COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM
2157 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON, DC 20515
Press Release
Contact: Josie Duckett
26 October 2000
(202) 225-5074
The letter to Secretary Shalala (full text below) can be read at 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
know 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
The press release (full text below) can be read at http://www.house.gov/reform/press/00.10.26.htm
The letter to Shalala (full text below) can be read at http://www.house.gov/reform/letters/10.25.00.pdf
Testimony from the July 18, 2000 hearing 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?” can be accessed at http://www.house.gov/reform/hearings/healthcare/00.07.18/index.htm
.
http://www.house.gov/reform/press/00.10.26.htm
What
about Mercury?: Getting Thimerosal Out of Vaccines
By Lisa Reagan
Mothering Issue 105,
March/April 2001
http://www.mothering.com/10-0-0/html/10-8-0/10-8-mercury105.shtml
In his opening statement to the House Committee on
Government Reform's hearing on mercury and medicine on
June 18, 2000, Congressman Daniel Burton (R-Indiana)
stated, "We assume that the FDA would protect our
children from exposure to any level of mercury through
drugs. But that has not been the case. Thimerosal was
first marketed in 1930 and has become the most widely
used preservative in vaccines. It is present in over 50
licensed vaccines. The FDA recently acknowledged that in
the first six months of life children get more mercury
than is considered safe by the EPA. The truth is that
sometimes kids go to their doctor's office and get four
or five vaccines at the same time. My grandson received
vaccines for nine different diseases in one day. He
might have been exposed to 62.5 micrograms of mercury in
one day through his vaccines. According to his weight,
the maximum safe level of mercury that he should be
exposed to in one day is 1.51 micrograms. This is 41
times the amount at which harm can be caused."
Burton's grandson, who was healthy before he received
the shots, now suffers from autism.
Burton and Congressman Henry A. Waxman (D-California)
have written to Secretary of Health and Human Services
Donna Shalala requesting that a panel be convened to
look at the mercury issue. "If your position is
that we should base our policies on good science and
good research, then fine. I agree with you 100 percent.
But if you are not willing to do the research, if you
are not even willing to ask the questions, then we have
a real problem on our hands," Burton said in the
letter to Shalala. Burton was a keynote speaker at the
National Vaccine Information Center's conference in
September 2000.
On July 9, 1999, the US Public Health Service and the
American Academy of Pediatrics issued a joint statement
recommending the removal of thimerosal from vaccines. On
May 31, 2000, the FDA notified vaccine manufacturers
that its review of mercury compounds in drugs and foods
concluded that reducing or eliminating thimerosal from
vaccines is merited.
"One would think that the FDA would have moved
aggressively to remove vaccines that contained mercury
from the market immediately. They did not....The FDA
continues to allow the mercury-containing vaccines to
remain on the market. Today, over 8,000 children in
America may be given a toxic dose of mercury in their
vaccines," said Burton.
The mercury problem's been investigated in many
congressional hearings in the last three years. A number
of retailers and hospitals, including Walgreens and
Wal-Mart, have begun voluntarily to take products
containing mercury off their shelves and inventories.1
Another speaker at the NVIC conference, Stephanie
Cave, MD, said, "Mercury poisoning and autism have
nearly identical symptoms: self-injurious behavior,
social withdrawal, lack of eye contact, lack of facial
ex pression, hypersensitivity to noise and touch, and
repetitive behaviors."
Noting that the EPA safe limit for mercury exposure
is .1 micrograms per kilo per day, Cave said, "The
mercury has left its mark in the brains and immune
systems of these children.... The body gets rid of
mercury by secreting bile, but an infant does not
produce bile at this age. In the hepatitis B vaccine
alone, we are giving 12.5 mcg at birth, 12.5 mcg at a
month, 50 mcg at two months, 50 mcg at four months, and
62.5 mcg at 6 months, and if you do your math, we're
giving a load of mercury to these children before they
can make bile and can get rid of it."
The FDA, Burton said at the conference, determined
that mercury compounds used as active ingredients in
over-the-counter drug products weren't "generally
recognized as safe." Additionally, the FDA doesn't
consider any mercury-containing compounds to be
"generally recognized as safe." On its own
website (www.fda.gov),
the FDA states, "Lead, cadmium, and mercury are
examples of elements that are toxic when present at
relatively low levels."
"How is it that mercury is not safe for food
additives and over-the-counter drug products, but it is
safe in our vaccines and dental amalgams?" Burton
asked. He recommended that all parents who choose to
vaccinate request monovalent, mercury-free forms of
vaccines.
To see the transcripts of the congressional hearing
on mercury in medicine, you can go to www.house.gov/reform/hearings/healthcare/00.07.18/index.htm.
To view the ARC Research chart listing the symptoms of
mercury poisoning and autism, go to www.autism.com/ari/mercurylong.html.
Notes
1. Karen Pallarito, "DC
Hospitals, National Retailers Agree to Ban
Mercury-Containing Products," Reuters Health
Online, September 27, 2000.
Lisa Regan resides in Williamsburg,
Virginia, with her husband, Keith, a portfolio manager,
and their son, Collins (3). She is the president of
Families for Natural Living (www.FamiliesForNaturalLiving.org),
a nonprofit that provides both information to the public
and support to families.
Dental
Information 
