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The parents of three autistic Massachusetts
children have filed a class action lawsuit against the nation's
major vaccine manufacturers, putting the state at the forefront
of a dispute over whether a widely used preservative in vaccines
causes neurological disease.
The suit alleges the children "were
poisoned with
toxic mercury" contained in the preservative, thimerosal,
that is used in a range of childhood vaccines, including hepatitis
B, Haemophilus b, and diphtheria/tetanus.
The complaint says as many as 500,000
children in Massachusetts may have been "unnecessarily
exposed to dangerously high doses of toxic organic mercury"
from 1990 through this year because of stepped-up vaccination
campaigns.
The Massachusetts lawsuit is the second
of at least 15 suits a team of lawyers in Medford and Portland,
Ore., are planning to file across the nation. Altogether,
lead attorney Robert Bonsignore said, as many as 30
million American children may have been injected
with vaccines containing thimerosal in the last 10 years.
"No one can tell you what caused
the autism," said Michael Chmura of Waltham, father of
4-year-old Evan, who is one of the plaintiffs. "But you
find out you're injecting
poison into your kid's bloodstream, the same poison
they tell you not to give them via tuna fish."
Two years ago, amid growing public concern
over possible health risks, the FDA, the Public Health Service,
and the American Academy of Pediatrics began urging vaccine
makers to phase out use of the preservative. All recommended
children's vaccines are now available in versions that are
either thimerosal-free or contain only trace amounts.
However, doctors may still use those containing
the preservative, and public health specialists say it is
better for children to be inoculated with those vaccines than
to go without protection.
Several studies are underway to examine
the possible connection
between the vaccines and autism, a neurological
disorder that results in symptoms including extreme social
withdrawal and repetitive behavior.
The suit, filed last month in Middlesex
Superior Court in Cambridge, alleges that seven vaccine manufacturers
and five companies that produce thimerosal failed to test
the vaccines properly and warn parents about the presence
and risks of the additive.
It says the children were given doses
that exceeded guidelines for exposure to other types of mercury
set by the Environmental Protection Agency and the National
Academy of Sciences. There are no guidelines for exposure
to ethyl mercury, the form contained in thimerosal.
Evan Chmura was diagnosed with autism
at age 2 1/2, and his father points to the 15 vaccinations
Evan had received since birth as the culprit. Chmura said
it was clear by age 2 that Evan was not developing normally.
"His speech was delayed, he didn't want to play with
other kids, he'd open and close doors repeatedly, and he wouldn't
respond when we called.
He'd get very upset if his routine was
disturbed - he'd break into tears and throw a tantrum if anything
in the yard was rearranged." "I'm not a scientist.
But there's something different in our environment that's
causing it," he said. In the suit, Bonsignore lays out
the circumstantial case that has led some parents and doctors
to believe that the vaccines
can cause autism.
Neurological injuries in children, including
autism, have soared in the last decade at the same time that
a number of new vaccines were given to children at earlier
ages. Attention has focused on vaccines for hepatitis B and
mumps, measles, and rubella. Bonsignore says that the preservative
was only needed in multidose vials of the drugs that he says
the companies produced "solely to drive up their profits."
Thimerosal prevents bacterial growth,
and its addition to vaccines was approved by the FDA. The
second couple in the suit, Jared and Majorie Hansen of Framingham,
have two children with autism; Jacob, who is 3, and William,
who is 2. The children were vaccinated in Utah before the
family moved here last year.
The suit seeks an unspecificed amount
of money for medical care and special education for the ill
children. It also seeks damages for loss of future earnings
and quality of life as well as punitive damages against the
companies. "The ultimate goal is to find out what can
be done to bring these kids back as close to normal as possible,"
said Bonsignore.
Reuters
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