Fwd: Action Alert on Homeland Security Amendment

[Guest guest]

ACTION ALERT

A thimerosal liability shield rider was tacked on to the Homeland

Security Bill--at the very last minute and in the dark of

secrecy---and

passed the US House last week. The Bill is set for a vote in the US

Senate THIS MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18. The rider would effectively end

lawsuits for damages caused to children after multiple mercury

exposures

from thimerosal in infant vaccines.

- Thimerosal has nothing to do with homeland security. It is not

present

in the smallpox or anthrax vaccines.

- The rider effectively precludes legal remedies on the part of

injured

families before liability has even been established by the courts.

- If compensation arising from the childhood immunization program is

an

issue for the vaccine manufacturers, action should be taken through

established legal, legislative, and regulatory channels, not through

backdoor maneuvers.

- The rider precludes older children from seeking compensation and

caps

compensation at $250,000, even though studies have conservatively

estimated the lifetime care of a child with autism to be $1 million.

Fortunately, Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Tom Daschle (D-SD) have

introduced an amendment to remove the thimerosal and other riders

which

are unrelated to bioterrorism from the Homeland Security Act. This

amendment will be voted on this Monday, November 18th as well.

PLEASE CONTACT YOUR US SENATORS AT YOUR EARLIEST CONVENIENCE AND URGE

THEM TO SUPPORT THE LIEBERMAN/DASCHLE AMENDMENT.

HOW TO REACH YOUR US SENATOR BY EMAIL

1.Go to:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm and

scroll down to your state. NOTE: We are told that it is EXTRA

IMPORTANT

for residents of PA and AZ to contact their Senators.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Please see the joint press release issued by Mercury Policy

Project/Safe

Minds directly below, and see our websites located at the end of the

release.

PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS EMAIL TO OTHER LIST SERVS.

Thank you.

Lyn Redwood, RN, President

Sallie Bernard, Executive Director

Safe Minds (Sensible Action for Ending Mercury Induced Neurological

Disorders)

_________________

For Immediate Release

Contacts: Bender, Mercury Policy Project,

Lyn Redwood, Safe Minds,

Sallie Bernard, Safe Minds,

LAWMAKERS AND ACTIVISTS CALL THIMEROSAL LIABILITY SHIELD RIDER IN

HOMELAND SECURITY BILL UNFAIR AND IRRESPONSIBLE--

AND PRESS FOR ITS DEFEAT

Drug Maker Tells Congressional Staff That They Won't Produce Smallpox

Vaccine Without Amendment Granting Immunity From Mercury Vaccine

Lawsuits

Washington,DC-A thimerosal liability shield rider tacked on to the

Homeland Security Bill at the last minute and passed by the US House

last week is being opposed by lawmakers, activists and parents of

children with autism as unfair and irresponsible.

The rider would effectively end lawsuits for damages caused to

children

after multiple mercury exposures from thimerosal in infant vaccines.

An

amendment introduced into the US Senate by Senators Joe Lieberman

(D-CT)

and Tom Daschle (D-SD) to remove this and other riders unrelated to

bioterrorism is scheduled to be voted on this Monday, November 18th.

" The Mercury Policy Project and Safe Minds hope the entire Senate will

support this amendment and not let a small number of corporations

exploit a national threat to America to further their own private

agendas, " said Bender, Director of the Mercury Policy Project.

" While no one now wants to take credit for it, this rider smacks of

payback, smells of blackmail, has no relation to homeland security and

should be defeated. "

According to news reports and congressional staff, representatives of

at

least one drug manufacturer have told the White House and several US

senate staff that they won't produce the smallpox vaccines requested

by

the Administration to protect Americans against bioterrorism if the

liability shielding rider for thimerosal is defeated. Yet neither the

smallpox nor anthrax vaccines - our primary defenses against possible

biological warfare - contain thimerosal. Rather, thimerosal is a

mercury-based preservative that has been used in infant vaccines and

is

increasingly in the spotlight.

" We are heartened that Senators Lieberman and Daschle are offering an

amendment to remove extraneous additions like the thimerosal liability

shield from the Homeland Security Act, " stated Sallie Bernard,

Executive

Director of Safe Minds. " This addition is an example of all that is

wrong with a system of using last minute riders to subvert the

legislative process. "

More than $14 million was recently contributed to congressional

candidates prior to the elections by the pharmaceutical industry. The

most generous donor was Eli Lilly, who contributed $1.6 million and

apparently has the most to lose--having developed and generously

profited from the sales of thimerosal for over 40 years.

" Instead of providing immunity, Congress should be passing legislation

investigating why the Food & Drug Administration and American public

were misled by Eli Lilly into believing that their product was

safe--when company documents paint a completely different picture, "

said

Lyn Redwood, RN, President of Safe Minds and parent of a child with

numerous disabilities associated with mercury toxicity after receiving

125 times the Environmental Protection Agency's allowable exposure to

mercury.

" More and more parents believe that autism affecting their children is

related to a mercury preservative used in numerous vaccines, " said

Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN), chairman of the Government Reform

Committee, which has held several thimerosal and autism-related

hearings. " These provisions in the bill will cut off their recourse to

the courts, and that's just wrong. "

Internal documents reviewed as a result of discovery in current

litigation filed against the pharmaceutical giant reveal that Eli

Lilly

was aware of concerns resulting from thimerosal exposure since the

early

1940's and was advised by its Medical Science Department in 1967 that

the claim " Non-toxic " be removed from its thimerosal labels. Lilly's

own materials safety data sheet acknowledges that exposure in children

may cause mild to severe mental retardation and that mercury poisoning

may occur.

On Friday, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) sent a letter to Secretary Tommy

, Director of Health and Human Services, and White House

Budget

Director E. s requesting information on the Bush

administration's involvement in the amendment. s was previously

employed by Eli Lilly as a top executive. According to a news report,

Waxman said " It now seems apparent the administration's priority has

been legislation that protects manufacturers but not injured people. "

The thimerosal lawsuits began appearing in 2000 after the federal

government asked manufacturers of childhood vaccines to stop using

mercury-based preservatives. The Homeland Security bill rider would

keep

the lawsuits out of state courts, preventing large judgments, and

instead refer complaints to a 14-year-old federal program limiting

compensation to $250,000 for those who suffer the side effects of

vaccines. Further, the rider would uphold the current statute of

limitations, thereby continuing to bar the majority of affected

children

from seeking compensation--and without any other legal recourse.

According to recent Centers for Disease Control investigations, Autism

Spectrum Disorders affect approximately 1 in 150 American children

today. A recent report estimates the lifetime costs of caring for

children with autism at around $2 million each.

For more information, see:

http://www.mercurypolicy.org

http://www.safeminds.org

###

--- End forwarded message ---