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, Collins 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
Smith 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