KENNEDY: Time for CDC to Come Clean

Time for CDC to Come Clean (5 comments )

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert...a_b_16550.html
Correspondence newly obtained under the Freedom of Information Act
raises troubling new questions about CDC's role in the Thimerosal
scandal. Thimerosal is the mercury-based vaccine preservative that has
been linked to epidemics of neurological disorders, including autism,
in American children born after 1989.

Responding to scientific studies linking dangerous levels of mercury
to a range of health disorders, the CDC in July 1999 recommended that
the nation's vaccine makers eliminate Thimerosal as a preservative,
"as soon as possible."


But the newly released documents show that behind the scenes CDC was
quietly discouraging Thimerosal's removal. In a July 1999 letter,
vaccine producer SmithKline Beecham tells CDC that it is ready to
produce non-Thimerosal DTP (Diptheria/Tetanus/Pertussis) vaccines
immediately and has sufficient inventories to supply the entire U.S.
market during the remainder of 1999 and the first half of 2000, by
which time other vaccine manufacturers would have their
Thimerosal-free DTP vaccines on line.

Thimerosal-laden DTP vaccines containing 25 micrograms of mercury
apiece were then being administered to American infants at two months,
four months and six months -- far exceeding EPA's recommended safe
level for mercury. Had CDC accepted SmithKline's offer, it could have
immediately reduced the mercury exposures to vaccinated six-month-old
children by 40%.

However, in November, CDC mysteriously sent a letter back rejecting
SmithKline's offer. Then, on July 14, 2000 CDC published a deceptive
press release promising to require that all vaccines be
Thimerosal-free as soon as "adequate supplies are available." This was
a full 12 months after the agency had denied SmithKline's proposal.

"If CDC were basing its decision on safety alone, it would have taken
SmithKline up on its offer. That's a no-brainer," said a federal
health official who requested anonymity. "So there were other
considerations beside safety that were guiding their decision making."

Among these "other considerations" were CDC's important concerns for
the preservation of the vaccine program, a bureaucratic impulse for
self-preservation, and protecting the economic interests of its
vaccine industry friends.

"Immediate withdrawal would send a strong message; 'We messed up!'"
the health official told me. "And I don't think they wanted to send
that message to parents, the public or those considering legal
action."

"There was also concern," says the federal official, "that an
immediate withdrawal might discredit the international vaccine
programs for which CDC is an important partner." The World Health
Organization has urged CDC against the banning of Thimerosal in U.S.
vaccines since that prohibition might discredit WHO's third world
inoculation programs. WHO, with U.S. funding, is now injecting
children in developing countries with the same amounts of Thimerosal
we were giving American kids at their highest exposures, but in a
shorter time period. In May 2001, WHO committed to "develop a strong
advocacy campaign to support the ongoing use of Thimerosal."

But CDC insiders argue that CDC's primary concern was the economic
impacts on its pharmaceutical industry partners. "The big
consideration was cost," says the federal health official. "A lot of
CDC's friends in the vaccine industry had stockpiled Thimerosal-based
vaccines. If they couldn't sell them the costs would total in the tens
of millions of dollars."

On July 14, 2000 CDC promised to complete the transition to
Thimerosal-free vaccines for children by first quarter 2001. But,
probably for the reasons stated above, its commitment sometimes seems
half-hearted. CDC continues to promote the use of Thimerosal in
vaccines. The agency continues to send its top spokesman Roger Bernier
around the country to testify before state legislatures to derail
state efforts to ban Thimerosal in vaccines. Last week Bernier was
testifying against a proposed Thimerosal ban in Maryland.

CDC continues to exert muscular efforts to derail studies of American
cohorts -- the Amish, Christian Scientists, and home-schooled children
-- who were not exposed to Thimerosal vaccines. Preliminary studies of
these groups indicate very low levels of the neurological disorders,
including autism, that have been associated with Thimerosal in
vaccinated populations.

It's time for the CDC to come clean with the American public. Its
tactics of deception and obfuscation are jeopardizing the credibility
of the entire vaccine program, and therefore posing an enormous danger
to public health.

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Kennedy Jr.

~~~~

Just in case Disbarred and Jealous Mark Probert (and/or any of his
silly disguises) wants to blast a Mr. Kennedy's fine work ... his bio

Bio: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is credited with leading the fight to protect
New York City's water supply, but his reputation as a resolute
defender of the environment stems from a litany of successful legal
actions. The list includes winning numerous settlements for
Riverkeeper, prosecuting governments and companies for polluting the
Hudson River and Long Island Sound, arguing cases to expand citizen
access to the shoreline, and suing treatment plants to force
compliance with the Clean Water Act.

Mr. Kennedy acts as Chief Prosecuting Attorney for Riverkeeper. He
also serves as Senior Attorney for the Natural Resources Defense
Council and as President of the Waterkeeper Alliance. At Pace
University School of Law, he is a Clinical Professor and Supervising
Attorney at the Environmental Litigation Clinic in White Plains, New
York. Earlier in his career Mr. Kennedy served as Assistant District
Attorney in New York City.

The New York City watershed agreement, which he negotiated on behalf
of environmentalists and the city's watershed consumers, is regarded
as an international model in stakeholder consensus negotiations and
sustainable development. He helped lead the fight to turn back the
aggressive anti-environmental legislation during the 104th Congress.

Mr. Kennedy has worked on environmental issues across the Americas. He
has assisted several indigenous tribes in Latin America and Canada in
successfully negotiating treaties protecting traditional homelands.

Mr. Kennedy has published several books, including "The Riverkeepers"
(1997) with John Cronin. His articles have appeared in The New York
Times, Atlantic Monthly, The Wall Street Journal, Esquire, The Village
Voice, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, Pace Environmental Law
Review, and other publications.

Mr. Kennedy is a graduate of Harvard University. He studied at the
London School of Economics and received his law degree from the
University of Virginia Law School. He also received a Masters Degree
in Environmental Law from Pace University.

He is a licensed master falconer, and as often as possible he pursues
a life-long enthusiasm for white-water paddling. He has organized and
led several expeditions to Latin America, including first descents on
three little known rivers in Peru, Columbia, and Venezuela.


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