Michael Fumento

After I wrote recently about the lack of evidence connecting childhood vaccines preserved with thimerosal to autism, here and here, I received a slew of nasty letters from angry parents. Several cited "studies" showing that while the autism rate is 1 in 166 among the general public, there is no autism among the Amish who refuse vaccinations. Actually not all Amish do refuse vaccinations and there were no such studies. That assertion came from a single UPI story in which reporter Dan Olmsted pretended to have done his own survey. Muy scientifico. In the event, an Amish community has now suffered from the first U.S. polio outbreak in five years. That's what you get from not vaccinating your kids.