Vaccines the Subject of New Congressional Investigation

[Guest guest]

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=124699 & format=text

Vaccines the subject of new Congressional investigationBy Jon Brodkin/ Daily News StaffFriday, March 17, 2006 Congress has asked for a new investigation into a potential link between mercury-containing vaccines and autism, as some lawmakers claim the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has inadequately researched the topic.

"If the federal government is going to have a study whose results will be broadly accepted, such a study cannot be led by the CDC," Sen. ph Lieberman, D-Conn., and seven other members of Congress wrote in a letter to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).

A budget appropriation approved by Congress urges the NIEHS to examine the Vaccine Safety Datalink, a CDC database that follows 7 million immunized children from 1990 to the present.

Some lawmakers believe a new review of this database may show a link between autism and thimerosal -- a vaccine preservative containing mercury.

A local parent who said he believes his two autistic children were harmed by vaccines applauded Congress for requesting a new investigation. The parent, Hansen of Framingham, said he thinks the CDC is reluctant to expose dangers of thimerosal because the agency is responsible for ensuring public acceptance of its vaccination program.

"They've proven far more willing to overstate the risks of disease and understate the danger of vaccination," Hansen said. "No one in their right mind can say that giving mercury intravenously is a smart thing to do."

Autism rates soared during the 1990s when thimerosal was most heavily used in childhood vaccines. Levels of mercury injected into infants were 120 times greater than federal safety limits for oral ingestion of mercury, congressmen wrote to the NIEHS.

Government officials asked manufacturers in 1999 to remove the mercury-based preservative from vaccines, but it is still used in flu and tetanus shots.

CDC's research on the Vaccine Safety Datalink is flawed, Lieberman and his colleagues wrote, because it "was based on data collected prior to the removal of thimerosal and failed to explicitly compare the outcome of children who received thimerosal-containing vaccines with those who did not."

The CDC refused to comment on the criticism of its research.

But Dr. Marie McCormick, a Harvard professor who chaired an Institute of Medicine committee in 2004, said the group ran several analyses of the CDC data and found no link between thimerosal and autism.

"Nothing you could do changed the results," McCormick said. "The results of the...study have been replicated in England. They found no association between thimerosal and other neurodevelopmental disorders."

In the letter to NIEHS, members of Congress criticized the IOM for relying heavily on European data, even though American children were exposed to mercury at levels 75 percent greater than in Europe.

The letter was not signed by any Massachusetts congressmen. But U.S. Rep. Meehan, D-5th, said he agrees with its content and would have signed on had he been aware it was being written.

"Mercury is known as a brain poison and in the 1990s a greater number of children were being exposed to mercury (in vaccines)," Meehan said. "I think this is a serious public health concern and we need more research."

A spokeswoman for the NIEHS could not be reached for comment.

(Jon Brodkin can be reached at 508-626-4424 or jbrodkin@....)

[Guest guest]

Next time I see Lieberman I am SO going to LICK HIS FACE!

as for Marie....

I really am sad for all those public health students she is educating! Truly.

A whole other generation of CDC automatons!

Of all the things that annoy me the most over their flawed studies and her defenseof them, is how can you use speech delay as an end point for a study looking at autism when these kids ALL freaking got speech delay dx's before anything else!

THE ONLY WAY to explain this is either 1. the person who decided on that is a total MORON OR they are maliciously trying to cover up a link.

--you know what... I want an answer for that.

Perhaps I will call Marie today!!!!!! I will let her choose between moron and cover up and see what shehas to say about that

Vaccines the Subject of New Congressional Investigation

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=124699 & format=text

Vaccines the subject of new Congressional investigationBy Jon Brodkin/ Daily News StaffFriday, March 17, 2006

"If the federal government is going to have a study whose results will be broadly accepted, such a study cannot be led by the CDC," Sen. ph Lieberman, D-Conn., and seven other members of Congress wrote in a letter to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

.....

CDC's research on the Vaccine Safety Datalink is flawed, Lieberman and his colleagues wrote, because it "was based on data collected prior to the removal of thimerosal and failed to explicitly compare the outcome of children who received thimerosal-containing vaccines with those who did not."

[Guest guest]

Are you going to lick Lieberman because you love him or because you

are zinc deficient!?!?! haha, (probably both!)

>

> Next time I see Lieberman I am SO going to LICK HIS FACE!

>

[Guest guest]

ROFL!!

Both!

Re: Vaccines the Subject of New Congressional

Investigation

> Are you going to lick Lieberman because you love him or because you

> are zinc deficient!?!?! haha, (probably both!)

>

[Guest guest]

This is wonderful to see this am...!

>

>

>

>

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?

articleid=124699 & format=text

>

> Vaccines the subject of new Congressional investigation

> By Jon Brodkin/ Daily News Staff

> Friday, March 17, 2006

>

> Congress has asked for a new investigation into a

potential link between mercury-containing vaccines and autism, as

some lawmakers claim the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

has inadequately researched the topic.

>

> " If the federal government is going to have a

study whose results will be broadly accepted, such a study cannot be

led by the CDC, " Sen. ph Lieberman, D-Conn., and seven other

members of Congress wrote in a letter to the National Institute of

Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).

>

> A budget appropriation approved by Congress urges

the NIEHS to examine the Vaccine Safety Datalink, a CDC database

that follows 7 million immunized children from 1990 to the present.

>

> Some lawmakers believe a new review of this

database may show a link between autism and thimerosal -- a vaccine

preservative containing mercury.

>

> A local parent who said he believes his two

autistic children were harmed by vaccines applauded Congress for

requesting a new investigation. The parent, Hansen of

Framingham, said he thinks the CDC is reluctant to expose dangers of

thimerosal because the agency is responsible for ensuring public

acceptance of its vaccination program.

>

> " They've proven far more willing to overstate the

risks of disease and understate the danger of vaccination, " Hansen

said. " No one in their right mind can say that giving mercury

intravenously is a smart thing to do. "

>

> Autism rates soared during the 1990s when

thimerosal was most heavily used in childhood vaccines. Levels of

mercury injected into infants were 120 times greater than federal

safety limits for oral ingestion of mercury, congressmen wrote to

the NIEHS.

>

> Government officials asked manufacturers in 1999

to remove the mercury-based preservative from vaccines, but it is

still used in flu and tetanus shots.

>

> CDC's research on the Vaccine Safety Datalink is

flawed, Lieberman and his colleagues wrote, because it " was based on

data collected prior to the removal of thimerosal and failed to

explicitly compare the outcome of children who received thimerosal-

containing vaccines with those who did not. "

>

> The CDC refused to comment on the criticism of its

research.

>

> But Dr. Marie McCormick, a Harvard professor who

chaired an Institute of Medicine committee in 2004, said the group

ran several analyses of the CDC data and found no link between

thimerosal and autism.

>

> " Nothing you could do changed the results, "

McCormick said. " The results of the...study have been replicated in

England. They found no association between thimerosal and other

neurodevelopmental disorders. "

>

> In the letter to NIEHS, members of Congress

criticized the IOM for relying heavily on European data, even though

American children were exposed to mercury at levels 75 percent

greater than in Europe.

>

> The letter was not signed by any Massachusetts

congressmen. But U.S. Rep. Meehan, D-5th, said he agrees with

its content and would have signed on had he been aware it was being

written.

>

> " Mercury is known as a brain poison and in the

1990s a greater number of children were being exposed to mercury (in

vaccines), " Meehan said. " I think this is a serious public health

concern and we need more research. "

>

> A spokeswoman for the NIEHS could not be reached

for comment.

>

> (Jon Brodkin can be reached at 508-626-4424 or

jbrodkin@...)

>