Re: Jane/was: Fw: [] An Assessment of Downward Trends In Neurodevelopmental Disorders In The United S

[Guest guest]

Jane, I believe it is the follow-up compiled with the new statistics AFTER they completely removed the thimerosol from the vaccines. Unfortunately, in the UK and other European countries where they are still using thimerosol laden vaccines, the autism rate is rising in record numbers. I will try to get a confirmation for you.

----- Original Message -----

From: jane milota

Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 10:12 PM

Subject: Re: [ ] Fw: [Autism Treatment] An Assessment of Downward Trends In Neurodevelopmental Disorders In The United S

, is this the original VARES study or a follow-up?

The Geiers are still coming to Ohio if we can get our mercury bill moving.

Jane Cochran <Ladyshrink111@...> wrote:

 Subject: [Autism Treatment] An Assessment of Downward Trends In Neurodevelopmental Disorders In The United S

An Assessment of Downward Trends In Neurodevelopmental Disorders In TheUnited States Following Removal of Thimerosal From Childhood Vaccines© Med Sci Monit, 2006; 12(6): CR231-239 WWW.MEDSCIMONIT.COM A. Geier, Mark R. GeierSummaryThe US is in the midst of an epidemic of neurodevelopmental disorders(NDs). Thimerosal is an ethylmercury-containing compound added to somechildhood vaccines. Several previous epidemiological studies conducted inthe US have associated Thimerosal-containing vaccine (TCV) administrationwith NDs.An ecological study was undertaken to evaluate NDs reported to theVaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) from 1991 through 2004 bydate of receipt and by date of vaccine administration.The NDs examined included autism, mental retardation, and speechdisorders. Statistical trend analysis was employed to evaluate the effectsof removal of Thimerosal on the proportion of NDs reported to VAERS.There was a peak in the proportion of ND reports received by VAERS in2001–2002 and in the proportion of ND reports by date of vaccineadministration in 1998. There were signifi cant reductions in the proportionof NDs reported to VAERS as Thimerosal was begun to be removed fromchildhood vaccines in the US from mid-1999 onwards.The present study provides the first epidemiological evidence showingthat as Thimerosal was removed from childhood vaccines, the number of NDshas decreased in the US. The analysis techniques utilized attempted tominimize chance or bias/confounding. Additional research should be conductedto further evaluate the relationship between TCVs and NDs. This isespecially true because the handling of vaccine safety data from theNational Immunization Program of the CDC has been called into question bythe Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 2005.http://www.medscimonit.com/fulltxt.php?IDMAN=8PMID: 16733480

How low will we go? Check out Messenger’s low PC-to-Phone call rates.

[Guest guest]

- I don't remember the link off hand, but just last week I

found an article that reported that Merck lied about when they

removed thimerisol from infant vaccines. I printed it and it's in

my car. {I got to it following a link for free publications on the

wrightslaw newsletter - I think}. It was a shock! And, being the

conspiracy theorist that I am, I thought, when a researcher

says, " Look! The autism rate went down after thimerisol was

removed, " Merck would reply, " We lied! Thimerisol is still in

infant vaccines. You can't sue us! Nyah nyah nah nyah nyah!! "

Chris

> 

> Subject: [Autism Treatment] An Assessment of Downward

Trends In Neurodevelopmental Disorders In The United S

>

>

> An Assessment of Downward Trends In Neurodevelopmental

Disorders In The

> United States Following Removal of Thimerosal From Childhood

Vaccines

>

> © Med Sci Monit, 2006; 12(6): CR231-239 WWW.MEDSCIMONIT.COM

>

> A. Geier, Mark R. Geier

>

> Summary

> The US is in the midst of an epidemic of neurodevelopmental

disorders

> (NDs). Thimerosal is an ethylmercury-containing compound added

to some

> childhood vaccines. Several previous epidemiological studies

conducted in

> the US have associated Thimerosal-containing vaccine (TCV)

administration

> with NDs.

> An ecological study was undertaken to evaluate NDs reported to

the

> Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) from 1991

through 2004 by

> date of receipt and by date of vaccine administration.

> The NDs examined included autism, mental retardation, and

speech

> disorders. Statistical trend analysis was employed to evaluate

the effects

> of removal of Thimerosal on the proportion of NDs reported to

VAERS.

> There was a peak in the proportion of ND reports received by

VAERS in

> 2001â? " 2002 and in the proportion of ND reports by date of

vaccine

> administration in 1998. There were signifi cant reductions in

the proportion

> of NDs reported to VAERS as Thimerosal was begun to be removed

from

> childhood vaccines in the US from mid-1999 onwards.

> The present study provides the first epidemiological evidence

showing

> that as Thimerosal was removed from childhood vaccines, the

number of NDs

> has decreased in the US. The analysis techniques utilized

attempted to

> minimize chance or bias/confounding. Additional research

should be conducted

> to further evaluate the relationship between TCVs and NDs.

This is

> especially true because the handling of vaccine safety data

from the

> National Immunization Program of the CDC has been called into

question by

> the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences

in 2005.

> http://www.medscimonit.com/fulltxt.php?IDMAN=8

> PMID: 16733480

>

>

>

>

>

> -------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------

> How low will we go? Check out Messenger's low PC-to-Phone

call rates.

>

[Guest guest]

Is that the 1991 Merck Memo you are talking about? If so, then here it is (from the LA Times): '91 Memo Warned of Mercury in ShotsBy Myron LevinTimes Staff WriterFebruary 8, 2005 A memo from Merck & Co. shows that, nearly a decade before the first public disclosure, senior executives were concerned that infants were getting an elevated dose of mercury in vaccinations containing a widely used sterilizing agent. The March 1991 memo, obtained by The Times, said that 6-month-old children who received their shots on schedule would get a mercury dose up to 87 times higher than guidelines for the maximum daily consumption of mercury from fish. "When viewed in this way, the mercury load appears rather large," said the memo from Dr. Maurice R. Hilleman, an internationally renowned vaccinologist. It was written to the president of Merck's vaccine division. The memo was prepared at a time

when U.S. health authorities were aggressively expanding their immunization schedule by adding five new shots for children in their first six months. Many of these shots, as well as some previously included on the vaccine schedule, contained thimerosal, an antibacterial compound that is nearly 50% ethyl mercury, a neurotoxin. Federal health officials disclosed for the first time in 1999 that many infants were being exposed to mercury above health guidelines through routine vaccinations. The announcement followed a review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that was described at the time as a first effort to assess the cumulative mercury dose. But the Merck memo shows that at least one major manufacturer was aware of the concern much earlier. "The key issue is whether thimerosal, in the amount given with the vaccine, does or does not constitute a safety hazard," the memo said. "However, perception of hazard may be equally

important." Merck officials would not discuss the contents of the memo, citing pending litigation. Separately, the drug giant is trying to fend off a legal onslaught over Vioxx, the popular painkiller it introduced in 1999. The company, based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., faces hundreds of lawsuits claiming that the drug caused heart problems and that Merck concealed the risks. Merck, which in September pulled Vioxx off the market, has denied the allegations. The legacy of thimerosal, meanwhile, also is causing problems for Merck and other drug companies. More than 4,200 claims have been filed in a special federal tribunal, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, by parents asserting that their children suffered autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders from mercury in vaccines. A handful of similar claims are awaiting trial in civil courts. The plaintiffs cite various scientific studies that they say prove the dangers

of thimerosal, including at the levels found in vaccines. Thimerosal has been largely removed from pediatric vaccines in recent years in what health officials have described as a precautionary measure. (This has been accomplished as drug makers have voluntarily switched from multi-dose vials of vaccine, which require a chemical preservative like thimerosal, to single-dose containers.) In September, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation prohibiting vaccines with more than trace amounts of thimerosal from being given to babies and pregnant women. Iowa has a similar ban. For their part, Merck and other vaccine makers, along with many government health officials and scientists, say there is no credible evidence of harm from the amounts of mercury once widely present in kids' shots. They cite a report in May by a committee of the national Institute of Medicine concluding that the evidence "favors rejection of a causal relationship"

between vaccines and autism. The seven-page Merck memo was provided to The Times by A. Moody, a Washington lawyer who works with parent groups on vaccine safety issues. He said he obtained it from a whistle-blower whom he would not name. The memo provides the "first hard evidence that the companies knew - or at least Merck knew - that the children were getting significantly more mercury" than the generally accepted dose, the lawyer said. He also provided a copy to attorneys for Vera Easter, a Texas woman who blames thimerosal for the condition of her 7-year-old son, Jordan, who is autistic and mentally retarded. The Easter lawsuit is pending in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The defendants include Merck; rival vaccine makers GlaxoKline, Aventis Pasteur Inc. and Wyeth; and thimerosal developer Eli Lilly & Co. Easter's lawyer, Andy Waters, described the memo as "incredibly damning and

incredibly significant." After receiving it in the fall, he confronted Merck lawyers about why he hadn't seen it earlier. In a letter to Waters in October, Merck attorneys said they had in fact made available 32 boxes of records, but that the copying service hired by the plaintiffs for some reason had failed to copy several of the boxes - including the one with the Hilleman memo. "The memo," said company spokeswoman Blake, "was produced voluntarily by Merck in the ordinary course of discovery proceedings." Hilleman is a former senior vice president of Merck who developed numerous vaccines for the company. A 1999 profile in the Philadelphia Inquirer said that "it is no exaggeration to assert, as many scientists do, that Maurice Hilleman has saved more lives than any other living scientist." Hilleman, 85, currently director of the Merck Institute for Vaccinology, had officially retired and was a consultant to

Merck when he wrote the '91 memo. He declined to be interviewed. The memo was sent to Dr. Gordon , then head of Merck's vaccine division and now a consultant for the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institutes of Health. also declined to comment. The memo stated that regulators in several countries had raised concerns about thimerosal, including in Sweden, where the chemical was being removed from vaccines. "The public awareness has been raised by the sequential wave of experiences in Sweden including mercury exposure from additives, fish, contaminated air, bird deaths from eating mercury-treated seed grains, dental amalgam leakage, mercury allergy, etc.," the memo said. It noted that Sweden had set a daily maximum allowance of mercury from fish of 30 micrograms for a 160-pound adult, roughly the same guideline used by the FDA. Adjusting for the body weight of infants, Hilleman calculated that babies

who received their shots on schedule could get 87 times the mercury allowance. The Swedish and FDA guidelines work out to about four-tenths of a microgram of mercury per kilogram of body weight. A stricter standard of one-tenth of a microgram per kilogram has been adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency and endorsed by the National Research Council. These standards are based on methyl mercury, the type found in fish and airborne emissions from power plants. Though toxic, the ethyl mercury in thimerosal may be less hazardous than methyl mercury, some scientists say, because it is more quickly purged from the body. "It appears essentially impossible, based on current information, to ascertain whether thimerosal in vaccines constitutes or does not constitute a significant addition to the normal daily input of mercury from diverse sources," the memo said. "It is reasonable to conclude" that it should be eliminated

where possible, he said, "especially where use in infants and young children is anticipated." In the U.S., however, thimerosal continued to be added throughout the '90s to a number of widely used pediatric vaccines for hepatitis B, bacterial meningitis, diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus. It was added to multi-dose vials of vaccine to prevent contamination from repeated insertion of needles to extract the medicine. It was not needed in single-dose vials, but most doctors and clinics preferred to order vaccine in multi-dose containers because of the lower cost and easier storage. The Hilleman memo said that unlike regulators in Sweden and some other countries, "the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ... does not have this concern for thimerosal." A turning point came in 1997 when Congress passed a bill ordering an FDA review of mercury ingredients in food and drugs. Completed in 1999, the review revealed

the high level of mercury exposure from pediatric vaccines and raised a furor. In e-mails later released at a congressional hearing, an FDA official said health authorities could be criticized for "being 'asleep at the switch' for decades by allowing a potentially hazardous compound to remain in many childhood vaccines, and not forcing manufacturers to exclude it from new products." It would not have taken "rocket science" to add up the amount of exposure as the prescribed number of shots was increasing, one of the e-mails said. While asserting that there was no proof of harm, the U.S. Public Health Service in July 1999 called on manufacturers to go mercury-free by switching to single-dose vials. Soon after, Merck introduced a mercury-free version of its hepatitis B vaccine, replacing the only thimerosal-containing vaccine it was still marketing at the time, a company spokesman said. By 2002, thimerosal had been eliminated or reduced

to trace levels in nearly all childhood vaccines. One exception is the pediatric flu vaccine made by Aventis and still sold mainly in multi-dose vials. Marotta <marottafamily@...> wrote: - I don't remember the link off hand, but just last week I found an article that reported that Merck lied about when they removed thimerisol from infant vaccines. I printed it and it's in my car. {I got to it following a link for free publications on the wrightslaw newsletter - I think}. It was a shock! And,

being the conspiracy theorist that I am, I thought, when a researcher says, "Look! The autism rate went down after thimerisol was removed," Merck would reply, "We lied! Thimerisol is still in infant vaccines. You can't sue us! Nyah nyah nah nyah nyah!!" Chris>  > Subject: [Autism Treatment] An Assessment of Downward Trends In Neurodevelopmental Disorders In The United S> > > An Assessment of Downward Trends In Neurodevelopmental Disorders In The> United States Following Removal of Thimerosal From Childhood Vaccines> > © Med Sci Monit, 2006; 12(6): CR231-239 WWW.MEDSCIMONIT.COM > > A.

Geier, Mark R. Geier> > Summary> The US is in the midst of an epidemic of neurodevelopmental disorders> (NDs). Thimerosal is an ethylmercury-containing compound added to some> childhood vaccines. Several previous epidemiological studies conducted in> the US have associated Thimerosal-containing vaccine (TCV) administration> with NDs.> An ecological study was undertaken to evaluate NDs reported to the> Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) from 1991 through 2004 by> date of receipt and by date of vaccine administration.> The NDs examined included autism, mental retardation, and speech> disorders. Statistical trend analysis was employed to evaluate the effects> of removal of Thimerosal on the proportion of NDs reported to VAERS.> There was a peak in the proportion of ND reports received by VAERS in> 2001â?"2002

and in the proportion of ND reports by date of vaccine> administration in 1998. There were signifi cant reductions in the proportion> of NDs reported to VAERS as Thimerosal was begun to be removed from> childhood vaccines in the US from mid-1999 onwards.> The present study provides the first epidemiological evidence showing> that as Thimerosal was removed from childhood vaccines, the number of NDs> has decreased in the US. The analysis techniques utilized attempted to> minimize chance or bias/confounding. Additional research should be conducted> to further evaluate the relationship between TCVs and NDs. This is> especially true because the handling of vaccine safety data from the> National Immunization Program of the CDC has been called into question by> the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 2005.> http://www.medscimonit.com/fulltxt.php?IDMAN=8> PMID: 16733480> > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------> How low will we go? Check out Messenger's low PC-to-Phone call rates.>

Talk is cheap. Use Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min.

[Guest guest]

Thanks , I am having a hard time keeping track of the Geiers. Recently the European Council had this big meeting about mercury in the environment and I know the vaccines were on the agenda but I don't know the outcome. Hmm, I should check up on that (or actually get my mom to do it - she lives in Denmark). Jane Cochran <Ladyshrink111@...> wrote: Jane, I believe it is the follow-up compiled with the new statistics AFTER they completely removed

the thimerosol from the vaccines. Unfortunately, in the UK and other European countries where they are still using thimerosol laden vaccines, the autism rate is rising in record numbers. I will try to get a confirmation for you. ----- Original Message ----- From: jane milota Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 10:12 PM Subject: Re: [ ] Fw: [Autism Treatment] An Assessment of Downward Trends In Neurodevelopmental Disorders In The United S , is this the original VARES study or a follow-up? The Geiers are still coming to Ohio if we can get our mercury bill moving. Jane Cochran <Ladyshrink111@...> wrote:  Subject: [Autism Treatment] An Assessment of Downward Trends In Neurodevelopmental Disorders In The United S An Assessment of Downward Trends In Neurodevelopmental Disorders In TheUnited States

Following Removal of Thimerosal From Childhood Vaccines© Med Sci Monit, 2006; 12(6): CR231-239 WWW.MEDSCIMONIT.COM A. Geier, Mark R. GeierSummaryThe US is in the midst of an epidemic of neurodevelopmental disorders(NDs). Thimerosal is an ethylmercury-containing compound added to somechildhood vaccines. Several previous epidemiological studies conducted inthe US have associated Thimerosal-containing vaccine (TCV) administrationwith NDs.An ecological study was undertaken to evaluate NDs reported to theVaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) from 1991 through 2004 bydate of receipt and by date of vaccine administration.The NDs examined included autism, mental retardation, and speechdisorders. Statistical trend analysis was employed to evaluate the effectsof removal of Thimerosal on the proportion of NDs reported to VAERS.There was a

peak in the proportion of ND reports received by VAERS in2001–2002 and in the proportion of ND reports by date of vaccineadministration in 1998. There were signifi cant reductions in the proportionof NDs reported to VAERS as Thimerosal was begun to be removed fromchildhood vaccines in the US from mid-1999 onwards.The present study provides the first epidemiological evidence showingthat as Thimerosal was removed from childhood vaccines, the number of NDshas decreased in the US. The analysis techniques utilized attempted tominimize chance or bias/confounding. Additional research should be conductedto further evaluate the relationship between TCVs and NDs. This isespecially true because the handling of vaccine safety data from theNational Immunization Program of the CDC has been called into question bythe Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 2005.http://www.medscimonit.com/fulltxt.php?IDMAN=8PMID: 16733480 How low will we go? Check out Messenger’s low PC-to-Phone call rates.

Talk is cheap. Use Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min.

[Guest guest]

Jane - Thank you. I have read this article before, and while it is

shocking, it not the same article as I mentioned earlier. That

article said that Merck mis-stated themselves when they announced

that thimerosal was removed from infant vaccines. They were only in

the process of removing thimerosal. Physicians may have thought

they were administering thimerosal-free vaccines when in reality,

the vaccines had thimerosal. I'm just too lazy to go to the car

right now. I'm wanting to go to bed. I'll give a reference

tomorrow, hopefully. Chris

>

> Is that the 1991 Merck Memo you are talking about?

> If so, then here it is (from the LA Times):

> '91 Memo Warned of Mercury in Shots

> By Myron Levin

> Times Staff Writer

> February 8, 2005

> A memo from Merck & Co. shows that, nearly a decade before the

first public disclosure, senior executives were concerned that

infants were getting an elevated dose of mercury in vaccinations

containing a widely used sterilizing agent.

> The March 1991 memo, obtained by The Times, said that 6-month-

old children who received their shots on schedule would get a

mercury dose up to 87 times higher than guidelines for the maximum

daily consumption of mercury from fish.

> " When viewed in this way, the mercury load appears rather

large, " said the memo from Dr. Maurice R. Hilleman, an

internationally renowned vaccinologist. It was written to the

president of Merck's vaccine division.

> The memo was prepared at a time when U.S. health authorities

were aggressively expanding their immunization schedule by adding

five new shots for children in their first six months. Many of these

shots, as well as some previously included on the vaccine schedule,

contained thimerosal, an antibacterial compound that is nearly 50%

ethyl mercury, a neurotoxin.

> Federal health officials disclosed for the first time in 1999

that many infants were being exposed to mercury above health

guidelines through routine vaccinations. The announcement followed a

review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that was described

at the time as a first effort to assess the cumulative mercury dose.

> But the Merck memo shows that at least one major manufacturer

was aware of the concern much earlier.

> " The key issue is whether thimerosal, in the amount given with

the vaccine, does or does not constitute a safety hazard, " the memo

said. " However, perception of hazard may be equally important. "

> Merck officials would not discuss the contents of the memo,

citing pending litigation.

> Separately, the drug giant is trying to fend off a legal

onslaught over Vioxx, the popular painkiller it introduced in 1999.

The company, based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., faces hundreds of

lawsuits claiming that the drug caused heart problems and that Merck

concealed the risks. Merck, which in September pulled Vioxx off the

market, has denied the allegations.

> The legacy of thimerosal, meanwhile, also is causing problems

for Merck and other drug companies.

> More than 4,200 claims have been filed in a special federal

tribunal, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, by parents

asserting that their children suffered autism or other

neurodevelopmental disorders from mercury in vaccines. A handful of

similar claims are awaiting trial in civil courts. The plaintiffs

cite various scientific studies that they say prove the dangers of

thimerosal, including at the levels found in vaccines.

> Thimerosal has been largely removed from pediatric vaccines in

recent years in what health officials have described as a

precautionary measure. (This has been accomplished as drug makers

have voluntarily switched from multi-dose vials of vaccine, which

require a chemical preservative like thimerosal, to single-dose

containers.)

> In September, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation

prohibiting vaccines with more than trace amounts of thimerosal from

being given to babies and pregnant women. Iowa has a similar ban.

> For their part, Merck and other vaccine makers, along with many

government health officials and scientists, say there is no credible

evidence of harm from the amounts of mercury once widely present in

kids' shots. They cite a report in May by a committee of the

national Institute of Medicine concluding that the evidence " favors

rejection of a causal relationship " between vaccines and autism.

> The seven-page Merck memo was provided to The Times by A.

Moody, a Washington lawyer who works with parent groups on vaccine

safety issues. He said he obtained it from a whistle-blower whom he

would not name.

> The memo provides the " first hard evidence that the companies

knew - or at least Merck knew - that the children were getting

significantly more mercury " than the generally accepted dose, the

lawyer said.

> He also provided a copy to attorneys for Vera Easter, a Texas

woman who blames thimerosal for the condition of her 7-year-old son,

Jordan, who is autistic and mentally retarded. The Easter lawsuit is

pending in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

The defendants include Merck; rival vaccine makers GlaxoKline,

Aventis Pasteur Inc. and Wyeth; and thimerosal developer Eli Lilly &

Co.

> Easter's lawyer, Andy Waters, described the memo as " incredibly

damning and incredibly significant. " After receiving it in the fall,

he confronted Merck lawyers about why he hadn't seen it earlier.

> In a letter to Waters in October, Merck attorneys said they had

in fact made available 32 boxes of records, but that the copying

service hired by the plaintiffs for some reason had failed to copy

several of the boxes - including the one with the Hilleman memo.

> " The memo, " said company spokeswoman Blake, " was

produced voluntarily by Merck in the ordinary course of discovery

proceedings. "

> Hilleman is a former senior vice president of Merck who

developed numerous vaccines for the company. A 1999 profile in the

Philadelphia Inquirer said that " it is no exaggeration to assert, as

many scientists do, that Maurice Hilleman has saved more lives than

any other living scientist. "

> Hilleman, 85, currently director of the Merck Institute for

Vaccinology, had officially retired and was a consultant to Merck

when he wrote the '91 memo. He declined to be interviewed.

> The memo was sent to Dr. Gordon , then head of Merck's

vaccine division and now a consultant for the Vaccine Research

Center at the National Institutes of Health. also declined

to comment.

> The memo stated that regulators in several countries had raised

concerns about thimerosal, including in Sweden, where the chemical

was being removed from vaccines.

> " The public awareness has been raised by the sequential wave of

experiences in Sweden including mercury exposure from additives,

fish, contaminated air, bird deaths from eating mercury-treated seed

grains, dental amalgam leakage, mercury allergy, etc., " the memo

said.

> It noted that Sweden had set a daily maximum allowance of

mercury from fish of 30 micrograms for a 160-pound adult, roughly

the same guideline used by the FDA. Adjusting for the body weight of

infants, Hilleman calculated that babies who received their shots on

schedule could get 87 times the mercury allowance.

> The Swedish and FDA guidelines work out to about four-tenths of

a microgram of mercury per kilogram of body weight. A stricter

standard of one-tenth of a microgram per kilogram has been adopted

by the Environmental Protection Agency and endorsed by the National

Research Council.

> These standards are based on methyl mercury, the type found in

fish and airborne emissions from power plants. Though toxic, the

ethyl mercury in thimerosal may be less hazardous than methyl

mercury, some scientists say, because it is more quickly purged from

the body.

> " It appears essentially impossible, based on current

information, to ascertain whether thimerosal in vaccines constitutes

or does not constitute a significant addition to the normal daily

input of mercury from diverse sources, " the memo said.

> " It is reasonable to conclude " that it should be eliminated

where possible, he said, " especially where use in infants and young

children is anticipated. "

> In the U.S., however, thimerosal continued to be added

throughout the '90s to a number of widely used pediatric vaccines

for hepatitis B, bacterial meningitis, diphtheria, whooping cough

and tetanus.

> It was added to multi-dose vials of vaccine to prevent

contamination from repeated insertion of needles to extract the

medicine. It was not needed in single-dose vials, but most doctors

and clinics preferred to order vaccine in multi-dose containers

because of the lower cost and easier storage.

> The Hilleman memo said that unlike regulators in Sweden and some

other countries, " the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ... does not

have this concern for thimerosal. "

> A turning point came in 1997 when Congress passed a bill

ordering an FDA review of mercury ingredients in food and drugs.

> Completed in 1999, the review revealed the high level of mercury

exposure from pediatric vaccines and raised a furor. In e-mails

later released at a congressional hearing, an FDA official said

health authorities could be criticized for " being 'asleep at the

switch' for decades by allowing a potentially hazardous compound to

remain in many childhood vaccines, and not forcing manufacturers to

exclude it from new products. "

> It would not have taken " rocket science " to add up the amount of

exposure as the prescribed number of shots was increasing, one of

the e-mails said.

> While asserting that there was no proof of harm, the U.S. Public

Health Service in July 1999 called on manufacturers to go mercury-

free by switching to single-dose vials. Soon after, Merck introduced

a mercury-free version of its hepatitis B vaccine, replacing the

only thimerosal-containing vaccine it was still marketing at the

time, a company spokesman said.

> By 2002, thimerosal had been eliminated or reduced to trace

levels in nearly all childhood vaccines. One exception is the

pediatric flu vaccine made by Aventis and still sold mainly in multi-

dose vials.

[Guest guest]

http://generationrescue.org/pdf/news/latimes2.pdf

Jane - I couldn't find a site where I could cut and paste the

article, but above is a link to:

LA Times Reports Merck Lied About Timing of Thimerosal Removal from

Vaccines. Chris

> > 

> > Subject: [Autism Treatment] An Assessment of Downward

> Trends In Neurodevelopmental Disorders In The United S

> >

> >

> > An Assessment of Downward Trends In Neurodevelopmental

> Disorders In The

> > United States Following Removal of Thimerosal From Childhood

> Vaccines

> >

> > © Med Sci Monit, 2006; 12(6): CR231-239 WWW.MEDSCIMONIT.COM

> >

> > A. Geier, Mark R. Geier

> >

> > Summary

> > The US is in the midst of an epidemic of neurodevelopmental

> disorders

> > (NDs). Thimerosal is an ethylmercury-containing compound added

> to some

> > childhood vaccines. Several previous epidemiological studies

> conducted in

> > the US have associated Thimerosal-containing vaccine (TCV)

> administration

> > with NDs.

> > An ecological study was undertaken to evaluate NDs reported to

> the

> > Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) from 1991

> through 2004 by

> > date of receipt and by date of vaccine administration.

> > The NDs examined included autism, mental retardation, and

> speech

> > disorders. Statistical trend analysis was employed to evaluate

> the effects

> > of removal of Thimerosal on the proportion of NDs reported to

> VAERS.

> > There was a peak in the proportion of ND reports received by

> VAERS in

> > 2001â? " 2002 and in the proportion of ND reports by date of

> vaccine

> > administration in 1998. There were signifi cant reductions in

> the proportion

> > of NDs reported to VAERS as Thimerosal was begun to be removed

> from

> > childhood vaccines in the US from mid-1999 onwards.

> > The present study provides the first epidemiological evidence

> showing

> > that as Thimerosal was removed from childhood vaccines, the

> number of NDs

> > has decreased in the US. The analysis techniques utilized

> attempted to

> > minimize chance or bias/confounding. Additional research

> should be conducted

> > to further evaluate the relationship between TCVs and NDs.

> This is

> > especially true because the handling of vaccine safety data

> from the

> > National Immunization Program of the CDC has been called into

> question by

> > the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences

> in 2005.

> > http://www.medscimonit.com/fulltxt.php?IDMAN=8

> > PMID: 16733480

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > ----------------------------------------------------------

> -----------

> > How low will we go? Check out Messenger's low PC-to-Phone

> call rates.

> >

>

>

>

>

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> Talk is cheap. Use Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls.

Great rates starting at 1¢/min.

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