MASSIVE RECALL OF MERCURY CONTAINING VACCINES REQUESTED
From: Dawn Richardson
email: prove@vaccineinfo.net
Saturday, October 28, 2000 1:32 PM
Dear PROVE Members,
The chairman of the Government Reform Committee of U.S. Congress has just asked the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Secretary to undertake a massive government recall of over 50 vaccines containing the mercury preservative Thimerosal. The FDA has ignored his previous request.
Click Here To Read The Original Press Release (full text below)
Click Here To Read The letter to Shalala (full text below)
The incredible testimony clearly illustrating the risks of mercury in vaccines that was given at the 7/18/00 Congressional Hearing "Mercury in Medicine: Are We Taking Unnecessary Risks?:
Click Here To Read The Original Testimony
Since the Government Reform Committee has oversight of DHHS, you can help by writing a quick note to your congressional representative asking him/her to contact DHHS and voice their support for the immediate recall of all mercury containing vaccines to protect our nation's children. You can let them know that the reluctance by federal health officials to recall these vaccines contributes to a growing erosion of confidence in federal vaccine policy which currently puts profits ahead of child safety. You can send a quick email note to your Congressional Representative at:
http://www.house.gov/writerep/
Sincerely, Dawn Richardson
http://www.house.gov/reform/press/00.10.26.htm
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM
157 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON, DC 20515
Press Release:
Contact: Josie Duckett 6 October 2000
(202) 225-5074
Chairman Burton Requests Vaccine Recall
Washington, DC - In an October 25, 2000 letter to HHS Secretary Donna Shalala, Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN), Chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, requested a recall of all vaccines containing Thimerosal. The mercury-based product Thimerosal is added to vaccines as a preservative.
On July 18, 2000 the Committee conducted a hearing entitled, “Mercury in Medicine: Are We Taking Unnecessary Risks? During the hearing, the FDA admitted that children are being exposed to unsafe levels of mercury through vaccines containing Thimerosal. It was also determined that symptoms of mercury poisoning mimic symptoms of autism -- a disease that has reached epidemic levels in the United States. However, the FDA has chosen to allow pharmaceutical companies to merely phase out their use of Thimerosal, leaving mercury-containing vaccines at public and private health facilities.
In his letter to Secretary Shalala, Chairman Burton stated:
We all know and accept that mercury is a neurotoxin, and yet the FDA has failed to recall the 50 vaccines that contain Thimerosal...On their own website, the FDA states, lead, cadmium, and mercury are examples of elements that are toxic when present at relatively low levels
Our children are the future of this country. As a Government we have a responsibility to do everything within our power to protect them from harm, including ensuring that vaccines are safe and effective. Every day that mercury-containing vaccines remain on the market is another day HHS is putting 8,000 children at risk. Given that Thimerosal-free vaccines are available, and the known risk of mercury toxicity, to leave Thimerosal-containing vaccines on the market is unconscionable.
http://www.house.gov/reform/letters/10.25.00.pdf
October 25, 2000
The Honorable Donna Shalala, M. D.
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Washington, DC 20201
Dear Secretary Shalala:
Pursuant to Rules X and XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Government Reform has oversight of the Department of Health and Human Services. As you are aware, the Committee is conducting an oversight investigation into vaccine safety and policy. As part of this investigation a hearing was conducted on July 18 entitled, "Mercury in Medicine … Are We Talking Unnecessary Risks?" We received very credible testimony regarding the similarity between symptoms of mercury poisoning and autism and the continued use of thimerosal containing vaccines.
At the time of that hearing, I requested that the Food and Drug Administration recall all thimerosal containing vaccines from the market. This request was ignored. A petition to the FDA from the parents of vaccine-injured children was ignored. Additional scientific data that has been provided to the FDA regarding the dangers of thimerosal in vaccines has been ignored.
I am asking that you personally respond to this request regarding an FDA recall of thimerosal-containing vaccines.
During a review required by the Food and Drug Modernization Act, it was learned that infants receive more mercury in the first six months of life than is considered safe according to federal guidelines. For a twelve-to-fourteen month old child receiving vaccines on the Universal Childhood Immunization Schedule as they are typically delivered (four to six shots in one doctors visit), they may receive forty or more times the amount of mercury than is considered safe according to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines. The EPA guidelines were confirmed to be accurate through an independent evaluation conducted by the National Research Council (NRC). The NRC published their mercury report in July.
In testimony to the Committee, the FDA witness stated that each of the vaccines recommended on the Universal Childhood Immunization Schedule are now available for use in a thimerosal free version. While the FDA proposes to "phase out" thimerosal-containing vaccines over time, I implore you to conduct a full recall of these products. If the only action that HUS takes is a gradual phase out, children will continue to be put at risk every day. HHS is leaving supplies of this toxic substance in doctors' offices, at Public Health Clinics, and in managed care facilities. These vaccines will continue to be injected in children for years to come -putting our nation's most vulnerable population -our babies -at risk for mercury poisoning.
We all know and accept that mercury is a neurotoxin, and yet the FDA has failed to recall the 50 vaccines that contain thimerosal. While thimerosal has previously been ruled by the FDA to fit the "generally recognized as safe" standard, when the FDA conducted their Over the Counter (OTC) drug review they changed their minds. The FDA determined that mercury compounds used as active ingredients in OTC drug products were not found to be "generally recognized as safe." Additionally the FDA has not approved any mercury containing compounds as food additives and does not consider any mercury containing compounds to be "generally recognized as safe." On their own website, the FDA states, "lead, cadmium, and mercury are examples of elements that are toxic when present at relatively low levels."
As you know autism rates in this country have skyrocketed. What used to be a very rare condition is now occurring in 1 in 500 children nationwide. In the sixth district of Indiana, 1 in 400 children is autistic. In many areas, the number is as high as 1 in 150 children. The difference in many of these cases of autism is that the symptoms do not appear at birth, but shortly after the delivery of shots in the second year of life.
Our children are the future of this country. As a Government we have a responsibility to do everything within our power to protect them from harm, including insuring that vaccines are safe and effective. Every day that these mercury-containing vaccines remain on the market is another day HHS is putting 8,000 children at risk. Given that thimerosal-free vaccines are available, and the known risk of mercury toxicity, to leave thimerosal-containing vaccines on the market is unconscionable.
The Chair of the Department of History at the University of Kentucky has provided additional research to the FDA since the July 18 hearing confirming the risks of thimerosal.
Each child who is vaccine-injured is a tragedy. From previous experience, we now that even when HITS advised health care professionals to avoid using oral polio and whole cell pertussis vaccines because of the higher rate of adverse events, many clinics and doctors continued to use up their supplies of these vaccines rather than replace them with safer vaccines. How many families were needlessly exposed to live polio and how many children suffered seizures and other tragic injuries for the sake of medical profits? To ignore an avoidable risk and to put 8,000 children a day in harm's way is not only inhumane, it may be criminal.
Please personally respond to this request to recall all thimerosal-containing vaccines by October 31. If you have any questions, please contact Professional Staff Member, S. Elizabeth Clay at 202-225-5074.
Sincerely,
Dan Burton, Chairman
cc: Honorable Henry Waxman
Ranking Minority Member
Dawn Richardson
PROVE (Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education)
P.O. Box 1071
Cedar Park, TX 78630-1071
(512) 918-8760
prove@vaccineinfo.net (email)
http://vaccineinfo.net (web site)
PROVE provides information on vaccines, and immunization policies and practices that affect the children and adults of Texas. Our mission is to prevent vaccine injury and death and to promote and protect the right of every person to make informed independent vaccination decisions for themselves and their family.
Subscribe to PROVE Email Updates: http://vaccineinfo.net/subscribe.htm
This information is not to be construed as medical OR legal advice. |
