NATIONAL AUTISM ASSOCIATION
GRASSROOTS CENTER

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YOUR LETTERS TO THE WALL STREET JOURNAL:

To the Editor, Science Researchers, and Publisher of the Wall Street Journal:

Many individuals consider the WSJ's editorial staff to be highly principled. However, as evidenced by the WSJ's editorial "The Politics of Autism: Lawsuits and emotion vs. science and childhood vaccines" (1), that high opinion of the WSJ editorial board is delusional.  While mentioning articles favorable to their position, the Journal's editors and science researchers failed to mention:
(a) peer-reviewed medical research documenting that injected thimerosal causes neurologic problems in infants and toddlers with increased susceptibility to adverse sequelae from toxic metals (2-11, 31-32) , and (b) evidence that - in collusion with the American Academy of Pediatrics and with editors of the journal "Pediatrics" - a rogue group within the CDC has fudged data, published the altered data, and thereby is enacting a fraud against the scientific community and American public (eg, 12, 28), a fraud whose effects include

(i) reckless endangerment of infants and toddlers injected with ethylmercury, and

(ii) neurologic injury to children and financial and other injuries to their families as a result of physician- and nurse-injected thimerosal, which is 49.6% ethylmercury by weight (15).

The Pichichero et al study mentioned by the Journal (16a) is fraught with flaws (eg, 17), including a major oversight in study design whereby the researchers focused upon healthy babies, thereby avoiding acquired and genetic physiological processes whereby non-healthy babies would be more likely to have increased susceptibility to adverse effects from thimerosal injections. Was the bias due to the well-baby research metholodology deliberate or accidental? The answer remains elusive, even as Pichichero et al's links to the pharmaceutical industry are well known (17). An important new development is RC Deth and colleagues' finding that thimerosal levels Pichichero et al documented in healthy babies were sufficient to thwart the function of methionine synthase (18, see also 19-21).

The Danish thimerosal studies (24, see also 22-23,25) appear to be similarly flawed (26, see also 27), yet while citing the Pichichero et al and the various Danish studies, the WSJournal mentioned neither the pro-thimerosal studies' flaws nor published findings that rebut research articles intended to whitewash (eg, 16a-16b,24) thimerosal's adverse effects (eg, 2,5,10).

Conclusion: A growing body of data demonstrates that thimerosal causes neurologic damage in infants, toddlers, and others with increased susceptibility (31-32). As Congressman Weldon suggests, as the CDC's own internal documents make clear, and as recent pro-thimerosal articles establish, covering up data regarding thimerosal-induced neurologic damage has become a sustained effort by the CDC's rogue group and their colleagues (i) within the American Academy of Pediatrics and its journal "Pediatrics" and
(ii) directly or indirectly responsive to pharmeutical industry grants.

If an individual used a fist to hit a child or amidst a rage, induced shaken-baby syndrome, authorities would intervene with criminal charges. Based upon the citations inthis email and upon the rationale offered hereinabove, it is my sincere belief that physicians and nurses who inject thimerosal ought be considered as committing acts of reckless endangerment and, for some specific children,  as having induced permanent neurologic damage derived from iatrogenic child abuse via thimerosal injections during vaccinations.

Furthermore, the scientists who are covering up data regarding thimerosal's adverse effects and the various journals and editors supportive of those coverups (eg, "Pediatrics", WSJ) are contributing to the reckless endangerment and to actual cases of neurologic impairment arising from physician- and nurse-injected ethylmercury.

Furthermore, the WSJ's on-staff vaccine-zealots sustain another fiction, that "Vaccine makers stopped using thimerosal a few years ago." Circa 2003 and early 2004, that notion is as erroneous (29-30) as the belief that WSJ editors are principled.

Therefore, nurses and physicians who continue to inject thimerosal (29-30) should be joined with researchers and journal editors who allow the thimerosal coverup to continue: both groups should be held liable in regard to any and all laws concerning child abuse and reckless endangerment leading to child abuse.

Perhaps I'm mistaken about the WSJ's editorial board. Perhaps the editors relied only upon information from principals within the CDC's rogue group and, as the editorial (1) was written, the editors were not aware that thimerosal's adverse effects are increasingly documented (eg, 2,5,34) and covered up (12,28,33). If, perchance, the WSJ's editors didn't do their homework prior to writing their thimerosal-is-ok editorial (1) and had simply rushed into print a poorly researched article (1), please contemplate the DPT-related findings of a researcher who with Congressional support evaluated vaccine-safety data and found an strongly adverse effect of physician- and nurse-injected thimerosal:

A quote from researcher David Geier, MD, PhD:
"We went to Atlanta," he continues, "to the CDC, and looked at the VSD [Vaccine Safety Data] data. There is thimerosal-containing DTaP [diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine] and thimerosal-free DTaP, so we asked a question: Among children that got a minimum of either three consecutive thimerosal-containing DTaPs or  three consecutive thimerosal-free DTaPs, was there a difference in the number of autism cases in the two groups? We found mega differences. More than 20 times higher. The rate of autism in the children that got more than three doses of thimerosal-containing DTaP vaccines was much, much higher. Almost all the children that have autism in that group were the ones that got the thimerosal-containing DTaP vaccine. The more thimerosal the greater the cases of autism." (28, see also 2,5,34)

Teresa Binstock
Researcher in Developmental & Behavioral Neuroanatomy
(followed by multiple references)

To the Editor, Science Researchers, and Publisher of the Wall Street Journal:

As the former Congressional Staffer who, for five years, led Chairman Burton’s investigations into the autism epidemic and vaccine safety concerns, I applaud the Wall Street Journal for reporting on the rise in autism rates. There are; however, numerous factual errors in the December 29 Commentary, “The Politics of Autism.”

As a result of raising legitimate concerns about the safety of all vaccines, and in particular pediatric vaccines, the vaccine-injured/autism community and Congress have forced the agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to be more diligent.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was asleep at the switch and failed to review thimerosal safety in vaccines when they banned thimerosal-containing topical ointments such as Mercurochrome in the 1980’s due to safety concerns. This same FDA aggressively warns pregnant women and young children not to eat mercury-containing fish because it can damage the developing brain and fought to keep mercury thermometers out of the home because of the neurological damage that mercury can cause. Mercury is mercury – whether ethyl or methyl, whether rubbed on the skin, injected into the body, inhaled, or eaten. All forms of mercury pose a risk to humans and should be avoided.

Vaccines are one of the most important advances in medicine and are the only medicines universally mandated in the United States for a child’s attendance in day care and schools. As such, the government has a responsibility to assure that each vaccine mandated is safe on its own and in combination with other vaccines given simultaneously. At present infants in the United States may receive six or more vaccines in one day. Since the late 1980s, each time that the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has reviewed the research related to vaccine injury, they have reported back to HHS the paucity of science and asked for more studies. In fact, the IOM first noted concern about a possible link between autism and vaccine injury in 1991 and requested further research. That request fell on deaf ears within HHS.

The statement, “[thimerosal] has never been credibly linked to any health problems” is both misleading and false. In fact, reviewing the published peer reviewed literature, one can find numerous accounts of thimerosal injury and scientists’ concern for safety. Chairman Dan Burton (R-IN) documents these articles and a review of internal documents from industry and government in the staff report, “”Mercury in Medicine – Taking Unnecessary Risks” issued by the Committee on Government Reform’s Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness in 2003.

Thimerosal is approximately 50% ethylmercury and 50% thiosalicylic acid. Much attention is paid to the known dangers to the central nervous and renal systems of ethylmercury; however, the other component, thiosalicylic acid, poses risk as well as it creates an allergic response in up to 35% of the population. This response may not be apparent with first exposure, but develops after repeated exposures.

When Congress initiated an investigation into vaccine safety, babies within hours of birth were being injected with mercury-containing Hepatitis B vaccine and suffering injury. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and FDA were aware that one brand of Hepatitis B vaccine had significantly more adverse reactions than the other brand, but refused to disclose to the public which company’s vaccine was showing to be more dangerous. These agencies placed the financial health of a vaccine maker above the physical health of newborn infants.

In stating, “study after study have shown there is no such link” [between thimerosal and neurodevelopmental disorders] the WSJ is again misinformed of the facts. The recent studies, funded through HHS, have had recognized significant flaws with their methodology and population size. Worse still, the agency and the media have overplayed the findings of those few studies. A review of physician-Congressman Dave Weldon’s (R-FL) queries through the series of Congressional hearings on the topic reveals many such weaknesses and flaws. The WSJ would well serve its readers by asking HHS why taxpayer funds are used to fund studies that are obviously flawed or underpowered. There is ample interplay and opportunity between a principal investigator and the funding agency to insure that the limited resources focused on this topic are wisely used. The WSJ additionally failed to note that the CDC indeed found a statistically significant correlation between exposure to thimerosal in vaccines in the first 3 months of life and speech and language delays, tics, ADD/ADHD, and neurodevelopmental delays.

The WSJ discounts the knowledge of parents and down plays the importance of their passion. Throughout history it has been parents who have often been at the forefront of advances in medical discovery and policy. Frequently, these individuals are, or partner with, scientists and medical professionals to lead investigations and research. The infamous “Lorenzo’s Oil” is only one example of such collaborations and successes. In truth, new parents of today have not a governmental agency, nor endeavoring scientist to thank for awareness of vaccine safety issues but the passionate parents of vaccine-injured children. It is they that have spent countless hours, days and years scouring medical literature for keys to unlock the complex set of medical conditions that arise shortly after vaccination – ranging from the symptoms of autism to chronic irritable bowel, ataxia, heavy metal toxicity, food allergies, seizures, and loss of speech. Only through their efforts have the government stepped forward to enable research.

Parents of vaccine-injured (or thimerosal-injured) children who developed the symptoms of autism after inoculation have as much right as every other American to seek legal compensation for medical injury or neglect and product liability. The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program is an important program. It is intended to shield manufacturers from liability while making it easy for families to be compensated. This prevents inhibition of industry to look for new (and safer) vaccines for the future, while not disregarding the potential needs of the vaccine-injured families. While the companies have reaped the benefits of the program, few vaccine-injured have reaped a similar benefit. The VICP as passed was a good start, but still remains in urgent need of improvement.

Beth Clay
President, BC&A International, LLC
Olney, Maryland

Ms. Clay is a former Senior Professional Staff Member, Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness, Government Reform Committee, US House of Representatives. She led Chairman Dan Burton’s health oversight investigation activities for 5 years.
 

To The Editor:

As the parent of a mercury-damaged child, I am responding to your December 29th article titled "The Politics of Autism". My initial reaction of disbelief at your blatant disregard to objective reporting as conveyed by the slanted, opinionated and otherwise factually incorrect piece was somewhat alleviated by the fact that "a small but vocal group of parents" can indeed challenge the status quo and succeed in getting the truth out.

Since I know that you have been presented with the facts that call into question your one-sided "reporting" and have chosen to ignore them (response letters to your editorial "Where's My Flu Shot?" along with responses to this article and your access to SafeMinds website) I would like to point out YOUR future contribution to the autism epidemic: thousands of children injected with unsafe doses of mercury by unsuspecting parents due to YOUR perpetuation of disinformation and refusal to publish the truth.

I thank God that we do not have to rely on media outlets that are driven by self-interests to decide the validity of the facts; that we can STILL present our cases to a jury; (thanks to the defeat of a stealth rider inserted by Frist and his buddies) an unbiased group of individuals who have no stakes in procuring advertising dollars and can therefore be objective in weighing the evidence and making a determination based on facts.

Journalism was founded upon the highest of principles: reporting based on facts; presenting both sides of a story; an arena where the pursuit of truth is the fundamental goal.

Unfortunately, your paper has proven that it is none of the above.

Kelli Ann Davis
on behalf of Miles Davis
 

Dear Editor,

As one of the parents referred to in "The Politics of Autism" (Dec. 29), I can assure you that none of the families living the nightmare created by injecting mercury into newborns and toddlers are seeking a "scapegoat" as you assert. Rather, we are seeking that the truth be told about what happened to a generation of children when the routine pediatric vaccine schedule increased mercury exposures to obscene levels. Obtaining some truthful reporting on the ongoing scramble by the pharmaceutical industry, politicians, and government regulatory agencies to conceal what happened would also be nice.

The "scientifically untenable" position you try to foist upon Senators Chafee, Collins, and Snowe, who were brave enough to call a spade a spade when someone surreptitiously added the Eli Lilly protection provision to the Homeland Security Act, is better directed toward the Wall Street Journal. Mercury has been recognized for hundreds of years as a potent neurotoxin. With all of the recent press regarding the dangers of exposure to mercury even at very low levels, has the Wall Street Journal nonetheless decided that injected mercury is somehow safer than the inhaled or ingested forms?

Scientific criticisms of the studies chosen by the Wall Street Journal to illustrate the "safety" of thimerosal are numerous and solid yet do not appear in any of your editorials. You fail to include any of the many peer-reviewed journal articles connecting thimerosal to neuronal cell death and rising numbers of children with neurological disorders such as autism and ADHD. As these studies were conducted by independent researchers and not funded by drug companies, perhaps they do not meet your criteria for inclusion.

As the evidence supporting the thimerosal-autism link is growing daily, your pharma-friendly editorials are short-sighted. I suggest you start writing your retractions soon.

Rita C. Shreffler
Nixa, MO
 

I strongly disagree with "The Politics of Autism: Lawsuits and emotion vs. science and childhood vaccines" (Dec. 29). This is a story of politics trumping science, but it's a corruption of government and industry that is preventing mercury-poisoned children from receiving proper medical treatment.

A year ago my son's tests of hair and urine revealed mercury poisoning, verified by three expert sources including HRI+Pfeiffer Treatment Center of Warrenville, Illinois. Now after biomedical treatment he has made an amazing near-recovery from mental and physical illness. His teachers say next year he won't have to be in an autism program.

However, skim Internet listservs such as Yahoo!'s Autism-Mercury list (2,900 members) and you'll discover that other families aren't so lucky. Their children suffer from side effects of toxic heavy metal poisoning and nerve damage, requiring extensive research and expensive, individualized medical care not found locally and not covered by insurance plans. Other children in my son's classes are given inappropriate medications -- Depakote, Clonidine, Risperdal, Paxil -- because traditional physicians don't know to test and treat for mercury toxicity.

Every day more and more physical tests of individual children across the U.S. are revealing toxic levels of mercury. During the 1980s and 1990s employees at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control failed to monitor the ever-increasing amount of neurotoxic mercury injected into children via routine childhood vaccinations. Consequently children received up to 150 times the adult "safe" threshold of mercury in their small bodies.

Lifetime care costs for an autistic child are estimated at $5 to $10 million. The application process to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program is arduous, payouts are rare and cases often take five to ten years to complete. Take a couple hundred thousand children on the ASD spectrum... you do the math. Someone has to pay for it.

Pause now to consider the implications of these revelations and you will understand Sen. Bill Frist's desperate need to protect cronies at the Eli Lilly company from financial liability... at the expense of sick children.

Thousands of peer-reviewed medical studies show how mercury causes neurological damage. Any competent journalist would look beyond one set of epidemiological statistics before writing an editorial. The so-called "Danish Studies" are a fool's-gold standard of medical research, fraught with inappropriate sample populations, deliberate miscalculation and conflicts of interest. The head-circumference study merely spotlights skull swelling from brain inflammation, symptomatic of vaccine injury. And because mercury binds to tissues such as brain and kidneys, the blood tests used in the University of Rochester study are not a reliable indicator of mercury toxicity.

If children aren't being vaccinated at past rates, look to problems at the CDC: its board's conflicts of interest, undue influence by pharmaceutical companies, mishandling of this year's flu epidemic, the increasing incidents of vaccine injury, and failure to acknowledge and study adverse events.

The incidences of vaccine injury are no "rarity" -- look at the 83% of U.S. military personnel who suffered some form of adverse reaction to the anthrax vaccine. Then note that though a judge ordered the military to stop administering anthrax shots, the U.S. Department of Justice then requested the ruling be overturned. A peculiar interpretation of the DOJ mandate allows it to first protect the financial interests pharmaceutical companies rather than the safety of tax-paying citizens.

Ironically the U.S. media displays an attention deficit -- failing to thoroughly examine the convincing evidence of mercury-induced nerve damage. Brevity is expected of television and radio broadcast, but for newspapers and magazines to follow suit is egregious. Print journalists have the time to look at genetic aspects such as the APO-E4 allele, present in some people, which has fewer binding molecules necessary to excrete mercury and other toxic heavy metals, predisposing adults to neurological diseases such as Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer's.

Congress has not had a "full airing" of the Thimerosal issue. Neither have the U.S. Federal Court's Autism Omnibus hearings are in discovery phase and so far rulings have favored children damaged by Thimerosal. The WSJ editorial flogs the "greedy lawyer" cliche for convenience, but the truth is that, outside of parents and advocates, these pioneering lawyers are the best friend an autistic child could have.  Altruism is not forthcoming from the backside-covering CDC and money-worshipping media such as the WSJ.

The story of autism and mercury is testament to the power of greed, hubris, ignorance and denial that is costing this country too many young souls -- one child in 150 here, one in 80 in the UK -- unnecessarily lost to seizure disorders, mental illness, attention deficits and other neurological damage. These children's stories are known not only by their families, but by their caregivers, teachers, classmates, therapists, doctors, neighbors, pastors.

Sen. Bill Frist's so-called "reform" consists of tapping into the NVIC fund for his own purposes and continuing to deny the existence of vaccine injury in families such as my own. This is a moral issue, and the government's mishandling is a national disgrace.

Take a longer look at the science and politics of Thimerosal and autism. American families deserve much better from the Wall Street Journal. Families of vaccine-injured children aren't looking for a get-rich scheme; we're looking for a get-well scheme... for us, and for everyone.

20 STUDIES ON THE ADVERSE EFFECTS OF THIMEROSAL (MERCURY, MERTHIOLATE) ... hundreds more studies exist.

1) Bradstreet J, Geier DA, Kartzinel, JJ, Adams JB, Geier MR.  A case control study of mercury burden in children with autistic spectrum disorders. J Am Phys Surg 2003; 8:76-9.

2) The National Toxicology Program (NTP) within US Dept. of Health and Human Services, an interagency program headquartered at the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) on Thimerosal.  They report: "Poison by ingestion, subcutaneous, intravenous
and possibly other routes."

3) Lowell JA, Burgess S, Shenoy S, Peters M, Howard TK. Mercury poisoning associated with hepatitis-B
immunoglobulin. Lancet 1996; 347:480.

4) Baskin DS, Ngo H, Didenko VV. Thimerosal induces DNA breaks, caspase-3 activation, membrane damage, and cell death in cultured human neurons and fibroblasts. Toxicol Sci 2003; 74:361-8.

5) Heyworth MF, Truelove SC. Problems associated with the use of merthiolate as a preservative in anti-lymphocytic globulin. Toxicology 1979; 12:325-33.

6) Forstrom L, Hannuksela M, Kousa M, et al. Merthiolate hypersensitivity and vaccination. Contact Dermatitis 1980; 6:241-5.

7) Rohyans J, Walson PD, Wood GA, MacDonald WA. Mercury toxicity following merthiolate ear irrigations. J Pediatr 1984; 104:311-13.

8) Kravchenko AT, Dzagurov SG, Chervonskaia GP. Evaluation of the toxic action of prophylactic and therapeutic preparations on cells cultures. Communication III. Revealing the toxic properties of medical biological preparations from the degree of cell damage in continuous cell line L132. Zh Mikrobiol Epidemiol Immunobiol 1983; 3:87-92.

9) Cox NH, Forsyth A. Thimerosal allergy and vaccination reactions. Contact Dermatitis 1988; 18:229-33.

10) Uchida T, Naito S, Kato H, Hatano I, Harashima A, Terada Y, Ohkawa T, Chino F, Eto K. Thimerosal induces toxic reaction in non-sensitized animals.  Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 1994 Jul; 104(3): 296-301.

11) Seal D, Ficker L, Wright P, Andrews V. The case against thimerosal. Lancet 1991; 338:315-6.

12) The Medical Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for thimerosal indicate, "TOXICOLOGY: Poison. Experimental neoplastigen and teratogen. Harmful by inhalation and ingestion.May cause reproductive damage. May be harmful through skin contact."

13) Kiffe M, Christen P, Arni P. Characterization of cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of different compounds in CHO K5 cells with the comet assay (single-cell gel electrophoresis assay). Mutat Res. 2003 June 6; 537(2):151-68.

14) Fagan DG, Pritchard JS, Clarkson TW, Greenwood MR. Organ mercury levels in infants with omphaloceles treated with organic mercurial antiseptic. Arch Dis Child. 1977 Dec; 52(12):962-4.

15) Cinca I, Dumitrescu I, Onaca P, Serbanescu A, Nestorescu B. Accidental ethylmercury poisoning with nervous system, skeletal muscle, and myocardium injury. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1980; 43:143-9.

16) Bernard S, Enayati A, Redwood L, Roger H, Binstock T. Autism: A novel form of mercury poisoning. Med Hypotheses. 2001 Apr; 56(4):462-71.

17) Holmes AS, Blaxill MF, Haley BE. Reduced levels of mercury in first baby haircuts of autistic children. Int J Toxic 2003; 22:277-85.

18) Geier MR, Geier DA. Neurodevelopmental disorders following thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines. Exp Biol Med 2003; 228:660-4

19) Godfrey ME, Wojcik D, Krone CA. Apolipoprotein E genotyping as a potential biomarker for mercury neurotoxicity. J Alzheimers Dis 2003; 5:189-196.

20) Leong CWC, Syed NI, Lorscheider FL. Retrograde degeneration of neurite membrane structural integrity of nerve growth cones following in vitro exposure to mercury. NeuroReport. 2001; 12:733-737.
 

I find that the author of the article "The Politics of Autism" has no intention to review both sides of the issue regarding the connection between autism and mercury.  It is a sad commentary that this person has been sold on the viewpoint of the pharmaceutical companies, the ones that are really reaping enormous profits from the illnesses of our children.  And hand in  hand with those drug companies go the high government officials (Republicans in particular) who are the next  in line to reap the benefits by receiving millions of dollars in campaign funds from the pharmaceutical giants.  Now who's talking politics?  I suggest this author do a little research into the scientific studies that prove a link between  mercury and autism, into the doctors and scientists who work for the NIH and also get paid by the drug companies at the same time to do studies that show no link. The "politics of Autism" article is about as narrow-minded as any article I have ever seen in  published in the Wall Street Journal.  Is it possible this author is receiving a little kick-back from "you know who" for writing it? 

Maurine Meleck, North Augusta, South Carolina.  Grandmother of  Joshua, who has autism.
 

Dear Mr. Eli Lilly Bandit,

Again we meet. I thought you were done with this. You tried it last year, trying to stop autism/thimerosal litigation by writing that little paragraph in the Homeland Security Bill. It was stopped because people are not stupid and do not believe that injecting ethylmercury into babies, kids and even grown-ups, is safe. I am a parent to a child who received most of her vaccines with thimerosal. She cannot talk Mr. Bandit, nor enjoy going out due to the noise, nor understand danger,or have a normal life. We parents want the people of the USA to know that mercury has no place in vaccines. We can back this up with reputable data (see below) and not manipulated "studies". You may have money and powerful media friends, but we have the power of our love for our children and the right to let all know that vaccines need to be safe. So Mr. Bandit have a Happy New Year...read the studies below or rent a movie...Seabiscuit is good, especially when the Biscuit shows The War Admiral that he can win the race...and he does.

Baskin DS, Ngo H, Didenko VV.
Thimerosal induces DNA breaks, caspase-3 activation, membrane damage, and cell death in cultured human neurons and fibroblasts. Toxicol Sci 2003; 74:361-8.

Bernard S, Enayati A, Redwood L, Roger H, Binstock T.
Autism: A novel form of mercury poisoning. Med Hypotheses. 2001 Apr; 56(4):462-71.

Holmes AS, Blaxill MF, Haley BE. Reduced levels of mercury in first baby haircuts of autistic children.
Int J Toxic 2003; 22:277-85.

Geier MR, Geier DA. Neurodevelopmental disorders following thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines.
Exp Biol Med 2003; 228:660-4

Vaccines without thiomersal: why so necessary, why so long coming? van't Veen AJ. Drugs (2001); 61(5):565-72. (11368282)

Iatrogenic exposure to mercury after hepatitis B vaccination in preterm infants. Stajich GV, Lopez GP, Harry SW, Sexson WR. J Pediatr (2000) May; 136(5):679-81. (10802503)

Researchers at M.I.N.D. Institute confirm rise in state's autism rates Artificial factors discounted, explanations for increase still uncertain http://www.californiaaggie.com/_articles/4224.taf

1947 - Article received by Lilly: "No eruptions or reactions have been observed or reported to merthiolate internally, but it may be dangerous to inject a serum containing merthiolate into a patient sensitive to merthiolate."

1948 - Article received by Lilly: "Merthiolate is such a commonly used preservative for biologicals, plasma, cartilage, etc., that it would seem important to determine whether harm would result following its subcutaneous or intravenous injection in skin sensitive individuals."

1950 - New York Academy of Science article, "Mercurials as Antiseptics:"It (merthiolate) is toxic when injected parenterally and therefore cannot be used in chemotherapy."

1963 - Article received by Lilly: "There is another point of practical significance: does the parenteral injection of merthiolate-containing fluids cause disturbances in merthiolate-sensitive patients?" "It is known that persons that are contact sensitive to a drug may tolerate the same medications internally, but it seems advisable to use a preservative other than merthiolate for injections in merthiolate-sensitive people."

8/17/67 - Medical/Science department requests that the claim "non-toxic" on thimerosal labels be deleted in next printing run.

8/29/67 - Draft label changed to "non-irritating to body tissues," non-toxic omitted.

1972 - British Medical Journal reports case of skin burns resulting from the chemical interaction of thimerosal and aluminum. "Mercury is known to act as a catalyst and to cause aluminum to oxidize rapidly, with the production of heat."The manufacturers who supply us with thimerosal have been informed." [Thimerosal is being used in vaccines which also contain aluminum].

1972 - Article received by Lilly: Merthiolate in vaccines caused six deaths? "The symptoms and clinical course of the six patients suggest subacute mercury poisoning."

4/27/76 - Lilly responds to Rexall Drug Company's efforts to place the following warning on Merthiolate product: "Frequent or prolonged use or application to large areas may cause mercury poisoning." Lilly objects to this proposed warning, stating: "We object to the connection of our trademark with the unjustified alarm and concern on the part of the user which the statement is likely to cause? We are not aware of any instance of 'mercury poisoning' after decades of marketing this product. This is because the mercury in the product is organically bound ethylmercury as a completely non-toxic nature, not methylmercury."

1/5/82 FDA's advance notice of proposed rule making regarding thimerosal: "At the cellular level, thimerosal has been found to be more toxic for human epithelial cells in vitro than mercuric chloride, mercuric nitrate, and merbromim (mercurichrom). "It was found to be 35.3 times more toxic for embryonic chick heart tissue than for staphylococcus areus."1950 study showed that thimerosal was no better than water in protecting mice from potential fatal streptococcal infection."
"The Panel concludes that thimerosal is not safe for OTC topical use because of its potential for cell damage if applied to broken skin and its allergy potential. It is not effective as a topical antimicrobial because its bacteriastatic action can be reversed."

4/7/83 - Additional language added to some Lilly labels: "As with any drug, if you are pregnant or nursing a baby, seek the advice of a health professional before using this product."

1991 - Lilly ceases manufacture/sale of thimerosal. Licensing agreements demonstrate continued profits from the product until at least 2010.

12/8/99 Lilly MSDS regarding thimerosal: "Primary Physical & Reproduction Effects: Nervous System and Reproduction Effects" "Effects of exposure include fetal changes.  "Mercury poisoning may occur."  "Exposure in children may cause mild to severe mental retardation... ."  "Hypersensitivity to mercury is a medical condition aggravated by exposure."  CERCLA Hazardous substance? toxic waste disposal.
 

To whom it may concern I am writing this in response to the fact that you have done 2 stories now on the flu shot and autism and the relation to vaccines and autism and Politics of the whole thing well what I would like to say is don’t you think now that the fair thing to do would be get some of the parents points of view on this subject.

I am the Mother of a 6 yr old boy who lives with vaccine injury every day before the age of 2 I had a normal health happy little boy who loved and played and talked by the time my son reached the age of 2 yrs old he had stopped talking stopped playing stopped even knowing when his mother and father were playing with him now here is is truth every time my son got vaccines he ran temps of over 103 the doctors never reported this just told us to give him Tylenol and he would be fine slowly but surly he wasn’t fine and by the time he reached age 2 the child we had been given at birth became non verbal started beating himself in the head repeatedly he couldn’t be taken out of the house unless it was by force and for nearly 3 yrs after this I kept begging doctors to tell me what was wrong with my little boy. I was told I was over reacting or I needed to be more strict with him or that I was over protective and this was just a case of terrible 2s finely at age 5 my son was dx with High functioning autism /asperger tendencies / OCD shortly after that I started to look at what could have happened to this sweet happy loving child that did this to him I found rather quickly that every single shot my little boy received except for 1 shot contained thimerosal a mercury based preservative.

Mercury being one of the most toxic heavy metals known to man. I was horrified to know this and thought I must get him tested for mercury.  My own doctor refused more than once to do the test until I finally forced the issue he didn’t even explain the results when they came back he just faxed them to me.  I had to get someone else to explain that YES MY SON HAD been exposed to mercury and yes his level was high although not in the CDC danger zone but still high enough to cause health problems his level was 4<GL at 6 yrs old where could he have gotten this level if not from his shots he has never been exposed to mercury other then what was in his vaccinations. I also might add that 2 weeks before this test was taken he had been force vaccinated for chicken pox, a vaccination that contains Thimerosal. Please if you plan to do more stories on this subject at least be fair enough to report the parents views on this as well. Thank you for your time.

Always Cody's mom
Mrs. Angela D McDonough
Maryland
 

Dear Editor:

It is puzzling to find yet another piece you published regarding the autism and vaccine connection that gives such blatantly false information.

Clearly you are pursuing the political agenda through your push of the drug company perspective. You have failed to accurately report the facts of the situation without bias. There is undisputable science that has shown neurotoxicity as a direct result of thimerosal exposure. Where have you published such facts?

The drive behind parental demand of accountability is fueled by our desire for accurate, UNBIASED research into the safety of thimerosal and it's use in immunizations. No such research has been done. There is not one piece of federal research on thimerosal safety.

It is wreckless at best to report, "attention to that affliction [autism] is having the unintended and dangerous consequence of limiting vaccines for all children." Further, your quote, "This is a story of politics and lawyers trumping science and medicine" is total baffoonery. There is clear science behind the thimerosal connection. I urge you to not only read, but to report the findings of Dr. Mark Geier.

In your piece you scandalously accuse the "small but vocal group" of scaring parents out of vaccinating their children against such deadly diseases as whooping cough. How long has it been since a case of whooping cough presented a serious threat to life? It is far more dangerous to inject a child with 25 mcg (or more) of mercury in a given day than it is for that same child to have pertussis!

The 2002 University of Rochester study which compared the blood mercury levels of infants who had received vaccines is a flawed study. Mercury cannot accurately be measured by blood level. The study sample used was only forty children and did not account for where the mercury settled in the body once it traveled out of the blood stream. The study did not measure blood levels early enough and did not prove the mercury was excreted. Mercury excretion by biliary transport takes much longer than the study protocol allowed.

The Denmark study is wrought with conflict of interest, data loss, and a host of issues that make it's results incompatible with American vaccination safety, or any vaccine safety for that matter.

Diagnostic criteria as read in the DSM-IV manual on autism in no way allow for a mild learning disabilities to be misdiagnosed as autism. Your suggestion of such goes to prove the ignorance with which this piece was both written and published.

Finally, to add insult to ignorance you report that, "Vaccine makers stopped using thimerosal a few years ago," and that is totally false; just an absolute lie. There is still mercury containing thimerosal in almost all of the vaccines manufactured today. There are still 25 mcg of thimerosal in most of the flu vaccines currently recommended for children as young as six months old and adults. In the pediatric recommended list of vaccines you can still find plenty of opportunity for mercury exposure through the manufacturer's own loophole called, "trace amounts".

As the parent of a vaccine injured autistic child I demand the right to ensure my child has quality healthcare, and to have him compensated for the horrific loss of quality of life he has suffered at the hands of those who should have had his best interest at heart as well. Unfortunately, the all-mighty dollars demands that my child be forced into the "acceptable loss" category. Well, this small but noisy parent will NEVER allow that to happen to another family, not on my watch.

Report the facts, only the facts and nothing but the facts.

Adrienne Rousseau
Vice President
National Autism Association
 

To the Editor:

Your editorial "Politics of Autism" is true in only one regard, Dr.Bill Frist is playing politics with families devastated by mercury preserved vaccines. Could this have something to do with the fact that he is the senate's second largest recipient of drug lobby money. You claim that parents are ignoring science. Go to the
medical search engine "Pubmed" and type in thimerosal. You will get 943 references to peer reviewed medial papers. All of these papers deal with the toxicity of thimerosal. The only science that defends thimerosal are the four cover-up papers published by pediatrics this year and the paper written by Pichichero (University of Rochester).  Pediatrics receives substantial advertising revenue from the drug companies, and their owner, the American Academy of pediatric, played an instrumental role in tripling the amount of mercury children received in vaccines. Pichichero has been payrolled by at least 12 drug companies. In Pichichero's paper, he refers to nmol/liter as being parts per billion (ppb). As a chemist, I know that nmol/liter needs to be divided by 5 to convert it to ppb. His numbers were off by a factor of five and none of the expert peer reviewers even caught this?  We know ethyl mercury doesn't stay in the blood, it goes to the brain and other organs. His paper is totally misinterpreted. The pediatric papers can best be described as "pure and simple" fraud. I could fill an entire page of your newspaper telling you why.

I think it's amazing that a group of parents could get a provision removed from the Homeland (in)Security Bill after it had been signed off on by all three branches of the government. It's even more amazing that the Wallstreet Journals editorial page, by use of lies and inaccurate information, has now dedicated itself to try to make us look bad. Thanks for the free publicity!

P.S. I dare you to print this.

Michael Wagnitz
Chemist, Trace Metals Analysis, Medical Toxicology
Madison, WI
 

The WSJ reporter minimizes the manifestations of autism. Autism has greater negative physiological consequences than impeding social interaction. Children with autism: cannot talk; cannot learn as other children; have immune system damage; have damage to multiple bodily systems, which can cause organ damage; experience daily pain such as to the head and gastrointestinal system; cannot play productively; cannot eat as other children; cannot communicate needs or pain effectively; are trapped in a private maze of multiple sensory deficits, anomalies, confusion and fear; lack liberty, independence, self-empowerment, and decision-making capabilities; are prey to institutionalization and sexual abuse, etc.

Parents neither want nor need a scapegoat for what has befallen their children -- parents need Reality -- a greater reality than that which was provided them in the offices of pediatricians who had gross misinformation trickled down to them. A greater reality than that which the current Republican administration is willing to provide. A reality that will admit to the true root of the condition, and, therefore, foster legitimate and effective treatments to alleviate their children's pervasive suffering.

Representive Dick Armey and Senator William Frist conspired to surreptitiously insert legislation into the Homeland Security Bill a year ago that protected wealthy pharmaceutical interests, which make large political campaign contributions. They slipped in the rider at the "11th hour," when other legislators voting on the Homeland Security Bill would not have time to read the full legislation on which they were voting. And so, that is why an agreement was made to take it out until a full airing of the issue could be accomplished. Senators Snowe, Collins, and Chaffee courageously protected American children and the integrity of the judicial system by their taking a stand against a stealthy legislative move motivated by self-interest.

One need look no farther than the Bush Administration to see how many members have had ties with Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical manufacturer that held the patent for Thimerosal -- even George Bush, Sr. Perhaps this is a reason why the Administration does not take a stand to protect American children. Perhaps large campaign contributions from the pharmaceutical industry is another reason that the Republican administration does not take a stand.

The science implicating Thimerosal stands. There are approximately 5000 articles in the National Library of Medicine raising red flags with regard to the use of mercury products. There are current studies published in peer-reviewed journals. Warnings, which also were raised with the patent holder of the vaccine preservative, go back decades - prior to the autism epidemic. Better diagnosis has been ruled out. There has been a true autism epidemic. And there has NEVER been a recorded genetic epidemic. When additional vaccines were added to the childhood vaccine schedule, care was NOT taken to ensure that FDA guidelines for mercury were followed. Consequently, alarming excesses of mercury were injected into immunologically and neurologically vulnerable infants - an environmental trigger bypassing the normal defenses of the body - causing neurological harm and a set-up for further immunological harm.

If mercury were not culpable with regard to the autism epidemic, then children would not experience recovery attributable to removing the mercury from their bodies. That just makes sense.

If mercury were not a health hazard, then legislators and others would not warn the public about power plant emissions and consuming fish. That just makes sense.

Maybe Frist and his wealthy corporate cronies should try to make sense while they're trying to take dollars.

As for the parents of children with autism, they would gladly give up all of the dollars, lawyers, and lawsuits in the world just to have a healthy child.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Teri Small
 

Dear Sir:
I am writing in response to the article "The Politics of Autism." My name is Anne Ferioli and I am the mother of 3 boys with Autism. I am also a Parent Advocate for children with special needs. Words cannot express how disappointed I am with this bias editorial. I think the biggest misrepresentation is the quote "a small but vocal group of parents." There is nothing small about the thousands of families who believe that vaccines have injured their children. In fact, besides my 3 children there are 6 other children in walking distance from my home who's parents feel the same way. All these children are the same age. I can tell you as well that the epidemic is not from better awareness. How could you not be aware of a toddler/preschooler, who cannot speak, acts as if he is deaf, is preoccupied for hours at a time with a piece of lint in the carpet and then spends the rest of his day bagging his head into the floor? Tell me sir, who would have missed this? Oh, And I forgot to add that these children were perfectly normal until about 18 months old. Some speaking in complete sentences. Playing with siblings and all the other things that children do. I simply ask that the next time your paper wants to do a story on autism, you go to the source. The families!

Anne Ferioli
Franklin, MA
 

Dear Mr. Pierce,

I'm Jim Donnelly, the father of an eleven year old autistic boy named Alexander. I must first tell you that I found the comments you copied from the Wall Street Journal quite disturbing. It's clear that you haven't been allowed the privilege of knowing all of the facts concerning autism and thimerosal.

While many of us are not the fans of frivolous lawsuits, it's important to remember that part of our country's foundation is based on the justice system. Whenever you begin inserting special interest legislation to protect a select few, you undermine its credibility. There are clear liabilities in these cases. 750,000 autistic children who can't speak for themselves should be allowed their day in court.

One misconception you have is that there is no evidence of a link between thimerosal and autism. There is, in fact, many reputed studies that demonstrate the probability. Research studies conducted at the University of Kentucky, the Genetic Centers of America, the Autism Research Institute, and even the CDC, among others, have found the evidence. To profess that no link has been found is either ignorance of the science and research articles or to blatantly lie to the general public. Mercury has been of concern for many years. Why would one think you could inject it into a child with a limited immune system when it's so dangerous to ingest it orally? I would suggest to you that there's a huge difference between ingestion where mercury goes through the digestive, biliary, and natural excretion systems versus injecting directly into blood where it bypasses all of the body's natural defense systems. There is no science demonstrating that organic mercury compounds are any safer than inorganic.

For that matter, there has been only one safety study conducted on thimerosal. It was administered to 22 meningitis patients in an Indianapolis hospital in 1928 as an anti-bacterial to measure whether it would have an effect. There was no effect, the patients died as expected, so it was deemed safe.

While the autism community is grateful for the genetics research, it is important to note that genetics don't cause epidemics. The rate of autism has grown consistently with the introduction of thimerosal-containing vaccines in perfect correlation for 61 years. In 2002, a study was conducted on the unvaccinated population in the United Kingdom. Among that population (17% of the UK's total population) there was only one case of autism (that child's mother had numerous mercury amalgams in her teeth). These statistics alone are cause for concern.

You refer to the Denmark study. That study is inapplicable to the U.S. because their children are on a completely different vaccine schedule. The study was altered by changing the sample population three times throughout the study, thus compromising the study's integrity. The autism rates indeed dropped there, so they added thousands of population subjects in order to manipulate the numbers in a fashion that altered the final results in the favor of the vaccine manufacturer that sponsored that study.

While citing the University of Rochester study of blood levels of mercury in vaccinated children, it's important to understand that mercury cannot be measured by blood levels outside a 24 hour time frame. Any physician or engineering student who paid attention in class can tell you that mercury attaches itself to tissue and does not reside in blood. This study was either conducted by someone unqualified to reach a valid conclusion or it was simply orchestrated for publicity purposes in order to mislead the general public and media.

As far as the brain growth study is concerned, it's important to note that while vaccinations themselves haven't been demonstrated to cause abnormal brain growth, mercury has. When mercury comes in contact with the brain tissue, it causes an expansion of the glial cells, which results in abnormal brain growth.

The rate of autism has, until recently increased. Since usage of thimerosal has been reduced, the rates of incidence in autism seem to have leveled off. In time, this will demonstrate even further that thimerosal has a significant role in autism incidence.

Please understand that most parents of autistic children are not assuming an anti-vaccine position. We simply want to see them manufactured and administered in a safer manner than currently utilized. The issue isn't vaccines. It's the mercury used in them. The only other thing we seek is to give our children a fighting chance at life.

When you mention Congress' attempt to "fix" the problem through a liability provision, you missed an important point. The means they used to make that happen. When Bill Frist and Dick Armey added the language to the Homeland Security Bill, they furtively added it in the dark of night without the knowledge and approval of members of the House or Senate, hoping it would be voted in without debate or detection. If this legislation is so legitimate, then why would they have to resort to such corruptible means?

I realize that you simply want to protect the wealth of the wealthy. But must it be at the cost of helpless children? What Frist and the Senate need to make a priority in January is curbing this terrible disorder and enable the already injured children to live some semblance of a life that most of us take for granted. The three Senators you accused of failing to honor their side if the deal have been unable to do so because Frist has, on a number of other occasions, attempted to push the same language through using other contemptuous means.

Sincerely,
Jim Donnelly
Autism One.
 

The December 29th editorial from the Wall Street Journal “The Politics of Autism: Lawsuits and emotion vs. science and childhood vaccines” is a misrepresentation of the actual facts surrounding the debate concerning autism and exposure to thimerosal, a mercury preservative used in some but not all infant vaccines. Instead of this being a “story of politics and lawyers trumping science and medicine” as alleged, it would be more accurately described as a story of how the pharmaceutical industry uses the media and politics to accomplish its goals.
One must ask, “Why does the Wall Street Journal feel it necessary to pick on families of children with autism and a small research advocacy group, Safe Minds? The answer is simple, money.

When an FDA official reported that ethyl mercury from thimerosal was able to cross the blood brain barrier resulting in appreciable mercury content in the brain and other well respected doctors opined that exposure to mercury containing vaccines, in addition to already high levels of exposure to environmental mercury, may result in adverse neurological outcomes they began to worry. This coupled with the exposure of internal documents obtained during the process of discovery from Eli Lilly, who held the patent on thimerosal, that the product was not safe to administer to dogs, but nonetheless was promoted for use in childhood vaccines was enough for them to rush to their allies in Washington, or should I say largest campaign contribution recipients, for help. The result, a rider added at the 11th hour to last year’s popular Homeland Security Bill giving Eli Lilly immunity from any product liability related to thimerosal.

Fortunately, many in congress recognized that the rider had nothing to do with homeland security and demanded that it be removed until the issue could be reviewed. The claim that these Senators failed to honor their side of the agreement to address the issue in the next session of congress is wrong. In fact, on April 9, 2003, the Senate Health, Education Labor and Pensions Committee, chaired by Gregg (R-NH) was scheduled to meet to work on a compromise bill agreed to by Senate Majority Leader Frist (R-TN). But before the start of that meeting, lobbyists from the vaccine manufacturers met with and convinced Senator Gregg to postpone the meeting indefinitely. Senator Gregg went on the record admitting that he aborted the committee meeting because of the concerns of the vaccine manufacturers. To suggest that Senators Snowe, Collins and Chafee were at fault is a misrepresentation of actual events and warrants retraction.

Additionally, the editorial wrongly claims that thimerosal has never been linked to any health problems. A quick literature search finds hundreds of studies that document numerous incidences of injury from thimerosal exposure and the few suggested in the editorial as being evidence disproving such an association have been highly criticized and when reviewed were actually found to support a link. One such study published in the November, 2003 issue of Pediatrics has contains faulty methodology and manipulation of data. In fact an earlier version of the study found statistically significant and dose dependant associations between exposures to mercury containing vaccines and several adverse outcomes including neurodevelopmental delays in general, speech and language delays and ADD/ADHD. Investigators kept the results secret and changed the data and methodology in order to achieve the results desired by vaccine manufacturers. This was only revealed when Safe Minds obtained minutes of a secret meeting on the initial results through the Freedom of Information Act. One participant even claimed that based on the results, he would not allow his own baby grandson to receive the vaccines containing thimerosal and the lead author of the study, an employee of vaccine manufacturer Glaxo Smith Kline has refused press inquiries about these charges.

In addition, independent researchers, at the behest of the U.S. Congress, have analyzed the same database for the relationship between mercury from thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines and adverse neurodevelopmental disorders, and found an overwhelming epidemiological confirmation of a direct-link related to increasing exposure to mercury from thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines.

The Rochester study as well was highly criticized by three independent physicians and researchers in the following issue of Lancet. The sample size of 33 children was too small to establish safety claims and the mercury levels in the blood were not obtained 3 hours after the exposure to the vaccine when the levels would be at their highest, but instead days and weeks later when the levels had now dropped below EPA’s level of concern. One reviewer using pharmacokinetic modeling was able to extrapolate the data back to peak levels and found that mercury levels had in fact breeched safety guidelines. This coupled with the fact that the lead author, in previous publications but not this one, acknowledged financial ties to a number of vaccine manufacturers including Eli Lilly, casts further doubt on their research findings.

And lastly the highly touted Denmark study cited in the editorial as being the best evidence to date that there is no connection between thimerosal and autism is also highly suspect. The Danish autism registry allows 10 to 25% of the autism cases to be lost from its records each year with the net effect being that the older cases which occurred when thimerosal vaccines were administered in Denmark are lost. Controlling for this lost of records results in a higher number of autism cases during the time frame when thimerosal containing vaccines were used results in data that supports the thimerosal autism link. Again, the author of this investigation failed to acknowledge his employment with the manufacturer and promoter of vaccines in Denmark.

While the ramifications of damage to a generation of children from the needless exposure to mercury from infant vaccines and the accompanying liability is a big pill for the pharmaceutical industry to swallow, sweeping the facts under the rug will and running to congress for protection after the fact, only exacerbate the problem. Public confidence in vaccine safety will only prevail when the pharmaceutical companies, the media and congress deal openly and truthfully with American parents. Congress must address this in a manner that brings justice to injured children, and ensures that all vaccines, both voluntary as well as those required by law are safe and effective. Extending further liability protections to industry takes away the necessary incentives to accomplish that goal.

Lyn Redwood RN, MSN
President, Safe Minds
 

I am very disappointed in your sloppy analysis and
reporting in your "Three Senators" article on December
30th. The article claims that Thimerosal has never
been linked to any health problems and yet all test
subjects in the last study of Thimerosal done in 1930
died of complication. The CDC and FDA testified to
congress that they could not prove or disprove that
Thimerosal doesn't cause neurological damage. There
has also been study after study showing neurological
damage from exposure to Thimerosal.
Thimerosal was voluntarily removed from childhood
vaccines in 1999. Doctors were not forced to remove
the vaccines from their supplies, therefore the ill
effects continued to adversely effect those vaccinated
until those supplied were expended. The CDC then added  the flu vaccine to childhood vaccination schedule, so there has never been a year to date where exposure to Thimerosal in childhood vaccines was not possible.
Thimerosal is still in many vaccines for no other
reason then to save on manufacturing and storage
costs. It adds absolutely nothing to the effectiveness
of any vaccine. The pharmaceutical companies can
remove this preservative, and choose not to because of
protection from the government from liability as well
as protection from competitive forces to make a safer
product, also granted to vaccine manufactures by their
primary marketing and customer referral source, the
United States government.
 
Charles Allen
Round Hill, VA

Dear Editor,

I believe you omitted a footnote at the bottom of your "Politics of Autism" article stating, "This article is a paid advertisement from Eli Lilly and Senator Frist". That is the only thing that would make sense in you publishing such a slanted piece of journalism.

Autism used to be a very rare disorder affecting 1 in 10,000 children. Over the past several years its numbers have risen in epidemic proportions. Now 1 in 150 children are affected, and 1 in 6 children in this great nation of ours are affected by some sort of learning disability. The numbers in the UK are as high as 1 in 80 children affected with autism. This is not politics, this is pure fact, an epidemic growing in rampant numbers, a horror story that should be making headlines on every newspaper in America. You should be ashamed of yourself implying that the link between autism and thimerosal has been dismissed by "study after study". If you had spent the time to visit www.factsformedia.com, www.safeminds.org, and done some real reporting, you would have found information showing how flawed these studies are. I suggest you do some real investigating and find time to read some real data collected, such as that by Dr Geier and Geier entitled "An assessment of the impact of thimerosal on childhood neurodevelopemental disorders" published in Pediatric Rehabilitation for starters. I urge you to visit these websites and speak to the experts on this issue. The facts speak for themselves.
I have a child who at age one and a half, had a huge vocabulary, was starting to string three words together, could sing songs, very bright, early talker, normal play, normal development, you name it, he was fine in every way. Within a few weeks after his DPT, he had lost all language, had lost all play skills, did not understand one word said to him, and spent most of his days screaming, crying, spinning around in circles and engaging in repetitive movements and purposeless activities. His world became one of total confusion, chaos and pain. To this day he is severely autistic and will need care his entire life. In addition to the horrors of autism, he has severe allergies, and severe gastrointestinal and immunological issues.

Do you know what it is like to not be able to sleep at night, staring at the ceiling, worrying about what will happen to your child when he is older and you are no longer on this earth to take care of him? That is what this is about, parents trying to do the best for their children, parents trying to prevent this from happening to other children, parents trying to get the government to do the right thing for these kids. Politics should be the furthest thing from my mind in raising an autistic child, but publications like yours unfortunately make it a part of my day.

A few weeks ago, it made major news that tuna fish is not safe for pregnant mothers, it was on all the news. One can of tuna fish contains roughly 15mcg of mercury. One trip to the pediatrician however can add up to 62.5mcg injected into a baby!!! That's not news though? It's not news that after a child has been fully vaccinated, he has received 125 times the "safe level" of mercury as stated by the FDA? How on earth do you decide what is newsworthy? I urge you to go back and do a real piece on the real story on autism, it's rising numbers, the very real link with thimerosal, and leave the politics out of it!! Perhaps then, you will be able to make some sense out of it, and see the article you should have published.

Sincerely,
Valerie Boergesson
 

As the parent of an autistic child, the title alone is offensive and disrespectful. While raising an autistic child, the last thing a parent wants to attend to is politics. All the while it is an issue parents are often forced to deal with from education to civil rights for their children. The Homeland Security Bill was more than just a fight over thimerosal.... but a fight for our Children’s Civil Rights. Autistic children are forgotten and they are looked at as expendable in our education system, our heath care system and in our society. As to whether thimerosal, actually causes autism or not, the author would have us believe that it has been proven that thimerosal, doesn't cause autism. Each piece of evidence that says thimerosal does not cause autism, a new piece of evidence keeps the hypothesis going but the author fails to address why our medical society asked the vaccine industry to remove thimerosal from the vaccines. It hasn't been proven one way or the other...no one can positively state thimerosal doesn't contribute to autism. Another part of the vaccine controversy, that the author doesn’t mention is the MMR controversy and how it affects our children. That is why the senators asked for hearings and more study. It is also impulsive for someone to assume that parents of autistic children are against vaccines and even worse accuse them of being money hungry. As a parent of an autistic child I am not against vaccines…. but vaccines must also be safe for our kids and as for money, well all the money in the world wont change my sons autism. However autism research, including the research into vaccine safety, could one day provide the world with a cure for autism. Actually the author did what most of our politicians do provide you with half the truth using half the information.

Richard Morrell
 

Goodmorning.

We just finished reading Greg Pierce's 'Inside Politics' article in regards to the vaccine and autism debate. We suggest your writer's do more research into the autism/vaccine debate. We have a son that was developing normal until he received his 18 month vaccines and he slipped into a regressive state of autism. We have spent the past 3 years researching and looking for the "why" to this regression of development. We had been skeptical of vaccinations when he received them, asked many questions, was familiar with the vaccine/autism debate before because my wife taught in special education and had other parents make the same claim. We were parents that wanted to trust our pediatrician and their knowledge. Now we regret that decision to not follow our gut instinct and not have him vaccinated. Why did we do it, because of the pressure from doctors, and the governments "mandates" that children be vaccinated. We do not claim that all children will have these reactions to vaccines. We do believe there are children who are susceptible because of "unknown" allergies, chronic ear infections or other autoimmune illnesses that should NOT be vaccinated. We do believe that it is against our rights to "mandate" all children be vaccinated. It is a decision that should be left to parents to decide with out all the pressures. We have not had our second son receive all his vaccinations and will decide when and which ones we want him to have. Until you personally experience and watch your own child slip away after being vaccinated and deal with the daily struggles of the vaccination damage you need to educate yourself. The vaccination industry is money driven. There are safer ways to keep our children from contracting deadly diseases which the vaccines are "suppose" to protect them from. It seems criminal to continue to vaccinate young infants and children with vaccines when they are first born and their immune systems are developing. Vaccinations "could" be made safer without all the preservatives, single dose vials, and no thimerosal. Infants and children should not be receiving multi-dose vaccines until they are at least 3 years of age and their immune systems can develop. In addition, it is criminal that infants and children receive 2, 3 even 4 vaccines of toxic injections into their tiny bodies for "safety and mass at large". The people conducting and funding studies to look at safety issues with vaccines often have a conflict of interest and are funded by the vaccine companies or close affiliates. Of course safety issues will not be uncovered. Autism is not being better diagnosed, it is being inflicted on our children by mass immunization mandates, criminal acts of early immunization of our children, over use of prescriptions that tear away at children's stomach and intestine lining, thimerosal and other toxic preservatives used in vaccines. The vaccine/autism debate is not political to parents and the children damaged by vaccines, it is PERSONAL!!!

Frank and Kimberly Meese