AAP Should Not Oppose Mercury Free Vaccines

[Guest guest]

http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/richtucker/2005/10/07/159691.html

Town Hall, DC

Warning shot

Oct 7, 2005

by Rich Tucker

Sometimes even a mistake can have a positive outcome.

Back in August, the state of New York passed a law that will ban the use of

the thimerosal in children's vaccines. Thimerosal is a mercury-based

preservative added to vaccines so that a vial can be used to store more than

one shot. Some parents think thimerosal triggered the outbreak of autism we'

ve seen since 1990. The CDC estimates as many as one child in every 166 has

some autistic symptoms.

New York's law doesn't take effect until 2009, but it's a mistake from day

one. The law is just another example of a government meddling in medical

decisions. For far too long, doctors have been outsourcing their decisions

to the Centers for Disease Control, which recommends that children get some

20 inoculations in their first 18 months.

Still, New York's mistake was useful, because it highlights the fact that

neither lawmakers in Albany nor bureaucrats in Atlanta should be deciding

what medical treatment our children will receive. Medical decisions about

what shots to get, and when, should be made by parents and doctors.

Or, maybe, just parents.

In a letter this summer to its members, the New York chapter of the American

Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) urged doctors to " CONTACT GOVERNOR IMMEDIATELY

AND URGE HIM TO VETO THE THIMEROSAL BILL. " Why? " Despite the headlines in

the media, there is no evidence that thimerosal is harmful, " the letter

said.

Well, that's interesting. In July 2001, the AAP issued a report that found,

" In children, significant [mercury] exposure to the central nervous system

can result in effects ranging from learning disabilities to devastating

neurologic problems including mental retardation, blindness and spasticity. "

Hmm. Those symptoms sound suspiciously like autism. Perhaps that's why, as

the report went on to say, " The AAP has also joined with the Public Health

Service to reduce the use of thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative,

from vaccines. "

Even today, the AAP is supporting a lawsuit against the EPA over how much

mercury is acceptable in the air. " Infants and young children are at highest

risk of injury from a mercury-contaminated environment because their brains

are still rapidly developing, " Dr. Shea of the AAP said in a news

release.

So, mercury in the air is dangerous, but these doctors now claim that,

despite their earlier findings, there is " no evidence " that injecting it

directly into 10-pound infants is? The AAP ought to go back and study

results from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.

VAERS was set up so doctors could provide feedback to the CDC if children

got sick after their shots. Dan Olmsted, a columnist for UPI who's written

extensively about autism, studied reports filed before 1999 and found 83

cases where autism followed a vaccination.

In 1994, one doctor reported " there are currently 10 cases of autism in

children who received DPT/OPV/MMR at 15-18 months. " Other doctors reported

previously healthy patients suddenly losing their speech and being diagnosed

autistic shortly after their shots.

None of this is proof that thimerosal or vaccinations cause autism. But it's

certainly evidence that doctors ought to be concerned about. And we can

remove thimerosal simply by selling all vaccines in single-use containers.

There's no need for the preservative, and thus no need to legislate against

it.

It's also worth wondering if children should be getting so many shots

against so many diseases at such young ages. Sadly, many doctors seem

reluctant to question the CDC, because they're committed to practicing

medicine for the " greater good " instead of doing what's best for each

individual patient. In the most recent example, a recent study from Boston

Children's Hospital recommends that three- and four-year-olds receive flu

vaccines -- not because the children are at risk, but because they tend to

spread the disease to others.

" If we're trying to prevent an influenza epidemic and potentially a serious

influenza epidemic, one public health approach is going to be to try to not

just vaccinate the people who are most vulnerable, but to vaccinate the

spreaders of the disease, " Dr. Mandl told CNN Oct. 6.

To his credit, Mandl noted, " this is something that a parent really should

discuss with a pediatrician. And again, right now there is no recommendation

to vaccinate three- and four-year-olds " against the flu. Which is good,

since the flu vaccine still contains thimerosal.

New York's law is an error that might actually do some good, if it forces

pediatricians to change their approach and go back to treating each

individual patient instead of following a government-written schedule that's

supposed to serve the " greater good. " The AAP is meeting in Washington this

week. Maybe that should be on their agenda.

--------------------------------------------------------

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

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

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ANY INFO OBTAINED HERE NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS MEDICAL

OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION TO VACCINATE IS YOURS AND YOURS ALONE.

******

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

Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy

knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the major media destroy information

and religions destroy spirituality " .... Ellner