Causes of Autism
Generation Rescue believes that autism and other developmental issues are caused by environmental factors. Its members primarily blame vaccines, the increase in the number of vaccines administered, and thiomersal, a mercury-based vaccine preservative. Generation Rescue claims that biomedical intervention can help children recover. The hypotheses that vaccines, such as MMR, or thiomersal cause autism are not supported by scientific evidence, nor are claims that diets or drugs can cure autism. 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 and the organization has been described as anti-vaccine.
Claims that the MMR vaccine causes autism, promoted by Andrew Wakefield, were declared in January 2011 to be based on manipulated data and fraudulent research. Parental concerns over vaccines have led, in turn, to decreased immunization rates and an increased incidence of whooping cough and measles, a highly contagious and sometimes deadly disease. Generation Rescue issued a statement that the "media circus" following the revelation of fraud and manipulation of data was "much ado about nothing". Salon.com responded to Generation Rescue's statement with:
But any organization using a celebrity to mislead parents with claims of "new" data that rely on decade-old vaccine formulas and schedules is more than disingenuous, it's flat-out dangerous.
Read more about this topic: Generation Rescue