Meeting for vaccine safety....they are welcoming comments
by Shirley
IOM Safety Committee for Immunizations
They are meeting again and welcoming comments on a paper at their website regarding ethylmercury in the vaccines.
For those interested in reading and/or commenting...
Thimerosal-containing Vaccines and
Neurodevelopmental Outcomes
On July 16, 2001 a scientific meeting examining thimerosal-containing vaccines and neurodevelopmental outcomes will be held at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As of July 2, 2001, the meeting room has reached its capacity, and registration is now closed.
Meeting Agenda
The draft meeting agenda is now available.
Questions and Answers on the Toxicity of Ethylmercury
One of the issues that will be considered during the Immunization Safety Review Committee's upcoming meeting on thimerosal and neurodevelopmental outcomes is the toxicity of ethylmercury. As one of its data gathering activities, the committee asked Dr. László Magos to answer questions regarding the toxicity of ethylmercury. His answers and accompanying reference list are available here. The committee welcomes comments on this material.
The committee wishes to note that this represents the views of Dr. Magos and does NOT necessarily reflect the conclusions the committee will draw when it deliberates at its July meeting. The committee further notes that this paper is one source of many that it will review in the course of its deliberations.
My comment to the safety committee regarding vaccines and the paper discussing mercury are....
1) I frequent your website and follow the meetings through your website. I am very disappointed that I keep repetitively see that the position discusses the importance of vaccines. I agree. I know that vaccines are important and have reduced diseases in the U.S. and other countries. Every parent that I've talked to agrees that they are important. But I am very concerned that there were limited studies on the cummulative effect on all the mercury in the vaccines as they continued to add more vaccines to the schedule. I am concerned that there were no long-term studies. My son regressed after 18 months of VERY ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT. And I have it all on videotape. He couldn't handle all the mercury. I feel that the CDC and NIH were very irresponsible and the excitement of reducing diseases clouded their responsibilities concerning safety. Despite the effectiveness in reducing disease, vaccines can be improved. Generally, every product is constantly being improved. I hope the next report after the next meeting doesn't gush about the effectiveness of the vaccines. NOBODY DISPUTES THAT. The grave responsibility is to make sure they are safe, NOT merely effective in reducing disease.
2) Regarding the paper written by Dr. László Magos to answer questions regarding the toxicity of ethylmercury, my concern is that he doesn't appear to consider that mercury binds to the cells and is not detected in the blood. I hope that the committee takes that into consideration.
Thank you for investigating the mercury-autism connection. My family is awaiting the shift in autism medical research from spending millions searching for genetic mutations (that we believe were caused by mercury) to finding effective and safe treatments for mercury in autism. This shift in research will not take place until the admission of the extent of mercury damage is clearly known and accepted.
Thank you.
Shirley Newsome, mother of 6 year old with mercury poisoning, autism