Liz Birt, down to the wire

[Guest guest]

Here is a snap shot of what this woman was doing for us and our children down to the wire to the end of her life.

In a cover note that echoes with irony she write to me:

Lenny: I hope that this is your email. My brain is fried. This has been a tough year. Liz

November 3, 2005

Senator Mike Enzi

290 Senate Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Enzi:

I am the parent of a vaccine injured child whose story is set out in the book "Evidence of Harm". I urge you to put the interests of America's citizens before those of the pharmaceuctical industry. Passage of Senate Bill 1873 as proposed will only encourage vaccine manufacturers to take greater risks in the development and testing of vaccines administered to our nation.

This past summer I spent over 300 hours preparing a detailed memo for your staff in order to assist them in evaluating the role that our federal health agencies have played in the use and promotion of use of vaccines containing a known neurotoxin, thimerosal. I spent hours with your staff and arranged for many key scientists to present information to your committee. I have been told that the investigation is ongoing but I urge you to make this a priority. Just today, a paper authored by Dr. Burbacker, an associate professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington's School of Public Health, was released by Enviornmental Health Perspectives, a peer reviewed publication of the NIH, demonstrating in primates that ethyl mercury in the form of thimerosal is far more toxic to the brain than methylmercury. The CDC is now encouraging everyone including babies and pregnant women to get flu vaccines that contain thimerosal, a known neurotoxin. This is at best reckless behavior on the part of our public health officials. To me it is immoral.

I have spent the majority of my professional time since 2000 working on the issue of whether or not vaccines are related to the epidemic of autism that is plaguing our country. I have been hopeful that our federal government would take the lead in investigating this issue. I spent many hours reviewing documents provided by our federal health agencies and pharmaceutical companies relating to this issue when I was on staff for the House Committee on Government Reform and as counsel to SAFEMINDS. What I found was shocking. After seeing the text of Senate Bill 1873 I no longer have faith in our elected officials in Washington. This bill exploits the fear of a pandemic of bird flu to give the vaccine manufacturers blanket immunity for products that they produce. This has been a consistent theme for years from the Bush administration which was discounted last fall by Dr. Tony Faucci, head of NIAID who was quoted by the Associated Press on October 20, 2004 stating "But that is only a very small part of the problem (liability for manfacturers)"..."More significant, are the low-profit margin vaccines provide, unpredictable demand and the complexity of the manufacturing process... The fragility of the vaccine enterprise is an issue that has been present for decades...It has been an accident waiting to happen." Senator Enzi, if product liability wasn't a problem in 2004 why now? Why all of a sudden is Dr. Faucci claiming the opposite? Further, why does Senate Bill 1873 exempt the entire process from FOIA and FACA review? Is it because of the fact that in the case of the thimerosal controversy too much was uncovered? It just doesn't pass the "smell" test to the average American.

The cost to society of vaccine induced illness especially autism are enormous. We have a tidal wave of children who are neurologically impaired in this country and no one in Washington is doing anything productive to find out why. In addition, autism is now being diagnosed in huge numbers in developing countries where American pharmaceutical companies have been shipping thimerosal containing vaccines. I recently received information that China may have as many as 5 million children with autism and that this is a new disorder to that country. What will the world say about our nation when the truth comes out?

We have been asking for access to the CDC's Vaccine Safety Datalink system since 2001 and nothing has happened. If there isn't a problem with vaccines containing thimerosal and neurodevelopmental disorders the CDC should be doing cartwheels and rolling out the red carpet to independent researchers instead of digging in and making it virtually impossible for a respectable researcher to access this database. The Institute of Medicine made very specific requests in its report released this year regarding the VSD, "Vaccine Safety Research, Data Access and Public Trust", but to date nothing to my knowledge has been implemented. Further, they questioned why the CDC moved the ownership of the VSD database to a private entity in 2002 making it impossible for independent researchers to access data gathered in 2001 and after. This move by CDC only increases public distrust since analysis of VSD data in years 2001 and after would demonstrate a fall off in cases of neurodevelopmental disorders related to thimerosal removal from vaccines. I am firmly convinced that the reason this was done was to keep the VSD data safe from independent scientific scrutiny so that only those affiliated with the managed care organizations and employees of the National Immunization Program would have access to this data.

It is time that federal elected officials get in touch with the people who elected them to office. There is a huge disconnect between what goes on in Washington and what is happening in our communities. I truly believe that the solutions to this problem will come from the individual states who are shouldering much of the burden of this epidemic. It will only worsen as these children age and become dependent on the states for services. When the public realizes what has happened they will vote those responsible out of office. I believe in democracy and justice. In the end historians will write that in the case of the "thimerosal generation" the coverup was far worse than the crime.

Sincerely,

Birt, J.D., L.L.M.

Parent of a vaccine injured child