Below is an emailed letter from the National Autism Association following up about the "Meet the Press" broadcast discussing mercury in vaccines. We felt that is not only a good idea to encourage people to write letters to Tim Russurt, but felt this letter made reference to many important studies that you may find interesting.
The letter reads as follows:
All of you helped make television history two weeks ago by contacting Meet the Press in advance of its August 7 broadcast featuring David Kirby and IOM director Dr. Harvey Fineberg. Tim Russert said he had never had so much mail prior to a show EVER on Meet the Press. Let's show him our appreciation for doing this story and ask for future shows on the subject until the truth is revealed. Our follow-up letter to Mr. Russert is below. Please send one of your own as well to let Meet the Press know our commitment in seeking full investigation is here to stay and that we appreciate their efforts in bringing the thimerosal issue into the light of public scrutiny.
Correspondence to Tim Russert can be sent from the following link:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6872152/ Let's keep up the momentum started on Sunday, August 7th - together, we are making a difference!
The NAA Team
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Tim Russert
NBC News
Meet the Press
Washington, DC
August 16, 2005
Dear Mr. Russert,
On behalf of the National Autism Association, we thank you for a job well done on Meet the Press, Sunday, August 7th. Your moderation of the dialogue between David Kirby and Dr. Harvey Fineberg marks the first time the children of the Thimerosal Generation have received the national media attention they desperately need, and for that we are extremely grateful.
We hope you will continue to pursue public discussion on the critical topic of mercury in vaccines in future broadcasts, and that you might consider a few observations regarding Dr. Fineberg's remarks for follow-up debate:
. "No one knows with certainty what part of the increase is genuine, a genuine
increase in numbers, and what part is from increased recognition of people
who were already there but not previously recognized."
If, as Dr. Fineberg suggests, the increase is even partially due to "increased
recognition," there should be corresponding numbers within the adult population
of individuals with traits considered to be "autistic." These corresponding
numbers of adults do not exist. There are also well-publicized studies of increased numbers of children. The MIND Institute at UNC-Davis published a study proving that the increased numbers are not due to migration patterns or widening of diagnostic criteria. Another study recently published in the Journal Pediatrics shows the autism epidemic is real and interestingly enough cites birth cohorts '89 and '92 respectively as the two years where large increases in the percentage of children diagnosed occurred. These two years correspond to the years where thimerosal doubled, then tripled, in vaccines. (Both studies are attached.)
. Regarding the IOM's decision to abandon thimerosal research, based on the five foreign epidemiological studies presented to the Immunization Safety Review Committee in February, 2004, Dr. Fineberg stated "It was the absence of that association which was the main reason for reaching the conclusion that the evidence points to no association between vaccines and autism."
The biological and clinical studies that were also presented in February, 2004 were disregarded by the Committee. These studies did support a link between thimerosal exposure and neurological disorders, but the Committee chose to ignore them in favor of the five flawed epidemiological studies. For commentary on some of these flaws, please see:
http://www.safeminds.org/research/commentary.html For complete content of the February 9, 2004 meeting including the biological and clinical data that was presented to the IOM, please see:
http://www.iom.edu/subpage.asp?id=18065 . Regarding the five epidemiological studies, Dr. Fineberg said, "When the letter you read states that these five studies were not replicated, I can't help but think that each one of them has been replicated four times. We have now a growing body of evidence, while imperfect, altogether convincing and all reading the same conclusion, even though they vary in their methods and approaches."
In our opinion, Dr. Fineberg's answer is misleading and we stand by our
allegation that these studies are all flawed and have been conducted by the CDC,
their government equivalents in other countries or pharmaceutical companies. The
true test of science is replication using the same parameters, data and
methodology. The European studies must be discounted because not only have
they not been replicated, but the Danish children received a fraction of mercury
that American children received. It is literally comparing apples to oranges. The
U.S. epidemiological study published in the Journal Pediatrics by Thomas
Verstraeten in November 2003 used the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD), once
housed at the CDC. The VSD has been and still is closed to outside researchers.
Without access to the data, it cannot be replicated. The CDC is asking the
American people to take them at their word that the final VSD study found no
link while Verstraeten himself reported to the Journal Pediatrics that the study
was neutral and did not support or refute a link. This admission from the author
appeared in the letters to the editor of Pediatrics (before the IOM committee's
May 2004 report):
"Because the findings of the first phase were not replicated in the second
phase, the perception of the study changed from a positive to a neutral
study..The article does not state that we found evidence against an
association, as a negative study would. It does state, on the contrary, that
additional study is recommended, which is the conclusion to which a neutral
study must come."
Earlier versions of the study using the same data sets showed a statistically
significant link and were discussed and "embargoed" in the now infamous
Simpsonwood Transcripts. In another separate IOM report in February 2004, a
different panel concluded that the VSD should be open to outside sources for
replication yet the CDC still has not done so after numerous requests by scientists,
parent groups and Congress. Sadly, the CDC reports that the data sets have been
accidentally destroyed/no longer available. If there is nothing to hide, why can't
reputable scientists look at the database?
. "..And I might add that the latest vaccines that contained any thimerosal as a
preservative, with the exception of some flu vaccines, were completed in
2001 and outdated in 2003. So anyone watching this program, any parent can
be confident that when they take their child to the pediatrician to be
immunized this year, they will receive vaccines without thimerosal as a
preservative."
Unfortunately, parents cannot be confident their child will receive a mercury-free vaccine as Dr. Fineberg asserted. In addition to most available flu shots, many booster shots that children receive between the ages of four and six and again between 11 and 12, do still contain mercury. Interestingly, diagnoses of both autism and ADHD spike among children during those ages as shown in a study from the University of Pennsylvania in conjunction with the CDC published earlier this year in the journal Psychiatric Services which can be accessed online at:
http://www.nomercury.org/science/documents/Rates_for_%20Autism_%20DeStefano_1-05.pdf . ..most toxicologists believe that the ethyl form of the mercury is
less toxic than the methyl form--less toxic to the nervous system.
Dr. Fineberg is either unaware of or neglected to mention several studies showing that the toxicity of ethyl mercury is equal to or greater than that of methyl mercury. A Japanese study published last year in Toxicology confirming this can be accessed at:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...mp;list_uids=14698570&query_hl=2 As David Kirby pointed out during the 8/7 broadcast, Dr. Thomas Burbacher et al, University of Washington, published a paper earlier this year in Environmental Health Perspectives revealing that once in the brain, ethyl mercury converts to inorganic mercury and remains in the brain longer than methyl, creating the potential for ongoing damage to the brain. This study can be accessed at:
http://www.nomercury.org/science/documents/Burbacher_study_4-05.pdf There are many other studies confirming the extreme toxicity of ethyl mercury including those comparing this toxicity to methyl mercury that we would be happy to provide.
For follow-up discussion of what you so capably set in motion, we would like to recommend several individuals we feel would provide valuable input on the topic of mercury in vaccines. Dr. Boyd Haley, chemistry department chair at the University of Kentucky, is considered one of the top experts on mercury toxicity and speaks knowledgably yet in terms the layman can grasp. A debate between Dr. Haley and Dr. Paul Offit, thimerosal proponent at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, would be enlightening and memorable to your viewers. Other possible guests that we feel would make valuable contributions to this discussion include Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., CDC director Dr. Julie Gerberding, and Dr. Jeff Bradstreet.
Once again, please accept our heartfelt thanks for your work in bringing the topic of mercury in vaccines into the light. The future of the countless children injured by repeated injections of a known neurotoxin depends upon earnest and open investigation such as that started Sunday, August 7th on Meet the Press.
Sincerely,
National Autism Association
Officers and Board Members
Jo Pike, Executive Director
Wendy Fournier, President
Rita Shreffler, Secretary
Roe Dubrowsky, Treasurer
Laura Bono, Board Chair
Liz Birt
Scott Bono
Claire Bothwell
Ann Brasher
Leslie Davidson
Robert Krakow
Lori McIllwain
Jim Moody
Lyn Redwood
Adrienne Rousseau
Steve Stoddard
Think Autism. Think Cure.
Sincerely,
New Medical Awareness Seminars
www.nmaseminars.com(440) 239-1878
Circle-of-Life Forums - Welcome
