I am sure you are aware that the water supply in Flint, Michigan, was recently found to be contaminated with lead. Over the last few weeks, headlines were made across every major media outlet including the New York Times (NYTs) and the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
The lead in Flint’s water supply is truly a disaster. Lead is a toxic metal that has been shown to be associated with multiple health conditions. We have taken great steps to lower our exposure to lead by removing it from gasoline and plumbing materials.
An article (1.26.16) in the Detroit Free Press stated that the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is holding a hearing on February 3, 2016 about the Flint water crises. I am happy this hearing will happen.
In the Free Press article, U.S. Representative Brenda Lawrence (D)—my Congresswoman–stated that she was disappointed the committee did not call Michigan’s Governor, Rick Snyder, to testify. She said, “I am deeply disappointed at the majority’s lack of commitment to a thorough and meaningful hearing. A sincere search for truth and justice requires a full review by the entire committee of the decisions and policies of all involved.”
However, the very same U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has refused to call a hearing about another health crisis—whether or not childhood vaccines cause autism.
In August, 2014, a senior CDC researcher, Dr. William Thompson came forward and sought whistleblower status by claiming that an important 2004 paper from the CDC—which found no correlation with the MMR vaccine and autism–was fraudulent. According to Dr. Thompson, the CDC researchers actually found that the MMR vaccine, when given before 36 months of age (it is presently recommended at 12-15 months and again at five years) was significantly correlated with the development of autism. However, the CDC, in a closed-door meeting, altered the data to hide their findings. Furthermore, the authors of this 2004 paper were told, by their bosses at the CDC, to throw out and not disclose any information that showed a correlation of the MMR vaccine with autism.
I have written to about this travesty many times. You can find a previous article here.
You would think that the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee would, upon finding out a senior CDC researcher and author of a crucial paper admitted altering and hiding data, immediately call for a hearing on the matter.
Well, you would think wrong.
The Chairman of this committee, Mr. Jason Chaffetz (R) (http://chaffetz.house.gov/) has refused to call Dr. Thompson or any of his superiors at the CDC to testify. In fact, there has been little or no news about the CDC controversy. There have been no articles in the NYTs or the WSJ or nearly any other media site except Newsmax.com.
So, one city gets poisoned by lead and this immediately makes national headlines and Congress calls a hearing within a few weeks of the incident–while the CDC hides, lies, and alters crucial data that may result in permanent neurological damage to a large population of our children and nothing happens.
Where is the outrage here? Where is Congressman Chaffetz’s call for a hearing on the whistleblower from the CDSC? Where are the articles in the WSJ, NYTs, Detroit Free Press or other major media outlets? Why don’t more doctors call for a full hearing on this matter?
