SafeMinds Applauds Action by House to Protect Children from Neurotoxin; New Legislation Comes on Heels of CDC Admission to Lack of Proper Planning, Despite Research and Warnings

4/5/2004

From: Joe Giganti, 703-928-9695 or Joe@VeritasMediaGroup.com, for SafeMinds, Web site: http://www.SafeMinds.org

WASHINGTON, April 5 -- SafeMinds -- America's leading scientific organization investigating the risks that mercury-containing medical products pose to our children -- joins NoMercury.org and the Mercury Policy Project in applauding the introduction of HR 4169 by U.S. Reps. Dave Weldon, M.D. (R-Fla.) and Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y), a bipartisan bill that would remove vaccines that contain Thimerosal mercury from the market.

"We are very grateful to Dr. Weldon and Congresswoman Maloney for introducing this bill, which will take the necessary steps to protect our children from mercury-containing vaccines," said Lyn Redwood, RN, MSN, NP, president of SafeMinds. "It has been our long-held fear that our federal health agencies lack the desire or will to fulfill their duty in this matter, and the recent testimony of the CDC before the U.S. House appears to have confirmed that belief."

The introduction of this new bill and Redwood's comments come in response to testimony by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director to the House Committee on Appropriations where Dr. Julie Louise Gerberding openly testified to the agency's continued lack of planning and action regarding certain vaccines that contain mercury.

"In 1999 and 2001 the FDA and IOM, respectively, urged manufacturers to remove thimerosal from infant vaccines and said that children and pregnant women should avoid Thimerosal," said Michael Bender, Director of the Mercury Policy Project. "The CDC should not be trying to roll back the clock and keep America's children vulnerable to mercury."

"Five years of CDC, FDA, EPA and NIH inaction in the face of scientific evidence detailing the dangers mercury poses to our children, has forced Congress to step in because these agencies have failed to fulfill their obligation to prevent further damage to our children," stated Alan Clark, M.D., of the Missouri-based NoMercury.org.

"SafeMinds plans on making its scientific research on this matter available to interested members of Congress so they can be fully educated on this bill and the dangers with Thimerosal (mercury)," offered Redwood. "Frankly, it should have been a no- brainer decision to stop injecting our infants with a lethal toxic chemical, but apparently it wasn't to the CDC."