The Health Sciences Institute e-Alert

December 2, 2002

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Dear Reader,

The new Homeland Security Act is designed to protect Americans from terrorist attacks. But you may be comforted to find out that an additional provision was added to the act so that American corporations will also be protected from the parents of autistic children.

Before the age of two, most infants in America receive 18 vaccinations, and on average about 12 of them contain a preservative that's loaded with mercury. The evidence that mercury poisoning from those vaccines sometimes causes autism in otherwise healthy kids is so overwhelming that it's got plenty of people very scared. And no one is more scared than the executives at Eli Lilly, the drug giant that makes thimerosal, the mercury-based vaccine preservative.

The higher-ups at Lilly are addressing this situation aggressively. Are they making sure that not one child will ever again be injected with a vaccine containing mercury? No. But they are going to enormous trouble and expense to protect their company from lawsuits filed against them by parents whose children now suffer severe neurological damage. And this protection comes courtesy of the U.S. Senate, through the Homeland Security Act, signed into law just a few days ago.

Two articles about this controversy appeared in the New York Times last week. The first made me angry - then the second just made me angrier. Because this transparent "gift" to a well-connected drug company gets more and more unseemly with each new revelation.

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A ticking bomb
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More than 75 years ago, Eli Lilly & Company developed thimerosal, the vaccine preservative that contains approximately 50% mercury. In recent decades, scientists have shown that mercury is a dangerous neurotoxin. No surprise then that the high levels of mercury detected in many young children in America have been directly linked to permanent neurological damage, including autism. And the one thing all of these children have in common is that they received multiple vaccinations, beginning in the first months of their lives.

Lilly denies this connection, of course. But it obviously scares the heck out of them. Even the FDA has admitted the connection, although this admission is couched in the softest possible language, stating that "concerns" have been raised, and claiming that the agency is working with vaccine manufacturers to "reduce or eliminate thimerosal from vaccines." And even though it sounds as light as air, we know the FDA doesn't make this sort of statement lightly. Especially when a major drug company has so much at stake.

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Defusing the bomb
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But when you run an international pharmaceutical company, you don't just let the chips fall where they may. Not at all - you get out there and flex some influential muscle.

During the recent political season, Lilly donated $1.6 million dollars to various candidates - more than any other pharmaceutical company. So it hardly seems like a mysterious coincidence that less than two weeks after the mid-term elections someone in the senate sneaked this vaccine provision into the homeland security bill. And "sneaked" is no exaggeration - the provision was introduced at the 11th hour, as were six other provisions that had nothing whatsoever to do with homeland security. But while tucking "pork" into bills that are about to pass is business-as-usual for congress, the unusual thing about this particular pork chop is that no one is taking credit for it.

As The New York Times reported last Friday, nobody seems to know, or will admit to knowing, who placed the provision in the bill, or even who wrote it. It's almost as if someone is ashamed to be associated with this addition that will simply brush aside both class-action and individual thimerosal lawsuits aimed at Eli Lilly. A spokesman for Lilly said that the company knew absolutely nothing about the sweetheart provision.

Right.

I suppose that includes Sidney Taural, the chairman, president and C.E.O. of Eli Lilly, who has a seat on President Bush's Homeland Security Advisory Council.

Right.

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"Working" it out
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Well none of this has a very good smell, does it? Even the current senate minority leader Trent Lott recognizes the fishy odor. So to force through the passage of the Homeland Security bill, Senator Lott promised that three of the last-minute provisions (including the vaccine protection) would be reviewed when congress reconvenes next year. He said, "We need to work on those three provisions."

Note that he didn't say that the provisions would be removed, reworded, or changed. He only said, "we need to work" on them. And that's a perfect example of some beautifully vague political-speak for you.

Meanwhile, the provision currently stands as law, sufficiently complicating all of those existing lawsuits. It will be very interesting to see just how diligently Senator Lott's "work" proceeds on behalf of a handful of citizens against a deep-pockets pharmaceutical giant like Lilly.

Don't get me wrong. I am not a proponent of litigation. But this is not a hot cup of coffee at McDonald's we're talking about. And even if it were, the way it was swept off the table is shameful.

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Take care of the kids
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Last year, under pressure from the Centers for Disease Control, the Public Health Service, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, pharmaceutical companies agreed to stop manufacturing vaccines that contain thimerosal. But while this mercury-based preservative is no longer in production, stores of vaccines that contain it are still being used. This is a very important detail that all parents of young children should know about because they can tell their pediatricians to use only thimerosal-free vaccines on their children.

Whether or not you're a parent of young children, I hope you'll share this critical information with friends and loved ones whose children are young enough to receive vaccinations. Likewise, if you have a child or know of a child who is showing signs of autism, you can get further information and assistance from the Coalition for SAFE MINDs (Sensible Action For Ending Mercury-Induced Neurological Disorders) - a non-profit organization founded by parents to raise awareness about the exposure to mercury from medical products (safeminds.org).

Personally, I am going to take a few minutes to write to Senators Mikulski and Sarbanes and let them know that I don't consider autistic children terrorists from whom we require protection. You know, for when they "work" on those last-minute provisions.