The Straight Dope response by Cecil Adams regarding autism and vaccines [June 8] is filled with false statements that reflect a basic ignorance of the truth and moreover, the product of a journalist who failed to investigate both sides of the story.
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First, thimerosal is such a poor preservative that the FDA banned its use in 1982 from over-the-counter medications because of toxicity (including deaths) and product contamination. In 1985 two large outbreaks of staph-abscess were reported in children resulting from contamination of a thimerosal-preserved, multiple-dose vial of diptheria vaccine. Had these cases occurred in 1928 they would likely have been fatal. Thimerosal is a very ineffective preservative. In 2004 Chiron’s flu vaccine supply was contaminated with bacteria in spite of thimerosal’s presence. This resulted in the largest biological contamination in U.S. history and widespread flu vaccine shortages. So why are we using a preservative that does not work? Shouldn’t Adams be asking that question?
The Denmark studies (3) have been discredited because of a shaky, altered psychiatric database (where is Tom Cruise when you need him?) that increased the size of the sample population by 13-fold without adjusting the denominator. As FOIA documents (which I am sending your editor) as well as critical reviews of these papers show, thimerosal removal resulted in dramatic declines in autism rates in Denmark.
Cecil Adams replies:
- As for your suggestion that Dr. Fombonne’s work amounts to fraud–that’s not likely to foster useful debate. Perhaps it explains why Pediatrics declined to publish your letters describing the study’s alleged defects. Or perhaps, as the press release you sent along indicates, the journal’s editor simply has his mind made up and doesn’t care to hear contrary argument. All I know is that articles by advocates of a thimerosal/autism link (the Geiers, for example) continue to appear in the medical journals. While their views are in the minority, I see no evidence of a broad conspiracy to suppress unpopular opinions.
