EBD Blog

Writing in OpEdNews.com, Evelyn Pringle has published another version of an editorial claiming that autism is caused by exposure to mercury in childhood vaccines, and that US government agencies—the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—have conspired to suppress the causal information. As in other reports, in this editorial, she depends almost exclusively on Dan Burton’s US Congress report.

On May 21, 2003, after a three year investigation, “The Mercury in Medicine Report” was released by the House Committee on Government Reform, and stated in part:

“Thimerosal used as a preservative in vaccines is likely related to the autism epidemic. This epidemic in all probability may have been prevented or curtailed had the FDA not been asleep at the switch regarding a lack of safety data regarding injected thimerosal and the sharper eyes of infant exposure to this known neurotoxin. The public health agencies’ failure to act is indicative of institutional malfeasance for self protection and misplaced protectionism of the pharmaceutical industry.”

The Congressional report also said that the CDC, due to its “biases against theories regarding vaccine-induced autism,” had chosen to fund researchers “who also worked for vaccine manufacturers to conduct population-based immunologic studies. . .” and stated:

“The CDC in general and the National Immunization Program are particularly conflicted in their duty to monitor the safety of vaccines, while also charged with the responsibility of purchasing vaccines for resale as well as promoting increased immunization rates.”

Ms. Pringle’s indictment dwells on the least trustworthy evidence on this topic and ignores the legitimate scientific research about the hypothesized connection. Assessments of the evidence of the mercury-autism link have pretty consistently shown that there is no connection. Here’s the first paragraph from the National Academy of Sciences report on the topic:

This eighth and final report of the Immunization Safety Review Committee examines the hypothesis that vaccines, specifically the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and thimerosal-containing vaccines, are causally associated with autism. The committee reviewed the extant published and unpublished epidemiological studies regarding causality and studies of potential biologic mechanisms by which these immunizations might cause autism. The committee concludes that the body of epidemiological evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between the MMR vaccine and autism. The committee also concludes that the body of epidemiological evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism. The committee further finds that potential biological mechanisms for vaccine-induced autism that have been generated to date are theoretical only.

Ms. Pringle also depends on arguments and data advanced by David and Mark Geier. As readers of EBD Blog know, Judge James A. Beaty, Jr., issued a Memorandum Opinion about Dr. Mark Geier’s credibility as an expert witness in a legal suit that contended that a child’s autism was caused by Thimerosal injections given to the mother during her pregnancy with the child. Judge Beaty explained that “Dr. Geier did not have the expertise to perform a differential diagnosis nor did his diganostic study sufficiently rule out other possible causes of the child’s autism” (quoted from EBD Blog, “Autism-thimerosal expert not.

So, the hypothesis doesn’t hold up to scientific scrutiny nor are the putative advocates able to secure legal standing as expert witnesses. Still, I suspect that the defenders of the hypothesis will not admit that it is wrong. It is very difficult to say, “I was mistaken.” Indeed, there is probably no evidence that will deter them. I’d like to ask the advocates, “What evidence would convince you that the mercury in vaccines does not cause autism?”

One can download the full text of the NAS report, Immunization Safety Review: Vaccines and Autism, from he NAS site. This report was developed and reviewed by some eminent scientistists, but it’s straight-forward reading.

Some of Ms. Pringle’s treatments of this topic:

• Government Investigation Finds Autism Vaccine Related from OpEdNews.com
• Autism - Cut The Crap from SierraTimes.com (reprinted in Scoop);
• FDA Knew Of Thimerosal Dangers 60 Years Ago from DadsAgainstMercury.org (also available in slightly different form via Prairie Collaborative Homepage);

To see a list of links to some of the Internet-available articles promoting the theory, check PutChildrenFirst. On EBD Blog, see here and here for other coverage of this topic.