VACCINES-MERCURY: (Part 2) WFAA

[Guest guest]

FROM: Donna M. REILLY

Concerned Suffolk Resident

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http://www.wfaa.com/localnews/investigates/stories/wfaa020521_am_vaccine2.b7

e9f53.html

Mercury in childhood vaccines: what did the government know?

05/22/2002

to watch the video broadcast online, link to:

http://www.wfaa.com/watchvideo/index.jsp?SID=3006499

By VALERI WILLIAMS / WFAA-TV DALLAS

It's a question that has divided doctors, parents and government scientists

for more than a decade: Do childhood vaccines or additives cause

neurological damage?

Next month, a congressional committee will hear testimony on the subject. A

California university has a huge government grant to research it.

And the possible link has been the focus of a three-month News 8

Investigation.

At the center of the investigation: a preservative put into many vaccines.

It's called Thimerosal, and it's made from mercury, the second most toxic

metal known to man. Uranium is the most toxic.

For years, Thimerosal has been extremely controversial because there were

alternatives to preventing vaccine contamination. And, questions remain

about how pharmaceutical companies conduct vaccine research and how the

government regulates those companies.

Centuries ago, the shimmering properties of mercury captivated the

philosopher Aristotle, who called it " quicksilver " - and the name stuck.

Perhaps the best visual example of what low-levels of mercury can do to the

brain is seen in a videotaped experiment by scientists at the University of

Calgary.

" Over the next thirty minutes, the neurite membrane underwent rapid

degeneration, leaving behind the denuded neurofibrils seen here, " the

narration on the tape said. " In contrast, other heavy metals added to this

concentration - such as aluminum, lead, cadmium and manganese - did not

produce this effect. "

Starting in the early nineties, government regulators dramatically increased

the amount of Thimerosal exposure to babies by adding two new vaccines to

the roster of mandatory immunizations children must have before enrolling in

school.

The combination of the Hepatitis B vaccine and the HiB vaccine more than

doubled the amount of mercury children like Jac Counter received before the

age of two.

Jack's parents say today, at age five, he has been diagnosed as having

" mercury-induced autism " .

" If you take a ten-pound baby in, and it gets four shots on that one day,

which is a common practice - that's equivalent to giving a 100-pound person

forty shots in one day, " said mercury expert Dr. Boyd Haley.

Haley has testified before Congress and the Pentagon as one of the nation's

leading experts on Thimerosal and mercury poisoning. The research he's done

at the University of Kentucky leads him to believe that some children are

genetically predisposed to storing mercury in their brains.

It's the cummulative effect of the mercury which Haley and other scientists

say leads to neurological disorders, including autism.

However, members of the government's vaccine committees, like Dr. Jane

Siegel, insist the proof isn't there.

Under pressure from the American Academy of Pediatrics, these government

committees ordered pharmaceutical companies to stop putting Thimerosal in

vaccines by March 2001.

" The topic was researched, it was reviewed, (with) no data to prove a

causitive role, " Siegel said. " Nevertheless, a call for Thimerosal removal

was made. Within two months of the publication of that statement, the

Hepatitis B vaccine for infants was free of Thimerosal. Within 18 months,

there was on the market all Thimerosal-free vaccine.

" I think this is an incredible achievement. "

But did the government really move fast enough to protect America's

children? After all, Thimerosal had been used in vaccines since the 1930s.

Documents obtained in a lawsuit show that the government began asking

questions about the compound's saftey in 1972. Eli Lilly, which holds the

patent on Thimerosal, assured the FDA in a report that " a series of 22 human

subjects " were injected with a one-percent solution " without ill effect " .

Attorney Andy Waters said what the pharmaceutical giant concealed from the

government is that the tests were conducted in 1929 by a young researcher

named K.C. burn - on patients dying of mennigitis.

" It's apparent that Lilly didn't want to do the study themselves because

it's apparent that there were enormous ethical problems with injecting

people - even people dying of meningitis - with mercury, " Waters said. " What

burn did was wrong, because he agreed to do the study for Lilly, and

not only did he agree to do it, but he agreed to give them results that he

knew were flawed.

" They knew, and he knew, (the results) were going to be published as the

truth. "

The FDA questioned Thimerosal's safety again in 1982 - this time, noting

that it was " not safe for 'over-the-counter' topical use because of its

potential for cell damage " . Despite that evidence, however, the government

regulatory committees did nothing to question its use in childhood vaccines.

Meanwhile, measures were taken to remove the compound from pet

innoculations. More internal company documents and memos show that Eli Lilly

began revising its claims about Thimerosal starting in the 1960s, changing

package inserts from stating " non-toxic " to " non-irritating to body to

issue " .

Then, in November 1973, the company's legal division suggested adding the

statement: " Do not use when aluminum may come in contact with treated skin " .

Aluminum is a compound added to many vaccines as a catalyst. But even with

this warning, the government committees did nothing.

Haley said any good biochemist knows that Thimerosal and aluminum react

dangerously when combined together.

He showed News 8 the results of his experiments on human brain neurons.

" If we add this level of aluminum that we see very little toxicity with to

this level of Thimerosal, we get this bottom line ... indicating that we

have dramatically enhanced the toxicity, where within 24 hours essentially

all of the neurons are dead, " Haley said.

Officials at Eli Lilly declined to interview with News 8. However, they did

send an e-mail, which said in part that the company's " primary concern is

for patient safety " . The e-mail also stated that " Lilly discontinued its

sale or use of (Thimerosal) about ten years ago " .

However, that did not stop other pharmaceutical companies from taking over

the production of the vaccine preservative.

In December 1999, shortly before Eli Lilly quit producing thimerosal, the

company changed its packaging insert again. This time, Lilly warned that

Thimerosal was " toxic " . Additionally, it stated that effects of exposure may

include " fetal changes, decreased offspring survival, and lung tissue

changes " .

However, the government's vaccine committee continues to insist that

Thimerosal has never been dangerous to American children.

So, the 1999 Eli Lilly package insert was shown to Dr. Jane Siegel for her

reaction:

" I cannot comment on this unless I have clarification, " Siegel said. " You

will have to interview the public. I don't know - I just know that if you

show me this piece of paper I cannot make a comment on this - I find it

uninterpretable. "

Haley said the government should have taken action.

" There should have been an immediate recall of the vaccine, " Haley said. " We

would do that with an automobile if it had a bad brake system. If we just

suspected it had a bad brake system, they would do that. The government has

no problems - they'd do it immediately. "

The congressional hearing on the use of Thimerosal in vaccines begins in

June. While production of the preservative was stopped a year ago, as Dr.

Haley pointed out, existing doses were not recalled.

Now, it needs to be re-stated that the easiest solution for parents who are

concerned about upcoming immunizations is to simply ask your doctor in

advance for Thimerosal-free vaccines.

NOTE: Chelation (pronounced " kee-lay-shun " ) is a controversial process that

detoxifies the body of heavy metals, such as mercury. Many parents of

autistic children strongly advocate the procedure. However, many physicians

and the FDA question its effectiveness. The following weblinks provide more

information and a diversity of opinions on chelation.

Also Online

List of links about Mercury and Chelation therapy

http://www.isn.net/~jypsy/mercvacc.htm

Views against Chelation Therapy

http://autism.about.com/library/weekly/aa010901b.htm

Treatment options http://home.san.rr.com/t/treatment.html

Chelation Therapy - Online forum

http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/103937

Part 1 of this report

http://www.wfaa.com/latestnews/stories/wfaa020520_am_vaccine.666583b.html