On February 22, the Supreme Court ruled that 19 year-old Hannah Bruesewitz cannot pursue a lawsuit against the vaccine manufacturer whose vaccine injured her. Hannah developed a seizure disorder within 24 hours of her receipt of a DTP vaccine, when she was 6 months old, and she was subsequently diagnosed with developmental delays. Hannah had 100 seizures in the first month after her receipt of the vaccine. Read more. 

SafeMinds supported the live streaming video of press conference today last week  where the family of Hannah Bruesewitz spoke out for the first time regarding this landmark decision that denies justice for injury related to what the court called "unavoidably unsafe" vaccines.   View video of press conference.  

Was Bruesewitz the Last Straw?

Please Take Action Today by sending this letter to your Senators and Congressmen. Their contact information can be found at http://www.senate.gov/ and http://www.house.gov/ by entering your zip code or using the dropdown menus.   Save the links in your favorites. 

Each representative has a form to fill out online, so the fastest way to do this is to cut and paste the text and link below.  You will need to enter the name of each representative and please feel free to personalize the letter.  We need to gather support for hearings on the fatally flawed Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.  Thank you for helping to educate Congress.

Sample Letter

Dear Senator or Congressman   ______________,

Last week's decision by the Supreme Court in Bruesewitz v. Wyeth gave unprecedented product liability protection to vaccine manufacturers.  No other industry has complete immunity to produce an "unavoidably unsafe" product with no accountability to consumers for safety.  The Vaccine Injury Compensation Act of 1986 has failed in its mission.  I am writing to request that hearings be held in order to rewrite this legislation. 

Here is a simple statement of a few of the problems:

1. The VICP was intended to provide quick, non-adversarial compensation to those with vaccine injuries.  Instead it compensates only 20% of claimants and claims have taken as long as 10 years Petitioners fight for compensation at a tremendous disadvantage. In countless ways - a short statute of limitations, an extremely adversarial atmosphere, no jury, inadequate procedural rules, extremely limited discovery - the deck is stacked against petitioners. 
2. The VICA was written to prevent vaccine manufacturers from leaving the business due to lawsuits.  Since it was enacted, the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction.  Complete immunity from product safety liability has resulted in a tripling of the number of vaccines recommended for our infants with hundreds more in the "pipeline".  VICA has become a cash cow for pharmaceutical companies.  Yet with all these vaccines, our infant mortality rate is 46th in the world. 
3. Only injuries listed as" table injuries" allow for a realistic chance of compensation.  In all other cases, the claimant must prove the injury resulted from the vaccine without any legal discovery allowed.  The following newer vaccines have no compensable table injuries:  Hib, Varicella, Rotavirus, Pneumococcal, Hepatitis A, Influenza, Meningococcal and HPV.  All of these vaccines list possible side effects on their package inserts - but none of these injuries are compensable in "vaccine court."

It has been 25 years since VICA was signed.  It is time to fix what is broken.  Please hold hearings on VICA.  Thank you.

The NIH Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee released the 2011 Strategic Plan for ASD Research on February 28th.  The 2011 Strategic Plan includes an additional 16 objectives and newly developed addendum sections for each chapter describing what has recently been learned, what gap areas have emerged, and what progress is being made in fulfilling research objectives. Click here to read.

As a member of the IACC and the Strategic Planning subcommittee, I know firsthand the tremendous amount of effort that went into the development of the newly released plan. The updating process starts the first of each year when the subcommittee conducts a research portfolio analysis of all autism research funded by both public and private organizations. In 2009 there were 985 projects funded which resulted in $316,106,002 invested in ASD research. The funded projects are then categorized to relate to specific chapter of the plan in an effort to identify progress in fulfilling research goals and also to identify gaps in funding.  Click here to review the portfolio analysis.

A request for public input on the plan is also sent to all stakeholders via the Federal Register.  Public comments received are then incorporated into the review process. One of the common themes submitted was the need to acknowledge the dramatic increase in the number of children being diagnosed with autism and to also investigate the links between autism and environmental factors, including vaccines, especially in children who regress or have adverse events such as seizures following vaccinations.  We also heard that there needs to be more research into co-occurring medical conditions associated with ASD and greater stakeholder involvement in the research process.     

For those of you who voiced these concerns to the committee, you will be pleased to know that your concerns have been heard. The introduction to the plan was revised to recognize that "the increasing numbers of children being diagnosed with autism have created a national health emergency".  A new section was also added to the cross-cutting themes, which acknowledges the need to focus research on "understand(ing) the scope and cause of health conditions for those with ASD, along with the development of multidisciplinary health assessments and effective treatment guidelines" in an effort to immediately improve the quality of life for individuals with ASD and their families. 

The inclusion of stakeholders was also recognized as being "essential to ensure that the personal experiences of people with ASD and their families are reflected in scientific considerations, investment strategy, and research focus".  The need for autism stakeholder involvement was also the focus of my presentation to the Institute of Medicine meeting on Autism and the Environment in 2007.  (Click here for report) 

In the section of the plan that asks the question "What caused this (autism) to happen and can it be prevented?", language from the 2009 report by the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC), which acknowledged particular interest in regressive autism was included.  This section recommends "studies to assess whether adverse events following immunization (e.g., fever and seizures) correlate with risk of ASD, and that immune response profiles be examined in ASD cases with a history of adverse events following immunization".

Although these additions to the plan, along with the 16 new objectives are welcomed, the problem is the fact that the plan lacks any mechanism to ensure this critical research actually gets done.

The development of special study sections focused on advancing the science in these critical areas, along with specific requests for applications to fund such proposals, would go a long way in making sure our research investment actually addresses this national health emergency.

Although much of what is covered by the media regarding the controversy surrounding the use of mercury (thimerosal) in vaccines is that thimerosal is the kinder, gentler mercury (unlike methyl mercury) and there is no "evidence of harm," Jose' Dorea paints a different picture in his recently published research Integrating Experimental (In Vitro and In Vivo) Neurotoxicity Studies of Low-dose Thimerosal Relevant to Vaccines.   

Dorea conducts a systematic literature review of thimerosal research and finds activity of low dose thimerosal against isolated human and animal brain cells, in all studies, consistent with mercury neurotoxicity.  He adds that the neurotoxic effects of ethyl mercury in vaccines have not been studied with co-occurring aluminum adjuvants, that animal studies have shown that exposure to thimerosal can lead to accumulation of inorganic mercury in the brain, and that doses comparable to vaccine exposure have the potential to affect human neurodevelopment.

The research was funded by the National Research Council of Brazil and published Feb. 2011 in Neurochem. Research.  Click here to read. 

SafeMinds Reflects on the Year 2010

One of the main goals for SafeMinds for 2010 was to empower citizens and consumers with information and alternatives to make informed healthcare decisions to reduce mercury exposure and associated health risks.  

SafeMinds also worked diligently to reduce unnecessary exposure to mercury from all sources, including medical products, and to support research that broadens our scientific understanding of how mercury causes injury and what steps can be taken to restore health to those injured.   Below is a summary of specific accomplishments in 2010.

Empowering Consumers

• SafeMinds produced 3 videos regarding flu vaccines; a 15 second, 30 second, and a longer 3 minute educational video.  The videos focused on the use of mercury in flu vaccines and how to avoid this unnecessary exposure.  The 30 second video was distributed in 150 theaters nationwide and ran in front of 50,000 movies during the Christmas holidays.  The 15 second video aired throughout the US as a radio PSA.
• SafeMinds launched two additional videos in an effort to provide citizens accurate information regarding the controversial issue of vaccine adverse events and the subsequent development of autism. Collectively, these videos were released on the SafeMinds YouTube channel and have been viewed 28,000 times.
• SafeMinds board members and representatives appeared on several national television and radio programs throughout the year including: ABC News, Good Morning America, Fox and Friends, AOL News, Web MD, and Imus in the Morning.  These efforts raised SafeMinds visibility and educated the public about mercury-related issues.
•  SafeMinds board member, Mark Blaxill, with co-author, Dan Olmsted, released a landmark book The Age of Autism which outlined the historic use of mercury in medicine and the tragic health consequences that occurred as a result.  The book tour included 25 cities and the book has sold 10,000 copies to date.  The paperback version of the book is due out in September.

Reducing Exposure to Mercury

• SafeMinds submitted public comments, both oral and written, in support of several regional and national initiatives in an effort to identify and reduce mercury exposure.  These included efforts to reduce mercury emissions from coal burning power plants, and the National Conversation on Public Health and Toxic Exposures.
• SafeMinds also provided comment to the Food and Drug Administration regarding the continued use of mercury amalgam in dental fillings and called for an immediate ban of such practices.
• SafeMinds obtained accreditation and formal permission from the United Nations Environmental Programme Governing Council to participate in the negotiations of a global mercury reduction treaty. This historic decision to address one of the most toxic substances on earth, mercury, was agreed to by over 140 countries whose governments unanimously decided to launch negotiations on an international treaty to deal with world-wide emissions and discharges.

Supported Critical Research

• SafeMinds funded several important research projects this year with a total combined research investment of over $100,000.  The focus of the research is to elucidate mechanisms of injury from mercury and other man-made toxicants, and to identify injured organ systems and the manifestations of injury which can lead to the development of effective treatments to restore health to those injured. Many of the funded projects will continue into 2011.
• SafeMinds advocated within both private and public organizations and provided information supporting the necessity to research mercury exposure and health consequences.  Board members actively participated in workshops (NIEHS), conferences (IMFAR, ARI, NAA), and federal advisory meetings (IACC, ACIP, ACCV, NVAC, FDA).  SafeMinds also played a key role in linking environmental researchers with private foundation funding and supported additional research as a member of the Global Autism Collaboration.

For the first time in the forty-year history of the Clean Air Act, a majority of the House of Representatives has voted to block EPA from implementing and enforcing standards to sharply reduce mercury and other toxic air emissions from a polluting industry. 

In one of a long list of irresponsible amendments to last week's Republican budget, nearly all Republicans and a small group of Democrats voted to block EPA standards to reduce mercury, arsenic, lead, PCBs, dioxins and furans, and heavy metals from cement plants. 

Mercury and lead both are dangerous neurotoxins - brain poisons - that harm the developing brains of children and fetuses. Dioxins are known human carcinogens linked to birth defects, reproductive abnormalities, and lung and breast cancer. Arsenic is a known human carcinogen linked to lung and kidney cancer and PCBs are probable human carcinogens linked to liver cancer. 

On February 17th, in a 250-177 vote, the House of Representatives approved an amendment by Rep. John Carter (R-TX) to deny any funds to EPA to "implement, administer or enforce" mercury and other toxic air pollution standards for all cement plants in the country. Read more.  

On the evenings of April 1 and 2, 2011, prominent buildings across North America and the world - including the Empire State Building in NYC and the CN Tower in Toronto - will turn their lights blue to raise awareness for autism and to commemorate World Autism Awareness Day on Saturday, April 2. Please ask President Obama to light the White House blue to show the entire world! Sign the pledge to raise autism awareness and Light It Up Blue.