THE OMNIBUS AUTISM HEARINGS -- (E xtensions of Remarks - June 20, 2007)

[Guest guest]

>From: NANCALE@...

SPEECH OF HON. DAN BURTON

OF INDIANA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2007

• Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I rise tonight to talk

about the Omnibus Autism Hearing which started on June 11, 2007, down at

the U.S. Federal Claims Court here in Washington, DC. At issue are the

4,800 claims against the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program filed

by parents of autistic children who believe, as I do, that thimerosal--the

mercury-based preservative in vaccines--caused their children's disorders.

• There are many people in our health agencies, in the

pharmaceutical industry and here in Congress who say that there is no the

scientific evidence linking thimerosal and autism. However, during my

tenure as chairman of Government Reform Committee (1997-2002), and as

chairman of the Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness (2003-2005), I

chaired numerous hearings examining the alarming increase in autism in this

country over the last several decades. In the 1980s, roughly one in 10,000

American children was diagnosed with some kind of autism spectrum disorder.

Today that number has risen to 1 in 150. I believe, as do many credible

scientists and researchers, that the clear correlation between the dramatic

rise in the number of autism cases, and the rapid expansion of the

childhood vaccination schedule during that 20-year period, points to the

mercury-based preservative thimerosal--routinely used in pediatric vaccines

during the period--as a contributing factor to our country's literal

epidemic of autism. In fact, I firmly believe my own grandson became

autistic after receiving nine shots in 1 day, seven of which contained

thimerosal. In fact, Dr. Bernard Rimland--founder and director of the

Autism Research Institute--testified before the committee that classic

autism, (noticeable from birth) has largely been replaced by late-onset or

``acquired autism''; a form of autism in which children are born normally

developing but later regress into autism in the second year of life. He was

one of the first to point to environmental insult through vaccine injury as

a possible leading contributing factor.

• The truth is that since the initiation of my vaccine

investigation, two schools of science have evolved leading to two very

different conclusions. The first, largely funded by the Centers for Disease

Control, consist of epidemiological evaluations in Denmark that look at

medical files in individuals who developed autism and deciding whether or

not thimerosal exposure was more predominant in the autism patients. Those

who have focused solely on the epidemiology research have concluded that

there is no relationship between vaccine injury and the onset of autism.

However, once published, these studies were discovered to have many

methodological flaws. For example, using individuals in Denmark did not

provide a true comparison to the U.S. vaccine schedule, and by the CDC's

own admission, the study could not really provide any true conclusion as to

whether or not a subset of the population--because of vaccine exposure to

mercury or some other vaccine injury--developed autism.

• The second school of research has conducted so-called

``hard'' science; providing objective measures through laboratory and

animal research. For example, Dr. Hornig at Columbia University replicated

the thimerosal exposure in vaccines in a mouse study and discovered mice

exposed to thimerosal had both behavioral and biological

responses--displaying autism like behaviors and exhibiting white matter

changes in the brain that were measurable. Other laboratory research has

shown that thimerosal exposure affects the protective sheath of the

neurofibrals in the brain as well as the IGF-I molecule. And Dr. Jill

at the University of Arkansas has shown that thimerosal exposure affects

the methylation process--the mechanism used to regulate genes and protect

DNA from some types of damage.

• The most recent hard science study to be published is from

Dr. Burbacher, a leading expert on mercury, who investigated the different

affect methyl mercury and ethyl mercury had on primates. He found that

ethylmercury--the form of mercury in thimerosal--stays in the brain (doing

more harm) than methylmercury.

• The bottom line is that mercury is a base element and the

most toxic substance known to science outside of radioactive materials; and

each of these hard science studies, and more, show that it is biologically

plausible for mercury exposure in vaccines to cause the onset of autism and

provide tantalizing pieces in the puzzle about how.

• My support for the link between thimerosal and autism,

especially in open congressional hearings has caused many people to throw

around the accusation that I am ``anti-vaccine.'' My response to that is

that vaccines are the only medications that are mandatory for Americans to

receive and as such we have an even greater obligation to ensure that they

are as safe as possible. In addition, experience tells us that, as with any

other epidemic, while there may be underlying genetic susceptibilities,

there usually is some type of environmental trigger as well, such as a

virus, fungus, exposure to heavy metals, pollutants, or whatever. There has

never, to the best of my knowledge, been a purely genetic epidemic. So,

genetics alone simply cannot explain how we went from 1 in 10,000 children

with autism spectrum disorders 20 years ago to 1 in 150 today.

• No one has ever identified a positive health benefit to

mercury in the human body. Thus, it was sound public health policy to

eliminate mercury from thermometers, blood pressure gauges, light switches,

cosmetics, teething powder, horse liniment, hat-making materials,

smokestack emission, and mining operations. It would also be sound public

health policy to eliminate mercury from all vaccines.

• But Madam Speaker, getting the mercury out of all vaccines is

only the first step. We also have a responsibility to help all of the

children who have already been injured by mercury in vaccines. That is why

the outcome of the Omnibus Autism Hearing is so critically important. In

the 1980s, Congress creating the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program to

shield medical professionals and vaccine manufacturers from liability if an

individual suffered an adverse event from receiving vaccines. The

compensation fund, which currently contains about $2.5 billion, is financed

by a tax on pediatric vaccines. We created VICP to protect the vaccine

supply and to insure that all who were injured by a vaccine would receive

compensation in what was supposed to be a no-fault, easy to use manner.

Congress intended for families to be compensated quickly and fairly; and

when the evidence was close as to whether or not the medical condition in

question was vaccine related or not--as is the case with thimerosal--the

court should always err in favor of the injured. But over the years the

system has broken and what was supposed to be quick and fair has become

slow and contentious; which is why today 4,800 families are fighting in

court to be heard. They have waited a long time for their day in court and

I am pleased that the court is providing the transcripts online quickly and

that audio streaming on the internet is being provided for the thousands of

families who are not able to travel to Washington and actually be in the

courtroom during the proceedings.

• As the Omnibus hearings proceed, I hope that all of the

evidence regarding vaccine injury will be received by the courts and given

a full and fair review. I believe the families of these autistic children

deserve to be compensated for their vaccine injury as Congress intended

when it created VICP. I believe the science is there to prove this case and

I am hopeful that the court will agree and at the end of this arduous

process these 4,800 families will finally get justice.

END

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

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

Vaccines - http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/vaccine.htm