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Generation Rescue is a nonprofit organization that advocates the view that autism and related disorders are primarily caused by environmental factors[1], in particular by vaccines.[2] These claims are biologically implausible and lack convincing scientific evidence.[3] The group gained awareness from an aggressive media campaign that sponsored full page ads in the New York Times and USA Today[4] and today is well-known as a platform for Jenny McCarthy's autism advocacy.[5]
[edit] Causes of autismGeneration Rescue believes that autism and other developmental issues are environmental illnesses and primarily blames vaccines, the increase in the number of vaccines administered,[2] and thiomersal, a mercury-based vaccine preservative.[6] It claims that biomedical intervention can help children recover.[7] The theories that vaccines cause autism lack convincing scientific evidence and are biologically implausible,[3] as are claims that diets or drugs can cure autism.[8] Because of Generation Rescue's public profile through national advertising and because its point of view is not shared by the mainstream medical community, its message has been controversial.[citation needed] [edit] WebsitesIt maintains three websites, Generation Rescue[1] Fourteen Studies.org, and PutChildrenFirst.[9] The former details the organization’s points of view described above. The latter alleges a cover-up by the Centers for Disease Control concerning the role that vaccines have played in recent increases in the number of reported autism cases. [edit] Media campaignThe organization was established in 2005 by Lisa and J.B. Handley and 150 volunteer "Rescue Angels" that included many members of the biomedical treatment movement at the time. Beginning in the spring of 2005 and running through January 2007, Generation Rescue began a national media campaign in the US, placing advertisements in such publications as USA Today.[4] More recently it has been fronted by former Playboy model Jenny McCarthy.[5] [edit] Criticisms and responses[edit] Lack of peer-reviewed researchGeneration Rescue bases much of their case on publications that do not go through a proper peer review process. In particular, an article Generation Rescue cites in the Evidence section of its website, "Autism: A Novel Form of Mercury Poisoning"[10] is published by a journal devoted to medical hypotheses; the hypothesis has not been confirmed by credible scientific evidence.[11][12] [edit] ChelationBradford Handley, a Generation Rescue founder, claims that autism symptoms can be reversed using chelation. Even if autism were caused by heavy metal poisoning - a claim for which there is little evidence - this is in contradiction of the scientific capabilities of chelation, as evidenced by at least one study.[citation needed] The Encyclopedia of Children's Health states that "the chelation process can only halt further effects of the poisoning; it cannot reverse neurological damage already sustained."[13] [edit] Disassociation of cited researchersGeneration Rescue's second New York Times advertisement had to undergo one alteration due to one scientist who asked to be removed from the ad. Also, after the ad ran, several of the scientists thanked in the ad wanted to disassociate their work from the mercury/autism connection.[14] This group of scientists wrote: "we believe GenerationRescue’s advertisement, at first appearance an innocuous gesture of appreciation, may actually mislead the public into thinking that the mercury-autism hypothesis has stronger support in the scientific literature than it actually does." One of the scientists who signed that letter asking not to be associated with the mercury/autism hypothesis, Martha Herbert, is still frequently cited by Generation Rescue and others as a supporter. [edit] Claims of inaccurate statisticsGeneration Rescue's home page has been criticized for containing inaccuracies regarding the prevalence of autism. As of 2006, it claimed that the prevalence of autism in the 1970s was 1 in 10,000. In reality, the prevalence of autism was known to be 4-5 in 10,000 as early as the 1960s. Additionally, the site does not clarify that the prevalence of 1 in 100 is for ASD, not Kanner autism as is the lower prevalence number. In February 2005, J.B. Handley falsely stated on a TV interview that the notion of autism is mythical, stating that it is a misdiagnosis for mercury poisoning. He also claimed that autism did not exist before thimerosal was put in vaccines, and that chelation therapy can cure autism in two years or less.[15] Handley recently stated that autistic adults "don't exist."[16] [edit] See also[edit] References
[edit] External links
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