DEAR DR. WAKEFIELD,
STICK TO YOUR GUNS AND NEVER, NEVER GIVE IN.

THIRTY-TWO YEARS AGO WE STARTED A SMALL ANTI-SIDS ORGANIZATION. AFTER TRYING
TO WORK WITH THE MEDICAL PROFESSION, WE FOUND THEM IMPOSSIBLE, CLOSE-MINDED,
UNIMAGINATIVE, VINDICTIVE, STUPID AND LIFE-THREATENING.USING GOOD REASONING,
BROAD EMPIRICAL RESEARCH, THOUSANDS OF PARENT AND FIRST-RESPONDER INTERVIEWS AND
WORLD-WIDE MEDIA AND MEDICAL JOURNAL SCANNING, WE HAVE BEEN ANYWHERE FROM
SEVERAL MONTHS TO TEN OR MORE YEARS
AHEAD OF "MEDICINE, INC." IN OUR PREDICTIONS AND ADVANCES.

YOU NEVER HEARD OF US, I'M SURE, BUT OURS WAS THE GROUP THAT DEVELOPED (IN
1978)THE FIRST SIMPLIFIED HOME INFANT MONITORING PROGRAM FOR HIGH-RISK INFANTS
THAT IS NOW THE WORLD STANDARD,...THE FIRST SIMPLE Q AND A TEST (THE AFGIS
TEST) TO SPOT HIGH-RISK INFANTS AND PREGNANCIES (1989) THAT LOOKED, BUT WERE
NOT,
NORMAL THE FIRST BROCHURES SUGGESTING THAT SIDS COULD BE PREVENTED, OR THE
MRISK GREATLY MINIMIZED, THE FIRST POSTERS RECOMMENDING SLEEPING BABIES ON BACK
(1992), STARTED THE BATTLE TO KEEP INFANTS OFF WATERBEDS, AND INITIATED
DOZENS OF OTHER ACTIONS THAT ARE "STANDARD PRACTICE" TODAY, BUT WERE CONDEMNED
AS
RADICAL WHEN WE FIRST PROPOSED THEM. WE HAVE, FOR THE PAST THREE DECADES,
ENDURED THEIR CENSURE ONLY TO SEE OUR CONCEPTS
NOT ONLY EMBRACED BY, BUT CREDITED TO, THE VERY DETRACTORS WHO BLASTED US. IN
32 YEARS, WE HAVE NEVER., NEVER, EVER BEEN PROVEN WRONG IN ANY OF OUR
PRONOUNCEMENTS,...NEVER!!!! AND WE HAVE NEVER, EVER BACKED DOWN.

YOU STICK TO YOUR GUNS. YOU ARE RIGHT ON THIS MMR THING. YOU WILL WIN.

AS SCHOPENAUER SAID, "REVEALED TRUTH IS FIRST RIDICULED, THEN RESISTED, AND
FINALLY ACCEPTED AS BEING SELF-EVIDENT."

YOU SHALL PREVAIL!

SCOTT HESSEK, PRESIDENT
AMERICAN GUILD FOR INFANT SURVIVAL, INC.
301 EASTWOOD CIRCLE, SUITE 200,
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA 23454


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