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CoMeD’s Website…

PRESS RELEASE CONTACTS:
For Immediate Release CoMeD President [Rev. Lisa K. Sykes (Richmond, VA) 804-364-8426]
March 18, 2010 CoMeD Science Advisor [Dr. Paul G. King (Lake Hiawatha, NJ) 973-997-1321]

Washington, DC – In its pursuit of banning all use of mercury in medicine, unless proven safe by appropriate toxicity studies, today CoMeD, Inc., a non-profit corporation, filed declarations from pregnant women harmed by Thimerosal-containing influenza shots in the US District Court for the District of Columbia (case: 1:2009cv-00015). These declarations report that health care providers seemed to be largely unaware of the continuing presence of mercury in vaccines and that these providers often failed to accurately disclose the known risks to the patient from these Thimerosal-containing vaccines, which are specifically recommended for pregnant women and children.

Thimerosal, used as a preservative in vaccines without the required proofs of safety, is half mercury by weight and a known bioaccumulative human poison, neurotoxin, carcinogen, mutagen, teratogen and immune-system disruptor. In order not to exceed the EPA’s safe daily reference dose (RfD) for mercury ingestion from the mercury contained in one 0.5-mL Thimerosal-preserved flu shot, a pregnant woman or child would have to weigh more than 550 pounds. Worse, the Material Safety Data sheets for Thimerosal list: fetal death, miscarriage, mental retardation and gross motor impairment as possible outcomes of in utero exposure to Thimerosal.

CoMeD, Inc. originally sought injunctive relief regarding the use of Thimerosal-preserved flu shots for pregnant women in August 2009. In oral arguments, CoMeD’s attorneys detailed the danger posed by Thimerosal and the denial of informed consent accompanying its administration in most cases.

CoMeD’s attorneys also argued that federal regulations mandating that “any preservative used shall be sufficiently nontoxic so that the amount … will not be toxic to the recipient” [21 CFR § 610.15(a)] have been illegally ignored in the case of Thimerosal. To establish that Thimerosal used as a preservative is “sufficiently nontoxic…”, toxicity studies must prove its safety. Yet, as the US Food and Drug Administration and the drug manufacturers have repeatedly admitted, they have not conducted the toxicity studies required to prove the Thimerosal in a single vaccine dose is “sufficiently nontoxic …”.

Half a year after CoMeD filed a request for a preliminary injunction, which has not yet been granted, to stop the administration of mercury-preserved flu shots to pregnant women, CoMeD members now seek to establish with this filing, that damage they predicted to unborn children sadly has occurred. Declarations filed today detail fetal deaths, miscarriages, stillbirths and premature births following the administration of Thimerosal-preserved/containing flu shots. In addition to personal declarations, CoMeD has filed copies of records from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, maintained by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, documenting reports of more than one hundred fetal deaths, miscarriages, stillbirths, and premature births attributed to flu shots in the period from September through December of 2009 alone, as well as an additional sixty-plus personal accounts of similar flu-shot-related harm.

With safer alternatives to Thimerosal and the proven ability to make vaccines without any preservative, the use of Thimerosal or any other mercury compound in vaccines without the toxicological proofs of safety required by drug law is both indefensible and illegal, according to CoMeD.

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Ministry denies link, launches an inquiry

Bangkok Post
01/29/2010

H1N1 flu vaccinations among pregnant women have been suspended after a woman who received a jab lost her baby to miscarriage a day later.

The Public Health Ministry yesterday denied any link between the vaccinations and the foetal death, but as a precaution suspended flu shots among pregnant women pending an investigation into the miscarriage in the southern province of Satun.

It said it would press ahead with a plan for an H1N1 vaccination campaign aimed at high risk groups despite concerns about possible side-effects.

“There’s no substantiated report of H1N1 vaccine having a harmful effect on pregnant women,” Public Health permanent secretary Paijit Warachit said yesterday. “The product is certified and safe for use.”

Over 6,000 pregnant women have received the vaccination, imported from the French company Sanofi Pasteur, under a national campaign to tackle the mortality rate caused by type-A (H1N1) influenza among high-risk groups including pregnant women.

The 39-year-old woman lost her baby during the 24th week of pregnancy in Satun’s Thung Wa district on Monday, only a day after she was given a flu shot.

An investigation into the miscarriage at Songkhlanagarind Hospital is under way and the results are expected within a week, Dr Paijit said.

A case of a 32-year-old woman delivering a baby during her 33rd week of pregnancy was not caused by vaccination or toxaemia in pregnancy.

Early delivery was essential in this case because the mother had taken a fall and suffered internal bleeding in the brain, he said.

Kamnuan Ungchusak, an epidemiological expert at the Disease Control Department, conceded the report might affect confidence in the vaccination scheme, particularly among pregnant women.

The antigen which is the active ingredient in the H1N1 vaccine could not pass from the mother to an unborn child.

However, the medical committee would discuss the case at its next meeting on Feb 9.

Thailand is conducting the first human trial of a locally made vaccine for type-A (H1N1) influenza.

A preliminary report had found the vaccine was safe and could provide immunity against the virus among volunteers.

The initial result of the first-phase trial was satisfying, said Vichai Chokewiwat, the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation board chairman.

Of 24 volunteers, only 13 had reported minor side-effects such as headaches, joint pain and a runny nose.

Researchers, however, would not rush to begin the vaccine trials with a larger group of 400 volunteers as more work was needed to improve the vaccine’s stability. The second-phase of the trial was scheduled for April.

The first batch of locally produced vaccine would be ready to combat any influenza outbreak during the monsoon season if the trial went as planned.