Federal hearing rekindles thimerosal-autism debate
As has been widely covered in the media, a significant hearing is underway in Washington, DC, this month, as three Special Masters hear claims from a group of 5,000 plaintiffs alleging a link between thimerosal-containing vaccines (prior to the preservative's removal in 1999) and autism. Directly at stake is whether autism should be included among diagnoses for which compensation can be awarded through the federal government's Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Advocates of vaccination warn that a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs could bankrupt the compensation program, resulting in dire consequences for U.S. vaccination efforts.
The overwhelming consensus among the medical community remains that no link can be found between thimerosal and autism. (Here's the CDC site on mercury and vaccines.) Critics of this view -- many of whom have close links to children or families affected by autism -- respond that these conclusions are based on flawed or inadequate research, or worse, are the product of a medical and vaccination community with unacceptably close ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
Official information along with audio and transcripts of the proceedings can be found here.
An excellent preview of the proceedings appeared in this story by Shankar Vedantam in last Sunday's Washington Post.
Gardiner Harris of the New York Times reported here on the first day of testimony last Monday, as did this AP story. Over at Slate, Arthur Allen previewed the hearing, and the New Scientist reports on it as well. Both focus on the widely criticized research of Dr. Mark Geier -- undoubtedly the most controversial proponent of a thimerosal-autism link.
Sharyl Atkinson of CBS News offered some very provocative opinions in a web column titled, "Autism: Why The Debate Rages." In the Boston Globe, Paul Offit weighed in via an op-ed titled, "At risk: vaccines -- How a legal case could cripple one of modern medicine's greatest achievements". Offit's op-ed generated a number of critical letters which the Globe printed here.
An interesting sidebar to these proceedings is the reported rift among the autism advocacy community regarding the merits of thimerosal-based explanations for the rise in autism rates vs. other potential explanations. Both the New York Times ("Autism debate strains a family and its charity") and ABC News ("Emotions run high over autism's causes") highlighted the disagreement between members of the Wright family, founders of Autism Speaks, perhaps the most prominent and well-connected autism organization. At The Huffington Post, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., takes issue with these portrayals of Katie Wright, who believes strongly in a thimerosal-autism link.
The hearing in Washington is scheduled to continue for another week and a half; a decision may take a year.
The overwhelming consensus among the medical community remains that no link can be found between thimerosal and autism. (Here's the CDC site on mercury and vaccines.) Critics of this view -- many of whom have close links to children or families affected by autism -- respond that these conclusions are based on flawed or inadequate research, or worse, are the product of a medical and vaccination community with unacceptably close ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
Official information along with audio and transcripts of the proceedings can be found here.
An excellent preview of the proceedings appeared in this story by Shankar Vedantam in last Sunday's Washington Post.
Gardiner Harris of the New York Times reported here on the first day of testimony last Monday, as did this AP story. Over at Slate, Arthur Allen previewed the hearing, and the New Scientist reports on it as well. Both focus on the widely criticized research of Dr. Mark Geier -- undoubtedly the most controversial proponent of a thimerosal-autism link.
Sharyl Atkinson of CBS News offered some very provocative opinions in a web column titled, "Autism: Why The Debate Rages." In the Boston Globe, Paul Offit weighed in via an op-ed titled, "At risk: vaccines -- How a legal case could cripple one of modern medicine's greatest achievements". Offit's op-ed generated a number of critical letters which the Globe printed here.
An interesting sidebar to these proceedings is the reported rift among the autism advocacy community regarding the merits of thimerosal-based explanations for the rise in autism rates vs. other potential explanations. Both the New York Times ("Autism debate strains a family and its charity") and ABC News ("Emotions run high over autism's causes") highlighted the disagreement between members of the Wright family, founders of Autism Speaks, perhaps the most prominent and well-connected autism organization. At The Huffington Post, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., takes issue with these portrayals of Katie Wright, who believes strongly in a thimerosal-autism link.
The hearing in Washington is scheduled to continue for another week and a half; a decision may take a year.
Labels: Autism, Safety, Thimerosal
feeds.feedburner.com/vaccineethics