By Dr. Matsen
Leo Kanner was a medical doctor from Vienna who fled Nazi terror by immigrating to the US. In 1938, he was the first to identify a rare new disorder in children that he called ‘autism.’
Kanner’s observant eye accurately noted that the wild and uncontrolled behaviour of these children was different from that of children with other brain diseases, such as schizophrenia. Since the autistic pattern was only seen in children of highly organized professional parents, Dr Kanner’s Freudian background led him to the premature conclusion that this disease was an emotional reaction to bad parenting.
Little did Leo Kanner know that the pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly, had recently added a new anti-bacterial and anti-fungal preservative called ‘thimerosal’ into skin lotions and creams, nose and eye drops, allergy shots, Rhogam (immunoglobulin) shots and some vaccines. Nobody seemed worried that thimerosal was 49 percent mercury, as studies done on methylmercury toxicity had concluded that between 0.1 to 0.4 micrograms of methylmercury per kilogram of bodyweight per day was an acceptable level of mercury. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) chose 0.1 micrograms as the cutoff point while the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) used 0.4 micrograms of methylmercury as the safe limit.
The first vaccine to contain thimerosal was the pertussis shot, the P in the DPT vaccine. The DPT shot was to prevent diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough) and tetanus. When first introduced in the Depression years of the 1930s, only the wealthy could afford this expensive new product for their children. It was these first recipients of mercury-laden DPT shots who Leo Kanner was diagnosing as autistic. Three serious oversights had already occurred that would result in brain damage to thousands of children.
The first oversight was that the tolerance to mercury was calculated based on micrograms of methylmercury per kilogram of body weight per day. But vaccines weren’t given in small amounts per day; they were injected in large amounts at infrequent intervals. Studies done on Faeroe Islanders showed that those who ate pilot whale meat that had been contaminated with high levels of mercury developed mercury toxicity symptoms. This indicated that a high level of mercury over a short time period could overwhelm the body’s ability to detoxify it, thus creating neurological symptoms.
The second, and even more serious, oversight from the 1930s was that the content of thimerosal in the vaccines wasn’t labeled in micrograms of mercury, but as 0.01 percent of solution. This meant that nobody had a clue as to how much mercury was actually being injected into a child.
The third oversight is that the safety standards of thimerosal were based on methylmercury toxicity. In the body, thimerosal is actually converted into ethylmercury, which recent research has shown to be far more toxic to the brain (see the Monthly Comment on Alzheimer’s Disease, February 2003) and the immune system (see the Monthly Comment for December 2002) than methylmercury.
Vaccine programs were expanded after World War II so that every child, rich or poor, could receive the benefits of modern medicine through vaccines. Further diagnostic studies expanded the scope of autistic brain disease to include Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder under the umbrella of Autistic Spectrum Disorder, yet autism still remained a relatively rare condition in the 1970s as only about 1 child in 10,000 was believed affected.
However, this was about to change. In 1976, Jimmy Carter was elected and he began the trend of pouring billions of federal dollars into vaccination programs. New vaccines were added: Hib and hepatitis B which contained mercury, and MMR (for measles, mumps, and rubella) which didn’t contain thimerosal mercury.
Let’s go to an autism specialist to see what her experiences can show. Her name is Stephanie Cave, M.D. She is a grandmother who teaches at Louisiana State University and she also has a private practice where she treats over 400 children with autism. Following are excerpts from the Nov/Dec 2002 issue (#115) of Mothering Magazine. It consists of questions asked by Amy Morrison, a writer for Mothering Magazine (MM), and answered by Stephanie Cave (SC).
“MM: What about mercury and aluminum. What’s the source of these exposures?
SC: Infant vaccines contained mercury and aluminum. The epidemic with autism really started during the late 1980s and early 1990s, and it seemed to coincide with the time that the vaccines for Hib (Hemophillus influenzae type b) and hepatitis B were added to the schedule—Hib around 1988, hepatitis B in 1991. The children already had the DTP (diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis) vaccine through the 1980s, and the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) was subsequently added; but we did not realize much of an upswing until the hepatitis B was added at birth.
MM: Parents are frequently told that the amount of mercury given to infants in vaccines is a ‘trace amount’ and nothing to get upset about.
SC: Well, what is a safe level of a poison? Twelve and a half micrograms of ethyl mercury at birth is 25 times the EPA ‘safe level.’ The 62.5 mcg of ethyl mercury that a 10-pound infant was receiving at two months of age can be up to 125 times the EPA ‘safe’ level. That’s a seriously toxic dose of mercury. This metal is especially hard on premature infants. The post-vaccination level of mercury in the premature infant’s blood can rise to ten times that of the term infant’s.
MM: How does mercury specifically affect the immune system…?
SC: Mercury is a neurotoxin; it inhibits brain function in a variety of ways. It also suppresses the immune system to a certain degree. When hepatitis B began to be administered at birth during the 1990s, we started seeing ear infections beginning around two weeks of age, which was almost unheard of before that. We started seeing more sick children in that first month of life….”
“MM: Are there other sources of mercury?
SC: I think it starts in utero, because we found that more than 53 percent of our mothers of autistic children were Rh-negative and had received an immunoglobulin preserved with thimerosal during pregnancy. In contrast, only 3 per cent of our mothers with normal children were Rh-negative. This is a very significant difference, as it demonstrates an in-utero exposure to ethyl mercury; the metal from this gestational exposure can pass through the placenta to the baby. We also did a study on amalgam fillings (49.6 percent mercury) in mothers and found that the mothers of autistic children have significantly more of these fillings than the mothers of normal children. That’s another intrauterine source. Yet another in-utero comes from the flu vaccine, currently recommended for all pregnant women past 14 weeks gestation.”
“MM: What is the rationale of giving the vaccines at birth versus waiting until a child is two years old?
SC: A lot of infections can be picked up very early. For instance, the critical time for contracting hemophilus is six months of age, so the hemophilus vaccine is given early. But there’s no rationale for hepatitis B being given at birth. That vaccine is for preventing a sexually transmitted disease. If a mother is hepatitis B-positive, that’s different…. Hepatitis B is the first genetically engineered vaccine we have ever had, and it had five days of safety study! Giving it to a newborn baby was a big, big risk, and I think it still is, even with the mercury taken out of it. We see more autoimmune processes in these ASD (autism spectrum disorders) babies, and we’re not sure where that’s coming from–mercury, the hepatitis B itself, or the MMR.”
“MM: Theoretically, if vaccines were thimerosal-free and in-utero mercury exposures were eliminated, would we see a drop in autism spectrum disorders?
SC: …I think there will be a peak in this autism epidemic in about four years, when the two year olds that we’re seeing reach six and are counted in school populations…. I spent the weekend with my newest grandchild and noticed how even-tempered she is…. That’s the way children used to be. But through the 1990s, the children were irritable. I can stand in the airport now, look around at the children, and tell you almost when they were born and how many micrograms of ethyl mercury they’ve had, just by the irritability I see. I think calm children who develop more quickly will be coming back. I think we’ve lost sight of what the normal child could be during the past ten years.”
In Eating Alive II, I state that the Swedish government made the correct decision in 1998 when they determined there is no safe level of mercury in the human body and they banned mercury in amalgam fillings, in vaccines and even in thermometers. Thus, I have recommended that one avoid any vaccine containing mercury. The insight given this month from Dr. Cave makes it imperative to also avoid the hepatitis B shot even if is mercury-free, with the possible exception of those at severe risk of contracting hepatitis B.
There still remains a giant unanswered question. If the Swedish government identified the mercury problem and correctly banned its use in 1998, and North American naturopathic and holistic doctors are reversing chronic health problems consistently by removing mercury from the body, why is mercury still being widely used in North America today?
In Canada, a report in 1976 by Dr. Pierre Blais of Health Canada stated: “the potential hazards with the product (silver mercury fillings) are so transparently obvious that we (Government of Canada) cannot even appear to ignore it without attracting ridicule…”
Similar reports were done in 1991, 1993, 1994 and 1995, and are likely collecting dust in the same archives that contain the warnings from fisheries biologists on the state of the Atlantic cod fishery many years ago.
A much more blatant, and perhaps even criminal, event took place in the US government bureaucracy. The story begins in 1999, after two grandchildren of Congressman Dan Burton (R-Indiana) became brain-damaged (one with autism, the other with epilepsy) after receiving vaccinations. Burton inquired of the FDA what was in the vaccinations that could be causing such harm to young children, and they replied that there was a little mercury in them but they didn’t know how much, as the vaccines were labeled in percentage of solution rather than micrograms of mercury. The FDA hired three people to convert percentages to micrograms of mercury and the conclusions were startling: by six months of age, the average infant was receiving 187 micrograms of ethyl mercury, far above the safety standard set by the EPA in the 1930s for the less toxic methyl mercury.
In spite of this shocking insight, no recalls were done on these vaccines and they continued to be given for two more years without any warning to the parents that their children were receiving doses hazardous to their children’s health. The statement given was that there was no evidence that harm was being done.
However, it turns out there was a study done, but in secrecy. In the US legal system, proof of liability in the abuse of toxic substances revolves around something called “relative risk factor.” A relative risk factor of 2 or greater is considered adequate proof that a particular toxin created a particular problem and therefore liability can be assigned. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) did a study beginning in 1999 and finished in early 2000 on the relative risk factor of thimerosal in vaccines causing autism. This 27 page study was authored by Thomas Verstraeten and concluded that an exposure to greater than 62 micrograms of mercury thimerosal gave a relative risk factor of 2.48, far exceeding the proof of legal liability for the pharmaceutical companies that made the vaccines and the doctors that prescribed them. Most vulnerable would be the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, the company that had the patent on thimerosal and had benefited financially over the last 70 years.
Verstraeten’s incriminating study was never released by the CDC to the media, to the public, to the medical professions or to any government agency involved in regulating vaccines. He did issue a revised version six months later that managed to lower the relative risk factor to less than 2, but the CDC won’t release his raw data for evaluation by lawyers of brain-damaged children. Verstraeten apparently now works for a pharmaceutical company and isn’t available for comment.
How could the FDA and the CDC achieve such incompetence at monitoring the quantities of mercury in vaccines and ignoring the damage done by it? Congressman Burton told the House of Representatives on May 15, 2001 that his investigations had shown that members, including the chairs of the FDA and CDC advisory committees, owned stock in the drug companies that make the vaccines, and some members of the committees even owned patents on vaccines. Obviously there is a strong bias towards continuing vaccines no matter how much damage they might cause. However, this is not the end of the story, as corruption runs much deeper yet.
Apparently, the pharmaceutical companies knew of the relative risk factors involved in their use of mercury in vaccinations; while they continued using vaccines in spite of the risks to infants, they were pouring millions of dollars into the coffers of the Republican party. With the election of George W. Bush and the subsequent war on terrorism, a peculiar thing happened. A bill that limited medical malpractice lawsuits snuck through Congress.
Doctors tend to look on malpractice lawsuits as the evil doings of neurotic whiners, while lawyers see malpractice lawsuits as justice being served to innocent victims of an arrogant system that uses dangerous practices. Since Congress is long on lawyers and short on doctors, legislation limiting malpractice suits would not normally make it through Congress. However, with fear of terrorism at a high pitch, and Senator Frist, the only medical doctor in the Senate, sponsoring it, a bill was passed in November 2002 to create a Department of Homeland Security. Tacked onto the back was a two-paragraph addendum that slipped through, virtually unread until after it was passed.
Jonathan Weisman of the Washington Post had this to say on November 28, 2002: “The paragraphs appeared just days before the house was to vote on the legislation. House Republicans rammed the bill through during Congress’s ‘lame duck session’….”
“And so, with little debate, Congress granted broad legal protection to the makers of Thimerosal, a preservative in childhood vaccines that has been circumstantially linked to rising rates of autism and pediatric developmental problems. It seemed a lobbying coup for Lilly and its allies.”
“Yet corporate lobbyists who might be expected to crow about saving their clients potentially billions of dollars have stayed mum. That may be in part because the deed was done rather clumsily, one lobbyist said. The provision was not even hidden. Instead it was simply tacked on at the end of the bill. That has brought down a wave of unwanted publicity on vaccine makers, especially Lilly, the inventor of Thimerosal.
‘They didn’t even make an effort to be clever about it,’ the lobbyist said.”
Bob Herbert of the New York Times had this to say on November 25, 2002: “Now this has nothing to do with homeland security. Nothing. This is not a provision that will in any way protect us from the ferocious evil of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. So why is it there? Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the major drug companies have become a gigantic collective cash machine for politicians, and that the vast majority of that cash goes to Republicans.
Or maybe it’s related to the fact that Mitch Daniels, the White House budget director, is a former Eli Lilly big shot. Or the very convenient fact that just last June President Bush appointed Eli Lilly’s chairman, president and C.E.O., Sidney Taurel, to a coveted seat on the president’s Homeland Security Advisory Council.
There’s a real bad smell here. Eli Lilly will benefit greatly as both class-action and individual lawsuits are derailed.”
“The politicians with their hands out and the fat cats with plenty of green to spread around have carried the day. Nothing is too serious to exploit, not even the defense of the homeland during a time of terror.”
If you’re getting the impression that the government and its affiliated health departments have sold out to the pharmaceutical industry at the expense of you and your family’s health, you only have to look at the fact that, in spite of billions of taxpayer dollars being spent on ‘health care’ pharmaceuticals each year, it is harder to find a truly healthy person. Studies have shown that 45 percent of North Americans now have chronic health problems. That means they have lost their ability to heal themselves.
In my profession, where our focus is on improving health rather than treating disease, we have been able to reverse most of the chronic diseases that are presently considered ‘incurable.’ Many of the cures aren’t complete until the mercury has been reduced in the patients’ bodies. Yet we have recently been delisted from the government ‘health’ care funding, while the medical doctors received a significant raise. We have been blocked from using labs even if our patients are willing to pay for them and the government has continually failed to pass our schedule of preparations because of reluctance of the medical doctors to cooperate. I want you to be aware of the intense politics that are going on in medicine, as the pharmaceutical companies scheme for greater profit, even at the cost of the customer’s health, as tens of thousands of parents of brain-damaged children have recently learned.