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Asheville Citizen-Times Voice Of The Mountains CITIZEN-TIMES.com Wednesday January 8, 2003 Buncombe Woman Blames Mercury For Child's Autism By Leslie Boyd Staff Writer Leicester - A Buncombe County mother is convinced a mercury-based preservative once used in vaccines caused autism in her 6-year-old son, and she wants her day in court. Amy Carson joins hundreds of other parents in Washington, D.C., today to focus attention on their cause and to protest legislation attached to the Homeland Security Bill passed by Congress in November. The legislation, called a rider, halts lawsuits filed against Eli Lilly, which used the additive Thimerosal in vaccines. In addition, the bill's smallpox provisions protect manufacturers from liability without providing any compensation to those injured by a smallpox vaccine. "What this rider says is that I can't have my day in court, and I say that goes against everything this country and our Constitution stand for," Carson said. Under the new bill, families can refile their claims in a special administrative court for vaccine-related injury cases. Claims can be made by parents if their child's first symptom of neurological damage occurred within the last three years, which effectively bars Carson and many other families from going to court. Carson's son, Kit, was diagnosed with autism about four years ago. Like many families, Carson wasn't aware of a possible connection between Thimerosal and her son's disability until after the three-year limit has passed. Pharmaceutical companies stopped adding mercury-based preservatives to vaccines in 1999 under order from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Thousands of parents believe it is the cause of their children's developmental disabilities, speech delays, and attention deficit disorder. According to the Center for the Study of Autism in Salem, Ore., the rate of autism until the 1980s was about 4.5 out of every 10,000 births. The rate today, according to the Autism Society of America, is between 20 and 60 per 10,000 births. A recent study in Atlanta, published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found the rate to be about 34 per 10,000 births. There is no established link between the preservative and neurodevelopmental disorders. A study published in the Nov. 30, 2002, issue of The Lancet found vaccines containing Thimerosal did not raise blood mercury levels in infants. But some doctors will not rule out a connection, pointing to studies like the one published in October 2001 by the Institute of Medicine that said "the hypothesis is biologically plausible." The increase in autism doesn't necessarily point to a specific cause, according to Dr. Victoria Sheppard-Labrecque, who practices at the Olson Huff Child Development Center in Asheville. "The rise in autism could come from Thimerosal or it could come from something completely different," she said. "The issue needs more study." Safeminds is a national organization dedicated to proving the link and helping families who believe their children have been harmed by vaccines. "I don't think there's a conspiracy in terms of deliberate deception," said Sallie Bernard, executive director of Safeminds. "But there's certainly a reluctance to believe it. Vaccines have performed so well overall that there's a definite aversion to saying something's wrong with them..." Carson believes the Homeland Security Bill rider will hamper unbiased study of the issue. "President Bush has said they'll fix it, but we don't want a fix. We want the rider removed," she said. Contact Boyd at 232-2922 or LBoyd@CITIZEN-TIMES.com |
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