Institute's vaccine report on mercury assailed

Parents and researchers who contend mercury-containing vaccines have caused a dramatic nationwide increase in autism fired back Wednesday, a day after the Institute of Medicine issued a report claiming there is no connection.

Skeptics of the institute's report say the finding was based on poor research.

"This is an unintelligent report and systematic of a poorly designed cover-up to protect the vaccine industry," said Dr. Boyd Haley, a chemistry researcher who claims there is a link between autism and the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal. "They're preventing research. This is morally unacceptable to me; a little short of criminal."

The Institute of Medicine, based in Washington, D.C., is a nonprofit branch of the National Academy of Science established in 1970 to issue analysis and guidance on health issues. Those who support a connection between thimerosal and autism say the institute's conclusion may hamper funding for future research.

Marie McCormick, chairwoman of the institute's committee that studied the issue, said in a press release that the panel recommends resources for autism research be directed toward "those avenues of inquiry that offer the greatest promise for answers."

Thimerosal, which contains 50-percent mercury by weight, is not it, the institute said.

Tuesday's institute report recognizes that children who followed the recommended infant immunization schedule during the 1990s could have been exposed to levels of mercury that exceeded safety standards set by two of three major governmental agencies.

The report also acknowledges that high doses of mercury can cause neurological damage, but it said there is no laboratory or animal research that proves that thimerosal, which has been used in vaccines since the 1930s, is the culprit causing autism.

Dr. William Schaffner, a well-known infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University, said the institute report settles the question for most scientists.

"It says ... we need not divert energy and financial and scientific resources to go further down what is a scientific blind alley," Schaffner said. "We need to address the issues of importance to the whole field of autism."

Critics of that stance claim conflicts of interest surround three of the five studies on which the institute largely based its conclusion. In its 175-page report, the committee acknowledges "limitations" in at least one of those five studies, as well as concerns raised about a second study.

Some critics of the institute's report cite an overreliance on data from epidemiologists rather than biological studies.

Epidemiologists included in the institute report used statistics from vaccine databases and complicated formulas based on thimerosal exposure to come up with their findings. Biological researchers worked in laboratories, examining the scientific affects of mercury on humans and animals.

The report does include data from some biological studies, including those conducted by Dr. Jeff Bradstreet at the International Child Development Resource Center in Palm Bay, Fla., and Haley, a chemistry professor at the University of Kentucky. Both men spoke at a recent institute meeting in Washington, D.C., in regard to the committee's review.

Both Bradstreet and Haley say their studies support a link between mercury and autism, however, those were not considered in the institute's conclusion because, according to the committee, evidence was not presented to support their hypotheses.

"I find it stunning. I don't know why they invited biologists to the meeting. They should have just listened to the epidemiologists and gone home," Bradstreet said. "This is a cover-up. Why it's happening, I don't know."

Bradstreet said the effects of the institute's conclusion will be strongly felt for those involved in research of a possible link.

"It's going to be harder to get funding, harder to get published. It's going to be harder all around," Bradstreet said.

Some parents who feel their children were impacted by the mercury in immunizations were also disturbed by the institute's findings.

"It's very aggravating. I wish it wasn't all about money, and instead more about feeling toward the families affected by this," said Dena Petzoldt of Jackson.

Petzoldt's 7-year-old son, Ben, is autistic. Tests have shown his body contains high levels of several heavy metals, including lead, mercury and arsenic.

"How did all of these metals get in our kids? Those metals are in the shots," Petzoldt said.

Haley, who also works as a private researcher, has performed studies that show mercury causes the shortening of axons, the part of a nerve cell that carries impulses away from the cell. Haley says this condition is found in people with autism and Alzheimer's disease.

What upsets him the most is the institute's recommendation that research be focused elsewhere when his studies have not been disproven.

"If they would have called for more research, that would have been reasonable. But to call for an abandonment of this type of research is insane," Haley said.

One of the five epidemiology studies the review is based on has been hotly debated by the anti-thimerosal faction since its release in 2003. The study, which was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was originally published in 2001 and concluded that there could be a link between mercury and autism.

When the report was re-evaluated in 2003, no link was found. Another point of contention among critics is that the lead author, Dr. Thomas Verstraeten, accepted a position with vaccine manufacturer GlaxoKlineSmith while working on the CDC study.

The institute's review also points out limitations with a second study they based their conclusion on, this one a 2003 report from Denmark led by Dr. Anders Hviid. The institute's committee recognizes that Denmark's infant vaccine schedule is different from the United States' schedule, so comparisons of autism prevalence in the two countries may not be valid.

Not only are parents and scientists trying desperately to nail down the cause of the increased prevalance in the neurological disorder, there are also millions of dollars at stake in lawsuits.

Rocky River, Ohio, resident Mark Wax, whose autistic son, Drew, is one of the lead plaintiffs in a lawsuit against pharmaceutical manufacturer Eli Lilly, says the institute's ruling will have no effect on his case. He called the insitution's decison "expected."

"We continue to maitain that we can provide 'proof' to substantiate our cause of action."

He says the institute "isn't the final arbiter."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

bmiller@semissourian.com

243-6635

cclark@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128