http://fl.mlive.com/news/index.ssf?/news/stories/20011022f22a1vaccinesmercury.frm
Mom says mercury in
vaccine harmed child
Monday, October 22, 2001
By Bob Wheaton
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
"I go to school," says Evan, 3.
When he's asked where he goes to preschool, Evan ignores the question and
turns his head.
Evan's four-word sentence is a sign of progress to his mother, Tami.
"For him to say that is a big deal," she said.
"He's (almost) 4 years old and he can't hold a conversation,"
White said.
The Grand Blanc Township woman believes her son's slow development was
caused by mercury used as a preservative in vaccines given to Evan and other
children nationwide.
She's not alone.
A coalition of more than 35 law firms in 25 states recently filed a lawsuit
to try to force drug companies to study how the presence of mercury in vaccines
has affected children.
Parents who sued say their children have autism or other brain disorders as a
result of vaccines given to them to protect them from diseases such as
hepatitis.
Tami White isn't part of the lawsuit, but she's talking to a lawyer to find
out her options.
She has examined Evan's immunization records and found that many of his
vaccines were manufactured by companies that used thimerosal - a preservative
that includes mercury - to store multiple doses of vaccines in large bottles.
"I feel like someone damaged my child," White said. "I
allowed them to vaccinate my child, not to poison my child."
Evan White is the youngest of Greg and Tami White's three children. He was
born Dec. 21, 1997.
Evan's speech and communication skills have lagged behind other children his
age, Tami White said. He has behavior problems and previously suffered from
sleep apnea and exhibited autistic-like behavior.
At one time, she thought Evan might be deaf.
Many of the problems began a couple of months after he received a series of
vaccinations at the age of 15 months, White said.
"There's just no doubt in my mind that everything that's happened to my
child is directly the result of this. And I'd really like to know how many
other people in the area are in the same boat and do not know about this."
White had suspected the vaccines might be the source of Evan's problems. She
became convinced when she researched thimerosal in vaccines after reading a
story in The Flint Journal about the lawsuits.
"It makes me sick," she said. "You think you're doing the
right thing. The government wants you to vaccinate your child. The state wants
you to vaccinate your child. Everybody wants you to vaccinate your child."
Few vaccines given to U.S. children today contain thimerosal.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics
in 1999 recommended a change to a mercury-free vaccine.
The National Academy of Sciences recently released a report saying
researchers still are unable to determine whether there is a link between
thimerosal and disorders in children.
However, the report concluded that "the effort to remove thimerosal
from vaccines was a prudent measure in support of the public health goal to
reduce the mercury exposure of infants and children as much as possible."
The number of children with autism is on the rise, said Jan Russell, director
of special education for the Genesee Intermediate School District.
But Russell said he doesn't know what if any effect thimerosal has had on
the increase.
"The suspicion that vaccines may be linked to autism has been around
for some time," Russell said. "To my knowledge, there has not been
any conclusive determination made about that relationship."
The number of autistic students served by the Genesee Intermediate School
District and the county's public and charter schools increased from 88 in 1996
to 176 in 2000, according to figures from the GISD.
Thimerosal has been used as a preservative in vaccinations since the 1940s,
but small infants now get more immunizations than in the past.
Tami White recently began taking Evan to a homeopathic nurse in her search
for answers to his developmental problems.
Homeopaths practice an alternative form of medicine by treating diseases
with small doses of drugs that would produce symptoms similar to that disease
if given to healthy people.
Last week, White cut her son's hair so the homeopath could have a gram of it
analyzed for mercury in a lab. She expects to get results in about two weeks.
If enough mercury shows up, Evan could undergo chelation therapy, which
removes metals from a person's body.
Evan's homeopath, Margaret Paris, said she agrees vaccines could be the
source of his problems.
"I think the vaccines are real problematic," said Paris, whose
office is in Brighton. "Can I prove it? No. Clinical practice bears it
out."
White wonders if her son will ever be able to catch up to other children his
age, and she dreads the day he starts school because of vaccination
requirements.
"At this point, I don't know if I would let him be vaccinated,"
she said. "Even without the mercury in them, it would really scare me. I
don't know if I could do it."
Bob Wheaton covers Grand Blanc. He can be reached at (810) 766-6375 or bwheaton@flintjournal.com .
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KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED
AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO
VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU
ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.