DISAGREEMENT EVIDENT OVER REGULATING VACCINES THAT CONTAIN MERCURY
By Amy Lambiaso
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
amy.lambiaso@statehousenews.com
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, DEC. 14, 2005 – Health care providers would have to clear their shelves of certain flu and tetanus vaccines under legislation being pushed by lawmakers and parents who believe there is a correlation between vaccines that contain mercury and the development of autism.
The bill, sponsored by Reps. Bradford Hill (R-Ipswich) and Barbara L’Italien (D-Andover), targets vaccines that have the preservative thimerosal, which contains a type of mercury.
Flu and tetanus shots are the most common vaccines containing the preservative, but doctors say there are alternatives available that may cost a few dollars more to produce, but are as effective.
State public health officials currently recommend that children between six and 23 months receive the flu vaccine. Children can only be exposed to thimerosal through the flu vaccine, said state epidemiologist Dr. Alfred DeMaria.
The tetanus vaccine for children does not contain thimerosal, he said.
A ban on the flu vaccine would not make sense at this time, DeMaria said. With technological improvements and an increased awareness about the dangers of mercury, drug manufacturers are offering more single-dose vaccines, which would eliminate the need for a preservative, he said.
“Eventually, thimerosal will be out of the influenza vaccine entirely in a few years, and this issue will be over with,” DeMaria said in an interview. “This has sort of already been dealt with and is being dealt with.”
Supporters of the measure say the cost increase is negligible, compared to harm being done to children and the additional special education costs associated with students with autism. Symptoms for mercury poisoning mimic those of autism, advocates say, such as social withdrawal, lack the eye contact, loss of speech and irritability.
“We are doing something to our children and it starts, in my opinion, with the vaccines,” said Rep. Garrett Bradley (D-Hingham), who joined lawmakers, doctors and parents in support of the legislation today at hearing on the bill and a press conference prior to the hearing.
Bradley then told lawmakers on the Public Health Committee: “I’m here to tell you I’m gonna keep coming after you until I get this bill on the floor.”
Nationwide, the number of children with autism has increased by 500 percent during the last decade. There are roughly 10,000 children in Massachusetts who have autism, L’Italien said. The cause of the developmental disorder is unknown.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is a low level of exposure to mercury in vaccines and there is no evidence supporting the conclusion that thimerosal in vaccines causes a reaction other than swelling at the injection site.
The CDC also cites on its web site a 2004 study by the Institutes of Medicine that concluded there is no association between autism and vaccines that contain thimerosal.
Department of Public Health spokeswoman Donna Rheaume said the administration has not taken a position on the bill. But DeMaria said the department “would not want to see a law passed that banned thimerosal” because the flu vaccine is already in limited supply and difficult to make.
The alternative would be thousands of children and adults dying from the flu each year, while it is still unknown whether there is any correlation between thimerosal and autism, he said.
But parents and doctors supporting the legislation say the state should join the handful of other states and ban mercury-containing vaccines because it is a toxic chemical, regardless of the studies. Doctors say they are most concerned with guidelines that encourage pregnant women and young children have a flu shot, given that those vaccines contain mercury.
“The amount of mercury in vaccines is not, as some would like you to believe, a trace amount,” said Mark Blaxill, vice president of Sensible Action For Ending Mercury Induced Neurological Disorders (SafeMinds). “Despite the fact that mercury-containing flu vaccines are now recommended for pregnant mothers and infants, the concentration of mercury in these vaccines makes the disposal of unused stocks of these vaccines a hazardous waste disposal situation.”
