Letter in The New Indian Express regarding vaccine dangers.

February 5, 2006

THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS BHUBANESWAR EDITION FEB 03, 2006 LETTERS TO EDITOR COLUMN No Toxin in Ayurvedic Drugs Sir, the article on the metal contents of certain ayurvedic medicines is a half truth. Metals are used in ayurveda as 'bhasmas' or processed ash. The system of processing ensures that the toxicity is eliminated and the curative properties come to the fore. The other ingredients ensure that the 'bhasmas' are eliminated by the body and do not accumulate. This process is known as chelation. Because of these precautions there is no evidence that ayurvedic medicines have ever caused any harm. The whole issue is a scare tactics to tackle the

growing popularity of ayurveda. The Govt of India has carried out experiments on rats which proved that the metals do not accumulate in the organs, tissues or fat. Now experiments will be carried out on a non-rat species also. The results of these experiments should put at rest this controversy. Heavy metals are however used in vaccines, and in a raw form. Unfortunately this is never highlighted by the press. The vaccine additive Thimerosal is 50% mercury and is allegedly behind the epidemic of autism cases in the USA and also the suspected cause of spurt in attention deficit disorders, sudden infant death syndrome, shaken baby syndrome and meningitis. Vaccines also contain aluminium and proven carcinogens like ethylene, glycol, phenol and formaldehyde. Antibiotics are a component of vaccines though it is widely acknowledged that no antibiotic should be injected without a skin test. Contaminated animal and

human serum in vaccines has introduced the simian immune deficiency virus SV 40 into humans. Clearly vaccines are a state sponsored health hazard. Informed consumers in the US have forced the government to acknowledge the issue, prepare a huge vaccine injury database and ban Thimerosal in three states while thirty other states have legislation lined up for the same. Recently vaccine makers in America and Europe have sought immunity from law suits before manufacturing further vaccines. We should also worry about the aftereffects of genetic engineering in humans, animals and plants. Kindly highlight such issues instead of seeking to malign ayurveda. Yours faithfully, Jagannath Chatterjee, Bhubaneswar. "Our ideal is not the

spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." - Aurobindo.