Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure

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If you look at all the negative reviews of this book so far, you won't find any indications that the reviewers have actually read the book. You will also note they urge readers not to buy the book. Once you read the book, you'll understand why.

Despite what others have said, the book didn't read like a "smear-fest." The closest it comes to that is the use of the word "quackery" in one place. What Dr. Offit has done is provide a well-referenced historical account of the activities of a sub-group of the autism community in the last decade.

If you are someone who tries to keep reasonably up to date with the political going-ons of the autism world, you might be thinking, "I won't learn much from this book." But you'd be wrong. There are many interesting tidbits of information you probably haven't heard of before; such as David Kirby's interaction with Curtis Allen of the CDC (page 151). There's also a lengthy discussion of the meetings and thinking that led to the decision to remove thimerosal from pediatric vaccines.

Perhaps there is some information the book is missing. For example, you won't find a discussion of Dan Olmsted's negligence in his Amish reporting. More could've been said of JB Handley's bullying tactics and his failed prophecies ("autistic children will be cured within 2 years"). There's no mention of John Best, a fringe but prominent member of the anti-vax movement.

This is understandable, though. A book is insufficient to air all the dirty laundry of the anti-vaxers. You'd need a whole encyclopedia for that.

For a long time people thought the earth was flat and the moon was made of cheese. Now some believe that vaccines cause autism. There are always a handful of people who insist they are right, despite overwhelming evidence. I don't think your book will change their minds, but maybe, hopefully, it will prevent some more rational people from being sucked in by the misinformation on the internet. This book is very clear and lays out the evidence very logically. I am now quite convinced that vaccines have absolutely nothing to do with autism and I think most educated individuals will feel the same way after reading the book. It was really quite interesting to learn how people get sucked into believing something that has absolutely no science behind it at all. It's almost become a cult. I think many people will enjoy this book and will learn from it. Tony Demarest

I just read an article about Jenny McCarthy--yes, that Jenny McCarthy. Ms. McCarthy has a child with autism and she is convinced that a vaccine caused her child's autism. She now considers herself an expert because she attended the "University of Google" (her words, not mine) and that she is right because "because there is an angry mob on my side" and "until [someone] walks in our shoes, [he/she] really has no idea."

That's right...because there is an angry mob on her side, the consensus of scientists that attended real schools and obtained real master and doctorate degrees in things like epidemiology and medicine, is wrong.

Dr. Offit faces a very challenging opponent and he did it with an exceptionally calm and rationale analysis of vaccines, why they are safe and more importantly, why the quacks and anti-vaxxers are wrong. And he did it in a style that is very readable by the lay person.

When Dr. Offit starts laying out damning facts against the anti-vaxxers, you will be left agape. For example, Dr. Wakefield took $800,000 from a plaintiff's attorney and used it to fund his studies and never disclosed where the funding came from, he never obtained informed consent and when he ran his studies past IRBs, they were anything but medically qualified. Just astounding. Of course, the results of his studies have never been duplicated and any physiological basis for his hypothesis has been debunked.

Yet, there are people who flock to Dr. Wakefield and give him lots of money for unproven and dubious-at-best treatments and cures. Very, very sad.

Dr. Offit also discusses how science is perceived in society. A lot of people simply don't "believe in" science and how science is done. Dr. Offit analyzes this later in the book and it is hardly comforting. (An excellent book about this phenomenon is Carl Sagan's Science as a Candle in the Dark.)

Probably the scariest part of the book is when groups like Generation Rescue hire public relations firms. Whilst I'm all for spirited debate, these groups will misrepresent any fact, omit crucial details and pander with the most vile and loathsome tactics.

Definitely a highly recommended book. Scary and depressing because science and vaccines have taken such a bad rap. But hopeful because there are folks out there like Dr. Offit, Orac and others that are willing to stand up for rational, evidence-based medicine.

While I feel for Jenny McCarthy and her struggles with autism, her incessant denial of huge amounts of science and evidence is causing thousands of parents to forego vaccinating their children. She is endangering our children and some will die from childhood disease that were once almost completely eradicated.

Most poorly understood medical conditions attract some degree of quackery, and autism is no exception. In this book, Dr. Offit exposes the pseudoscience which has led many families to entertain false hopes and sometimes subject their autistic children to treatments that are, at best, a pointless waste of time and money. He also profiles individuals from the autism community who have stood up against the offensive attitudes promoted by the "false prophets" of autism.

Dr. Offit describes how, as a specialist in infectious diseases, he is troubled by the popular suspicion of vaccines which has grown in spite of tremendous scientific evidence showing no connection between vaccines and autism. He also provides understandable explanations of why certain "alternative treatments" for autism are medically implausible.

Anyone who cares about someone with autism should read the book. It will also be of interest to professionals who counsel parents of autistic children.

Fascinating and readable. "Autism's False Prophets" traces the histories of the MMR-autism and thimerosal-autism controversies, and discusses the science in clear, layman's language. I found the book very difficult to put down: it's a wonderful (and enlightening) read for anyone interested in autism, vaccines, or scientific controversy, and its "Science and Society" chapter should be required reading for any parent (or any person) researching vaccines or other medical decisions.

The plain-speaking Autism's False Prophets is unlikely to receive a fair, overall star rating at this venue, owing to the highly polarized opinions of antivaccinationists and those of informed, rational thinkers. For this second group, a relatively quiet majority, the events depicted in Offit's book will anger (as opposed to blindly enrage), but they will also perhaps mobilize investigations away from exonerated, life-saving vaccines and onto the real, very elusive causes of autism. A more comprehensive review of Offit's necessary chronicle of the hijacking of modern medicine is available at http://bmartinmd.com/2008/09/book-review-autisms-false-prop.html.

P.S. There was no reason for the removal of C. Clark's initial, constructive review (which happened to be favorable).

Dr. Offit presents shocking details about the people and organizations who have been trying to scare parents into not immunizing their children. I was startled by the amount of money lawyers paid to doctors and other scientists who were willing testify in court that vaccines cause autism. Parents who are frightened about immunization should find this book reassuring.

Dr. Offit's book is sending shockwaves through the antivaccine community because it exposes their underhanded abuse of autistic people and of public health. It also exposes the extent to which the autism/vaccine story has been directed by antivaccine lawyers who are padding their wallets by outright lying about vaccines. Please put my review back where it belongs. Amazon.com had NO reason to remove it.

Why should I buy books from Amazon.com if Amazon.com is going to abuse and insult me???

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is very hard to put down. Although I have read a lot about autism, I didn't know a lot of the information Dr. Offit included in his book. As a physician-researcher, he has clearly done his homework (unlike a referenced journalist who did NOT do his, especially among the Amish). I have an extra copy that I am going to donate to our library, to make sure they have one for all to read.

This book is fantastic. Paul Offit is great for the autism community. This book does an incredible job at dispelling all the propaganda surrounding autism, and there is so much one could drown trying to wade through it all! I only wish this book would have been available when autism first entered my life. Thank you Paul Offit for you time, and generosity!!!

Zero stars. This book claims a child could get 100,000 vaccines in one day, no problem. Really? Offit's prose is based on the assumption that epidemiology (study of populations) is infallible. We had over a decade of epidemiology "proving" that cigarettes did not cause lung cancer. He ignores the only two non-epidemiological (in the lab) studies have been done on autism and vaccines. Columbia University (rats) and University of Pittsburg (monkeys) came to the exact opposite conclusion as Offit. This book reveals Offit as the next Walter Freeman ("Dr. Labotomy"), who went to his grave in denial that he had harmed anyone. The only difference here is money: the $180 million in Offit's pocket for his patent. He concentrates on harsh words for doctors doing the search for a cure, while he and the medical community at large are still in denial that there's an epidemic. The bold red "FALSE" is the word that jumps out at you from the cover, and sums up the content -- FALSE. Save your money, this book is drivel.

Accurate, historic events. Well written. If you have questions in your mind about this topic, READ IT!!!.

I am the mother of three children with autism (full disclosure you know.) I have to ask why Dr. Offit, a well documented expert in infectious disease, was compelled to write a book that disputes treatments for an illness that is not infectious. Could it be that it is the autism community that has been the most vocal in our questioning of the safety of our national immunization program? Is Dr. Offit shooting the messenger with this book? How does a doctor who does not treat children with autism for a living know so much about what does NOT work? I find the entire premise of the book curious and more fitting to have been written by a neurologist or psychiatrist who at least sees children with autism every day.

Also, my girls have benefitted greatly from some of the treatments Dr. Offit "debunks." For them, treatment may mean the difference between a dreadful life in an institution and life at home with their father and me. I think that makes the potential "risk" of our treatments practically null compared to doing nothing for our precious girls.

Thank you for reading this. I have to go kiss my kids goodnight now.

People like Dr. Offit insist there is no scientific evidence linking autism to vaccinations. Could the reason for that be that powerful forces do not want any objective scientific study to be undertaken? Please consider:

There has NEVER been a definitive study of the autism rate among unvaccinated populations in the U.S.

Most Amish people do not vaccinate their children. Doctors who service these families have indicated that autism virtually never occurs among them.

Dr. Mayer Eisenstein of Chicago runs a number of pediatric offices the majority of whose patients are not given vaccinations. He says, "We have a fairly large practice [4 separate offices employing 5 doctors]. We have about 30,000 or 35,000 children that we've taken care of over the years, and I don't think we have a single case of autism in children delivered by us who never received vaccines." He goes on to say: "We do have enough of a sample. The numbers are too large to not see it. . . . It's not something that anyone would miss." Dr. Eisenstein is the author of the book "Don't Vaccinate Until You Educate," which I highly recommend.

It is therefore not surprising that former National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Bernadine Healy has called for more research into a possible vaccine link to autism and said the question had not been settled.

In 2006, a bill requiring the federal government to conduct a study of autism rates in unvaccinated American children was introduced by Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Tom Osborne (R-Neb.). When Rep. Osborne did not return to Congress the following year, Rep. Maloney introduced similar new legislation (H.R. 2832) and got Ron Paul (R-TX) and Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) to sign on as co-sponsors. 18 other representatives subsequently signed on (11 Democrats and 7 Republicans). However, the legislation has remained bottled up in committee for over a year in the face of intense, yet unpublicized opposition. One can only wonder where that opposition is coming from.

Why doesn't he mention anywhere in his book that the vaccine he co-invented was associated with 83 deaths in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System? Or is VAERS a false prophet too?

The author of this book is not at all credible for giving opinions on this subject. A too willing spokesman for vaccines, nowhere in the book does he mention the obvious conflict of interest clouding his opinions. He is a patent holder for a Rotavirus vaccine that has made him very wealthy from royalty rights. His views on vaccines have the same credibility as the opinion of the tobacco industry about the ill effects of cigarretes. Paul Offit does not have a shred of credibility for speaking about vaccine safety and much less about the causes of Autism.

Consequent with his hubristic views, this book does not represent all the facts surrounding legal cases and ends up offering a very distorted view on the subject. Offit has always opposed any type of serious independent research between vaccinated and non-vaccinated populations to determine the effects of the overloaded current vaccination schedule on current epidemic diseases related to disfunctions of the immune system: asthma, diabetes, food allergies, autism, etc. Vaccines are potential life saving instruments that, like many other pharmaceutical products, have been pushed too far by interested parties like Offit.

Paul Offit's writings and his behavior have consistently reflected his strong commitment to both children's health and to science. This book underscores the many problems that can occur when emotion-driven rather than science-driven actions impact: treatments, resource allocations, policies, and ultimately health outcomes. "Autism's False Prophets" is well written and I couldn't put it down. Recognizing that Dr. Offit is donating all royalties from the sale of this book to autism research, I just ordered four more copies to give to friends.

...for writing a science based book to combat the misinformation handed out by Jenny McCarthy, Generation Rescue,DAN!, etc. As a parent of a child with autism, I hope that all parents of newly diagnosed children with autism will read this book and stay away from the "Cure/Recovery" merry-go-round. Too many children have been subjected to years of intrusive and sometimes dangerous treatments, and too many families have gone bankrupt trying to pay for treatments, such as Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, that have no scientific basis.

The Cure/Recovery merry-go-round can be very difficult to get off, there's always something more that you should do, or you didn't do enough of, or you didn't do correctly. I encourage new parents not to even get on that merry-go-round, your child deserves more than that. They deserve treatments that have been scientifically proven, they don't deserve experimentation.

And the rest of the population deserves to be protected from deadly diseases by vaccines that have been scientifically proven, without the endless propaganda of the anti-vaccine groups.

Dr. Offit is so convinced that all the studies disprove a link between vaccines and autism, yet there are major gaps in his reasoning. Health officials and Dr. Offit attribute the explosion in autism to "better diagnosing" by doctors and therefore no real increase, yet there has never been a study showing us the misdiagnosed adults with autism at a rate even approaching what we see in children. If autism's always been around, why are we always talking about kids with autism?

Dr. Offit never addresses the fact that the mercury-based vaccine preservative thimerosal was never tested and approved by the FDA. Eli Lilly Pharmaceutical Co. came up with the plan for using mercury in vaccines and after the creation of the FDA, its use was simply continued.

And the studies that Dr. Offit and others love citing are epidemiological research. They're the same type used by the tobacco industry back in the 1940s and 50s as proof that smoking didn't cause lung cancer.

The truth is a once rare disorder is now so common that everyone knows someone with an autistic child and no one can reasonably tell us why. Parents are afraid. This book does nothing to dispel fears that vaccines have damaging side effects.

Anne McElroy Dachel

I now have a book to give all the important people in my sons' lives. This is a powerful book based on real science and fact, not opinions. Thank heavens there are people like Dr. Offit strong enough to weather the storm of popular opinion.

I mourn for a generation of our children not being protected from harmful illnesses due to a misguided attempt to protect them. I have sympathy for the parents like me who have had to struggle to come to terms with their children's autism. I have nothing but scorn for the politicians, lawyers and corrupt doctors who have taken advantage of my fellow parents for their own personal gain. I am sickened by the media who continue to give the spotlight to minor celebrites as if they were experts in this field.

But I am thankful for Dr. Offit, Amanda Peet and all the others out there trying to protect our children. The people who are not making a penny on this but are saying what needs to be said from concern (those of you who have cried out against Dr. Offit may not know he is donating the porceeds of this book to Autism research). I thank you Dr. Offit and my two sons with autism thank you.

After thirty years as a pediatrician I have read volumes of literature on the controversies in health care and do so with a cautious optomism. Dr. Offit has authored an enjoyable summary of a complex subject.I read it overnight. I've passed my copy on to another in my group and will order more for my loaner library.

Critics of the book have claimed here that epidemiological studies are what the tobacco industry used to back their claims that cigarette smoking was safe, and also have criticized Dr. Offit because his specialty is infectious diseases, not neurology.

First, epidemiological studies are extremely sensitive when properly conducted; if a large enough population is studied, adverse effects down to the level of one event in 100,000 or even smaller can be detected. Several large-scale studies have been conducted and have found no evidence of a link between autism and vaccinations.

Second, though Dr. Offit is not a neurologist, vaccination is one of the things an infectious-disease specialist knows more about than the average M.D. Several reviewers have made much of Dr. Bernadine Healy's recommendation for further study; it should be pointed out that Dr. Healy's specialty was neither neurology nor infectious diseases, but cardiology. Furthermore, she was a member of the advisory board of The Advancement of Sound Science Center, an advocacy group which was funded by Philip Morris, and operates out of the home of Steven Milloy, whose efforts on behalf of the tobacco industry are well-known. Ah, irony.

One of the cornerstones of sound science is reproducibility. Just like cold fusion, the isolated studies purporting to demonstrate a link between vaccines and autism have not proved repeatable by other scientists, yet Wakefield and others are still believed by many despite this. That's not science, it's faith.

Yes, Galileo was a rebel, but not every rebel is a Galileo.

It's just more of the arrogance you would expect from the Paul Offit we see way to often on TV. I respect Dr. Offit's expertise in infectious disease. However, he is not an expert in autism. I don't understand why he likes to present himself as one. When has he ever treated an autistic child? Or any child for that matter. What right does he have to belittle and demonize parents and doctors who are actually helping children when so much of mainstream medicine simply has no answers as to what is causing this devastating disorder or how best to help children.

I find it amazing that Dr. Offit continues to present himself as an "expert" in everything and never discloses his conflicts of interest. If you're a fan of Dr. Offit's arrogant TV interviews - buy this book. Otherwise, don't waste your money.

I really enjoyed this book (though I enjoyed his biography of Maurice Hilleman more). I started going to online discussion groups when we got our first modem over fourteen years ago (I still chuckle at the responses about "dyslexia" I got when I asked about "dyspraxia", which is what my oldest child was diagnosed with in 1991). As I moved around on Compuserve, briefly on Usenet, and on the Apraxia-Kids listserv, I saw these events unfold.

At first I could simply say "No, vaccines are not the cause of apraxia/dyspraxia, my kid had his seizures before any vaccine"... and it would be accepted and we would go on discussing insurance and school issues. Then "they" came, and "they" would not take "no" for an answer. "They" would send nasty-grams if anyone challenged anything they wrote. One tried to get me booted from the listserv just because I tried to explain that the MMR vaccine never contained mercury (a sure sign that someone does not know the issues is when he/she says "the thimerosal in MMR").

Also "they" started to promote all sorts of cures. I spoke against craniosacral and essential oils, and received nasty-grams that I had a closed mine (in frustration I told her to go bother the writers of paper saying that BC Health should not fund craniosacral therapy). Then I wrote an email to the group trying to explain that chelation was a "bad idea"... lots of nasty grams, including one telling me I was dangerous!

I found out from someone else that one of "them" was actually employed by a prominent DAN! doctor who sold the stuff she was promoting. So I left.

Just a couple of months later Roy Kerry killed a kid through chelation just because he was autistic. The interesting thing is that the owner and the moderator of the listserv do not live far from where that happened.

I was tempted to sign back up to see what the reaction was, but I resisted. I went on with my life. That support group had nothing that I needed. Since my kid was older all I could do was explain what we had gone through and suggest books. I decided to stick with my local folks who I could talk to in reality.

This book shows exactly who "they" are... they are the ones who want to blame the vaccines, they are the ones who want to skew science to their own conclusions, they are the ones that want to take advantage of desperate parents, they are the ones who want to divert scarce public funds from educational therapies to some phantom cause/cure... especially for there are kids like mine with OTHER disabilities!

If you are interested in how special interests have taken over an issue and caused more harm than good... get this book!

I am the mother of two children with autism, and so I get a lot of questions from people about the causes of autism, and about vaccines, special diets, and alternative and complementary medicine, too. I'll be recommending this book to the people who ask me those questions from now on. The book lays out in a compelling, highly readable way the history of the various vaccine scares with regard to autism, and the numerous studies that have been done on vaccines and autism, the results of which have not been communicated effectively to the general public. It is also fascinating to read about the vitriol which the anti-vaccine movement heaps on those who disagree with them. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it!

A brief look at the reviews of "Autism's False Prophets" on Amazon will show the hallmarks of a contentious issue; at the time I'm posting this review (Oct 26) its Amazon reviews are all 5-star or 1-star, at 19 and 13. Which raises the rather important question of whether the book - Paul Offit's coverage of the vaccine/autism issue - can avoid being caught up in the stridency.

It mostly does; while Offit does develop to his position - the evidence says neither Thermisol nor MMR causes cancer, and the vaccine/autism link is false - he narrates the other side effectively, and at first lets his opponents hang themselves. The dishonesty of Andrew Wakefield is particularly galling. The man falsified his research assistant's data, and failed to disclose he was paid by trial lawyers suing vaccine manufacturers - and then claimed it was only $50,000 until the real amount was revealed as $800,000. Offit does get more emphatic but it never descends into raw viciousness; which is nice when the publisher is so spooked a book tour is considered too dangerous for the author. Offit has mentioned elsewhere that there is plenty of reason to be angry, but I prefer the approach he does take.

I have a few bones to pick with his presentation, though. He chooses a sort of rise and fall format for the early parts - first MMR/autism and then thermisol/autism. So he builds up the anti-vaxers and then breaks them down; the problem is the narrative strikes me as slightly false. The evidence against thermisol, for example, started hitting well before the "high" of Hollywood calling in 2006, and comments like "But the next few years would reveal that it was all a mirage" don't fit the accumulation of evidence already there. None of this undermines the science, but a more general chronological narrative not only would have fit better, but would have reinforced the point of how evidence and public consciousness become disjointed. Offit has defended this choice elsewhere as suggesting the "public" awareness of the issue, but I don't think this quite works.

The later passages are smoother, though Offit doesn't seem quite sure how to integrate the pro-vaccine autism bloggers into the book. Much of the coverage of how the science is abused by the media and legal system is nothing new, but it is solid and gains some strength by resting on the case made earlier in the book. More on the issue of how casting the debate as over "damaged" kids reverberates among the actual autistic - both its insulting nature to the kids themselves, and the harm it does in getting resources to allow society to integrate them - would have been nice, but the former of the two does get handled somewhat.

The anti-vaccine contingent tied the goalposts to their truck and hit the gas some time ago, as David Kirby's bizarre November 2006 blameshifting - plumes of smoke from China, forest fires, and cremated dental filings as the new source of mercury for autism - show. But for its history and capable discussion of science's imperfect integration into the public domain, "Autism's False Prophets" is a good choice for people who haven't already made up their mind.

****

(I received a copy of this book via the Scienceblogs Book Club)

I encountered Dr. Offit on Sirius Doctor Radio and heard about this book there. This book clears up all the falsehoods and bad PR about vaccines and it's a fast and interesting read. I only wish that I had this book when my children were infants and receiving their vaccines as it would have removed any lingering doubts that were floating around in my head at that time. Any parent expecting their first child or with young children should read this book and you too will realize that vaccines are not controversial with regard to autism. The studies have delivered consistent and definitive results that MMR and thimerosol do not cause autism. If only Dr. Offit could get as much coverage as Jenny McCarthy, many more people would be enlightened.

Dr. Offit's book appears to me to be biased. He references Dr. Verstraeten on page 93 without disclosing that Dr. Verstraeten published a letter saying "more study is needed."

And in the Amazon linked video he says "A few years ago there was borne the notion that vaccines might cause autism and so the public heath community responded by doing a series of studies to try and answer the question - were you at greater risk of getting autism if you'd gotten vaccines than if you hadn't. And the answer was clear, and consistent and reproducible - the risk was no greater than if you had gotten the vaccines or hadn't. And so the science was pretty clear."

In fact, review of data from the Verstraeten Zero Analysis published by SafeMinds and the books Evidence of Harm by David Kirby and Changing the Course of Autism by Bryan Jepson provides clear evidence of risk for brain injury and autism spectrum disorder from vaccines. So the science is not clear and we don't know if vaccines are safe. I am not sure how he can make such a statement but I sure wouldn't recommend buying the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and found it very interesting. As a student who just learned about autism, I wanted to learn more about the vaccine-autism theory, especially after our child psychiatrist lecturer so quickly and forcefully dismissed it. To be honest, I had always been skeptical of any link, as much as I am skeptical of people who claim to have gotten the flu from a flu shot. But despite my prior opinions, I thought this was a good book on autism.

Yes, this book dismisses the notion that autism is caused by vaccinations, which angers many parents of autistic children that cling to this idea as the cause of their child's illness (and the reason for so many 1-stars). But that is not a valid reason to bash this book, or refuse to read it. Sometimes the truth hurts, but it cannot be ignored. With so much attention being placed on Jenny McCarthy (the most attention she's ever received in her career, I suppose), it is nice to get the other side of the argument.

People all have their own views on autism, but I hope that whether you agree with the author or not, you read this book, if only to get a new perspective on autism. Hopefully, out of this argument will come research that will show the causes of autism (whether vaccine-related or not) and what can be done to prevent its onset in the beginning.

Offitts Book is not fully researched. It was totally one sided and makes quotes from various doctors who are out of sync with the real world. These kids were "normal" then all the sudden they stop talking, become ill and mentally can't connected with anyone and anything around them. Wouldn't you think something happened all the sudden?! Offitt needs to spend a day in the life of a parent or doctor who deals with these small children who are sick and disconnected. Then he will see that they are not just children being stubborn or spoiled. Watch our for Karma!

What a pack of lies this book is. I am proud to say that I have a mostly recovered autistic son about to loose his diagnosis thanks to the Defeat Autism Now! doctors that this doctor is slandering. Look at Offits professional history and his conflict of interests and it is not hard to see why he came up with this book. What else are you gonna do when you are as responsible as he and his industry are for the autism epidemic. Don't waste your money on this poor excuse for a book. Research for yourself the whole autism story. If you want to know about autism ask a parent of a child with autism, not a vaccine patent holder and pusher. Don't forget to check out our Defeat Autism Now! doctors recovered kids stories and videos.

I have two autistic children, and I am not an anti-vaxer. I don't believe my children's autism was caused by vaccines. In fact, the day my daughter was diagnosed by our pediatrician, she was age 2 and then AFTER his diagnosis, she received her MMR. So I agree--vaccines are not the cause. And most vaccines are not full of mercury anymore, and yet the rise of autism continues. Why? Because there are many kids today who are genetically prone to autism, and in those few kids, the huge load of vaccines received can push them over. I personally advocate a much lower push of antibodies and spreading the vaccines out, if you're not placing your child in a huge daycare. If they're home with Gramma or a friend, they can probably do okay without Hep A and a few others all at once. But that's what decision I came to. I hate Jenny McCarthy. Sorry. Her kid is NOT CURED--there IS no cure, only coping. I'm living it 24/7, and I'm coping. Good luck to the author and all who read his book. I hope we have fewer kids dying of measles and whooping cough this year.

I was highly disappointed in this book. The author was stating opinions and one sided results from flawed studies. I am a mom of a child who has autism and I am undecided if his autism was due to vaccinations, however, I do believe it can cause it in some children. The author mentions Jenny McCarthy and "her degree in Google". This is similar to what I recently went through by seeing various doctors (including an allergist) to determine a source of my itching from head to toe. I finally found the simple answer on my own by searching the internet. If you want to read an informative, unbiased book about vaccination benefits vs. risks, read The Vaccine Book, by Robert Sears.

This book contains information which every parent of an autistic child should read. As a father of an autistic girl I am really grateful to have this thorough go-through of false hopes. It is too easy to thrust a false hope and even damage your child if you do not have enough good information. No matter how you think now. Read this book, I recommend it.

I had been waiting for this book for a while (indeed, due to the long delivery times, I waited longer than anticipated). Paul Offit's Autism's False Prophets was absolutely worth the wait, and as it is with such books, did not last very long after I received it, since it is so unputdownable. Offit takes us through a journey through the various hypotheses of the etiology of autism. He gives a detailed, well researched, accurate account of the associated history of autism "therapies" and their protagonists. I knew all that - had read about each "wonder drug/treatment" in blogs, parents' accounts, scientific manuscripts. It still shocked me to see all the different, sometimes highly invasive approaches that autistic children have to endure in one book. It is important to read such an analysis though, because otherwise you would remain gullible. The book is an important read, not only for parents/relatives/friends of children/adults with autism, but for any patient. It is "normal" to be desperate, it is "normal" to be wanting a powerful remedy. It is important not to fall for False Prophets.

2008 was a good year for books empowering patients, teaching them to tell woo from right (Suckers by Rose Sharpiro, Trick or Treatment by Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst, Bad Science by Ben Goldacre all fall into the category of the "Woo Enlightenment", each in their own style). Autism's False Prophets has its place in this list - get it for Christmas, or give one away.

Postscriptum: I cannot fail to notice that the postive reviewers have all read the book, whereas most of the negative reviewers have not and have simply added their ad hominem to artificially pull down the overall customer score for this book. Can we say "boooo"

If you read the negative reviews they are people who had clearly already made up their mind before reading the book. I am so greatful to have found the answers to my questions between these covers. I hope those with open minds find this as interresting and informative as I did. This book provides the details behind the controversy. In the press it is hard to know what is fact and what is hype. Dr. Offit does a great job of clarifying the issues in an easy to understand, straight-forward, and very interesting book. I recommend without reservation.

Brilliant book. Recommended reading for anyone involved in vaccinations or with children on the autism spectrum.

I'm donating my copy to my daughters early intervention centre so the truth can be read by more families of children on the spectrum.

Thank you Dr Offit.

The problem with myopic people like Offit is that they are very one-sided, and their studies tainted by corporate/big money bias. Years ago, before it was possible to determine, most people believed the world was flat. They also believed smoking was totally safe. They believed Thalidomide was safe. They believed RF (close proximity to transmitted radio frequency energy) was entirely safe (it's not). The list goes on. The vaccine-autism connection has unqestionably NOT been disproved. The fact is, young immune systems are variable in so many ways, and SOME ARE affected by the toxins in our vaccines. Mercury, aluminum, and formaldehyde (vaccine ingredients- there are more) ARE proven toxins, and many infants and toddlers take a SUDDEN turn for the worse immediately following some vaccines. Another point is that the Amish don't vaccinate their children, and autism is statistically nonexistent amongst them, according to doctors and others who have studied them as a group. You have to take what Offit says 'with a grain of salt'. Follow the money folks. He is a profiting vaccine inventor and a mouthpiece for big pharma (he had actually mentioned that his royalties are "like winning the lottery"). Talk about major conflict of interest! He also made the beyond outrageous remark that a baby's immune system could handle as many as 10,000 vaccines, then claimed the number was probably closer to 100,000!!! I don't think even Josef Mengele would have said this! Granted, vaccines DO work in the majority of individuals, and have helped the spread of major diseases and illnesses. BUT, this certainly does not mean the vaccines are safe for ALL. Autism has been on the rise, and mercury is but one of several toxins in vaccines. Infants/toddlers today receive many more vaccines than 'baby boomers' did during the first years of life, and this is a consideration we need to research more.

Another millionaire vaccine producer attacking anyone and anything that might jeopardize the sacred cash cow. The guy is going way out of his area of expertise to attack anyone and everyone attempting to fix a problem that he has been instrumental in making worse.-the autism epidemic. He's feeling a little guilty I guess.

Why is it that people who have never experienced Autism firsthand feel so compelled to disprove alternative approaches to healing autism? Your children are healthy and vaccinated, yet you want to kick the parents of children with autism while we are down? Count your blessings and leave us alone. Don't you think we WANT to vaccinate our kids? We did vaccinate our kids and look what happened! We were just like you all, until autism changed out lives. We brought our babies to doctors who told us, "Sorry your child has autism. You will reciever your bill in the mail and don't let the door hit you on the way out." No medicine. No help. No Hope. That's it. 1 in 150 children (by the way a very outdated statistic) are diagnosed and no one is helping us. That is no one in the allopathic community. Instead it is a community of parents who have been forced to read, research, study and learn about the human body, neurology, bacteria, viruses, nutrition, food allergies, gastrointestinal issues, sensory integration disfunction, hypotonia, and on and on and on. Yes, we use Google and thank God for it! What would you do if your baby was perfect and healthy and then one day they were severely sick and no one would believe you or help you. Well it is fine to write a book and call us all quacks because science hasn't caught up with us (although the Autism Research Institute has over 60 years of well documented studies.) The truth is we don;t have time to sit around and wait fro the medical world to help us. Our kids our sick and need help now! That said, there is help! I recovered not one but 2 of my children in 1 year using medical diets, supplements, herbs and homeopathy. So go ahead and write a book trying to disprove these methods. But ask yourself a question, with autism being the number 1 childhood disorder, are you really helping anyone? Maybe you should come visit some families who have lived through this hell and overcome it and then maybe you will open your mind enough to see that our kids can get better, no thanks to "modern medicine." And for all of you who are so passionate about us quacks trying to recover our kids, God bless you that you are in a position to judge because your kids are healthy and you haven't had to make the tough choices we have had to make. Count your blessings you haven't had to walk in my shoes. Then again with numbers on the rise, sadly, maybe one day you will.

What I would like to know is, how did the author, Paul Offit, become an expert in what causes autism and how best to treat it (or not), when he has neither ever parented nor treated a child with this disorder. The fact that he is himself a vaccine patent holder should be enough of a reason to skip this book due to the apparent conflict of interest.
I'm still confused about how he became an expert in the area of facilitated communication, as well.

I have a 16 year old son with autism who is vaccine damaged. Paul Offit is the false prophet here. His book is dishonest and irresponsible. How someone with the credentials of Mr. (NOT worthy of Doctor) Offit can say that a known neurotoxin, thimerosal, doesn't do serious damage to the human body is beyond me. Thimerosal wasn't safe in animal vaccines, so it was removed. WHY ARE WE STILL INJECTING IT INTO HUMANS??

Dr. Offit's book is a much needed resource to help people understand that there is no scientific proof that vaccines cause autism. The energy, time and money spent to continue the myth that there is a connection, robs the research needed to help us understand and make changes that will truly improve lives.

This book is a must read for anyone who is undecided about vaccination. Dr Offit presents the arguments in an easy to read and interesting way. I couldn't put it down and have passed it on to all my friends! It's about time parents have the chance to hear the full story about vaccination and not just the crack-pot science that is untrue and potentially very damaging to the health of the world.

Paul Offit is at it again ... defending vaccines because vaccines are his livelihood. He knows nothing about parenting or treating autism, yet the fact remains that hundreds of parents and physicians have recovered (notice I did not use the word 'cure') or greatly improved symptoms of autism in their children. I'm guessing that Paul Offit fails to mention that autism continues to rise despite the reduction of mercury in vaccines (notice I did not say 'elimination' of mercury) because the CDC strongly encourages pregnant women to get the flu shot ... 90% of which still contain a whopping 25mcg of mercury. And by the way, study results are difficult to replicate simply because autism is an astoundingly complex disorder and it is very difficult to control for all variables. While I'm curious to see what Paul Proffit has to say, I'll be borrowing this book from the library, rather than having him profit by another purchase of this book.

I think this is a very accurate and brief summation of the vaccines-cause-autism debate from a medical standpoint (being that most credible doctors view the hypothesis to be complete bullocks.) Having read many of the papers discussed in this book prior to reading it, I think Dr. Offit did an outstanding job in analysing them. I am not suprising by the several negative reviews this book has (though I do question how some of those who did review it can do so without having read it) but I find that to be an inaccurate reflection upon the text. It is very well done, and it describes the major bullet points of the debate in a very colloquial way for the average person. While Dr. Offit may not be a specialist in autism it doesn't require any special expertise to see the hypothesis to be completely unbased and unsupported.

One complaint I do have is the refrence system which is used. Its not very good, but besides that...