Missing the Mercury Threat: An appeal to New Jersey’s Governor

Posted December 21, 2007 04:57 PM (EST)(Source)

Albert Einstein once said, “only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity”. We got a good dose of what many would call “human stupidity” last week in New Jersey when 5 un-elected members of the Public Health Council (PHC) voted to mandate four new vaccines for children. The vaccines that will be mandated in 2008 include: the influenza vaccine, pneumococcal, meningococcal, tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertusis (Tdap) vaccine. Two of the vaccines, influenza and Sanofi Pasteur’s meningococcal vaccine (Menomune) contain thimerosal (mercury).

In spite of a week’s long protest from constituents that included parents, physicians and dozens of organizations, the State Health Commissioner gave his “seal of approval” on Friday, December 15.

Today I want to appeal to New Jersey Governor Corzine to re-evaluate these recommendations and carefully consider the ramifications for New Jersey’s children.

Unless Governor Corzine, the state legislature, or perhaps a judge intervenes, New Jersey will go down in history as the first state in the nation, for that matter the world, to order parents to vaccinate their preschoolers with a known developmental neurotoxin, which many parents, physicians and scientific research suggest is linked to the epidemic of developmental disorders, including autism.

The PHC recommendation came just days before another “first in the nation” law was passed by Minnesota lawmakers who voted to ban the use of mercury in mascara and other cosmetics. “Mercury does cause neurological damage to people even in tiny quantities…can retard brain development in children and fetuses who are most vulnerable to the metal’s toxic effects” stated the Minnesota officials.

That’s right, you can’t put mercury on your mommy’s lashes in Minnesota but New Jersey health officials just can’t wait to inject it into your young children.

After repeated warnings about mercury toxicity in fish and following its removal from over the counter products, thermostats, industrial switches, medical devices, animal vaccines, even a leg paint used on horses, the five appointed members of the PHC and the NJ Department of Health (DOH) can claim credit for what could be one of the worst and ill-advised public health decisions forced upon the public in recent memory; a decision that was made under a cloak of secrecy, without sufficient debate and perhaps in violation of procedural protocols.

New Jersey parents have a right to question the DOH actions. After all New Jersey holds the dubious honor of having the highest autism rates in the country. According to the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in 94 New Jersey children have autism, 1 in 60 boys.

While some NJ public health officials arrogantly dismiss the link between vaccines and autism as “scientifically unfounded,” and tell reporters concerns about thimerosal is “a moot issue,” since most vaccines are either free of the compound or contain only trace amounts, like the preschool flu vaccine.”, a growing body of published scientific research shows this opinion cannot be factually supported.

To the contrary, approximately 90% of the influenza vaccine supply still contains thimerosal. According to the FDA, the 25 micrograms of mercury in one influenza vaccine is NOT a “trace amount”. According to EPA guidelines, this amount can only be considered safe if a person weighs 550 pounds. You would think a health official would know this.

In addition, there is no convincing evidence that the flu shot is actually effective. A study published in the British Medical Journal, done by the Cochran Collaboration, considered the Gold Standard for scientific research, stated the recommendations of flu shots for infants and toddlers are not backed by scientific evidence [Jan.25, 2006]. So if research tells us the vaccine is ineffective and it contains toxic mercury, why are officials recommending it be given to our young children?

Sanofi’s Menactra meningococcal vaccine is thimerosal-free and currently recommended for children between 11-12 years old. However, the FDA and the CDC are investigating cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) among adolescents who received this vaccine. A larger study led by Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare is expected to take approximately 2 years. According to the CDC, “The study period is necessary to accumulate cases and attain sufficient statistical power.”

The recommended acceptable alternative is Sanofi’s Menomune, which contains 25 micrograms of thimerosal, thus adding to the overall body burden of one of the most toxic metals on earth.

While some officials want to continue dismissing the vaccine autism association, the neurological risks associated with the use of the mercury-based preservative have been well documented in the scientific literature for decades.

This is noted in a 2004 California Environmental Protection Agency Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment that found: “the scientific evidence that [thimerosal] cause reproductive toxicity is clear and voluminous…The evidence for its reproductive toxicity includes severe mental retardation or malformations in human offspring who were poisoned when their mothers were exposed to ethyl mercury or thimerosal while pregnant …

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) states that thimerosal is “poison by ingestion, subcutaneous, intravenous and possibly other routes,” and warns that childhood exposure could result in “mental retardation in children, loss of coordination in speech, writing, gait, stupor, and irritability and bad temper progressing to mania.”

A 1984 study published in the Journal of Pediatrics found, “Thimerosal used to irrigate the external auditory canals in a child with tympanostomy tubes has caused severe mercury poisoning.” [Rohyans J, Walson PD, Wood GA, MacDonald WA Mercury toxicity following Merthiolate ear irrigations. J Pediatr 1984; 104:311-313].

In 2001 the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published a review on the state of science related to mercury toxicity entitled, Technical Report: Mercury in the Environment: Implications for Pediatricians. The Report concluded, “Mercury in all of its forms is toxic to the fetus and children”…”Inorganic and elemental mercury should not be present in the home or other environments of children” “It would seem prudent for the FDA to carefully examine all uses of mercury in pharmaceuticals, particularly pharmaceuticals that are used by infants and pregnant women.” [J Pediatr 2001; 108: 197-205].

As recently as last month a study published in the Journal of Child Neurology determined, “a significant relation does exist between the blood levels of mercury and diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder”.

New Jersey’s health officials may believe giving preschoolers and other children mercury containing influenza shots is good public health policy but not all physicians would agree. Many physicians, including United States Congressman Dave Weldon (R-FL), a strong supporter of our nation’s immunization program, has gone on record stating, “Any doctor who would knowingly inject a baby with a mercury-containing vaccine. I would consider that malpractice”.

If these are not reason enough to question the new mandates, just last month one of the first autism cases presented in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (vaccine court), the government CONCEDED that vaccines aggravated a pre-existing mitochondrial dysfunction causing autistic like symptoms in one of the first cases where the case filed was a claim was that thimeosal caused autism.

So please don’t tell me the link between vaccines and autism is “scientifically unfounded,” or there is “no evidence” that vaccines cause autism in some children. The federal government has already conceded this point in one case.

Mercury is not the only problem with the new mandates.

The Prevar pneumococcol vaccine also has its own problems. There have been 3,243 adverse reactions reported to the government’s vaccine surveillance system since Prevnar was first licensed in 2000. These reports included 476 serious reactions and 79 deaths. Just a few months ago the Prevnar vaccine was linked to a new antibiotic resistant “superbug” bacterial infection, causing serious ear infections in children as young as 6 months. One child suffered permanent hearing loss.

Should health officials be forcing parents to give their children vaccines that contain a heavy metal toxin whose packaging contains the universal symbol for poison and warns the product could cause mental retardation or one that has thousands of reported adverse reactions? Where do we draw the line on who knows what is best for our own children?

In response to the Public Health Council’s recommendations, Governor Corzine was quoted that he does not “in any way think we should take risks on vaccines . . . the elements of evaluation should be left to scientists and data”.

I couldn’t agree more with Governor Corzine on this point. Ultimately it is the Governor who is responsible and I am hopeful that he is taking this matter very seriously.

No governor wants to reject the recommendations of their public health officials, However, Governor Corzine would not be the first one to do so in this situation.

When faced with the recommendation by California health officials to veto a bill aimed at banning thimerosal from children’s vaccines back in 2004, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger rejected this advice and signed the Mercury Free Act, which strictly limits the amount of mercury in vaccines or products used by pregnant women and very young children in the state of California. In a signing message, Schwarzenegger stated, “I believe that an abundance of caution merits the acceleration of the process already underway to remove thimerosal from the last few vaccines that contain it”.

Six other governors have signed into law similar bills overruling the objections of public health officials.

Look, everyone knows what these new recommendations are all about. MONEY, MONEY AND MORE MONEY!

Vaccines have become the lifeblood of the pharmaceutical industry.

In the 2004 annual report for Chiron Corporation, sales of their flu vaccine went from $90 million in 2002 to $332.4 million in 2003. Total vaccine sales went from $357.4 million (2002) to $678.3 million (2003). Nice increase.

I note this particular year’s report because it was in 2003 that industry, along with health officials, aggressively forged ahead with a masterful marketing plan. Create fear that terrible diseases are going spread through schools like wildfires if every kid isn’t vaccinated through a very well financed lobbying and advertising campaign. Then get a handful of health officials; to “rubber stamp” exactly what the industry wants. What corporation wouldn’t covet a program sanctioned by the government that forces the public to use their products? [‘Dire’ CDC warning hiked flu shot demand: UPI, 10/15/04]

The profits from mandated vaccines has resulted in billions of profits for the drug companies and if enacted, the new vaccine recommendations will deliver billions more.

An easy and guaranteed flow of revenue for industry and physicians alike.

It wouldn’t surprise me at all to learn that certain members of the Public Health Council were the recipients of pharmaceutical industry generosity. (Riki Jacobs – received Pfizer money for her AIDS foundation).

For the record, I have repeatedly acknowledged the importance of vaccinations. There is no question that vaccines have saved many lives but they are not without risks. Over the last decade, however, serious and legitimate questions have arisen regarding the number of vaccines we are giving our children today and whether the ingredients in those vaccines are as safe as we, the public, have been led to believe. Until these safety concerns are addressed in a transparent manner, parents, not bureaucrats, should decide what is best for their children.

In January of this year, in response to mercury contamination at a children’s day care center, Governor Corzine signed a bill that would enforce strict guidelines to ensure environmental safety at child care centers and schools. In a statement Governor Corzine said. “This puts New Jersey at the forefront of states nationally in protecting children from environmental contaminants while at child care facilities and schools.”

It would be the height of hypocrisy for New Jersey to now tell parents they must inject their children with mercury-containing vaccines.

It is time for New Jersey to lead the nation again and reject the new vaccine mandates and send a message that our children are no longer going to be the depositories for toxic contaminants in order to increase profits for the pharmaceutical industry.

Any parent who wants to vaccinate their child with any of the four new recommended vaccines can do so today without government coercion. The state has not needed to mandate these vaccines in the past and there is no public health emergency to warrant the implementation of the recommendations now. There is however a public health crisis in New Jersey caused by the rapid rise of developmental disorders, like autism.

There can be no harm in slowing down this process and carefully reviewing the mandated recommendations along with the current state of science, and the possible ramifications of this very aggressive vaccination policy.

The new vaccine mandates are not defensible in light of all we know about thimerosal and mercury toxicity. Governor Corzine has the legal authority and the responsibility to protect New Jersey’s children from additional and unnecessary mercury exposure.

I urge Governor Corzine to put on hold these new vaccine mandates and convene a meeting that will include ALL stakeholders and hear from scientists and his constituents before approving these new vaccine mandates.

The ball is in your court Governor.