Enclosure7: CoMeDs OSC Letter For Hg Free Drugs

April 2004

Scott Bloch, Special Counsel
U.S. Office of Special Counsel
1730 M Street, N.W. Suite 300
Washington, D.C. 20036-4505
(202) 254-3600 (202) 653-5151 Fax

Honorable Special Counsel Bloch,
We, the undersigned parents, have united to advocate for the reform of the national vaccine program/industry that has unnecessarily exposed our children to unsafe levels of mercury. Mercury, a known neurotoxin, which comprises 49.6% of the antiquated preservative Thimerosal, is used in many pediatric immunizations, flu shots, and Rho-D injections such as RhoGAM. We have clinical data proving that our children have suffered mercury-induced neurological disorders due to Thimerosal, and, in realizing that more children succumb daily to this preventable fate, we have resolved to bring this scandal to national prominence. Seeking to enlist your oversight and resources in investigating this serious issue, we make the following charges:

1). The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is characterized by egregious conflicts of interest, which have compromised the safety of the vaccine supply, while putting our nation’s children at risk. Placing pharmaceutical profits and patronage above our children’s health, the CDC has failed to evaluate objectively the cumulative mercury exposure incurred through the standard infant immunization schedule from 1980 to present. Furthermore, officials have refused to recall products containing this potent neurotoxin, despite the objections of clinical researchers and parents.

2). The CDC, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and pharmaceutical companies colluded at the Simpsonwood Retreat Center in Norcross, Georgia on June 7 and 8, 2000. At this closed meeting, a CDC study authored by Dr. Thomas Verstraeten was discussed. The scientists, CDC, FDA and pharmaceutical officials acknowledged the statistical correlation between mercury exposure through pediatric vaccines and neurological disorders in children including autism, ADHD, stuttering, tics and speech and language delays. This version of the Verstraeten study was never released to the public and could only be accessed through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Evidence of their collusion is recorded in the Simpsonwood Transcripts, also accessed through FOIA. Both documents can be reviewed at http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/library.php and/or http://www.NoMercury.org/ismercurydangerous.htm

3). Dr. Verstraeten later denied a link before an Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee Panel on July 16, 2001, and released a different version of the same study showing no correlation between Thimerosal and neurological disorders in the November 2003 Pediatrics Journal. The Simpsonwood Transcripts call the veracity of the latter Verstraeten Study into question. Nonetheless, the Members of the IOM, at their February 9, 2004 meeting, included this Verstraeten Study in the presentation schedule without ever raising the question of its integrity. At the close of the meeting, when questioned, IOM Chair Marie McCormick acknowledged that each member of the IOM Committee received a copy of the Simpsonwood Transcripts.

4.) According to official communication from the CDC, various datasets compiled for the Verstraeten Study showing a relationship between Thimerosal and neurological disorders no longer exist. We fear further destruction of data, and therefore ask that steps be put in place IMMEDIATELY to safeguard the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) Database and other pertinent CDC information regarding this important issue.

5). Federal and medical authorities including Health and Human Services – Office of Investigations (HHS-OI) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) incorrectly state that Thimerosal/mercury is out of the vaccine supply. It is not. Vaccines containing 25 mcg of mercury continue to be produced with documented expiration dates at the end of 2005. These vaccines pose an immediate and significant danger to America’s children. Thimerosal-containing vaccines and products must be recalled immediately, and Thimerosal must be banned.

6). Independent researchers have been arbitrarily restricted from the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) after previously being given access. This taxpayer-funded database, which contains vaccine, vaccine-dose, and health histories of millions of children and is compiled from multiple Health Management Organization (HMO) databases across the United States, must be open to all researchers regardless of CDC or government affiliation. We accuse the Internal Review Board (IRB) of denying access to the VSD—under the false pretext of privacy issues—to independent researchers Dr. Mark Geier and Mr. David Geier, who have published over 50 peer-reviewed articles. Additionally, we believe this action may have violated the Data Quality Act and Data Access Act requiring further investigation from you to determine compliance. Such subterfuge, perpetuated by the CDC, does nothing to alleviate our mistrust in an organization that continues to protect the industry they are appointed to regulate.

7). The methodology of government-sponsored studies of Thimerosal and its connection to neurological disorders in children has been exclusively statistical and epidemiological in nature. Such studies cannot assess the genetic vulnerability of subpopulations. Additionally, the ever-expanding clinical evidence amassed by clinical researchers is being ignored. We call upon the government to fund open and impartial clinical studies. While officials at the CDC and FDA continue to hide behind statistics, we parents will continue to offer our children’s clinical documentation as evidence that mercury, in any amount, is not, and never will be, safe for injection into newborns and pregnant women.

8). Claims for Thimerosal-induced vaccine injuries from government-mandated vaccines are being hampered and delayed in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP). Additionally, the statute of limitations for pursuing compensation for mercury-induced neurological disorders excludes most families from gaining legal restitution from the American Government.

9.) Injecting mercury (Thimerosal) in excess of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards without prior informed consent, represents a significant and widespread violation of civil rights.

We are convinced there is not a more pressing issue, nationally or internationally, than the epidemic of autism and the devastated lives left in its ruins. The cost of this negligence will be measured economically, intellectually, and politically for years to come.

It is tragically ironic that in an era when the American Government is concerned about biological and chemical warfare, our own vaccine supply has been poisoned with a lethal neurotoxin while being administered by the same federal agencies charged with its oversight.

We look forward to the results of your investigative findings. Without immediate action from the federal government, confidence in the national immunization program will continue to erode.