Statement By Safe Minds On The Wall Street Journal Editorial OF 12/29/03

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Statement By Safe Minds On The Wall Street Journal Editorial OF 12/29/03

" The Politics Of Autism "

Lyn Redwood RN, MSN President, Safe Minds

The December 29th editorial from the Wall Street Journal " The Politics

of Autism: Lawsuits and emotion vs. science and childhood vaccines " is a

misrepresentation of the actual facts surrounding the debate concerning

autism and exposure to thimerosal, a mercury preservative used in some but

not all infant vaccines. Instead of this being a " story of politics and

lawyers trumping science and medicine " as alleged, it would be more

accurately described as a story of how the pharmaceutical industry uses the

media and politics to accomplish its goals.

One must ask, " Why does the Wall Street Journal feel it necessary to

pick on families of children with autism and a small research advocacy

group, Safe Minds? " The answer is simple, money.

When an FDA official reported that ethyl mercury from thimerosal was

able to cross the blood brain barrier resulting in appreciable mercury

content in the brain and other well respected doctors opined that exposure

to mercury containing vaccines, in addition to already high levels of

exposure to environmental mercury, may result in adverse neurological

outcomes, they began to worry. This, coupled with the uncovering of internal

documents obtained during the process of discovery from Eli Lilly, who held

the patent on thimerosal, that the product was not safe to administer to

dogs, but nonetheless was promoted for use in childhood vaccines, was enough

for them to rush to their allies in Washington, or should I say largest

campaign contribution recipients, for help. The result, a rider added at the

11th hour to last year's popular Homeland Security Bill giving Eli Lilly

immunity from any product liability related to thimerosal.

Fortunately, many in Congress recognized that the rider had nothing to

do with homeland security and demanded that it be removed until the issue

could be reviewed. The claim that these Senators failed to honor their side

of the agreement to address the issue in the next session of Congress is

wrong. In fact, on April 9, 2003, the Senate Health, Education Labor and

Pensions Committee, chaired by Gregg (R-NH), was scheduled to meet to work

on a compromise bill agreed to by Senate Majority Leader Frist (R-TN). But

before the start of that meeting, lobbyists from the vaccine manufacturers

met with and convinced Senator Gregg to postpone the meeting indefinitely.

Senator Gregg went on the record admitting that he aborted the committee

meeting because of the concerns of the vaccine manufacturers. To suggest

that Senators Snowe, and Chafee were at fault is a misrepresentation

of actual events and warrants retraction.

Additionally, the editorial wrongly claims that thimerosal has never

been linked to any health problems. A quick literature search finds hundreds

of studies that document numerous incidences of injury from thimerosal

exposure. The few suggested in the editorial as being evidence disproving

such an association have been highly criticized and when reviewed were

actually found to support a link. One such study published in the November,

2003 issue of Pediatrics contains faulty methodology and manipulation of

data. In fact an earlier version of the study found statistically

significant and dose dependant associations between exposures to mercury

containing vaccines and several adverse outcomes including

neurodevelopmental delays in general, speech and language delays and

ADD/ADHD. Investigators kept the results secret and changed the data and

methodology in order to achieve the results desired by vaccine

manufacturers. This was only revealed when Safe Minds obtained minutes of a

secret meeting on the initial results through the Freedom of Information

Act. One participant even claimed that based on the results, he would not

allow his own baby grandson to receive the vaccines containing thimerosal.

The lead author of the study, an employee of vaccine manufacturer Glaxo

Kline, has refused press inquiries about these charges.

In addition, independent researchers, at the behest of the U.S.

Congress, have analyzed the same database for the relationship between

mercury from thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines and adverse

neurodevelopmental disorders, and found an overwhelming epidemiological

confirmation of a direct link related to increasing exposure to mercury from

thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines.

The Rochester study as well was highly criticized by three independent

physicians and researchers in the following issue of Lancet. The sample size

of 33 children was too small to establish safety claims and the mercury

levels in the blood were not obtained 3 hours after the exposure to the

vaccine when the levels would be at their highest, but instead days and

weeks later when the levels had now dropped below EPA's level of concern.

One reviewer using pharmacokinetic modeling was able to extrapolate the data

back to peak levels and found that mercury levels had in fact breeched

safety guidelines.

This coupled with the fact that the lead author, in previous

publications but not this one, acknowledged financial ties to a number of

vaccine manufacturers including Eli Lilly, casts further doubt on their

research findings.

And lastly the highly touted Denmark study cited in the editorial as

being the best evidence to date that there is no connection between

thimerosal and autism is also highly suspect. The Danish autism registry

allows 10 to 25% of the autism cases to be lost from its records each year

with the net effect being that the older cases which occurred when

thimerosal vaccines were administered in Denmark are lost. Controlling for

this loss of records results in a higher number of autism cases during the

time frame when thimerosal containing vaccines were used, supporting the

thimerosal-autism link. Again, the author of this investigation failed to

acknowledge his employment with the manufacturer and promoter of vaccines in

Denmark.

While the ramifications of damage to a generation of children from the

needless exposure to mercury from infant vaccines and the accompanying

liability is a big pill for the pharmaceutical industry to swallow, sweeping

the facts under the rug and running to Congress for protection after the

fact will only exacerbate the problem. Public confidence in vaccine safety

will only prevail when the pharmaceutical companies, the media and Congress

deal openly and truthfully with American parents. Congress must address this

in a manner that brings justice to injured children, and ensures that all

vaccines, both voluntary as well as those required by law are safe and

effective. Extending further liability protections to industry takes away

the necessary incentives to accomplish that goal.\\

(this is the article referred to

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110004487

The Politics of Autism

Lawsuits and emotion vs. science and childhood vaccines. ....Sheri)

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Sheri Nakken, R.N., MA, Classical Homeopath

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Nevada City CA & Wales UK

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******

" Just look at us. Everything is backwards; everything is upside down.

Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy

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and religions destroy spirituality " .... Ellner