CHILDREN DENIED IMMUNITY

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CHILDREN DENIED IMMUNITY

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*Children Denied Immunity*

Thousands of families say mercury, used

to preserve some vaccines, has triggered autism in their children

*

By PAUL PINKHAM

*

/

The Times-Union/

Lanier Weed is 6 years old and can't

talk. At the slightest sound -- the chirping of crickets, the click of a

camera shutter -- she covers her ears in fear. School, at least in the

traditional sense, is out of the question.

" Every Christmas, every birthday, is

a marker to me of what she can't do, " said her mother, Weed of

Ponte Vedra Beach, who estimates her daughter has the cognitive skills of

a 2-year-old.

--------------------------------------------------

Of Katheryn Hartigan's triplets, Conner (left) was diagnosed autistic at

21 months while Ashlyn and Brittney continued developing normally. BRUCE

LIPSKY/The Times-Union --------------------------------------------------

It wasn't supposed to be this way. Weed

and her husband, Bobby, raised two perfectly healthy girls, and until

Lanier was 18 months old, she was developing normally, too. Then her

nervous system stopped growing.

A psychiatrist diagnosed autism. Three

specialists found incredibly high mercury levels in her body.

The Weeds say she was poisoned by a

mercury-filled preservative in her childhood vaccines. " The

fungicide, " Weed calls it.

They aren't alone. At least 40 other

ville-area families have reported similar symptoms in the past five

years -- an apparently normal child suddenly regressing by 30 months.

They are among more than 3,700 families

nationwide with identical claims pending before the Vaccine Court, a

special tribunal of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Bethesda, Md.,

where complaints about vaccinations must be aired before any legal action

can take place. The number of claims continues to grow, according to the

court.

Each alleges the 50 percent mercury

content in thimerosal, used by drugmakers to sterilize and preserve the

shelf life of vaccines, led to symptoms of autism. The court tentatively

plans to rule on the claims' validity in July.

" All these children have been

exposed to vast amounts of mercury, which exceed the FDA [Food and Drug

Administration] guidelines by more than 100 percent, " said attorney

Alan Pickert, who represents the ville families. " These kids

have basically had their lives taken away from them. "

--------------------------------------------------

Weed estimates her autistic daughter Lanier, 6, has the cognitive

skills of a 2-year-old. The Weeds say Lanier was poisoned by a

mercury-filled preservative in her childhood vaccines. Nationwide, 3,700

families are making that claim. BRUCE LIPSKY/The Times-Union

--------------------------------------------------

It's an uphill fight. The families -- and

the court -- have found themselves at the center of a medical-political

firestorm. Scientists are split on whether there is a link between

widespread use of vaccines containing thimerosal and a dramatic increase

in autism cases. Congress has debated banning the additive and protecting

drug companies from being sued because of it. No court has ruled in favor

of either side.

Although some medical groups have

successfully urged drugmakers to remove thimerosal from most childhood

vaccines, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this

month it saw no need to warn parents this fall's flu shots -- recommended

for all children 6 to 24 months old -- will contain the additive.

" There is no evidence of harm caused

by the minute doses of thimerosal in vaccines, " the CDC said. The

agency's decision is driven by fears of a deadly flu epidemic in light of

estimates that 36,000 people die from the flu each year.

The American Academy of Pediatrics agreed

with the CDC. The academy says there is no connection between thimerosal

and autism but has nonetheless urged drugmakers to produce thimerosal-free

vaccines.

" Until an adequate supply of each

vaccine is available, use of vaccines which contain thimerosal as a

preservative is acceptable, " the academy told its 57,000 member

physicians this month.

Vaccine makers also deny a link, saying

they voluntarily removed thimerosal from most childhood shots as a

precaution.

" The company believes that these

lawsuits and claims are completely without merit and will vigorously

defend against them, " pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. says in

its 2002 annual report.

On the other hand, controversial research

presented at a February meeting of the Institute of Medicine's

Immunization Safety Review Committee showed the link between thimerosal

and autism is greater than that between smoking and lung cancer.

U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., called the

CDC's position " malpractice " as he proposed legislation this

month to ban thimerosal in all vaccines by the end of next year. Each

thimerosal-free shot would cost an extra $4, " a price worth

paying, " said Weldon, a Melbourne physician.

--------------------------------------------------

What is autism?

Autism is a bio-neurological

developmental disability that generally appears before the age of 3 and

impacts the normal development of the brain in the areas of social

interaction, communication skills and cognitive function. Individuals with

autism typically have difficulties in verbal and non-verbal communication,

social interactions, and leisure or play activities. Similar

characteristics are attributed to mercury poisoning.

Since autism was first diagnosed in the

United States the occurrence has climbed to one in 150 people. There is no

known cure, though with early intervention and treatment, the diverse

symptoms related to autism can be greatly improved.

Source: National Autism Association

--------------------------------------------------

" We get all in a whirlwind about

secondhand smoke. We shut down office buildings because of minimal levels

of asbestos. We take these great precautions, and then we inject mercury

into babies, " he said. " I don't know all the answers, but I do

know that it's been pretty well established in the scientific community

that mercury is bad for you. "

Gun and trigger

Weldon tells the story of a Washington,

D.C., high school shut down by the Environmental Protection Agency for a

month last year after a mercury spill.

" The mercury levels were

substantially lower than what we were injecting into millions of newborn

babies in the '90s, " he said.

The vast majority of those children

weren't affected. But some, like Lanier Weed, have a genetic condition

that leaves them unable to excrete metals like mercury normally, said Boyd

Haley, chairman of the University of Kentucky chemistry department.

" It's a genetic susceptibility to an

environmental situation, " Weed said. " The genetics were

her loaded gun, and the mercury was the trigger. "

Five years ago, Katheryn Hartigan of

Arlington gave birth to triplets. At first, all three children developed

normally. But at 21 months, son Conner, the smallest and sickest of the

three, began to regress, throwing tantrums, not speaking and wearing a

blank, emotionless expression. He was diagnosed as autistic.

Hartigan and her husband, , blame

a combination of thimerosal and mercury emissions from the JEA Northside

Generating Station across the river from their home.

--------------------------------------------------

Lanier Weed, 6, working with behavioral

analyst Lori Kerch, was diagnosed with autism at 18 months, and

specialists found very high levels of mercury in her body. BRUCE LIPSKY/The

Times-Union

--------------------------------------------------

" You've got mercury on top of

mercury, " Hartigan said.

Like the Hartigans, most of the

ville families with claims pending before the Vaccine Court have

notified JEA of their intent to sue, Pickert said. JEA doesn't discuss

pending litigation, a spokeswoman said.

The cumulative effects of that much

mercury can be devastating to infants whose immune systems aren't

developed and who lack the ability to excrete metals, Haley said. Children

who got the normal battery of vaccines in the late 1990s received 187.5

micrograms of mercury, more than the Environmental Protection Agency

mercury limit of 0.1 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day. A

kilogram equals 2.2 pounds.

" What really makes thimerosal toxic

is the administration at an early age, " Haley said. Healthy children

and adults can absorb more mercury in their systems, he said.

Haley studied normal and autistic

children and found those with autism had significantly lower levels of

mercury in their hair, meaning they weren't excreting. The lower the

levels, the more severe their autism, he found.

Other scientists have used CDC data on

children who received thimerosal-free vaccines and those who didn't to

establish a correlation between the additive and autism. That research was

criticized by the American Academy of Pediatrics for using the data

improperly.

" No scientific data link thimerosal

used as a preservative in vaccines with any pediatric neurologic disorder,

including autism, " the academy wrote its 57,000 member physicians

last year.

U.S. health officials point to a 2003

study that showed low autism rates in Danish children whether they

received thimerosal-free vaccines or not. But Haley said children in

Denmark are vaccinated later and with lower doses than American kids.

Vaccine makers and some scientists also

say ethyl mercury, the type in thimerosal, is more easily purged from the

body than methyl mercury, the type found in industrial emissions.

The problem, Weldon said, is that no one

at the CDC calculated how much mercury American children were receiving,

and " my peers in the medical profession rely very heavily on the CDC

and the American Academy of Pediatrics. "

So do parents.

" We rely strictly on our physicians.

We rely strictly on ... who's approving these vaccines, " said

Hartigan. " We're not against shots, but who can you trust? "

Aventis Pasteur, the only company

licensed to make flu shots for infants, said it is making the shots with

and without thimerosal and should have enough thimerosal-free vaccines to

meet demand this fall, a spokesman told the Los Angeles Times. The company

encouraged concerned parents to ask their pediatricians to order

thimerosal-free vaccines.

And Weed urged all parents to ask

to see the package insert listing vaccine ingredients.

" It's not the vaccines that are

poisoning the children. It's the poison in the vaccines, " she said.

Altered lives

Bruce is haunted by the memory

of holding down his screaming son, , while the infant received

vaccines that now believes were poison.

Like most parents, , a former

prosecutor, thought he was doing the responsible thing by getting his son

vaccinated. He didn't know about mercury until it was too late. Shortly

after 's first birthday in 1999, the boy stopped talking, couldn't

stand to be touched and developed digestive problems.

" He basically went into his own

world. He lost the skills he had been forming and made zero progress. ...

You can have a normal child and have them fall off the map, " said

, now an attorney in ville Beach. " When my wife first

brought up the issue of vaccines, my first reaction was, 'Show me the

proof.' I couldn't believe our government would allow this to happen. I

couldn't believe pediatricians would allow it to happen. "

He learned about thimerosal at a

conference sponsored by the Autism Research Institute in 2001.

" I'm sitting there with thousands of

other parents, quietly crying, thinking, 'I did this,' "

said. " What's so maddening is that the truth was known before my

child was born. "

He and his wife stopped calling

autistic and started calling him " vaccine-injured. " They began

an " exhausting " journey through expensive therapy, special diets

and autism conferences.

Other parents say their lives also were

turned upside down by the diagnosis. Some avoid going out in public with

their children. Work schedules change. Nerves are constantly on edge. And

time spent alone together is almost unheard of.

A few weeks ago, the Hartigans had

tickets to the ice show. Katheryn Hartigan took the girls. Her husband

took Conner to the beach.

Katheryn Hartigan said she has been made

to feel like a criminal for refusing vaccinations for her children.

" We know as parents that we have

done this to our child because we listened to the authorities, " she

said. " One day when he gets old enough to understand, I'm going to

have to look him in the eye and tell him it was the shots and the area of

town that Mommy and Daddy chose to live in that did this to you, and I am

so sorry from the bottom of my heart. "

Weed said she uses her husband's

frequent flier miles -- he's a sought-after golf course architect -- to

travel to autism conferences and demand answers from the speakers there.

" It's changed our life, " Bobby

Weed said. " It's changed my relationship with my wife. It's changed

our relationship with our children. It's changed our relationship with our

family. But in a way, it's made us stronger. I have to look at the

positive. ... I've seen a side of my wife that I never knew existed. "

The Weeds estimate spending $50,000 a

year just on treating Lanier and learning more about mercury poisoning.

They feel fortunate, guilty almost, that they have the means to hire

specialists and therapists and travel to conferences when other families

don't.

The three shelves of a large hutch in

their living room are filled with research Weed has collected in

her search for truth. But perhaps the most telling document is taped

inside the door. It's a letter Lanier's sister Haley, then 10, wrote.

" Why? Why? Why did the doctors

poison Lanier? " Haley Weed wondered. " I really want to know.

Tell me! Tell me! TELL ME!!!!! The only thing that I want is to know why.

Please God! Please. "

paul.pinkham@..., (904)

359-4107

*Think Autism. Think Cure.*

*

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here to visit our website*

__________

The NAA Team

National Autism Association

Phone: 877-NAA-AUTISM

Email: naa@...

http://nationalautismassociation.org/