Autism Linked to Vaccines, Fillings

Several groups of parents are suing drug companies on grounds that the ingredients have harmed their children.

By Whole Body Health Staff

Parents have sued several drug companies and dental associations for allegedly causing their children to develop autism through exposure to vaccines and fillings containing mercury.

Drug firms Wyeth, GlaxoSmithKline Plc., Johnson & Johnson and Armour Pharmaceutical and the American Dental Association and Georgia Dental Association are accused of, among other things, negligence in 11 lawsuits filed April 3 in an Atlanta court.

Georgia Power was also listed as a defendant for allegedly releasing mercury-containing emissions into the environment.

The families are asking for unspecified damages on behalf of their children.

Dental groups misled consumers by failing to tell them that amalgam fillings contain mercury and could, when implanted in women’s mouths, expose fetuses and nursing infants to toxic levels of mercury, said Shawn Khorrami, an attorney for the families.

The drug firms are being sued because they failed to warn parents that children receiving vaccines containing the mercury-based preservative thimerosal were at higher risk for mercury poisoning, according to court papers.

Some scientists have linked mercury, a naturally occurring element, to autism, a neurological disease that can cause severe learning disabilities, impaired motor skills and repetitive behavior. Amalgam fillings typically contain about 50 percent mercury. "These companies have been hiding the ball from the American public," said Khorrami, who noted (Continued from Page B-1)

that the nine children he represents, who range in age from 3 to 12, suffer disabilities that could require lifelong care.

"Actions like these mislead vulnerable people, using information with no scientific basis to give false hope to those with chronic, often incurable illnesses," the American Dental Association said in a prepared statement.

The 141,000-member ADA said the suits are an "egregious" abuse of the legal system and the claims are without merit.

However, many health experts concede that the build-up of mercury in the body from fillings can be extremely toxic.

According to Holistic Healing, an alternative news site:

Obviously, not everyone experiences acute toxicity effects from the mercury in amalgam fillings. However, virtually everyone does have mercury build up in their bodies from implantation of such fillings. The large increase in mercury exposure from the newer non-gamma-2 mercury fillings means that only time will tell how much damage has been caused by daily exposure to mercury in such fillings.

Holistic Healing cited numerous research and data showing that the mercury from amalgam fillings is an "extremely important source of toxic material."

For more information on this important topic, visit on the web: www.holisticmed.com/dental/amalgam/. ™