Evidence of Harm: 2006

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CONTACT: e, – 646)

307-5563 – elizabeth.coxe@...

Kirby – 718-230-4250

– dkirby@...

“EVIDENCE

OF HARM” TO MAKE NEWS IN 2006

Bestselling

Book About Mercury, Vaccines and Autism in Paperback this February; Author

Named “Person of the Year” by Nation’s Leading Autism

Magazine;

Movie

Rights Optioned by Hollywood’s Participant Productions

NEW YORK

– The New York Times bestseller “Evidence of Harm – Mercury

in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic, A Medical Controversy,” continues to

make news in 2006, and was just named the 5th best selling science book for 2005 by Amazon.com.

“Evidence of

Harm” will be issued in PAPERBACK this

February, with a new postscript that updates readers on every aspect of the

growing controversy over the past year -- including new science and new

political developments. It also includes recent media coverage, and an update

on the lives of the parent activists profiled in the book.

Meanwhile, author

Kirby has just been named “PERSON OF THE YEAR”

by Spectrum, the nation’s largest and

most influential autism magazine. Kirby, who will appear on the cover of the

February issue, will be honored by the magazine at a reception in Long Island,

NY,

this spring.

Finally,

“Evidence of Harm” has been optioned by a rising MOVIE COMPANY: Los Angeles-based Participant Productions.

Formed to produce films on important current topics, Participant has released

titles that earned strong buzz in 2005. Its movies have been nominated for

eight Golden Globe Awards, including Best Drama for “Good Night and Good

Luck,” Best Dramatic Actress (Charlize Theron) for “North Country,” and Best Director (

Clooney) for “Syriana.”

Two

respected producers have signed onto the Evidence of Harm project: Nick

Wechsler, who recently produced “North Country,” and Ross Bell, producer of

“Fight Club.”

“Evidence of Harm” is the story of

parents with autistic children who suspected that their illness sprang from

unsafe levels of mercury in their vaccines. These parents take on Big Business, Big

Science and Big Government in order to learn the truth. Ultimately, they uncover compelling evidence that Thimerosal could very well have

played a role in the disease. Despite industry and government resistance, the

parents, joined by medical, scientific, legal, and political allies, are

getting closer to establishing their claim.

DAVID KIRBY

has been a contributor to The New York Times

for seven years, where he covers science and health, among other subjects, and

has been a writer for over fifteen years. He lives in Brooklyn,

New York.

PRAISE for Evidence of

Harm:

“Kirby

follows the tug of war between government health agencies and the parents and

their supporters. Kirby does an admirable job of clarifying most of the

scientific background (but) doesn't offer his own verdict on the debate

-- although he makes the unassailable point that American health agencies

lagged in calculating the amount of mercury being injected into babies.”

– The New York

Times & The International Herald Tribune

“Kirby's

portrayal manages to make his protagonists seem far from crazy. They have been

derided as dangerous anti-vaccination zealots, but Kirby sets their focus on

the mercury-based vaccine preservative thimerosal against ‘modern

science's near-religious faith in all things genetic.’ The battle rages

on, and while Evidence of Harm offers

no prospect of a truce, it does provide crystal clarity on an often

misunderstood side of the argument.” – The Washington Post

“Evidence of Harm is a gripping

investigation. Much like the 9/11 commission's report, it is an alarming

page-turner. Keep your eye on California,

where autism cases are closely tracked. If autism-related diagnoses decline

over the next year or two following the introduction of thimerosal-free

vaccines, the finding will further fuel this simmering controversy.”

– Newsday

“One

controversy looks likely to fester. Big Pharma would love to put it to rest,

but the publication of a well-researched book is likely to push it to the fore.

It isn’t a stretch to say Big Pharma’s fortunes are tethered in

part to the Amazon.com sales rank of Evidence

of Harm. If a link is found, the potential liability makes asbestos

litigation look like belonging to a small claims court. Whichever side the

reader ends up believing, Evidence of Harm

makes one thing clear: this is an issue that will not go away.” – Financial Times

“Kirby

delivers a well-written story that weaves in startling facts and takes you on a

roller-coaster ride into the homes of families devastated by autism. It tells

tales of government bureaucracy and political cronyism that, if true, are appalling.

It took me several weeks to read Evidence of

Harm. Maybe it was the detail-filled narrative from the parents'

point of view that made me put the book down every so often and walk away. I

shared their pain, their anger, their feeling of helplessness.” – Bloomberg News

“Avoiding hyperbole

while writing about a possible medical catastrophe is no easy task, but

Kirby has created a fine balance of investigative and personal detail in Evidence of Harm. He creates a picture

that is as terrifying as anything dreamed up by Hitchcock. Kirby's in a

delicate position, searching for the truth between frantic parents (he focuses

on the founders of political action group Safe Mind) and the self-protective

pharmaceutical industry (the author thanks the nameless person who placed a

pro-Eli Lilly litigation rider into the Homeland Security Act of 2002). The

book is never dull--there is a continual urgency in the material that resists

pedantry. However undecided the experts, readers will likely land firmly in one

angry camp or the other. – Amazon.com

“Perhaps,

as evidence accumulates, the thimerosal theory may be validated. Perhaps not.

Inquiry into the etiology and treatment of autism continues, though the seeming

finality of the IOM report may stifle important research into environmental

causes. Kirby’s book, as biased as it is, prompts us to dig deeper into

this vital issue. One can only hope that medical and lay readers alike will

react to the book responsibly, with both skepticism and an open mind.” – The Lancet

“An

engrossing and Goliath story in which the giant is an amalgamation of big

government bureaucrats and pharmaceutical lobbyists. Walking the middle line,

Kirby’s book remains one of the most thoroughly researched accounts of

the thimerosal controversy thus far. It's accessible in its handling of medical

topics and compelling in its recounting of the parents' fight to advance their

agenda in the face of both political and scientific roadblocks..” – Publishers

Weekly (Starred Review) ***

“A

riveting new book that examines this controversial but biologically plausible

link, Evidence of Harm lines up the known evidence while

telling the stories of a handful of determined parents forced to become their

own detectives. You'll get eye-opening glimpses into the trenches where once

normally developing kids slip into the shuttered world of autism and where

their parents refuse to be bounced off the walls of seemingly impenetrable

bureaucracies. Highly recommended.” – Knight

Ridder Newspapers