Kennedy letter NY Times 7*2*05

[Guest guest]

July 2, 2005

Studies on Autism

To the Editor:

Re " On Autism's Cause, It's Parents vs. Research " (front page, June 25):

The thimerosal debate does not pit parents against science but against

public health authorities who rely not on science but on the

reputations of their agencies to exonerate thimerosal - a

mercury-containing preservative once used routinely in vaccines -

despite scientific proof that it causes brain disorders.

The four European studies that the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention and the Institute of Medicine principally rely upon (cited

in your accompanying graphic) to defend thimerosal were written

principally by vaccine industry consultants and employees without

revealing the bias of their authors. They are all flawed.

Most glaringly, before banning thimerosal, Denmark registered only

autistics who were hospitalized, one-fifth of the afflicted.

After the withdrawal of thimerosal, the Danish government began

counting outpatient autistics. The spike in raw numbers made it appear

that autism rates increased after the withdrawal of thimerosal.

Clever use of this deceptive data by the study authors allowed the

Institute of Medicine to make the case that thimerosal was not linked

to autism.

Furthermore, the European studies involved children exposed to a

fraction of the thimerosal concentrations used in America.

The institute selectively ignored the hundreds of biological,

toxicological and epidemiological studies linking thimerosal to the

wide range of neurological disorders, including autism.

This flawed science is the slender reed upon which the entire defense

of thimerosal rests.

F. Kennedy Jr.

White Plains, June 27, 2005