Weekly News Column Opinion and Laughs on The Record

The Rise of Autism

Jeff Borgardt's Soundoff from Summit Column 7/27/05

 In a frightening article in Rolling Stones magazine
environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. investigates the rise of autism among American youth.
    He charges the striking rise in the neurological disease is due to the chemical Thimerosal in youth vaccines.
    Autism has increased from one case in every 2,500 children to one case per every 166 children.
    Kennedy calls children born from 1989 to 2003 ‘the thimerosal generation’ and believes the surge in Autism is caused by the mercury-laden chemical injected into youths via vaccines.
    During the 1990s, 40 million youngsters received the vaccines as children were poked with more and more immunization drugs.
    Before 1989, preschoolers averaged eleven vaccinations. Ten years later, the average preschooler received twenty-two vaccinations before they reached first-grade.
    By 2003, the thimerosal had been removed.
    Indiana Rep. Dan Burton oversaw a three-year investigation into Autism and thimerosal; his grandson was diagnosed with Autism. His government reform committee report determined “Thimerosal used as a preservative in vaccines is directly related to the autism epidemic.”
    The severe neurological disease Autism was unknown before Thimerosal was introduced into vaccines. The first case of Autism was diagnosed in 1943 and described by Dr. Leo Kanner. Today, there are between half-a-million cases and 1.5 million cases.
    According to the Autism Society of America, the malady appears in victims in the first three years of life. Autism is marked by abnormalities in the brain and symptoms include drastically hindered abilities to communicate in social, leisure and play situations.
    (It is also important to note that Autism patients may interact normally in many situations and can live rewarding lives.)
    Both adults and children suffer from Autism and many dispute that Thimerosal is the cause. In fact, Kennedy’s position is far from accepted in the medical community. Nonetheless, the article has triggered a firestorm.
    In addition to attributing the cause of Autism to Thimerosal, Kennedy also charges that representatives of the federal drug protection agency and pharmaceutical industry conspired to cover-up the cause of the disease to the public.
    As an example, he cites a June 2000 Centers for Disease Control meeting among top government health officials and pharmaceutical companies.
    He said the meeting was held secretly and focused on ways to prevent litigation and downplay any Autism-Thimerosal link.
Whether Thimerosal causes Autism or not, it appears drug
companies and U.S. government health officials have some
explaining to do.