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September 19, 2005
By DAN OLMSTED
As public funding all but dries up for research into a possible link between
vaccines and autism, advocates are trying to tap new sources, but it's too early
to tell if they will find any.
"It's just appalling," said Jim Moody, counsel to SafeMinds, a group that backs
research into a possible link between autism and a mercury preservative called
thimerosal that was used in childhood vaccines. He said a number of scientists
-- including researchers at Columbia University, the University of Washington
and the University of Arkansas -- have been turned down for federal grants to
follow up on such studies.
"They're doing cutting-edge work that is being published in nationally
significant journals on important issues of national health policy," Moody said,
suggesting the projects are being denied for reasons other than merit.
Moody and others said the shutdown stems largely from a recommendation last year
by the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences. The
study found no link between vaccines and autism and suggested that money should
go to more "promising" areas of autism research.
"It's not surprising it's happened," Moody said of the difficulty finding grant
money. "They (the IOM) said it should happen."
Last month on NBC's "Meet the Press," moderator Tim Russert asked IOM President
Harvey Fineberg, "You're absolutely convinced there's no connection between
thimerosal and autism?"
To which Fineberg responded: "I'm convinced that the best evidence all points to
the lack of an association. These studies can never prove to the point of
absolute certainty an absence of an association, but I would say this: Other
avenues of research looking at other possible causes today are much more
promising ways to spend our precious resources."
A number of other studies and funding sources are being explored by advocates
who say the vaccines-mercury issue deserves more scrutiny. Among them:
-- Environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who last week discussed
launching an independent study of vaccination records at the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Kennedy volunteered his clout as a fundraiser and said he could make lawyers
available to go after the federal government if it denied access to the
database.
Kennedy also discussed using a never-vaccinated group, probably the Amish, as a
"control" to assess relative autism rates. United Press International reported
earlier this year that autism seems significantly less prevalent in that
community, based on anecdotal information and the assessment of doctors who
treat the Amish.
-- Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., who said last week he plans to ask Congress
to fund an independent review of the thimerosal issue and of the statistical
analyses performed by the CDC.
Lieberman has become a vocal advocate of continued investigation of a possible
link between thimerosal and autism. Some critics argue the CDC has an inherent
conflict of interest in examining the issue, because the CDC recommends the
childhood immunization schedule that is adopted by the states.
-- Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., who told Age of Autism he wants to fund a study of
autism rates among the Amish compared with surrounding communities. Weldon, a
medical doctor, is a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee.
--William Raub, a top official of the Department of Health and Human Services
who told parents this summer that a study of the Amish or similar group was an
interesting idea and could be done via the National Institutes of Health.
Last month a group of scientists and advocates met with officials of the
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences -- a unit of the NIH -- to
outline research into possible environmental causes of autism. Raub attended
part of the meeting.
Called Environmental Factors in Neurodevelopmental Disorders, the two-day
seminar tackled a wide range of possible research topics, including mercury
toxicity. Participants are now formulating a research roadmap to present to the
NIH and Congress.
The seminar was held in Bethesda, Md., and was sponsored by the National Autism
Association and SafeMinds with a grant from NIEHS.
Such developments persuade SafeMinds counsel Moody the funding dearth is "a
temporary glitch. I'm fairly sure we'll get this fixed," but Moody said the lack
of interest in such research -- in fact, the interest in discouraging it -- is
suspicious.
"If I wasn't convinced of the connection between mercury and developmental
disorders," he told Age of Autism, "what would convince me is the inaction."
--
This ongoing series on the roots and rise of autism welcomes reader comment.
E-mail:
dolmsted@upi.com
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