Thymerasol Filtering

Subject: Thymerasol Filtering
From: "Timothy S O'Neill" <tsoneill@iastate.edu>
Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 09:38:31 -0500 (EST)
List-Name: P2Tech
Reply-To: p2tech@great-lakes.net

Hello.

My name is Tim O'Neill and I am a graduate assistant at the Industrial Assessment Center at Iowa State University. We are currently in the process of performing an audit an animal vaccine company in our region and we have come up against a problem which involves the disposal of a hazardous chemical.

Here is a description of the problem:

Currently the vaccine company has a policy to buy back any vaccine which goes past the expiration date while in the possession of a customer. This vaccine, upon being received back at the facility, must be disposed of.

A large portion of these vaccines contain a chemical called "Thymerasol," a mercury based preservative, as an ingredient. Because of this mercury content, the returned material must be disposed of as hazardous waste.

The current method of disposal consists of throwing the individual vials of vaccine, container and all, into 55-gallon drums which are in turn taken off-site by a haz. waste disposal firm (this waste stream totalled 9,600 gallons in 1996, at a cost of $600/55-gallon drum).

We were wondering if there exists any type of a filtering system (activated carbon, ion exchange, etc.) which would be able to handle this type of application. Another alternative which may exist would be to somehow separate and recover the mercury itself. For example, is there some way to cause the mercury to separate and percipitate out of the solution?

Also, would someone be willing to give me a rough estimate on what such a system--if it exists--would cost?

I thank everyone in advance for your help. If you need any more information, feel free to email or call me here at the office (515.294.0079).

Tim O'Neill
Industrial Assessment Center
Iowa State
University

...nuff said.

Craig Westover Ruins Summer

Heather is a former scientist who worked with FDA regulations and the mom of a 4 year old with ASD. She was planning on having a nice, relaxing summer until Capt. Fishstick’s column in June prompted her to look into the thimerosal controversy.

Read her letter to him.

Duffy's Dilemma

Duffy is a dad that is beginning to take a look at the biomed approach to autism. He has expressed feeling conflicted in a way that I think people in his stage come by naturally. It is an experience that I went through myself in the spring of 2004. As this debate gets more and more attention, many more parents will find themselves in this place. I wanted to share the advice I am offering to him.

The problem I am having is knowing who to rely on for information. The author of the Salon article sounded authoritative and cites some reputable sources. He cast dispersions on the Geiers research, again, with foundations. Others support the Geiers wholeheartedly. I find myself at a loss.

It took me almost a full year of reading (and seeing my son get better and better) before I had enough information under my belt to start making public assertions about autism research. You might feel a sense of urgency to get this whole thing sorted out in your mind before you try anything with your son, but this issue is so huge that if you try to do it all at once, your brain will melt.

Brilliant scientists who have spent their careers on it have not figured it all out yet.

Do yourself a favor, just focus on your son. Get the book I mentioned, Children with Starving Brains, sort through that information, which is a lot of information, then come back to this whole discussion.

You have heard what the CDC has to say. You have heard what most mainstream pediatricians have to say. Take a few weeks, look at what the big picture of the biomedical theory and approach, then take a hard look at your son and see if any of it seems to apply to him.

If you get an understanding of the illness through the biomed lens and an understanding of the treatment, then you can come back to the 'main stream' medical view and ask the right questions of them. If they can answer your questions sufficiently, and describe their problems with the biomed approach adequately, then throw the book in the trash, get off the internet and go tickle your son.

If after looking at the biomed picture, the CDC’s stance that 'we don't really know what causes autism or what the mechanism could be' rings hollow (as it did for me) then find a DAN doctor and get your son tested.

If they find the usual problems, metals, digestive yeast, vitamin and mineral deficiencies food allergies, then try the GFCF diet for a week.

If you see an improvement, then try adding fish oil.

If those help, try whatever supplements the doctor recommends.

If they help, try chelating.

Do things one step at a time and trust the great parental instincts God gave you. If something does not seem right, stop. You are the expert on your son. You know him best.

Go ask a million questions about it. Talk to other doctors. If you buy the book off of her website, you can join her yahoo group and ask her questions there directly. She is on every day giving parents advice.

Talk to other parents. They love to share their experience, good and bad, and will be a huge help.

If you hear something from a mainstream doctor that gives you pause, take the question to the biomed community and see if they can address your concern.

If you hear something from a DAN doctor that gives you pause, take the question to your mainstream pediatrician and see if they can address your concern.

Ask questions of everyone, you will begin to see by people’s answers who is really taking a thoughtful look at the problem, and who is just paying lip service.

Sorting through this stuff is like drinking from a fire hose, just take it one sip at a time.

Most importantly, keep checking back with your child. Remember that he is different from every other boy with autism. Do what works for him.

Ladies and Gentilemen, Meet David Taylor

... no relation.

David has said more about the thimerosal/autism debate in his second post than my blog has in a year.

Don't miss the Top 10 Reasons Parents of Autistic Children are Pissed Off.

Beginning at the Other Beginning

Yesterday I wrote about the history of thimerosal since its beginning in 1930.

Today Dan Olmstead wrote about the history of autism since its beginning in 1931.

I will be posting his next few articles as he explores the genesis of the diagnosis. Please keep my piece in mind while reading his.

The Age of Autism: But what about 1930?
By Dan Olmsted
UPI Consumer Health Editor
Aug. 8, 2005 at 1:06PM

Washington, Aug. 8 (UPI) — Sunday's debate on NBC's "Meet the Press" over vaccines and autism gave welcome exposure to an issue that won't go away quietly.

Moderator Tim Russert asked Dr. Harvey Fineberg, president of the Institute of Medicine -- part of the National Academy of Sciences -- this question: "Do you think there's an epidemic of autism or do you think it's simply a change in defining it?"
Fineberg answered: "There's definitely a huge number of cases diagnosed with autism. ... It's also clear that the definition was broadened markedly in the 1980s and 1990s, and there were increased incentives to recognize children from increased awareness and availability of services.

"No one knows with certainty what part of the increase is genuine, a genuine increase in numbers, and what part is from increased recognition of people who were already there but not previously recognized."

As readers of this column know, we believe this is the core issue in trying to understand the disorder. If in fact autism has strikingly increased in prevalence -- not just in recognition -- the idea that autism is primarily a genetic disorder doesn't hold up. No genetic illness could rise so rapidly.

But if there have always been people with autism in reasonably similar numbers, then the idea that some new trigger -- vaccines, for example -- is behind autism begins to look implausible if not impossible.

Fineberg appeared on the show with David Kirby, author of "Evidence of Harm," a new book that looks at the debate through the eyes of parents who believe vaccines triggered their child's autism. Because of the flow of the conversation, Kirby did not have a chance to address the "epidemic" issue directly.

If he had, he could have pointed to a number of studies that suggest the increase -- to 1 in 166 children -- is real; he could have cited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's own statement that one in six children has some kind of neurodevelopmental disorder. He could have noted the parents and education professionals who believe something bad has happened to this generation of children -- not just autism, but learning disabilities and behavior problems, asthma and diabetes that have never occurred in such numbers.

Still, it's a complicated topic, one that is not easily resolved merely by citing statistics and diagnostic categories. That's why our approach has been slightly different: We've set out to describe the natural history of autism from the beginning.

That means we looked at where and when autism was first diagnosed as a separate disorder; what kind of families had autistic children; how that demographic broadened to include a wider swath of society; and whether autism is as prevalent in some communities -- the Amish being our prime example -- as it is in others.

What we can't get past is this: The first person to diagnose autism said he'd never seen it before, and neither had anyone else. His name was Leo Kanner, and he was not some country doctor; he was the leading psychiatrist of his day, a professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He wrote the book "Child Psychiatry." In
fact, he's been called the dean or father of modern child psychiatry.

Beginning in 1938 he saw children with a behavioral syndrome that differed "markedly and repeatedly from anything reported so far." Kanner wrote the landmark 1943 paper, "Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact," about the first 11 cases.

Kanner became the world's authority on autism and saw children referred from North America and South America and as far away as South Africa.

Yet by 1958 -- 15 years after he first created the diagnosis -- he had seen just 150 autism cases. Another doctor who became the European authority on the disorder saw only 10 cases in the decade after his first paper was published; a third "found only one true case of infantile autism in 36,500 clinical cases," according to
Bernard Rimland's 1964 book, "Infantile Autism."

No matter how you slice or dice the diagnostic categories, something doesn't compute -- how can there be half a million children with Autism Spectrum Disorders living in the United States today, when the man who identified the disorder could only find 150 in the first 15 years?

What's more, the oldest child Kanner diagnosed with autism was born in 1931. We found no evidence of a child diagnosed with autism who was older than that. True, some autism cases are due to organic causes -- Fragile X Syndrome or rubella in a pregnant mother -- and Kanner acknowledged that.

Still, in 1978, looking back on his career, Kanner said the first child he saw in 1938 "made me aware of a behavior pattern not known to me or anyone else theretofore."

We don't understand how a genetic model of autism fits with that. Never mind the 1990s; what happened in the 1930s? Today's medical mainstream pretty much skips over that issue, repeating the mantra of better diagnosis.

We're not so willing to dismiss the eyewitness expertise of the man who first identified the disorder -- we think his observations cannot simply be cast aside if they become inconvenient or inconsistent with a prevailing point of view. That's not a mainstream thing to do at all.

For that reason, we've gone back again to the beginning, looking for clues to the roots and rise of autism in Kanner's first cases.

We think we may have found something, which will be the subject of the next several columns.
--
E-mail: dolmsted@upi.com

Still Finding Thimerosal in Doctors Offices

Yesterday on Meet The Press, David Kirby, author of Evidence of Harm debated Dr. Harvey Fineberg, head of the Institute of Medicine on the contraversy over the role that thimersoal may play in the development of autism.

One point that was repeatedly stated was that except for the flu shot, all vaccines that have been offered to parents since 2003 have been thimerosal free. This is not the case.

Because parents in the autism community are very concerned about the prospect of their children getting mercury in their vaccines, many of them routinely ask to see the packaging before their child gets a shot. What some parents are finding is that vaccines with the full 25 micrograms of mercury are still being distributed in doctors offices, some with an expiration date of 2007.

My recommendation is this, always ask to see the package insert. If the list of ingredents includes thimerosal, ask for a thimerosal free vaccine.

Following are parent reports of finding these vaccines at the pediatricans office in the last year:

Dear Mr. Russert,
Thank you so much for having both Mr. Kirby and Dr. Fineburg on your show. I think that it was the start of a nice debate. I encourage you to continue this on another show as the amount of time allotted was not sufficient for a full discussion and as you know this is a complicated subject.

I would like to correct a statement that Dr. Fineburg made. He stated that thimerosal had been removed from all vaccines for children with the exception of some flu vaccines. On July 25, 2005, just two weeks ago, I took my 18 month old daughter in for her well check and vaccines. I asked the Dr. about the thimerosal in the shots and he did tell me that the DTP still contained a trace of it. He mentioned to me that he may have some thimerosal free DTP and that he could give hr that one. I told him that of course I wanted the one without thimerosal as I have an autistic son and am terrified that my daughter might become autistic as well. Several minutes went by and he came back in the room to tell me that all they had at that time was the DTP with thimerosal; but that he would be glad to order the thimerosal free shot for me. He also mentioned to me that he just recently found out that there was even a DTP without thimerosal available. This is a very well respected Dr. in my community and he has been a pediatrician for nearly 30 years.

When the doctors office called several days later to tell me that they had the thimerosal free version in stock now and from now on that would be all that they would order. I asked the nurse why this was just now becoming an option. she told me that the state of NC just recently - in the past month or so began paying for the thimerosal free version.

While I do appreciate my Drs. Honesty with me, it is appalling that it was recommended to remove the mercury from shots in 1999 and in 2005, they are still on the shelves.

Sincerely,
Beth Fields

Dear ABC News,

I am the mom of a darling 7 year-old boy with mercury poisoning, also known as autism. While I appreciate the fact that your station has done some reporting on the autism crisis in our country, [snip] you reported that thimerosal was removed from vaccines in 1999. This is NOT true.

There was never a recall on mercury-containing vaccines. Many are still on the shelves at doctor’s offices. Today’s flu vaccines are full of mercury, and they are being pushed on pregnant women and infants. [snip]

Just last month, I had my older son at the doctor’s office for a checkup, and was told that he needed a tetanus booster shot. Since I already have one son with mercury poisoning, I requested a mercury-free version. The doctor assured me that they ONLY use mercury-free vaccines in her practice. However, when I checked the vial that the nurse brought in, it clearly said “Contains thimerosal”. The doctor got flustered and said to the nurse “You brought in the wrong vial. That’s the one we give to the Medicaid kids.” Then she turned to me and explained that the state won’t pay for mercury-free shots. (How’s that for a follow-up story: State-funded mercury poisoning of kids!) We left the office without receiving the tetanus shot, and will never return. [snip]

Sincerely,
Sue Swanson
Alpharetta, GA

Dear Meet the Press,

The vaccine records I have for my daughter show that she was given thimerosal containing vaccines as late as 2004, and not the trace amounts of thimerosal. My daughter received between 39 and 50 micrograms of mercury in one visit. The expiration dates on the vaccines extended into 2006.

She recieved:
• Full amount of thimerosal in the Connaught DTaP she received on 5/13/2003. Expiration date: 7/2004.
• Full amount in the Connaught HIB she received on 5/13/2003. Expiration date: 1/2005.
• Full amount in the Aventis Pasteur ProHibit HIB she received on 6/18/2004. Expiration date: February, 2006.

Vera Smith

Dear Mr. Russert,

As the parent of a child with mercury poisoning and autism, I want to thank you for hosting today's show on the autism-mercury connection. It was a good start to the public debate.

May I offer a few items for your consideration? First, Dr. Fineberg was dead wrong when he stated, and you reiterated at the end of the show, that vaccines have been mercury free as of 2003. On the contrary, you can walk into doctor's offices across the USA today and find full-dose mercury containing vaccines still in use.

I run a large support group and I am still getting many emails and calls from parents who went to their doctor's office and upon asking to see the label on the vial, found full dose vaccines with expiration dates as late as 2007. It is true that vaccines that were thimerosal-free were being made in late 2003, but the thimerosal-containing vaccines are still in use and were never recalled, despite the autism community asking repeatedly for their recall. Please, do not tell the public that vaccines are thimerosal free until you have checked it out for yourself. [snip]

Again, thank you for broaching this topic and I look forward to seeing more about it on your show and others very soon.

Holly Bortfeld
Orrtanna, PA
Mom to Max, almost 10 years old

In May of 2005 my daughter was offered a tetanus shot with the full 25 micrograms of thimerosal at her doctor’s office in Old Saybrook, CT.

Janice Crabtree
Guilford, CT

Beginning at the Beginning

[Updated June 12, 2007]

The following is a summary of the history of thimerosal. It is not a complete list, as there is much more information out there and many more details to the information that I have included, but it hits the high points and gives a good frame of reference for where the discussion of the safety of this product and its relationship to autism and neurodevelopmental disorders should begin.

History of Thimerosal and Autism

Invented in the 1920’s by Eli Lilly, thimerosal is 49.6% ethlymercury by weight, a neurotoxin known to be more than a hundreds times more lethal to tissue than lead.

Eli Lilly’s safety testing of the product consists of a 1930 study of 22 patients dieing from mengiococcal meningitis in an Indiana hospital. Patients are injected with the solutions and followed until their death, which is within days. Because the patients die of meningitis, they are declared to show no adverse reaction to thimerosal and the product is declared safe for use. Thimerosal is subsequently introduced for use in vaccines and in over the counter remedies as a preservative to kill bacteria in the product.

When the FDA is created, Thimerosal is grandfathered in and is not subjected to any additional safety testing. The 1930 study remains the only safety testing done on the substance even after being in use for over 75 years.

Through FOIA requests and documents acquired as a part of discovery process in lawsuits against Lilly, it is clear that they have been warned about, and have been aware of the dangers of the product since at least 1947.

The use of thimerosal in teething powders for infants leads to a fatal out break of Acrodynia, or “Pink’s Disease”, a form of mercury poisoning. This illness has many symptoms in common with Autism. The link to mercury powders was found in the 1940's and by the 1950's Pink's disease was disappearing.

In 1963 Eli Lilly was forwarded an article that read in part: "There is another point of practical significance: does the parenteral injection of thimerosal - containing fluids cause disturbances in thimerosal-sensitive patients?" "It is known that persons that are contact sensitive to a drug may tolerate the same medications internally, but it seems advisable to use a preservative other than thimerosal for injections in thimerosal-sensitive people."

On August 17, 1967 the Medical/Science department requests that the claim "non-toxic" on thimerosal labels be deleted in next printing run. Two weeks later the label is changed to "non-irritating to body tissues," and the phrase non-toxic omitted.

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

In the 1970’s six newborns at one hospital die as a result of having a thimerosal containing antiseptic wiped on their wounds.

In 1982 the FDA reviews the use of thimerosal. Their statement reads in part: “At the cellular level, thimerosal has been found to be more toxic for human epithelial cells in vitro than mercuric chloride, mercuric nitrate, and merbromim (mercurichrom). "It was found to be 35.3 times more toxic for embryonic chick heart tissue than for staphylococcus areus." [a pathogen that the thimerosal is intended to kill]. A 1950 study showed that thimerosal was no better than water in protecting mice from potential fatal streptococcal infection." "The Panel concludes that thimerosal is not safe for over the counter topical use because of its potential for cell damage if applied to broken skin and its allergy potential. It is not effective as a topical antimicrobial because its bacteriastatic action can be reversed." Additional language added to some Lilly labels: "As with any drug, if you are pregnant or nursing a baby, seek the advice of a health professional before using this product." The FDA orders the withdrawal of over the counter, thimerosal containing products within a 6 month period. It does not order removal from vaccines, but recommends that the issue be studied and that the incidence of neurological problems in unvaccinated populations like the Amish be compared to the vaccinated population. [22 years later no such study has yet been done. On July 19, 2005 Dr. Julie Gerberding, head of the CDC says that such a study would be difficult to undertake because of genetic confounders. This seems contrary to the scientific process because if indeed such a study is done and it is found that the Amish have a lower incidence of neurodevelopmental disorders, the next step would be to undertake genetic studies to see if their genes differ dramatically from the general population and if their differences can help us locate the genetic component of autism. In addition studies designed to see if the small number of vaccinated Amish differ in their risk for NDDs to the larger Amish population would offer information about increased risk from thimerosal.]

In the 1930’s the average child only received three vaccines in their young life. Many vaccines are added to the schedule over the years, with an increase in the 1980’s and with 3 vaccines added to the schedule in 1991 alone. The current vaccine schedule calls for 31 vaccines in the first 18 months of life, 48 with full flu vaccination by 72 months of life.

A Merck internal memo is obtained during discovery discloses that in 1991 a Merck researcher added up the amount of mercury that is in the new vaccine schedule and sounded an alarm at the company that children who are vaccinated according to it would receive amounts of mercury far and above that considered to be safe by the EPA. Merck takes no action in regard to the information.

During the 1990’s, autism rates begin to rise dramatically. Parents complain to the health authorities that they believe that their children’s developmental disorders are related to their vaccines.

In 1998, a researcher at the CDC does the same math that Merck did 7 years previously. She finds that children are getting as much as 125 times the EPA limit of mercury for their weight. The EPA limit is based on the ingestion of methlymercury in food by a healthy adult. Because 90% of ingested mercury is excreted in the digestive track and never enters the blood stream, so even the EPA limit may be drastically lacking considering that thimerosal is injected directly into the blood stream and is not subject to the bodies natural defenses against toxic poisoning.

In 1999, the CDC and the American Association of Pediatrics issue a joint statement saying that although they find no “evidence of harm” from the mercury exposure that children are getting in their vaccines, they are calling on vaccine manufacturers to remove it from vaccines on a voluntary basis as a precautionary measure because “some children may” get more than the EPA limit for mercury at their 6 month visits. Manufactures begin the process in 1999, but do not remove it from all vaccines.

No legal ban on thimerosal is issued.

No recall of the mercury laden vaccines is issued and companies continue to sell lots already manufactured. Some of these vaccines containing full doses of thimerosal have been found in doctors’ offices, by parents who request to read package inserts, with expiration dates as late as 2007.

No independent or government testing of vaccines is done to confirm that thimerosal has been removed. FDA denies parents request that they set up a system to verify manufacturers claims of low dose or thimerosal free vaccines.

No statement is issued to pediatricians to alert them to the symptoms of mercury poisoning.

No recommendation is made to pediatricians to screen children who suffered the onset neurological impairment after vaccination for mercury toxicity.

Vaccines with 25mcg of thimerosal are still shipped to developing countries Most flu shots still contain a full dose of thimerosal as of this writing in 2007. (The EPA estimates that a person must weigh 550 lbs. to safely tolerate this amount of mercury.)

In November of 1999, the CDC commissions one of its new employees, a Belgian named Thomas Verstraten, to study the Vaccine Safety Datalink to find the risk of autism and other NDDs in relation to thimerosal exposure. Verstraten’s first draft of the study finds a relative risk above 7 for children who receive the highest dose of thimerosal to develop autism. In simple terms, such children have a more than a 600% higher chance of developing autism than children who don’t receive any thimerosal. (A relative risk of 2 is sufficient proof in U.S. courts to find for vaccine injury) Verstraten and other scientists at the CDC spend 4 years trying to change the study so that the relationship between the preservative and NDD’s is significantly reduced or eliminated. The Center for Disease Control will later describe these changes to the study as “improvements”. When the study is published in 2003, it concludes that “no consistent significant associations are found between thimerosal containing vaccines and neurodevelopmental outcomes.” By this time Thomas Verstraten, who is listed as a CDC employee on the study, has been an employee of GlaxoSmithKlein (a defendant in thimerosal law suits) for more than 2 years.

In November of 2000, despite being born almost two months prematurely and despite the assurance of my pediatrician that thimerosal had been removed from vaccines, my son Webster is injected with a DTaP vaccine that was 74.5 times the EPA limit for mercury exposure for his weight, just two weeks past his due date. He will go on to develop verbal apraxia and sensory integration disorder.

In 2001 Bernard et. al. publish their hypothesis: Autism: A Novel Form of Mercury Poisoning. It reads in part: “Exposure to mercury can cause immune, sensory, neurological, motor, and behavioral dysfunctions similar to traits defining or associated with autism, and the similarities extend to neuroanatomy, neurotransmitters, and biochemistry. Thimerosal, a preservative added to many vaccines, has become a major source of mercury in children who, within their first two years, may have received a quantity of mercury that exceeds safety guidelines. A review of medical literature and US government data suggests that: (i) many cases of idiopathic autism are induced by early mercury exposure from thimerosal; (ii) this type of autism represents an unrecognized mercurial syndrome; and (iii) genetic and non-genetic factors establish a predisposition whereby thimerosal’s adverse effects occur only in some children.”

In 2001 the Institute of Medicine is commissioned by the CDC to undertake a comprehensive review of all research into the thimerosal/autism connection. At their first meeting, Dr Stratton, head of the commission, when discussing what the process and product of the working group would be states that, “We said this before you got here, and I think we said this yesterday, the point of no return, the line we will not cross in public policy is to pull the vaccine, change the schedule. We could say it is time to revisit this, but we would never recommend that level. Even recommending research is recommendations for policy. We wouldn’t say compensate, we wouldn’t say pull the vaccine, we wouldn’t say stop the program”. When the transcript of the meeting is made public through a FOIA request, many interpret this to mean that no matter what they find, they will not publicly say that there is any link between the thimerosal and autism. Dr. Harvey Fineberg, head of the IOM, states that this is an incorrect interpretation of the comments, but will not offer any alternate interpretation of what else they could mean.

In 2001 Verstraten presents a version of his study to the IOM. He begins his presentation by telling the panel that as of 8 am that morning, he had become an employee of Glaxo Smith Klein. Despite the conflict of interest and the drastic changes made over the course of the study, the IOM will rely heavily on the study in making their determination. Dr. Verstraten returns to Belgium and except for a letter published in Pediatrics, little is heard from him again.

In March of 2002 my son Chandler, who was born one month early, is injected with Hepatitis B vaccine containing a “trace amount” of thimerosal (currently still on the schedule), despite the fact that he has no risk factors for Hepatitis B, and he is still two weeks from reaching his due date. Within days he develops fevers and uncontrollable crying that lasts for three months and bowel problems that persist for two years until he is placed on the GFCF diet. He will go on to be diagnosed with both Autism and mercury poisoning at age 2. I later discover that the “trace amount” of thimerosal is still just over the EPA limit of mercury for his weight.

In 2003 the Verstraten Study is published in Pediatrics with no mention of the conflict of interest of the lead researcher. Later a private contractor would testify before congress that he was ordered to destroy the original data sets used in the 1999 version of the study that found the dramatic link between thimerosal and autism in the interest of “patient confidentiality”. The entire Vaccine Safety Datalink is eventually moved to an offshore private company and can no longer be accessed by FOIA request.

In February of 2004, the IOM rushes to hold public hearings where researchers on both sides of the issues present their studies. The meeting is considered to be a “draw” between the two sides by many of those in attendance. A link is neither proved nor disproved, but new research in to the mechanism of how mercury can trigger autism and NDDs in a genetically vulnerable sub population is presented, along with case studies of successful treatment of autistic symptoms based on the new research.

In May of the same year, the IOM issues their final conclusion on the link between Thimerosal and NDDs. They state that, “the body of epidemiological evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism. The committee further finds that potential biological mechanisms for vaccine-induced autism that have been generated to date are theoretical only.” They then go on to take the unusual step of recommending that research into a link between the two be abandoned and funds be spent on other lines of inquiry. The conclusion relies heavily on Verstraten and several other epidemiological studies that are considered to implement fatally flawed methods and to be riddled with conflict of interest by members of the autism community. Parent groups are enraged. The IOM panel disbands.

Later that year, Thomas Verstraten publishes a letter in Pediatrics in response to those who criticize his study and his conflict of interest. His letter does not address the substance of the charges made against the study and the changes that were made to it over it’s 4 year evolution, but instead says that continuing the debate the validity of the 1999 study would be a “waste of scientific energy and not to the benefit of the safety of US children or of all the children world wide that have the privilege of being vaccinated.” He goes on to say that any suggestion of impropriety on the part of himself, the CDC or GSK is an insult and accuses his critics of having “pitiable attitudes”.

In July of 2005, in the face of continuing criticism of the IOM findings, the head of the IOM, Dr. Harvey Fineberg, issues a letter stating that Dr. Stratton’s 2001 comments that they would not say “pull the vaccine” or “change the schedule” were taken out of context and did not suggest that the IOM decision was compromised. Dr. Fineberg has not, despite requests, offered an alternative interpretation of what her comments meant in context.

In March of 2005, Author David Kirby released his book, “Evidence of Harm - Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic: A Medical Controversy” detailing the history of thimerosal in vaccines and its relationship to autism.

In April of 2005 the CDC posts a notice on their web site stating that they were in the process of reviewing “Evidence of Harm” and would be responding to the book.

In June of 2005 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. echoed the information found in the book and charged the CDC and Eli Lilly of malfeasance in covering up evidence of a causal effect between thimerosal and autism in an article published in Rolling Stone and Salon.com. It is entitled “Deadly Immunity: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. investigates the government cover-up of a mercury/autism scandal”.

July 19, 2005. The CDC holds a press conference to: “communicate the importance of infants and children receiving their recommended vaccinations on time, and reassure parents that vaccines are safe. The renewed attention to the potential causal link between thimerosal, a vaccine preservative, and autism will also be addressed during the press conference.” Vaccine safety groups are not informed of the press conference nor invited. The conference presents no new information and does not answer important questions raised in Evidence of Harm or Deadly Immunity about the conduct of the CDC the IOM or the reliability of the research that continues to be used to show no link between thimerosal and autism.

As of this writing June 26, 2007 the CDC has yet to issue its response to “Evidence of Harm” or to “Deadly Immunity”.

In June of 2007 the first vaccinated v. unvaccinated study is finally done... by parents. Generation Rescue funded a survey using the CDC's techniques for determining incidence of a disorder and found that vaccinated children are two and a half times more likely to have a neurodevelopmental disorder. CDC spokesman Curtis Allen said, "We look forward to learning more about the survey," . If the CDC responds to the survey this paper will be updated to reflect their response.

On June 25, 2007 Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) introduced the "Comprehensive Comparative Study of Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Populations Act of 2007" (H.R. 2832), legislation that would require the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct a comprehensive comparative study of vaccinated and unvaccinated populations. Her stated purpose is to resolve the controversy about the possible link between autism and mercury or other vaccine components.

David Kirby Finally Gets His Debate

He has been asking for months to someone, anyone, to take him on. Someone is finally stepping up:

Tune in this week to Meet The Press with Tim Russert, Sunday, August 7, 2005 where David Kirby, author of Evidence of Harm squares off against Dr. Harvey Fineberg, Director of the Institute of Medicine regarding the use of thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, in children's vaccines and the plausibility of its connection with autism.

Moonlighting at NIH

Outside work approved with 'limited' information

By David Willman
Los Angeles Times
August 5, 2005

WASHINGTON - Ethics officials at the National Institutes of Health often approved senior scientists' requests to moonlight for drug companies and other outside organizations without gathering adequate documentation to help judge whether the arrangements posed conflicts of interest, federal inspectors have found.

In 81 percent of the recent outside arrangements reviewed by the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ethics officials were found to have approved the deals on the basis of "limited" information. This and other findings are included in a report by the inspector general that is to be made public today.

"In no instance was the documentation we reviewed adequate for us to make a definitive determination regarding whether an activity was appropriate," the report said. "Inadequate documentation for outside activities can, intentionally or unintentionally, hide potential violations."

The report found that information submitted by the scientists to NIH ethics officials "included insufficient detail regarding the nature of the outside activities, the nature of employees' official job duties, the differences between the outside activities and their official job duties, the outside organizations, and any NIH funding or partnerships with the outside organizations."

The advance descriptions of the outside positions to be entered into by NIH scientists "were too general to demonstrate that employees' official duties would not overlap," the report said.

The inspector general's reviewers "could not determine the appropriateness of eight activities, and they determined that two of the activities appeared to violate regulations."

The report also said, "However, it is quite possible that, due to the approach taken in this review, we have underestimated the number of activities that should not have been approved."

A copy of the 72-page report was obtained yesterday by the Los Angeles Times.

The review is another condemnation of the NIH's recent policies governing outside work by agency scientists. In July 2004, the chief of the Office of Government Ethics concluded that the NIH was beset with a "permissive culture" toward conflicts of interest. The lax policies were largely the result of an agency-wide lifting of controls in late 1995 by the then-director of the NIH, Dr. Harold E. Varmus.

Varmus' successor, Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, announced sweeping restrictions this past February, citing reports by the Times in 2003 and 2004 that brought to light the payments by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies of millions of dollars in consulting fees and stock to NIH scientists.

Zerhouni - prodded by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Government Ethics and congressional leaders from both parties - agreed to prohibit NIH employees from accepting any further payments from pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies.

A group of NIH scientists is resisting the tougher ethics rules, which include a provision that would force employees to divest their stock in any biomedical company. They have hired a law and lobbying firm, and have called for Zerhouni to relax the ban on consulting for drug companies and to rescind the stock-divestiture provision, which has yet to be implemented.

Zerhouni has said that he is weighing the criticisms and would consider easing the restrictions if he concluded that they were inhibiting the NIH's ability to retain or recruit qualified scientists.

In a written reply to the inspector general, Zerhouni referred to the "corrective actions" that have been taken recently. He said that, generally, he agreed with the inspector general's findings, conclusions and recommendations.

Rolling Stone Follows Up

Ditto to Jaiden's Dad.

Balance

"So, in this story, I want to say that we should not allow the pressure of finding treatments, providing education and paying for all of this steal our laughter and our joy in our children. They are incredibly special and wondrous kids, created by God with a divine purpose for each of them. Even though the battle is hard and long, and maybe especially because of this, we need to take the time to enjoy our kids just as they are today."

Kelly is a wise woman. We do well to take her advice.

The Mass Mercury Poisoning Incident in Iraq

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/jernelov3

The paragraph relevant to this conversation:

"The crisis did provide doctors with some greater understanding of how to detect methyl mercury poisoning. "Quiet baby syndrome," for example, when mothers praise their babies for never crying, is now considered a warning sign for methyl mercury-induced brain damage in children."

A Call to Doctors to Pay Closer Attention

Doctors and Feds Need To Help Families Struggling With Autism
By Christina Adams

Lately, statements from anti-mercury parents of autistic children have cropped up in media outlets from the New York Times to the Internet. There's a Washington anti-mercury rally on Wednesday. The mercury issue is finally at the boiling point.

People who aren't part of this debate don't understand the passion, indeed the anger, behind it. As the parent of a child diagnosed with autism five years ago, I do. It's the result of institutional neglect, dawning suspicions about toxins like mercury and new understanding of how little has been done to help our children.

For example, at a May gathering of 700 international scientists in Boston, a new study linking autism to children's malfunctioning immune systems was announced. Immunologists at the M.I.N.D. Institute at UC-Davis showed that children with autism have different immune system responses than children without the disorder - evidence of a possible biological activation of autism.

Many parents have long believed that autistic symptoms are sometimes triggered by ill-timed or unclean vaccines, antibiotics, viruses or other subtle assaults. Other conference information indicated that environmental toxins may include chemicals like PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and air pollution, in addition to other brain, genetic and nutritional issues.

This information means autism might be addressed by fixing the underlying immune system abnormalities, according to my son's main pediatrician, California doctor Michael Goldberg, who treats autistic patients. So I waited for a reaction from major health authorities. There was almost none.

When families enter the autism world, few are told how to help their "on the spectrum" child. One parent I know couldn't even get a diagnosis from experts: Finally the photographer at Sears told her that her son was autistic. Parents are rarely told about basic therapies, let alone special diets and medications that can ease symptoms and move children toward recovery. So they trudge along with advice from a few caring doctors, support groups, books and shared recipes - and hope. Truly, our home-spun methods have helped many children get much better.

After my nearly 3-year-old son was diagnosed by his 20-year-old cousin (she worked with autistic kids), neighborhood moms with autistic children were my first sources of medical, legal, scientific and dietary knowledge. Many are light-years ahead of mainstream medical practitioners.

As my husband and I worked to recover our son, I too detected various linkages to autism, sensory and attention-related disorders, based on families' histories, environmental triggers and medical, neurological and dietary issues. Nightly phone calls and e-mails from thousands of distressed families over the years have provided one hell of a medical school.

Still, we desperately need answers. Our trial and error treatments are filled with guesswork. Currently, many parents are trying chelation, a process that strips metals from a child's bones and brain, hoping that removing the mercury and other metals often found in autistic children can help them improve. I haven't approved it for my son, as it can be hazardous, and several studies indicate it does not raise long-term IQ or other skills. But I follow the emerging reports from families with interest, because they provide the therapeutic proving ground.

Autism parents are tackling problems that concern everyone, because vaccine safety and environmental pollutants are related to the long-term health of our species. In January 2004, the American Academy of Pediatrics sent out a special alarm notice that one of every six U.S. children now has a behavioral or developmental disorder, and one of every 166 kids now has a form of autism. And a recent study links greater amounts of environmental mercury to increased autism in Texas. Still, the federal government and medical authorities remain largely silent.

We want the experts to be "fixers" - to tackle the looming problems illuminated by autism-related research so we can spend our time with our kids. My son, now a bright, inquisitive 7-year-old, suggests, "Mom, why don't you make a Web site called 'How I Got My Child Better'? That way people can log on and you won't have to spend so much time on the phone." If the world would really listen to families affected by autism, it could be that simple.

Christina Adams, a former Madison resident, is the author of "A Real Boy: A True Story of Autism, Early Intervention and Recovery" (Berkley Books, 2005).

Web site: www.christinaadamswriter.com.