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Thimerosal Truth



 
 
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  #1  
Old January 31st 09, 05:52 AM posted to misc.health.alternative,misc.kids.health,talk.politics.medicine,misc.headlines,misc.kids
Jan Drew
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,707
Default Thimerosal Truth

http://www.thecre.com/quality/2005/2...f_quality.html

Thursday, June 16, 2005
Why Won't the CDC Allow Access to the Vaccine Safety Datalink?

Memo to CDC: We're not getting our money's worth
David Kirby
May 23, 2005

Can mercury in vaccines cause autism in children? This hotly disputed
question will only burn brighter as more biological evidence surfaces to
suggest a link. But a definitive answer might take years. Meanwhile, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sitting on a
multi-million-dollar database - paid for by you and me - that could probably
resolve this contretemps within weeks.

They have the data. We paid for the data. Yet we cannot see the data. The
information is kept under lock and key within the massive health agency --
as jealously guarded as nuclear secrets.

The CDC tells us that they have looked at the data exhaustively and found
"no evidence of harm." They implied that their own scientists are perfectly
capable of analyzing the data, thank you very much, and outside researchers
cannot be trusted to independently verify their analyses, nor to protect the
confidentiality of patients whose numbers they would be crunching.

But, as any high school student can tell you, the replication of a study is
the hallmark of all good science. Without access to the raw data originally
used by the CDC researchers, it is impossible to verify their work. All we
can do is trust that they got it right.

The CDC, which has budgeted nearly $200 million to operate the Vaccine
Safety Datalink, spent four years analyzing data from children who received
varying amounts of thimerosal in their vaccines. The study went through five
different permutations before being published in November, 2003. Early study
"generations," which were never meant to see the light of day, showed highly
elevated, statistically significant increased risks for autism and other
disorders among the kids receiving the most mercury.

But by the time the study was published, most of these associations had
somehow disappeared entirely.

Only two outside researchers, Mark and David Geier, have managed to gain
access to the raw CDC data. They faced daunting hurdles to get into the CDC
computer center, and nearly crippling software malfunctions once they were
inside. But among the data they did manage to mine, they reportedly found
highly elevated risks for autism among children in the highest mercury
exposure group.

So we now have two extremely different interpretations of the same data. It
is way past time that the CDC allow a third team - outside researchers
completely acceptable to all parties involved in this dispute - into the
database to conduct any analyses they see fit. (Patients names are removed
from the data, making it exceedingly hard for researchers to identify
anyone, even if they desired, which is extremely unlikely in itself).

It sounds reasonable, it sounds nice. But don't hold your breath. The CDC is
hardly issuing engraved invitations to come trawl its mainframes, despite a
harshly written report earlier this year from the Institute of Medicine. The
IOM complained of CDC foot dragging, and even insolence, on this matter, and
suggested that vaccine officials at the health agency seek "legal counsel."
Why? Because the original datasets of children used by the government have,
as they say, gone missing. (Actually, the official explanation was that they
"were not archived in a standard fashion.") The intentional loss or
destruction of taxpayer funded data or datasets is a violation of the
Federal Data Quality Act. It is a felony, and someone could go to jail for
it.

Meanwhile, the data just sit there. Our data, not theirs. CDC officials
insist they have an "open mind" on this issue, and that thimerosal has not
been ruled out as a possible cause of autism and other disorders. But they
also insist that the vaccine safety database yielded no evidence of harm.

If that is true, then why are they so reluctant to let someone else in to
verify this claim? I cannot answer that question, because the CDC is not
talking to me. But I do know that people with nothing to hide are
unencumbered by doubts of what others will find if they rifle through their
closet.

If the data can prove that injecting a known neurotoxin into infants at
levels up to 125 times over federal safety limits was a safe and sane thing
to do, then why isn't the CDC having an open house for all researchers worth
their salt to come on down and have a look-see for themselves?

Without access to the raw data, parents who support the thimerosal theory -
and their allies in Congress, academia and law - are falling back on other
recent studies that show a possible link between mercury and autism. They
may not have the epidemiology on their side, yet, but the mounting evidence
emerging from the fields of biology and toxicology is becoming too urgent to
ignore. Recent published studies have shown:

+ Autistic children retain mercury at much higher rates than non-autistic
kids.

+ Autistic children lack certain sulfur-based proteins that bind to heavy
metals and remove them from the body.

+ Autistic children have a dysfunctional immune profile generally consistent
with mercury toxicity.

+ The rate of increase in reported autism cases peaked between 1987 and
1992, the same years that new mercury-containing vaccines were added to the
U.S. schedule.

+ Mice with autoimmune disorders react horrifically to mercury exposure from
vaccines, whereas typical mice of the same species do not.

+ In primates, mercury from vaccines was more likely to become trapped in
the brain than mercury from fish.

+ Children who live near mercury spewing power plants have an elevated risk
of developing autism.

These are all intriguing, to be sure. But what we really need is to get our
hands on the raw CDC data - our data.

David Kirby is author of "Evidence of Harm" (St. Martin's Press)
www.evidenceofharm.com

http://www.whale.to/v/elililly.html

http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDai...4-015555-8479r

"The (National Institutes of Health)-funded study ... found that thimerosal,
best known for its use as an ethylmercury-based preservative in infant
vaccines and pregnancy shots, is actually more toxic to the brain than
methylmercury."

Thiomersal (INN), commonly known in the United States as thimerosal,
(C9H9HgNaO2S) is a mercury-containing (approximately 49% mercury by weight)
organic compound (organomercurial) used as an antiseptic and antifungal
agent.

It was developed and registered under the trade name Merthiolate in 1929 by
the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company, and has been used as a
preservative in vaccines, immune globulin preparations, skin test antigens,
antivenoms, ophthalmic and nasal products, and tattoo inks.

The compound is being phased out from most childhood vaccinations by
packaging the vaccines in single-dose vials, which eliminates the need for
bacteriostatics like thiomersal.


Stability
Stable. May degrade in sunlight. Incompatible with strong acids, strong
bases, strong oxidizing agents, iodine, heavy metal salts.


Toxicology
Thiomersal is a very toxic compound which is harmful by inhalation and
ingestion (hazard symbol T+). It is a neoplastigen and a teratogen.
Thiomersal is also dangerous for the environment (hazard symbol N). For more
safety information on how to handle thiomersal, consult an MSDS

Thiomersal causes susceptible bacteria to autolyze (break down their own
cells with self-produced enzymes) via an unknown mechanism.[citation needed]
In the body, it is metabolized to ethylmercury (C2H5Hg+) and
thiosalicylate.[1]


http://www.ncirs.usyd.edu.au/facts/f-thiomersal.html

==

Medical News Today
Thimerosal, found in childhood vaccines, can increase the risk of
autism-like damage in mice
09 Jun 2004

A new study indicates that postnatal exposure to thimerosal, a mercury
preservative commonly used in a number of childhood vaccines, can lead to
the development of autism-like damage in autoimmune disease susceptible
mice. This animal model, the first to show that the administration of
low-dose ethylmercury can lead to behavioral and neurological changes in
the developing brain, reinforces previous studies showing that a genetic
predisposition affects risk in combination with certain environmental
triggers. The study was conducted by researchers at the Jerome L. and Dawn
Greene

Infectious Disease Laboratory at the Mailman School of Public Health,
Columbia University. Over the past 20 years, there has been a striking
increase--at least ten-fold since 1985--in the number of children
diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. Genetic factors alone cannot
account for this rise in prevalence. Researchers at the Mailman School,
led by Dr. Mady Hornig, created an animal model to explore the
relationship between thimerosal (ethylmercury) and autism, hypothesizing
that the combination of genetic susceptibility and environmental exposure
to mercury in childhood vaccines may cause neurotoxicity.

Cumulative mercury burden through other sources, including in utero
exposures to mercury in fish or vaccines, may also lead to damage in
susceptible hosts. Timing and quantity of thimerosal dosing for the mouse
model were developed using the U.S. immunization schedule for children,
with doses calculated for mice based on 10th percentile weight of U.S.
boys at age two, four, six, and twelve months.

The researchers found the subset of autoimmune disease susceptible mice
with thimerosal exposure to express many important aspects of the
behavioral and neuropathologic features of autism spectrum disorders,
including:

Abnormal response to novel environments;

Behavioral impoverishment (limited range of behaviors and decreased
exploration of environment); Significant abnormalities in brain
architecture, affecting areas subserving emotion and cognition; Increased
brain size.

These findings have relevance for identification of autism cases relating
to environmental factors; design of treatment strategies; and development
of rational immunization programs. The use of thimerosal in vaccines has
been reduced over the past few years, although it is still present in some
influenza vaccines. Identifying the connection between genetic
susceptibility and an environmental trigger for autism--in this case
thimerosal exposure--is important because it may promote discovery of
effective interventions for and limit exposure in a specific population,
stated the lead author Dr. Mady Hornig. Because the developing brain can
be exposed to toxins that are long gone by the time symptoms appear, clues
gathered in these animal models can then be evaluated through prospective
human birth cohorts--providing a powerful to tool to dissect the
interaction between genes and the environment over time.

Citation source: Molecular Psychiatry 2004 Volume 9, advance on line
publication doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4001529

For further information on this work, please contact Mady Hornig, MD,
Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, Greene Infectious
Disease Laboratory, 722 W 168th St, New York, New York 10032, United
States of America, phone: 212-342-9036; FAX: 949-824-1229; e-mail:


http://www.generationrescue.org/images/060406.gif

http://www.nationalautismassociation...Pediatrics.pdf



http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2...2/213632.shtml

A new study shows that autism may be linked after all
to the use of mercury in childhood vaccines, despite
government's previous claims to the contrary.

An article in the March 10, 2006, issue of the Journal
of American Physicians and Surgeons shows that since
mercury was removed from childhood vaccines, the
alarming increase in reported rates of autism and
other neurological disorders (NDs) in children not
only stopped, but actually dropped sharply - by as
much as 35 percent.

Using the government's own databases, independent
researchers analyzed reports of childhood NDs,
including autism, before and after removal of
mercury-based preservatives. Authors David A. Geier,
B.A. and Mark R. Geier, M.D., Ph.D. analyze data from
the CDC's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System
(VAERS) and the California Department of Developmental
Services (CDDS) in "Early Downward Trends in
Neurodevelopmental Disorders Following Removal of
Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines."

The numbers from California show that reported autism
rates hit a high of 800 in May 2003. If that trend had
continued, the reports would have skyrocketed to more
than 1000 by the beginning of 2006. But in fact, the
Geiers report that the number actually went down to
only 620, a real decrease of 22 percent, and a
decrease from the projections of 35 percent.

This analysis directly contradicts 2004
recommendations of the Institute of Medicine which
examined vaccine safety data from the National
Immunization Program (NIP) of the CDC. While not
willing to either rule out or to corroborate a
relationship between mercury and autism, the IOM
soft-pedaled its findings, and decided no more studies
were needed. The authors write: "The IOM stated that
the evidence favored rejection of a causal
relationship between thimerosal and autism, that such
a relationship was not biologically plausible, and
that no further studies should be conducted to
evaluate it."

As more and more vaccines were added to the mandatory
schedule of vaccines for children, the dose of the
mercury-based preservative thimerosal rose, so that
the cumulative dose injected into babies exceeded the
toxic threshold set by many government agencies.
Mercury is known to damage nerve cells in very low
concentrations.

The concern about vaccines may actually be underrated,
as it is generally acknowledged that the voluntary
reporting of such disorders has resulted in vast
underreporting of new cases. For example, the Iowa
state legislature banned thimerosal from all vaccines
administered there after it documented a 700-fold
increase in that state alone. California followed
suit, and 32 states are considering doing so.

Up until about 1989 preschool children got only 3
vaccines (polio, DPT, MMR). By 1999 the CDC
recommended a total of 22 vaccines to be given before
children reach the 1st grade, including Hepatitis B,
which is given to newborns within the first 24 hours
of birth. Many of these vaccines contained mercury. In
the 1990s approximately 40 million children were
injected with mercury-containing vaccines.

The cumulative amount of mercury being given to
children in this number of vaccines would be an amount
187 times the EPA daily exposure limit.

The Geiers conclude that mercury continues to be a
concern, as it is still added to some of the most
commonly-used vaccines, such as those for flu.

Despite its removal from many childhood vaccines, thimerosal is still
routinely added to some formulations of influenza vaccine administered to
U.S. infants, as well as to several other vaccines (e.g. tetanus-diphtheria
and monovalent tetanus) administered to older children and adults. In 2004,
the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
(NAS) retreated from the stated 1999 goal of the AAP and the PHS to remove
thimerosal from U.S. vaccines as soon as possible.As a result, assessing the
safety of TCVs [thimerosal-containing vaccines] is a matter of significant
importance."
Editor's Note: The new study confirms claims made by Dr. Russell Blaylock in
the Blaylock Wellness Report that childhood vaccines that contain
thimerosal, a mercury based preservative, could cause serious harm to
children, including autism. Dr. Blaylock has also warned that vaccines for
adults, such as the flu shot, pose dangers.

p://www.pulsetc.com/article.php?sid=3072

Mercury-free vaccines debated in MN Legislatu sensible but not easy

A bill introduced in the state Legislature would require that a mercury-free
version of a vaccine be given whenever it is available to health care
practitioners. If not available, then a vaccine containing mercury could be
given. But if the vaccine contains more than a trace of mercury (more than
one microgram), the practitioner must disclose that "this vaccine contains
more than a trace amount of the mercury compound, thimerosal." Thimerosal is
a highly toxic substance.

At first glance, the proposal is disarmingly sensible and noncontroversial:
It would simply establish a preference for mercury-free vaccines, when such
an alternative is available.

Mercury is found in "trace" amounts in most vaccines and currently about 90
percent of the flu shots given in Minnesota have a substantial amount of
mercury-25 micrograms-in them; yet the Minnesota Department of Health
promotes flu shots to pregnant women, the elderly, people with weakened
immune systems and now even children, without a warning to anyone about the
mercury lurking in the shots.

Leading scientific researchers are appalled at the continued use of the
thimerosal in vaccines and there is a consensus among leading independent
mercury researchers that mercury in medicine (e.g. thimerosal) and in
dentistry (e.g. the dental amalgam fillings) should be banned. Many of them
have testified before Congress. But their statements have not been fully
conveyed to the public by national or local media. Therefore the public and
the Legislature remain ignorant of the menace posed by mercury in medicine
and have been all too easily soothed by the reassurances of the Department
of Health regarding the vaccine safety issues. Like the departments of
health in every other state, the Minnesota Department of Health is tethered
to its federal funding source, which is primarily the Center for Disease
Control (CDC), based in Atlanta, Ga.

As a result, state health department priorities (and thinking) closely
follows that of the CDC. And that is a big problem because, as a number of
exposés reveal, the CDC has been found to have an overly cozy relationship
with the pharmaceutical industry. In particular, transcripts of secret
meetings held between CDC officials, a vaccine safety researcher under
contract with the CDC, and a drug company representative reveal that all of
these players fully understood that it was the grand escalation of mandated
childhood vaccinations that started in 1990 that gave rise to the explosive
(ten-fold) increase of childhood autism during the 1990s. The entire public
health establishment seems to be scripted to deny what the CDC clearly, but
secretly, knew about the American autism scandal. The book "Evidence of
Harm," by New York Times health writer David Kirby, documents the CDC/drug
company collusion and cover-up in a nonfictional work that centers around
the lives of parents of autistic children who formed a nonprofit group
called SafeMinds .

Spearheading the mercury-free vaccine bill in Minnesota are citizen
lobbyists such as Tim Kasemodel, a father of an autistic boy, and Jerri
Johnson, a homeopath. They are backed by the Minnesota Natural Health Legal
Reform Project, (MNHLRP) a non-profit civic group that lobbies for health
freedom and natural health issues. "The pharmaceutical companies now provide
some mercury-free version for almost every type of vaccine," Jerri Johnson
explains. "Now it is up to practitioners to stop using the mercury version.
This legislation will insure that the practitioners will not give a mercury
containing vaccine when a mercury free version is available." Since our
state health department is incapable of driving the change, it remains for
the Legislature-which can be more receptive to the voices of the
vaccine-injured public-to drive the change. "I'm just a parent," Tim
Kasemodel adds, "but some of the people lobbying against our bill haven't
read as much as I have. There is no safe mercury in vaccines, even at what
are called the "trace' amounts. But the Department of Health continues to
stand behind their old science."

The citizen reformers found a strong author in the House, Rep. Shelly
Madore, a mother of an autistic son. She expected her bill, HF 1917, to be
heard in the Public Health Committee, chaired by Rep. Karen Clark (DFL,
South Minneapolis-Phillips, Whittier) who enthusiastically supports the
bill. Support for the bill in her committee is very strong. But another
Minneapolis DFLer, Rep. Paul Thissen (Hale-Page-Diamond Lake) pulled Madore's
bill into his Health Policy Committee; Thissen has refused to give the bill
a hearing and also refuses to let the bill out of his committee to be heard
by Karen Clark in her committee. Thissen did not return phone calls from
this reporter.

The anti-mercury reformers faced a more promising situation in the Senate,
where the Health Committee is chaired by Sen. John Marty, who himself is a
mercury foe and who believes it's important to give the legislation a
hearing. The reformers found their senate champion in Sen. Patricia Torres
Ray, (DFL, South Minneapolis-Longfellow, Nokomis). But after Torres Ray
introduced her copy of the bill, SF 1780, she was blitzed by state health
department messages stating that her bill would harm the public by
threatening public confidence in the entire vaccination program in
Minnesota. She was also told that "several mercury containing vaccines are
being moved out of the market in the next couple of years" so there is no
need for a law, and was assured "there is no science" linking mercury in
vaccines to health harm." Torres Ray, who is admittedly new to the vaccine
controversy, has agreed to meet with the Department of Health to hear out
their many "concerns" about the anti-mercury legislation; Torres Ray
realizes that that tactic of delay may make it too late for her bill to be
heard in the Senate by the deadline.

The Goliath lurking behind this Minnesota struggle is the pharmaceutical
drug industry. The drug industry pours substantial money into campaign
committees, public relations, lobbyists, and helps orchestrate directly or
indirectly the marketing boost that vaccination programs get from our state
health department. The health department doesn't welcome scrutiny of this or
of the peculiar and remarkable tendency of our health department to side
with the industry even at the expense of public health. The desperate
tactics of the state health department -designed to forestall legislative
committee hearings on the bill at all costs-likely reflects its desire to
avoid the embarrassment of a legislative rebuke on the mercury safety issue.

The worst nightmare of Chris Ehresman, who heads the department's
vaccination program, is surely that a more curious public will start to surf
the internet and discover the fact that mercury in vaccines has severely
impacted a shocking number of children (autism, seizures, ADHD, learning
disabilities) and has also harmed many of our most vulnerable adults
(worsening the problem of dementia and other neurological and auto immune
disorders). ||


  #2  
Old February 6th 09, 02:32 AM posted to misc.health.alternative,misc.kids.health,talk.politics.medicine,misc.headlines,misc.kids
Jeff
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,321
Default Thimerosal Truth

Considering that thimerosal has never been proven to cause illness in
the quanities that used to be used, and that thimerosal has been removed
from all childhood vaccines, why do you waste bandwidth?

Jeff
  #3  
Old February 6th 09, 09:28 AM posted to misc.health.alternative,misc.kids.health,talk.politics.medicine,misc.headlines,misc.kids
Richard Schultz
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 78
Default Thimerosal Truth

In misc.health.alternative Jeff wrote:

: Considering that thimerosal has never been proven to cause illness in
: the quanities that used to be used, and that thimerosal has been removed
: from all childhood vaccines, why do you waste bandwidth?

"Jan Drew" is a poorly designed 'bot -- presumably an undergraduate
computer science project that got a "C+" or so. "She" doesn't have a
choice in the matter any more than the old Eliza program did.

-----
Richard Schultz
Department of Chemistry, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
Opinions expressed are mine alone, and not those of Bar-Ilan University
-----
"Logic is a wreath of pretty flowers which smell bad."
  #4  
Old February 7th 09, 04:17 AM posted to misc.health.alternative,misc.kids.health,talk.politics.medicine,misc.headlines,misc.kids
Jan Drew
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,707
Default Thimerosal Truth

http://www.thecre.com/quality/2005/2...f_quality.html

Thursday, June 16, 2005
Why Won't the CDC Allow Access to the Vaccine Safety Datalink?


Memo to CDC: We're not getting our money's worth
David Kirby
May 23, 2005


Can mercury in vaccines cause autism in children? This hotly disputed
question will only burn brighter as more biological evidence surfaces to
suggest a link. But a definitive answer might take years. Meanwhile, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sitting on a
multi-million-dollar database - paid for by you and me - that could probably
resolve this contretemps within weeks.


They have the data. We paid for the data. Yet we cannot see the data. The
information is kept under lock and key within the massive health agency --
as jealously guarded as nuclear secrets.


The CDC tells us that they have looked at the data exhaustively and found
"no evidence of harm." They implied that their own scientists are perfectly
capable of analyzing the data, thank you very much, and outside researchers
cannot be trusted to independently verify their analyses, nor to protect the
confidentiality of patients whose numbers they would be crunching.


But, as any high school student can tell you, the replication of a study is
the hallmark of all good science. Without access to the raw data originally
used by the CDC researchers, it is impossible to verify their work. All we
can do is trust that they got it right.


The CDC, which has budgeted nearly $200 million to operate the Vaccine
Safety Datalink, spent four years analyzing data from children who received
varying amounts of thimerosal in their vaccines. The study went through five
different permutations before being published in November, 2003. Early study
"generations," which were never meant to see the light of day, showed highly
elevated, statistically significant increased risks for autism and other
disorders among the kids receiving the most mercury.


But by the time the study was published, most of these associations had
somehow disappeared entirely.


Only two outside researchers, Mark and David Geier, have managed to gain
access to the raw CDC data. They faced daunting hurdles to get into the CDC
computer center, and nearly crippling software malfunctions once they were
inside. But among the data they did manage to mine, they reportedly found
highly elevated risks for autism among children in the highest mercury
exposure group.


So we now have two extremely different interpretations of the same data. It
is way past time that the CDC allow a third team - outside researchers
completely acceptable to all parties involved in this dispute - into the
database to conduct any analyses they see fit. (Patients names are removed
from the data, making it exceedingly hard for researchers to identify
anyone, even if they desired, which is extremely unlikely in itself).


It sounds reasonable, it sounds nice. But don't hold your breath. The CDC is
hardly issuing engraved invitations to come trawl its mainframes, despite a
harshly written report earlier this year from the Institute of Medicine. The
IOM complained of CDC foot dragging, and even insolence, on this matter, and
suggested that vaccine officials at the health agency seek "legal counsel."
Why? Because the original datasets of children used by the government have,
as they say, gone missing. (Actually, the official explanation was that they
"were not archived in a standard fashion.") The intentional loss or
destruction of taxpayer funded data or datasets is a violation of the
Federal Data Quality Act. It is a felony, and someone could go to jail for
it.


Meanwhile, the data just sit there. Our data, not theirs. CDC officials
insist they have an "open mind" on this issue, and that thimerosal has not
been ruled out as a possible cause of autism and other disorders. But they
also insist that the vaccine safety database yielded no evidence of harm.


If that is true, then why are they so reluctant to let someone else in to
verify this claim? I cannot answer that question, because the CDC is not
talking to me. But I do know that people with nothing to hide are
unencumbered by doubts of what others will find if they rifle through their
closet.


If the data can prove that injecting a known neurotoxin into infants at
levels up to 125 times over federal safety limits was a safe and sane thing
to do, then why isn't the CDC having an open house for all researchers worth
their salt to come on down and have a look-see for themselves?


Without access to the raw data, parents who support the thimerosal theory -
and their allies in Congress, academia and law - are falling back on other
recent studies that show a possible link between mercury and autism. They
may not have the epidemiology on their side, yet, but the mounting evidence
emerging from the fields of biology and toxicology is becoming too urgent to
ignore. Recent published studies have shown:


+ Autistic children retain mercury at much higher rates than non-autistic
kids.


+ Autistic children lack certain sulfur-based proteins that bind to heavy
metals and remove them from the body.


+ Autistic children have a dysfunctional immune profile generally consistent
with mercury toxicity.


+ The rate of increase in reported autism cases peaked between 1987 and
1992, the same years that new mercury-containing vaccines were added to the
U.S. schedule.


+ Mice with autoimmune disorders react horrifically to mercury exposure from
vaccines, whereas typical mice of the same species do not.


+ In primates, mercury from vaccines was more likely to become trapped in
the brain than mercury from fish.


+ Children who live near mercury spewing power plants have an elevated risk
of developing autism.


These are all intriguing, to be sure. But what we really need is to get our
hands on the raw CDC data - our data.


David Kirby is author of "Evidence of Harm" (St. Martin's Press)
www.evidenceofharm.com


http://www.whale.to/v/elililly.html


http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDai...=20061024-0155...


"The (National Institutes of Health)-funded study ... found that thimerosal,
best known for its use as an ethylmercury-based preservative in infant
vaccines and pregnancy shots, is actually more toxic to the brain than
methylmercury."


Thiomersal (INN), commonly known in the United States as thimerosal,
(C9H9HgNaO2S) is a mercury-containing (approximately 49% mercury by weight)
organic compound (organomercurial) used as an antiseptic and antifungal
agent.


It was developed and registered under the trade name Merthiolate in 1929 by
the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company, and has been used as a
preservative in vaccines, immune globulin preparations, skin test antigens,
antivenoms, ophthalmic and nasal products, and tattoo inks.


The compound is being phased out from most childhood vaccinations by
packaging the vaccines in single-dose vials, which eliminates the need for
bacteriostatics like thiomersal.


Stability
Stable. May degrade in sunlight. Incompatible with strong acids, strong
bases, strong oxidizing agents, iodine, heavy metal salts.


Toxicology
Thiomersal is a very toxic compound which is harmful by inhalation and
ingestion (hazard symbol T+). It is a neoplastigen and a teratogen.
Thiomersal is also dangerous for the environment (hazard symbol N). For more
safety information on how to handle thiomersal, consult an MSDS


Thiomersal causes susceptible bacteria to autolyze (break down their own
cells with self-produced enzymes) via an unknown mechanism.[citation needed]
In the body, it is metabolized to ethylmercury (C2H5Hg+) and
thiosalicylate.[1]


http://www.ncirs.usyd.edu.au/facts/f-thiomersal.html


==


Medical News Today
Thimerosal, found in childhood vaccines, can increase the risk of
autism-like damage in mice
09 Jun 2004


A new study indicates that postnatal exposure to thimerosal, a mercury
preservative commonly used in a number of childhood vaccines, can lead to
the development of autism-like damage in autoimmune disease susceptible
mice. This animal model, the first to show that the administration of
low-dose ethylmercury can lead to behavioral and neurological changes in
the developing brain, reinforces previous studies showing that a genetic
predisposition affects risk in combination with certain environmental
triggers. The study was conducted by researchers at the Jerome L. and Dawn
Greene


Infectious Disease Laboratory at the Mailman School of Public Health,
Columbia University. Over the past 20 years, there has been a striking
increase--at least ten-fold since 1985--in the number of children
diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. Genetic factors alone cannot
account for this rise in prevalence. Researchers at the Mailman School,
led by Dr. Mady Hornig, created an animal model to explore the
relationship between thimerosal (ethylmercury) and autism, hypothesizing
that the combination of genetic susceptibility and environmental exposure
to mercury in childhood vaccines may cause neurotoxicity.


Cumulative mercury burden through other sources, including in utero
exposures to mercury in fish or vaccines, may also lead to damage in
susceptible hosts. Timing and quantity of thimerosal dosing for the mouse
model were developed using the U.S. immunization schedule for children,
with doses calculated for mice based on 10th percentile weight of U.S.
boys at age two, four, six, and twelve months.


The researchers found the subset of autoimmune disease susceptible mice
with thimerosal exposure to express many important aspects of the
behavioral and neuropathologic features of autism spectrum disorders,
including:


Abnormal response to novel environments;


Behavioral impoverishment (limited range of behaviors and decreased
exploration of environment); Significant abnormalities in brain
architecture, affecting areas subserving emotion and cognition; Increased
brain size.


These findings have relevance for identification of autism cases relating
to environmental factors; design of treatment strategies; and development
of rational immunization programs. The use of thimerosal in vaccines has
been reduced over the past few years, although it is still present in some
influenza vaccines. Identifying the connection between genetic
susceptibility and an environmental trigger for autism--in this case
thimerosal exposure--is important because it may promote discovery of
effective interventions for and limit exposure in a specific population,
stated the lead author Dr. Mady Hornig. Because the developing brain can
be exposed to toxins that are long gone by the time symptoms appear, clues
gathered in these animal models can then be evaluated through prospective
human birth cohorts--providing a powerful to tool to dissect the
interaction between genes and the environment over time.


Citation source: Molecular Psychiatry 2004 Volume 9, advance on line
publication doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4001529


For further information on this work, please contact Mady Hornig, MD,
Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, Greene Infectious
Disease Laboratory, 722 W 168th St, New York, New York 10032, United
States of America, phone: 212-342-9036; FAX: 949-824-1229; e-mail:



http://www.generationrescue.org/images/060406.gif


http://www.nationalautismassociation...%20Thimerosal-...


http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2...2/213632.shtml


A new study shows that autism may be linked after all
to the use of mercury in childhood vaccines, despite
government's previous claims to the contrary.


An article in the March 10, 2006, issue of the Journal
of American Physicians and Surgeons shows that since
mercury was removed from childhood vaccines, the
alarming increase in reported rates of autism and
other neurological disorders (NDs) in children not
only stopped, but actually dropped sharply - by as
much as 35 percent.


Using the government's own databases, independent
researchers analyzed reports of childhood NDs,
including autism, before and after removal of
mercury-based preservatives. Authors David A. Geier,
B.A. and Mark R. Geier, M.D., Ph.D. analyze data from
the CDC's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System
(VAERS) and the California Department of Developmental
Services (CDDS) in "Early Downward Trends in
Neurodevelopmental Disorders Following Removal of
Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines."


The numbers from California show that reported autism
rates hit a high of 800 in May 2003. If that trend had
continued, the reports would have skyrocketed to more
than 1000 by the beginning of 2006. But in fact, the
Geiers report that the number actually went down to
only 620, a real decrease of 22 percent, and a
decrease from the projections of 35 percent.


This analysis directly contradicts 2004
recommendations of the Institute of Medicine which
examined vaccine safety data from the National
Immunization Program (NIP) of the CDC. While not
willing to either rule out or to corroborate a
relationship between mercury and autism, the IOM
soft-pedaled its findings, and decided no more studies
were needed. The authors write: "The IOM stated that
the evidence favored rejection of a causal
relationship between thimerosal and autism, that such
a relationship was not biologically plausible, and
that no further studies should be conducted to
evaluate it."


As more and more vaccines were added to the mandatory
schedule of vaccines for children, the dose of the
mercury-based preservative thimerosal rose, so that
the cumulative dose injected into babies exceeded the
toxic threshold set by many government agencies.
Mercury is known to damage nerve cells in very low
concentrations.


The concern about vaccines may actually be underrated,
as it is generally acknowledged that the voluntary
reporting of such disorders has resulted in vast
underreporting of new cases. For example, the Iowa
state legislature banned thimerosal from all vaccines
administered there after it documented a 700-fold
increase in that state alone. California followed
suit, and 32 states are considering doing so.


Up until about 1989 preschool children got only 3
vaccines (polio, DPT, MMR). By 1999 the CDC
recommended a total of 22 vaccines to be given before
children reach the 1st grade, including Hepatitis B,
which is given to newborns within the first 24 hours
of birth. Many of these vaccines contained mercury. In
the 1990s approximately 40 million children were
injected with mercury-containing vaccines.


The cumulative amount of mercury being given to
children in this number of vaccines would be an amount
187 times the EPA daily exposure limit.


The Geiers conclude that mercury continues to be a
concern, as it is still added to some of the most
commonly-used vaccines, such as those for flu.


Despite its removal from many childhood vaccines, thimerosal is still
routinely added to some formulations of influenza vaccine administered to
U.S. infants, as well as to several other vaccines (e.g. tetanus-diphtheria
and monovalent tetanus) administered to older children and adults. In 2004,
the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
(NAS) retreated from the stated 1999 goal of the AAP and the PHS to remove
thimerosal from U.S. vaccines as soon as possible.As a result, assessing the
safety of TCVs [thimerosal-containing vaccines] is a matter of significant
importance."
Editor's Note: The new study confirms claims made by Dr. Russell Blaylock in
the Blaylock Wellness Report that childhood vaccines that contain
thimerosal, a mercury based preservative, could cause serious harm to
children, including autism. Dr. Blaylock has also warned that vaccines for
adults, such as the flu shot, pose dangers.


p://www.pulsetc.com/article.php?sid=3072


Mercury-free vaccines debated in MN Legislatu sensible but not easy


A bill introduced in the state Legislature would require that a mercury-free
version of a vaccine be given whenever it is available to health care
practitioners. If not available, then a vaccine containing mercury could be
given. But if the vaccine contains more than a trace of mercury (more than
one microgram), the practitioner must disclose that "this vaccine contains
more than a trace amount of the mercury compound, thimerosal." Thimerosal is
a highly toxic substance.


At first glance, the proposal is disarmingly sensible and noncontroversial:
It would simply establish a preference for mercury-free vaccines, when such
an alternative is available.


Mercury is found in "trace" amounts in most vaccines and currently about 90
percent of the flu shots given in Minnesota have a substantial amount of
mercury-25 micrograms-in them; yet the Minnesota Department of Health
promotes flu shots to pregnant women, the elderly, people with weakened
immune systems and now even children, without a warning to anyone about the
mercury lurking in the shots.


Leading scientific researchers are appalled at the continued use of the
thimerosal in vaccines and there is a consensus among leading independent
mercury researchers that mercury in medicine (e.g. thimerosal) and in
dentistry (e.g. the dental amalgam fillings) should be banned. Many of them
have testified before Congress. But their statements have not been fully
conveyed to the public by national or local media. Therefore the public and
the Legislature remain ignorant of the menace posed by mercury in medicine
and have been all too easily soothed by the reassurances of the Department
of Health regarding the vaccine safety issues. Like the departments of
health in every other state, the Minnesota Department of Health is tethered
to its federal funding source, which is primarily the Center for Disease
Control (CDC), based in Atlanta, Ga.


As a result, state health department priorities (and thinking) closely
follows that of the CDC. And that is a big problem because, as a number of
exposés reveal, the CDC has been found to have an overly cozy relationship
with the pharmaceutical industry. In particular, transcripts of secret
meetings held between CDC officials, a vaccine safety researcher under
contract with the CDC, and a drug company representative reveal that all of
these players fully understood that it was the grand escalation of mandated
childhood vaccinations that started in 1990 that gave rise to the explosive
(ten-fold) increase of childhood autism during the 1990s. The entire public
health establishment seems to be scripted to deny what the CDC clearly, but
secretly, knew about the American autism scandal. The book "Evidence of
Harm," by New York Times health writer David Kirby, documents the CDC/drug
company collusion and cover-up in a nonfictional work that centers around
the lives of parents of autistic children who formed a nonprofit group
called SafeMinds .


Spearheading the mercury-free vaccine bill in Minnesota are citizen
lobbyists such as Tim Kasemodel, a father of an autistic boy, and Jerri
Johnson, a homeopath. They are backed by the Minnesota Natural Health Legal
Reform Project, (MNHLRP) a non-profit civic group that lobbies for health
freedom and natural health issues. "The pharmaceutical companies now provide
some mercury-free version for almost every type of vaccine," Jerri Johnson
explains. "Now it is up to practitioners to stop using the mercury version.
This legislation will insure that the practitioners will not give a mercury
containing vaccine when a mercury free version is available." Since our
state health department is incapable of driving the change, it remains for
the Legislature-which can be more receptive to the voices of the
vaccine-injured public-to drive the change. "I'm just a parent," Tim
Kasemodel adds, "but some of the people lobbying against our bill haven't
read as much as I have. There is no safe mercury in vaccines, even at what
are called the "trace' amounts. But the Department of Health continues to
stand behind their old science."


The citizen reformers found a strong author in the House, Rep. Shelly
Madore, a mother of an autistic son. She expected her bill, HF 1917, to be
heard in the Public Health Committee, chaired by Rep. Karen Clark (DFL,
South Minneapolis-Phillips, Whittier) who enthusiastically supports the
bill. Support for the bill in her committee is very strong. But another
Minneapolis DFLer, Rep. Paul Thissen (Hale-Page-Diamond Lake) pulled
Madore's
bill into his Health Policy Committee; Thissen has refused to give the bill
a hearing and also refuses to let the bill out of his committee to be heard
by Karen Clark in her committee. Thissen did not return phone calls from
this reporter.


The anti-mercury reformers faced a more promising situation in the Senate,
where the Health Committee is chaired by Sen. John Marty, who himself is a
mercury foe and who believes it's important to give the legislation a
hearing. The reformers found their senate champion in Sen. Patricia Torres
Ray, (DFL, South Minneapolis-Longfellow, Nokomis). But after Torres Ray
introduced her copy of the bill, SF 1780, she was blitzed by state health
department messages stating that her bill would harm the public by
threatening public confidence in the entire vaccination program in
Minnesota. She was also told that "several mercury containing vaccines are
being moved out of the market in the next couple of years" so there is no
need for a law, and was assured "there is no science" linking mercury in
vaccines to health harm." Torres Ray, who is admittedly new to the vaccine
controversy, has agreed to meet with the Department of Health to hear out
their many "concerns" about the anti-mercury legislation; Torres Ray
realizes that that tactic of delay may make it too late for her bill to be
heard in the Senate by the deadline.


The Goliath lurking behind this Minnesota struggle is the pharmaceutical
drug industry. The drug industry pours substantial money into campaign
committees, public relations, lobbyists, and helps orchestrate directly or
indirectly the marketing boost that vaccination programs get from our state
health department. The health department doesn't welcome scrutiny of this or
of the peculiar and remarkable tendency of our health department to side
with the industry even at the expense of public health. The desperate
tactics of the state health department -designed to forestall legislative
committee hearings on the bill at all costs-likely reflects its desire to
avoid the embarrassment of a legislative rebuke on the mercury safety issue.


The worst nightmare of Chris Ehresman, who heads the department's
vaccination program, is surely that a more curious public will start to surf
the internet and discover the fact that mercury in vaccines has severely
impacted a shocking number of children (autism, seizures, ADHD, learning
disabilities) and has also harmed many of our most vulnerable adults
(worsening the problem of dementia and other neurological and auto immune
disorders).








  #5  
Old February 7th 09, 09:56 PM posted to misc.health.alternative,misc.kids.health,talk.politics.medicine,misc.headlines,misc.kids
JOHN
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 583
Default Thimerosal Truth


"Jeff" wrote in message
...
Considering that thimerosal has never been proven to cause illness in the
quanities that used to be used, and that thimerosal has been removed from
all childhood vaccines, why do you waste bandwidth?

Jeff


******** http://whale.to/vaccines/thimerosal.htm


  #6  
Old February 8th 09, 01:30 AM posted to misc.health.alternative,misc.kids.health,talk.politics.medicine,misc.headlines,misc.kids
D. C. Sessions
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 464
Default Thimerosal Truth

Jeff wrote:

Considering that thimerosal has never been proven to cause illness in
the quanities that used to be used, and that thimerosal has been removed
from all childhood vaccines, why do you waste bandwidth?


"Why Jan wastes bandwidth" is not the topic.

--
| The brighter the stupid burns, the more |
| chance that someone will see the light. |
+- D. C. Sessions -+
  #7  
Old February 8th 09, 01:31 AM posted to misc.health.alternative,misc.kids.health,talk.politics.medicine,misc.headlines,misc.kids
D. C. Sessions
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 464
Default Thimerosal Truth

JOHN wrote:

********


"********" are not the topic.

--
| The brighter the stupid burns, the more |
| chance that someone will see the light. |
+- D. C. Sessions -+
  #8  
Old February 8th 09, 09:10 AM posted to misc.health.alternative,misc.kids.health,talk.politics.medicine,misc.headlines,misc.kids
Jan Drew
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,707
Default Thimerosal Truth


"D. C. Sessions" wrote in message
...
JOHN wrote:


"JOHN" wrote in message
...

"Jeff" wrote in message
...
Considering that thimerosal has never been proven to cause illness in the
quanities that used to be used, and that thimerosal has been removed from
all childhood vaccines, why do you waste bandwidth?

Jeff


******** http://whale.to/vaccines/thimerosal.htm





  #9  
Old February 8th 09, 09:11 AM posted to misc.health.alternative,misc.kids.health,talk.politics.medicine,misc.headlines,misc.kids
Jan Drew
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,707
Default Thimerosal Truth


"Jan Drew" wrote in message
...
http://www.thecre.com/quality/2005/2...f_quality.html

Thursday, June 16, 2005
Why Won't the CDC Allow Access to the Vaccine Safety Datalink?


Memo to CDC: We're not getting our money's worth
David Kirby
May 23, 2005


Can mercury in vaccines cause autism in children? This hotly disputed
question will only burn brighter as more biological evidence surfaces to
suggest a link. But a definitive answer might take years. Meanwhile, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sitting on a
multi-million-dollar database - paid for by you and me - that could
probably
resolve this contretemps within weeks.


They have the data. We paid for the data. Yet we cannot see the data. The
information is kept under lock and key within the massive health agency --
as jealously guarded as nuclear secrets.


The CDC tells us that they have looked at the data exhaustively and found
"no evidence of harm." They implied that their own scientists are
perfectly
capable of analyzing the data, thank you very much, and outside
researchers
cannot be trusted to independently verify their analyses, nor to protect
the
confidentiality of patients whose numbers they would be crunching.


But, as any high school student can tell you, the replication of a study
is
the hallmark of all good science. Without access to the raw data
originally
used by the CDC researchers, it is impossible to verify their work. All we
can do is trust that they got it right.


The CDC, which has budgeted nearly $200 million to operate the Vaccine
Safety Datalink, spent four years analyzing data from children who
received
varying amounts of thimerosal in their vaccines. The study went through
five
different permutations before being published in November, 2003. Early
study
"generations," which were never meant to see the light of day, showed
highly
elevated, statistically significant increased risks for autism and other
disorders among the kids receiving the most mercury.


But by the time the study was published, most of these associations had
somehow disappeared entirely.


Only two outside researchers, Mark and David Geier, have managed to gain
access to the raw CDC data. They faced daunting hurdles to get into the
CDC
computer center, and nearly crippling software malfunctions once they were
inside. But among the data they did manage to mine, they reportedly found
highly elevated risks for autism among children in the highest mercury
exposure group.


So we now have two extremely different interpretations of the same data.
It
is way past time that the CDC allow a third team - outside researchers
completely acceptable to all parties involved in this dispute - into the
database to conduct any analyses they see fit. (Patients names are removed
from the data, making it exceedingly hard for researchers to identify
anyone, even if they desired, which is extremely unlikely in itself).


It sounds reasonable, it sounds nice. But don't hold your breath. The CDC
is
hardly issuing engraved invitations to come trawl its mainframes, despite
a
harshly written report earlier this year from the Institute of Medicine.
The
IOM complained of CDC foot dragging, and even insolence, on this matter,
and
suggested that vaccine officials at the health agency seek "legal
counsel."
Why? Because the original datasets of children used by the government
have,
as they say, gone missing. (Actually, the official explanation was that
they
"were not archived in a standard fashion.") The intentional loss or
destruction of taxpayer funded data or datasets is a violation of the
Federal Data Quality Act. It is a felony, and someone could go to jail for
it.


Meanwhile, the data just sit there. Our data, not theirs. CDC officials
insist they have an "open mind" on this issue, and that thimerosal has not
been ruled out as a possible cause of autism and other disorders. But they
also insist that the vaccine safety database yielded no evidence of harm.


If that is true, then why are they so reluctant to let someone else in to
verify this claim? I cannot answer that question, because the CDC is not
talking to me. But I do know that people with nothing to hide are
unencumbered by doubts of what others will find if they rifle through
their
closet.


If the data can prove that injecting a known neurotoxin into infants at
levels up to 125 times over federal safety limits was a safe and sane
thing
to do, then why isn't the CDC having an open house for all researchers
worth
their salt to come on down and have a look-see for themselves?


Without access to the raw data, parents who support the thimerosal
theory -
and their allies in Congress, academia and law - are falling back on other
recent studies that show a possible link between mercury and autism. They
may not have the epidemiology on their side, yet, but the mounting
evidence
emerging from the fields of biology and toxicology is becoming too urgent
to
ignore. Recent published studies have shown:


+ Autistic children retain mercury at much higher rates than non-autistic
kids.


+ Autistic children lack certain sulfur-based proteins that bind to heavy
metals and remove them from the body.


+ Autistic children have a dysfunctional immune profile generally
consistent
with mercury toxicity.


+ The rate of increase in reported autism cases peaked between 1987 and
1992, the same years that new mercury-containing vaccines were added to
the
U.S. schedule.


+ Mice with autoimmune disorders react horrifically to mercury exposure
from
vaccines, whereas typical mice of the same species do not.


+ In primates, mercury from vaccines was more likely to become trapped in
the brain than mercury from fish.


+ Children who live near mercury spewing power plants have an elevated
risk
of developing autism.


These are all intriguing, to be sure. But what we really need is to get
our
hands on the raw CDC data - our data.


David Kirby is author of "Evidence of Harm" (St. Martin's Press)
www.evidenceofharm.com


http://www.whale.to/v/elililly.html


http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDai...=20061024-0155...


"The (National Institutes of Health)-funded study ... found that
thimerosal,
best known for its use as an ethylmercury-based preservative in infant
vaccines and pregnancy shots, is actually more toxic to the brain than
methylmercury."


Thiomersal (INN), commonly known in the United States as thimerosal,
(C9H9HgNaO2S) is a mercury-containing (approximately 49% mercury by
weight)
organic compound (organomercurial) used as an antiseptic and antifungal
agent.


It was developed and registered under the trade name Merthiolate in 1929
by
the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company, and has been used as a
preservative in vaccines, immune globulin preparations, skin test
antigens,
antivenoms, ophthalmic and nasal products, and tattoo inks.


The compound is being phased out from most childhood vaccinations by
packaging the vaccines in single-dose vials, which eliminates the need for
bacteriostatics like thiomersal.


Stability
Stable. May degrade in sunlight. Incompatible with strong acids, strong
bases, strong oxidizing agents, iodine, heavy metal salts.


Toxicology
Thiomersal is a very toxic compound which is harmful by inhalation and
ingestion (hazard symbol T+). It is a neoplastigen and a teratogen.
Thiomersal is also dangerous for the environment (hazard symbol N). For
more
safety information on how to handle thiomersal, consult an MSDS


Thiomersal causes susceptible bacteria to autolyze (break down their own
cells with self-produced enzymes) via an unknown mechanism.[citation
needed]
In the body, it is metabolized to ethylmercury (C2H5Hg+) and
thiosalicylate.[1]


http://www.ncirs.usyd.edu.au/facts/f-thiomersal.html


==


Medical News Today
Thimerosal, found in childhood vaccines, can increase the risk of
autism-like damage in mice
09 Jun 2004


A new study indicates that postnatal exposure to thimerosal, a mercury
preservative commonly used in a number of childhood vaccines, can lead to
the development of autism-like damage in autoimmune disease susceptible
mice. This animal model, the first to show that the administration of
low-dose ethylmercury can lead to behavioral and neurological changes in
the developing brain, reinforces previous studies showing that a genetic
predisposition affects risk in combination with certain environmental
triggers. The study was conducted by researchers at the Jerome L. and Dawn
Greene


Infectious Disease Laboratory at the Mailman School of Public Health,
Columbia University. Over the past 20 years, there has been a striking
increase--at least ten-fold since 1985--in the number of children
diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. Genetic factors alone cannot
account for this rise in prevalence. Researchers at the Mailman School,
led by Dr. Mady Hornig, created an animal model to explore the
relationship between thimerosal (ethylmercury) and autism, hypothesizing
that the combination of genetic susceptibility and environmental exposure
to mercury in childhood vaccines may cause neurotoxicity.


Cumulative mercury burden through other sources, including in utero
exposures to mercury in fish or vaccines, may also lead to damage in
susceptible hosts. Timing and quantity of thimerosal dosing for the mouse
model were developed using the U.S. immunization schedule for children,
with doses calculated for mice based on 10th percentile weight of U.S.
boys at age two, four, six, and twelve months.


The researchers found the subset of autoimmune disease susceptible mice
with thimerosal exposure to express many important aspects of the
behavioral and neuropathologic features of autism spectrum disorders,
including:


Abnormal response to novel environments;


Behavioral impoverishment (limited range of behaviors and decreased
exploration of environment); Significant abnormalities in brain
architecture, affecting areas subserving emotion and cognition; Increased
brain size.


These findings have relevance for identification of autism cases relating
to environmental factors; design of treatment strategies; and development
of rational immunization programs. The use of thimerosal in vaccines has
been reduced over the past few years, although it is still present in some
influenza vaccines. Identifying the connection between genetic
susceptibility and an environmental trigger for autism--in this case
thimerosal exposure--is important because it may promote discovery of
effective interventions for and limit exposure in a specific population,
stated the lead author Dr. Mady Hornig. Because the developing brain can
be exposed to toxins that are long gone by the time symptoms appear, clues
gathered in these animal models can then be evaluated through prospective
human birth cohorts--providing a powerful to tool to dissect the
interaction between genes and the environment over time.


Citation source: Molecular Psychiatry 2004 Volume 9, advance on line
publication doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4001529


For further information on this work, please contact Mady Hornig, MD,
Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, Greene Infectious
Disease Laboratory, 722 W 168th St, New York, New York 10032, United
States of America, phone: 212-342-9036; FAX: 949-824-1229; e-mail:



http://www.generationrescue.org/images/060406.gif


http://www.nationalautismassociation...%20Thimerosal-...


http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2...2/213632.shtml


A new study shows that autism may be linked after all
to the use of mercury in childhood vaccines, despite
government's previous claims to the contrary.


An article in the March 10, 2006, issue of the Journal
of American Physicians and Surgeons shows that since
mercury was removed from childhood vaccines, the
alarming increase in reported rates of autism and
other neurological disorders (NDs) in children not
only stopped, but actually dropped sharply - by as
much as 35 percent.


Using the government's own databases, independent
researchers analyzed reports of childhood NDs,
including autism, before and after removal of
mercury-based preservatives. Authors David A. Geier,
B.A. and Mark R. Geier, M.D., Ph.D. analyze data from
the CDC's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System
(VAERS) and the California Department of Developmental
Services (CDDS) in "Early Downward Trends in
Neurodevelopmental Disorders Following Removal of
Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines."


The numbers from California show that reported autism
rates hit a high of 800 in May 2003. If that trend had
continued, the reports would have skyrocketed to more
than 1000 by the beginning of 2006. But in fact, the
Geiers report that the number actually went down to
only 620, a real decrease of 22 percent, and a
decrease from the projections of 35 percent.


This analysis directly contradicts 2004
recommendations of the Institute of Medicine which
examined vaccine safety data from the National
Immunization Program (NIP) of the CDC. While not
willing to either rule out or to corroborate a
relationship between mercury and autism, the IOM
soft-pedaled its findings, and decided no more studies
were needed. The authors write: "The IOM stated that
the evidence favored rejection of a causal
relationship between thimerosal and autism, that such
a relationship was not biologically plausible, and
that no further studies should be conducted to
evaluate it."


As more and more vaccines were added to the mandatory
schedule of vaccines for children, the dose of the
mercury-based preservative thimerosal rose, so that
the cumulative dose injected into babies exceeded the
toxic threshold set by many government agencies.
Mercury is known to damage nerve cells in very low
concentrations.


The concern about vaccines may actually be underrated,
as it is generally acknowledged that the voluntary
reporting of such disorders has resulted in vast
underreporting of new cases. For example, the Iowa
state legislature banned thimerosal from all vaccines
administered there after it documented a 700-fold
increase in that state alone. California followed
suit, and 32 states are considering doing so.


Up until about 1989 preschool children got only 3
vaccines (polio, DPT, MMR). By 1999 the CDC
recommended a total of 22 vaccines to be given before
children reach the 1st grade, including Hepatitis B,
which is given to newborns within the first 24 hours
of birth. Many of these vaccines contained mercury. In
the 1990s approximately 40 million children were
injected with mercury-containing vaccines.


The cumulative amount of mercury being given to
children in this number of vaccines would be an amount
187 times the EPA daily exposure limit.


The Geiers conclude that mercury continues to be a
concern, as it is still added to some of the most
commonly-used vaccines, such as those for flu.


Despite its removal from many childhood vaccines, thimerosal is still
routinely added to some formulations of influenza vaccine administered to
U.S. infants, as well as to several other vaccines (e.g.
tetanus-diphtheria
and monovalent tetanus) administered to older children and adults. In
2004,
the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
(NAS) retreated from the stated 1999 goal of the AAP and the PHS to remove
thimerosal from U.S. vaccines as soon as possible.As a result, assessing
the
safety of TCVs [thimerosal-containing vaccines] is a matter of significant
importance."
Editor's Note: The new study confirms claims made by Dr. Russell Blaylock
in
the Blaylock Wellness Report that childhood vaccines that contain
thimerosal, a mercury based preservative, could cause serious harm to
children, including autism. Dr. Blaylock has also warned that vaccines for
adults, such as the flu shot, pose dangers.


p://www.pulsetc.com/article.php?sid=3072


Mercury-free vaccines debated in MN Legislatu sensible but not easy


A bill introduced in the state Legislature would require that a
mercury-free
version of a vaccine be given whenever it is available to health care
practitioners. If not available, then a vaccine containing mercury could
be
given. But if the vaccine contains more than a trace of mercury (more than
one microgram), the practitioner must disclose that "this vaccine contains
more than a trace amount of the mercury compound, thimerosal." Thimerosal
is
a highly toxic substance.


At first glance, the proposal is disarmingly sensible and
noncontroversial:
It would simply establish a preference for mercury-free vaccines, when
such
an alternative is available.


Mercury is found in "trace" amounts in most vaccines and currently about
90
percent of the flu shots given in Minnesota have a substantial amount of
mercury-25 micrograms-in them; yet the Minnesota Department of Health
promotes flu shots to pregnant women, the elderly, people with weakened
immune systems and now even children, without a warning to anyone about
the
mercury lurking in the shots.


Leading scientific researchers are appalled at the continued use of the
thimerosal in vaccines and there is a consensus among leading independent
mercury researchers that mercury in medicine (e.g. thimerosal) and in
dentistry (e.g. the dental amalgam fillings) should be banned. Many of
them
have testified before Congress. But their statements have not been fully
conveyed to the public by national or local media. Therefore the public
and
the Legislature remain ignorant of the menace posed by mercury in medicine
and have been all too easily soothed by the reassurances of the Department
of Health regarding the vaccine safety issues. Like the departments of
health in every other state, the Minnesota Department of Health is
tethered
to its federal funding source, which is primarily the Center for Disease
Control (CDC), based in Atlanta, Ga.


As a result, state health department priorities (and thinking) closely
follows that of the CDC. And that is a big problem because, as a number of
exposés reveal, the CDC has been found to have an overly cozy relationship
with the pharmaceutical industry. In particular, transcripts of secret
meetings held between CDC officials, a vaccine safety researcher under
contract with the CDC, and a drug company representative reveal that all
of
these players fully understood that it was the grand escalation of
mandated
childhood vaccinations that started in 1990 that gave rise to the
explosive
(ten-fold) increase of childhood autism during the 1990s. The entire
public
health establishment seems to be scripted to deny what the CDC clearly,
but
secretly, knew about the American autism scandal. The book "Evidence of
Harm," by New York Times health writer David Kirby, documents the CDC/drug
company collusion and cover-up in a nonfictional work that centers around
the lives of parents of autistic children who formed a nonprofit group
called SafeMinds .


Spearheading the mercury-free vaccine bill in Minnesota are citizen
lobbyists such as Tim Kasemodel, a father of an autistic boy, and Jerri
Johnson, a homeopath. They are backed by the Minnesota Natural Health
Legal
Reform Project, (MNHLRP) a non-profit civic group that lobbies for health
freedom and natural health issues. "The pharmaceutical companies now
provide
some mercury-free version for almost every type of vaccine," Jerri Johnson
explains. "Now it is up to practitioners to stop using the mercury
version.
This legislation will insure that the practitioners will not give a
mercury
containing vaccine when a mercury free version is available." Since our
state health department is incapable of driving the change, it remains for
the Legislature-which can be more receptive to the voices of the
vaccine-injured public-to drive the change. "I'm just a parent," Tim
Kasemodel adds, "but some of the people lobbying against our bill haven't
read as much as I have. There is no safe mercury in vaccines, even at what
are called the "trace' amounts. But the Department of Health continues to
stand behind their old science."


The citizen reformers found a strong author in the House, Rep. Shelly
Madore, a mother of an autistic son. She expected her bill, HF 1917, to be
heard in the Public Health Committee, chaired by Rep. Karen Clark (DFL,
South Minneapolis-Phillips, Whittier) who enthusiastically supports the
bill. Support for the bill in her committee is very strong. But another
Minneapolis DFLer, Rep. Paul Thissen (Hale-Page-Diamond Lake) pulled
Madore's
bill into his Health Policy Committee; Thissen has refused to give the
bill
a hearing and also refuses to let the bill out of his committee to be
heard
by Karen Clark in her committee. Thissen did not return phone calls from
this reporter.


The anti-mercury reformers faced a more promising situation in the Senate,
where the Health Committee is chaired by Sen. John Marty, who himself is a
mercury foe and who believes it's important to give the legislation a
hearing. The reformers found their senate champion in Sen. Patricia Torres
Ray, (DFL, South Minneapolis-Longfellow, Nokomis). But after Torres Ray
introduced her copy of the bill, SF 1780, she was blitzed by state health
department messages stating that her bill would harm the public by
threatening public confidence in the entire vaccination program in
Minnesota. She was also told that "several mercury containing vaccines are
being moved out of the market in the next couple of years" so there is no
need for a law, and was assured "there is no science" linking mercury in
vaccines to health harm." Torres Ray, who is admittedly new to the vaccine
controversy, has agreed to meet with the Department of Health to hear out
their many "concerns" about the anti-mercury legislation; Torres Ray
realizes that that tactic of delay may make it too late for her bill to be
heard in the Senate by the deadline.


The Goliath lurking behind this Minnesota struggle is the pharmaceutical
drug industry. The drug industry pours substantial money into campaign
committees, public relations, lobbyists, and helps orchestrate directly or
indirectly the marketing boost that vaccination programs get from our
state
health department. The health department doesn't welcome scrutiny of this
or
of the peculiar and remarkable tendency of our health department to side
with the industry even at the expense of public health. The desperate
tactics of the state health department -designed to forestall legislative
committee hearings on the bill at all costs-likely reflects its desire to
avoid the embarrassment of a legislative rebuke on the mercury safety
issue.


The worst nightmare of Chris Ehresman, who heads the department's
vaccination program, is surely that a more curious public will start to
surf
the internet and discover the fact that mercury in vaccines has severely
impacted a shocking number of children (autism, seizures, ADHD, learning
disabilities) and has also harmed many of our most vulnerable adults
(worsening the problem of dementia and other neurological and auto immune
disorders).









  #10  
Old February 8th 09, 09:15 AM posted to misc.health.alternative,misc.kids.health,talk.politics.medicine,misc.headlines,misc.kids
Jan Drew
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,707
Default Thimerosal Truth


"Jan Drew" wrote in message
...
http://www.thecre.com/quality/2005/2...f_quality.html

Thursday, June 16, 2005
Why Won't the CDC Allow Access to the Vaccine Safety Datalink?


Memo to CDC: We're not getting our money's worth
David Kirby
May 23, 2005


Can mercury in vaccines cause autism in children? This hotly disputed
question will only burn brighter as more biological evidence surfaces to
suggest a link. But a definitive answer might take years. Meanwhile, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sitting on a
multi-million-dollar database - paid for by you and me - that could
probably
resolve this contretemps within weeks.


They have the data. We paid for the data. Yet we cannot see the data. The
information is kept under lock and key within the massive health agency --
as jealously guarded as nuclear secrets.


The CDC tells us that they have looked at the data exhaustively and found
"no evidence of harm." They implied that their own scientists are
perfectly
capable of analyzing the data, thank you very much, and outside
researchers
cannot be trusted to independently verify their analyses, nor to protect
the
confidentiality of patients whose numbers they would be crunching.


But, as any high school student can tell you, the replication of a study
is
the hallmark of all good science. Without access to the raw data
originally
used by the CDC researchers, it is impossible to verify their work. All we
can do is trust that they got it right.


The CDC, which has budgeted nearly $200 million to operate the Vaccine
Safety Datalink, spent four years analyzing data from children who
received
varying amounts of thimerosal in their vaccines. The study went through
five
different permutations before being published in November, 2003. Early
study
"generations," which were never meant to see the light of day, showed
highly
elevated, statistically significant increased risks for autism and other
disorders among the kids receiving the most mercury.


But by the time the study was published, most of these associations had
somehow disappeared entirely.


Only two outside researchers, Mark and David Geier, have managed to gain
access to the raw CDC data. They faced daunting hurdles to get into the
CDC
computer center, and nearly crippling software malfunctions once they were
inside. But among the data they did manage to mine, they reportedly found
highly elevated risks for autism among children in the highest mercury
exposure group.


So we now have two extremely different interpretations of the same data.
It
is way past time that the CDC allow a third team - outside researchers
completely acceptable to all parties involved in this dispute - into the
database to conduct any analyses they see fit. (Patients names are removed
from the data, making it exceedingly hard for researchers to identify
anyone, even if they desired, which is extremely unlikely in itself).


It sounds reasonable, it sounds nice. But don't hold your breath. The CDC
is
hardly issuing engraved invitations to come trawl its mainframes, despite
a
harshly written report earlier this year from the Institute of Medicine.
The
IOM complained of CDC foot dragging, and even insolence, on this matter,
and
suggested that vaccine officials at the health agency seek "legal
counsel."
Why? Because the original datasets of children used by the government
have,
as they say, gone missing. (Actually, the official explanation was that
they
"were not archived in a standard fashion.") The intentional loss or
destruction of taxpayer funded data or datasets is a violation of the
Federal Data Quality Act. It is a felony, and someone could go to jail for
it.


Meanwhile, the data just sit there. Our data, not theirs. CDC officials
insist they have an "open mind" on this issue, and that thimerosal has not
been ruled out as a possible cause of autism and other disorders. But they
also insist that the vaccine safety database yielded no evidence of harm.


If that is true, then why are they so reluctant to let someone else in to
verify this claim? I cannot answer that question, because the CDC is not
talking to me. But I do know that people with nothing to hide are
unencumbered by doubts of what others will find if they rifle through
their
closet.


If the data can prove that injecting a known neurotoxin into infants at
levels up to 125 times over federal safety limits was a safe and sane
thing
to do, then why isn't the CDC having an open house for all researchers
worth
their salt to come on down and have a look-see for themselves?


Without access to the raw data, parents who support the thimerosal
theory -
and their allies in Congress, academia and law - are falling back on other
recent studies that show a possible link between mercury and autism. They
may not have the epidemiology on their side, yet, but the mounting
evidence
emerging from the fields of biology and toxicology is becoming too urgent
to
ignore. Recent published studies have shown:


+ Autistic children retain mercury at much higher rates than non-autistic
kids.


+ Autistic children lack certain sulfur-based proteins that bind to heavy
metals and remove them from the body.


+ Autistic children have a dysfunctional immune profile generally
consistent
with mercury toxicity.


+ The rate of increase in reported autism cases peaked between 1987 and
1992, the same years that new mercury-containing vaccines were added to
the
U.S. schedule.


+ Mice with autoimmune disorders react horrifically to mercury exposure
from
vaccines, whereas typical mice of the same species do not.


+ In primates, mercury from vaccines was more likely to become trapped in
the brain than mercury from fish.


+ Children who live near mercury spewing power plants have an elevated
risk
of developing autism.


These are all intriguing, to be sure. But what we really need is to get
our
hands on the raw CDC data - our data.


David Kirby is author of "Evidence of Harm" (St. Martin's Press)
www.evidenceofharm.com


http://www.whale.to/v/elililly.html


http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDai...=20061024-0155...


"The (National Institutes of Health)-funded study ... found that
thimerosal,
best known for its use as an ethylmercury-based preservative in infant
vaccines and pregnancy shots, is actually more toxic to the brain than
methylmercury."


Thiomersal (INN), commonly known in the United States as thimerosal,
(C9H9HgNaO2S) is a mercury-containing (approximately 49% mercury by
weight)
organic compound (organomercurial) used as an antiseptic and antifungal
agent.


It was developed and registered under the trade name Merthiolate in 1929
by
the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company, and has been used as a
preservative in vaccines, immune globulin preparations, skin test
antigens,
antivenoms, ophthalmic and nasal products, and tattoo inks.


The compound is being phased out from most childhood vaccinations by
packaging the vaccines in single-dose vials, which eliminates the need for
bacteriostatics like thiomersal.


Stability
Stable. May degrade in sunlight. Incompatible with strong acids, strong
bases, strong oxidizing agents, iodine, heavy metal salts.


Toxicology
Thiomersal is a very toxic compound which is harmful by inhalation and
ingestion (hazard symbol T+). It is a neoplastigen and a teratogen.
Thiomersal is also dangerous for the environment (hazard symbol N). For
more
safety information on how to handle thiomersal, consult an MSDS


Thiomersal causes susceptible bacteria to autolyze (break down their own
cells with self-produced enzymes) via an unknown mechanism.[citation
needed]
In the body, it is metabolized to ethylmercury (C2H5Hg+) and
thiosalicylate.[1]


http://www.ncirs.usyd.edu.au/facts/f-thiomersal.html


==


Medical News Today
Thimerosal, found in childhood vaccines, can increase the risk of
autism-like damage in mice
09 Jun 2004


A new study indicates that postnatal exposure to thimerosal, a mercury
preservative commonly used in a number of childhood vaccines, can lead to
the development of autism-like damage in autoimmune disease susceptible
mice. This animal model, the first to show that the administration of
low-dose ethylmercury can lead to behavioral and neurological changes in
the developing brain, reinforces previous studies showing that a genetic
predisposition affects risk in combination with certain environmental
triggers. The study was conducted by researchers at the Jerome L. and Dawn
Greene


Infectious Disease Laboratory at the Mailman School of Public Health,
Columbia University. Over the past 20 years, there has been a striking
increase--at least ten-fold since 1985--in the number of children
diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. Genetic factors alone cannot
account for this rise in prevalence. Researchers at the Mailman School,
led by Dr. Mady Hornig, created an animal model to explore the
relationship between thimerosal (ethylmercury) and autism, hypothesizing
that the combination of genetic susceptibility and environmental exposure
to mercury in childhood vaccines may cause neurotoxicity.


Cumulative mercury burden through other sources, including in utero
exposures to mercury in fish or vaccines, may also lead to damage in
susceptible hosts. Timing and quantity of thimerosal dosing for the mouse
model were developed using the U.S. immunization schedule for children,
with doses calculated for mice based on 10th percentile weight of U.S.
boys at age two, four, six, and twelve months.


The researchers found the subset of autoimmune disease susceptible mice
with thimerosal exposure to express many important aspects of the
behavioral and neuropathologic features of autism spectrum disorders,
including:


Abnormal response to novel environments;


Behavioral impoverishment (limited range of behaviors and decreased
exploration of environment); Significant abnormalities in brain
architecture, affecting areas subserving emotion and cognition; Increased
brain size.


These findings have relevance for identification of autism cases relating
to environmental factors; design of treatment strategies; and development
of rational immunization programs. The use of thimerosal in vaccines has
been reduced over the past few years, although it is still present in some
influenza vaccines. Identifying the connection between genetic
susceptibility and an environmental trigger for autism--in this case
thimerosal exposure--is important because it may promote discovery of
effective interventions for and limit exposure in a specific population,
stated the lead author Dr. Mady Hornig. Because the developing brain can
be exposed to toxins that are long gone by the time symptoms appear, clues
gathered in these animal models can then be evaluated through prospective
human birth cohorts--providing a powerful to tool to dissect the
interaction between genes and the environment over time.


Citation source: Molecular Psychiatry 2004 Volume 9, advance on line
publication doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4001529


For further information on this work, please contact Mady Hornig, MD,
Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, Greene Infectious
Disease Laboratory, 722 W 168th St, New York, New York 10032, United
States of America, phone: 212-342-9036; FAX: 949-824-1229; e-mail:



http://www.generationrescue.org/images/060406.gif


http://www.nationalautismassociation...%20Thimerosal-...


http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2...2/213632.shtml


A new study shows that autism may be linked after all
to the use of mercury in childhood vaccines, despite
government's previous claims to the contrary.


An article in the March 10, 2006, issue of the Journal
of American Physicians and Surgeons shows that since
mercury was removed from childhood vaccines, the
alarming increase in reported rates of autism and
other neurological disorders (NDs) in children not
only stopped, but actually dropped sharply - by as
much as 35 percent.


Using the government's own databases, independent
researchers analyzed reports of childhood NDs,
including autism, before and after removal of
mercury-based preservatives. Authors David A. Geier,
B.A. and Mark R. Geier, M.D., Ph.D. analyze data from
the CDC's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System
(VAERS) and the California Department of Developmental
Services (CDDS) in "Early Downward Trends in
Neurodevelopmental Disorders Following Removal of
Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines."


The numbers from California show that reported autism
rates hit a high of 800 in May 2003. If that trend had
continued, the reports would have skyrocketed to more
than 1000 by the beginning of 2006. But in fact, the
Geiers report that the number actually went down to
only 620, a real decrease of 22 percent, and a
decrease from the projections of 35 percent.


This analysis directly contradicts 2004
recommendations of the Institute of Medicine which
examined vaccine safety data from the National
Immunization Program (NIP) of the CDC. While not
willing to either rule out or to corroborate a
relationship between mercury and autism, the IOM
soft-pedaled its findings, and decided no more studies
were needed. The authors write: "The IOM stated that
the evidence favored rejection of a causal
relationship between thimerosal and autism, that such
a relationship was not biologically plausible, and
that no further studies should be conducted to
evaluate it."


As more and more vaccines were added to the mandatory
schedule of vaccines for children, the dose of the
mercury-based preservative thimerosal rose, so that
the cumulative dose injected into babies exceeded the
toxic threshold set by many government agencies.
Mercury is known to damage nerve cells in very low
concentrations.


The concern about vaccines may actually be underrated,
as it is generally acknowledged that the voluntary
reporting of such disorders has resulted in vast
underreporting of new cases. For example, the Iowa
state legislature banned thimerosal from all vaccines
administered there after it documented a 700-fold
increase in that state alone. California followed
suit, and 32 states are considering doing so.


Up until about 1989 preschool children got only 3
vaccines (polio, DPT, MMR). By 1999 the CDC
recommended a total of 22 vaccines to be given before
children reach the 1st grade, including Hepatitis B,
which is given to newborns within the first 24 hours
of birth. Many of these vaccines contained mercury. In
the 1990s approximately 40 million children were
injected with mercury-containing vaccines.


The cumulative amount of mercury being given to
children in this number of vaccines would be an amount
187 times the EPA daily exposure limit.


The Geiers conclude that mercury continues to be a
concern, as it is still added to some of the most
commonly-used vaccines, such as those for flu.


Despite its removal from many childhood vaccines, thimerosal is still
routinely added to some formulations of influenza vaccine administered to
U.S. infants, as well as to several other vaccines (e.g.
tetanus-diphtheria
and monovalent tetanus) administered to older children and adults. In
2004,
the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
(NAS) retreated from the stated 1999 goal of the AAP and the PHS to remove
thimerosal from U.S. vaccines as soon as possible.As a result, assessing
the
safety of TCVs [thimerosal-containing vaccines] is a matter of significant
importance."
Editor's Note: The new study confirms claims made by Dr. Russell Blaylock
in
the Blaylock Wellness Report that childhood vaccines that contain
thimerosal, a mercury based preservative, could cause serious harm to
children, including autism. Dr. Blaylock has also warned that vaccines for
adults, such as the flu shot, pose dangers.


p://www.pulsetc.com/article.php?sid=3072


Mercury-free vaccines debated in MN Legislatu sensible but not easy


A bill introduced in the state Legislature would require that a
mercury-free
version of a vaccine be given whenever it is available to health care
practitioners. If not available, then a vaccine containing mercury could
be
given. But if the vaccine contains more than a trace of mercury (more than
one microgram), the practitioner must disclose that "this vaccine contains
more than a trace amount of the mercury compound, thimerosal." Thimerosal
is
a highly toxic substance.


At first glance, the proposal is disarmingly sensible and
noncontroversial:
It would simply establish a preference for mercury-free vaccines, when
such
an alternative is available.


Mercury is found in "trace" amounts in most vaccines and currently about
90
percent of the flu shots given in Minnesota have a substantial amount of
mercury-25 micrograms-in them; yet the Minnesota Department of Health
promotes flu shots to pregnant women, the elderly, people with weakened
immune systems and now even children, without a warning to anyone about
the
mercury lurking in the shots.


Leading scientific researchers are appalled at the continued use of the
thimerosal in vaccines and there is a consensus among leading independent
mercury researchers that mercury in medicine (e.g. thimerosal) and in
dentistry (e.g. the dental amalgam fillings) should be banned. Many of
them
have testified before Congress. But their statements have not been fully
conveyed to the public by national or local media. Therefore the public
and
the Legislature remain ignorant of the menace posed by mercury in medicine
and have been all too easily soothed by the reassurances of the Department
of Health regarding the vaccine safety issues. Like the departments of
health in every other state, the Minnesota Department of Health is
tethered
to its federal funding source, which is primarily the Center for Disease
Control (CDC), based in Atlanta, Ga.


As a result, state health department priorities (and thinking) closely
follows that of the CDC. And that is a big problem because, as a number of
exposés reveal, the CDC has been found to have an overly cozy relationship
with the pharmaceutical industry. In particular, transcripts of secret
meetings held between CDC officials, a vaccine safety researcher under
contract with the CDC, and a drug company representative reveal that all
of
these players fully understood that it was the grand escalation of
mandated
childhood vaccinations that started in 1990 that gave rise to the
explosive
(ten-fold) increase of childhood autism during the 1990s. The entire
public
health establishment seems to be scripted to deny what the CDC clearly,
but
secretly, knew about the American autism scandal. The book "Evidence of
Harm," by New York Times health writer David Kirby, documents the CDC/drug
company collusion and cover-up in a nonfictional work that centers around
the lives of parents of autistic children who formed a nonprofit group
called SafeMinds .


Spearheading the mercury-free vaccine bill in Minnesota are citizen
lobbyists such as Tim Kasemodel, a father of an autistic boy, and Jerri
Johnson, a homeopath. They are backed by the Minnesota Natural Health
Legal
Reform Project, (MNHLRP) a non-profit civic group that lobbies for health
freedom and natural health issues. "The pharmaceutical companies now
provide
some mercury-free version for almost every type of vaccine," Jerri Johnson
explains. "Now it is up to practitioners to stop using the mercury
version.
This legislation will insure that the practitioners will not give a
mercury
containing vaccine when a mercury free version is available." Since our
state health department is incapable of driving the change, it remains for
the Legislature-which can be more receptive to the voices of the
vaccine-injured public-to drive the change. "I'm just a parent," Tim
Kasemodel adds, "but some of the people lobbying against our bill haven't
read as much as I have. There is no safe mercury in vaccines, even at what
are called the "trace' amounts. But the Department of Health continues to
stand behind their old science."


The citizen reformers found a strong author in the House, Rep. Shelly
Madore, a mother of an autistic son. She expected her bill, HF 1917, to be
heard in the Public Health Committee, chaired by Rep. Karen Clark (DFL,
South Minneapolis-Phillips, Whittier) who enthusiastically supports the
bill. Support for the bill in her committee is very strong. But another
Minneapolis DFLer, Rep. Paul Thissen (Hale-Page-Diamond Lake) pulled
Madore's
bill into his Health Policy Committee; Thissen has refused to give the
bill
a hearing and also refuses to let the bill out of his committee to be
heard
by Karen Clark in her committee. Thissen did not return phone calls from
this reporter.


The anti-mercury reformers faced a more promising situation in the Senate,
where the Health Committee is chaired by Sen. John Marty, who himself is a
mercury foe and who believes it's important to give the legislation a
hearing. The reformers found their senate champion in Sen. Patricia Torres
Ray, (DFL, South Minneapolis-Longfellow, Nokomis). But after Torres Ray
introduced her copy of the bill, SF 1780, she was blitzed by state health
department messages stating that her bill would harm the public by
threatening public confidence in the entire vaccination program in
Minnesota. She was also told that "several mercury containing vaccines are
being moved out of the market in the next couple of years" so there is no
need for a law, and was assured "there is no science" linking mercury in
vaccines to health harm." Torres Ray, who is admittedly new to the vaccine
controversy, has agreed to meet with the Department of Health to hear out
their many "concerns" about the anti-mercury legislation; Torres Ray
realizes that that tactic of delay may make it too late for her bill to be
heard in the Senate by the deadline.


The Goliath lurking behind this Minnesota struggle is the pharmaceutical
drug industry. The drug industry pours substantial money into campaign
committees, public relations, lobbyists, and helps orchestrate directly or
indirectly the marketing boost that vaccination programs get from our
state
health department. The health department doesn't welcome scrutiny of this
or
of the peculiar and remarkable tendency of our health department to side
with the industry even at the expense of public health. The desperate
tactics of the state health department -designed to forestall legislative
committee hearings on the bill at all costs-likely reflects its desire to
avoid the embarrassment of a legislative rebuke on the mercury safety
issue.


The worst nightmare of Chris Ehresman, who heads the department's
vaccination program, is surely that a more curious public will start to
surf
the internet and discover the fact that mercury in vaccines has severely
impacted a shocking number of children (autism, seizures, ADHD, learning
disabilities) and has also harmed many of our most vulnerable adults
(worsening the problem of dementia and other neurological and auto immune
disorders).









 




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