In his book, How to End the Autism Epidemic, J.B. Handley writes about how for fifty years the tobacco companies rejected the idea that tobacco caused cancer. It is instructive to review because this is the same playbook Big Pharma is using to stave off attacks on vaccination credibility.

​J.B. Handley relates the story of Yates Hazlehurst in his book, How to End the Autism Epidemic. I will quote the story here:

​"Yates Hazlehurst had a horrible reaction to his vaccines when he was six months old. His pediatrician should have identified Yates as a child who should never be vaccinated again. Instead, he was given a full load of  vaccinations at twelve months of age, while sick and taking antibiotics, and he regressed into autism. Furthermore, Yate's pediatricians never informed the Hazlehurst family of the possible risks of vaccines, which is their responsibility. Without 'informed consent' you have medical malpractice...Because of the convoluted rules of the vaccine court, this is the first time in thirty years a vaccine injury case will be presented in a normal courtroom, and it's also the first time the question of whether vaccines cause autism will be 

​J.B. Handley in his monumental book, How to End the Autism Epidemic, reports that since 2004, eleven significant discoveries (all building on each other) have established a clear scientific trail for how vaccines can cause autism. "Because of this science, we now know that autism is created by immune activation events in the brain during critical phases of brain development, typically by the time a child is thirty-six months old, and that these immune activation events in the brain can be triggered by the aluminum adjuvants in vaccines." This science is conducted in the cause-and-effect biological science arena, not the less robust epidemiological studies the CDC likes to use.

In 2002, the vaccine injury court was facing an overwhelming load of cases. Their solution for expediting them was to take 5,500 claims from parents alleging vaccines caused their child's autism and put them into a single group. Six "test cases" (later narrowed down to three) were selected to be heard. The results of the test cases would determine the outcome of the other 5,497 cases. This arrangement was called the Omnibus Autism Proceeding (OAP). Seven years would pass before they finally got a  judgment by the vaccine court.

​The vaccine injury court was established within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. This is where parents go for compensation when their child is injured by a vaccine. You actually sue the federal government and fight against a Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyer. Due process does not exist in this court. There is no jury. It is not a court of law. It is an administrative proceeding (like an IRS audit). There is only a court-appointed "special master" who is a government attorney that hears your grievance and decides if you have grounds to be compensated. Since 1989, these special masters have awarded nearly $4 billion to vaccine injured children and adults. 1200 claims have been for death and 18,000 for injury. The DTP vaccine is the most common vaccine filed against followed by MMR. Only 34% of claims are granted some type of compensation. In 2017, $282 million was awarded.

​Eight of the 27 studies on the Autism Science Foundation (ASF) website and cited by spokespeople as "proof" that vaccines don't cause autism are led by or coauthored by an embezzler who is a "Most Wanted" fugitive or a CDC whistle-blower who testified his colleagues at the CDC committed fraud. Paul Thorsen is a researcher from Denmark who coauthored four of these eight studies. He stole $1 million in grant money from the CDC. In 2011, he was indicted "on 22 counts of wire fraud and money laundering." He bought a house, cars, and a motorcycle with the funds he was to use to study vaccines and autism but his work is still published.

​Dr. Paul Offit (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) and Dr. Peter Hotez (Baylor University) are two of the loudest proponents of vaccinations. And by coincidence, they both just happen to be patent holders for vaccines that built their careers in the pharmaceutical industry. They love to talk about the 27 studies that prove vaccines don't cause autism. The trouble is that, when you actually read those studies, it turns out that only one vaccine and one ingredient was ever studied. The studies are cited on the Autism Science Foundation (ASF), a reputable sounding, science-oriented organization where Dr. Offitt just happens to sit on the board.

Dr. Andrew Wakefield was a British gastroenterologist who had his medical license stripped away because he coauthored a paper with twelve other doctors linking the MMR vaccine to autism. It was 1998 and the five page paper was published in the highly respected medical journal The Lancet announcing the discovery of a new bowel condition called Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia. The thirteen doctors felt they had discovered a condition that might be unique to autism and recommended further study. Since then, this paper has been cited in 200 other scientific studies and is viewed as the pioneering study on the gut-brain connection in autism. Angie is pictured with Dr. Wakefield when he lectured at a symposium in October 2019.

​The Autism Science Foundation (ASF) has a strong pro-vaccine agenda. On their website, they list 27 studies they claim prove vaccines and autism are not related. When you read all 27 studies you find they actually only "study" one vaccine (MMR) and one vaccine ingredient (thimerosal). There are 38 ingredients and 11 other vaccines they should have studied also. It's even more disturbing when reading the studies to see they are clearly biased. For example, a premier study (Verstraeten) touted by pro-vaccine supporters and published in Pediatrics in 2000, is seriously flawed. 

​The vaccine industry is built on the reputation of the polio vaccine. Images from the 1940s and 1950s of children in iron lungs or relying on crutches to move around are depicted anytime a question about vaccine efficacy is raised. However, a study of the disease reveals a far less frightening story for most patients than what the scare tactics and fear mongering engendered and employed by the pharmaceutical industry lead us to believe.