Parents fight to link vaccines, autism

In what could be the next great wave of litigation, moms and dads are set to take on pharmaceutical companies for exposing children to mercury found in some vaccines.

[Times photos: Kinfay Moroti]
Dr. Philip W. Drash, left, helps Alex Wilmarth, 4, with motor skill exercises during an autism therapy session.

By GRAHAM BRINK, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 15, 2002

At the age of 10 months, Alex Wilmarth could say "Hi" and "Bye bye," "Mama" and "Dada." The little boy with the wispy blond hair would giggle at funny faces and wave goodbye.

He could make regular eye contact and was beginning to walk without help. To his parents, Deborah and Vance, Alex seemed perfect.

Then it was like someone flicked off a switch. Alex began staring into space. His speech turned to gibberish. He reverted back to crawling.

Then came the tantrums and the fixation with water and cars. He grew older, but still couldn't dress or feed himself.

Eventually, the doctors diagnosed autism.

"You cry," said Deborah Wilmarth at her Dunedin home. "And then you start to learn everything you can."

In their struggle for information, the Wilmarths stumbled onto a startling theory. Some researchers, they learned, were examining possible links between autism and poisoning from common childhood vaccinations administered in the 1990s. That would mean that the very thing the Wilmarths did to protect their child from virulent diseases such as polio and hepatitis could be what triggered his disorder.

Today, a growing number of parents across the country are convinced that a mercury-containing preservative used in many vaccinations caused their childrens' autism.

In what some lawyers say could be the next wave in litigation, hundreds of parents have joined a national legal campaign to hold pharmaceutical companies liable for exposing as many as 30-million children to the vaccines.

The companies and several government-funded agencies say the vaccines are safe. Many scientists are doubtful of a connection between vaccines and autism. The parents' theory is based more on coincidence and desperate hope than hard data, they say.

Still, lawyers from across the country have banded together in coalitions to share information and strategies. Some lawyers think the tide of lawsuits could dwarf the multibillion-dollar asbestos and tobacco litigation combined.

"It's either going to be nothing," said Melbourne-based lawyer Jack Hamilton, who is handling some of the Florida cases. "Or it'll be the the biggest thing to come down the litigation pipeline, ever."

The thimerosal theory

Autistic children suffer from a neurological disorder that has baffled researchers, who don't know why it occurs or how to prevent it. The children can have trouble communicating and socializing. They often have attention deficit traits and trouble with language.

In the worst cases, they will never learn to talk or feed themselves. They bang their heads against walls and stab themselves with sharp objects. They spend their lives suspended in an impenetrable world often marked by endless rocking. They will never tell a parent "I love you."

Some who are skeptical of the link between vaccines and autism say those frustrations are what is fueling the flawed theory. They say parents want badly to answer what is currently unanswerable. Parents, understandably, want someone or something to blame.

But some parents and a core of doctors and researchers cast aside the criticism as condescending and typical of a medical bureaucracy with a history of responding to controversies at glacial speed.

The evidence, they say, leads directly to thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative used to kill bacteria and fungus in vaccines.

While thimerosal has been used since the 1930s, it became more common in the last 15 years as pharmaceutical companies began to produce more multidose vials to cut costs. Without the preservative, a multidose vial could be tainted with organisms once the seal was broken by the first puncture.

The thimerosal theory goes like this:

In the 1990s, a typical American child received about 22 shots by the age of three, a big increase from just a decade earlier. A 2-month-old sometimes got up to five shots in one visit.

Many of those vaccines contained thimerosal. Babies can't flush the mercury in thimerosal from their systems, the theory's backers say, especially from so many vaccinations given at one time. They say the mercury builds up to toxic levels, which in some children results in autism.

An alternate theory has thimerosal working in tandem with the mercury-free measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to weaken a child's immune system and trigger autism.

A host of evidence backs up the theories, they argue.

Autism rates have exploded around the country in the past 15 years -- the same period in which thimerosal became more prevalent in vaccines. In California, they point out, the number of autistic children soared 273 percent between 1987 and 1999, while the state's overall population rose only about 20 percent. Autistic students in Florida schools numbered 5,293 last year, up from 2,728 in 1997.

Many of the new wave of autistic children had high levels of mercury in their systems, the backers say, and the symptoms of mercury poisoning mimic the behavior of autistic children. Also, this new wave affects boys even more than usual. So does mercury poisoning.

"Have you ever seen a profoundly autistic child?" Dr. Stephanie Cave asked recently from her clinic in Baton Rouge, La. where she treats about 2,000 children. "It'll break your heart, especially if you think it could have been prevented."

Cave is convinced thimerosal plays a key role in why about one in 150 toddlers develop the disorder, a huge increase from 20 years ago. By medically removing metals such as mercury from autistic toddlers exposed to thimerosal, they often make "remarkable recoveries," Cave said.

She thinks that suggests mercury played a role in the first place.

Vaccines are often treated like "sacred cows" that can do no wrong, but many hit the market with inadequate testing, Cave said. She points to the 1999 recall of the highly-touted rotavirus vaccine after it was linked to potentially deadly bowel obstructions.

In the last two years, drug manufacturers voluntarily removed all or most thimerosal from common pediatric vaccines, although an unknown amount of the old product remains on the shelves. Thimerosal is still found in some flu and Rh immune gobulin shots given to pregnant women and many vaccines administered in other countries, Cave said.

"It's time to wake up and admit that mercury isn't good for babies," she said.

Vance and Deborah Wilmarth review Alex's medical and school records in preparation for a meeting with counselors at Alex's school. The Wilmarths are prepared for a long legal battle in trying to make pharmaceutical companies liable.

Far from proven, right now

In the other corner are the giants of health care, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Network for Immunization Information and the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

They say the links are far from proven. Proponents have misinterpreted, overblown or taken the research out of context, they argue.

The definition of autism has expanded over the years and doctors are better educated in diagnosing the disorder, they say. Parents also know that to get extra help from the school system they need the child to be designated as autistic.

The often quoted report about the California statistics didn't determine how many of the new cases moved in from other states, they say. Parents of autistic children sometimes move to a state like California because it provides more help and funding for treating autism.

The idea that babies cannot produce enough bile to metabolize mercury for the first six months of life also appears flawed, the critics say. A preliminary study from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases suggests that even infants eliminate mercury soon after immunizations.

Last year, the Immunization Safety Review Committee for the Institute of Medicine found no link between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and autism, said Dr. Marie McCormick, who headed the committee and is the head of the Department of Maternal and Child Health at Harvard's School of Public Health.

"There is a lot of pseudo science that sounds really plausible until you look at it closely," McCormick said.

The issue, however, remains far from settled. McCormick's committee reported that the evidence examined did not prove or disprove a link between mercury and abnormal brain function. The committee called the hypothesis "biologically plausible." The proponents seized on that statement as support for their theory.

"That statement was meant in a very narrow way," McCormick said. "Right now, the evidence just isn't there."

Infectious disease experts such as Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt Medical School cringe at the potential fallout if the "flawed" thimerosal theory causes parents to forgo immunizing their children.

The consequences could be devastating to the "societal armor" built up in the last 50 years, said Schaffner, a committee member with the National Network for Immunization Information. An entire generation of parents and doctors have never seen a polio-stricken child in an iron lung or watched a child succumbed to whooping cough, he said.

"These plagues could come back with a vengeance," he said. "Even ones like measles that are essentially gone from this country are only a plane ride away."

Regression and liability

Tory Mead has heard the skeptics many times. She knows that a majority of the "experts" think she is clinging to false hope, that she and others have been seduced by junk science.

But she also knows they weren't there to see what happened to her son, William.

At about his second birthday, William had achieved all his developmental milestones. He could walk and talk. He smiled a lot. He liked to play with other kids.

Then Mead took William to the doctor for five shots. Four contained thimerosal.

William immediately regressed, as if he was slipping into a coma, his mother said. His IQ plummeted to 55. He stopped speaking. By the end of 12 weeks, he just lay on the floor or spun around and grunted, she said.

Mead and her husband, George, mortgaged their house and broke their 401(K) savings plan to help pay up to $10,000 a month for intensive treatment. Now William, who turns 4 next month, can help dress himself and uses a fork to eat. His vocabulary is up to 120 words. He can tell his mother "I want juice, please," and "I want to swing."

"It was like getting hit by a tsunami," said Mead from her home in Portland, Ore. "You just try to stay alive and move forward."

The other parents involved in the lawsuits have similarly heart-wrenching stories, potentially potent ammunition for savvy plaintiffs' lawyers facing off against deep-pocketed drug companies. The stories could be particularly convincing to a jury of non-scientists who only have to agree that a majority of the evidence they hear establishes a link between the vaccines and autism.

"I think the drug companies thought this might just go away," said Miami lawyer Roberto Villasante. "That won't be happening any time soon."

Officials with many of the companies refused comment or did not return messages.

The cases seek compensation for injuries to children who suffered neurological damage after receiving mercury-containing vaccines and money for a fund to aid research. The suits charge numerous companies, including Aventis Pasteur, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co., Abbott Laboratories, American Home Products and Baxter International, with product liability, conspiracy and fraud.

Plaintiffs' lawyers have banded together and created war chests to help fund what they think will be very expensive litigation. Some are advertising in newspapers or attending autism conferences around the country to attract clients, some of whom have dramatic before-and-after videos that showcase their children's regression.

But the lawyers know it's a long road to trial, especially when traveling in uncharted legal territory. Judges will have to decide whether the theory has enough merit to proceed. A battle of experts will be waged before a jury hears a case.

The pharmaceutical companies also have upwards of 500 full-time lobbyists with access to Congress, which could elect to shield the companies in some way, said Hamilton, the Melbourne lawyer.

"The companies aren't going to roll over and give up billions of dollars," he said.

The Wilmarths are prepared for a long legal battle. They say they are used to struggling -- with Alex, with finances, with their own emotions. Frustration, they say, is a constant in their lives.

They want Alex, now 4, to have the best care possible to help him become a productive member of society. They hope the boy who rattles off the make and sometimes even the engine specifications of passing vehicles can become an engineer or a car designer.

"It's tough to believe this could all be over some stupid preservative," Vance Wilmarth said. "Some stupid 50-cent preservative."

Alex Wilmarth stares at the wall during an autism therapy session.
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Group Seeks Castro's Arrest

NewsMax.com
Thursday, Sept. 7, 2000

Brothers to the Rescue, a Cuban-American group, issued the following statement yesterday:

My name is Roberto Villasante, I am an attorney. I represent Jose Basulto and the humanitarian organization Brothers to the Rescue. Mr. Basulto and I have met with the office of the Mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, specifically his Deputy Chief of Staff, Manny Papir. We have also been to the FBI office and the NYPD 17th Precint.

The purpose of our meeting was to file a Criminal Offense Report with the Police Authorities in the State of New York. The Report notifies the City of New York that an individual who is responsible for the murders of three United States citizens and one lawful United States resident and the attempted murder of my client and three others over international waters and in international airspace arrived in this city yesterday.

The facts surrounding the murders have already been established in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida where the perpetrator of these crimes was held liable in Civil Court.

We expect that this terrorist will claim protection from prosecution for his crimes by seeking immunity as a "Head of State."

It is our position that the law in the United States through International Treaty is well settled and that diplomatic immunity is NOT an absolute or total protection against prosecution for crimes committed by diplomats or even Heads of State.

We are asking that Mr. Basulto's Report and the possible charges of murder, attempted murder and terrorism be investigated.

Fidel Castro is the perpetrator of these crimes. We are asking that at the very least he be detained for questioning.

To investigate whether these particular crimes fall within the protection of immunity is a matter well within the power of the State of New York and the Federal authorities of the United States to determine. We simply ask the authorities to follow the Rule of Law, even with respect to Fidel Castro – the dictatorial Head of State of Cuba.

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Product Safety & Liability Reporter
Volume: 31 Number: 41
October 20, 2003



Federal Judge Declines to Certify Class Of Metabolife Users; Class Definition is Vague

A federal judge in Florida Sept. 26 denied class certification in a medical monitoring suit by Metabolife 356 users, citing the difficulty in determining causation for the disorders allegedly linked to the dietary supplement and the inefficiencies and potential inequalities that would result from class treatment ( Perez v. Metabolife International Inc., S.D. Fla., No. 02-22850, 9/26/03).

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida refused to certify either a class of Florida residents or a class of residents of all states that--like Florida--recognize a cause of action for medical monitoring.

Going beyond the "initial appeal" of certification, the court said, "the inability to precisely define the class, the individual differences among named Plaintiffs and unnamed class members, the difficulty of applying varying and unsettled legal principles in multiple states, and the danger of foreclosing unnamed class members from suing for individual damages in the future all mitigate against adjudicating these claims in a class action."

Supplement Contained Ephedra, Caffeine.

Metabolife 356 was an over-the-counter supplement containing ephedra and caffeine marketed primarily for weight loss, increasing energy, and speeding up metabolism. Six named plaintiffs sued manufacturer Metabolife International Inc., arguing that the defendant failed to properly test its product and failed to warn consumers about health risks. They requested injunctive and equitable relief--primarily a medical monitoring fund and a research and education program.

The plaintiffs sought to represent two classes: all persons in Florida who ingested Metabolife 356 at the dosage levels recommended by the defendant; and all persons residing in states that recognize a cause of action for medical monitoring, and who ingested Metabolife 356 at the recommended doses.

"Neither class definition is sufficiently precise and determinable to identify the appropriate class members," the court said. "Both are overly broad and would require individualized determinations as to who are class members. The failure of plaintiffs to adequately define a class is thus, in itself, sufficient grounds for denial of Plaintiffs' motion," the opinion said.

Differences in State Law.

Including class members from states other than Florida appears "particularly problematic due to differences and uncertainties in the law," the court said. Four states--Florida, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Illinois--have recognized medical monitoring as a cause of action, and the plaintiffs' attorneys represented at oral argument that the class definition should be restricted to just those states.

But even with this limited class definition, the court still would have to create subclasses and apply state law to cases arising in each of those four states. And the law is not well-settled in Colorado or Illinois, the court continued, observing that plaintiffs rely on federal cases where judges predicted that the two states would recognize the cause of action.

Moreover, if the court were to extend the class to even one state other than Florida, the named plaintiffs would not be adequate class representatives because they are Florida residents and therefore lack standing to bring questions of state law in a state other than Florida.

The plaintiffs' class definition for both Florida and out-of-state class members is deficient because it contains no limitation on dosage or duration of ingestion, the court said. The "recommended" dosage levels could be as few as two pills per day, or as much as six pills per day. For the court to determine a minimum dosage level for class membership would require it to determine the ultimate issue of what dosage level can cause injury. This is a problem because a court may not inquire into the medical merits of a case at the class certification stage, the opinion stressed.

Proving Class Membership.

Proving class membership presents another difficulty. Distinguishing the Metabolife case from the phen/fen case, the court pointed out that in the prescription diet drug case, plaintiffs had prescription records or physicians' records to document their use. But such records do not exist for over-the-counter products. "And since the majority of these medical monitoring claims will be for injuries that have not yet occurred, few class members are likely to be able to produce medical records from doctor visits which document any Metabolife 356 use."

Individual mini-trials would therefore be required even on the limited issue of class membership.

Turning to the Rule 23(a) requirements, the court said the problems in class definition also mean the plaintiffs have failed to satisfy the numerosity requirement for certification.

Medical Monitoring Elements.

Nor do they meet the commonality requirement, the opinion said. Plaintiffs must prove the seven elements of the medical monitoring claim recognized as a cause of action in Florida in Petito v. A.H. Robins Co. , 750 So.2d 103 (Fla. 3d Dist. Ct. App. 2000). Despite their assurances to the contrary, proof of those elements will require individualized determinations.

The first element, above-normal exposure to a substance, will require individual determinations as to whether each class member actually ingested the product, which brings up the difficulties of making such factual determinations in the absence of written documentation, the opinion said. The second element requires a determination as to whether Metabolife 356 is dangerous or hazardous. But the product may be dangerous to an individual who is simultaneously taking another medication for a particular disorder, and yet be safe for one who uses no other medication and has no other medical problems.

The third element, proof of the defendant's negligence, may depend largely on individual issues related to what warnings a particular class member received and whether the defendant can successfully assert that the individual was comparatively negligent by ignoring warnings regarding contraindications or health risks for people suffering from certain conditions.

Proximate Cause.

The fourth element requires proof of proximate causation: Each plaintiff must demonstrate that the use of Metabolife 356 significantly increased the risk of contracting a serious latent disease, the opinion said. This element is especially unsuitable for class treatment. According to the court, the plaintiffs listed 16 latent diseases purportedly attributable to Metabolife. "Given the vast differences in individual class members, determining increased risk for one disorder would be difficult enough, but evaluating whether each member is at an increased risk of contracting up to sixteen latent diseases would be unmanageable in the framework of a class action."

The last three Petito elements involve the specific medical monitoring regimen that a plaintiff is entitled to undergo. They are: that a monitoring process exists that makes the early detection of disease possible, that the prescribed monitoring regime is different from that normally recommended absent exposure; and that the prescribed monitoring regime is reasonably necessary according to contemporary scientific principles. Plaintiffs suggest that a uniform program can be established for all class members, but ignore the significant individual differences that make such uniformity impossible, the court said.

In particular, the sixth element demands individualized rulings, because many individuals would normally be given a recommendation to undergo the same diagnostic screenings and tests based on risk factors other than Metabolife 356 use. "Giving all class members a right of access to the same uniform monitoring program would allow these high-risk individuals to obtain free medical tests that the medical community would normally recommend for them in the absence of exposure." Disparate treatment based on individual differences is not only appropriate, but is required by the definition of this cause of action, the court said.

The seventh element, the necessity of monitoring, is likely also to be an individualized matter.

No Commonality, Typicality.

For many of the same reasons, the court determined the named plaintiffs are not typical of the class and cannot adequately represent the class.

Although the court said the plaintiffs' failure to satisfy Rule 23(a) moots the need for a Rule 23(b) inquiry, it determined the plaintiffs fell short of those mandates as well.

Rule 23(b)(3) requires a finding that common questions of law or fact predominate and class treatment is superior to other methods of adjudicating the class members' claims. Because of the individual issues required in resolving the medical monitoring claims, any efficiency gained by deciding the common elements will be lost when separate trials are required for each class member in order to determine each member's entitlement to the requested relief, the court said.

As to superiority, the court said it could not see how treatment as a class action would be superior because of the manageability problems.

Court Denies Class for Injunctive Relief.

Alternatively, plaintiffs asserted this case can be certified under one of the first two class action categories because of its primarily injunctive nature. But to support their Rule 23(b)(2) argument, plaintiffs cited the fen/phen settlement, saying it supports certification even when many individual issues are involved. The diet drug litigation can be distinguished, the court said, because it relied on scientific evidence that two specific heart valve disorders could be caused by the drugs, because class membership could be more easily proven through medical records, and because other individual issues were less prominent than they are in this case. Additionally, the court that certified the diet drug class noted significant manageability problems, which would only be magnified in this case.

Nor does Rule 23(b)(1)(A) permit certification in this case. Although the rule allows certification to avoid "incompatible standards of conduct" by the defendant, this phrase refers to the situation in which different results in separate actions would impair the opposing party's ability to pursue a uniform course of conduct. In this case, "inconsistent" adjudications are to be expected, because differences among individual plaintiffs may make medical monitoring appropriate for some and inappropriate for others.

Judge Paul C. Huck wrote the decision.

Plaintiffs were represented by John H. Ruiz, Luisa M. Linares, and Roberto Villasante in Miami.

Defendants were represented by Ronald E. Cabaniss, Larry D. Smith, and Jason P. Herman of Cabaniss Smith Toole & Wiggins in Maitland, Fla.

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Topics of Interest to the General Public About the Law

Guests include Miami Dade Mayor-People's Court Judge (M. Milian)-Judicial & Commission Candidates

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Flu shot guidance renews old fears
An encouragement to inoculate young children worries those who think the vaccine contributes to autism.
By GRAHAM BRINK, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 7, 2002

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TAMPA -- Last month, for the first time, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encouraged parents to have their young children vaccinated against the flu.

To most, it seemed a sound idea for protecting youngsters. But a vocal minority of parents and doctors think such a move could be trouble.

The issue: Some flu vaccines still contain the mercury-based preservative thimerosal, which they think is linked to an explosion in the number of children diagnosed with autism and related disorders in the past two decades.

The many skeptics of this theory point out that the mercury used in thimerosal has not been definitively linked to autism.

But those who think there is a connection see the CDC encouragement as a risk for children, especially those who already might have a buildup of mercury in their systems.

"They continue to promote thimerosal as safe mercury and that there is no evidence of toxicity," said Dr. Jeff Bradstreet, an autism researcher in Palm Bay and the father of an autistic boy. "Eventually, they will be proven wrong. But in the meantime, one wonders how many lives may be altered."

Until last month, the CDC never had encouraged regular flu shots for healthy children six months to 23 months old.

But about 20 children per 10,000 in that age group are hospitalized each year with the flu or its complications. That rate is at least five times higher than that of 5 to 15 year olds and 10 times higher than the rate for low-risk adults, according to the CDC.

Young children also are effective carriers of the influenza virus, often passing it on to relatives and friends. The CDC said vaccinating children would help improve the societal armor and cut down on the number of adults who get the flu.

The CDC is only encouraging parents to vaccinate their young children, not recommending it. But a formal recommendation could come as early as next year.

Dr. Scott Harper, an infectious disease specialist with the CDC in Atlanta, said the risks of complications from flu shots for young children are minimal, especially when compared with the benefits.

"In every decision that we make in life, there is a risk and a benefit," Harper said. "This decision was based on facts, facts that show that many children will avoid getting sick, not unproven theories."

Other health care giants -- including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Network for Immunization Information -- also are skeptical of a link between vaccines and autism. They say the theory is based more on coincidence and hope than hard data.

Even the Autism Society of America isn't convinced.

"(We) strongly support research to determine if, in fact, there is a correlation," the society says. "Until that research is performed and replicated, vaccines continue to be indicated."

* * *

Thimerosal has been used as a preservative in vaccines since the 1930s, but it became more common in the past 15 years as pharmaceutical companies began to produce more multidose vials to cut costs. Without the preservative, a multidose vial can become tainted once its seal is broken.

The increase in the use of thimerosal coincided with an increase in the number of vaccines administered to children. Children today can receive about 36 doses of 11 vaccines by age 5.

And those two trends corresponded with a surge in autism rates throughout the country, say supporters of the mercury/autism theory. They fear that some children can't flush all the mercury from their systems, so it builds up and triggers autism, a neurological disorder that affects communication and socialization.

Many doctors and scientists say such fears are unwarranted. But if the theory is so full of holes, the supporters ask, why did the government direct vaccine manufacturers in 1999 to remove thimerosal and other mercury from common childhood vaccinations, including hepatitis?

They say the CDC encouragement means children might again be given vaccines containing mercury. Flu shots have not traditionally been childhood vaccines, so many multidose vials still contain thimerosal. It is unclear exactly how much of the flu vaccine supply contains the preservative.

"Promoting flu shots for healthy children concerns me a great deal," said Miami lawyer Roberto Villasante, co-chairman of the vaccine litigation group for the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. "I think the big question should be: Is this vaccine absolutely necessary?"

* * *

Kim Dabney was shocked when she heard the news from the CDC last month.

Her son Drew had suffered from earaches and flulike symptoms. They weren't serious, but they were enough for her pediatrician to recommend that Drew receive a flu vaccination last year. He was 15 months old.

"After that shot, that was the end of Drew as we knew him," Dabney said.

Drew stopped making eye contact, stopped having fun, stopped making sense.

He had had some trouble after a round of shots administered a few months earlier, Dabney said, but the flu shot "put him over the edge."

Drew's pediatrician, like some other doctors, had never heard of thimerosal or theories about a link between vaccinations and autism, Dabney said.

But when Dabney researched Drew's vaccination record, she found it loaded with shots containing mercury.

The Dabneys, who moved from Miami to Charlotte, N.C., last year, have spent close to $50,000 on therapy and other treatments for Drew, who is showing marked improvement.

"No one wants the flu, but no one wants mercury poisoning either," she said. "Now that these links are showing up, I cannot believe they aren't screaming to get this stuff off the shelves."

Most members of the medical community think such a move is unnecessary. They note that many children with risk factors such as cystic fibrosis have received flu shots for years. If there were a link, many more of those children would have autism, they say.

Some children don't show signs of autism until they are a few years old. The vaccinations don't cause it, the doctors argue, they just happen to be given around the same time.

* * *

Barbara Fisher is co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center, a nonprofit group that advocates reforming the mass vaccination system. She encourages parents of children in the 6- to 23-month age group to arm themselves with as much information as possible before they decide whether to vaccinate their children against the flu.

Even if science never finds a definite link between thimerosal and autism, it's worth considering, Fisher said.

She recommends that parents who want their children vaccinated against the flu read the manufacturer's insert that comes with the vaccine to determine whether it contains thimerosal or any other mercury.

"Parents should not rely solely on their doctors, who don't always have all the information themselves," she said. "Whatever decision is made, it should be made from a position of knowledge, not a position of ignorance."

-- Graham Brink can be reached at (813) 226-3365 or brink@sptimes.com
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