Flu vax

[Soroush Ebrahimi]

Article in Private Eye 1071
VACCINE FLU WHAT A STINKER
A ROW has broken out over reports that four of the seven flu jabs on offer
this winter contain thimerosal - a 50 percent mercury-based preservative
which is supposedly being phased out of all vaccines in the United States
and Europe because of its possible links to autism, Alzheimer's and brain
damage.
Though the debate about thimerosal in vaccines is muted in Britain, in the
US the preservative is at the centre of a multi-billion dollar lawsuit.
Parents there maintain their children's autism and brain damage have been
triggered by a build-up of mercury.
Last year a congressional hearing into the tenfold rise in autism in the US
heard that a study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
indicating a possible link between thimerosal and autism was never
published. This led to claims of a cover-up.
The US Institute of Medicine has said the link was not proven but
"biologically plausible". There was insufficient evidence either way. In the
meantime the US has decided to phase out all thimerosal and doctors there
have been advised to opt for mercury-free vaccines wherever possible.
So why, when presented with a choice of flu jabs, did Britain's health
department opt for some with thimerosal? A spokesman said: "in response to
your question about why the department doesn't just buy thimerosal-free flu
vaccines, flu vaccine is not purchased centrally. It is purchased directly
by GPs." This ignores government responsibility for vaccine and medicine
safety.
The spokesman added that the decision to phase out the preservative in the
US and Europe was "precautionary". "There is no convincing evidence of harm
to anyone, including infants and pregnant women, caused by small amounts of
thimerosal in flu vaccines and the benefits of flu vaccine outweigh any
hypothetical risks:"
[n the US the authorities are clearly more concerned - particularly about
the legal action. Four clauses have been slipped into the national homeland
security bill, introduced in the wake of I 1 September, effectively
exempting drug manufacturer Eli Lilly from the mercury lawsuits brought by
parents. (Eli Lilly contributed nearly £1 m to the Republicans in the latest
political campaign.)
The clauses pushing the autism cases into special vaccine courts were
apparently designed to protect companies in their efforts to develop
vaccines to protect against biological welfare. But the ensuing outrage at
provisions that have nothing to do with state security has forced promises
from both the senate and the House legislative wings that the clauses will
be changed to allow litigation to proceed.
Meanwhile in a separate move the justice department in Washington asked the
vaccine court to block public access to government and drug manufacturers'
documents in the 1000-plus autism cases it is already handling.
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