2003 Congressional Report: Mercury in Medicine-Taking Unnecessary Risks

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This is an 84-page PDF, very much worth reading.

http://www.a-champ.org/congressionalreports/Mercury_in_Medicine_Report_Long.pdf

Their conclusion? Read on...

" It is obvious from all accounts that there is a crisis in the United

States regarding the dramatic rise in autism rates and the resulting

strain placed on families, the education system, and State Medicaid

and disability programs. A further crisis will ensue in the next two

decades when we see an explosion in the need for adult services and

long-term housing.

In a further attempt to raise the level of awareness of the autism

epidemic, in November of 2002, Chairman Burton called upon the

President to announce a White House Conference on autism to " galvanize

a national effort to determine why autism has reached epidemic

proportions in this country. " Chairman Burton suggested this would be

a valuable opportunity to " bring together the best minds from across

the country to chart a course of scientific research to uncover the

underlying causes of this epidemic…Mr. President, you are in a unique

position to provide the leadership that is necessary to organize a

national effort to resolve these problems. " In January of 2003, the

response from Bradley A. Blakeman, Deputy Assistant to the President

and Director of Appointments and Scheduling was, " I do not foresee an

opportunity to add this event to the calendar. " 206 It is unfortunate

that the request of the Chairman, and the hundreds of families who

personally appealed to the White House for this Conference did not

appear to have been brought to the personal attention of the

President, who has stated that " no child shall be left behind. "

Vaccines are the only medicines that American citizens are mandated to

receive as a condition for school and day care attendance, and in some

instances for employment. Additionally, families who receive Federal

assistance are required to show proof that their children have been

fully immunized. While the mandate for which vaccines must be

administered is a State mandate, it is the Federal Government, through

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its Advisory

Committee for Immunization Practices that make the Universal

Immunization Recommendations to which the States refer for determining

mandates. Federal programs and funding to State programs provide

immunizations free-of-charge to many children. In July of 2000, it was

estimated that 8,000 children a day were being exposed to mercury in

excess of Federal guidelines through their mandatory vaccines.

Given the importance of vaccination in our overall public health

strategy, it is imperative that the Department of Health and Human

Services adequately addresses the concerns of families of whose

children have possible vaccine-induced autism. The continued response

from agency officials that " there is no proof of harm " is a

disingenuous response. The lack of conclusive proof does not mean that

there is no connection between thimerosal and vaccine-induced autism.

What the lack of conclusive proof indicates is that the agency has

failed in its duties to assure that adequate safety studies were

conducted prior to marketing. Furthermore, in the last two decades,

after determining that thimerosal was no longer " generally recognized

as safe " for topical ointments, the agency did not extend their

evaluation to other applications of thimerosal, in particular as a

vaccine preservative.

One leading researcher made the following statement to the Committee

in July of 2000:

" There's no question that mercury does not belong in vaccines.

There are other compounds that could be used as preservatives. And

everything we know about childhood susceptibility, neurotoxicity of

mercury at the fetus and at the infant level, points out that we

should not have these fetuses and infants exposed to mercury. There's

no need of it in the vaccines. "

The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) mission is to " promote and

protect the public health by helping safe and effective products reach

the market in a timely way, and monitoring products for continued

safety after they are in use. " However, the FDA uses a subjective

barometer in determining when a product that has known risks can

remain on the market. According to the agency, " at the heart of all

FDA's product evaluation decisions is a judgment about whether a new

product's benefits to users will outweigh its risks. No regulated

product is totally risk-free, so these judgments are important. FDA

will allow a product to present more of a risk when its potential

benefit is great -- especially for products used to treat serious,

life-threatening conditions. "

This argument – that the known risks of infectious diseases outweigh a

potential risk of neurological damage from exposure to thimerosal in

vaccines - is one that has continuously been presented to the

Committee by government officials. FDA officials have stressed that

any possible risk from thimerosal was theoretical, that no proof of

harm existed. However, the Committee, upon a thorough review of the

scientific literature and internal documents from government and

industry, did find evidence that thimerosal did pose a risk.

Thimerosal used as a preservative in vaccines in likely related to the

autism epidemic. This epidemic in all probability may have been

prevented or curtailed had the FDA not been asleep at the switch

regarding the lack of safety data regarding injected thimerosal and

the sharp rise of infant exposure to this known neurotoxin.

Our public health agencies' failure to act is indicative of

institutional malfeasance for self-protection and misplaced

protectionism of the pharmaceutical industry. "

_______________

Did you read that????

" However, the Committee, upon a thorough review of the

scientific literature and internal documents from government and

industry, did find evidence that thimerosal did pose a risk. "