GOVERNMENT'S DEFENSE OF MERCURY IN VACCINES SHAKEN BY WITHDRAWAL OF EXPERT REPORTS
 

GOVERNMENT'S DEFENSE OF MERCURY IN VACCINES SHAKEN BY WITHDRAWAL OF EXPERT
REPORTS


PRESS RELEASE CONTACTS: For Immediate CoMeD President [Rev. Lisa K. Release
Sykes (Richmond, VA) 804-364-8426] July 13, 2008 CoMeD Sci. Advisor [Dr.
King (Lake Hiawatha, NJ) 973-263-4843]


WASHINGTON, DC - In the United States Court of Federal Claims, National
Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, the contention by the Department of
Health and Human Services (DHHS), that mercury in vaccines does not cause
autism, has suffered an unexpected setback. In a June 27, 2008 Autism
Omnibus Proceeding (OAP) conference, attorneys for the DHHS announced that
they were withdraw-ing two key written reports and any statements which
relied on those reports. Those key reports, written by two world-renowned
toxicologists (Dr. Laszlo Magos, formerly from the Medical Research Council
Laboratories, England, and Dr. Thomas Clarkson, from the University of
Rochester, Rochester, NY USA), were the toxicological pillars underpinning
the government's claim that Thimerosal does not cause autism.

On July 3, 2008, the three OAP Special Masters recorded that they had
granted the DHHS' request to withdraw the expert reports of Drs. Magos and
Clarkson. In addition, their court order[1] stated: ". respondent would be
permitted to withdraw any reliance on those two expert reports, and that we
would not consider those reports at all in resolving those test cases."

Ironically, though Drs. Magos and Clarkson were expected to testify to the
safety of Thimerosal in vaccines, their previous publications clearly
document its significant toxicity. For example, Dr. Clarkson, working under
a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), essentially declared
that organic mercurial antiseptics, including Thimerosal, should be heavily
restricted or withdrawn, "as the fact that mercury readily penetrates intact
membranes and is highly toxic seems to have been forgotten" in a
peer-reviewed study published in 1977.[2]

With the recent publication of studies proving a link between Thimerosal
exposure and autism, the current exodus of experts who are willing to
testify for the DHHS that Thimerosal does not cause autism appears to be
escalating.

Tellingly, Dr. Bernadine Healy, the former director of the National
Institutes of Health, also recently said: "I think the government or certain
public health officials in the government have been too quick to dismiss the
concerns of these f amilies without studying the population that got sick."

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[1] "AUTISM MASTER FILE - ORDER CONCERNING THEORY 2 GENERAL CAUSATION
REBUTTAL"

http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/sites/..._08_autism.pdf

[2] Fagan DG, Pritchard JS, Clarkson TW, Greenwood MR. Organ mercury levels
in infants with omphaloceles treated with organic mercurial antiseptic.
Arch. Dis. in Childhood 1977; 52: 962-964.