Fwd: Statement By Safe Minds On The Wall Street Journal Editorial OF 12/29/03

[Guest guest]

Statement By Safe Minds On The Wall Street Journal Editorial OF

12/29/03

" The Politics Of Autism "

Lyn Redwood RN, MSN President, Safe Minds

The December 29th editorial from the Wall Street Journal " The

Politics

of Autism: Lawsuits and emotion vs. science and childhood vaccines "

is a

misrepresentation of the actual facts surrounding the debate

concerning

autism and exposure to thimerosal, a mercury preservative used in

some but

not all infant vaccines. Instead of this being a " story of politics

and

lawyers trumping science and medicine " as alleged, it would be more

accurately described as a story of how the pharmaceutical industry

uses the

media and politics to accomplish its goals.

One must ask, " Why does the Wall Street Journal feel it

necessary to

pick on families of children with autism and a small research advocacy

group, Safe Minds? " The answer is simple, money.

When an FDA official reported that ethyl mercury from

thimerosal was

able to cross the blood brain barrier resulting in appreciable mercury

content in the brain and other well respected doctors opined that

exposure

to mercury containing vaccines, in addition to already high levels of

exposure to environmental mercury, may result in adverse neurological

outcomes, they began to worry. This, coupled with the uncovering of

internal

documents obtained during the process of discovery from Eli Lilly,

who held

the patent on thimerosal, that the product was not safe to administer

to

dogs, but nonetheless was promoted for use in childhood vaccines, was

enough

for them to rush to their allies in Washington, or should I say

largest

campaign contribution recipients, for help. The result, a rider added

at the

11th hour to last year's popular Homeland Security Bill giving Eli

Lilly

immunity from any product liability related to thimerosal.

Fortunately, many in Congress recognized that the rider had

nothing to

do with homeland security and demanded that it be removed until the

issue

could be reviewed. The claim that these Senators failed to honor

their side

of the agreement to address the issue in the next session of Congress

is

wrong. In fact, on April 9, 2003, the Senate Health, Education Labor

and

Pensions Committee, chaired by Gregg (R-NH), was scheduled to meet to

work

on a compromise bill agreed to by Senate Majority Leader Frist (R-

TN). But

before the start of that meeting, lobbyists from the vaccine

manufacturers

met with and convinced Senator Gregg to postpone the meeting

indefinitely.

Senator Gregg went on the record admitting that he aborted the

committee

meeting because of the concerns of the vaccine manufacturers. To

suggest

that Senators Snowe, and Chafee were at fault is a

misrepresentation

of actual events and warrants retraction.

Additionally, the editorial wrongly claims that thimerosal has

never

been linked to any health problems. A quick literature search finds

hundreds

of studies that document numerous incidences of injury from thimerosal

exposure. The few suggested in the editorial as being evidence

disproving

such an association have been highly criticized and when reviewed were

actually found to support a link. One such study published in the

November,

2003 issue of Pediatrics contains faulty methodology and manipulation

of

data. In fact an earlier version of the study found statistically

significant and dose dependant associations between exposures to

mercury

containing vaccines and several adverse outcomes including

neurodevelopmental delays in general, speech and language delays and

ADD/ADHD. Investigators kept the results secret and changed the data

and

methodology in order to achieve the results desired by vaccine

manufacturers. This was only revealed when Safe Minds obtained

minutes of a

secret meeting on the initial results through the Freedom of

Information

Act. One participant even claimed that based on the results, he would

not

allow his own baby grandson to receive the vaccines containing

thimerosal.

The lead author of the study, an employee of vaccine manufacturer

Glaxo

Kline, has refused press inquiries about these charges.

In addition, independent researchers, at the behest of the U.S.

Congress, have analyzed the same database for the relationship between

mercury from thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines and adverse

neurodevelopmental disorders, and found an overwhelming

epidemiological

confirmation of a direct link related to increasing exposure to

mercury from

thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines.

The Rochester study as well was highly criticized by three

independent

physicians and researchers in the following issue of Lancet. The

sample size

of 33 children was too small to establish safety claims and the

mercury

levels in the blood were not obtained 3 hours after the exposure to

the

vaccine when the levels would be at their highest, but instead days

and

weeks later when the levels had now dropped below EPA's level of

concern.

One reviewer using pharmacokinetic modeling was able to extrapolate

the data

back to peak levels and found that mercury levels had in fact breeched

safety guidelines.

This coupled with the fact that the lead author, in previous

publications but not this one, acknowledged financial ties to a

number of

vaccine manufacturers including Eli Lilly, casts further doubt on

their

research findings.

And lastly the highly touted Denmark study cited in the

editorial as

being the best evidence to date that there is no connection between

thimerosal and autism is also highly suspect. The Danish autism

registry

allows 10 to 25% of the autism cases to be lost from its records each

year

with the net effect being that the older cases which occurred when

thimerosal vaccines were administered in Denmark are lost.

Controlling for

this loss of records results in a higher number of autism cases

during the

time frame when thimerosal containing vaccines were used, supporting

the

thimerosal-autism link. Again, the author of this investigation

failed to

acknowledge his employment with the manufacturer and promoter of

vaccines in

Denmark.

While the ramifications of damage to a generation of children

from the

needless exposure to mercury from infant vaccines and the accompanying

liability is a big pill for the pharmaceutical industry to swallow,

sweeping

the facts under the rug and running to Congress for protection after

the

fact will only exacerbate the problem. Public confidence in vaccine

safety

will only prevail when the pharmaceutical companies, the media and

Congress

deal openly and truthfully with American parents. Congress must

address this

in a manner that brings justice to injured children, and ensures that

all

vaccines, both voluntary as well as those required by law are safe and

effective. Extending further liability protections to industry takes

away

the necessary incentives to accomplish that goal.\\

(this is the article referred to

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110004487

The Politics of Autism

Lawsuits and emotion vs. science and childhood vaccines. ....Sheri)

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

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

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

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ANY INFO OBTAINED HERE NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS MEDICAL

OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE

DECISION TO VACCINATE IS YOURS AND YOURS ALONE.

******

" Just look at us. Everything is backwards; everything is upside down.

Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy

knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the major media destroy

information

and religions destroy spirituality " .... Ellner

--- End forwarded message ---