Making autism case public

Hey -- sorry I've neglected the blog for a few days. I've been busy establishing a presence on Facebook and MySpace. It's like playing with new toys. Anyway, I promise some new recipes this week. I've recently had success with a "chocolate" pudding recipe (no dairy, no chocolate) and also a cutout cookie recipe. For now, I'll reprint a recent opinion piece from the New York Times regarding the autism court case. Worth reading.
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New York Times
March 11, 2008
Editorial
A Puzzling Autism Case
The federal government’s concession that vaccines may have triggered brain deterioration with symptoms like autism in a young girl is sure to exacerbate concerns among parents worried about immunizations. It is imperative that the court for vaccine compensation unseal documents involved in this unusual case so that experts, families and their doctors can better understand exactly how Hannah Poling, now 9 years old, came to be harmed after receiving a battery of shots when she was a toddler.

For years medical authorities have been assuring us that sound epidemiological studies showed that vaccines and a mercury preservative once widely used in them were not implicated in causing autism, a condition characterized by lack of social skills, problems with communication and repetitive behaviors. That almost certainly remains true for the vast majority of youngsters.
Hannah’s case was complicated by a rare disorder that can deprive the brain of needed energy and cause neurological deterioration. When Hannah’s case was submitted to a federal vaccine compensation program, the government settled before the evidence was argued in a hearing. Government medical personnel apparently found that the vaccinations aggravated the underlying disorder. An alternative theory — that the vaccines may have caused the disorder — is viewed skeptically by government experts.

Top health officials are still urging parents to get their children vaccinated, and with good reason. All children deserve protection against infectious diseases, and even youngsters with these rare disorders may be at risk of neurological deterioration if they contract one of the diseases that vaccines protect them against.

It will be important to develop the best possible medical guidance for youngsters with rare defects. That effort would be enhanced if the government makes public all relevant documents in this puzzling case.

Fed court: Yep, vaccine caused autism

This from David Kirby on the Huffington Post. I'm sure you'll find it interesting. But, the question he raises is right -- what now?

Government Concedes Vaccine-Autism Case in Federal Court - Now What?

After years of insisting there is no evidence to link vaccines with the onset of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the US government has quietly conceded a vaccine-autism case in the Court of Federal Claims.

The unprecedented concession was filed on November 9, and sealed to protect the plaintiff's identify. It was obtained through individuals unrelated to the case.

The claim, one of 4,900 autism cases currently pending in Federal "Vaccine Court," was conceded by US Assistant Attorney General Peter Keisler and other Justice Department officials, on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services, the "defendant" in all Vaccine Court cases.

The child's claim against the government -- that mercury-containing vaccines were the cause of her autism -- was supposed to be one of three "test cases" for the thimerosal-autism theory currently under consideration by a three-member panel of Special Masters, the presiding justices in Federal Claims Court.

Keisler wrote that medical personnel at the HHS Division of Vaccine Injury Compensation (DVIC) had reviewed the case and "concluded that compensation is appropriate."

The doctors conceded that the child was healthy and developing normally until her 18-month well-baby visit, when she received vaccinations against nine different diseases all at once (two contained thimerosal).

Days later, the girl began spiraling downward into a cascade of illnesses and setbacks that, within months, presented as symptoms of autism, including: No response to verbal direction; loss of language skills; no eye contact; loss of "relatedness;" insomnia; incessant screaming; arching; and "watching the florescent lights repeatedly during examination."

Seven months after vaccination, the patient was diagnosed by Dr. Andrew Zimmerman, a leading neurologist at the Kennedy Krieger Children's Hospital Neurology Clinic, with "regressive encephalopathy (brain disease) with features consistent with autistic spectrum disorder, following normal development." The girl also met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) official criteria for autism.

In its written concession, the government said the child had a pre-existing mitochondrial disorder that was "aggravated" by her shots, and which ultimately resulted in an ASD diagnosis.

"The vaccinations received on July 19, 2000, significantly aggravated an underlying mitochondrial disorder," the concession says, "which predisposed her to deficits in cellular energy metabolism, and manifested as a regressive encephalopathy with features of ASD."

This statement is good news for the girl and her family, who will now be compensated for the lifetime of care she will require. But its implications for the larger vaccine-autism debate, and for public health policy in general, are not as certain.

In fact, the government's concession seems to raise more questions than it answers.

1) Is there a connection between vaccines, mitochondrial disorders and a diagnosis of autism, at least in some cases?

Mitochondria, you may recall from biology class, are the little powerhouses within cells that convert food into electrical energy, partly through a complex process called "oxidative phosphorylation." If this process is impaired, mitochondrial disorder will ensue.

The child in this case had several markers for Mt disease, which was confirmed by muscle biopsy. Mt disease is often marked by lethargy, poor muscle tone, poor food digestion and bowel problems, something found in many children diagnosed with autism.

But mitochondrial disorders are rare in the general population, affecting some 2-per-10,000 people (or just 0.2%). So with 4,900 cases filed in Vaccine Court, this case should be the one and only, extremely rare instance of Mt disease in all the autism proceedings.

But it is not.

Mitochondrial disorders are now thought to be the most common disease associated with ASD. Some journal articles and other analyses have estimated that 10% to 20% of all autism cases may involve mitochondrial disorders, which would make them one thousand times more common among people with ASD than the general population.

Another article, published in the Journal of Child Neurology and co-authored by Dr. Zimmerman, showed that 38% of Kennedy Krieger Institute autism patients studied had one marker for impaired oxidative phosphorylation, and 47% had a second marker.

The authors -- who reported on a case-study of the same autism claim conceded in Vaccine Court -- noted that "children who have (mitochondrial-related) dysfunctional cellular energy metabolism might be more prone to undergo autistic regression between 18 and 30 months of age if they also have infections or immunizations at the same time."

An interesting aspect of Mt disease in autism is that, with ASD, the mitochondrial disease seems to be milder than in "classic" cases of Mt disorder. In fact, classic Mt disease is almost always inherited, either passed down by the mother through mitochondrial DNA, or by both parents through nuclear DNA.

In autism-related Mt disease, however, the disorder is not typically found in other family members, and instead appears to be largely of the sporadic variety, which may now account for 75% of all mitochondrial disorders.

Meanwhile, an informal survey of seven families of children with cases currently pending in Vaccine Court revealed that all seven showed markers for mitochondrial dysfunction, dating back to their earliest medical tests. The facts in all seven claims mirror the case just conceded by the government: Normal development followed by vaccination, immediate illness, and rapid decline culminating in an autism diagnosis.

2) With 4,900 cases pending, and more coming, will the government concede those with underlying Mt disease -- and if it not, will the Court award compensation?

The Court will soon begin processing the 4900 cases pending before it. What if 10% to 20% of them can demonstrate the same Mt disease and same set of facts as those in the conceded case? Would the government be obliged to concede 500, or even 1,000 cases? What impact would that have on public opinion? And is there enough money currently in the vaccine injury fund to cover so many settlements?

When asked for a comment last week about the court settlement, a spokesman for HHS furnished the following written statement:

"DVIC has reviewed the scientific information concerning the allegation that vaccines cause autism and has found no credible evidence to support the claim. Accordingly, in every case under the Vaccine Act, DVIC has maintained the position that vaccines do not cause autism, and has never concluded in any case that autism was caused by vaccination."

3) If the government is claiming that vaccines did not "cause" autism, but instead aggravated a condition to "manifest" as autism, isn't that a very fine distinction?

For most affected families, such linguistic gymnastics is not so important. And even if a vaccine injury "manifested" as autism in only one case, isn't that still a significant development worthy of informing the public?

On the other hand, perhaps what the government is claiming is that vaccination resulted in the symptoms of autism, but not in an actual, factually correct diagnosis of autism itself.

4) If the government is claiming that this child does NOT have autism, then how many other children might also have something else that merely "mimics" autism?

Is it possible that 10%-20% of the cases that we now label as "autism," are not autism at all, but rather some previously undefined "look-alike" syndrome that merely presents as "features" of autism?

This question gets to the heart of what autism actually is. The disorder is defined solely as a collection of features, nothing more. If you have the features (and the diagnosis), you have the disorder. The underlying biology is the great unknown.

But let's say the government does determine that these kids don't have actual "autism" (something I speculated on HuffPost a year ago). Then shouldn't the Feds go back and test all people with ASD for impaired oxidative phosphorylation, perhaps reclassifying many of them?

If so, will we then see "autism" cases drop by tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people? Will there be a corresponding ascension of a newly described disorder, perhaps something like "Vaccine Aggravated Mitochondrial Disease with Features of ASD?"

And if this child was technically "misdiagnosed" with DSM-IV autism by Dr Zimmerman, how does he feel about HHS doctors issuing a second opinion re-diagnosis of his patient, whom they presumably had neither met nor examined? (Zimmerman declined an interview).

And along those lines, aren't Bush administration officials somewhat wary of making long-distance, retroactive diagnoses from Washington, given that the Terry Schiavo incident has not yet faded from national memory?

5) Was this child's Mt disease caused by a genetic mutation, as the government implies, and wouldn't that have manifested as "ASD features" anyway?

In the concession, the government notes that the patient had a "single nucleotide change" in the mitochondrial DNA gene T2387C, implying that this was the underlying cause of her manifested "features" of autism.

While it's true that some inherited forms of Mt disease can manifest as developmental delays, (and even ASD in the form of Rhett Syndrome) these forms are linked to identified genetic mutations, of which T2387C is not involved. In fact little, if anything, is known about the function of this particular gene.

What's more, there is no evidence that this girl, prior to vaccination, suffered from any kind of "disorder" at all- genetic, mitochondrial or otherwise. Some forms of Mt disease are so mild that the person is unaware of being affected. This perfectly developing girl may have had Mt disorder at the time of vaccination, but nobody detected, or even suspected it.

And, there is no evidence to suggest that this girl would have regressed into symptoms consistent with a DSM-IV autism diagnosis without her vaccinations. If there was such evidence, then why on earth would these extremely well-funded government attorneys compensate this alleged injury in Vaccine Court? Why wouldn't they move to dismiss, or at least fight the case at trial?

6) What are the implications for research?

The concession raises at least two critical research questions: What are the causes of Mt dysfunction; and how could vaccines aggravate that dysfunction to the point of "autistic features?"

While some Mt disorders are clearly inherited, the "sporadic" form is thought to account for 75% of all cases, according to the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation. So what causes sporadic Mt disease? "Medicines or other toxins," says the Cleveland Clinic, a leading authority on the subject.

Use of the AIDS drug AZT, for example, can cause Mt disorders by deleting large segments of mitochondrial DNA. If that is the case, might other exposures to drugs or toxins (i.e., thimerosal, mercury in fish, air pollution, pesticides, live viruses) also cause sporadic Mt disease in certain subsets of children, through similar genotoxic mechanisms?

Among the prime cellular targets of mercury are mitochondria, and thimerosal-induced cell death has been associated with the depolarization of mitochondrial membrane, according to the International Journal of Molecular Medicine among several others. (Coincidently, the first case of Mt disease was diagnosed in 1959, just 15 years after the first autism case was named, and two decades after thimerosal's introduction as a vaccine preservative.)

Regardless of its cause, shouldn't HHS sponsor research into Mt disease and the biological mechanisms by which vaccines could aggravate the disorder? We still do not know what it was, exactly, about this girl's vaccines that aggravated her condition. Was it the thimerosal? The three live viruses? The two attenuated viruses? Other ingredients like aluminum? A combination of the above?

And of course, if vaccine injuries can aggravate Mt disease to the point of manifesting as autism features, then what other underlying disorders or conditions (genetic, autoimmune, allergic, etc.) might also be aggravated to the same extent?

7) What are the implications for medicine and public health?

Should the government develop and approve new treatments for "aggravated mitochondrial disease with ASD features?" Interestingly, many of the treatments currently deployed in Mt disease (i.e., coenzyme Q10, vitamin B-12, lipoic acid, biotin, dietary changes, etc.) are part of the alternative treatment regimen that many parents use on their children with ASD.

And, if a significant minority of autism cases can be linked to Mt disease and vaccines, shouldn't these products one day carry an FDA Black Box warning label, and shouldn't children with Mt disorders be exempt from mandatory immunization?

8) What are the implications for the vaccine-autism debate?

It's too early to tell. But this concession could conceivably make it more difficult for some officials to continue insisting there is "absolutely no link" between vaccines and autism.

It also puts the Federal Government's Vaccine Court defense strategy somewhat into jeopardy. DOJ lawyers and witnesses have argued that autism is genetic, with no evidence to support an environmental component. And, they insist, it's simply impossible to construct a chain of events linking immunizations to the disorder.

Government officials may need to rethink their legal strategy, as well as their public relations campaigns, given their own slightly contradictory concession in this case.

9) What is the bottom line here?

The public, (including world leaders) will demand to know what is going on inside the US Federal health establishment. Yes, as of now, n=1, a solitary vaccine-autism concession. But what if n=10% or 20%? Who will pay to clean up that mess?

The significance of this concession will unfortunately be fought over in the usual, vitriolic way -- and I fully expect to be slammed for even raising these questions. Despite that, the language of this concession cannot be changed, or swept away.

Its key words are "aggravated" and "manifested." Without the aggravation of the vaccines, it is uncertain that the manifestation would have occurred at all.

When a kid with peanut allergy eats a peanut and dies, we don't say "his underlying metabolic condition was significantly aggravated to the extent of manifesting as an anaphylactic shock with features of death."

No, we say the peanut killed the poor boy. Remove the peanut from the equation, and he would still be with us today.

Many people look forward to hearing more from HHS officials about why they are settling this claim. But whatever their explanation, they cannot change the fundamental facts of this extraordinary case:

The United State government is compensating at least one child for vaccine injuries that resulted in a diagnosis of autism.

And that is big news, no matter how you want to say it.

David Kirby is the author of "Evidence of Harm - Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic, A Medical Controversy" (St. Martins Press 2005.

Autism and chiropractic help

You might find this interesting. It's a blog entry from a Colorado chiropractor about the use of chiropractic with autistic patients. We take our daughters to a progressive chiropractor for spinal adjustments using the Activator method, which uses less force to manipulate the spine. It's not necessarily the best, but it works for us and the kids don't object to it since it's not very intrusive. We believe this helps. We're also involved in some other treatments there, which I'll write more about later. They have helped (and I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes). One treatment has helped my youngest daughter shed some of her food intolerances. Really. No "regular" docs were able to do that -- or even willing to try. The author of this is my brother, who you'll find is very informed. Enjoy.

Can Chiropractic Help Children With Autism?

(here's a paragraph - link to read the entire entry)

... A paper published in the March 2006 issue of Clinical Chiropractic reviewed past studies and found that children with Autism are helped with chiropractic care. Furthermore this study found that most children with Autism had problems with their upper cervical (neck) spine[10]. Another study found that 80% of children receive damage to their upper cervical spines due to birth trauma[11]. The upper cervical spine is so important that the two vertebrae located at t he top of the spine have their own names: Atlas and Axis. All the other 22 vertebrae just have numbers assigned to them such as the third thoracic vertebra and the fifth lumbar vertebra. The Atlas and Axis are so important that an entire chiropractic discipline, called Upper Cervical Chiropractic, was established by B.J. Palmer (the Developer of the Chiropractic Profession), simply to restore proper function to that area. Working with the Atlas and Axis directly effects the function of the nervous system. Autistic children have a neurological component to their disorder. It makes sense that Upper Cervical Chiropractic would help them...

Oh, a programming note here ... Don Imus is back on the radio at WABC, New York. That's 770 on the AM dial in the New York area. Or, listen online -- click here. I'm certainly not suggesting anyone excuse his on-air remarks that got him in so much trouble, but I will point out that he and his wife have been tremendous advocates of the autism community. Imus was talking about the ins and outs of autism issues, including vaccines and thimerosal, before it hit the mainstream media. Like I said - just pointing his return out.

Helpful flu shot brochure

It's flu season of course, which brings all sorts of concern about flu shots, thimerosal (mercury) and other disturbing vaccine ingredients that those of us in the Autism Spectrum Disorder community worry about. Anyway, here's a helpful brochure from SafeMinds -- The Coalition for SafeMinds (Sensible Action For Ending Mercury-Induced Neurological Disorders). It tells you which flu shots to watch out for, if you're considering them.

Forced vaccinations? What's going on in Maryland?

In case you haven't heard what's happening in Maryland, I'll repost a Christian Science Monitor Story (via CBS News) below. I don't know about you, but there's no way anyone's forcing me to give my kids vaccines. And I haven't read much about the autism families in Maryland and how they're dealing with this. So, read the article and try to imagine how much thimerosal was pumped into these kids' arms.


Maryland County Gets Tough On Vaccinations

UPPER MARLBORO, Md., Nov. 19, 2007

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(Christian Science Monitor) This article was written by Gail Russell Chaddock.

For the parents that converged on a courthouse in Prince George's County, Md., on Saturday morning, the choice seemed clear: Vaccinate your kids or go to jail.

In fact, there are exemptions for medical or religious reasons in the state of Maryland. But few parents standing in lines that stretched down the sidewalk outside the county courthouse said they were aware of them.

Flanked by protesters and television crews, parents said they just wanted to sort out immunizations, so their kids could go back to school - and they could avoid penalties of up to 10 days in jail and $50 a day in fines.

"I've got too many children to raise to go to jail," says Remy Durham, who cares for her nephew, Lamonte Hyter, along with seven other children.

All states require that children be immunized from some childhood diseases, but the crackdown in Prince George's County has attracted international attention.

"We've had calls and e-mail from all over the country, especially the Midwest, as well as England, Germany, and Poland," says Glenn Ivey, state's attorney in Prince George's County, in a phone interview.

A lot of the uproar over the county's new approach to this issue was fueled by misinformation, he said - especially Web sites that said "we were going to start arresting people." One critic "called me a jackbooted representative of a United Nations, international pharmaceutical conspiracy," he says.

In fact, no decision has been made yet on what steps to take next, and it was never intended to scare people, he says. He's boiled his answer to critics down to one line: "It's about getting kids back in school, not to put parents in jail," he said.

By the start of the 2007 school year, more than 2,800 children in Prince George's County were not in compliance with state mandates on immunizations. The school board asked the courts to help by setting up a date for parents to either have their children vaccinated on site or provide evidence that they were in compliance with the law.

Read the rest at CBS News.

Wal-Mart, autism and vaccines -- a holiday story

Thought you guys might like to read this. First, because it gets into the flu vaccine, thimerosal and mercury. Second, because this was written by Dr. David Ritchie of Boulder, Colorado. What's cool about that, you might ask? Well, he's my brother and an invaluable (free for me) resource when it comes to health issues. Enjoy the snippet. The rest of the article is on his blog, which you can find at this link.

My wife and I take both of our daughters to a chiropractic center near us that focuses on whole-body wellness. There is some research indicating that different types of chiropractic treatment (not the bone-crunching kind) helps kids with autism spectrum disorders. We believe -- without any scientific evidence -- that the treatments have helped some. I may post more on this later. There was an interesting piece on this in the last Schafer Autism Report, if you missed it.

The Flu Vaccine: Questionable at Best

By Dr. David Ritchie

It’s that time of year again… yup, it’s Flu season. You may have thought it was election season, seeing all the curbside signs to get $25 flu vaccines at Walmart, beckoning you as if they wanted your vote. Walmart, endlessly proving to the world that it is a one-stop-shop for everything; from food to patio furniture to underwear to… yup… you guessed it… vaccines. It looks like our health care system has taken the next step and is now being franchised like everything else. Does it concern you, even just a little bit, that the flu vaccine is being pushed so hard and you don’t even need to visit a doctor’s office to get it? Well, hopefully after reading this you might think twice.

Read the rest at Dr. Ritchie's blog, Innate Health. Or, if you're in the Boulder area, ask him about it yourself!

To vaccinate or lie -- an autism dilemma

I signed one -- but in PA, the exemption is just not for religious reasons. Here's a snippet from PA code (note the part in bold):

"Religious exemption. Children need not be immunized if the parent, guardian or emancipated child objects in writing to the immunization on religious grounds or on the basis of a strong moral or ethical conviction similar to a religious belief."

And here's the Associated Press story as printed in the Boston Herald...

Parents take a shot at lying on vaccine forms
By Associated Press Thursday, October 18, 2007
Records show that a small but growing number of parents are claiming religious exemptions to avoid vaccinating their children, when the real reason is skepticism over their effectiveness or concern the shots may cause other illnesses.
Some say they are forced to lie because of the way the laws are written. Massachusetts and 27 other states allow parents to opt out for medical or religious reasons only.
Sabrina Rahim is not religious, but signed the form. She fears that earlier vaccinations may be to blame for her son’s autism.
State records and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show rising rates of religious exemptions.
Dr. Paul Offit, head of infectious diseases at Philadelphia Children’s Hospital, and a harsh critic of skipping vaccines, said doing so is “irrational.”
The number of exemptions is just a few thousand of 3.7 million children entering kindergarten.
In Massachusetts, the number has more than doubled, from 0.24 percent, or 210, in 1996 to 0.60 percent, or 474, in 2006.
Officials say refusing vaccines carries a risk of disease outbreaks.
“You’re not just making a choice for yourself, you’re making a choice for the person sitting next to you,” said the CDC’s Dr. Lance Rodewald.
Rachel Magni, 35, a mom in Newton, is afraid of vaccines for her children. She got a religious exemption for her daughter, 4, and son, 1. “I felt that the risk of the vaccine was worse than the risk of the actual disease,” she said.
Dr. Janet Levitan, a Brookline pediatrician, tells worried patients to pursue the exemption. “I tell them, ‘If you don’t want to vaccinate for philosophical reasons and the state doesn’t allow that, say it’s for religious reasons,’ ” she said.

What's in a vaccine -- formaldehyde, MSG and mouse serum?

With all this talk about the hidden dangers of vaccines, especially with relation to mercury and autism, I found a recent blog entry at Rescue Post very enlightening. It showed what the ingredients -- approved by the CDC -- are in each vaccine. And, it included a link directly to the CDC's Website that shows this. Here's the direct link to the PDF file - click here. Or, here's the link to the page of files with all types of information about vaccines - click here. Another interesting file on that page is the Thimerosal content of vaccines -- click here. The ingredient list is disturbing and includes MSG, lactose (for those allergic to dairy, mouse serum formadehyde, red dye, thimerosal, yeast, calf skin, mouse brain, soy and human fetal tissue. Don't believe me -- look through the documents. (Oh, the human fetal tissue is "human diploid tissue.")

The battle of school vaccine exemptions

So now we're dealing with the school, where my oldest daughter attends kindergarten, which wants her to get all of her vaccinations. Uh, no. So, we're finding our way through the process of satisfying the school. Our doc is sending the school a letter but it may not be enough, so we're also signing a formal letter citing a section of our state (PA) code that lists vaccine exemptions.

I found some help online with a sample letter at AutismLink. The actual page is at this address: http://www.autismlink.com/pages/autism_exemption/.

We'll see how it goes, but this is one battle we'll fight. I expect the school will not push this.

I forget the exact numbers, but the school got smacked with kids diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders in their incoming kindergarten class this year -- 6 out of 40. So, we're not alone.

Few mercury-free flu shots in Pennsylvania

And, here at home, not a thought given to the mercury lurking in our flu vaccines. I think I'll suffer through the flu this year. I get it anyway, even with the shot.

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Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Mercury-free flu shots in short supply
By Mike Cronin
TRIBUNE-REVIEW Wednesday, October 10, 2007

People who want a flu shot without mercury this year in Pennsylvania will have to ask.

Most flu vaccine doses available in the state have thimerosal, a preservative containing mercury, according to local health care providers. About 54,000 of the 250,000 doses bought by the state Department of Health are thimerosal-free. But 90 percent of shots administered in the state will be done by private providers, said department spokesman Dan Miller.

The Allegheny County Health Department has bought 3,000 doses of flu vaccine, 200 of which do not have mercury.

"Children and pregnant women should not receive flu shots with thimerosal," said county Health Department spokesman Guillermo Cole.

Eight states have passed laws to ban or limit mercury in vaccines, according to the Washington-based Advocates for Children's Health Affected by Mercury Poisoning. Pennsylvania allows the preservative, which some people believe is linked to autism disorders.

Read the rest at the Trib's Web site.

Mercury free vaccines have arrived

Coming to a state near you? Let's hope so.

Santa Fe New Mexican
State's flu shots have mercury options
Thimerosal-free versions available to both children and adults
By Diana Del Mauro The New Mexican
10/3/2007

Although a recent study in The New England Journal of Medicine suggests the flu shot's tiny dose of mercury is harmless to a child's neurologic development, parents who don't want to take the risk don't have to in New Mexico.

The Department of Health ordered about 170,000 doses of flu vaccine this year, of which 97,440 doses are formulated without thimerosal, the preservative that contains mercury. The mercury-free version is available to both adults and children.

All the flu vaccine ordered for children 6 to 35 months of age is mercury-free, said department spokeswoman Deborah Busemeyer. In addition, the state purchased 17,450 mercury-free doses for children ages 3 to 18, and 20,000 mercury-free doses for adults 18 and older.

Separate from what the state offers, some clinics also provide another mercury-free alternative: FluMist, which is administered as a nasal spray and is made from the killed influenza virus. Only approved for use with healthy people 2 to 49 years of age, FluMist is not safe for pregnant women, children who are on long-term aspirin use, people with asthma or other lung diseases, people with chronic heart disease, people with diabetes or kidney failure, or people with a weakened immune system, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Read the rest of the article at The New Mexican.

Autism vaccines ad in USA Today

In case you missed this, you can view the full page ad from Generation Rescue that appeared in USA Today on Tuesday by clicking here. The ad focuses on the number of vaccinations children are given. Kids weren't given nearly as many vaccines years ago. This obviously has been tied to the mercury used in the vaccinations.