Source: Michelle O’neil
Dear Mr. Capus:

The undersigned organizations are writing to you regarding the concerns among families of vaccine-injured children across the country over NBC’s recent coverage of the Autism Omnibus proceedings. In particular, we take issue with the comments Dr. Nancy Snyderman made during yesterday’s Today show. While one would hope a “First do no harm” philosophy would have some bearing on the information Dr. Snyderman provides to viewers, clearly it does not.

Dr. Snyderman’s ties to Johnson & Johnson, defendants in vaccine injury litigation, are obviously dictating the agenda in her appearances on your network at the risk of the safety of our children. This conflict of interest calls into serious question your journalistic integrity and credibility. NBC’s viewers were exposed to a blatant falsehood yesterday as Dr. Snyderman claimed that vaccines no longer contain mercury. This is not the case, and this misinformation has unfortunately given NBC’s parents a false sense of security that vaccines are now mercury-free. This false claim puts viewer’s children and the unborn at risk of great harm. The mercury-based preservative thimerosal has never been fully removed from childhood vaccines as Dr. Snyderman vehemently claimed. A simple check on the FDA’s website would have confirmed this: (click link).

Mercury is still in most flu, tetanus, and diphtheria/tetanus vaccines–and an array of vaccines still contain “trace” amounts. (The term “trace” must be used loosely as this aspect of vaccine production is not being regulated and there is some variation on what constitutes a trace amount. As children often receive multiple “trace” amounts of mercury in one sitting, cumulative amounts and potential adverse effects are as yet unknown.) While no reputable medical practitioner in this country would allow even “trace” amounts of lead to be injected through vaccines given its known neurotoxicity, physicians continue to allow mercury, which exceeds the toxicity of lead by more than 100-fold, to be routinely injected into humans.

As a physician representing NBC, Dr. Snyderman has failed to tell the truth about mercury-containing vaccines and the known dangers associated with them. There is simply no excuse for such careless and false reporting while this country is in the throes of a childhood epidemic of neurological disorders. During Monday’s NBC Nightly News Dr. Snyderman stated, “There really is no science behind the autism/mercury link. Vaccines and the mercury-based preservative thimerosal have not been ruled out as a cause of autism.” To the contrary, there are literally thousands of scientific, peer-reviewed studies supporting the extreme neurotoxicity of mercury and the relationship between mercury exposure and neurological injury. The following link provides a copious amount of research which contradicts what Dr. Snyderman told the American public: (see link)
The CDC’s own study conducted in 2000 clearly shows the agency knew that injuries were occurring to children from mercury-containing vaccines, yet the data was manipulated to obscure the link. Lead researcher Dr. Thomas Verstraeten had this to say regarding the CDC’s thimerosal findings: “…we have found statistically significant relationships between the exposure and outcomes for these different exposures and outcomes. First, for two months of age, an unspecified developmental delay, which has its own specific ICD9 code. Exposure at three months of age, tics. Exposure at six months of age, an attention deficit disorder. Exposures at one, three, and six months of age, language and speech delays which are two separate ICD9 codes. Exposures at one, three, and six months of age, an entire category of neurodevelopmental delays, which includes all of these plus a number of other disorders.” (Dr. Thomas Verstraeten, page 40, Simpsonwood meeting transcript). The full transcript of this secret, closed-door meeting held by the CDC at, Simpsonwood, can be read at NoMercury.org or PutChildrenFirst.

Many European countries have banned the use of thimerosal/mercury in vaccines for many years. Seven states have passed legislation banning the use of thimerosal/mercury in vaccines and similar legislation is pending in over 30 additional states. If there was no science to back up the dangers of using mercury in vaccines, we wouldn’t be seeing such legislative efforts to ban its use. In her most recent NBC appearance, Dr. Snyderman was asked why parents were filing claims on behalf of their vaccine-injured children, to which she answered matter-of-factly, “money.”

This cavalier statement alone goes far beyond contempt and displays an appalling ignorance of the emotional and financial devastation faced by families of vaccine-injured children. This must be addressed by an immediate apology from NBC to all the parents of children suffering from vaccine-induced illnesses. We urge you to speak with the growing number of scientists who have published research supporting a causal link between mercury in vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders, and can provide you contact information for these researchers.

Reporting false information is a disservice to the American people. When it comes to the children and the unborn in this country, we should err on the side of safety, regardless of personal belief, conviction, or backing from the pharmaceutical industry. Based on the misinformation presented by Dr. Snyderman, and the potential for harm this has brought to bear upon children, we ask for her resignation. We will accept nothing less than a full and public retraction of her false statements, along with an apology from your network. We expect an immediate response to our request.

Respectfully,

Advocates for Children’s Health Affected by Mercury Poisoning (ACHAMP)
Autism Recovery Resources of Washington (ARROW)
Autism Society of Autism Chapter
Coalition for Mercury-Free Drugs (CoMeD)
David A. Geier, Vice-President Institute of Chronic Illnesses, Inc.
Developmental Delay Resources (DDR)
Dr. Boyd Haley, Bio-Chemist
Educate Before You Vaccinate
Foundation For Autism Information and Research
Foundation for Mercury Injured Children
Generation Rescue
K Paul Stoller, MD, President, International Hyperbaric Medical Association
Kind Tree Productions, Inc.
Mark R. Geier, MD, Ph.D., FABMG, President Genetic Centers
Autism Recovery Coalition
Mercury Free
Mercury Moms Against Mercury
Moms of Hope
National Autism Association
No Mercury
SOAR!
Autism Resources
Talk About Curing Autism (TACA)
TN4 SaferVaccines
Treating Autism in the UK
UnInformed Consent
US Autism and Asperger Association
World Mercury Project

Think Autism. Think Cure. Click here to visit our website

Source: WRDW
NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C.—A national autism debate has hit close to home. Today the federal government is hearing the first of nearly five thousand cases claiming there’s a link between mercury found in vaccines and autism. News 12 talked to a North Augusta woman who has no doubt about that.

From her North Augusta home, Maurine Meleck can listen daily to the landmark autism case being argued in a Washington, D.C. courtroom. The Arizona-based Cedillo family is the first of nearly five thousand families to have their case heard in a federal courtroom. They allege their daughter Michelle’s severe autism was caused by the mercury preservative thimerosal found in an MMR vaccine she got has a baby. Meleck’s nine-year-old grandson Joshua has a milder form of autism, but she too believes his autism was caused by a vaccine containing thimerosal that Joshua received as a baby. “There’s been no question in my mind for years,” she said.

Meleck first began researching the connection back in 1999 when Joshua was diagnosed with autism as a two-year-old. That’s when she says she found what she believes to be the problem. “There’s one thing they have in common, all of these children,” she said. “The increase has just gone up, up, up, and it began with the increase of childhood vaccines.” While there is no scientific proof to date linking thimerosal and autism, Meleck and thousands of activists across the country believe they know the culprit. “Mercury. Thimerisol has never been proven to be safe. It’s the second most toxic element on this earth and we’re injecting it into babies,” Meleck said.

Meleck has spent close to half a million dollars on Joshua’s care and vows she will keep fighting for him and children in future generations to come. “These children deserve a chance. Families deserve a chance in court to prove their side,” she said. That first lawsuit now being heard in Washington could take several weeks to decide.

Source: Adventures in Autism
NBC’s stunt, using a Vice President of thimerosal lawsuit defendants Johnson & Johnson as their Chief Medical Expert without disclosing her real job is media relations for the Corporation, has garnered the ire of autism parents. [more]

Source: Huffington Post
Will parents win their case against the government in Vaccine Court by convincing three federal judges that there’s enough evidence to support a link between the MMR vaccine, thimerosal and autism spectrum disorders?

I, for one, am not placing any bets. But several thimerosal defenders are now dispatching dire warnings about the looming decline of the nation’s public health — and the pharmaceutical industry’s corporate health — should any of the 4,800 families win their vaccine/autism case in federal court. “Massive litigation could force companies to leave the vaccine business, threatening the future of one of medicine’s greatest achievements,” Dr. Paul Offit, chief of infectious diseases at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, wrote in the Boston Globe on June 3rd. If the claims are successful, Dr. Offit wrote, they “could exhaust the pool of money currently set aside to compensate children who have been hurt by vaccines,” and would open the floodgates for private litigation directly against the drug companies, threatening their financial viability and compelling them to abandon the vaccine business. [more]

Source: Boston.com
Parents are taking on medicine and government and keeping agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration as well as vaccine producers on their toes. In collaboration with scientists, they are organizing and funding research to explore the relationship between mercury and autism. The search for causes has gone well beyond the epidemiological studies Offit cites. He omits a growing body of more robust research on animal models and human laboratory studies. Yes, there is risk in making a false connection between mercury and autism. But there may be greater risk in moving slowly to study possible contribution of toxins such as thimerosal to the explosion in cases of autism and other disorders.

Source: Scoop
We’re in the midst of an epidemic of autism. There is no other word for it. On average in the U.S., one in every 150 kids is autistic. One in every 94 boys has the disorder. Some places have much worse statistics. New Jersey tops the nation with one in every 94 kids affected, including one in every 60 boys. Another child is diagnosed with autism every 20 minutes in America. These statistics however, don’t seem worrisome to officials.

The one in 150 rate came out in February and the numbers should have gotten everyone’s attention. We should be moving mountains to figure out what’s happening to our children, but that just isn’t the case. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the rate with no sense of alarm. The Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post both had brief items about new autism numbers in which we were told not to worry, “the new data do not mean that autism is on the rise because the criteria and definitions used were not the same as those used in the past.” Dr. Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp, chief of the developmental disabilities branch at the CDC said only that the new rate shows that autism is an “urgent public health issue” and a “major public health concern.” Neither of those terms indicates that autism is anything to worry about and news reporters writing on the subject take their cue from the CDC.

Source: WJB Radio
Legislation sponsored by State Representative Kurt Granberg to reduce use a preservative that contains nearly 50-percent mercury in child flu vaccinations called thimerosal passed the Illinois Senate yesterday. Granberg’s legislation, Senate Bill 133, would require the Illinois Department of Public Health to implement a policy to use flu vaccines that are free of the preservative or contain only a trace amount of the substance for immunizations of children under the age of 3.

Source: PR Newswire
WASHINGTON, June 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Hearings are scheduled to begin next week in the U.S. Federal Claims Court where over 4,800 parents have filed for compensation for their children who developed autism after exposure to infant vaccines. A majority of those claims revolve around the use of thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative.

Source: American Chronicle by Michael Wagnitz
Last week Arthur Allen wrote an article for Slate magazine entitled, “Thimerosal Goes to Trial”. Several bloggers made reference to Arthur’s article and his expertise on this subject. They went on to blast the know-nothing, irrational parents who feel their children were injured via injection with large doses of organic mercury. Hit especially hard was Dr. Mark Geier, one of the most intelligent, honest and courageous people I’ve ever met. Who exactly is Arthur Allen?

In late 2002 Arthur wrote an article for the New York Times Magazine entitled “The Not-So-Crackpot Autism Theory”. The article centered around an interview with John Hopkins Institute for Vaccine Safety Director Neal Halsey. In the article Halsey describes how devastated he was when he realized how much mercury was in childhood vaccines. He says if mercury had been listed in micrograms rather than per-cent, this would have been discovered long ago. He goes on to state, “but the fact is, no one did the calculation”. Why all of a sudden are all of us now considered crackpots?

Arthur, a free lance writer, knew an opportunity when he saw one. Unfortunately for him, a book came out soon after this entitled, “Evidence of Harm: Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic”. This book was written by another New York free lancer by the name of David Kirby. Mr. Kirby’s book quickly ascended up the New York Times best seller list. He was a regular guest on “Imus in the Morning” and was invited on to “Meet the Press”. Quite an accomplishment for an author.

In the meantime, Mr. Allen had lost his chance to become the spokesman for this hot issue. One thing he did notice was that the other side needed a spokesman. So Mr. Allen did a one-eighty and started work on his book, “Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine’s Greatest Lifesaver”. This book trumpets the opinion that vaccines have saved more lives than any other modern day invention and no one should question their safety. As of today, Mr. Allen’s 2007 published book was rated number 41,058 on Amazon.com sales list. One has to wonder why none of the vaccine manufacturers stepped up to buy/distribute 10,000 copies of this book like they did for Dr. Paul Offit’s similar vaccine book. In a 2007 debate Mr. Kirby and Mr. Allen squared off on thimerosal. This was the mismatch of the century. At least Mr. Allen could have done a little bit of homework on this subject. He seemed to lack any knowledge of relevant facts.

Mr. Allen wonders why he and employee’s of the CDC are being attacked personally. Well Arthur, my little girl has been seriously harmed. I get very angry when some know-nothing whore is making money off of our nightmare. Yes Arthur, I know the definition of whore, “a person considered as having compromised principles for personal gain”.

About the Author: Michael Wagnitz has over 20 years experience evaluating materials for toxic metals. He currently works as a chemist in the toxicology section of a public health lab evaluating biological samples for lead and mercury.