February 13, 2009

Thimerosal Update

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THIMEROSAL UPDATE….The vaccine/autism community has made great hay out of a single case last year in which the government conceded that a child with a pre-existing mitochondrial disorder may have been “aggravated” by a series of shots.  It was only one of thousands of cases in federal court, though, so how will they react now that the main test cases have been decided?

In a major setback for the fight to link autism to vaccines, a special federal court ruled Thursday that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and vaccines that contained a mercury-based preservative were not connected to the autism that developed in three children.

The decisions in the cases [] could potentially sink the claims of several hundred other families in an omnibus proceeding that believe the MMR vaccine alone or in combination with vaccines containing the preservative thimerosal caused their children’s autism, said Curtis Webb, a lawyer for the Hazlehurst family.

….”I concluded the evidence was overwhelmingly contrary to the petitioners’ contentions,” George Hastings Jr. wrote in the Cedillo opinion, similar to the others. “The expert witnesses presented by the respondent were far better qualified, far more experienced and far more persuasive than the petitioners’ experts.”

Needless to say, this won’t convince anyone who doesn’t want to be convinced.  “There’s no denying what happens to your child when you see it firsthand,” said Rick Rollens, who has an autistic son and co-founded the UC Davis MIND Institute.  And: “Rollens and others said these verdicts wouldn’t make parents stop questioning the safety of vaccines, especially when the parents see changes in their children right after vaccination.”

No doubt.  Time for the rest of us to move on, though.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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