Eric's Story
From:
Ray Gallup highnoon@gti.net
To: director@SpontaneousCreation.org
Re: Eric's Story
Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2006
IÕm writing this not as a doctor with a fancy
degree from Harvard or another school. IÕm a parent who graduated from Queens
College in 1975 with a B.A. degree in Economics and served in the U.S. Navy as
a radioman in 1966 to 1968.
I was born on June 30, 1944 in St. Albans,
Queens, New York. I received the pertussis vaccine when I was six months old
and in the early 1950s I got a case of whooping cough despite getting the
vaccine. In the mid 1950s I got a case of measles and was out of school for two
weeks.
Before I tell my story about my son, Eric
Gallup, I want to mention some important facts. Autism is increasing at an
alarming rate. Five years ago, it was 1 in 500 that had autism spectrum
disorders according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Recently, the CDC
and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) said that 1 in 6 children are
diagnosed with a developmental disorder and/or behavioral problem. Also, the
CDC and AAP said that 1 in 166 children are diagnosed with an autism spectrum
disorder.
In July 2006, Professor Gillian Baird at GuyÕs
and St. ThomasÕs Hospitals in London, England found that autistic disorders
affected 116 per 10,000 children, which is 1 in 86 children. This current
number of 1 in 86 should be a wake up call concerning the autism epidemic.
See . . .
http://www.taap.info/A.L.E.R.T.asp
I have been documenting the autism epidemic
from the 1990s using the US Department of Education figures. Here are the
latest figures.
http://www.taap.info/epidemic.asp
I know that the autism epidemic canÕt be
genetic in nature. There never has been nor never will be a genetic epidemic.
Like many parents who know their children, I know that vaccines are responsible
for my sonÕs autism disorder. In Washington, DC there is concern about Social
Security and Medicare/Medicaid running out of money. The politicians are only
thinking of the growing numbers of the elderly putting a strain on system. They
donÕt realize that in 5 to 10 years from now, there will be a growing number of
children with autism that will reach adulthood and will be eligible to collect
SSI and Medicare benefits. What will happen then? Will the Federal government
have unlimited resources to deal with this crisis. Will the states have
unlimited resources to deal with this crisis?
The vaccine link to autism goes beyond the
thimerosal and measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine as far as IÕm concerned.
Many in the medical establishment and Federal government health agencies deny a
vaccine link to autism. Despite the denial, the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) keeps a record of adverse reactions to vaccines. It is called the Vaccine
Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).
Eric Gallup was born normal on January 17,
1985. While Eric was in the hospital with my wife, she was given the live virus
rubella vaccine. He was normal at birth but regressed into autism after
receiving the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine on April 28, 1986. In an
Internet article by F. Edward Yazbak, MD (TLAutStudy@aol.com) titled, ŌAutism:
Is There A Vaccine Connection?Ķ Part 1 (there is also Part 2 and 3), Case 3 is
about my wife, Helen and Eric.
See Vaccination . . .
http://www.garynull.com/Article.aspx?article=Issues/Index.aspx&Head=Issues
In 1995, Vijendra Singh, PhD. of Utah State
University did blood work on Eric and found that he tested positive for myelin
basic protein antibodies indicating an autoimmune dysfunction. That same year
James Oleske, MD of UMDNJ, Newark, NJ who is a world famous pediatric
immunologist who specializes in AIDS, found the following in blood tests done
on Eric. ŌHis measles antibody titers were extremely high, in fact, the highest
I have ever encountered. This marked elevation of measles titers, despite
normal Ig levels, further supports an immune dysregulatory disorder that has
been associated with either debilitating neurological disorders such as
sub-acute sclerosing panencephalitis.Ķ Dr. Singh later tested Eric for the
measles antibody titers and came up with the same results. Looking back at home
video-tapes, I could see what happened before and after the MMR vaccine was
given to Eric. His speech was progressing and then after, nothing.
See . . .
http://www.avn.org.au/Children%27s%20Gallery/eric.htm
In April 1995, September 1997 and November 2001
I went to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland and
asked for immunology funding for autism looking into the MMR vaccine link. To
date nothing has been done. In October 1998, I started The Autism Autoimmunity
Project (TAAP) to fund independent research. To date we have raised over
$130,000.00 to fund such researchers as Dr. Vijendra Singh, Dr. James Oleske
and Dr. Andrew Wakefield. In 2002, we took Eric to see Dr. Arthur Krigsman, a
gastroenterologist. Dr. Krigsman found that Eric had colitis and a very
painful, quarter-size stomach tissue in EricÕs throat.
In 2002, Eric started to develop aggressions
where he would bite, head-butt, kick, scratch and pull hair. Up to February
2004, we had to call the police numerous times and Eric had to be taken to the
hospital. He was on various anti-depressant medications over those two years
and in February 2003, Eric broke my left index finger with his teeth almost
amputating it off. Eric grew to be 6Õ2Ķ tall and I am 5Õ10Ķ so he was a
handful. We received no respite care from EricÕs school or any state agency. We
lived a life of hell and we were under siege during that time. When Eric had an
aggression, we would have to go behind our bedroom or bathroom doors and lock
them so Eric couldnÕt hurt us. Eric broke two bedroom doors by kicking on them
and we had to replace them with stronger doors that were kick-proof.
At a December 10, 2002 vaccine hearing by the
Government Reform Committee in Washington, DC, Congressman Dan Burton read my
letter to the members at the hearing.
Eric had aggressions at school and was
suspended various times. In February 2004, Eric was terminated from school and
when I took Eric to the store he had another aggression. The police were called
and Eric was taken to the hospital where he was born and put in their
psychiatric unit. After a couple of weeks, we were told by the hospital that he
would either have to be taken home or put in Greystone Park Psychiatric
Hospital and if we didnÕt do this we would be sued. So we took him to Greystone. The staff and patients took
good care of him and they said that Greystone wasnÕt the appropriate place for
Eric. Eric had been on a waiting list for Kennedy Krieger Institute in
Baltimore, Maryland so they finally had an opening in March 2003.
He was released and taken to Kennedy Krieger
Institute where they treated him for his aggressions.
In August 2004 he was released from Kennedy
Krieger Institute and was placed in an out-of-state residential school. When we
initially left him there, he was running to the door to get out because he
wanted to go home with us. Since that time he has gotten better but he is on
heavy duty medication such as haldol and adivan. It takes us 2 and 1Ú2 hours to
drive one way to see Eric so we only see him every other weekend. In January
2005, another patient punched Eric in the eye giving Eric a black eye. Eric was
on a couch and pushed the other patient and the patient took exception and
punched Eric. I worry about Eric constantly and at times I wonder what his and
our lives would be like if he wasnÕt damaged by the MMR vaccine. Many a time, I
shed a tear for him. In particular, Helen and I had to make funeral
arrangements for Eric because the state said they had money for this. It was
very morbid and stressful for Helen and I to do this. One person asked me why
couldnÕt the state do this and not cause us more grief. I had no answer for
them.
Many times when we pick up Eric to go out for
lunch he will ask us about ŌhomeĶ in his picture/word book. It is difficult to
respond to him and we have to say not now. During the last year we have brought
Eric home for the weekend but it is difficult for myself emotionally, the fact
that Eric is no longer living with us. IÕm sure that we wonÕt be the first
family dealing with this. Unfortunately, we wonÕt be the last family dealing
with a situation such as this.
Recently, I had a disagreement over EricÕs
medications at the school that he attends. They have him on zyprexa, haldol,
adivan and lithium. I asked them to put Eric on extra doses of Vitamin B6 to
reduce the tremors he has from the medications. Eric also has drooling problems
and he stares off as he is so heavily medicated.
We now have to look for another facility for
Eric because of our disagreement. Basically, the state, the education system
and the medical community want our children vaccinated. When something goes
wrong then none of these organizations are there to help. They leave it in the
parentÕs hands. It isnÕt their problem, it is the problem for the families
involved.
The most telling part of the vaccine/autism
link controversy is how three researchers who have looked into the autoimmune,
MMR vaccine link to autism have been dealt with. This is what has actually
happened. Keep in mind that if these researchers were politicians and this
happened to them it would be reported all over the media.
Unfortunately because they are independent
researchers who are trying to help families and children with autism, their
story is ignored by the media.
Vijendra Singh, PhD of Utah State University
has found it difficult to get funding for any studies related to autoimmunity
and autism after he discovered and perfected tests that proved an MMR autism
connection. Prior to that, funding was easily available to him including from
NIH sources.
Famed researcher Andrew Wakefield, MD of
London, England, the author of over a hundred scientific articles (and his
organization, Visceral (http://www.visceral.org.uk)
) encountered worse persecution. His research was closed down and he was told
that he had to leave the Royal Free Hospital in London, England because he
found evidence of measles in the gut of children with autism. His career came
to a screeching halt in the UK. His phone was electronically bugged and his
attackers are still after him, even now that he is in the US. Recently Dr.
Wakefield has reported evidence of vaccine-strain measles virus genomic RNA in
the cerebrospinal fluid of children with autism. This only accentuated his
enemiesÕ attacks. Obviously all governmental funding had stopped years ago.
Arthur Krigsman, MD of Long Island, New York
has replicated Dr. WakefieldÕs research in the US. After doing some 250 ileal
biopsies of children with autism at Lenox Hill Hospital, he was not allowed to
have them further tested for viral genomic RNA. Dr Krigsman was then so
restricted that he also had to leave his NY hospital base. The reason is
obvious, he was replicating Dr. WakefieldÕs clinical science and the powers
that be werenÕt happy with this. Congressman David
Weldon (who is also an MD) asked that the NIH
fund Dr. KrigsmanÕs research. To date, the NIH has not honored CongressmanÕs
request.
Anybody looking at what happened to these
researchers can see the obvious. Why do this to these men if people were not
afraid of the research they were doing? It basically is a vaccine/autism
Watergate cover-up perpetrated by the enemies of these excellent researchers.
The sad part about this is that families and
children will never be helped and more and more children will develop autism.
Who will pay and care for these children when they turn into adults like Eric?
Especially when the parents get older and can
no longer care for them. Will they have enough group homes and residential
centers to care for the coming adult epidemic of autism? It is a subject that
should be addressed now, but unfortunately only when something becomes a crisis
is it addressed in the US.
Ray Gallup, parent and Founder
Vaccine Autoimmune Project