s the nation’s spiraling rate of autism caused by the mercury in vaccines? With over four thousand cases pending, a trillion dollars at stake, and public trust on the line, a firestorm is sweeping from the halls of science to the boardrooms of Big Pharma to the steps of the Capitol. Sarah Bridges spends Inine months with a father-and-son team of researchers on the frontline. The air in the meeting room had grown autism. It has entangled parents, health dialed their number. We started speak- stale as the afternoon wore on, but Min- care providers, legislators, attorneys, ing at 9:30 on a Saturday night. We didn’t nesota Attorney General Mike Hatch lis- public health officials, and drug makers, finish until after midnight. tened intently, puzzling his way through prompting them to ask one central ques- In the course of that call—and a two- the data. Leaning forward at the head of tion: Is thimerosal the mark of colossal day visit to their home a few weeks the oak table that dominated the room, government negligence or merely a sym- later—I heard a story that sounded more he asked, “Are you saying there is still bol of parental desperation? like a whodunit than a typical scienti- mercury in vaccines today?” This debate became more than a the- fic investigation. They detailed their After a quick glance at his attaché oretical one for me the day I received evidence linking thimerosal with the case, Dr. Mark Geier replied, “In several a call from the office of Congressman autism epidemic, and it was compelling. of them—we have the bottles here to David Weldon (R-Florida), asking me if I I had to hear more and told them I’d show you.” was writing anything about thimerosal. come visit in order to fully understand “I thought the Federal and Drug Ad- Stuart Burns, Weldon’s deputy chief of the issue. ministration required it to be removed,” staff, was calling in response to an article countered Hatch. I wrote in The Washington Post Maga- lmost everybody knows of someone Mark Geier sighed. “They recommend- zine, detailing the government’s ack- A with autism today—but it wasn’t ed it be removed. Many of our children nowledgement of my son’s brain damage always like that. In the years between are still being injected with mercury at from a vaccine. Mr. Burns gave me the 1970 and the late ’90s, the autism rates in their well-baby checkups.” name of Dr. Mark Geier and Dr. Geier’s America rose from 1 in 10,000 children to son David, saying, “They are the only 1 in 166. The Centers for Disease Control ercury is the main component of self-funded researchers publishing in and Prevention (CDC) and the American M thimerosal, an antibacterial pre- peer-reviewed journals on thimerosal Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) sent out servative that until recently was used in and autism, using CDC data . You should an Autism A.L.A.R.M. to pediatricians most vaccines. It has become a lighten- talk with them.” Twenty-four hours across the country in March 2004, warn- ing rod in an escalating debate over later, I was on the phone with the Geiers. ing them that the disorder “is prevalent” the cause of the nation’s rising rates of I was doubtful about what I’d hear as I and must be treated early and aggres- Photography by Jason Gould SEED 77 sively. A scan of the US Department of potent neurotoxin, and research from tive clothing.’ She wasn’t overreacting, Education data on autism in children other medical disciplines demonstrat- though—there was an incident a few makes the surge obvious: In the decade ing thimerosal’s toxicity. years ago when a researcher from Dart- between 1992 and 2002, the rate of There was another reason thimerosal mouth spilled a drop of dimethyl mer- autism was up an average of 1,000 per- was suspect: the linear correlation be- cury on her gloved hand. They did cent in all 50 states. Recent articles in tween increasing rates of autism and the everything they could to treat her. She The Journal of the American Medical amount of thimerosal children received died a few months later.” He paused and Association and Pediatrics contend that during the ’90s. With the number of rou- looked over at me. “This is the same stuff that the increase is real—that it is not an tine thimerosal-containing vaccines we are injecting into our kids.” issue of increased reporting or shifting rising from eight to nearly 40 in that I didn’t respond. Despite the severe demographics. The related disorders of decade, federal health officials realized reaction my son Porter had to the per- attention deficit hyperactivity and that some children were receiving many tussis (whooping cough) vaccine, I am speech delays have spiked as well. The times the EPA’s safe limit for mercury— a firm believer in immunizations. I’ve question is, why? the daily limit of allowable mercury had two children since Porter’s injury, Since autism was first described by based on evaluation of documented and both of them have been fully vacci- Dr. Leo Kanner in 1943, numerous theo- human mercury exposure—on given nated. The mercury-poisoning theory of ries have emerged to explain its etiology, days in the first six months of life. Es- autism reminded me too much of the ranging from bad mothering to micro- sentially, it appeared that the more thi- preposterous Mad Hatter in Alice in wave ovens to faulty genetics. “At first merosal given to a child in a year, the Wonderland. The training I did for my they talked about ‘refrigerator mothers’ more likely he or she was to develop au- PhD in experimental psychology taught and then the Measles, Mumps, and Ru- tism or a related neurological disorder. me to be skeptical, and it was working bella (MMR) vaccine,’’ said Dr. Adrian well at the moment. Sandler, chairperson for the AAP. “The ollowing up on my promise to the Mark must have seen the look on my field of autism is littered with the car- F Geiers, I flew to the East Coast last face. casses of false causes.” Several recent fall to meet with them. The subway ride “I know it’s hard to believe,” he said. studies have linked autism to particular from Washington, D.C., was humid and “Spend a few days with us, and we’ll tell genes; however, the role of the environ- long as the train sped past a blur of high- you about thimerosal. We’ll show you the research and studies and data. De- In the mid ’90s, concerned scientists, parents, cide for yourself when we’re done.” and politicians began questioning the link I spent the next two days with them. between the skyrocketing incidence of neuro- Here is what I learned. logical problems in children and thimerosal, n 1999, the American Academy of a drug that is 50 percent mercury by weight. I Pediatrics (AAP) and the US Public Health Service took the unexpected step ment in the epidemic must be factored rise buildings and emptied out in the of recommending that thimerosal be in, as genetics alone cannot account for Maryland suburbs. I spotted Mark Geier removed from childhood vaccines. In the rapid increase in the prevalence of on the platform—middle-aged with a recent interview, Dr. Thomas Saari, the disease. Most scientists agree that practical glasses, slightly unruly hair, spokesperson for the AAP, interpreted epigenetics—an interaction between and an easy grin. No flash, I thought, but the decision this way: “I think everyone genes and the environment—will ulti- exuding confidence. recognizes that removing heavy metals mately be identified as the cause. “I’m Mark,” he said, extending a hand like mercury or thallium from our envi- In the mid ’90s, concerned scientists, before climbing into the driver’s seat of a ronment is a good thing…. We project parents, and politicians began question- car with “Geier 4” spelled out on the over the next ten years that we’ll add one ing the link between the skyrocketing license plate. to two new vaccines a year, so you need incidence of neurological problems in “What happened to Geier 1, 2, and 3?” to be concerned about the total amount children and thimerosal, a drug that I asked. of thimerosal children would ultimately is approximately 50 percent mercury “My wife and son have those,” he get if the newer vaccines use thimerosal by weight. Thimerosal was first trade- replied. as a preservative as well.” He continued, marked by Eli Lilly and Company in We traveled through a residential “While I could not say that there is or is April 1930 and was added to childhood neighborhood to his modest two-story not a relationship to autism in some vaccines a few years later. Due to the home. He chatted amiably as we drove children, the AAP was on the forefront of comparatively lax safety standards of and told me a story about his attempt to raising this issue and suggesting that we the time, it never underwent animal have thimerosal delivered to his house remove thimerosal out of an abundance testing or long-term safety trials. so that he could study it in one of his labs. of caution.” The growing interest in thimerosal “A day after I ordered it,” he said, This move was not unfounded. It fol- sprang from multiple avenues: biologi- “I received a frantic call from the Fed- lowed the Food and Drug Administra- cal plausibility (the effects of mercury Ex office.