Kelly's Response to ABC's World New Tonight Report on Autism from June 22nd, 2005

From a letter to ABC regarding "A Closer Look" on autism and Robert Kennedy's accusations about thimerosol and autism:

How extremely discouraged and disappointed I was with the very obviously skewed report on Robert Kennedy, Jr.'s quest to bring out the truth about vaccines and autism.

EVEN if you were afraid to tick off pharmaceutical advertisers, which it was so heartbreakingly apparent in that report that you are, you couldn't have simply suggested that parents request thimerosal-free vaccine and spare parents from the pain of autism and other developmental disorders?. Why would any sane-minded parent not do otherwise? And yet, your coverage seems to call parents like myself, who spend hours and hours in research a day, idiots. Do you think we WANT to believe thimerosal and mercury have permanently damaged our children? Do you think we would push this way just for fun? No, we want answers....and we will NOT stop until we get them.

If there is the SLIGHTEST question about thimerosal's safety, why not remove it from the shelves? Isn't this a no-brainer question that any middle-school reporter would ask? What are you so afraid of? The truth will come out...it always does, and how will you look back on your coverage? Will you be proud? How much faith will the public then put in your news stories? If the audience declines, so do the advertising bucks.

ABC, aren't you journalists? Provides of the finest news coverage available? Or are you simply a servant to the pharmaceutical dollars? Your actions will prove the true answer to that question. Just take a look at how NBC is handling that same story! (Readers can go to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8243264/) Aren't you a bit ashamed?

Kelly and Matt Langston
Parents of Alec ....