PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release: March 20, 2006

Contact: Rita Shreffler, NAA (Nixa, MO) 417-818-9030 Wendy Fournier, NAA (Portsmouth, RI) 401-632-7523

National Autism Association Supports Congressional Action to Investigate Vaccine/Autism Link; CDC Considered Poor Choice to Conduct Thimerosal Research

Congress urges inquiry into injuries from mercury-containing vaccines as CDC recommends additional mercury exposure through aggressive flu vaccine schedule for pregnant women and children

Nixa, MO – The National Autism Association (NAA) today expressed support for a Congressional request that the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) conduct research on the connection between vaccines containing mercury and the epidemic of neurological disorders plaguing children in the U.S. In a letter to NIEHS director David Schwartz, MD, eight Congressional and Senate leaders stated that any relevant studies conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) could be viewed with “much skepticism.” The full letter is available here.

The letter to NIEHS was released to the public following a study by Mark Geier, MD and David Geier published earlier this month in the peer-reviewed Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons showing that reduced exposure to mercury through pediatric vaccines in recent years corresponds with decreased rates of neurodevelopmental disorders including autism.

Despite this most recent study further confirming the devastating effects of vaccines containing thimerosal (mercury), last month the CDC re-intensified mercury exposure by injection, recommending flu shots for children two through five years of age. In 2004, as most pediatric shots became available without thimerosal, the CDC recommended the influenza vaccine for pregnant women and infants aged six through 23 months. Most flu vaccines contain 12.5 to 25 micrograms of mercury, considered safe by the Environmental Protection Agency for adults weighing between 275 and 550 pounds.

“The CDC has ensured an annual bolus dose of mercury for children from womb to kindergarten,” said NAA board chair Claire Bothwell. “Deliberately increasing exposure to a known neurotoxin calls this agency’s motives into question. The NIEHS is a much preferable choice for conducting the relevant studies. Not only is the CDC unable to objectively research injuries to children from mercury-containing vaccines, they themselves should be the subject of an investigation for dereliction of responsibility in allowing an entire generation of American children to be grossly overexposed to mercury by injection. Every parent in this country should be outraged at this medical and moral travesty.”


 

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