Protecting Vaccine Mfrs. from Liability Under Guise of Protecting Americans from

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Leg. Protecting Vaccine Mfrs. from Liability Under Guise of Protecting

Americans from Terror Introduced by Sen. Gregg; SafeMinds Urges

Opposition to Bill Denying Compensation to Victims of Neurological

Problems Resulting from FDA Approved Medications

 

2/9/2005 5:49:00 PM

 

National Desk, Health Reporter

 

Contact: Stephanie Morris of Venture Communications, 202-628-7772 or

smorris

 

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Once again, Senators Gregg

(R-NH) and Frist (R-TN) have introduced legislation to shield the

pharmaceutical industry from responsibility for exposing American

children to harmful levels of mercury from thimerosal, a mercury

containing preservative widely used in infant vaccines. The bill, S.

3, " Protecting America in the War on Terror Act of 2005 " introduced on

January 24th includes language that protects vaccine producers from

product liability under the guise of shielding the nation from

biological terrorism and increasing the death benefit paid to US

soldiers. SafeMinds, an advocacy group committed to raising awareness

about causal links between the mercury and neurodevelopmental

disorders like ADD/ADHD and autism, strongly opposes this effort. As

this bill is at the top of the legislative docket it has the full

support of Senator Frist.

 

This legislation marks the fourth occasion the Senator has attempted

to insulate the vaccine industry from product liability by legally

blocking civil claims for injuries caused by the mercury based vaccine

ingredient. Three prior attempts to provide similar unprecedented

protections for pharmaceutical companies have failed due to opposition

by parents of mercury-injured children.

 

" This is possibly the most egregious bill introduced yet as it

inappropriately ties the provision to legislation designed to

compensate the families of US Soldiers killed in action and overrides

state laws where legislators have had full and open discussions about

the issue...something the authors of S. 3 have failed to undertake. "

stated Lyn Redwood, president of SafeMinds. " Not since the previous

late night addition of similar language in the Homeland Security Bill

in 2002 have we seen such blatant disregard for civil justice. "

 

An article in the LA Times on Feb. 8, 2005 reveals evidence that the

harmful effects of thimerosal were known to vaccine makers as early as

1991 but neither the pharmaceutical industry nor the government have

taken appropriate steps to prohibit mercury-based preservatives. The

article, titled '91 Memo Warned of Mercury in Shots, states that: " A

memo from Merck & Co. shows that, nearly a decade before the first

public disclosure, senior executives were concerned that infants were

getting an elevated dose of mercury in vaccinations containing a

widely used sterilizing agent...6-month-old children who received

their shots on time would get a mercury does up to 87 times higher

than the guidelines for the maximum daily consumption of mercury from

fish. "

 

This provision in the legislation, which has no relation to the war on

terror, smacks of payback. The pharmaceutical industry is consistently

one the top of the donors to the campaigns of Senators Gregg and

Frist. Internal documents reviewed as a result of discovery in current

litigation filed against Eli Lilly reveal that the pharmaceutical

giant was aware of concerns resulting from thimerosal exposure since

the early 1940's and was advised by its Medical Science Department in

1967 that the claim " Non-toxic " be removed from its thimerosal labels.

Lilly's own materials safety data sheet acknowledges that exposure in

children may cause mild to severe mental retardation and that mercury

poisoning may occur.

 

S. 3 contains provisions that will:

 

Preclude lawsuits against vaccine makers

 

Override state legislation that protects its citizen from dangerous

vaccine components

 

Eliminate a state legislature's power to warn its citizens of the

dangers of vaccine additives (such as thimerosal), making recent

legislation banning the use of the mercury containing vaccines in

California and Iowa void.

 

Allow the Department of Justice to design more restrictions on access

to the Vaccine Compensation Fund and to prevent public access to

information on vaccine safety

 

Provide unprecedented tax breaks and patent protection to large

pharmaceutical corporations

 

More information about neurodevelopmental disorders, autism and

mercury exposure may be found at www.safeminds.org or by calling

Stephanie Morris at 202-628-7772.

 

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