|
|
DISCLAIMER – The Autism Resource Foundation provides general information to the autism community. The information comes from a variety of sources, and the Autism Resource Foundation does not independently verify any of it, nor does it necessarily reflect the views and/or opinions of the Autism Resource Foundation. Nothing on this website should be construed as medical advice. Always consult your doctor regarding the needs of your family.
Excerpt from Autism Facts.com
2004
A Swedish doctor, Said Havarinasab, reported in "Dose-Response Study of Thimerosal-Induced Murine Systemic Autoimmunity" that Thimerosal caused several deaths and illness due to erroneous handling when used as a disinfectant or as a preservative in medical preparations. The study showed that a sufficient dose of Thimerosal could induce all features of mercury-induced autoimmune disease described in a study in 1997 by Pollard and Hultman after treatment with inorganic mercury in genetically susceptible mice.
The authors stated:
Tdap vaccines are approved for all teenagers.
The Td vaccine is recommended for all pregnant women. Most Td vaccines contain Thimerosal at full dose. The CDC stated no preference for Thimerosal-free vaccines to be given.
The Flu vaccine is again added to the schedule for all infants, 3 times before the age of 2, and for all pregnant women. The CDC stated no preference for Thimerosal-free vaccines to be given.
Thimerosal-containing vaccines continue to be distributed by the United States through the World Health Organization to other countries. These vaccines have never been required or requested to have mercury removed and all still contain full dose Thimerosal.
January 2004
Japanese researchers publish a study called, "Effect of Thimerosal, a Preservative in Vaccines, on IntracellularCa2+ Concentration of Rat Cerebellar Neurons." They stated:
Dr. Neil Halsey who was a co-author of the CDC study, defended the article in "Pediatrics" outlining their study but he suggested that an independent organization should review the data and conduct additional analysis. He also admitted that many children in the study were too young to receive a diagnosis of autism and that the study likely mislabeled young autistic children as having other disabilities other than autism.
Dr. Frank DeStefano of the CDC, who also co-authored the study, also defended the article in "Pediatrics". He stated:
The next day's headlines read, "Study Clears Vaccine Containing Mercury" in the Associated Press and USA Today. The Seattle Times headline was, "CDC Says Vaccines Are Safe".
January 25 - 28, 2004
Kathryn Mahaffey, Ph.D. gave a presentation at the National Forum on Contaminants in Fish showing that mercury cord blood levels were approximately 70% higher than maternal deliveries. The United States Environmental Protection Agency recently revised their earlier report, doubling the estimate of the number of newborns at risk for developing neurological outcomes due to elevated mercury levels. The new findings suggest that 1 in every 6 infants is at risk of neurological injury from mercury. Thimerosal-containing vaccines would add to this increased risk.
February 2004
The California EPA Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment found:
Dr. Richard Deth with the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Northeastern University, along with his colleagues at the Biochemistry Department at the University of Nebraska, the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins published a study in "Molecular Psychiatry" titled, "Activation of Methione Synthase By Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 And Dopamine: A Target For Neurodevelopmental Toxins And Thimerosal." They stated:
February 4, 2004
Missouri State Representative Roy Holand, M.D., Chairman of the House Heath Care Policy Committee in 2004, criticized the Pichichero study of 2002 during the committee hearing held that day as being inadequate to determine the safety of Thimerosal-containing vaccines. He pointed out that damage to the neurofibrils which occurs within the first 30 minutes after the introduction of mercury to the brain cells as shown by the video from the University of Calgary. Pichichero did not study any affect Thimerosal had on the body or its organs, including the brain.
February 9, 2004
Dr. Jeff Bradstreet testifies at the Congressional hearing. His presentation dealt with the genetic susceptibility in certain children to be unable to tolerate heavy metal exposures due to their inability to excrete the metals through metabolic pathways such as in metallothionein, glutathione reduction, and Apo-e protein removal. He stated:
February 10, 2004
Republican Senator Judd Gregg introduced a Bill, S. 2061, "The Healthy Mothers and Healthy Babies Access to Care Act". Republican Senator Bill Frist reintroduced that Bill on March 12, 2004, sponsored by Judd Gregg. This newly written Bill, S. 2207, "The Pregnancy and Trauma Care Access Protection Act" would cause all Rho-GAM lawsuits not yet filed to be kicked out. It narrowed the statute of limitations down to 3 years from date of injury or knowledge of injury. Children ages 7 and older would not be allowed in civil court, and for those younger, the damages would be limited. It restricts expert witnesses to only those in mainstream medicine, barring ones such as Osteopaths. It allowed the courts to reduce the amount the claimant was entitled to and to restrict attorney fees. It removes punitive damages by claiming there must be malicious intent. It also limited the liability of manufacturers, distributors, or providers as long as they complied with FDA standards. In other words, anything given to a patient that the FDA approved, such as vaccines and Rho-GAM, were protected. This bill could impact the flu vaccine given during pregnancy, also.
The Bill was met with resistance, was shot down during the vote and was eventually withdrawn.
February 23, 2004
A letter to Pediatrics Magazine from Mark and David Geier, who were the only outside researchers allowed to study the VSD database before the CDC closed off all outside access, demanded a withdrawal of the study from the magazine. They also noted Dr. Verstraeten's nondisclosure of his employment with GlaxoSmith during the study.
April, 2004
Author David Kirby's book, "Evidence of Harm" is published and on book shelves, laying out a compelling argument concerning the connection between Thimerosal and autism, as well as other neurodevelopmental disorders.
April 2, 2004
Republican Congressman Dave Weldon of Florida and Democrat Carolyn Maloney of New York then introduced a Bill, H.R. 4169 called "The Mercury Free Vaccines Act of 2004". It was co-sponsored by 53 congressmen and women, the largest co-sponsored Bill since the TEACH ACT. This bill would phase out the use of mercury in vaccines over a 3 year period, giving special attention to eliminating mercury from childhood vaccines as quickly as possible.
It never made it out of Committee to the floor for a vote.
April 14, 2004
Mike Doyle and Chris Smith sent a letter to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce urging them to consider the TEACH Bill and move it to the floor for a vote. It has yet to be placed onto the floor or to be voted on.
May 14, 2004
Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack signs SF 2209 into law, banning Thimerosal in vaccines in their state. He also signed a Bill, SF 2209, into law requiring insurers to provide insurance coverage to individuals with autism.
May 17, 2004
The IOM released a report showing no link between autism and vaccines. The report admits that Thimerosal can cause nervous system damage but that does not prove that Thimerosal is responsible for autism.
The IOM Report was based primarily on 5 epidemiological studies, statistical analysis of disease in populations. All of the studies were done by researchers with an interest in not finding an association between Thimerosal and autism as they all had serious conflicts of interest.
Congress had asked the IOM to hold off on releasing the 'no-causal relationship' report until a study at Columbia University was completed. The IOM refused and released the report.
May 19, 2004
The "Atlanta Journal Constitution" published a paper called, "Former Workers Cash In At The CDC."
They reported the conflicts on the revolving door between the CDC workers and the companies for which they go to work for who then get lucrative contracts with the CDC. The article stated that the Department of Health and Human Services was looking into the CDC's contracting with former federal employees. The inquiry was based on an anonymous complaint to Assistant HHS Secretary, Ed Sontag. CDC officials stated that former colleagues and their deals represent a tiny fraction of the agency's contractors and budget.
May 20, 2004
Scott Bloch of the United States Office of Special Councel sent a letter to Congress and forwarded hundreds of disclosures by private citizens to Congress linking mercury and Thimerosal to autism. He stated that these disclosures allege:
June 2004
Dr. Verstraeten, lead researcher of the CDC Thimerosal study, wrote a letter to the 'Journal of Pediatrics' and said that Thimerosal and neurological outcomes could neither be confirmed or denied and more study is required, directly conflicting with the IOM Report and the statements made by the co-author of his study, Dr. DeStefano.
June 8, 2004
Mady Hornig and researchers at Columbia University released their report that found that exposure to Thimerosal can increase the risk of autism-like damage in autoimmune strains of mice, including increased brain size. Other symptoms found were growth delay, reduced locomotion, anti-social behaviors, a decreased number of purkinje cells, densely packed hyperchromic hippocampal neurons with altered glutamate receptors and transporters, and significant abnormalities in brain architecture affecting areas subserving emotion and cognition.
Her conclusions were that the adverse outcomes observed have a genetic component and provide a model for investigating thimerosal-related neurotoxicity.
July 2004
The CDC publishes a study in "Pediatrics" titled, "Children Who Have Received No Vaccines: Who Are They and Where Do They Live?"
They state that parents primary concern is vaccine safety. Siblings in families in which there was an autistic child were 3 times more likely to be unvaccinated, compared with siblings in families in which there was a child with ADHD.
July 27, 2004
The Executive Director of an advocacy group called Health Advocacy in the Public Interest, met with FDA officials to discuss the blatant mislabeling and misrepresentation of ingredients in vaccinations licensed by the FDA.
The FDA states that minute amounts of Thimerosal may still remain in vaccines due to the manufacturing process, but are not being used as a preservative.
The group had raised funds to have 4 vaccines tested when they learned that Thimerosal is still being used to produce most vaccines and manufacturers are 'filtering them out'. Dr. Boyd Haley, Chemistry Department Chair at the University of Kentucky, said that mercury binds to the protein in vaccines and cannot be completely filtered out.
All 4 vaccines tested positive for mercury despite claims that 2 of the 4 were supposed to be mercury-free. All 4 also contained aluminum, with one vial containing 9 times more than the other three, which tremendously enhances the toxicity of mercury.
July 30, 2004
The Coalition for Mercury-Free Drugs (CoMed) files a citizen petition with the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration. They request that, under Federal Regulations, the FDA immediately issue an order barring the administration of Thimerosal-containing vaccines or other mercury-containing products that contain more than 0.5 micrograms per dose to pregnant women and children under the age of 3 years.
CoMed states that the government must prove the thimerosal-containing products have a 10x safety margin with respect to risk of causing any level of neurological damage in developing fetuses, newborns, children, and adolescents. The government and/or manufacturer must prove this in scientifically sound animal model studies using appropriate susceptible animal strains as the test subjects.
The levels must be 3 times the maximum component level in any medical product for ages 15 and older at widely spaced intervals, other than women of childbearing years.
They also request that during the transition period of switching to mercury-free or trace amounts in products, a "Black Box" warning of the potential risk for neurological damage to susceptible fetuses, newborns and children on all products containing more than 0.5 micrograms of mercury until all of these products are mercury-free.
They also request that an informed written consent be obtained by all patients or guardians that clearly states the possibility of neurological injury and to allow such patients or guardians to postpone or decline the administering of such product.
August 7, 2004
"The Independent Online Edition" from the U.K. announced in an article titled, "Mercury to be banned from baby vaccines" that the U.K. was banning Thimerosal-containing vaccines.
August 8, 2004
A group called the Coalition for Mercury-Free Drugs petitioned the FDA seeking restrictions on Thimerosal. Several individuals and autism groups also wrote to reiterate the same concerns and to ask for the same restrictions. Some of the groups that wrote are the Gold River Parents of Autistic Children, the Blue Ridge Children's Center, The Autism Society of America, the National Autism Association, The Genetic Centers of America, Children Having Advocates Against Mercury Poisoning, and The Autism Healing Network.
August 12, 2004
Health Advocacy in the Public Interest, who raised funds to have 4 vaccines tested, gave a press conference stating what they had found.
September 2004
The United Kingdom (UK) bans all Thimerosal-containing vaccines.
September 15, 2004
The Congressional Autism Caucus (C.A.R.E.) now had 192 members committed to improving research, education, and support services for autism.
September 16, 2004
Dr. Wolfgang Maurer, a vaccinologist from Austria, sent Governor Arnold Schwarzenagger a letter urging him to ban thiomersal from vaccines in the state of California.
September 22, 2004
President Bush wrote that he fully supported of the removal of Thimerosal from childhood vaccines in a written response to an advocacy group, Unlocking Autism, after they had asked him to state his position on Thimerosal before his re-election. He stated:
September 28, 2004
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signs CA bill AB 2943 into law, banning Thimerosal in vaccines in the state of California.
Rhode Island State Representative J. Russell Jackson filed H 5729 to ban Thimerosal in vaccines in their state.
October 2004
Chiron Corporation, a California based vaccine manufacturer that outsources to its plant in the UK, was forced to close because their flu vaccine, Fluvirin, was contaminated with Serratia Marcescens, causing a shortage of the flu vaccine in the United States. Thimerosal, which was designed to protect vaccines from such contamination, was used as a preservative in this vaccine and it failed to prevent bacterial growth. This was yet another example of Thimerosal's inefficiency.
December 2004
The CDC strengthens their earlier recommendation in 2002 and 2003 of the flu shot being given to all age 6 months and older as well as pregnant women by adding the recommendation to the Childhood Vaccine Schedule. The recommendation is that infants be given 3 shots at 6 months, 7 months and again at 18 months. They also recommend the flu shot for pregnant women during the second and third trimester. All flu shots still contain full dose Thimerosal with only one manufacturer, Evans, producing a flu vaccine with reduced Thimerosal. Quantities of these Thimerosal-reduced vaccines are limited.
The CDC continues to state no preference for infants, children or pregnant women to receive mercury free flu vaccines. The flu shot contains more Thimerosal in one shot being given to pregnant women, 25 mcgs., than Rho-GAM contained in 2 shots combined, at 10.5 mcgs. each, that was given to Rh-Negative women during the 1990's.