Wampum

This full page ad appeared in USA Today this morning. It was sponsored by Generation Rescue, a coalition of organizations which oppose mercury in vaccines and believe the CDC has suppressed and even covered up evidence supporting a link between neurological disorders and thimerosal. Click on the graphic for a larger pop-up version.

According to a press release by Generation Rescue, CDC documents recently acquired via FOIAs requests raise serious questions regarding the CDC role in policing itself. These documents include:

Through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), parents of autistic children acquired numerous emails, memos, transcripts and reports from the CDC, Food and Drug Administration, Institute of Medicine, and U.S. Congress. Some findings from documents never before released include:

-- A private email and spreadsheet from a CDC epidemiologist showing an extremely high correlation between autism and mercury received through vaccines, with the researcher writing that the correlation "just won't go away."

-- A CDC contract for $190 million to a lobbying firm to maintain the Vaccine Safety Datalink, which prevents access to the data through the Freedom of Information Act.

-- Emails from the CDC "frantically" searching for evidence to exonerate Thimerosal. Even though a Danish researcher highlights serious flaws in a Denmark study, the data is used.

-- A secret memo summarizing the cover up and a statement of charges recently shared with the Senate H.E.L.P. Committee and recommending Senate Hearings.

While in the past, the push for a Congressional investigation into the CDC was led mostly by a small conservative Republican faction, recently, Democrats such as Representatives Patrick Kennedy and Carolyn Maloney, and Senators John Kerry and Joseph Lieberman have joined the chorus.

April is Autism Awareness Month.