The Injection Insurrection, part 2 In part one of this series, I informed you of a new, encouraging trend among many responsible parents - a reluctance to have their kids needlessly immunized. The reasons for this shift are twofold: First, a logical and informed evaluation of fact (like disease infection and mortality rates); and second, a growing distrust of drug companies. According to a recent CBSNews.com story, a lot of anti-vaccine parents feel the way they do because they think the major drug companies (and the government) are hiding the risks of childhood vaccines from the public. Apparently, they don't want to be blindsided by the next Vioxx-type drug mortality scandal. Adding fuel to this fire is the fact that right now, the whole mainstream media seems abuzz with concerns about a popular vaccine preservative called Thimerosol - which contains almost 50% ethyl mercury, a known neurotoxin - that's thought by many to contribute to childhood autism. Ironically, there's no evidence I know of that conclusively links this preservative to autism. In fact, a major Danish study of over half a million children published in the November 2002 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine showed similar rates of autism between groups of vaccinated and un-vaccinated kids. But this is really beside the point - I was talking about parents' distrust of drug companies and the government. And there's ample evidence to support this feeling. Here's what I'm talking about: Whether factually right or wrong, in response to rising public concern about childhood exposure to mercury (along with pressure from the U.S. Public Health Service in the late 90s), drug companies began to curb their use of Thimerosol. Or at least, they SAID they did. According to an L.A. Times report from last month, at least one major drug company, Merck, issued a press release in September of 1999 claiming to have eliminated mercury-based compounds from its entire vaccine line. But recently, evidence has surfaced indicating that they continued to dole out Thimerosol-preserved versions of vaccine until as late as October of 2001 - more than 2 years after they claimed to be mercury-free! Merck confirmed this in their response to an FDA inquiry generated by a recent Congressional investigation. The drug giant admits no wrongdoing, however, insisting that they were indeed PRODUCING mercury-less vaccines at the time of the press release. They attribute the continued supplies of the old vaccine to the need to keep up with demand during a "transition period" between the two medicines. Sounds to me like they just didn't want to waste any inventory. Now do you see why parents in the know have good reason to distrust the drug giants? Keep reading... **************************************************** If Thimerosol did indeed cause autism (or even if proof surfaces later that it does), vaccine-skeptical parents who believed Merck's slippery verbiage between 1999 and 2001 would have unwittingly exposed their children to risk. The fact that it may not contribute to the condition is irrelevant to my point. Why? Because Merck itself was worried about Thimerosol's effects, and they did nothing about it for a DECADE. Get this: According to the Times expose, a recently "leaked" corporate memo from Merck shows that the drug giant was aware - and even concerned about - the levels of mercury in some of its vaccines for kids. The date of that memo: 1991. A full ten years before their vaccines were made mercury-free. The memo came from a leading vaccinologist and former Senior VP of Merck and clearly highlights Thimerosol as a potential safety hazard. The bottom line is this: Merck believed its vaccines contained unsafe levels of mercury years ago, yet continued to make and distribute them anyway. Here's what I really want you to understand about all of this: This cover-up by Merck isn't an isolated incident - along with the recent Vioxx scandal, it's evidence of a continuing pattern of deception that could be KILLING PEOPLE. Remember: Merck & Co. is facing massive legal actions right now because they also knew about the extreme risks of their Vioxx arthritis medicine years before the recent scandal - yet never made a move to change the medication or pull it from shelves until people started DYING in large numbers. And they most surely wouldn't have stopped selling the medicine if it hadn't been for increasing awareness among doctors and public health entities that something was amiss with the drug. The same goes for these vaccines, I'm sure. But the real question is this: How many other drugs in their line does Merck believe (or know) are hazardous, yet continue to sell anyway? And if every other drug company's doing this same kind of covering-up, we're in a lot of trouble... Parents: Whether these Mercury-preserved vaccines are safe or not, you're doing the right thing by your kids by erring on the side of distrust of drug makers, believe me. And in the conclusion of this series, I'll tell how you can protect your kids from the real mercury dangers they brave every day. Until then... Exposing the truth through Mercky waters, William Campbell Douglass II, MD | 
