Thimerosal Controversy Continues November 11, 2003
The link between thimerosal and autism and other learning disabilities
has continued to be argued for decades. Thimerosal is 49.6% ethylmercury and
was widely used since the 1940s in over the counter drugs. After being banned
in 1998 from over the counter drugs, thimerosal is still found in some vaccines.
Mercury is the second most toxic substance known to man behind uranium.
While many doctors continue to claim thimerosal has been
removed from vaccines given to children, a closer look
would show otherwise. If following today’s
government recommendations, a child has received more than 30 vaccinations,
a dramatic increase from just over a decade ago. Vaccine makers were never
ordered to remove thimerosal, rather encouraged.
Although many vaccines have chosen to remove thimerosal or greatly reduce the levels of it, it is still found in many. Before 1980, autism was diagnosed in just 1 in 10,000 children. By 2002, the National Institutes of Health reported autism affected 1 in 250 children and estimates show the number of children afflicted with autism disorders is continuing to increase by about 10% every year.
Paralleling the rising autism numbers, the required vaccines have significantly increased over the years and many people believe this is no coincidence. In 1985, just four recommended shots for infants in the first 18 months contained thimerosal, but by 1991, seven more shots were required containing thimerosal in all 11.
Over the years, there continues to be a link made between autism and thimerosal and Eli Lilly continues to face hundreds of civil lawsuits from families with autistic children. For more information on thimerosal, please contact us to confer with an attorney.
Vaccines and Autism Link May 6, 2003
Doctors, activists, and Rep. Dan Burton who has been proactively been trying to get more testing on vaccines performed to prevent any questionable links of dangerous effects including the link between thimerosal and autism, met in Chicago to discuss the thimerosal and autism and other brain problems in children link. According to some researchers, there is growing evidence to support the link between vaccines and the increasing rate of brain problems.
The CDC has said that one in 300 American children may be suffering from autism, a number ten times higher than in the late 1980s. The chairman of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky, Dr. Boyd Haley believes thimerosal may be a cause of autism and the FDA and CDC has failed to adequately address the possible thimerosal/autism link. The thimerosal/autism theories are one of the leading autism theories that were discussed at the Chicago meeting.
Thimerosal is a mercury-based preservative that was added to vaccines in the 1990s. Mercury has known toxic effects, but vaccine manufacturers claim there is a lack of scientific evidence showing there is a possible link between thimerosal and autism. Burton has just released a thimerosal report after over four years of investigating vaccines that criticizes government health agencies and vaccine manufacturers.
The Chicago meeting discussed a new study that claims it exhibits evidence of a link between thimerosal and brain problems. An attorney with Burton’s Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness said that during the 1990s there were some childhood vaccination schedules that exposed some children to levels of mercury exposure 125 times greater than the federal limit. The attorney believes fear of liability is the only reason the CDC and the FDA have been reluctant to admit the damaging effects the vaccines may have caused.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, and then the CDC called for the removal of thimerosal from vaccines in 1999 but still said there was no evidence showing the thimerosal had harmed children.
Chairman Burton Requests Recall Of Childhood Vaccines with Thimerosal October 3, 2001
Chairman Burton stated, “We cannot in good conscience leave Thimerosal-containing vaccines on the shelf until used up, potentially exposing children to chemicals that may lead to neuro-developmental disorders. Mercury is toxic to the human body. I will be sending a letter this week to Secretary Thompson asking that these products be recalled. In the meantime, I am asking every doctor, every health clinic, and every facility that provides childhood immunizations to check your vaccine supplies and return all Thimerosal-containing vaccines and request Thimerosal-free vaccines.” Read More…
Major CDC Study on Thimerosal Flawed July 25, 2001
The author of a major study of the link between Vaccinations and Developmental Disorders, which is widely quoted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has admitted that the study is inaccurate in its findings. Dr. Thomas Verstraeten, of the CDC's National Immunization Program, is quoted as saying, "One thing is for sure, there is certainly under-ascertainment of all these [conditions] because some of the children are just not old enough to be diagnosed." A professor who has reviewed the research confirmed this. He stated that there were too few children in the study to pick up all cases of autism. Additionally, it appears that the CDC is now reversing its stand. According to the Sunday Times, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found a "statistically significant" link between mercury in vaccines and developmental disorders, including Attention Deficit Disorder and speech and language delays. The CDC, however, still recommends vaccinations with thimerosal containing vaccines, saying there are safety measures in place to prevent overdoses of mercury. Read More…
Effects of Ethylmercury Exposure in Infants Never Studied July 4, 2001
On July 26, 2001, the Institute of Medicine will conduct hearings into thimerosal-containing vaccines and the neurodevelopmental outcomes of exposure to them. As a part of their preliminary research, the Immunization Safety Review Committee questioned Dr. László Magos, author of Physiology and Toxicology of Mercury and an internationally known expert in field. How can we ever believe the reports that attempt to validate the use of vaccines which contain thimerosal, when there have been NO STUDIES done on this important question, according to Dr. Magos? And how can we believe the theories that have been proposed on how mercury works to damage the neurological system of the body, when there hasn't even been a hypothesis made on this question. Read More…
Statement By Karen Midthun, M.D., Director Office of Vaccines Research and Review Center For Biologics Evaluation and Research Food and Drug Administration Department of Health and Human Services, Before the Committee on Government Reform United States Representatives. April 26, 2001 Read More…
Healthcast: Vaccines With Mercury Cause Controversy Medical Community Debates Safety of Thimerosal January 15, 2001
While childhood immunizations are important for maintaining good health, WTAE-TV medical editor Marilyn Brooks reports that there may be something dangerous in those shots. A mercury-based preservative called thimerosal is commonly used in several vaccines, Brooks reports.
Doctors are debating whether the preservative gives parents cause for concern, but Brooks says that mercury-free vaccinations for children are available upon request.
Congressman Dan Burton recently asked the Food and Drug Administration to recall all vaccines containing mercury, but Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, citing extensive safety testing, refused the request.
Brooks reports that no case has been documented which proves that vaccines with thimerosal cause mercury poisoning. Read More...
“Uproar over a little-known preservative, thimerosal, jostles U.S. hepatitis B vaccination policy” Read the entire report…
Chairman Burton Requests Vaccine Recall October 26, 2000
In an October 25, 2000 letter to HHS Secretary Donna Shalala, Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN), Chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, requested a recall of all vaccines containing Thimerosal. The mercury-based product Thimerosal is added to vaccines as a preservative. On July 18, 2000 the Committee conducted a hearing entitled, “Mercury in Medicine: Are We Taking Unnecessary Risks?” During the hearing, the FDA admitted that children are being exposed to unsafe levels of mercury through vaccines containing Thimerosal. It was also determined that symptoms of mercury poisoning mimic symptoms of autism -- a disease that has reached epidemic levels in the United States. However, the FDA has chosen to allow pharmaceutical companies to merely phase out their use of Thimerosal, leaving mercury-containing vaccines at public and private health facilities. Read More…
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