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By
Kelly Patricia O Meara
© 2003 News World Communications Inc.
The
mother of an autistic child wonders aloud when health
officials will wake up to the epidemic that has claimed
not only her son but hundreds of thousands of other
children in the United States, with no end in sight.
She muses, "Maybe someday this will be
as important as SARS and we'll get the same attention.
God knows we need it."
Autism
is a severely incapacitating developmental disability
for which there is no known cure. According to a recently
released report by the California Department of Developmental
Services, or DDS, entitled Autistic Spectrum Disorders,
Changes in the California Caseload: 1999-2002, the
rate of children diagnosed with full-syndrome autism
in the Golden State between 1999 and 2002 nearly doubled
from 10,360 to 20,377. The report further revealed
that "between Dec. 31, 1987, and Dec. 31, 2002,
the population of persons with full-syndrome autism
has increased by 634 percent." That is a doubling
of autism cases every four years, and the staggering
increases are not limited to California.
Infants
are being inoculated with vaccines containing toxic
ingredients that can be harmful — or fatal.
According
to data provided by the U.S. Department of Education,
the increased autism rate in California is in line
with the increases other states are experiencing.
For example, in 1992 Ohio reported 22 cases. A
decade later the number had increased by 13,895 percent
to 3,057. In Illinois the rate of autism cases
climbed from just five in 1992 to 3,802 - an increase
of 76,040 percent. Mississippi, New Hampshire and
the District of Columbia reported no cases of autism
in 1992, but by 2002 the number of cases reported
were 461, 404 and 144, respectively.
Only
Puerto Rico can claim to have an increase of less
than 100 percent, with the remaining states reporting
increases of at least 500 percent during the same
period. Although once considered rare, during
the last two decades the chance of a child being diagnosed
with autism has skyrocketed from one in 10,000 to
one in 150.
In
California, full-syndrome autism now is the No. 1
disability among children and more prevalent than
childhood cancer, diabetes and Down's syndrome.
It is estimated that within the next four years autism
cases in the Golden State will exceed the total number
of cases of both cerebral palsy and epilepsy.
To
get a better idea of how quickly the epidemic is spreading
one need only consider that in 1987 there were 2,778
persons with autism in California. By 2002 the number
had increased to 20,377, and in 2002 3,575 new cases
had been added to the rolls, far exceeding the total
number of cases in the state 15 years earlier. For
years there has been a debate about the cause or causes
of autism, but the vast majority of finger-pointing
has been directed at childhood vaccines as the culprit.
And
considering what is put into the vaccines injected
into hours-old infants, it is easy to understand why
they are at the top of the list of suspects: formaldehyde
(used in embalming), thimerosal (nearly 50 percent
mercury), aluminum phosphate (toxic and carcinogenic),
antibiotics, phenols (corrosive to skin and toxic),
aluminum salts (corrosive to tissue and neurotoxic),
methanol (toxic), isopropyl (toxic), 2-pheoxyethanol
(toxic), live viruses and a host of unknown components
considered off-limits as trade secrets. These are
just part of the vaccine mixture.
For
those who believe there are elements in vaccines that
may be responsible for the increased number of autism
cases and other neurological disorders, thimerosal
currently is at the top of the list of possible culprits
being investigated. Despite official insistence that
the evidence linking injected thimerosal to autism
is inconclusive, the data suggest otherwise.
In 1999 the National Academy of Sciences Institute
of Medicine, or IOM, must have thought there was something
seriously wrong when it supported removal of thimerosal
from vaccines, stating that it was "a prudent
measure in support of the public goal to reduce mercury
exposure of infants and children as much as possible."
The
IOM further urged that "full consideration be
given to removing thimerosal from any biological product
to which infants, children and pregnant women are
exposed." A recently published study in the Journal
of American Physicians and Surgeons by Mark Geier,
M.D., Ph.D., and president of the Genetic Centers
of America and his son, David Geier, president of
Medcon Inc. and a consultant on vaccine cases, was
titled "Thimerosal in Childhood Vaccines,
Neurodevelopment Disorders and Heart Disease in the
United States." It presents strong epidemiological
evidence for a link between neurodevelopmental disorders
and mercury exposure from thimerosal-containing childhood
vaccines.
Specifically,
the authors evaluated the doses of mercury that children
received as part of their immunization schedule, then
compared these doses with federal safety guidelines.
Furthermore, to compare the effects of thimerosal
in vaccine recipients, the incident rates of neurodevelopmental
disorders and heart disease reported to the government's
Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System were analyzed.
The results were dramatic. The report revealed
that "U.S. infants are exposed to mercury levels
from their childhood-immunization schedule that far
exceed the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] and
FDA [Food and Drug Administration]-established maximum
permissible levels for the daily oral ingestion of
methyl mercury."
The
authors concluded that "in light of voluminous
literature supporting the biologic mechanisms for
mercury-induced adverse reactions, the presence of
amounts of mercury in thimerosal-containing childhood
vaccines exceeding federal safety guidelines for the
oral ingestion of mercury and previous epidemiological
studies showing adverse reactions to such vaccines,
a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing
childhood vaccines and neurodevelopment disorders
and heart disease appears to be confirmed."
It is no secret among government and health officials
that mercury is toxic and causes serious adverse reactions.
In
July 1999 the American Academy of Pediatrics and the
U.S. Public Health Service issued a joint statement
calling for the removal of thimerosal from vaccines.
Five years after the joint statement, however,
it still is difficult for parents and physicians to
be sure that the pharmaceutical companies have indeed
removed the toxic substance from their vaccines.
According
to Mark Geier, "The 2003 Physicians' Desk Reference,
or PDR, still shows childhood vaccines containing
thimerosal, including diphtheria, tetanus and acellular
pertussis. DTaP, manufactured by Aventis Pasteur,
contains 25µg [25 micrograms] of mercury, Hemophilus
influenzae b (Hib) vaccine manufactured by Wyeth contains
25µg of mercury and pediatric Hepatitis B vaccine,
manufactured by Merck, contains 12.5µg of mercury."
Geier continues, "In addition, the influenza
vaccine that is recommended for an increasing segment
of the pediatric population in the U.S. also contains
25µg of mercury. Assuming that the labeling
is correct, it is possible that children in the U.S.
in 2003 may be exposed to levels of mercury from thimerosal
contained in childhood vaccines that are at higher
levels than at any time in the past. Possible total
childhood mercury in 2003 is more than 300µg."
Whether the "labeling is correct" is the
question du jour.
According
to Len Lavenda, a spokesman for Aventis Pasteur, the
maker of DTaP, "Aventis only sells the DTaP vaccine
in the preservative-free formulation. The PDR references
both the single and multidose. However, when we received
the license for the preservative-free we ceased sales
of the multidose vial. For some reason, the package
insert takes much longer to revise than one would
expect. I believe it is at the FDA waiting for approval,
but the fact is we do not sell or market that product.
In March 2001 we stopped all sales of that product
in the preservative formulation. We did not recall
the product at that time because it was our belief
that if we did children may go unimmunized. It's been
two years since anyone has been able to purchase the
preservative formulation from us." Lavenda continues:
"The package insert talks about both the single
and multidose vials and it says that the single-dose
vial is preservative-free, and that is all that is
sold. The PDR is outdated, but parents don't have
to worry about their children being administered 25µg
of thimerosal. It just takes time to get the paperwork
caught up. The current package insert does not accurately
reflect what is being marketed."
Geier
is astounded by Lavenda's admission. "If
this is true, they should be in jail. They
can't have an insert on a drug that is totally wrong.
It is against all regulations. If I'm a doctor
and I'm giving you a shot and the insert says such
and such is in the shot, it had better be in it. If
doctors can't rely on the instructions that come with
what we're injecting then all bets are off.
This
is a far worse admission than admitting that thimerosal
is still in the vaccine. There are at least 15 laws
that say the insert has to match what is in the product.
This is absolutely horrendous. In my entire career
in medicine I have never heard of a drug company claiming
that what's in the insert and the accompanying product
don't match. This is total mislabeling and fraud by
their own admission. Legally they should be forced
to close down because our clinical decisions are based
on their labeling." Assuming that the package
inserts are correct, Geier tells Insight, "The
EPA limit is 0.1 micrograms of mercury per kilogram
body weight per day. It doesn't take a genius to do
the calculations when on their day of birth children
are given the hepatitis B vaccine, which is 12.5 micrograms
of mercury. The average newborn weighs between 6 and
7 pounds, so they would be allowed 0.3 micrograms
of mercury – but in this one shot they are getting
12.5 micrograms. That's 39 times more than allowed
by law. And it gets worse when you consider that
children are getting multiple vaccinations at 2 months.
And this limit is for oral ingestion and not injection,
which is much worse."
Rhonda
Smith, a spokeswoman for the federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, tells Insight that, except
for mere traces, thimerosal has been removed. "All
routinely recommended licensed vaccines," says
Smith, "that are currently being manufactured
for children in the U.S., except influenza, contain
no thimerosal or only trace amounts - a concentration
of less than 0.0002 percent." But according to
the 2003 immunization schedule and the package inserts,
there appear to be a number of childhood vaccines
that still contain mercury, including those for tetanus
and diphtheria. This scenario becomes even more bizarre
when one further considers that thimerosal is
not a necessary component in vaccines. It first was
introduced by pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co.
in the 1930s and is added to vaccines only as a preservative
– the theory being that multiple doses are
taken from the same bottle and that thimerosal will
protect against contamination. However, according
to Geier, "the solution to any such problem is
to make vaccines available in a single dose, which
will cost the pharmaceuticals about one penny more.
What is interesting is that if you look up the mumps,
measles, rubella [MMR] vaccines in the PDR you'll
see that they do not contain thimerosal because it
would kill the live virus. The MMR is available in
multidose packaging and, yet, there is no preservative
– nothing.
What
they did was put a label on it that says 'This product
does not contain preservatives. Handle with care.'
It's that simple." Geier insists, "I'm pro-vaccines,
but the bottom line is that our kids are getting massive
amounts of mercury. Mercury has been withdrawn
from everything, including animal vaccines, yet we
keep injecting it into our children.
Everyone
should absolutely refuse to take a vaccine shot that
has thimerosal in it, and they should insist on reading
the vaccine package insert. Our data showed
that the more mercury children received in their childhood
vaccines the more neurodevelopment disorders there
are. We've looked at this every possible way
and every time there's massive evidence to support
it." So, if everyone acknowledges the toxicity
of mercury and top U.S. health officials have called
for its removal, why is thimerosal still in vaccines?
"Maybe," concludes Geier, "the mercury
isn't being taken out all at once because if the pharmaceutical
companies did that you would see an unbelievable change
in the rate of autism and there would be massive lawsuits.
If you look at the graphs now they go up and up. If
you stop the thimerosal all at once you'd see the
numbers fall dramatically." Rep. Dan Burton,
R-Ind., a longtime advocate for victims of
autism, has a grandson who became autistic after receiving
nine vaccines in one day. Burton recently sent his
second request in as many years to the White House
asking for a conference of scientists, researchers
and parents to look into the causes of autism. The
Indiana lawmaker tells Insight, "There
is no doubt in my mind that the mercury in vaccines
is a major contributing factor to a growing number
of neurological disorders among children, but in particular
autism."
Burton
explains that "thimerosal is a toxic substance
– mercury – and should not be put in close proximity
of people, should not be injected into people, especially
children who have a newly formed immune system that
may not be able to handle it. To my knowledge there
never have been long-term tests on thimerosal and
we never should have used mercury in vaccines, period.
Now what we've got is an epidemic that is absolutely
out of control." The Indiana congressman
continues, "One reason this isn't getting the
attention it needs is that the Food and Drug Administration
has very close ties to the pharmaceutical companies,
as does the Department of Health and Human Services
[HHS] and the Centers for Disease Control. I've said
in the past that in some cases it appears that it's
a revolving door and people leave government health
agencies and go to work for the pharmaceuticals, which
I think have undue influence on our health agencies.
Of
course, they may not want to look at this because
there's a possibility that large claims would be filed
and the pharmaceutical companies would have to cough
up the money to take care of these kids who have been
damaged." Burton means business. He insists,
"The FDA, CDC and HHS should put out in a very
public way the dangers of mercury, but as soon as
they do it will amount to an admission that their
mercury is causing these problems.
So
the reports that come out of the FDA, CDC and HHS
use ambiguous terms. Well, if they're not sure, and
there's the remotest possibility that mercury in vaccines
could cause autism, they ought to get thimerosal off
the market. Too many kids are being ruined for life
because of this stuff." Barbara Loe Fisher is
founder of the National Vaccine Information Center,
a charitable organization dedicated to the prevention
of vaccine injuries and deaths through public education.
Fisher tells Insight, "There are many things
in vaccines that could be causing these disorders,
and thimerosal is only part of the problem. In
the last 20 years, we've gone from giving children
23 doses of seven vaccines to 38 doses of 12 vaccines.
I think the mercury is part of it for some
kids, though I'm not sure it's the answer for all."
But this is a no-brainer, says Fisher. "Mercury
shouldn't be in vaccines.
They've
taken it out of everything else so why not the vaccines?
The one thing that people really need to look
at is the dramatic rise in chronic disease and disabilities
in our kids in just the last two decades.
You have to admit that there is something occurring
that a growing number of children cannot get through
without being immune-system and brain-system damaged.
And what is the one thing that we expose every child
to? Those vaccines." Fisher concludes, "I've
always argued that public health is not measured only
by an absence of infectious disease. It also is measured
by the absence of chronic disease. By that score we
get a big fat 'F.'
So
we don't have measles and mumps, but look what we
have now. It's just really simple: Take the mercury
out and let's see what happens." Even so, based
on the Aventis admission that the package insert does
not reflect what is in the vaccine, it will be difficult
to know when, if ever, the thimerosal actually has
been removed. This skews the data about the relationship
between thimerosal and autism. More important, it
means parents cannot be sure the vaccinations their
children receive are free of mercury. Neither the
Wyeth nor Merck pharmaceutical companies, nor HHS
or FDA, returned Insight's calls about this matter.
Subscribe
to Insight Kelly Patricia O'Meara is an investigative
reporter for Insight magazine.
