption within the CDC regarding vaccine safety research, which should give pause to any elected official who has placed blind trust in the CDC.
Dr. Hooker legally recorded four calls with Dr. Thompson in 2014. The calls occurred on May 8th, May 24th, June 12th, and July 28th. The transcripts of the calls match with the audio recordings of the conversations here (Link to audio).
With this excerpt from Dr. Thompson’s statement, he verifies that it is his voice on the recordings:
I have had many discussions with Dr. Brian Hooker over the last 10 months regarding studies the CDC has carried out regarding vaccines and neurodevelopmental outcomes including autism spectrum disorders. I share his belief that CDC decision-making and analyses should be transparent. I was not, however, aware that he was recording any of our conversations, nor was I given any choice regarding whether my name would be made public or my voice would be put on the Internet."
For additional sources and documentation on the Thompson scandal, visit HealthChoice.org.
