For Immediate Release:                
March 13, 2003                          Â
 Â                   

Contact: 
Laura Bono, The Right to Fight Mercury Damage
Campaign, (919)403-9443
Lyn Redwood, Safe Minds (404) 932-1786
 

Recently-repealed Homeland Security Bill Provisions get 
Special-Interest Sequel Courtesy of Senator Bill Frist & S. 15

LEGISLATION COMES ON HEELS OF RECENT REPORT IN MEDICAL JOURNAL 
LINKING THIMEROSAL TO NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS---PARENTS OF MERCURY-POISONED 
CHILDREN SAY BILL ONCE AGAIN PROTECTS ELI LILLY FROM LAWSUITS. 

PARENTS ALONG WITH MEDICAL RESEARCHERS TO HOLD DC PROTEST RALLY WEDNESDAY, 
MARCH 19th.
 

Washington DC Senator Bill Frist (R-TN) introduced bill S. 15 
Wednesday which will once again seek to protect drug companies from 
Thimerosal-related litigation while eliminating legal recourse for 
families of vaccine-injured, mercury-toxic children. 

The new legislation, sponsored by Senator Judd Gregg, comes on the 
heels of a just-published report in the Journal of the American 
Association of Physicians and Surgeons. The research, conducted by 
Dr. Mark Geier and David Geier, analyzed mercury doses children 
received from Thimerosal in childhood vaccines in comparison to 
Federal Safety Guidelines. The doctors concluded that mercury from 
Thimerosal did exceed Federal Safety Guidelines and that the study 
provides "strong epidemiological evidence" for a link between 
increasing mercury from Thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines and 
neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism which has reached 
epidemic proportions. The authors stated, "A causal relationship 
between Thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines and  
neurodevelopmental disorders appears to be confirmed."

The Geier research confirms the findings of an unreleased CDC study, 
obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, which found a 
relative risk of 2.48 between thimerosal exposures and autism. Courts 
of law have generally held that a relative risk of 2.0 or higher is 
sufficient to substantiate that a given exposure causes disease.

Much like the Homeland Security Bill provision, the legislation is 
attached to a larger bill that most likely will pass swiftly through 
the Senate due to its anti-terrorism measures. The bill combines 
three interrelated issues: Bioterrorism-"BioShield", creating a 
Smallpox Compensation Program and reforming the Vaccine Injury 
Compensation Act (VICA).

Parents of vaccine-injured children and many lawmakers on Capitol 
Hill believe VICA is long overdue for review and adjustment but 
passage of the Frist bill with all of its pro-drug company/anti-child 
regulations is not the solution.  Jeff Sell, vice-president of the 
Autism Society of America, an attorney and father of autistic twins 
said, "It is unconscionable to slam the door on any relief for 
perhaps 500,000 families who may face millions of dollars in expenses 
for lifetime care for a seriously injured child without providing for 
an alternative and effective remedy."

This isn't the first time Frist has been accused of catering to the 
pharmaceutical companies many think in response to large campaign 
contributions. Last year, a $10,000 campaign contribution was 
reportedly given to Frist from a drug industry lobbying group the day 
after he submitted S. 2053 that contained similar language to S. 15 
and what was quietly slipped into the Homeland Security Bill in the 
11th hour. The corrupt rider was later repealed in response to media 
backlash and at the request of moderate Republicans.
 

If the Frist Vaccine Injury Compensation Bill does pass, drug 
companies will not be required to pay for lifelong care of children 
damaged by Thimerosal, but taxpayers will. "U.S. taxpayers had no 
part in destroying my child's immune system, his health and his 
chance of a normal life...should they pay for it?"asked Loretta 
McMahon, mother of a child whose diagnosis recently switched from 
autism to mercury toxicity. 

Parents of children with mercury-induced autism say they look to the 
Burton/Waxman/Weldon Bill in the House as a viable alternative plan 
because of its due process to pursue civil litigation and for its 
look-back provision to incorporate thousands of families who 
presently do not fit into the VICA. They plan a rally at Upper Senate 
Park, Wednesday, March 19th from 10:00 a.m. 1:00
p.m. Researchers will be in attendance to talk about the
mercury/thimerosal and autism connection.

In 1990, the rate of autism was 1 in 10,000. Today that number stands 
at 1 in 150 according to Centers for Disease Control. This dramatic 
rise in autism rates correlates with the increase in mercury-exposure 
through vaccines given to children in the late 1980s and through the 
1990s.

For more information about the autism-mercury connection, visit 

www.safeminds.org, 
www.momsonamissionforautism.org,
www.altcorp.com 
and www.autismautoimmunityproject.com.