Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks out about Vaccinations causing Autism

July 21st, 2005


Robert F. Kennedy Jr.


On July 20th, the ‘Power of Truth’ rally in Washington D.C. was held
to bring together more than 700 people for the Autism-Mercury Debate.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a nephew of President John F. Kennedy, has
spoken out reaffirming that vaccinations containing thimersol most
likely were the cause of many of the childhood neurological conditions
and the government has covered up and protected the vaccine companies
from being held responsible.  Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was published on
Salon.com on June 16th, 2005 and also an article in Rolling Stone June
issue.  

In order to prevent an uprising, a press conference was held by the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reassure that
vaccinations are safe.  The director of the CDC, Dr. Julie Gerberding
stated, “There has been a renewed interest in the issue of vaccine
safety, particularly on the issue of whether the preservative
thimerosal …. May be linked to the occurrence of autism in children.”
The CDC estimates that one in 166 children under age 10 have autism.
In the US there are at least two million people with this disability.
The government does not acknowledge a link to thimerosal, which is a
type of mercury used as a preservative in vaccines, causing autism.  

The debate started many years ago, but at one point the CDC thought
differently.

 

On June 7-8 2000, top government scientists and health officials along
with four major vaccine manufacturers all met at Simpsonwood
conference center in Norcross, Ga.  One of the scientists attending
was Dr. Thomas Verstraeten, a CDC researcher originally reported the
link between thimerosal causing speech delays,
attention-deficit-disorder, hyperactivity and autism.  Verstraeten was
working at the CDC on a study to determine if thimerosal was causing
neurological problems in a database of 76,659 children.

After this meeting, Verstraeten appeared before the Institute of
Medicine -- part of the National Academy of Sciences, and he made an
unexpected opening statement.  "First, I should mention that as of 8
a.m. European time I have been employed by a vaccine manufacturer,"
Verstraeten said, according to a transcript. "That means since 2 a.m.
American time," this was just hours before his presentation on behalf
of the CDC.

Since this time there has been legislation to add release of any
liability to drug companies from thimerosal-related health issues. In
2002, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who has received $873,000 in
contributions from the pharmaceutical industry, added a rider known as
the "Eli Lilly Protection Act" into a homeland security bill.  Eli
Lilly contributed $10,000 to his campaign in addition to purchasing
5,000 copies of his book on bioterrorism. Congress repealed the
measure in 2003, however earlier this year; Frist slipped another
condition into an anti-terrorism bill that would disallow
reimbursement to children with affliction from vaccine-related brain
disorders.

Vaccine manufacturers are phasing out the use of thimerosal in
vaccinations.   Thimerosal is still being used in the US for some
vaccines including several pediatric flu shots and also tetanus
boosters given to 11-year-olds.  The ‘Power of Truth’ rally is to
bring awareness to insure that the vaccines are safe and that
thimerosal will not be used in the future, they are not against
vaccinations but the toxic preservative that is in them.

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By Nicole Wilson
Best Syndication Staff Writer