[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 100 (Wednesday, June 20, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1351]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE OMNIBUS AUTISM HEARINGS
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HON. DAN BURTON
of indiana
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I rise tonight to talk about
the Omnibus Autism Hearing which started on June 11, 2007, down at the
U.S. Federal Claims Court here in Washington, DC. At issue are the
4,800 claims against the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
filed by parents of autistic children who believe, as I do, that
thimerosal--the mercury-based preservative in vaccines--caused their
children's disorders.
There are many people in our health agencies, in the pharmaceutical
industry and here in Congress who say that there is no the scientific
evidence linking thimerosal and autism. However, during my tenure as
chairman of Government Reform Committee (1997-2002), and as chairman of
the Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness (2003-2005), I chaired
numerous hearings examining the alarming increase in autism in this
country over the last several decades. In the 1980s, roughly one in
10,000 American children was diagnosed with some kind of autism
spectrum disorder. Today that number has risen to 1 in 150. I believe,
as do many credible scientists and researchers, that the clear
correlation between the dramatic rise in the number of autism cases,
and the rapid expansion of the childhood vaccination schedule during
that 20-year period, points to the mercury-based preservative
thimerosal--routinely used in pediatric vaccines during the period--as
a contributing factor to our country's literal epidemic of autism. In
fact, I firmly believe my own grandson became autistic after receiving
nine shots in 1 day, seven of which contained thimerosal. In fact, Dr.
Bernard Rimland--founder and director of the Autism Research
Institute--testified before the committee that classic autism,
(noticeable from birth) has largely been replaced by late-onset or
``acquired autism''; a form of autism in which children are born
normally developing but later regress into autism in the second year of
life. He was one of the first to point to environmental insult through
vaccine injury as a possible leading contributing factor.
The truth is that since the initiation of my vaccine investigation,
two schools of science have evolved leading to two very different
conclusions. The first, largely funded by the Centers for Disease
Control, consist of epidemiological evaluations in Denmark that look at
medical files in individuals who developed autism and deciding whether
or not thimerosal exposure was more predominant in the autism patients.
Those who have focused solely on the epidemiology research have
concluded that there is no relationship between vaccine injury and the
onset of autism. However, once published, these studies were discovered
to have many methodological flaws. For example, using individuals in
Denmark did not provide a true comparison to the U.S. vaccine schedule,
and by the CDC's own admission, the study could not really provide any
true conclusion as to whether or not a subset of the population--
because of vaccine exposure to mercury or some other vaccine injury--
developed autism.
The second school of research has conducted so-called ``hard''
science; providing objective measures through laboratory and animal
research. For example, Dr. Hornig at Columbia University replicated the
thimerosal exposure in vaccines in a mouse study and discovered mice
exposed to thimerosal had both behavioral and biological responses--
displaying autism like behaviors and exhibiting white matter changes in
the brain that were measurable. Other laboratory research has shown
that thimerosal exposure affects the protective sheath of the
neurofibrals in the brain as well as the IGF-I molecule. And Dr. Jill
James at the University of Arkansas has shown that thimerosal exposure
affects the methylation process--the mechanism used to regulate genes
and protect DNA from some types of damage.
The most recent hard science study to be published is from Dr.
Burbacher, a leading expert on mercury, who investigated the different
affect methyl mercury and ethyl mercury had on primates. He found that
ethylmercury--the form of mercury in thimerosal--stays in the brain
(doing more harm) than methylmercury.
The bottom line is that mercury is a base element and the most toxic
substance known to science outside of radioactive materials; and each
of these hard science studies, and more, show that it is biologically
plausible for mercury exposure in vaccines to cause the onset of autism
and provide tantalizing pieces in the puzzle about how.
My support for the link between thimerosal and autism, especially in
open congressional hearings has caused many people to throw around the
accusation that I am ``anti-vaccine.'' My response to that is that
vaccines are the only medications that are mandatory for Americans to
receive and as such we have an even greater obligation to ensure that
they are as safe as possible. In addition, experience tells us that, as
with any other epidemic, while there may be underlying genetic
susceptibilities, there usually is some type of environmental trigger
as well, such as a virus, fungus, exposure to heavy metals, pollutants,
or whatever. There has never, to the best of my knowledge, been a
purely genetic epidemic. So, genetics alone simply cannot explain how
we went from 1 in 10,000 children with autism spectrum disorders 20
years ago to 1 in 150 today.
No one has ever identified a positive health benefit to mercury in
the human body. Thus, it was sound public health policy to eliminate
mercury from thermometers, blood pressure gauges, light switches,
cosmetics, teething powder, horse liniment, hat-making materials,
smokestack emission, and mining operations. It would also be sound
public health policy to eliminate mercury from all vaccines.
But Madam Speaker, getting the mercury out of all vaccines is only
the first step. We also have a responsibility to help all of the
children who have already been injured by mercury in vaccines. That is
why the outcome of the Omnibus Autism Hearing is so critically
important. In the 1980s, Congress creating the Vaccine Injury
Compensation Program to shield medical professionals and vaccine
manufacturers from liability if an individual suffered an adverse event
from receiving vaccines. The compensation fund, which currently
contains about $2.5 billion, is financed by a tax on pediatric
vaccines. We created VICP to protect the vaccine supply and to insure
that all who were injured by a vaccine would receive compensation in
what was supposed to be a no-fault, easy to use manner. Congress
intended for families to be compensated quickly and fairly; and when
the evidence was close as to whether or not the medical condition in
question was vaccine related or not--as is the case with thimerosal--
the court should always err in favor of the injured. But over the years
the system has broken and what was supposed to be quick and fair has
become slow and contentious; which is why today 4,800 families are
fighting in court to be heard. They have waited a long time for their
day in court and I am pleased that the court is providing the
transcripts online quickly and that audio streaming on the internet is
being provided for the thousands of families who are not able to travel
to Washington and actually be in the courtroom during the proceedings.
As the Omnibus hearings proceed, I hope that all of the evidence
regarding vaccine injury will be received by the courts and given a
full and fair review. I believe the families of these autistic children
deserve to be compensated for their vaccine injury as Congress intended
when it created VICP. I believe the science is there to prove this case
and I am hopeful that the court will agree and at the end of this
arduous process these 4,800 families will finally get justice.
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