Elizabeth Birt said
Andrew Wakefield
"examined my child" and advised
Rapid
response online letter to the BMJ, replying to a
book review by Dr Mike Fitzpatrick. 14 May 2005
Elizabeth
A. Birt,
Lawyer
Re: Evidence of Harm
Dear Readers : I am
the mother who is referred to in the above article.
Every word in Evidence of Harm is true; I had a
completely normal child who had 30 words of language
and after the MMR/Hib shot my child was lost. Within
a few hours my son had a fever and developed a rash
on his body; shortly after he developed a persistent,
chronic diarrhea and stopped sleeping through the
night for three years. He lost all of his language
and didn't know who I was from a doorknob. I am an
educated woman and took him to the very best
specialists in Chicago. Until I met Dr Andrew
Wakefield at a conference in Chicago I did not know
that my child could be helped. Dr Wakefield
examined my child and told me as a physician that he
thought that he could help my son. I took my
son to London and found out at the Royal Free
Hospital that he was and is very sick. He had a fecal
impaction the size of a melon and had colitis. The
progression of my son's disease has been stopped
through the use of a drug called 6MP; this drug is
used with individuals who have organ transplants; I
am thankful for the work done at the Royal Free and
by Dr Wakefield; thimerosal is not only neurotoxic
but it causes damage to the immune system. This has
been known for years. What is going on is a smear
campaign by those individuals and companies that have
the most to lose financially. Parents are angry
because they have been lied to. The truth will come
out and eventually the families will get compensation
in financial terms; this said, nothing will make them
whole for the loss of the child that they once had;
there is no greater loss than this. No parent is in
this for money only; it is for the truth and for
justice.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Birt,
Matthew's mother.
Competing
interests: Founder, Medical Interventions for Autism;
Founder SAFEMINDS; former Staff Attorney Government
Reform Committee
